ANSA. Venice residents are to stage a mock funeral for the city Saturday to highlight the drastic shrinking of its native population. Three gondolas will escort a red coffin along famed canals in a symbolic lament for the once-flourishing city's decline. (Read the article)

AFP. An album of Pope Benedict XVI speaking against a background of specially-composed classical and world music will be released on November 30, but the Vatican said it will get only 31,000 euros from the deal.  (Read the article)

REUTERS. An Italian inventor has combined faith and ingenuity to come up with a way to keep church traditions alive for the faithful without the fear of contracting swine flu -- an electronic holy water dispenser. (Read the article)

ANSA. Photographer Gabriele Morrione's portraits of women at a new show in Rome are not just faces but voices who tell visitors what they think about him and themselves. ''I wanted to give the sitters an opportunity to become active rather than passive subjects," said Morrione who asked each to contribute a written piece to accompany her portrait. (Read the article)

ANSA. European Union leaders will pick their first standing president and new foreign policy chief in Brussels next week, the Swedish duty presidency said Wednesday. Italy's Massimo D'Alema, a centre-left former premier and foreign minister, is a frontrunner for the EU foreign affairs job. (Read the article)