The Italian Almanac

Italian Art - September 30

The show features 213 works from Italian  and 
foreign museums and private collections which 
will turn  Florence's Palazzo Pitti into "the 
world's most intriguing porn shop."

Italian News - September 30

The trouble started a few days ago, when 
a twenty-kilogram, one metre thirty-tall 
statue of Buddha was placed on the  peak 
of Pizzo Badile.   

Italian Science - September 30

Wine may not only good for the heart and 
soul but could  also help combat  global 
warming,  according to a new study  from 
Italy's National Research Council (CNR).

Italian News - September 29

French actress Carole Bouquet says she 
left actor companion  Gerard Depardieu 
because, among other things,  he never 
shared her love of Italy.   

Italian News / Art - September 29

Hundreds of Florentine art restorers  will 
soon showcase their skills on the Web, the 
first stage in plans to turn the city into 
a sort of 'Silicon Valley' of the sector.

Italian News - September 28

A team of Italian divers is preparing to 
descend  into the waters off the  island 
of  Elba in search of a massive hoard of 
gold and silver coins.   

Italian News - September 28

From  next month Roman school children  who 
dare to  skip  classes could find  it  much 
harder to pull the wool over their parents' 
eyes.

Italian News - September 27

A 18-year-old German tourist was  hauled 
away by police here at the weekend after 
he stripped naked in front of  the world 
famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.   

Italian News - September 27

Alitalia's patriotic credentials were  under 
scrutiny this week when it emerged that  the 
national flag-carrier was guilty of offering 
French cheese at one of its lounges.

Italian News - September 26

Tourists  visiting  Rome may have to pay  a 
nightly  bed  tax  to  offset  the costs of 
maintaining one of the world's most popular 
destinations.   

Italian News - September 26

Lawyers  for the J. Paul Getty  Museum have 
determined  that half  the  masterpieces in 
its antiquities collection were bought from 
suspected dealers.

Italian News - September 24

Camerino's sheet metal  belts made  for 
either sex, lined in leather and satin, 
weigh about two pounds  have a lock  at 
navel level.   

Italian News - September 24

The anti-terrorism drill - the biggest ever 
held in  Italy - involved  two simultaneous 
fake train blasts and a simulated attack on 
an airport bus with hostage-taking.

Italian News - September 22

Health-conscious pizza-fans will  soon 
be  able to  tuck into their favourite 
dish with fewer worries, nutritionists 
announced this week.   

Italian News - September 22

Most  of  Italy's old people don't see 
themselves as such,  claiming  that so 
called 'old age' has little to do with 
how many years you have lived.

Italian News - September 22

Why  is  Italy,  the country with  the 
world’s largest stock of art and forty 
UNESCO heritage sites,  shunned by  so 
many holidaymakers?   

Italian News - September 21

Italy's highway patrol has been  given 
its second Lamborghini squad car to be 
used for both  high-speed  chases  and 
medical emergencies.

Italian News - September 21

The first-ever image  of a soldier in  the 
Ancient Roman navy has surfaced at a major 
imperial  naval base at Ravenna.  Previous 
finds have only shown civilians.   

Italian News / Movies - September 20

An Italian film which scooped a prize at 
the Venice Film Festival has come  under 
fire from the anti-smoking lobby because 
of its cigarette-hooked cast.

Italian Science - September 20

Italian  researchers  have  identified a 
group  of healthy blood cells that  help 
cancers grow. The find represents a step 
forward in cancer research.   

Italian News - September 20

The  winner  of the first  Safe Driving 
Championships,  a 23-year-old man  from 
the northeastern Veneto region, emerged 
from about 300,000 young people.

Italian News - September 19

Thousands of people packed into Naples 
cathedral to watch the blood of patron 
San Gennaro liquefy in the  repetition 
of a centuries-old 'miracle.'   

Italian News - September 19

The government is to soften a new law under 
which   hundreds  of  scooters   have  been 
confiscated  in  the wake  of protests from 
consumer associations and traffic police.

Italian News - September 17

A lost fairytale  by the great Italian 
novelist Italo Svevo has come to light 
hidden among some papers acquired by a 
library in his home-town of Trieste.   

Italian News - September 17

Guzzanti highlights the problem of  censorship 
in Italy,  freedom of  expression and the hard 
life of Italy's  satirical authors.  The movie 
received the longest applause of the festival.

Italian News - September 16


Orthodontists have national convention, as 
do  lawyers and  IT salespeople.  So, some 
might say, why not exorcists?   

Italian Sport - September 16

"I'll make what I think is the right choice," 
said the former 'Golden Ponytail',  who is in 
Tokyo for the launch  of a series of Japanese 
stamps showing highlights of his  career.

Italian News - September 15

A loosening of government gaming rules means 
that Italians will be able to bet legally on 
the  Miss Italy contest for the first  time, 
upsetting contestants.   

Italian News - September 15

The third edition of Caffest is on at Castel 
dell'Ovo, one of the city's most distinctive 
monuments,  from 10am to 8pm  this  Saturday 
and Sunday.

Italian News - September 15

History enthusiasts will be able to see 
Ancient Rome as it would have looked to 
the  likes of Julius Caesar,  Nero  and 
Constantine.   

Italian News - September 13

Il Cucchiaio d'Argento  (The Silver Spoon)  has 
been the best-selling cookery book in Italy for 
more than  half a century,  the  quintessential 
gift for newlyweds, required in every kitchen.

Italian News - September 13

Top Italian photographer  Oliviero Toscani 
continued his famous shock tactics with an 
advertising  campaign featuring two men on 
a black leather sofa, kissing and groping.   

Italian Sport - September 13

A five-set victory over Russia by Montali’s 
heroes sent fans in Rome into ecstasy.  The 
tenacious new  champions of Europe  won the 
title for the sixth time in eight finals.

Italian News - September 12

A prosecutor in Rome has opened an inquiry 
into the death of Italy’s most famous porn 
actress on the suspicion that it was faked 
to hide her links to “a top politician”.   

Italian Music - September 12

The princess of Italian pop, Laura Pausini, 
is one of the musical superstars  featuring 
on an album of duets with late soul  legend 
Ray Charles.

Italian Television - September 10

Thais Souza Wiggers  and Melissa Satta, chosen
from thousands  of young hopefuls,  will  join 
the daily satire program 'Striscia La Notizia' 
(Strip The News) from September 26.   

Italian News - September 8

The 50-year-old 'Die Hard' star will be on 
hand  for  the final night of the  pageant 
which  will be  broadcast live  by Italian 
state television.

Italian News - September 8


Italy  is considering  reviving  the  medieval 
'baby wheel' which  enables desperate  mothers 
to abandon their newborn offspring anonymously.  

Italian News - September 8

Crowe and Ms Spencer looked as though  they would 
have preferred to be in a glamorous  Venice hotel 
after their amorous display on the red carpet for 
the film's festival screening.

Italian News - September 7

As Italian children brace for the shock  of 
returning  to  school  after a  three-month 
summer holiday, child education experts are 
dishing out advice.  

Italian News - September 7

On Monday evening the ceremony  of  baptism 
Andrey Shevchenko’s son took place  in  the 
ancient church St.Vincenco in North-Italian 
city Cernobbio.

Italian Science - September 6

Introns, which account for around 25% of 
the human DNA sequence,  play a  role in 
embryonic development  and  in important 
cellular processes.  

Italian News - September 5

"This is remarkable for Italy," said lawyers 
for 98-year-old Amalia Cuccioletti after the 
judge  lopped  four  years  off a  nine-year 
waiting period.

Italian News - September 5

Although many regions now have fire-prevention 
programmes  in  place,  the  area  of  Italian 
woodland that went up in smoke this summer was 
sharply up on last year's figure.  

Italian News - September 3

A summer music hit has sparked a war of words 
between Italian left-wingers and neo-fascists 
who claim  the Colombian pop song,  La Camisa 
Negra, as their anthem.

Italian News - September 3

Mr Scajola said he viewed cooperation  with 
India as a strategic partnership where both 
countries  could  jointly work  together to 
expand their economic development.  

Italian News - September 2

Organisers of the 2005 Miss Italia beauty pageant 
have decided to have contestants wear  bikinis in 
the finals  as part of  a bid  to bring the  show 
up-to-date and boost viewing figures.

Italian News - September 2

George Clooney,  Russell Crowe,  Spike Lee and 
Gwyneth Paltrow are just some of the Hollywood 
stars  expected  to  light up the  lagoon city 
over the next 10 days.  

Italian News - September 1

New research has pinned down why extra-virgin 
olive oil, a staple of Italian cuisine, helps 
the  nation's  inhabitants avoid tumours  and 
other diseases in their later years.

Italian News - September 1

Pollution,  vandalism  and  natural  decay 
have run up a maintenance bill for Italy's 
cultural heritage  that the  state says is 
too big for it to handle.