Eyewear giant to emerge from tie-up of Luxottica, Essilor

A new European eyewear giant worth more than 50 billion euros ($52.5 billion) is set to emerge as Italy's Luxottica — owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses — merges with French lens manufacturer Essilor.

Essilor International SA said Monday it had reached a share exchange deal with Luxottica's main shareholder, Delfin, to create a combined company making both frames and lenses.

Shares jumped in both Luxottica, which is based in Milan, and Essilor, headquartered near Paris.

Italy: Hague tribunal OKs marine's return from India for now

An international tribunal in The Hague has decided that an Italian marine being held in India in the shooting deaths of two Indian fishermen mistaken for pirates can return home for the duration of arbitration, the Italian foreign ministry said Monday.

The tribunal's decision, approving an Italian request, was expected to be officially announced in The Hague on Tuesday.

India has accused two marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, of the shootings in 2012 while they were assigned to anti-piracy duties aboard an Italian commercial ship, the Enrica Lexie.

Umberto Eco, author of 'The Name of the Rose,' dead at 84

Umberto Eco catapulted to global literary fame three decades ago with "The Name of the Rose," a novel in which professorial erudition underpinned a medieval thriller that sold some 30 million copies in more than 40 languages.

The Italian author and academic who became one of Italy's best-known cultural exports and keenest cultural critics, died at home in Milan on Friday evening after a battle with cancer, according to a family member who asked not to be identified.

His death was earlier confirmed by his American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.