Worldcrunch
TURIN — Riding their bicycles along the banks of the Po river last Sunday, a university professor and his wife came upon a scene that caught their attention: A man and a woman, armed with shovel and spade, were busy digging out a bench, just before the Sassi bridge in central Turin, that had been […]
CERIGNOLA — Franco Metta is the mayor of the small town of Cerignola, located in the southern Italian region of Apulia. He recently received a box of biscuits as a Christmas gift from a local businessman, but upon opening the box he discovered 20,000 euros ($21,120) expertly rolled into two packs of 10,000 each — […]
-Analysis- BERLIN — Europe’s leaders were jubilant when Alexander Van der Bellen won the Austrian election Sunday. The bitter pill came later with confirmation that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a strong supporter of the European Union, had lost the constitutional referendum he’d staked his reputation on — and would resign. Italy was one of […]
Many observers feared that yesterday would be the day that could rock the European Union to its core, six months after the Brexit referendum. Austria looked ready to elect Europe’s first far-right president since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, Italy, a founding member of the EU, was expected to reject a proposed constitutional […]
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his constitutional reform referendum are victims of a massive movement of popular discontent, now more global than ever.
La Repubblica — December 5, 2016 Italy’s resounding rejection of a nationwide referendum on constitutional reforms Sunday is the latest sign of political discontent, following the Brexit vote and the victory of Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency. In this case, it has cost the job of Matteo Renzi, who three years ago became the […]
-Analysis- PARIS — Long live the people! For a few months now, referendums have been blooming all over Europe. In Britain, to decide whether or not to leave the European Union. In Hungary, to ban European Union refugee-sharing quotas. In the Netherlands, on the EU’s pact with Ukraine. Now in Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi […]
In the wake of the U.S. election, central bankers unite to stabilize the world economy in the face of populist calls to scrap regulations.
-Essay- NORCIA — Every tragedy has its symbol, a photograph, often, that sticks in people’s minds and encapsulates with profound immediacy the raw experience at hand. Sunday’s earthquake in Central Italy is no exception. In the image, a few rays of sunlight illuminate a group of nuns and displaced elderly residents praying in the devastated […]
You’d want to be just about anywhere but the Indian capital of New Delhi today. Smog choked the city and triggered warnings that even healthy people were at risk of respiratory problems. Air pollution typically peaks in Delhi at this time of the year, driven in part by firecrackers burned to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu […]
Dante Alighieri is buried in this tomb, in Ravenna. The story of the quarrel surrounding the 13th-century poet’s remains, disputed between this city in northern Italy where he was exiled, and his native Florence, is long and fascinating.
In southern Italy, mob clans have entered into an unlikely alliance with the Islamic terror group, exchanging Kalashnikovs for ancient artifacts pillaged in war. One reporter went undercover looking to make a deal.
The well-publicized death of the popular Vatican exorcist, Gabriele Amorth, and an award-winning documentary have stirred new interest in ridding the devil from within.
I was lucky enough to see some of the world’s greatest treasures at a time when there were few fences and rarely entrance fees. But even when there were limits, like here in Hadrian’s Villa near Rome, they were of little concern for my daughter Cécile.
Italy is, still, a deeply sexist country. A recent murder and suicide remind one mother why part of her shuddered at the thought of having a baby girl.
MISRATA — This Libyan coastal city is bearing the brunt of the ongoing offensive to defeat the Islamic State in its nearby stronghold of Sirte. Flooded with hundreds of injured people streaming in from the fighting, its recently renovated central hospital is buckling under the pressure. With only 120 beds, two operating rooms, and a […]
Can you spot the little red riding hood playing in L’Aquila’s Fontana delle 99 cannelle (“The Fountain of the 99 Spouts”)? Luckily, the landmark fountain suffered only minor damage during the deadly 2009 earthquake.
Even for those who abhor the Republican nominee, it’s important to get the terminology right.
Making the sweet wine Passito is backbreaking work but has given Pantelleria, an island off the Tunisian coast, a new lease on life.
As mourners gather today at a funeral for at least 200 of the 292 victims of the Aug. 24 quake in central Italy, the initial search for survivors has been replaced by the grim final task of recovering bodies and identifying the dead. As has happened in the wake of natural disasters in the past, […]
Foreign journalists have flocked to Amatrice after the Aug. 24 earthquake, focusing on the spaghetti all’amatriciana dish that the town was famous for. But this is no time for folklore.
Two days after an earthquake tore through central Italy, the dust is settling on the razed buildings, and the hope of finding survivors in the rubble is fading away. The first burials of victims took place this morning, only hours after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi declared a state of emergency for the worst-hit areas and […]
La Repubblica, Aug.25 At least 247 people have died and 368 were injured in the devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck in the early hours of Wednesday. Small towns and villages were destroyed in the mountainous area where the regions of Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche meet in central Italy. The horror of the quake was […]
Brightly-decorated Sicilian carts don’t just look great. The scenes carved in the wood of the carretti siciliani used to be a good way to teach history, and pass on folklore, to illiterate workers.
For years, Muslims helped police identify radicals in Italy. But this assistance isn’t enough. Italy needs to address legislative gaps and promote cultural integration.
Just like nearby Venice, Commachio is built in a marshy lagoon across dozens of little islands, joined by bridges like the Ponte dei Trepponti here.
My daughter Cécile had climbed the steps all the way up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. She smiled for the camera, but you can tell she didn’t feel so safe close to the tilted edge.
Tourists can take a trip through time—and across the French-Italian border—in the 75-meter Monte Viso Tunnel, a footpath originally built during the Renaissance.
L’Unità, July 13 “Hell amid the olive trees,” reads Wednesday’s front page of Italian daily L’Unità, describing the head-on train crash near the southern city of Bari that killed at least 27 people and injured 50. Two local passenger trains traveling in opposite directions on a single-track railway collided at around 11:30 am Tuesday near […]
ALESSANDRIA — A small portable tool developed in Italy now allows doctors to treat patients with heart conditions in remote areas that don’t have access to medical facilities. A 27-year-old doctor, Alessandro Faragli, and his colleague, Edoardo La Porta, a nephrologist, created the imaging device known as Impedance App. The device measures bio-impedance or how […]
Students were parading through the streets of Perugia in central Italy, wearing full Renaissance robes in the July sun.
MILAN — Taking home leftover food from a restaurant is not common practice in Italy, where your fresh plate of lasagna should be finished the first time around. Basta. But as the world struggles to reduce food waste, even Italians may be coming around to the idea of leaving a meal with leftovers in hand […]