ROME – Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled what they think are the remains of Roman emperor Nero's extravagant banquet hall, a circular space that rotated day and night to imitate the Earth's movement and impress his guests. The room, part of Nero's Golden Palace, a sprawling residence built in the first century A.D., is thought to have been built to entertain government officials and VIPs, said lead archaeologist Francoise Villedieu.
The emperor, known for his lavish and depraved lifestyle, ruled from 37 A.D. to 68 A.D.
The dig so far has turned up the foundations of the room, the rotating mechanism underneath and part of an attached space believed to be the kitchens, she said.
"This cannot be compared to anything that we know of in ancient Roman architecture," Villedieu told reporters during a tour of the cordoned-off dig.
She said the location of the discovery atop the Palatine Hill, the rotating structure and references to it in ancient biographies of Nero make the attribution to the emperor most likely.
The partially excavated site is part of the sumptuous residence, also known by its Latin name Domus Aurea, which rose over the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64.
The purported main dining room, with a diameter of over 50 feet (16 meters), rested upon a 13-foot (4-meter) wide pillar and four spherical mechanisms that, likely powered by a constant flow of water, rotated the structure.
The discovery was made during routine maintenance of the fragile Palatine area, officials said.
Latin biographer and historian Suetonius, who chronicled his times and wrote the biographies of 12 Roman rulers, refers to a main dining room that revolved "day and night, in time with the sky."
Angelo Bottini, the state's top official for archaeology in Rome, said the ceiling of the rotating room might have been the one mentioned by Suetonius, who wrote of ivory panels sliding back and forth to shower flowers and perfumes on the guests below.
"The heart of every activity in ancient Rome was the banquet, together with some form of entertainment," Bottini said at the dig. "Nero was like the sun, and people were revolving around the emperor."
That part of the palace — which sprawled across nearly 200 acres (80 hectares) occupying parts of four out of Rome's seven ancient hills — offered a panoramic view over the Roman Forum and a lake, later drained by Nero's successors to build the Colosseum, Bottini said.
Described by Suetonius as one of Rome's most cruel, depraved and megalomaniac rulers, Nero often indulged in orgies and, fancying himself an artist, entertained guests with his own performances of poetry and songs.
However, Nero did not enjoy the frescoed halls and gold-encrusted ceilings of his Golden Palace for too long. It was completed in A.D. 68 — the year the unpopular emperor committed suicide amid a revolt.

MINNEAPOLIS – Several big airlines this week have added $10 surcharges for most of their tickets for travel on three busy days around Thanksgiving and New Year's holidays.
American and United airlines added the charge for most of their fares for travel on Nov. 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as well as Jan. 2 and 3. On Friday US Airways Group Inc. matched the surcharge, and FareCompare.com said Delta Air Lines Inc. added it, too.
Spokespersons for Southwest Airlines Co. and Continental Airlines Inc. both said they had not added the surcharge.
Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com noted that the Sunday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year, and that the two dates in January are heavily traveled as well.
He said the airlines probably added the charge rather than raise base fares because it was a quick, targeted way to charge more on busy travel days.
"The bottom line this year for consumers is that it's pretty clear that if you procrastinate on your holiday travel, you're going to get stung," he said.
He said holiday fares are still running 15 percent to 20 percent lower than last year, with prices to bigger cities carrying the bigger discount from a year ago.
American added the charge on Wednesday and United matched on Thursday.
Shares of American parent AMR Corp. rose 28 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $8.02. United parent UAL Corp. added 47 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $9.30, and US Airways Group Inc. was up 5 cents to $4.96. Delta Air Lines Inc. rose 13 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $9.05.

WASHINGTON – CORRECTS: U.S. gov't is told Swiss can have access to 3 Americans who have been detained in Iran since July. (Corrects APNewsAlert to show U.S. is told that Swiss, not the U.S., can see Americans held in Iran.)

NEW YORK – Authorities know the identities of three people believed to be in on a terrorist scheme targeting New York City, a law enforcement official has confirmed, as an Afghan immigrant accused of plotting with them to try to turn common chemicals into explosives is due in federal court Tuesday morning.
Najibullah Zazi is to be arraigned in a Brooklyn courtroom on charges he conspired to use weapons of mass destruction. The 24-year-old airport van driver and former coffee cart vendor has denied any wrongdoing.
A letter filed by Brooklyn prosecutors last week argued that that Zazi should be jailed indefinitely because, as an Afghan immigrant with ties to Pakistan, he could flee, and because he "poses a significant danger" to the community.
Evidence gathered — including bomb-making instructions found on his laptop computer — shows "Zazi remained committed to detonating an explosive device" until he was arrested, the letter said.
The law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation continues, confirmed the bombing plot might have targeted mass transit in the New York area.
Authorities released a flurry of terrorism warnings for sports complexes, hotels and transit systems even while saying the plot was disrupted before it become an immediate threat.
The official who spoke to The Associated Press declined to comment further about the co-conspirators, and there have been no reports that the bomb-making materials have been recovered.
The accomplices are suspected of traveling from New York City to suburban Denver this summer and using stolen credit cards to help Zazi stockpile beauty products containing hydrogen peroxide and acetone, which can be key ingredients for homemade bombs, authorities have said.
Before the raids, police detectives showed a source — a Queens imam at a mosque where Zazi had once worshipped — photographs of him and three people considered possible suspects, court papers say. It was unclear whether those three were the same ones suspected of traveling to Denver.
Spokesmen James Margolin for the FBI, Edward Mullen for the New York Police Department and Robert Nardoza for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to discuss the case.
Prosecutors allege that Zazi has admitted that while living in Queens, he traveled last year to Pakistan and received explosives training from al-Qaida. Security videos and store receipts show that when he returned and moved to Aurora, Colo., he and three others bought several bottles of beauty products over the course of several weeks, court papers said.
On Sept. 6, Zazi took some of his products into a Colorado hotel room outfitted with a stove on which he later left acetone residue, authorities said. He repeatedly sought another person's help cooking up the bomb, "each communication more urgent in tone than the last," the papers said.
The FBI was listening to Zazi and becoming increasingly concerned as the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and a New York visit by President Barack Obama approached, officials said. They decided to track him on Sept. 9 when he rented a car and drove to New York.
On Sept. 10, Zazi told the Queens imam in an intercepted phone call that he feared he was being watched, court papers said. The imam later tipped Zazi off, saying police had come around and asked questions, the papers said.
Zazi cut short a five-day trip and flew back to Denver on Sept. 12. He was arrested a week later and initially charged along with his father and the imam with lying to investigators.