Italy

ROUNDUP: Juventus rally to reduce gap from leaders Inter Milan

Juventus rally to reduce gap from leaders Inter MilanRome  - Juventus waited until the second half to come from behind Saturday against lowly visitors Bologna and clinch a 4-1 win that pushed them within four points of leaders Inter Milan.

Hasan Salihamidzic levelled Bologna's first-half lead from Massimo Mutarelli before a goal from Sebastian Giovinco and an Alessandro Del Piero brace pushed Juve on
59 points from 28 games.

The Turin hosts missed injured Brazil striker Amauri, while Frenchman David Trezeguet remained sidelined after an alleged row with coach Claudio Ranieri.

Genoa move closer to securing European berth

Genoa move closer to securing European berth Rome - Genoa moved up to fourth place in the Italian Serie A Saturday, winning 1-0 away to 10-man Cagliari through a late goal from substitute Ruben Olivera.

After an evenly balanced and fairly slow-paced half hour, Cagliari had a first chance when Uruguayan Diego Lopez headed against the post on 35 minutes.

However, the Sardinia hosts' had their efforts seriously hampered four minutes later as midfielder Andrea Cossu was sent off with a second booking.

Kidnapped aid workers in Sudan "expected to be released soon"

Kidnapped aid workers in Sudan "expected to be released soon" Rome - Three western hostages who work for the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders have yet to be released but are expected to be freed soon, Italian media reports said Saturday.

The Italian government retracted an announcement, made late Friday by the country's foreign minister in Rome, that the release had already happened.

A spokeswoman in Paris for the French-based Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF,) as the organization is formally known, did not confirm the release.

Careless error led police to mafia suspect

Careless error led police to mafia suspectAmsterdam/Duisburg, Germany  - Giovanni Strangio had for months lived a modest life in the anonymity of Amsterdam until a careless error put police on his trail.

A German environmental sticker issued for a Peugeot car registered in the name of a 48-year-old contact person in Frankfurt led investigators to the suspected Mafia hit-man.

Late on Thursday evening Strangio, his wife, their young son and another man named Francesco Romeo were taken into custody at an apartment in the Amsterdam suburb of Diemen.

London auction followers to be offered a taste of Versace

London  - Auction-goers with a penchant for celebrity will be able to snap up a momento from the opulently-furnished lakeside villa of late Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace at a sale at Sotheby's in London next week.

On offer are some 500 items from the spectacular neo-classical interior of Versace's Villa Fontanelle on Lake Como, ranging from paintings to furniture and silver works with an estimated value of 2 million pounds (2.75 million dollars), Sotheby's said.

The auction comes just weeks after the record-breaking sale in Paris of the private possessions of late French designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Lou Gehrig's disease hits another retired footballer

Lou Gehrig's disease hits another retired footballer Rome  - A retired Serie B footballer has said he contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a nervous-system disease with an unusually high incidence among former Italian players.

Italian media reported Thursday that Stefano Turchi, 40, a forward with Ancona between 1990 and 1992 has suffered from ALS since 2005.

Turchi, in an interview with the Ancona-based newspaper Corriere Adriatico, said he considers himself lucky to have been hit by a less aggressive form of the illness that still allows him to talk and walk.

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