Bomb blast damages Rome school

A bomb blast early today damaged the Spanish school in Rome, breaking windows and smashing the gate but causing no injuries.

Cervantes School on Janiculum Hill was empty when the blast went off at 4:45am (0345 BST). There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The school, which has about 170 students, serves the Italian capital’s Spanish community. It is located in a residential area.

Spanish media speculated that the blast may have been the work of the Basque separatist group ETA.

Basque terrorists set off bombs in a number of Italian cities in the 1990s, but there have been no recent attacks in Italy linked to the group.

ETA has killed more than 800 people since the late 1960s in its campaign for an independent Basque state.