Five arrested

Venice (AFP) - Venice's Christian Democrat regional secretary, Giampietro Favaro, was among five arrested in an inquiry into corruption.

In addition, the Socialist vice-president of the Treviso province, Graziano de Biasi, was held on corruption charges along with two officials and an entrepreneur, Adriano Bergamin. Mr Bergamin, who owns a quarry near Venice, was accused of paying bribes to obtain quarrying licences.