The Italian Almanac

March 13, 1960: birthdate of Luciano Ligabue, songwriter and singer

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Italy's Tonino Lamborghini Group plans to build electric cars in Montenegro, the company's founder said in an interview. Speaking after a two-day visit to Podgorica, Lamborghini said he still did not know exactly where his plant would be located in Montenegro but that it was his intention to initially produce 1,000 electric cars a year. "There is a possibility that a factory can be set up in a relatively short period of time," Lamborghini added. The project has the backing of the Montenegrin government, he added, which is interested in using electric cars for police, airport, postal, tourism and other services.

Tonino Lamborghini is the son of Ferruccio Lamborghini who in 1963 founded the Lamborghini sports car company, which is now fully owned by the German automaker Audi which, in turn, is part of the Volkswagen Group. Tonino Lamborghini started a company under his own name which began with fashion design and accessories but has branched out to include a whole range of lifestyle products and services. His previous experience in car production included the small two-seater Town Life city car which is popular with youths in Italy who drive it using a moped license. Lamborghini also produces a luxury electric golf cart.

Blaming headaches may be a common way to say no to intimacy, but it's no excuse for half a million Italians who cannot have sex without getting a migraine, a Rome headache specialist said. "So-called 'sex headaches' affect about 1% of the population and can be both painful and frustrating," said Pietro Barbanti, director of Rome's San Raffaele Headache Center.

Barbanti explained that sex-related migraines fall into two categories, those which strike during the act and those which follow afterwards. "Headaches that develop mid-coitus are much more common, but the ones triggered by orgasm can be excruciating," he said. Barbanti added while most chronic headaches are more prevalent among women, sex-related migraines are almost three times as common among men. He estimated that around 500,000 Italians suffer from headaches during intimacy, "most of which are bearable enough not to compromise peoples' sex lives".

"The first thing that's important to understand is that sex can trigger migraines and that it's not as uncommon as it sounds. The second thing is that there are usually ways to get the pain under control and sometimes to banish the headaches for good". According to Barbanti, sex headaches are just one of over 200 different kinds of cephalagia experts have identified so far. The Rome specialist said those included some even stranger varieties triggered by seemingly random sights, smells and sounds. "I remember one patient who got a migraine every time she smelled hotdogs," recalled Barbanti. He said other patients got headaches when they coughed, heard thunder or saw bright colors.

A bartender in northern Italy was caught serving vodka to a 12-year-old by police following up on reports of underage drinking at a disco in Lodi. Officers said they caught the man red-handed while mixing a vodka and Pepsi for a boy standing at the bar after taking money from another underage customer, 14, who'd bought a pint of beer.

The raid followed complaints by Lodi parents who suspected their children were drinking at the disco. Both the owner and bartender were cited for serving alcohol to minors in addition to a handful of administrative violations. They said city inspectors would also be by over concerns that the venue failed to meet safety codes.

According to a report released earlier this week by the health ministry, Italians on average start drinking earlier than in any other country in the European union. They consume their first alcoholic beverage by the age of 12 compared to a EU average of 14 and a half, the study said. More than 17.6% of 15-year-olds in Italy said that they drink on a regular or semi-regular basis, which the health ministry says puts them at high risk of alcohol abuse in later life.