Rome

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Rome Earthquake 'Prophecy' Sparks Panic
 'Quake Prophecy' Panics Rome 
May 11, 2011 6:00 AM CDT

'Quake Prophecy' Panics Rome

Thousands flee city amid rumors of major quake today

(Newser) - Thousands of Romans unsettled by rumors of an impending earthquake have decided that today is a good day to get out of Rome. A rumor that has spread widely online holds that seismologist Raffaele Bendandi—who died in 1979—predicted that a devastating earthquake would hit Rome on May 11,...

Pope John Paul’s Body Exhumed for Beatification

Rome in throes of 'beatification fever'

(Newser) - Move over, wedding fever: “Beatification fever” has begun. Tens of thousands are arriving in Rome for the beatification of Pope John Paul II , for which the pontiff’s coffin was exhumed today. As Vatican officials—including John Paul’s closest aide, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz—watched and prayed, the coffin...

Staff, Passengers Subdue Would-Be Paris Hijacker

Kazakhstan man holds knife to flight attendant's throat

(Newser) - Flight staff and passengers tackled and subdued a would-be hijacker yesterday after he held a small knife to the throat of a flight attendant and ordered an Alitalia flight from Paris to fly to Tripoli. The plane and all 131 passengers landed safely in Rome. The attacker was identified as...

Pelosi Briefly Hospitalized in Rome

Ex-Speaker released after suffering 'minor ailment'

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi was hospitalized today in Rome but has been released, an Italian news agency has reported. She entered the hospital for a "minor ailment" after feeling "slightly unwell," the agency said, without providing specifics. US officials are keeping mum on the incident, the AP notes. The...

Package Bomb Found at Greek Embassy in Rome

Could be tied to last week's embassy bombings

(Newser) - On the heels of last week's blasts at the Chilean and Swiss embassies in Rome, another package bomb was found today at the Greek Embassy. A spokesman tells the AP heightened security had already been put in place and no one was injured; two people were injured in the previous...

Dual Blasts Reported at Swiss, Chilean Embassies in Rome

Employee who opened first package may lose his left hand

(Newser) - A package has exploded at Chile's embassy in Rome following a parcel bombing at Switzerland's embassy earlier in the day. The ANSA news agency says one person was believed to be injured in the blast at the Chilean embassy. Police say the 53-year-old man who opened the package at the...

Subway 'Bomb' Rattles Rome
Subway 'Bomb'
Rattles Rome
Dec 22, 2010 3:22 AM CST

Subway 'Bomb' Rattles Rome

Shoebox device sparks bomb scare

(Newser) - A fake bomb sparked a major scare in the Rome subway system yesterday. Bomb disposal experts discovered that the device—found on an empty subway car at the end of the line—contained a cement-like powder instead of explosives and didn't have a trigger mechanism, AP reports. The city could...

Model for Michelangelo's Pieta Found

12-inch sculpture was covered with tape

(Newser) - A US art historian says he’s found the model for Michelangelo's great statue the Pieta at the Vatican, the Daily Telegraph reports. An Italian art collector picked up the 12-inch terracotta model at an antiques shop; before restoration, it was covered in paint and dotted with Scotch tape. But...

Protests Rage on in Rome, London

Not a good day to be a tourist in Europe...

(Newser) - Now is not the time to be embarking on your dream trip to Italy ... or England. Both countries are weathering yet another day of student protests. In Rome, police vans and rows of riot-gear-clad officers barricaded access to the city's historic center in an attempt to keep students away from...

Buy the 'World's Smallest Apartment' for $68K

Rome 'wigwam' can barely hold a bed

(Newser) - For all of you who have joked about living in a closet ... well, you ain't seen nothing yet. A Rome "compact bedsit" that's being described as the world's smallest apartment has hit the market. Asking price for the 55-square-feet of heaven: $68,000. One report called the former porter's...

Case of Topless Sunbather Triggers Fierce Debate

It's bound to be sensuous, says woman's attorney

(Newser) - An Italian mother who called the cops on a topless sunbather who was "troubling" her young sons by sensuously applying sunscreen has sparked a furious debate on the lack of couture on Italy's beaches. "Something like this happening in 2010 is absurd," snorted the Roman attorney for...

King Arthur's Round Table Site Discovered

Not furniture, but a meeting spot for 1,000

(Newser) - A group of thrilled historians claim to have discovered the site of King Arthur's storied "Round Table" at an ancient Roman amphitheater in Chester, England. But the discovery is a further indication that the "Round Table" was not a mere piece of furniture, but a massive wooden and...

Oldest Known Images of Apostles Found

Laser reveals 4th-century painting in Rome catacomb

(Newser) - The earliest known images of the apostles Andrew and John have been found in a catacomb beneath Rome. Archaeologists found the 4th-century images after using lasers to burn away centuries of calcium deposits on frescoes in a Roman noblewoman's tomb, the Guardian reports. Paintings of Peter and Paul were also...

World's Smallest Man's Life Cut Short
 World's Smallest Man's 
 Life Cut Short 
obituary
Mar 15, 2010 5:50 PM CDT

World's Smallest Man's Life Cut Short

29-inch-tall He Pingping was just 21, suffered heart failure

(Newser) - The world's shortest man, 29-inch-tall He Pingping, died Saturday. He was 21. A native of China, He was in Rome filming a TV show when he fell ill. "From the moment I laid on eyes on him I knew he was someone special," the editor-in-chief of Guinness World...

Pope Bounces Back, Visits Soup Kitchen

Security heavy for first trip since Christmas Eve attack

(Newser) - On his first trip outside the Vatican since being knocked to the ground in a Christmas Eve incident at St. Peter's, Pope Benedict XVI visited a soup kitchen in Rome today. The pontiff, 82, was unharmed when a woman vaulted a barrier and accosted him before Mass. Today he mingled...

Shakespeare May Have Secretly Been Catholic

English seminary in Rome says it has docs to prove it

(Newser) - Documents discovered by an English seminary in Rome suggest William Shakespeare may have been a secret Catholic, a revelation that could potentially solve the mystery of the bard's religious leanings. The Venerable English College points to cryptic names signed in its guest book for visiting pilgrims that they say indicate...

Climate Activists Scale Colosseum

Greenpeace protesters urge Copenhagen deal

(Newser) - As the sun rose over the Colosseum in Rome this morning, something else was going up: Greenpeace activists climbed the first two tiers of the ancient building in a demonstration urging a climate change deal at Copenhagen. Protesters dressed in orange jumpsuits held up a banner reading, "Copenhagen: Make...

Gadhafi Hires 200 Hot Italian Women, Tries to Convert Them
Gadhafi Hires 200 Hot Italian Women, Tries to Convert Them
WACKY DICTATORS
Nov 16, 2009 2:23 PM CST

Gadhafi Hires 200 Hot Italian Women, Tries to Convert Them

Leader also gives out copies of his book

(Newser) - Moammar Gadhafi hired a couple of hundred attractive Italian women for the night, headed to the Libyan ambassador's place in Rome, shepherded them into a room, and ... tried to convert them to Islam. The Libyan dictator offered $75 for the evening, causing most of the women to assume they’d...

Berlusconi: 'Italians Want to Be Like Me'

He 'can't remember' the night escort says they had sex

(Newser) - Stubbornly unrepentant Silvio Berlusconi is insisting Italians support his behavior and "would like to be" him, reports the Telegraph. "Italians aren't stupid, and they prefer my government," added the randy prime minister, 74, on Italian television. The man who last week called himself  "superman" insisted that...

Editor Ripped by Belusconi Bro for Gay Affair Loses Job

(Newser) - An editor of a Catholic newspaper criticized for a gay affair in a publication owned by the brother of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is out of a job, reports the New York Times. He resigned just days after he slammed the randy head of state in an editorial for...

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