London, Mar 29 : Michele Mongelli, the ‘Italian Josef Fritzl’ who kept his daughter prisoner and brutally raped her for 25 years, was known to police, it has emerged.

Listening devices had been placed in the handset of Mongelli, a 63-year-old a scrap metal dealer in Turin, as part of the probe against him and his son Giuseppe, 41.

Officers heard him carry out the attack on his daughter, 34, after the handset had been misplaced, reports The Telegraph.

Rome - Argentina football icon Diego Maradona has paid a minimal part of the large tax payment he owes the Italian state from the years he spent playing with Napoli, the Association of Italian taxpayers (Contribuenti. it) reported on Saturday.

"The Italian revenue has been unable to levy from Maradona more than 0.10 per cent (of what he owes)," said Contribuenti. it president Vittorio Carlomagno as he criticized how taxes are collected in Italy.

London, Mar 27: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who last year referred to Barack Obama as “sun-tanned”, has returned to the same subject after he claimed the difference between their leadership styles was that he is ‘paler’.

The 72-year-old made the comment to a reporter who compared the two leaders and their handling of the economic crisis.

It so happened that a journalist commented that his response to the global economic crisis made him seem like Obama, reports The Guardian.

Rome  - The absence of controversial talent Antonio Cassano from Italy's line-up is the talking point this week among football buffs as the world champions gear up for two qualifying games to the 2010 World Cup.

Coach Marcello Lippi resorted to his trademark tough-guy attitude saying that he doesn't have to give reasons for his choices - one of the benefits of having won Italy's fourth world title in 2006.

"I have my convictions and I don't owe explanations," he said. "And not because I'm arrogant, but because I want to work with who is present."

Rome  - Lamborghini has released images of the Murcielago LP 650-4 Roadster which it plans to build in a limited edition of 50 units.

As the name reveals, it will come with a 6.5-litre V12 engine with an output of 478 kW/650 hp and acceleration from zero to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. The top speed is listed at 330 km/h. The designation "4" stands for permanent four-wheel drive.

Rome  - Serie A side Torino have r