Falling rates, Merkel applauds Monti’s reforms – Interest in Italian culture did not take attention away from the country’s economic events. Various papers reported the success of treasury bond auctions and the falling borrowing rates (August 29 and 30 in Expansion – Italia logra emitir bonos a diez años al menor coste desde marzo; Washington Post – Italy’s borrowing rates drop in 5-year, 10-year treasury bond auction, third time this week Handelsblatt – Investoren kennen keine Gnade). There was also discussion of the meeting between Prime Minister Mario Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The German press reported that the meeting did not smooth over all the differences between the two leaders, but did underscored Berlin’s appreciation of the reforms put into place by Italy’s government (August 30 and 31 in Süddeutsche Zeitung – Euro-Krise Merkel und Monti uneins über EZB-Kredite; Die Zeit – Warme Worte, angeknackstes Verhältnis; Die Welt – Zwei selbstbewusste Marios ärgern die Kanzlerin; also discussed in the Spanish Expansion– Espaldarazo de Angela Merkel al programa reformista de Italia).
Finally, German rigor was also the subject of the interview of conductor Giovanni Antonini, published on occasion of the Salzburg Festival by La Vanguardia. According to the Italian musician, German rules and Mediterranean creativity are a great combination (August 26 – “Nos conviene el rigor alemán para sobrevivir a esta crisis”).
“Viva Venezia”: Venice Biennial and Venice Film Festival – The “hidden jewel” of late summer film festivals. The world press has landed at the Venetian Lagoon for the Venice International Film Festival, “the first and oldest film festival in the world,” this year in its 69th edition. One of the most enthusiastic visitors was the U.S. Time, which ran an article about both the Festival and a trip through the Italian city in ten postcards (August 29 – Viva Venezia! Returning to the Venice Film Festival, the World’s Most Simpatico Cinematic Celebration). And while Businessweek turned the spotlight on the quality of the films in competition (August 28- Venice Film Festival aims for quality not quantity), the Arab Emirate publication The National suggested a taking a ride on a gondola (August 27 – If you’re here today, try gondola tomorrow). And as what El Pais calls the “cinema among the canals” (August 29 – photographic gallery: El Cine entre canales) retains its charm, many international newspapers turned their attention to another event in the city on the sea: the Architecture Biennial. The Spanish paper La Vanguardia (August 28 – En busca de un denominador común*) explained that the 13th edition is centered around finding a common ground after the extravagance of recent years, while the New York Times (August 26 – Venice Rediscovers Its Glass Treasures) recalled the glass creatures by designer Carlo Scarpo and being exhibited on San Giorgio island.
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