Italy

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Amanda Knox Goes on Trial Once More in Italy
Amanda Knox Goes on
Trial Once More in Italy
in case you missed it

Amanda Knox Goes on Trial Once More in Italy

She tries to lose the final legal stain against her: a slander conviction

(Newser) - Amanda Knox is back on trial in Italy, "and this is a good thing," she wrote in October in explaining what was to come. Knox was convicted of slander for wrongly accusing the owner of a bar where she worked part-time of murdering roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy...

In Ancient Pompeii, This Was a Conversation Starter

Newly uncovered frescoes in ancient banquet hall depict Trojan War characters

(Newser) - Archaeologists excavating new sites in Pompeii have uncovered a sumptuous banquet hall decorated with intricately frescoed mythological characters inspired by the Trojan War, officials said Thursday, per the AP . The hall, which features a mosaic floor, was uncovered as part of a project to shore up the areas dividing the...

Italy's Quest to Protect Its Art Compared to 'a Land Grab'

Cultural code enforcement targets reproductions of iconic works in the public domain

(Newser) - For years, German toy maker Ravensburger has been decorating puzzles with Leonardo Da Vinci's iconic Vitruvian Man drawing. Under European law, copyright protections extend 70 years after the death of an artist, meaning Vitruvian Man has been in the public domain for centuries since Da Vinci's 1519 death....

She Went Ghost Hunting, Was Found Drained of Blood

Authorities searching for male accused of abusing the French victim discovered in Italy

(Newser) - A French woman may have been hunting for ghosts before her body was found drained of blood on the floor of an abandoned church in northwest Italy. The 22-year-old woman, who has not been publicly identified, left her home near Lyon, telling family she planned to search for a haunted...

Italy Has Plan to Save Its Other Leaning Tower

Equipment used on Tower of Pisa will be used to stabilize historic Bologna tower

(Newser) - The historic Garisenda Tower in Bologna is in trouble —but luckily, engineers in Italy know a thing or two about fixing leaning towers. The Bologna tower, older than the Tower of Pisa but not as famous, was closed for restoration in October and authorities warned in December that it...

Italy to Take More Children From Mafia Families

Program places seized children in foster care to break criminal cycle

(Newser) - Italy has decided to broaden its effort to break the cycle of organized crime by intervening in a most drastic way: by seizing children without warning to place them in a life away from their mafia families. The program, which has been in use in the Calabria region since 2012,...

Driver Was Uninsured, Unlicensed—and 103

Elderly woman in Bondeno, Italy, was driving an uninsured car with an expired driver's license

(Newser) - When cops ask to see someone's driver's license at a traffic stop, it's not typical for them to see a DOB that stretches back to the age of Prohibition. But in the Italian town of Bondeno, a 103-year-old woman was busted recently for cruising around in the...

Italian Priest Had a Literal Poisoned Chalice

Officials believe he was targeted for denouncing mafia

(Newser) - A Catholic priest in southern Italy says he had a poisoned chalice—and it wasn't a figure of speech. Father Felice Palamara halted an evening mass in Vibo Valentia, Calabria, on Saturday to contact police after he noticed a strange smell coming from the chalice of wine and water...

Inmates Make Violins Out of Migrants' Boats

Prison in Italy begins an unusual project

(Newser) - The violins, violas, and cellos played by the Orchestra of the Sea in its debut performance this week at Milan's famed Teatro alla Scala carry with them tales of desperation and redemption, per the AP . The wood that was bent, chiseled, and gouged to form the instruments was recovered...

Emperor Constantine Towers Over Rome Once More

Replica of an ancient statue, recreated from original fragments, is unveiled

(Newser) - An imposing statue of the 4th-century Roman Emperor Constantine, which had broken apart in the 1,700 years since its creation, has been resurrected. A replica of the original statue, standing some 43 feet tall, was publicly unveiled Tuesday in the gardens of Rome's Capitoline Museums, "just around...

Activists Slam 'Brutal' Killing of Stalker Bear

M90 was killed in Italy's Trentino province after reportedly following too closely several humans

(Newser) - Local authorities killed a brown bear in Italy this week following concerns that the animal was getting too close, too often to humans in the area. The AP reports that M90 was culled by forestry corps officials on Tuesday in Trentino's Sole Valley, on the orders of the province'...

Italy Fumes Over Woman Held in Chains

Treatment of anti-fascist activist Ilaria Salis in Hungary creates a tricky situation for PM Giorgia Meloni

(Newser) - Italy's government is protesting Hungary's alleged holding of an Italian citizen in "humiliating conditions." Ilaria Salis is accused of attacking neo-Nazis during Hungary's Day of Honor commemorations last February. The 39-year-old elementary teacher from Monza appeared in a Budapest court on Monday wearing chains and...

Here, Doggy DNA Is Key to a 'Poo Crackdown'

Bolzano province in Italy setting up database to nail pooches pooping in public, with a fine for owners

(Newser) - An Italian province is sick of this crap, and it's not going to take it anymore. A database is being set up in Bolzano, in the northern part of the country, to register DNA info from the region's 40,000 or so dogs, so that when they poop...

Musk, Bezos Agree: We Need More People

Jeff Bezos puts ideal human population at a trillion

(Newser) - Carrying his young son onstage to illustrate his point, Elon Musk on Saturday urged the people of industrialized nations to have more children. Immigration alone can't counteract the population declines that Musk said threaten economics. Without demographic changes, he said, "the culture of Italy, Japan and France will...

New Find in Pompeii: a Bakery-Prison for Slaves
New Find in Pompeii:
a Bakery-Prison for Slaves
NEW STUDY

New Find in Pompeii: a Bakery-Prison for Slaves

Enslaved people ground grain in cramped room with barred windows, say experts

(Newser) - The discovery of a cramped room with barred windows in Pompeii has revealed what one expert describes as a "most shocking side of ancient slavery." Archaeologists, who found the room in the working quarters of a large house whose living quarters were lavishly decorated with frescoes and marble...

Elusive Tire Slasher Turned Out to Be a Dog

Billy had police stumped for a while

(Newser) - Police in the small Italian village of Vastogirardi were stumped—someone kept slashing the tires of cars parked near the village center, reports the Guardian . Undercover officers failed to spot the culprit, but newly installed cameras managed to do so last week: The slasher is a dog named Billy. "...

Another of Italy's 'Leaning' Towers May Be in Trouble

Garisenda Tower in Bologna, Italy, is now at 'great risk of falling,' city officials say

(Newser) - There's been no dire update of late on the Leaning Tower of Pisa's vertical challenges , so we're guessing it's still standing strong, but one of Italy's other leaning towers seems to now be in a more precarious position than it was just over a month...

Family Had a Botticelli All Along
$100M Botticelli Found in Home

$100M Botticelli Found in Home

Mayor mediates removal for work headed to Naples museum

(Newser) - Another long-missing painting by a great Italian artist has been found in a private home . Sandro Botticelli's depiction of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ was tracked down in Gragnano, a southern Italy town near Naples, CNN reports. The painting, which was commissioned for the Roman Catholic Church in...

Verdict in Mobster Trial Took Almost 2 Hours to Read

Italian court finds 207 members, associates of 'Ndrangheta crime group guilty

(Newser) - After a trial that was huge in length and significance as well as sheer size, more than 200 people connected to Italy's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate were found guilty on Monday and sentenced to a total of more than 2,200 years in prison. Some 207 people were found...

Investigators Find Remains of US Airman Lost for 80 Years

Remains of Gilbert Myers recovered at 1943 crash site in Italy

(Newser) - It wouldn't have taken long for the family of Gilbert Haldeen Myers to conclude the US Army Air Forces pilot was dead. Though he was declared missing in action, there were no reports of survivors after his crew's B-25 Mitchell bomber, tasked with attacking the Sciacca Aerodrome in...

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