Mount Etna erupted Wednesday, spitting hot molten rock into the air and down the side of the Sicilian volcano.

Lava was still flowing Thursday, though the spectacular show was cooling off, according to reports.

The blast sent fountains of red-hot lava spewing from the mountain and produced billowing clouds of ash and small particles that covered the Mediterranean sky. more >>

The Shroud of Turin, which many believe to be the burial robe of Jesus Christ – is likely to be authentic in nature, Italian scientists have recently claimed.

The ancient 14-foot long piece of cloth is said to hold remarkable imprints of a crucified man with long hair and a bearded face. However, critics insist the shroud in question is a forgery created in the Middle Ages, somewhere between 1260 and 1390.

Radiocarbon tests conducted in 1988 in Arizona, Oxford and Zurich seemed to prove that theory to be true, but were disputed due to claims that fibers from the cloth were used around that time period simply to repair the shroud, which would explain the skewed findings, The Telegraph reported. more >>

As the new government of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is facing a debt of $2.5 trillion, the country’s center-left parties are asking the Catholic Church to start paying taxes on its bountiful properties that make profit. The church may oblige, sacrificing more than $1 billion annually.

“The Church is willing to review the agreements that extend to the paying of ICI (municipal property tax) on properties belonging to religious institutions,” U.K.’s Daily Mail quoted Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, leader of the Italian Bishops Conference, as saying.

As per a 1982 law, all church properties, including those having a commercial element, are exempt from taxes. This property tax exemption was extended in 2006. “The current norms are correct in that they recognize the social value of activities carried out by many nonprofits, among them church ones, especially is used for social, cultural or educational reasons,” Cardinal Bagnasco said. more >>

President of the Perugia appeals court Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, has offered a rare interview to an Italian newspaper – explaining how the court arrived at their decision to overturn Amanda Knox’s 2009 murder conviction.

Judge Hellmann told La Nazione that the court, comprised of two judges and six jury, followed “their conscience,” ultimately deciding that Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were not guilty of murdering of Meredith Kercher, Knox's British roommate.

“This was a difficult case, controversial but we did what was in our conscience,” Hellmann told La Nazione. more >>

American exchange student Amanda Knox, convicted for murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, was acquitted of the charges Monday and has reportedly left Italy Tuesday.

Knox was released from police custody late Monday night. She reunited with her family outside the prison, where she spent the last four years.

Knox officially left Rome Tuesday morning, on a British Airways flight headed for Seattle, Wash. more >>

After a nearly yearlong appeal trial, an Italian court has acquitted American student Amanda Knox of the murder of Meredith Kercher, ordering her immediate release from jail.

The court announced at about 9:45 p.m. local time on Monday that Knox is not guilty of murder stating that DNA evidence was unreliable. The ruling did convict her of lesser defamation charges after she accused club owner Patrick Lumumba of killing British college student Meredith Kercher in 2007 in Perugia. However, Knox will be released immediately, as she has already served more than enough time for those charges in an Italian prison during her orginal trial and appeal.

The jury of six people and two judges deliberated together against the six counts against Knox. The presiding judge was able to cast two votes, thus the much-anticipated decision was based upon nine votes. more >>