Turin, Italy  - Italian industrial group Fiat which earlier this year took control of US car giant Chrysler, reported Wednesday a 62 per cent drop in trading profit for the third quarter compared to the same period in 2008. The Turin-based Fiat said in a statement that the third quarter trading profit - earnings before interest - came to 308 million euros (460 million dollars), down from 802 million euros a year earlier.

Turin, Italy  - Fiat is offering a bi-fuel version of the Qubo on the European market that can run on both petrol and natural gas (CNG), reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 119 g/km, according to the manufacturer.

The Qubo, priced at 16,400 euros (24,500 dollars), forms part of a "range of vehicles" including the Panda and Grande Punto offered by the car maker with a dual fuel option.

Turin, Italy  - Fiat has given the Grande Punto a complete makeover under the new name of Punto Evo with a more elegant design, new engines, start-stop automatic, seven airbags and a Blue&Me-Infotainment system.

The pronounced grille and neat chrome bar between the headlights are lent from the Fiat 500, appealing to the Fiat fan community, but most of the changes are under the hood.

Turin, Italy  - Fabio Grosso and Vincenzo Iaquinta were on target for Italy Wednesday in a 2-0 win over Bulgaria that ended a long scoring drought and virtually secured the Azzurri's presence at the 2010 World Cup finals.

The world champions had gone through a run of four games without scoring, beside beating Georgia 2-0 Saturday through two own goals, and have now a four-point lead over Ireland in Group 8.

The Irish in mid-October will look to beat Italy, who, however, have an easy home game to Cyprus as their last game.

Turin, Italy - Fans warmly welcomed Marcello Lippi Tuesday during a training session the Azzurri squad held at Turin's Stadio Olimpico ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria, the ANSA news agency reported.

A win over Bulgaria Wednesday would push the world champions four points clear of Ireland in Group 8.

The race for first place, which directly qualifies for the 2010 World Cup next summer in South Africa, is likely to be settled in mid-October, when the Irish squad welcome Italy ahead of the last qualifier.

Turin, Italy  - Italian industrial group Fiat which earlier this year took control of US car giant Chrysler, reported Wednesday a second-quarter net loss of 179 million euros (250 million dollars), compared with a net income of 646 million euros for the same period in 2008.

The group which among other products makes Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars, said that despite "an extremely difficult trading environment," trading profit for the quarter was 310 million euros.

Turin, Italy - Fiat has no intention to pull out of its takeover bid for struggling US automotive giant Chrysler, despite a US Supreme Court decision to postpone the deal, a spokesman for the Italian carmaker said Tuesday.

The spokesman was commenting on news reports quoting Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne that he would "never" abandon the Chrysler bid even if a June 15 deadline for the deal to go through were to expire.

Turin, Italy - Nineteen police and an unspecified number of of anti-globalization protestors were injured Tuesday in a second day of clashes in the north-western Italian city of Turin.

None of those hurt were in a serious conditions, news reports said.

The clashes began after some 2,000 people joined a demonstration organized by students opposing a gathering of university officials from the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialised nations whose presidency Italy currently holds.

Turin, Italy - Dozens of anti-globalization protestors hurled eggs at police in scuffles Monday in the northwestern Italian city of Turin.

The demonstration was organized by students opposing a gathering of university officials from the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialised nations whose presidency Italy currently holds.

Police in riot gear charged protestors after several rubbish bins

were overturned and set alight. Four people were taken into custody, news reports said.

Turin, Italy - Juventus Turin will play Sunday's Italian league home game with Atalanta behind closed doors after their appeal against the sanction for racist abuse by their fans rejected.

A high court of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) late Thursday turned down Juve's appeal against a one-game stadium ban.

Juve said on their website that "the bianconeri will therefore play the first of the two remaining home matches, the one against Atalanta, without their supporters."

Turin, Italy - Dozens of birds were killed Wednesday at a private zoo in Italy in an arson attack claimed by radical animal rights activists, news reports said.

Several bottles filled with petrol were used to start the fire which killed some 40 hawks, buzzards and owls in an aviary at the Zoom Zoo near the northern city of Turin.

"This is for the imprisoned animals - Animal Liberation Front" was found spray-painted in red near the scene of the early morning attack.

Firefighters prevented flames from spreading to a warden's shed and other buildings, one of them housing several tigers, the reports said.

Turin, Italy - Carnival-time is approaching in Italy, but in a new twist to the custom of wearing disguises, a robber has held up a bank wearing a mask resembling Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, news reports said Wednesday.

The man, together with two accomplices, all armed with toy pistols, broke into a branch of the Unicredit bank in the north-western city of Turin.

Police intervened and arrested two of the robbers, including the false "Berlusconi" and another man who was wearing a mask resembling one of Berlusconi's close aides, Marcello Dell'Utri. The third suspect managed to escape.

Turin, Italy - Italian industrial group Fiat reported Thursday a 69.8 per cent drop in its 2008 fourth-quarter profit in the face of a global economic slump which has cut demand for cars, the company's main product.

Turin-based Fiat, which earlier this week announced possible merger plans with US carmaker Chrysler, said net profit in the final quarter fell to 180 million euros (232 million dollars) compared to 597 million euros for the same period in 2007.

Full year profit was down 16.2 per cent from euro 2.05 billion in 2007 to euro 1.72 billion.

Turin, Italy  - Fiat is set to revive another old name, the Topolino or "Little Mouse," which it is planning to launch as a new mini car in 2010, Germany's auto-motor-sport magazine reports.

The Topolino, built between 1936-1955, is considered the predecessor to the Fiat 500 - another name which the Italian company has revived with the new retro-look Fiat
500.

Turin, Italy - Some 48,000 workers at auto maker Fiat began Monday an almost month-long vacation, following the company's decision temporarily to halt production at its factories in Italy, a Fiat spokesman said.

The decision by the Turin-based Fiat - Europe's fifth-biggest car maker by market value - to shut its plants until January 12, comes amid the global economic downturn which has had a major impact on the car market.

Fiat, which also produces cars with the Ferrari and Alfa Romeo brand names, has fared better than many other car manufacturers, also thanks to strong sales of its agricultural sector vehicles.

Turin, Italy - Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential vote marks a "great step forward for humanity" that could be mirrored with the election of a black pope, according to a top US Roman Catholic cleric.

"If Obama at the White House is like the first time man (stepped on) the moon, then it can certainly happen at the threshold of St Peter's," the Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton Daniel Gregory, was quoted as saying in an interview published Thursday in an Italian newspaper.

Turin, Italy - At least five people died in a lightning strike, drowning, electrocution, high winds and the downing of a tree as storms struck northern Italy, Poland and Austria.

A 10-year-old boy died Friday in Turin, Italy, after being hit by lightning while a 37-year-old Italian man drowned off Genoa the same day when he was swamped by high waves in the Mediterranean.

A female German tourist, 27, was missing in the rough waters near Ventimiglia, west of Genoa, and other swimmers narrowly escaped drowning before being rescued nearby.

Turin, Italy - Italian industrial group Fiat reported Wednesday a 3-per-cent rise in second-quarter profit over the previous year - a performance sustained by an increase of sales in its auto division including strong growth in the Brazilian market.

Net profit before minority interests totalled 646 million euros (1.02 billion dollars) from 627 million euros for the same period last year, the Turin-based company said in a statement.

Sales rose by nearly 12 per cent to 17 billion euros, it said.

The company's main auto division, which makes Fiat branded models - including the Punto, Bravo and Fiat 500 - as well as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari, recorded a 14-per-cent climb in sales to 8.4 billion euros.

Turin, Italy - A landslide on Thursday near the north- western Italian city of Turin, killed at least two people, news reports said.

One body was recovered from a building engulfed by mud and rocks while the other was found nearby, inside an overturned car, the ANSA newsagency said.

Rescuers were also searching for two people reported missing in the landslide which struck the Villar Pellice area in the Piedmont region where heavy rains had been falling throughout the day. (dpa)

Turin, Italy  - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Thursday defended Israel's right to exist at the opening of the 2008 Turin International Book Fair which has chosen the Jewish state as "guest country".

"There is no dialogue if one moves from a rejection of the state of Israel's legitimacy and its right to exist in peace and security," Napolitano said.

Minutes before Napolitano was scheduled to speak, security guards at Turin's Lingotto complex which hosts the Book Fair, prevented a group of protestors from unfurling a banner criticizing "Zionist Colonialism".