The Uffizi Gallery used the the winter COVID shutdown to push ahead with renovations, discovering lost frescoes that will greet visitors when the leading repository of Italian Renaissance art reopens on May 4.

(AP Photo/File)ROME – Paolo Rossi, who led Italy to the 1982 World Cup title and later worked as a soccer commentator in his home country, has died. State-run RAI television, where Rossi worked as a sportscaster, said he had been diagnosed with an incurable illness. Rossi had a remarkable career comeback, leading Italy to the World Cup title after returning from a suspension following a betting scandal in 1980. “Very sad news: Paolo Rossi left us,” Varriale wrote. ___This story has been corrected to show that Rossi won the Ballon d'Or award in 1982, not the FIFA player of the year.

SIENA Alex Zanardi, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist, was transferred to a neurological rehabilitation center Tuesday, a month after getting seriously injured in a handbike crash. The Siena hospital that had been treating Zanardi since the June 19 crash announced that the athlete had been released but, in accordance with Zanatrdi's family, did not say where he was taken. (Zanardi) has shown extraordinary strength, which is a precious gift that hell need on the new challenge beginning today, Giovannini added. Last month, Pope Francis penned a handwritten letter of encouragement assuring Zanardi and his family of his prayers. The pope praised Zanardi as an example of strength amid adversity.