Italy

Stories 1101 - 1120 | << Prev   Next >>

Say Ciao to Chianti, Sip This Red Instead
 Say Ciao to Chianti, 
 Sip This Red Instead 
WINE REVIEW

Say Ciao to Chianti, Sip This Red Instead

(Newser) - It's time to discover the pleasures of aglianico wines, writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. While many drinkers familiarly sip Chianti and Barolo, aglianico consumption has been largely confined to the diffuse Southern Italian regions where the grape is grown. And while some of the leading aglianicos are...

Italian Judge Will Set Course for Knox Case

Will decide whether to take 21-year-old murder suspect to trial

(Newser) - An Italian judge will review evidence today to decide if Amanda Knox, jailed in Italy for 10 months as a suspect in the killing of 20-year-old British roommate Meredith Kercher, should go free or face a trial, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Attorneys will argue both sides of the case in...

Italians Protest English Words
 Italians Protest English Words 

Italians Protest English Words

Society not 'OK' with native speakers using Anglo shortcuts

(Newser) - One cultural institution is not "OK" with Italians speaking Anglitaliano, the BBC reports. "Weekend" and "OK" topped a list of least-favorite foreign words among visitors to the Dante Alighieri Society website. It shows Italians want more respect for their language, the group says.

Under Italy's Mob, Toxic Trash Heaps Growing

Intimidation rife as garbage threatens public health

(Newser) - Heaps of garbage tower in southern Italy’s legal and illegal dumps, and may even be contributing to cancer and birth defects in the area—but the mafia’s grip on disposal makes it near impossible to fix the problem, the Los Angeles Times reports. “For years the waste...

Vatican Objects to Image of Frog on Crucifix

Calls it 'desecration,' but Italian museum won't take it down

(Newser) - Despite objections from the pope, a sculpture of a crucified frog will continue to hang in an Italian museum, board officials said today. The Vatican slammed the work, called Feet First, as a blasphemous attack on Christianity. But museum officials cited artistic freedom and said its German creator considered the...

Brutal Monk Beatings Shock Italy
 Brutal Monk Beatings Shock Italy

Brutal Monk Beatings Shock Italy

Hooded attackers bound, gagged victims in Clockwork Orange -like attack

(Newser) - A manhunt is under way to find the three hooded men who gagged, bound, and beat four Franciscan monks in an Italian monastery Tuesday night, the Times of London reports. Father Sergio Baldin, the monastery's 48-year-old guardian, was having dinner with three elderly monks when they were attacked. Baldin remains...

Pressured Priest: We'll Have Nun of Catwalks

'Miss Sister' beauty contest canceled

(Newser) - An Italian priest's plans for a nun beauty pageant have been nixed by his higher-ups, the BBC reports. Father Antonio Rungi, who said the idea was to highlight the inner beauty of nuns and smash stereotypes of the sisters as old and dour, decided to draw a veil over the...

Baby Turtles Go Out for Italian
 Baby Turtles Go Out for Italian 

Baby Turtles Go Out for Italian

(Newser) - Sixty baby turtles took Rome restaurant-goers by surprise when they showed up under a table, Reuters reports. The newly hatched creatures normally instinctively head toward the sea from their beach birthplace, but “they saw the artificial lights and took the wrong route,” said a wildlife conservator. “The...

Thinking Inside the Box Means Greener, Cheaper Vino

Quality is rising, so get on board, wine snobs

(Newser) - A move by Italy toward wine in boxes should be a kick in the grapes for US producers and consumers, Tyler Colman writes in the New York Times. “But the sky isn’t falling. Wine in a box makes sense environmentally and economically,” the author and blogger continues,...

Irate Wrestler Chucks Bronze
 Irate Wrestler Chucks Bronze
OLYMPICS

Irate Wrestler Chucks Bronze

Sweden's Abrahamian only out for the gold

(Newser) - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw his bronze medal to the floor during the ceremony, stormed off, and vowed to quit the sport, the Telegraph reports. "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold," Abrahamian said. The wrestler had earlier confronted the judges’ over their decision that eventually...

World's 10 Sexiest Hotels
 World's 10 Sexiest Hotels

World's 10 Sexiest Hotels

From spaceage to Japanese traditional, these rooms ooze appeal

(Newser) - Hotels can inspire us to do more than order room service and watch TV—or so Bill Tikos reports, in his London Times list of the planet’s 10 sexiest hotels:
  • Hotel Puerta America, Madrid: A private terrace with flowers and lemon trees creates a uniquely intimate ambience.
  • Bay of
...

Prosecco Targets Champagne Crown

Italian bubbly makers hope to edge out pricey champagne

(Newser) - Sales of Italy's answer to champagne have been bubbling up for years, Reuters writes, but prosecco producers plan to boost output to 250 million bottles next year, with an eye on someday overtaking champagne as the world's favorite sparkling wine. The bubbly is cheaper to make than its French rival,...

Rome Cracks Down on Revelers
 Rome Cracks Down on Revelers 

Rome Cracks Down on Revelers

New ordinance forbids eating, drinking, noise

(Newser) - 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...

Murder Indictment Sought Against Amanda Knox

Seattle woman accused in death of British student in Italy

(Newser) - Prosecutors are seeking murder indictments against Amanda Knox and two other suspects in the death of the British college student who was Knox's roomate in Italy, the AP reports. Prosecutors in Perugia requested that Knox, 21, of Seattle; her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito; and Ivory Coast citizen Rudy Hermann...

EU Blasts Italy Over Gypsy Fingerprinting

Proposal to fight crime is racist and must stop, parliament says

(Newser) - 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,...

Italians Impatient With Alitalia Rescue Efforts

Berlusconi's pleas for patriotism fall on deaf ears

(Newser) - 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...

Italy Calls In Shrinks for Garbage Crisis

Berlusconi dispatches psychologists as part of promise to clean up mess

(Newser) - 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...

Italy Plan to Fingerprint Gypsies Under Fire

Measure against ethnic minority decried as racist

(Newser) - 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...

Rumors From Vatican: Bush May Convert

Sit-down with pope sparks talk that prez could turn Catholic

(Newser) - President Bush visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican yesterday, sparking rumors that the president may convert to Catholicism, the Telegraph reports. They spoke in a garden where the pontiff prays daily, not in the library where Benedict greets most world leaders. “What an honor!” said Bush, who...

'Unicorn' Deer Spotted in Italy
 'Unicorn' Deer Spotted in Italy 

'Unicorn' Deer Spotted in Italy

Similar anomalies may have inspired myths, experts say

(Newser) - A deer with a single horn in the center of its head has been spotted in an Italian nature preserve, triggering speculation that such anomalies may have helped give rise to unicorn myths, the AP reports. Experts say the year-old deer, born in captivity and nicknamed “Unicorn,” likely...

Stories 1101 - 1120 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser