Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman who created Italy's largest media company before transforming the political landscape, died on Monday aged 86.
Two members of the Italian government mourned his passing, with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini calling him in a statement "a great man and a great Italian".
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on Twitter that Berlusconi's death amounted to the end of an era. "I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio," he said.
Berlusconi, who was prime minister during 1994-5, 2001-6 and 2008-11, had been suffering from leukaemia and had recently developed a lung infection.
Berlusconi's Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, and although he himself did not have a role in government, his death is likely to destabilise Italian politics in the coming months.
His business empire also faces an uncertain future. He never publicly indicated who would take full charge of his MFE company following his death, even though his eldest daughter Marina is expected to play a prominent role.
Shares in MFE were up by more than 9 per cent at around 0900 GMT.
U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.
Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.
Russia launched a barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing at least four people and injuring 35 in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, regional officials said.
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