Italy

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July 2008
- Rome Cracks Down on Revelers
  
  newser | Reuters | Jul 11, 08 5:50 PM CDT
  
  Rome's residents and visitors had best behave themselves for the next 4 months: An experimental ordinance bans eating and drinking in the streets of the Eternal City, and cracks down on hooligans who want to "shout, sing or be noisy," Reuters reports. The newly elected mayor enacted the law, which applies through October in "areas of historic, cultural or artistic value." More »
- EU Blasts Italy Over Gypsy Fingerprinting
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jul 10, 08 1:00 PM CDT
  
  Italy’s mandatory fingerprinting of its Gypsy minority is "an act of discrimination based on race and ethnic origin" and should be stopped, the European Parliament said in a resolution passed today. The assembly voted 336-220, with 77 abstentions, to condemn the practice—though the resolution is not binding, the AP notes. Italy continues to defend the program as a necessary measure to fight street crime. More »
- Imposter Priest Confessor Nabbed at Vatican
  
  newser | BBC | Jul 6, 08 8:00 AM CDT
  
  A phony priest was stopped just as he was about to hear confessions in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the BBC reports. The man had on the right clothes and produced valid-looking priestly documents and Vatican ID—"but the expert eye of our personnel didn't need much to sense something strange in his behavior," said a Vatican judge. More »
- Italians Impatient With Alitalia Rescue Efforts
  
  newser | Bloomberg | Jul 4, 08 5:33 PM CDT
  
  Fed up with government efforts to resuscitate Alitalia, many Italians think Rome needs to face reality and let the airline die, Bloomberg reports. PM Silvio Berluconi characterizes Alitalia’s survival as “a matter of national security,” but it hasn't turned a profit in nearly a decade. The latest plan for Alitalia is a restructuring scheme by Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s second-largest bank. More »
- Italy Calls In Shrinks for Garbage Crisis
  
  newser | Der Spiegel | Jul 3, 08 8:50 PM CDT
  
  Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a “final solution" to Naples' trash problem—and it includes psychologists, Der Spiegel reports. Naples, whose overflowing landfills have led to intermittently trash-choked streets for years, will soon be invaded by an army of volunteers, including a group of psychologists trained in counseling disaster survivors. Berlusconi has also pledged to clean up the garbage. More »
- Italy Plan to Fingerprint Gypsies Under Fire
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jul 3, 08 12:31 PM CDT
  
  Italy has begun taking fingerprints from members of its Gypsy minority, in what the government calls a “census” of the people living in nomad encampments. The plans to document adults and children lacking an EU passport has brought condemnations from critics, who charge that “census” is the Berlusconi government’s euphemism for a racist practice, the BBC reports. More »
June 2008
- Divorced Berlusconi Challenges Communion Ban
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Jun 23, 08 2:29 AM CDT
  
  Beleaguered Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi caused a scene in a church over the weekend, loudly demanding from a startled bishop in the middle of mass: "When are you going to change this rule that stops me taking communion?" Berlusconi, like other divorced Catholics who remarry, is banned from receiving the sacrament. The prime minister, who has been lobbying to halt his corruption trial, now has his sights set on Vatican policy, the Guardian reports. More »
- Controversy Erupts Over Dutch Goal
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jun 10, 08 11:38 AM CDT
  
  When Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the Netherlands' first goal in yesterday's Euro 2008 match, Dutch and Italian fans alike waited for the offsides call. It didn't come, leaving the Italians incensed, the Dutch warily pleased, and the officials defiant. UEFA confirmed today that van Nistelrooy wasn't offsides thanks to a little-known rule, AP reports. More »
- 'Super' Mafia Witness Gunned Down in Naples
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Jun 3, 08 2:18 AM CDT
  
  The boss of a garbage disposal firm with Mafia links who had turned informant was gunned down in a bar near Naples yesterday, the Guardian reports. The murdered man had been helping police target gangs that control waste disposal in the city, currently gripped by a garbage crisis. He had been due to testify this week against an accused gangster who's a member of Italy's ruling party. More »
- Vatican Mulls the Case for St. John Paul II
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jun 2, 08 8:24 AM CDT
  
  He may have served as the spiritual leader for millions of Catholics for more than 26 years, but the soul of Pope John II is under intense scrutiny in Rome. The Washington Post takes a look at the office charged with determining whether the beloved pontiff is eligible for sainthood—as it sorts through stacks of documents attesting to or refuting his suitability for beatification (prerequisite: one miracle) and finally canonization (prerequisite: one more miracle). More »
May 2008
- Damn Straight! Leaning Tower Stabilized
  
  newser | Times (UK) | May 29, 08 3:06 AM CDT
  
  Italian engineers have stabilized the leaning Tower of Pisa, safeguarding it from toppling over for at least another 300 years, the Times of London reports. The famously off-kilter tower began tilting shortly after construction started in 1173, and was in danger of falling. Engineers didn't try to straighten it completely, as Benito Mussolini once dictated, but succeeded in getting it back to its 19th century angle. More »
- Drugged California Tourist Killed by Train in Rome
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | May 27, 08 4:27 AM CDT
  
  An elderly American tourist drugged by a thief was killed by a train as he wandered along the tracks in a daze, the Los Angeles Times reports. The 76-year-old traveler and his wife were befriended by a man who gave them drug-laced cappuccinos in a Rome train station and then robbed them as they slept. A 54-year-old suspect has been arrested. More »
- Trash Fires Blaze Across Naples
  
  newser | AFP | May 19, 08 11:53 AM CDT
  
  The prolonged garbage impasse in Naples has taken a new turn as angry residents began setting fire to thousands of tons of waste littering city streets. Firefighters were at work all night battling at least 90 burns across the city, AFP reports. “Every six to seven minutes, one of our emergency vehicles sets off with its sirens screaming,” said a local commander; new Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is set to unveil new measures to deal with the crisis Wednesday. More »
- Italian PM Fair Game in Trial Involving US Rendition
  
  newser | Reuters | May 14, 08 3:31 PM CDT
  
  Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi can be called to testify in the upcoming trial of US and Italian spies, an Italian judge ruled today. A CIA-led group is accused of kidnapping a suspected terrorist off the streets of Milan and torturing him for four years under the US' "extraordinary rendition" approach. Berlusconi isn’t accused of anything; instead, he’d testify regarding secret government matters. More »
- Man Nabbed for Shooting 3,000 Rear Views
  
  newser | BBC | May 13, 08 8:25 AM CDT
  
  A Venice man could be facing time behind bars after being caught sneakily snapping photos of women's bottoms—3,000 of them, the BBC reports. Cops busted the suspect after noticing him carrying a bulky bag and following women in short skirts, waiting for them to bend over. The rear-guard police action also netted the stalker's camera and DVDs with his collection. More »
- Padre Pio's Shrine Now 2nd Only to Vatican
  
  newser | ANSA (Italy) | May 8, 08 6:12 PM CDT
  
  Move over, Lourdes. Padre Pio’s shrine in southern Italy is now the world’s second-largest religious tourist destination, reports the ANSA news agency. About 9 million tourists will visit the saint’s body, a million more than the French site and second only to the Vatican. More »
- Rome's New Mayor Vows to Raze Renowned Museum
  
  newser | Times (UK) | May 2, 08 12:22 PM CDT
  
  Only a few days into his mandate, Rome's new right-wing mayor has sworn to dismantle a state-of-the-art museum designed by American architect Richard Meier, reports the Times of London. Gianni Alemanno called the Ara Pacis museum, built 2 years ago to house a peace altar from the Augustan period, "invasive" and "a disfigurement in the heart of Rome," prompting protests from the city's cultural elite and the architect himself. More »
- Italy Puts All Salaries Online
  
  newser | BBC | May 1, 08 4:12 PM CDT
  
  The outgoing Italian government posted all citizens’ earnings and tax information, briefly, on the Internet yesterday, sparking outrage over lost privacy, the BBC reports. The site was quickly clogged by Italians checking up on neighbors’ and celebrities’ financial status. The information went offline after about 24 hours in response to a complaint from the country’s privacy overseers. More »
April 2008
- 'Post-Fascist' Elected Mayor of Rome
  
  newser | Times (UK) | Apr 29, 08 7:07 AM CDT
  
  After decades of center-left rule, the city of Rome elected a rightwinger with a past in a neo-Fascist group as mayor yesterday. Gianni Alemanno, whose party calls itself "post-Fascist," won a runoff election for control of the Italian capital, handily beating the country's outgoing deputy prime minister. Alemanno has promised to expel 20,000 "gyspies and immigrants" from Rome, writes the Times of London. More »
- No Rest for the ... Faithful? Italy's Padre Pio On Display
  
  newser | BBC | Apr 24, 08 7:35 PM CDT
  
  Beloved saint Padre Pio, exhumed in March after 40 years, is now on display in southern Italy, where 700,000 faithful have signed up to view his remains, BBC reports. The archbishop who ran the exhumation marveled at the body: “The knees, hands, mittens, and nails are clearly visible.” More »