The Italian Almanac
January 20006
Italian News - January 31 A Milanese industrial consultant, who packed in his highly paid job for a rural life, is now on a crusade to save Sardinia's dwindling donkey population from extinction.
Italian News - January 31 Mr Dario Fo, Nobel Prize-winning author, after years of deriding politicians for their lack of integrity, is now fighting to become a candidate for the Left.
Italian News - January 31 Italian voters were facing that conundrum after the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, promised to be chaste until the country's general election.
Italian News - January 29 A novel published free on the internet has become a surprise hit in Italy, downloaded by thousands of young people who identify with the main character.
Italian News - January 29 The Italian army will be out in force when the Turin Winter Olympics begin next month, not just providing security but also tending ski slopes and manning first aid stations.
Italian News - January 28 The Chamber of Deputies has approved a law on legitimate defense that makes provision for armed response by citizens in their own homes defending their lives or property.
Italian Science - January 28 Italy has made a major step forward in transplants by showing that elderly donors can be used much more than in the past. Doctors will now be able to tell whether organs from the over-60s can be used.
Italian News / Movies - January 27 Italy is to make a film about its only world heavyweight boxing champ, giant 1930s slugger Primo Carnera. The film is part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Carnera's birth.
Italian Sport - January 27 Italy coach Pierre Berbizier has set his sights on the modest target of one victory in this year's Six Nations tournament. "For us the objective is to play every match at 100 per cent."
Italian News - January 26 Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Peter O'Toole could take roles as Venetian glass craftsmen in an American movie to be filmed in the famous lagoon city at the end of the spring.
Italian News - January 26 The Xpression gang's works are of such quality that, rather than sending police to arrest them, local authorities are queuing up to commission their stuff.
Italian News - January 26 Italy's cold snap bit deeper on Wednesday as ice gripped the Italian boot from top to toe and snow fell as far south as Sicily. Icicles hung from historic statues in art cities.
Italian News - January 25 Three Italian maestros whipped up a dazzling combination of traditional cones, sorbets, ice cakes, and artistic creations to beat teams from France and Argentina.
Italian News / Europe - January 25 A European military police force has been launched in Italy. It will be made up of military police from five EU countries and will be available for peacekeeping missions.
Italian News - January 24 The two-wheel 'Segway' vehicles, which are self balancing and can reach speeds of 20 km/h, came into use in recent days in 15 big-city railway stations up and down the country.
Italian News - January 24 Italian adventurer Stefano Miglietti is expected to arrive at the Siwa oasis in Egypt at the end of an unprecedented 550-km walk across the one of the world's most arid deserts.
Italian Science - January 24 Italy has made the world's fastest nanomotor. The engine is a million times faster than the only other eco-friendly nanomotor, recently built in the Netherlands.
Italian News - January 23 A perfect cup of coffee can now be guaranteed, without having to rely on one's own sense of taste and smell. That's good news especially to coffee drinkers in Italy,
Italian News - January 23 A row has broken out in Rome about whether the speeches and writings of Pope Benedict should be freely available to everyone or subject to copyright.
Italian News - January 22 The licensing application to Michele Malfatti, mayor of the small town of Mignanego in the Genoese hinterland, was for an “alternative ARCI recreational centre”.
Italian News - January 22 The island of Lipari, in an archipelago north of Sicily, has always appealed to its mostly well heeled summer visitors because it's hard to reach and therefore remains a secluded paradise.
Italian News - January 20 For people who can never find a church when they need one, a company currently displaying its wares in the northern city of Piacenza may have the answer.
Italian News / Europe - January 20 France has consolidated its longstanding passion for Italian actress Monica Bellucci by awarding her one of its top honours for art and literature.
Italian News - January 19 The Alfa Romeo Brera picked up the Most Beautiful Car of the Year award at the International Automobile Festival in Paris. The prize was given out Tuesday night.
Italian Movies - January 19 A series of screenings provided an illustrious showcase for contemporary Italian cinema at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on Wednesday.
Italian News - January 18 Over two thirds of Italian Catholics are in favour of legal recognition for unmarried couples, including same-sex unions, despite Benedict XVI's clear disapproval.
Italian News - January 18 Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti warned on Monday that over-legislating risks turning the European Union into a type of "soft dictatorship."
Italian Science - January 18 Italian scientists report a possible solution to a major problem plaguing researchers working on gene therapy for muscular dystrophy: how to get the right gene to the right place.
Italian News - January 17 Thinking of buying a TV for the bedroom? Think again, it could ruin your sex life. A study has found that couples who have a TV set in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who don't.
Italian News / Fashion - January 17 Pop singer Victoria Beckham, the wife of England soccer star David Beckham, had her first outing as a fashion model on Monday, pacing the catwalk at a Robert Cavalli show in Milan.
Italian News - January 16 Communications Minister Mario Landolfi moved to calm a bitter dispute over soccer TV revenues that threatens to disrupt the Serie A championship.
Italian Science - January 16 A hormone used in weight-loss drugs plays a vital role in blocking the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), a team of Italian researchers has discovered.
Italian News - January 15 Tens of thousands of women have marched through the Italian city of Milan to defend their rights to have legal abortions against changes proposed by Vatican-backed Catholic politicians.
Italian News - January 15 The Vatican, citadel of secrets and intrigue, has thrown up another little mystery: what has Pope Benedict been doing on a spate of night time missions to his old cardinal lodgings?
Italian News - January 13 An Italian manager who tried to kiss a woman on the lips on Valentine’s Day has lost his job, been given a 14-month suspended jail sentence and fined after being convicted of “sexual violence”.
Italian News - January 13 Beretta's new outlet is the third in Europe to spotlight its range of hunting and leisure couture and accessories, after similar flagship stores on the Champs Elysees and in Milan.
Italian News - January 12 Most Italians feel more guilty about overeating than they do about cheating on their partners. People in Casanova's native land care more about staying slim than staying faithful.
Italian Sport - January 12 Tributes have been pouring in for Alessandro Del Piero, after he became Juventus's all time top-scorer Tuesday with a Coppa Italia hat-trick against Fiorentina.
Italian News - January 12 The Olympic flame touring Italy prior to the Winter Olympics may inflame some hearts, but chess players can't wait for that other Olympiad, starting in May 2006 in Turin.
Italian News - January 11 Police on Tuesday nabbed what appeared to be a crazed motorcyclist terrorising residents and tourists in Venice by racing through the lagoon city's historic center.
Italian News / Sport - January 11 Italian skiing ace Isolde Kostner is quitting the sport on the eve of the Winter Olympics because she is pregnant. Despite a recent drop in form she was one of Italy's prime hopes.
Italian News - January 11 A university lecturer sacked for secretly filming sessions with students has told all in his first book. Ezio Capizzano, dubbed 'the porno prof' gives lavish details.
Italian News - January 10 Ferrari announces the production of the most powerful coupe' it has ever offered the consumer. Plans for the 599GTB V12 will be illustrated at the Detroit Motor Show.
Italian Sport - January 10 Italy will play the Tigers in an exhibition game in Lakeland, Fla., on March 4 in preparation for the World Baseball Classic, the Italian baseball federation said.
Italian Art - January 10 Not as famous as contemporary pioneers such as Cimabue and Giotto, experts say Arnolfo played a key role in dragging Europe out of the cultural darkness of the Middle Ages.
Italian News - January 9 The Vatican has warned Britain that it risks violating a treaty by moving its Embassy to the Holy See to premises within the British Embassy to Italy.
Italian News - January 9 This looks like the year when sales of locally grown quality foods will take off. Thanks to a new law, local specialities must have their space on supermarkets.
Italian News - January 7 Turin is to uncover the world's oldest surviving map as part of the rich list of cultural events accompanying Winter Olympics.
Italian Science - January 7 The Milan researchers have found a gene responsible for threatening the lives of patients with 'good leukemia', that usually responds well to treatment.
Italian News - January 6 The recent release of The Chronicles of Narnia, based on a 1950 children's book by CS Lewis, has given the town and its picturesque streets fresh appeal.
Italian News - January 6 Italian adventurist Angelo D'Arrigo will attempt this week to break the world hang gliding record for altitude, which he himself set two years ago in the Himalayas.
Italian News - January 6 Italian kids hunted out stockings ahead of the Epiphany holiday which brings a final round of gifts for children and the new that seasonal festivities are over.
Italian News - January 5 The Italian partisan who captured dictator Benito Mussolini at the end of WWII has died. Urbano Lazzaro, whose 'nom de guerre' was Bill, died Tuesday night in a Vercelli hospital.
Italian News - January 5 Italy plans to build a large telescope on the moon that will expand knowledge of the Earth and the universe. The telescope will be built by robots in a lunar crater.
Italian News - January 4 Actor Roberto Benigni, architect Renzo Piano and film star Monica Bellucci are the three Italians most often mentioned in positive terms in foreign media.
Italian News - January 4 The hardship rural America suffered in the Great Depression is currently on show in Rome with an exhibition of shots by US photographer Walker Evans.
Italian News / Sport - January 4 Troubled Italian soccer talent Antonio Cassano flew to Spain to sign for nine-time European champion Real Madrid. The move has been at the centre of speculation for some time.
Italian News - January 3 In the town of Viterbo, north of Rome, an Italian judge has ordered a priest to appear in court this month to prove that Jesus Christ existed.
Italian News - January 3 Between Christmas and New Year Italians consumed over 100 million pandori and panettone Christmas cakes, 20,000 tonnes of pasta and 8,000 tonnes of cold cuts, cheeses, meats and sweets.
Italian Art - January 2 Pre-Renaissance master Gentile da Fabriano is to be celebrated by his home town in the east central Marche region with the show 'Gentile da Fabriano And The Other Renaissance'.
Italian News / Sport - January 2 Daniele Veggiato, a forward for the top hockey league's Alleghe team, was banned from "all future activities of the national teams" after a match against Cortina.
Italian News - January 1 In total, the forest guards have examined and recorded 22,000 trees across the country, singling out 1,235 as being of "particular environmental and cultural interest".
Italian News - January 1 Garments worn by cinema greats Charlton Heston, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are the highlights of a new show delving into the history of costume design.