LESS GLITZ AT ROME FILM FEST (ANSA) - Rome, April 29 - Hollywood A-listers might not be as welcome on the red carpet at Rome's Film Festival under new plans for the event by the city's freshly appointed mayor Gianni Alemanno. Appointing a new festival head on Tuesday, Alemanno hinted that the festival - a pet proj... > Full news story

TWO ITALIAN FILMS MAKE CANNES LINE-UP (ANSA) - Rome, April 23 - Italian cinema was given a lift on Wednesday when films by two of its top young directors were included in the line-up for this year's Cannes Film Festival. Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo about controversial Italian statesman Giulio Andreotti and Matteo Garrone's ... > Full news story

POLICE RAID VIP BEAUTY CLINIC (ANSA) - Milan, April 22 - A beauty clinic attended by VIPs in the centre of Milan was shut down on Tuesday after police discovered staff had been injecting clients with dangerous chemical substances. The owner and the director of health at the Mesoterapico Institute in the city we... > Full news story

CARNERA STARS AGAIN (ANSA) - Rome, April 18 - Italy's only world heavyweight boxing champ, giant 1930s slugger Primo Carnera, has inspired a movie that aims to set the record straight about a man-mountain sometimes remembered as a figure of fun. The film, Carnera The Walking Mountain, gets its world premiere ... > Full news story

TUSCANY: UNOAERRE OPENS SECOND STORE IN TOKYO (ANSA) - Florence, April 18 - The largest gold producer in Italy and one of the largest in the world, is set to open its second store in Tokyo. The company is based in Arezzo. An agreement was recently signed for the opening of a flagship store with inauguration set for 2008. The agreem... > Full news story

FLORENCE CELEBRATES FALLACI (ANSA) - Florence, April 17 - A new multi-centre exhibition dedicated to controversial crusading journalist Oriana Fallaci opens in her home town of Florence on Friday. Known for her abrasive interviewing style, chain-smoking Fallaci (1929-2006) was one of the first female war correspo... > Full news story

DEPARDIEU FINED FOR HEAD-BUTTING PAPARAZZO (ANSA) - Florence, April 16 - An Italian court has ordered French actor Gerard Depardieu to pay 1,500 euros in damages to a young Italian paparazzo who he headbutted in a Florence street in October 2005. Finding the cinema star guilty of making threats and causing bodily harm, the cour... > Full news story

BOLOGNA TO OPEN FREE OPERA SCHOOL (ANSA) - Bologna, April 16 - Bologna's municipal theatre said Wednesday it will open a new opera school for would-be Pavarottis, directors and conductors in the autumn. With sponsors including La Scala in Milan, Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York, the It... > Full news story