Rome - Pope Bened

Rome - A 44-year-old Italian man abducted in Nigeria on April 6 has been released, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The man, Giuseppe Canova, was "unharmed" a ministry statement said, without adding further details on the release.

The ministry said it "thanks the Nigerian Authorities for their proactive collaboration which resulted in a positive solution of the case."

Canova had been working for an Italian company Marlum Construction in the southeastern Nigerian state of Ebonyi when he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

Rome  - Some half-a-billion euros (665 million dollars) in European Union funds could be made available to help reconstruction efforts in Italy following last week's devastating earthquake, a top EU official said Wednesday.

European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani said the Italian government had 10 weeks by which it would have to apply for the money.

Almost 300 people were killed and around 35,000 left homeless in the earthquake which struck the central Abruzzo region on April 6.

Rome - The agent of troubled footballer Adriano has said that the striker has no intention of quitting playing despite his refusal to rejoin Inter Milan, Italian media reported. Gilmar Rinaldi arrived Tuesday in Milan to discuss Adriano's futuer with the Italian champions as he remained in Brazil after being in the national squad for two 2010 World Cup qualifiers at the end of March.

"I think he will resume playing," Rinaldi said. "He needs time to reflect and take a decision. He is quiet in Rio (de Janeiro) with his family. Now we wait to talk with Inter."

Rome - Serie A strugglers Bologna switched coach for the second time this season, calling up veteran Giuseppe Papadopulo to replace Serb Sinisa Mihajlovic, the club's website reported Tuesday. Bologna mildly improved their standing after former star defender Mihajlovic took over from Daniele Arrigoni in November, but at the weekend sank into the three-team drop zone after suffering a fourth straight defeat.

Rome - Rescue teams in Italy's central Abruzzo region continued to sift through the rubble Saturday, six days after an earthquake that left at least 290 dead. Volunteer rescue workers using a special microphone had on Friday night scoured the rubble of a house in the city of L'Aquila, where noises had been heard. There was however little hope of anyone being found alive, according to Italian media reports.

The quake that registered some 6.2 on the Richter scale struck on Monday, destroying scores of buildings in L'Aquila and other nearby towns in the Abruzzo region.