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*Graphic: Italy- Germany bond yield spread narrows to 159 bps. LONDON, Aug 16- The gap between Italy's and Germany's bond yields narrowed on Wednesday as Rome posted healthy growth numbers that should help keep its high debt levels in check. Italy's economy maintained firm growth in the second quarter, in line with expectations, thanks to healthy domestic demand...

ROME— Italy will host a summit of G-7 interior ministers centered on security issues in the fall. Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti says the meeting is being organized at the request of Italy's G-7 partners: Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. Italy currently holds the rotating helm of the Group of Seven industrialized...

MILAN, Aug 11- Monte dei Paschi di Siena reported a 3.1 billion euro second-quarter loss after additional writedowns on the bad loans Italy's fourth biggest bank is selling as part of its bailout by the state. After months of talks with European regulators, the bank completed an 8 billion euro capital increase to strengthen its finances this week.

Aug 11- Toshi Sugiyura and his wife Naka had a pleasant surprise awaiting them in San Francisco when the couple arrived from Japan on an anniversary trip, thanks to the U.S. dollar's months-long slide against the yen. "We could see more spending by those who already planned to come," said economist Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics in Philadelphia.

Italian police have arrested 30- year-old Herba over the abduction of Chloe Ayling, who says she was lured to Milan on the pretext of a photo shoot. Six days after the alleged July 11 abduction, Herba took Ayling to the British Consulate in Milan. Herba was born in Poland and lives in Oldbury, a town in the West Midlands area of central England.

PARIS, Aug 7- French media giant Vivendi said on Monday it has no "de facto control" over Telecom Italia under Italian law. Italy's government is looking into whether Vivendi breached an obligation to notify Rome of its "direction" role at Telecom Italia, a company considered a strategic national asset. In an interview with newspaper La Stampa last month, the...

PARIS, Aug 7- Vivendi has no "de facto control" over Telecom Italia under Italian law, the French media group said on Monday in response to a demand from Italy's markets regulator. However, Bollore's growing influence has come under increased scrutiny from Italian authorities because the telecoms operator is considered a strategic asset by Rome.

MILAN, Aug 7- Italy's new telecoms network company Open Fiber would be in a good position to buy Telecom Italia's network, it said on Monday, adding to a growing debate on whether the former phone monopoly should sell its most prized asset. Telecom Italia and Open Fiber, which was founded at the end of 2015, are building competing fast internet networks across Italy,...

MILAN, Aug 7- Italy's new telecoms network company Open Fiber would be in a good position to buy Telecom Italia's network, it said on Monday, adding to a growing debate on whether the former phone monopoly should sell its most prized asset. Telecom Italia and Open Fiber, which was founded at the end of 2015, are building competing fast internet networks across Italy,...

MILAN, Aug 5- Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a 30- year-old man suspected of abducting a British model in Milan and threatening to auction her online unless a ransom of $300,000 was paid. Police said in a statement the 20- year-old Briton had arrived in Milan on July 10 for an alleged photo shooting arranged through her agent.

MILAN, Aug 5- Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a 30- year-old man suspected of abducting a British model in Milan and threatening to auction her online unless a ransom of $300,000 was paid. Police said in a statement the 20- year-old Briton had arrived in Milan on July 10 for an alleged photo shooting arranged through her agent.

MILAN, Aug 5- Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a 30- year-old man suspected of abducting a British model in Milan and threatening to auction her online unless a ransom of $300,000 was paid. Police said in a statement the 20- year-old Briton had arrived in Milan on July 10 for an alleged photo shooting arranged through her agent.

MILAN, Aug 5- Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a 30- year-old man suspected of abducting a British model in Milan and threatening to auction her online unless a ransom of $300,000 was paid. Police said in a statement the 20- year-old Briton had arrived in Milan on July 10 for an alleged photo shooting arranged through her agent.

MILAN, Aug 5- Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a 30- year-old man suspected of abducting a British model in Milan and threatening to auction her online unless a ransom of $300,000 was paid. Police said in a statement the 20- year-old Briton had arrived in Milan on July 10 for an alleged photo shooting arranged through her agent.

BARCELONA/ ROME/ SARAJEVO, Aug 4- Chronic overcrowding in some of Europe's beloved tourism hotspots is fuelling an angry backlash, from polite protest to "Go Home" graffiti and even physical intimidation. Across southern Europe, from the choked boulevards of Gaudi's Barcelona to the swarms of cruise liners disgorging passengers into Croatia's mediaeval...