- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
Italy holds state funeral for ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi
Italy prepared to say farewell to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi Wednesday, with thousands of people expected at the billionaire's state funeral in Milan.
The ceremony for Berlusconi, who died Monday aged 86, will be held in the city's Gothic Duomo cathedral and shown live on screens in the square.
Berlusconi, adored and loathed by Italians in equal measure, had been ill for several years, though he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government.
"Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that he was a force of nature," former prime minister Matteo Renzi said Wednesday, adding that "nothing will be the same again".
Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Meloni and fellow coalition partner Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League, were expected to attend the funeral, while the European Union will be represented by its economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.
- 'Great man' -
Large wreaths in the colours of the Italian flag stood along the front of the Duomo, where the ceremony was to begin at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT), presided over by Archbishop Mario Delpini.
It was not clear which current or former world leaders would be present.
The longest-serving premier in Italy's postwar history, and re-elected to the Senate last year, Berlusconi was famed for his controversial gaffes on the international stage.
He counted President Vladimir Putin among his friends -- but the Russian leader is subject to an international arrest warrant and cannot travel to Italy.
Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, with whom he held a fake wedding last year and who was at his bedside as he succumbed to a rare type of blood cancer.
She is expected to be joined in the front pews by Berlusconi's two ex-wives and five children, some of whom helped run his empire, recently estimated to be worth around $7 billion.
"You were a great man and an extraordinary father to our children," his first wife Carla Dall'Oglio wrote in a eulogy Tuesday.
- 'Extreme' -
Flags were lowered to half mast on all public buildings from Monday in tribute to a leader whose influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting interests.
Parliament was suspended for three days and the government declared a national day of mourning for Wednesday -- the first time for an ex-prime minister.
The decision was criticised by Berlusconi's detractors, who accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.
Senator Andrea Crisanti said he was "strongly against" such national honours for "someone who had no respect for the state", pointing to Berlusconi's definitive conviction for tax fraud in 2013.
Rosy Bindi, former head of the Antimafia Commission, said it was "inopportune" for "a person as divisive as Berlusconi", and the Repubblica daily said the "institutional shutdown" was "extreme" and compared it to Britain's protocol for Queen Elizabeth II's death.
Berlusconi built a pharaoh-inspired marble mausoleum at his villa in Arcore, near Milan, to house his family and friends when they die.
It was not yet clear if Berlusconi's family had requested the necessary permission to bury him there.
P.Sousa--PC