Rome boosts security measures for Easter.Rome is stepping up security ahead of the three-day visit of US vice president JD Vance who arrived on Friday and will stay in the Italian capital over the Easter weekend.Vance is to meet the Vatican's secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the White House confirmed on Wednesday, without giving further details. He is also scheduled to discuss "economic and geopolitical priorities" with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at lunchtime on Friday, following her return from Washington for tariff talks with US president Donald Trump. Vance, who is accompanied by his wife Usha and their three young children Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel, landed in Rome's Ciampino airport on Friday morning. It is not clear whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, will participate in the Vatican's ceremonies for Holy Week. Neither is it clear whether he will meet Pope Francis who is recovering from double pneumonia and who recently criticised Trump's immigration policies in a letter to the US Catholic bishops. Vance is expected to visit the Colosseum which will close at 18.00 on Saturday, with last admission at 17.00, on orders of Rome security chiefs. Colosseum authorities said the move is to facilitate the "visit of a foreign dignitary, scheduled after the normal closing time of the monument" and that all tickets purchased for an entrance between 17.00 and 18.15 will be refunded. Security arrangements for Vance - who arrived the same day as the Via Crucis ceremony for Good Friday at the Colosseum - are complicated by large crowds of tourists in Rome over the Easter holidays and pilgrims visiting the Vatican for Jubilee Year. The extra security measures include the deployment of snipers, no-fly zones and metal detector screenings as well as road closures and bus detours, with the removal of cars parked along the routes designated for the vice president's motorcade. Security is particularly tight in the Parioli area around the Villa Taverna residence of the US ambassador, where the Vance family will be staying, as well as around St Peter's and the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls where Vance could go on Sunday, news agency ANSA reports. Rome's security plan also includes measures for the US-Iran nuclear talks which are expected to take place on Saturday, probably at the embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in the northern Camilluccia district of the capital. Vance is scheduled to leave Rome on Sunday evening before travelling to India where he will meet prime minister Narendra Modi. Photo credit: Maxim Elramsisy / Shutterstock.com.

Rome is stepping up security ahead of the three-day visit of US vice president JD Vance who arrived on Friday and will stay in the Italian capital over the . Vance is to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the White House confirmed on Wednesday, without giving further details. He is also scheduled to discuss "economic and geopolitical priorities" with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at lunchtime on Friday, following her for tariff talks with US president Donald Trump. Vance, who is accompanied by his wife Usha and their three young children Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel, landed in Rome's Ciampino airport on Friday morning. It is not clear whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, will participate in the . Neither is it clear whether he will meet Pope Francis who is recovering from double pneumonia and who recently  Trump's immigration policies in a letter to the US Catholic bishops. Vance is expected to visit the Colosseum which will close at 18.00 on Saturday, with last admission at 17.00, on orders of Rome security chiefs. Colosseum authorities  is to facilitate the "visit of a foreign dignitary, scheduled after the normal closing time of the monument" and that all tickets purchased for an entrance between 17.00 and 18.15 will be refunded. Security arrangements for Vance - who arrived the same day as the for Good Friday at the Colosseum - are complicated by large crowds of tourists in Rome over the Easter holidays and pilgrims visiting the Vatican for . The extra security measures include the deployment of snipers, no-fly zones and metal detector screenings as well as , with the removal of cars parked along the routes designated for the vice president's motorcade. Security is particularly tight in the Parioli area around the Villa Taverna residence of the US ambassador, where the Vance family will be staying, as well as around St Peter's and the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls where Vance could go on Sunday, news agency ANSA reports. Rome's security plan also includes measures for the US-Iran nuclear talks which are expected to take place on Saturday, probably at the embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in the northern Camilluccia district of the capital. Vance is scheduled to leave Rome on Sunday evening before travelling to India where he will meet prime minister Narendra Modi. Photo credit: Maxim Elramsisy / Shutterstock.com.