The Italian Almanac

Italian News - October 31

A Catholic priest known for his crusades against
prostitution has blasted Halloween for  being  a
satanic rite which undermines the principles  of
religion.

Italian News - October 31

Italian UFO buffs are excited about a mysterious
ball of light caught on film in  Sicily  at  the
weekend.   The  phenomenon   was  spotted  by  a
restaurateur and his wife as they were driving.

Italian News - October 30

When does a man not deserve to be treated as a woman? 
This question will weigh heavily on  Italian politics 
as the speaker of the lower house of  the  Parliament 
prepares to rule on sanitary arrangements.

Italian News - October 30

Inn Southwest Florida as the weather starts getting
cooler and the children start leaving home for  the
outside, they are also spreading into new territory
when it comes to outdoor games.

Italian News - October 28

As a national group, Italians already outlive most
other Europeans and Marche,  on the eastern slopes
of the Apennines,  seems to  be  the  place  where
conditions combine to produce maximum longevity.

Italian Science - October 28

Italian researchers have shown that tiny  particles
called nanocrystals can be flooded with more  light
than thought possible, paving the way for a raft of
clinical and commercial uses.

Italian News - October 27

Chefs from all over the world will gather here next
March to compete in the first  Pesto  Championship.
The  aim of the  initiative  is  to  highlight  the
Ligurian origin of the sauce.

Italian News - October 27

Experts swooped on Mount Etna on Thursday after the
volcano  sprang back into life. The  volcanologists
examined a fresh lava flow on the south side of the
volcano.

Italian News - October 27

For the first time in Italy an arrest has been made
under an August 2004 law against  the  mistreatment
of animals.  The arrest was  made  Tuesday  in  the
province of Cagliari, Sardinia.

Italian News - October 26

The brothel of Pompeii,  one of the ancient city's
main tourist attractions, is re-opening after much
needed restoration.  Lovers  of  the  ancient  and
naughty have been forced to wait a year.

Italian News / Art - October 26

Racing legend  and  former  Ferrari  driver  Mario
Andretti has been given  the  prestigious  Italian
title of 'Commendatore della Repubblica'  for  his
contribution to the sport.

Italian News - October 24

A salute to Michael Schumacher will highlight the
world finals of the Ferrari Challenge series open
at the Monza race track on Wednesday and will run
through October 29.

Italian News / Art - October 24

Parliament formally backed Rome's  bid to host the
2016 Olympic Games  and  in  a  bipartisan  motion
called on the government to promote the  capital's
candidacy.

Italian News - October 23

A modern-day Russian film,  based on  Shakespeare’s
Hamlet, won top prize at Rome’s first international
film festival as the nine-day marathon  wrapped  up
on Saturday.

Italian News / Art - October 23

A new exhibition in Rome enables the public to get
better acquainted with one of  the  20th-century's
finest and most approachable artists - Paul Klee -
featuring important paintings by the Swiss artist.

Italian News - October 21

Gina Lollobrigida,  the Italian  movie  icon  whose
sultry looks thrilled male cinema audiences in  the
1960s, has shown she still has what it takes to get
her man four decades later.

Italian News - October 21

Italians are increasingly picky about what  goes  on
their dinner tables,  preferring products from their
own country and dismissing GM foods out of hand. All
of this is music to the ears of Italian farmers.

Italian News - October 21

With nicknames ranging from Paranoid to DigitalMind
700 online players from  70  countries gathered  in
Monza, Italy, north of Milan,  on Thursday to fight
in the 2006 World Cyber Games.

Italian News - October 20

European champion Vanessa Ferrari spoiled  Chinese
hopes of a title sweep  at  the  world  gymnastics
championships when she snatched Italy's first ever
 women's world title.

Italian Movie - October 20

One third of the world's pasta is produced in Italy
where it is exclusively made from durum wheat,  the
union of Italian  pastamakers  UNIPI  said  in  its
latest report.

Italian News - October 19

Half an hour’s drive up the mountain from Morbegno,
in Valtellina, at 1,032  metres  above  sea  level,
there is a six square-kilometre  municipality  with
33 residents.

Italian Movie - October 19

Italian Oscar-winning  director  Giuseppe Tornatore
made a successful return to the cinema world,  when
his latest movie won rounds of applause at the Rome
Film Fest.

Italian News - October 18

A 10-year-old boy has become the youngest  person to
swim across the Strait of Messina in southern Italy.
Giuseppe Mangano covered the 3,800m  (yards)  in  55
minutes and 30 seconds.

Italian News - October 18

Researchers stressed that cases where women and men
earned different sums for the same work were  rare.
The difference is more  to  do  with  the  type  of
position the two sexes generally occupy.

Italian News - October 17

Four Italians have  constructed what they  believe
is the  world's first full-sized  chocolate  igloo
but they have yet to solve an age-old problem:  it
still melts.

Italian News - October 17

Ondina Valla,  the first Italian woman  to win  an
Olympic medal, has died at the age of 90.  She won
the gold medal in the  hurdles event  at the  1936
Olympics in Berlin.

Italian News - October 16

More people will catch the flu this year than last
and it  should peak sometime between  the  end  of
December and the  beginning  of  January,  experts
predicted.

Italian Music - October 16

Classically-trained Italian pop star Andrea Bocelli
has been nominated for a Latin Grammy Award  in the
category of  Best Male Pop Album.  The  48-year-old
Tuscan was nominated for his album 'Amor'

Italian News - October 16

Florence's administrators have banned people  from
feeding pigeons in the city's picturesque  piazzas
and from giving bread  to  the ducks in the  River
Arno.

Italian News - October 14

As stereotypes go,  the Italian 'mamma' is  one  of
the most enduring and appealing. But for many women
- especially those with aspirations -  it can be  a
handicap.

Italian News - October 14

Two young Egyptian vultures born in captivity  have
travelled thousands of kilometres south since being
released in southern Italy earlier this year.  They
are two sisters, named Barbara and Arianna.

Italian News - October 14

The international film  world  is  mourning  Gillo
Pontecorvo,  Italian director of one  of the  most
provocative films on freedom fighting,  The Battle
of Algiers.

Italian News - October 13

Air guitar involves pretending to play  an  imaginary
guitar, usually to a heavy metal song, which includes
not only the exaggerated strumming the instrument but
also performing the physical stage movements.

Italian News - October 13

Top scholars have  gathered  in Rome this week  to
discuss the exciting and controversial  idea  that
Sardinia is the lost island of Atlantis.  A theory
developed by the Italian journalist Sergio Frau.

Italian News - October 12

Italy's legendary family values are thriving despite
the  move  towards  fewer  kids  and  new  sorts  of
'families',  according to the  latest  figures  from
national statistics bureau Istat.

Italian News / Art - October 12

Until February 4, Piacenza's Palazzo Farnese hosts
a selection of the 900  paintings  and  sculptures
that were  carefully  assembled  during  the  20th
century by Rosa Domenica Mazzolini.

Italian News - October 11

Italians shouldn't  show too  much  aggression  in
friendly soccer matches - and certainly  shouldn't
tackle as if they were saving Italy's  bacon in an
international, Italy's high court said Tuesday.

Italian News - October 11

Among the events organized for  'Chocoday'  is  the
presentation of a manifesto packed with information
about pure  chocolate's  benefits  and  how  it  is
produced.

Italian News - October 10

A mix of balmy and wet weather is set to keep truffle
hunters busier this year and fans of the tasty  tuber
happier than ever. "The evening downpours should give
the truffles extra flavour".

Italian News / Europe - October 10

The Internet has overtaken newspapers and magazines
as Europeans’ main source of news and  feature-type
information.  But television continues  to  be  the
dominant medium for most people.

Italian News - October 7

An Italian groom is taking his bride on a honeymoon
trip with a difference:  in a hot-air balloon.  The
couple will drive to  an  international  ballooning
meet, where they'll take off for points unknown.

Italian News - October 7

Some of Italy's bars and cafés are finding new ways
of making customers hang around a bit  longer  than
it takes to gulp down an espresso, according to the
latest specialist guide.

Italian News - October 6

A Roman bride has made her fiance's dream of becoming
a fireman come true as  a  gift  for  their  wedding.
"Simona, you've made me so happy,"  Pierluigi  gushed
after the 'pompieri' gave him an honorary uniform.

Italian Art - October 6

Fans of legendary Italian  filmmaker  Michelangelo
Antonioni have the chance to see a different  side
of their idol over the next month thanks to a show
spotlighting his recent art work.

Italian News - October 5

Center-left politicians raised a hue and cry  over
the airing by a state-run television network of  a
video spoof portraying Prime Minister Romano Prodi
and several lawmakers as rap singers.

Italian News - October 5

Top director Roman Polanski will collect a Fellini
Foundation Prize  -  a gold-leaf  statue bearing a
dream-like drawing by the Italian maestro  -  next 
December.

Italian News - October 4

A businessman who was unable to hold a working lunch
at a sidewalk cafe' because of a continued parade of
street hawkers has decided to sue the  Eternal  City
for damages.

Italian News - October 4

Italy is to set up one of the highest stations for
atmospheric and other tests,  said project  leader
Agostino  Da Polenza,  one  of  the  world's  most
respected high-altitude scientists.

Italian News - October 3

"The Bachelor"  returns to TV with Lorenzo Borghese,
a 34-year-old  Italian-born prince  who grew  up  in
Connecticut and now helps his family operate a major
cosmetics company.

Italian Movies - October 3

Nuovomondo (The Golden Door),  written and directed
by acclaimed young director Emanuele Crialese, will
compete to be on the final five-strong shortlist to
be unveiled on January 23.

Italian News - October 2

Afghan art restorers are being trained in  Italy  to
repair some of the country's cultural heritage after
years of civil war.  The young men  and  women  will
work at Rome's famed Art Restoration Institute.

Italian News / Art - October 2

A special train is to bring Italy's greatest modern
painters to the country's  main cities next  month.
The  'Art Train-Museum  For A Day'  will  visit  28
Italian cities from Turin to Palermo.