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A religious reliquary containing the blood of Pope John Paul II that was taken from a remote church in the mountains of central Italy may have been stolen to order, police believe.
The reliquary, a piece of cloth stained with the blood of the late Pope and encased in gold, was taken during a break-in at the Church of St Peter of Ienca, a tiny stone chapel in the Apennine mountains which is dedicated to the Polish pontiff.
Inside, the rows of red velvet seats were empty. But outside, huddling in the cold and dark, thousands of people had come to hear the Milanese opera house La Scala say goodbye to one of its most admired and beloved sons.
As a capstone to its coming show “Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe,” the Guggenheim Museum has managed a rare coup: securing the first loan of five major Futurist murals from the central post office in Palermo, Sicily, where they have hung since being commissioned for the space in the 1930s.
Pope Francis on Friday received Fiat Chairman John Elkann in a private audience.
The meeting took place "in a very cordial atmosphere", Fiat sources said. Earlier Friday Francis received some of the top brass of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset empire including his son Piersilvio.
The Italian cabinet agreed Friday to preserve some tax deductions and also make it easier for Italians to repatriate capital currently invested abroad.
Prime Minister Enrico Letta said certain tax deductions that were scheduled to expire on January 31 will be preserved, affecting both families and business.
A small makeshift bomb has exploded in a street in central Rome, causing slight damage to a building belonging to a French religious establishment and three parked cars, police said. There was no immediate word on what was behind the explosion early on Friday morning, which occurred hours before a visit to Pope Francis by French president François Hollande, but security was tight near the Vatican before the meeting.
Monastic and regal were the two storylines of Valentino's enchanted tale of grand opera as 55 looks for 55 operas closed the Paris 2014 summer couture season on Wednesday night.
The show opened with an homage to Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata embodied by a nude-coloured tulle dress with the composer's melodies embroidered in black on the diaphanous skirt.
A Rome court has recognised a little-known Italian actor as the fourth child of legendary crooner Domenico Modugno. Fabio Camilli, 51, is the child of a relationship the 'Volare' singer-songwriter had with choreographer Maurizia Cali, the court ruled.
Italy is determined to get the over 700 mostly Etruscan-era artifacts from the collection of the well-known but now bankrupt British antiquities dealer Robin Symes returned.
Italian film director Carlo Mazzacurati has died at age 57 after a long illness. Mazzacurati's films include 'Il Prete bello, 'Il Toro', 'Vesna va veloce' and 'La passione.'