City News

After shooting in London, Barcelona and Paris, Woody Allen made his latest European backdrop Rome. To Rome With Love opens Friday in Italy — in Italian. The movie is a magnificent postcard of the eternal city — a carefree romp along cobblestone streets nestled between ancient ruins and Renaissance palaces. A soft yellow glow pervades every scene. It projects an image of the sweet life with all the charms under the Italian sun, set to the tune of old standbys like “Volare” and “Arrivederci Roma.”

Allen has said he grew up watching Italian cinema and was influenced by its grand masters. While there’s nothing neorealist in his latest movie, it has an echo of Fellini’s The White Sheik, and Penelope Cruz’s performance in one segment calls to mind Sofia Loren’s high-end call girl in Vittorio de Sica’s Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

Tourists in Rome yesterday may have felt they had stepped back in time as Roman centurions – complete with red skirts, tunics, armour, swords and feathered helmets – fought in front of the Colosseum.

This time, however, it was with a modern enemy, as Rome’s city police arrived at the ancient amphitheatre to enforce an eviction notice for the men, who ask for money to have their picture taken by tourists.

A Rome woman was injured this week after a one-car crash in which alcohol and excessive speed were both factors, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office said.

Valerie Ross, 31, was headed northeast on Bartlett Road when she lost control of her Honda Civic on a curve where the pavement was wet. Her vehicle struck a ditch, a utility pole a mailbox and a culvert before coming to rest in the front yard of a nearby residence, deputies said.

If the International Olympic Committee is feeling dejected by Rome’s eleventh-hour decision to withdraw its bid to host the 2020 summer Games, it is not letting on. More >

A rare mantle of snow blanketed the historic centre of Rome Friday, forcing the closure of schools and tourist sites such as the Colosseum as Pope Benedict XVI took a peek at the snowflakes. More >

French luxury brand Louis Vuitton will open a boutique and jewellery studio on Paris’ Place Vendome this spring and is preparing its first perfume, the label’s head Yves Carcelle told AFP Friday.

“In April we will have our own jewellery workshop and in May will will open our boutique in the same building,” Carcelle said during the inauguration of the “Maison Rome Etoile,” Louis Vuitton’s new shop in the eternal city.

Usain Bolt will race over 100 metres at the Compeed Golden Gala in Rome on May 31.

The triple Olympic champion will headline the third Diamond League meeting of the season ahead of the defence of his titles in London. The Jamaican won last year’s meeting in 9.91 seconds before sensationally false starting in the final at the World Championships in Daegu.

More police are being deployed in Rome after robbers shot and killed a man and his 8-month-old child outside their home. More >

The Colosseum lost another piece Tuesday as Rome’s most famous monument deteriorated further ahead of a long-delayed restoration funded by an Italian billionaire now scheduled to start in March.

The chunk of volcanic rock fell from one of the iconic arches of the nearly 2,000-year-old structure just two days after a similar incident reported by a group of concerned tourists on Christmas Day put local staff on alert.

The Colosseum — a 50,000-seat amphitheater that was completed in 80 AD and used for gladiator contests and mock sea battles — is at the center of a busy traffic junction and is inundated with thousands of tourists every day.

A parcel bomb has exploded at a tax collection office in the Italian capital Rome, injuring the director.

Officials at the Equitalia agency said the blast shattered a glass desktop, causing hand and eye injuries to director Marco Cuccagna.

Police said the package also contained a leaflet signed by the Italian anarchist group FAI.

The FAI has said it sent a letter bomb on Wednesday to the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.