The Italian Almanac

Italian News - August 31

Under a strict policy imposed by the city council,
wild animals at Rome's zoo are  never  allowed  to
reproduce on the grounds that their young  will be
forced into an unnatural lifestyle.

Italian News - August 31

The school's switchboard  has  been  jumping  with
irate calls since authorities  backed  down  on  a
pledge  to transfer  the  so-called  'Porno Prof',
a 30-year-old literature teacher.

Italian News - August 30

Italian environmentalists are  worried  about  the
future of the country's finest beaches, which they
say are threatened by a growing trade in 'souvenir
sand'.

Italian News - August 30

The San Marino Grand Prix,  one  of two  Formula 1
races  traditionally held in Italy each year,  was
excluded on  Tuesday  from  the  sport's  official
calendar for 2007.

Italian News - August 29

Women parliamentarians have presented 13 different
bills - 10 to the  House and three to the Senate -
to change the law that stops children from  taking
their mother's name unless the father is unknown.

Italian News - August 29

The Tuscan city's Santa Maria della Scala  complex
is holding workshops on preparing ancient Egyptian
make-up, skin creams and beauty potions.  The shop
is accompanying an exhibition.

Italian News - August 28

Dieters struggling fruitlessly to lose  weight  may
soon be able to knock back a chemical cocktail that
will help them fight body fat,  according to a team
of Italian researchers.

Italian Movies - August 28

New York's Ellis Island,  the door to America  for
millions of immigrants last century,  has inspired
a major Italian  film  competing  at  this  year's
Venice Film Festival.

Italian News - August 26

Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman is to open  Rome's
eagerly awaited new film festival with her portrayal
of iconic US photographer  Diane Arbus.  Kidman will
unveil the Arbus film, Fur, at the inaugural gala.

Italian News - August 26

The debut edition of the Festival dei Saperi takes
place September 6-10. It has a packed programme of
exhibitions, debates,  shows,  concerts,  literary
readings, conferences and lectures.

Italian News - August 25

Farmers in many parts of northern Italy have called
for the declaration of a state of natural disaster.
They say a severe drought  and  devastating  storms
have destroyed many crops, including basil.

Italian News - August 25

The Apennines with their historical, cultural and
natural heritage will become  a  school  offering
thousands  of opportunities  for  learning  while
having fun.

Italian News - August 24

Economic pressures and  changing  lifestyles  have
more Italians staying home in August,  once a idle
month at the heart of one of Italy's and  Europe's
most cherished traditions.

Italian News - August 24

Irish rock legend Bono paid a  flying  visit  this
week to his old friend Luciano Pavarotti,  who  is
convalescing after undergoing surgery for pancreas
cancer in July.

Italian News - August 23

Enthusiasts have tried to organise 10,000 people to
dip simultaneously in the sea on the  beaches  near
Viareggio in an attempt  to  beat  the  record  for
longest and most numerous sea bathings.

Italian News - August 23

A  previously  unseen  interview  with  Pier Paolo
Pasolini shot just months  before his  murder  has
been incorporated into  a  new  documentary  about
the cult director and intellectual.

Italian News - August 22

I don't, was the odd answer a priest at the Santa
Maria delle Grazie church in the Italian  town of
Squinzano got when asking a groom whether  he was
taking the bride as his lawful wife.

Italian News - August 22

The world's oldest competitive skipper takes to the
waves at least once a week and already has a packed
schedule of races planned for 2007  -  when he will
be 91.

Italian News - August 22

An endangered species of marine turtle is  turning
up along Italy's  southern  shores  in  increasing
numbers this summer and using its sandy beaches as
nesting ground.

Italian News - August 21

Thousands of holidaymakers in parts of  Italy  and
Spain have been told not to enter the water due to
the threat of stings and poisoning from  unusually
large outbreaks of algae and jellyfish.

Italian News - August 21

For those either gearing themselves up to return to
work after a summer break or rushing to clear their
desks before going away,  the Pope  yesterday had a
message: don’t work too hard.

Italian News - August 19

Italians are taking their passion  for  homegrowing
one step further. According to the Union of Italian
Beekeepers  more  people than ever are  setting  up
apiaries in order to produce their own honey.

Italian News - August 19

Venice may soon become the first city in  Italy  to 
charge tourists for visiting it as authorities look 
to the introduction of an entrance charge to offset 
the damage done by hordes of holidaymakers.

Italian News - August 18

Italian researchers found that cartoons helped kids
to distract from the pain  of  medical  treatments.
Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo and the Power Rangers  might
have a place in the doctor's office.

Italian News - August 18

A new atlas is going to give recognition to Italian
farmers who are defending traditional crops against
the onslaught  of  genetically  modified  food  and
multinationals.

Italian Television - August 17

Leonardo da Vinci probably conjures up the image of
an elderly man with a flowing beard,  but a new  tv
cartoon for kids paints the Renaissance  genius  as
an excitable and charismatic child.

Italian News - August 17

Security experts have warned of a new Trojan being
spammed out disguised as a bogus  BBC News  report
claiming that former Italian prime minister Silvio
Berlusconi has been killed by terrorist.

Italian News - August 16

The show’s popularity lured  many  famous  guests —
sports, music and movie stars — to the Rome studios
of the state broadcaster RAI to take  part  in  the
madcap madness.

Italian Science - August 16

The Woad plant,  which the Celts used to use as a
blue war paint dye, also contains compounds which
could help fight breast cancer,  say  researchers
from Bologna University.

Italian News - August 14

A new wolf museum in the mountains  of  central 
Italy is aiming to persuade kids that the scary 
animals described by grandma on winter evenings 
are actually rather cuddly.

Italian News - August 14

A team of Italian students  has  won  Microsoft's
Imagine Cup which lets budding software designers
compete for a large cash prize.  The quartet from
Turin Polytechnic beat 41 other teams.

Italian News - August 12

Dogs have the "existential right" to bark  their
muzzles off,  according  to  a northern  Italian
justice of the peace.  Justice  Clemente Ravetto
said this was his reason for overruling a claim.

Italian News - August 12

Automobili Lamborghini SpA  has  closed  the  first
half of this year to 30 June 2006,  with a positive
result. Sales increased during the first six months
from 655 to 952 vehicles.

Italian News - August 11

Hotels at an Italian seaside resort are eager to 
act on the town's decision to authorise  an  all 
female beach sections for Muslim women,  with at 
least one owner saying that plans are under way.

Italian News - August 11

Millionaires clashed this week over a spate of new
taxes being levied on wealthy tourists  holidaying
on the island of Sardinia this summer. The "luxury
taxes" were introduced in June.

Italian News - August 10

A survey said that 83% of  the  adverts  shown  on
three important Italian TV channels were broadcast
with a volume level  about  50%  higher  than  the
programmes they interrupted.

Italian Sport - August 10

New European long jump champion  Andrew Howe  has
played down his American roots and insists  he is
"more Italian"  than many people born in the  Bel
Paese. "I prefer our country to the US," he said.

Italian News - August 8

Angelo Piroddi, 45,  was tracked down by a British
newspaper last week after  the lawyers of his dead
mother's estate said he risked losing his money if
he was not located.

Italian News - August 8

One of the Eternal City's oldest  bridges  has  this
summer become the focus a grand romantic ritual that
has seized the imagination of  hundreds  of  couples
from Rome and abroad.

Italian News - August 7

Former American top model, Cindy Crawford, spent a
couple of days this week holidaying  on  Lake Como
with her husband, Rande Gerber. The couple arrived
in Italy in two helicopters.

Italian News - August 7

Italian ice cream can now help people stay in  top
condition.  A new survey shows that the trend  for
Italy's ice-cream makers this summer is to produce
new varieties with a range of healthy properties.

Italian News - August 5

Mums and dads prefer to call their  new  baby  boys
Francesco  and  their girls Giulia.  Other  popular
boys names include   Alessandro,  Andrea or Matteo,
and Martina, Chiara or Sara for girls.

Italian Fashion - August 5

Salvatore Ferragamo,  the Florentine  fashion house
owned and run by the Ferragamo family for 80 years,
is about to take the historic step  of  putting  an
outsider at its helm.

Italian News - August 4

The owner of a hotel in the Italian Alps  is  taking
her neighbour to court because the bells worn by his
cows allegedly drive away guests looking  for  peace
and tranquillity.

Italian News - August 4

Smartly dressed soldiers were let  loose  on  beaches 
near Rome, in a bid to  drum up  new  recruits  among 
young Italians soaking up the sun.  The move is aimed 
at overturning preconceptions about the armed forces. 

Italian Art - August 3

The unveiling of a statue is not the kind of  thing
you expect to produce  a controversy.  But  Italy's
deputy prime minister, Francesco Rutelli, succeeded
in putting the cat among the pigeons.

Italian News - August 3

Italy's central bank has switched a quarter  of  its
reserves into the British pound and slashed holdings
of the U.S. dollar, the Bank of Italy showed in  its
half-year report.

Italian Sport - August 2

Italy is toasting the 19-year-old Roman who  is  the
nation's first woman ever to strike gold swimming at
the European Championships.  Alessia Filippi smashed
the Italian record by almost five seconds.

Italian News - August 2

Culture and Tourism  Minister  Francesco Rutelli  asked
the Italian public not to "betray" the nation by taking
their summer holidays abroad. Rutelli wants Italy to be
the "world champion of tourism" once again.

Italian News - August 1

Billy Joel  and  Bryan Adams became the latest music
greats to play in the shadows  of  Rome's Colosseum.
The "Telecomcerto" has become an annual summer treat
for the capital's public.

Italian News - August 1

Leonardo Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper  could
soon remain open in the evening, in a bid to cope with
its upsurge in popularity on the back  of  Dan Brown's
blockbuster.

Italian News - August 1

Widely anticipated movie The Black Dahlia from Brian
De Palma has been  chosen to  open  the  Venice film
festival in Italy.  Starring  two-time  Oscar-winner
Hilary Swank and Scarlett Johansson.