ROME--A gunfight erupted between security guards and armed bandits disguised as dustmen near the crowded Via Tiburtina this morning, police said.

ROME--“Arturo Ghergo photographed princesses like they were film stars, and film stars like they were princesses.”

ROME -- Three women and eight men have been arrested in connection with a Romanian prostitution ring operating in Tivoli, just outside the capital.

ROME – Unidentified human remains have been found near the body of Rome gang boss Enrico De Pedis, suspected of being involved in the disappearance of Vatican schoolgirl Emanuela Orlandi.

 ROME-- Thousands participated in an anti-abortion ‘March for Life’ in Rome on Mother’s Day, joined by Mayor Giorgio Alemanno.

ROME– Police raided Monte dei Paschi di Siena headquarters as part of an investigation into the bank’s expensive acquisition of the Antonveneta bank in 2008.

ROME- The names of the athletics stars who will take part in the Rome Golden Gala, which includes an Olympics qualifying relay race, have been unveiled.

ROME -- The bomb squad was summoned this week at Leonardo Da Vinci Airport after an American flying to New York abandoned a bag containing 15 cats.  

ROME-- The city's Film Festival has announced an 11 million euro budget and dates of Nov. 9-17, several weeks later than the traditional October launch.

ROME-- A Romanian convicted of raping an American tourist in the normally-peaceful Borghese Gardens has been sentenced to only four years and eight months in prison.

ROME-- A prayer vigil is being held in Trastevere for Christian victims of persecution in Kenya and Nigeria.

The FAO's new chief has taken promising steps toward reversing the demoralisation that stymied the UN agency under the pisspoor leadership of Jacques Diouf.

ROME -- A cat loving charity is organising a 12 day tour of Italy’s cultural and catty hotspots.

ROME -- From May 3 to May 6, the capital hosts the first edition of the Nordic Film Fest, created by the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to promote Nordic film and culture.

VATICAN CITY -- Almost 30 years after the abduction of Emanuela Orlandi, the tomb of the gang leader believed to be her killer is to be opened in a bid to shed light on her disappearance. 

ROME -- From May. 30-Oct. 21, The Academy of France –- the Villa Medici -– is to present an exhibition entitled ‘Tapis Volants’ (‘Flying Carpets’).

ROME -- The cemetery for non-Catholics in Rome rivals Highgate in London and the Père Lachaise in Paris as an assembly of extraordinary figures, with John Keats the most renowned.

ROME -- The grand finale of the ‘Days of Azerbaijani Culture’ programme was a concert promoting the culture of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

Pope Benedict XVI this month celebrated his 85^th birthday, making him the sixth oldest pontiff since 1295, and his seventh anniversary as pontiff.

ROME -- Valter Lavitola, linked to a sex scandal involving former Italian Prime Minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, has returned to Italy to face a host of criminal charges.

ROME – The MAXXI Foundation, home to some of the capital’s most prestigious examples of contemporary art, is to pass into compulsory administration.