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April 2008
- Waterloo—You Know, Like in the ABBA Song
  
  ANSA (Italy) | Apr 8, 08 11:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An telecom exec came up short in a motivational speech to employees when he called the battle of Waterloo a victory for Napoleon. Now clips of the animated Italian manager urging his staff to "go ahead and score like Napoleon at Waterloo" have become a YouTube hit, the ANSA news agency reports. More »
- Venice Bar Uses Discount to Lure 'Poor Yanks'
  
  Reuters | Apr 8, 08 10:05 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Harry's Bar in Venice has offered hospitality to tourists and expatriates since the days of Ernest Hemingway. But in recent months Harry's has noticed a sharp drop in the number of Americans showing up at the home of the Bellini cocktail. So restaurant owner Arrigo Cipriani has a novel solution: a 20% discount to subprime-stricken Americans for everything on the menu. More »
- Pavarotti Lipsynched Last Performance
  
  Guardian (UK) | Apr 7, 08 9:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Lipsynching isn't just for neophytes like Nikki Hilton—none other than tenor Luciano Pavarotti faked his way through his final public performance at the opening of the Turin Winter Olympics, the Guardian reports. In a new book, Pavarotti's conductor and pianist claims that he recorded the cancer-stricken tenor and the orchestra, and used video trickery to pull the ruse off before millions of TV viewers. More »
March 2008
- Prized Cheese in Italy at Risk
  
  New York Times | Mar 27, 08 7:03 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - More consumers are turning up their noses at Italy’s prized buffalo mozzarella, and not over its smell, the New York Times reports. Toxins have been found in samples of the delicacy, likely caused by illegal dumping of garbage around Naples. Sales are down 40%, and farmers and restaurateurs fear a panic despite that fact that best cheese region appears unaffected. More »
- Prominent Italian Muslim Baptized by Pope
  
  Associated Press | Mar 23, 08 6:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Italy's best-known commentator on Islam converted to Catholicism yesterday at the Vatican, during Easter vigil, and was baptized by the Pope himself, the AP reports. Though Magdi Allam was born a Muslim, he said he "never" practiced his native religion, and made his name criticizing Islamic fanaticism, receiving death threats in the process. More »
- Berlusconi Calls Rival an Obama Copycat
  
  Reuters | Mar 13, 08 10:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi is calling his election opponent a Barack Obama copycat–and not in a good way. To keep his 7-point lead in the polls, Italy's former leader has distributed a package to his People of Freedom (PDL) candidates on how to bash Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni in the media. They prescribe ridiculing the onetime Roman mayor for "systemically" copying Obama's speeches. More »
- US Played Role in '78 Murder of Aldo Moro
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 11, 08 10:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A new book reveals the extent of American involvement in the fate of Aldo Moro, the Italian prime minister murdered by left-wing terrorists in 1978. In We Killed Aldo Moro, Steve Pieczenik, a State Department hostage negotiator, writes about his role in the "crisis committee" that leaked a false statement that Moro was dead a month before his murder, reports the Telegraph . More »
- Court: Italian Women Can Lie About Adultery
  
  BBC | Mar 8, 08 3:05 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Italian adulterers have made their bed, and now the country’s top appeals court says they can lie in it: The Court of Cassation has ruled that married women can tell fibs to cover up an affair to protect their honor, the BBC reports. The judgment stems from the case of a woman who was convicted of giving false testimony to police. More »
- Vatican Goes to Confessional in an Art Museum
  
  Newsweek | Mar 2, 08 9:36 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Sure, thousands of accused witches and blasphemers were burned and tortured during the Roman Catholic Church’s centuries-long Inquisition in the Middle Ages—but, with the help of a new art exhibition, the Vatican hopes to show that it wasn't so bad after all, Newsweek reports. The “Rare and Precious” show will “expose some myths” about the church’s dark past, says curator Mario Pizzo. More »
February 2008
- Only Italians Can Call It Parmesan
  
  Bloomberg | Feb 26, 08 7:36 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Europe's high court ruled today that only Italians can call their cheese Parmesan, Bloomberg reports. The judges shot down an argument by German cheese-makers that the term is generic. "This is absolutely wonderful news," said the author of an Italian cheese guide. "There is no more risk in Europe of finding Parmesan that isn't Parmesan." More »
- Italian Church Pairs Perfume With Prayer
  
  Smithsonian | Feb 20, 08 1:00 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Florence's Santa Maria Novella church has an intriguing sideline: It's home to one of the world's oldest pharmacies, which today churns out tonics and perfumes made according to medieval recipes. Smithsonian profiles the church, where Dominican monks began concocting herbal remedies and rose water, used to clean plague-touched homes, more than 600 years ago; today their wares are sold from New York to Tokyo. More »
- Made in Italy — in a Chinese Sweatshop
  
  Los Angeles Times | Feb 20, 08 9:21 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - For consumers of luxury goods, the "Made in Italy" designation remains so prestigious that it can add 300% to an item's price. But the days of artisans plying their trade in little workshops are largely over, the Los Angeles Times reports, replaced by thousands of Tuscan factories employing Chinese workers at low wages and in deplorable conditions. For many, the labor is little more than indentured servitude. More »
- Venice Squawking Over Pigeons
  
  Der Spiegel | Feb 13, 08 12:58 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Venice's pigeons are nearly as famous as its gondolas, but the days of tourists feeding pigeon in St. Mark's Square could be numbered, reports Der Speigel . Venice has one of the highest pigeon-to-person ratios of any city in the world, and fed-up city politicians want to remove the square's exemption from a 1997 law banning feeding the birds. More »
- Path Clear for Berlusconi in Italy
  
  Der Spiegel | Feb 6, 08 12:39 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Italians will elect a new parliament April 13-14, and if polls are correct, Der Spiegel reports that Silvio Berlusconi will return to office only 20 months after his last defeat. Immediately after today's announced poll date, PM Romano Prodi announced he won't stand, ceding leadership of the center-left to Rome mayor Walter Veltroni. "Someone had to set the example," Prodi said. More »
- Italy Ready for Snap Poll After Talks Fail
  
  Reuters | Feb 5, 08 10:45 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Italy will turn to a snap election in April to form a new government after 4 days of negotiations led by the speaker of the Senate failed to form an interim coalition. Parliament will be dissolved, and polls suggest that Silvio Berlusconi will win a third term as prime minister, Reuters reports. The new administration will be Italy's 62nd since World War II. More »
January 2008
- New DNA Found on Slain British Student's Bra
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Jan 31, 08 5:45 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Mystery DNA found on the bra of Meredith Kercher could point to more players in the November murder of the British student in Italy, the Telegraph reports, though police maintain the t