Rome  - Spanish cycling star Alejandro Valverde has been summoned by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in a new doping investigation linking the rider to the Operation Puerto affair.

CONI said on its website Wednesday that Valverde has been summoned to a hearing for Monday.

Italian media reports said DNA tests on blood samples taken from the rider last July match blood samples seized by police from the laboratory of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

Rome  - Spanish cycling star Alejandro Valverde has been summoned by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in a new doping investigation linking the rider to the Operation Puerto affair.

CONI said on its website Wednesday that Valverde has been summoned to a hearing for Monday.

Italian media reports said DNA tests on blood samples taken from the rider last July match blood samples seized by police from the laboratory of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

Turin, Italy - Carnival-time is approaching in Italy, but in a new twist to the custom of wearing disguises, a robber has held up a bank wearing a mask resembling Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, news reports said Wednesday.

The man, together with two accomplices, all armed with toy pistols, broke into a branch of the Unicredit bank in the north-western city of Turin.

Police intervened and arrested two of the robbers, including the false "Berlusconi" and another man who was wearing a mask resembling one of Berlusconi's close aides, Marcello Dell'Utri. The third suspect managed to escape.

Rome- Following the controversial death of Eluana Englaro, a comatose woman at the centre of a right-to-die debate in Italy, lawmakers said Tuesday they would seek to introduce legislation on so-called "living wills".

Proposals mentioned differ in the extent to which people could use such documents to specify before their death what type of medical treatment they wish to receive.

The documents would be used in the event of a person falling into a permanent vegetative state, like Englaro's, and losing the ability to communicate their wishes.

London  - Brazil's Italy-based internationals said Monday they were looking forward to meeting the Azzurri in a high-level friendly in London Tuesday.

Inter Milan defender Douglas Maicon, one of the 10 Serie A players summoned by coach Dunga, Monday told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "It never occurred to me to play against the national team of the country where I play.

"I hope it all goes well for Brazil. It will certainly be a good experience."

Rome - An ambulance, lights flashing, stops briefly as several protestors attempt to block its path. Then, under sweeping rain, the vehicle moves forward into the night.

The footage, aired repeatedly on Italian television, marked the journey of Eluana Englaro to an old person's home in the north- eastern city of Udine.

Also screened are photographs - dating from the late 1980s or early 1990s - of a tanned young woman, her smiling face framed by the long dark curls of her hair.

Eluana has spent the last 17 years in a vegetative state following a car accident, and her case is now captivating public attention in Italy.