Pope Francis's tomb to open to mourners from Sunday morning
The public will be able to start visiting Pope Francis's tomb at the Roman basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore "as early as Sunday morning", Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni announced on Thursday.
The funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, will take place at the Vatican's St Peter's Basilica before his coffin is transferred to Santa Maria Maggiore later in the day.
The late pontiff broke with tradition in choosing the basilica to be his final resting place over St Peter's, making him the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican since Leo XIII in 1903.
In his 2024 book The Successor, Francis said he had "always had a great devotion" to Santa Maria Maggiore, praying in it before and after every trip abroad.
Italian town bans 'Bella Ciao' resistance anthem during Liberation Day march
Officials in the town of Romano di Lombardia near the northern city of Bergamo drew ire on Thursday by banning the singing of 'Bella Ciao', a historic anthem of the Italian Resistance, at the start of its Liberation Day procession on Friday.
Liberation Day, a public holiday in Italy, marks the end of the Italian Civil War and the Nazi occupation. Italians typically mark the occasion with speeches, marches and protests, during which Bella Ciao is usually sung.
But a note from the town council's president, Paolo Patelli of the hard-right League party, stated that no musical performances - except for solemn pieces like Silenzio and Attenti - would be permitted during the opening segment of the Liberation Day procession, Corriere della Sera reported.
The move is part of a broader trend of local authorities scaling back or outright canceling commemorations, citing the national five-day mourning period declared by the government following the death of Pope Francis on Monday.
While the national government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has not explicitly discouraged Liberation Day events, it has called for them to be conducted in a "sober" manner out of respect for the mourning period.
Eni plans €2 billion in cuts to offset potential tariffs
Italian oil and gas giant Eni said it would make cuts worth €2 billion this year due to the macroeconomic downturn and uncertainty over tariffs.
Eni's quarterly profit dropped by three percent to €1.17 billion from €1.21 billion in the same period this time last year.
The company said in a statement it planned to take "mitigating actions" worth more than €2 billion during 2025 "in response to macro headwinds and uncertainty around trade tariffs."
It cited cuts in capital expenditures, costs and other cash initiatives to offset potential unknowns.
Shares of Eni rose as high as 2.7 percent on the Milan stock exchange to €12.76 following the report.
With reporting from AFP and Luca Rufo.
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