Rome  - The death count from Mond

Rome  - Veteran striker Christian Vieri has left Italy for a tryout with Los Angeles Galaxy days after his abrupt departure from Serie A side Atalanta.

The weekly Chi, in a report made available ahead of Wednesday's publication, reported that the 35-year-old Vieri asked David Beckham to help him to link up with the California club. Beckham is currently at AC Milan, on loan from the Galaxy.

Vatican City - The faithful will be invited to reflect on the persecution of Christians in India in prayers at this year's traditional Good Friday Way of the Cross ceremony at Rome's Colosseum, the Vatican said Tuesday.

Pope Benedict XVI is set to preside the evening ceremony - also known as Via Crucis - which commemorates Jesus' final hours including his crucifixion.

Washington, April 7: Researchers are using cutting-edge imaging techniques in the digital restoration of a
2000-year old Roman statue, providing clues to the decoration of Roman statues that had previously been only guessed at.

According to a report by Media Newswire, the delicately painted statue, which was discovered in the ancient ruins of Herculaneum in 2006 and believed to depict an Amazon Warrior, is now the subject of a joint restoration project by the University of Southampton, the University of Warwick, and the Herculaneum Conservation Project.

Rome - The death toll from an earthquake that struck central Italy in the pre-dawn hours of Monday has risen to 179, reported the coordinating centre for rescue services from the battered town of L'Aquila.

Of the dead, 40 bodies still need to be identified. An additional 34 people are still missing more than 24 hours after the earthquake, which registered between 5.8 and 6.2 on the Richter scale.