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By Barbie Nadeau and Antonia Mortensen, CNN Rome's Trevi Fountain is seen during the opening of the temporary public walkway. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images/CNN Rome's baroque Trevi Fountain opened Saturday morning (local time) with selfie-takers lining a newly installed metal walkway, as workers start the painstaking process of carefully cleaning the 18th-century masterpiece. The walkway, made of building scaffolding and covered with a vinyl rug, can hold 130 people at a time, giving tourists a chance to get a close look at the statue of Oceanus and his horse-drawn chariot. But a warning to those visiting the attraction because tossing a coin into the fountain, a long-standing tradition, is now banned. In fact, anyone who does so will face a €50 (NZ$90) fine. Coins are only ...

By Jason Lange, Reuters The US Capitol in Washington, DC, United States. Photo: AFP/Aashish Kiphayet Republicans appear close to clinching control of the US House of Representatives, a critical element for President-elect Donald Trump to advance his agenda when he returns to the White House in January. With votes still being counted from the 5 November general election, Republicans had won 212 seats in the 435-member House, according to Edison Research, which projected on Friday night that Republican Jeff Hurd had enough votes to keep Republican control of Colorado's 3rd congressional district. Republicans need to win six more seats to keep control of the House and they already have enough victories to wrest control of the US Senate from Democrats, though Edison Research projected la...

British chef Jamie Oliver in London on 1 May, 2018. Photo: AFP / Ben Stansall British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has announced he will no longer sell his children's book, after coming under fire for what Indigenous critics called "erasure, trivialisation and stereotyping". Oliver's book, Billy and the Epic Escape, tells a fictional account of a group of friends on a summer adventure when an Indigenous girl living in foster care is abducted. The story sparked outrage among Indigenous authors and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation called for the book to be withdrawn, The Guardian reported on Saturday. Billy and the Great Escape by Jamie Oliver. Photo: Supplied / Penguin Random House The corporation told The Guardian the book was "disrespectful"...

By Graham Hurley, CNN Alex Davis, a diver in Barbados, uncovered a graduation ring owned by Morgan Perigo who lost the ring on a trip with his kids in 1977. Photo: Alex Davis / McMaster University A day before Morgan Perigo's 83rd birthday last month, an unexpected package showed up on his doorstep. Inside was the 1965 McMaster University graduation ring he lost in 1977. The package was from Alex Davis, a professional free diver and spear fisherman who runs a tourism business in Barbados. During a slow week for the tourism trade, Davis checked webcams showing a spot he was interested in after it had been churned by Hurricane Beryl earlier in the year. "So, areas where it was like a beautiful sandy beach, suddenly you can see all these rocks exposed ... With that sort of in mind, I wa...

Donald Trump at an election night event in Florida. Photo: AFP / Jim Watson "What are we learning about America as we see these numbers?" the BBC's Nuala McGovern asked a deflated Democratic Party pollster last Wednesday, near the end of the BBC's eight-hour global broadcast America Decides. "I don't know anymore," she said, before breaking into nervous, bitter laughter. "Democrats, and maybe Republicans too, need to do some soul-searching about what it says about America that we are willing to probably re-elect a man with 34 felony convictions and not look at the economic picture," she said when she recovered her poise. "What does that mean about what we're willing to put up with and willing to put into the highest office in the land?" she added. The news media were asking themselves t...

Heavy Israeli bombardment pounded the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut overnight. Photo: Nael Chahine Israeli airstrikes killed at least 40 people in Lebanon, including children, Lebanese authorities said Israeli military targeted Hezbollah sites in Tyre and Baalbek Hezbollah escalated attacks, claiming over 20 operations on Saturday Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon over the last day have killed at least 40 people including several children, Lebanese authorities said on Saturday, after heavy Israeli bombardment pounded the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut overnight. At least seven people were killed in the coastal city of Tyre late on Friday, Lebanon's health ministry said. The Israeli military has previously ordered swathes of the city to evacuate but there were no ...

By Graham Keeley, Reuters Nearly 80 people are still missing in what was the most deadly deluge in a single European country since 1967. Photo: AFP/Cesar Manso Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Saturday over regional authorities' handling of devastating floods that killed more than 220 people in one of Europe's worst natural disasters in decades. In the latest demonstration over the floods, protesters filled the centre of Valencia demanding the resignation of regional government leader Carlos Mazon and chanting "Killers!". "Our hands are stained with mud, yours with blood," read one banner. Some demonstrators dumped dirty boots outside the government building while others plastered it with mud. Residents in stricken areas accuse Mazon...

Catherine, Princess of Wales reacts as she speaks to members of the emergency services during a visit to Southport Community Centre in Southport, north west England on October 10, 2024. Photo: AFP / Danny Lawson Princess Kate attended a Remembrance Day event in London on Saturday, in her latest public engagement after undergoing preventive treatment for cancer this year. Kate arrived for the Festival of Remembrance at London's Royal Albert Hall wearing a black dress adorned with a red poppy, which has become a symbol of respect for those who have lost their lives in conflict. She was accompanied by her husband William and other members of the royal family and was followed shortly afterwards by King Charles, whose wife Queen Camilla has cancelled engagements as she recovers from a chest ...