Rome, June 17 - A prison inmate has joined a 'club'of less than 10 people to have volunteered to be among Italy'sfirst 'Good Samaritan' organ donors.Samaritan donations are those in which people donate anorgan they can live without, such as a kidney, to a person theyare not related to, without any money changing hands.The practice already takes place in the United States and ahandful of other cou
Reggio Calabria, June 16 - A school of dolphinstrying to swim through the Strait of Messina on Wednesday gotthe royal treatment from an Italian Coast Guard vessel, which'escorted' the cetaceans safely across the busy waters.Officials said the Coast Guard kept a close watch on thedolphins, steering other ships away and ensuring they werefrolicking in the Tyrrhenian Sea before leaving them.The Stra
Vatican City, June 16 - Media speculation overwhether Pope Benedict XVI snuck out of the Vatican for a lateevening snack at a local restaurant this week continued onWednesday.The rumour was started by a gossip columnist on Tuesday,who claimed the pontiff had been spotted dining on fish theprevious night at a restaurant some 200 metres outside theVatican walls.The alleged visit took place as Italy
Rome, June 16 - The head of the Fiom autoworkersunion on Wednesday accused Fiat of blackmailing employees at itsPomigliano d'Arco factory into accepting a productivity accord. This is blackmail.The workers are being asked: do youwant to work or close the factory? It's like saying: do you wantto live or die?.It's obvious that they will choose to live, Maurizio Landini said.Workers at the Fiat plan
Ravenna, June 16 - A team of medicalanthropologists have cleared up 400-year-old mystery surroundingCaravaggio's final resting place, identifying his grave and evenhis bones.The investigation, launched six months ago, has concludedthat the painter was indeed buried in Porto Ercole, bringingcenturies of speculation to an end. We can confirm we have found the mortal remains ofMichelangelo Merisi, b
Rome, June 16 - Injured Italy keeper GianluigiBuffon was told his hopes of seeing more action at the World Cupwere slim on Wednesday as coach Marcello Lippi tore into therest of the team to shake them up before Sunday's clash with NewZealand.Tests showed the back injury that forced Buffon to come offat halftime of the world champions' opener against Group Frivals Paraguay, which ended 1-1, was ca
Rome, June 16 - The government rejected criticism onWednesday that its austerity budget package could undermine itsown drive to give greater autonomy to Italy's regionaladministrations.Many governors have said the cuts they are being asked tomake are incompatible with the creation of a system of 'fiscalfederalism', in which regions would collect and spend their owntax revenue rather than have mon
Rome, June 16 - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi onWednesday defended his government's controversial bill aimed atrestricting the use of wiretaps and their publication beforetrials.Speaking before the annual meeting of the nationalretailers association Confcommercio, the premier said ours isnot real a real democracy...We are all being spied on and thisis intolerable . Each one of us talks with