French luxury giant LVMH said Friday that it had reached agreement to buy hotel group Belmond, whose properties include the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro and Cipriani in Venice, in a transaction worth $3.2 billion (2.8 billion euros).

Al Pacino may be one of the greatest actors of all time, but he confessed Saturday that he was helped in his latest films by performing alongside a cat and throwing his acting skills out of the window.

Sporting a pair of reflective sunglasses, a spiky haircut and a cheeky grin, "The Godfather" star told journalists his performance in David Gordon Green's "Manglehorn", which is in the running for the Golden Lion, was helped by his feline co-star.

Star designer Rem Koolhaas said Thursday that adapting to architectural modernity can be a "painful process", as he prepared to unveil the program for Venice's architecture Biennale.

The Dutch designer is curating this year's program, which will look back over the past 100 years of innovation.

Italian police on Wednesday arrested 24 alleged separatists for terrorism after thwarting a bizarre plan to take over St Mark's Square in Venice armed with guns and a rudimentary "tank" made from a digger.

Police said they had arrested activists from a group called "The Alliance" on charges of "terrorism conspiracy and subversion of the democratic order," which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Italians in Venice and its surrounding region have voted in an online poll in favor of breaking away from the rest of the country and forming their own state.

Over two million residents of the Veneto region took part in the week-long survey, with 89 percent voting in favor of independence from Italy.

Italians in Venice and its surrounding region are voting this week on whether to break away from rest of the country and form their own state.

The online vote, organized by local independence parties, is not legally binding but aims to galvanize support for a bill calling for a referendum on whether the region of Veneto should split from Italy.

The head of Italy's Northern League on Wednesday said he supported the autonomy bids of Catalonia from Spain and Scotland from Britain, and hoped that the Venice region "will be next on the list".

Matteo Salvini said two other regions of northern Italy -- Lombardy and Piedmont -- could also follow suit, adding that it was time to reduce the powers of the European Union and return to "national and regional sovereignty".

An Italian local politician has alleged the Doge's Palace in Venice was damaged to install an air-conditioning system demanded by a French museum for a rare Manet exhibition that closed on Sunday.

Franco Rocchetta, a former junior foreign minister, has filed a formal police complaint over the exhibition which included the Musee d'Orsay's "Olympia" on its first trip away from Paris since 1890.

A gondola and a vaporetto waterbus collided Saturday on Venice's Grand Canal, killing a 50-year-old German tourist and badly injuring his young daughter, local media reported.

The accident happened around mid-day near the canal city's famous Rialto Bridge as the public transport waterbus maneuvered toward a stop, Italy's Ansa news agency said.

Venice on Sunday enjoyed the sounds of silence as authorities imposed a five-hour ban on motorboats plying the Renaissance city's main waterway in a bid to raise awareness about noise pollution and architectural damage caused by waves.

Boat traffic on the Grand Canal in the world-famous lagoon came to a standstill from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, with only public transport and electric-powered or hybrid vessels allowed to cut through the waters.