The city of Rome unveiled a revamped statue of Pope John Paul II on Monday after the first one was pilloried by the public and the Vatican.

Artist Oliviero Rainaldi said he was pleased with the final product, saying it matched his original vision. He blamed workers for a botched assemblage the first time around.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi attended on Sunday the enthronement of the new Coptic pope in Cairo ahead of the Nov. 24 ceremony that would officially appoint him as a new cardinal in the Catholic church.

The enthronement of Bishop Tawadros was held at Cairo's St. Mark's Cathedral.

The Rome Film Festival opened in the Italian capital on Friday with a line-up dedicated mainly to emerging talents, swapping red carpet stars for films by Tajik, Catalan and Mexican directors.

Ahead of a glitzy opening ceremony, artistic director Marco Muller, who previously headed up the Venice Film Festival, denied claims the lack of blockbusters had hurt ticket sales, which are down 15 percent on last year.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi condemned on Saturday the Ashrafiyeh bombing in Beirut on Friday and the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Wissam al-Hasan, lamenting the fact that it came shortly after Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon in September.

He said in a statement: “We strongly condemn these criminal acts that remind us of days that we thought we had overcome.”

Part of an early 19th-century wall near a panoramic terrace overlooking an ancient square in Rome has collapsed.

No one was injured when about 9 meters of the Pincio wall fell over above Piazza del Popolo before dawn on Wednesday. Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno inspected the damage and promised the wall would be repaired in two weeks.

Syrian dissidents meeting in Rome signed a joint appeal Thursday for a political solution to the Syria conflict, calling for a ceasefire, the release of detainees and national reconciliation.

"We cannot accept Syria being transformed into a theatre of regional and international conflict," said the 17 signatories of the appeal, including leaders of the National Coordination Body and the Democratic Forum.

Workers have occupied the famous Cinecitta film studios in Rome where classics like "Quo Vadis" and "Cleopatra" were shot in a protest against a major renovation project, trade unionists said on Monday.

"Dozens of workers and artisans will be forced to leave," Alberto Manzini, a regional official from Italy's biggest trade union, CGIL, told Agence France Presse.

Italian art experts have reportedly discovered around 100 drawings and a number of paintings by the Renaissance master Caravaggio in a find that could be worth over $860 million.

Maurizio Bernardelli Curuz and Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli found the works among a collection held at Milan's Sforza Castle by pupils of painter Simone Peterzano with whom Caravaggio studied from the age of 11.

Leave it to Italians to come up with just the thing to survive the dog days of summer: canine gelato.

This Italian ice cream for dogs contains no milk, eggs or sugar, which are harmful to canines. With temperatures in Rome topping 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) this week, dogs are lapping up the icy treat at a pet supply store on the outskirts of the capital.

World War II bunkers built to protect Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and Italy's royal family in the heart of Rome can be explored by the public through a new website launched on Tuesday.

The website www.bunkerdiroma.it locates each bunker on the map, gives a description of the shelter and includes links to video footages or images of the structure.