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Italy’s style and positive image – Newspapers around the world continued their scrutiny of happenings in Italy, especially vis-à-vis economic reform and the revision of budget goals. Still, in a week marked by news of economic trends, the positive image of Italy’s style and art was exalted  by the foreign press.

The International Image of fashion and industry – Bad times are back for the markets, the spread on sovereign debt bonds is rising and the political scene is on the pages of the foreign press. But Italy’s good name is defended by the success of Made in Italy products. Luxury items play a leading role as usual.

Draghi appeals, Monti reassures – While the tension in financial markets resurfaced, the world’s major newspapers scrutinized the European Central Bank and its President, Mario Draghi.

Made in Italy: Turning a Profit – Italian fashion is once again in the media spotlight, but not for the fashion shows.

Labor: Monti’s Revolution – Job market reform has pushed Italy and the government’s economic policy to the front pages of the foreign press.

Foreign investors return – Foreign press coverage for the monitored period reflected an eventful week in Italian business, with the presentation by the country’s major corporate groups of their accounts forming the subject of a number of related reports (in the Financial Times on March 13 – Pirelli shares rise on improved outlook*, and on March 15 – Eni raises oil pr

Monti compared to Cincinnatus and Italian bond spread falls below the 300-point mark – This week’s foreign press coverage of Italy saw the Italian Prime Minister likened to Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who was called out of retirement to save his homeland.

Milan Fashion Week – It was Milan Fashion Week that dominated foreign press coverage of Italy this week.

Italian People: leading figures in business and finance, politics and culture – This week, as the foreign press waited for the Italian government’s reforms to start to take shape, the attention of international newspapers seemed to focus on leading Italians in fields ranging from business and finance to culture, with coverage once again not spurning the political sphere either.

Italy through the eyes of the world: design, industry and tourism – After almost two months of uninterrupted coverage of Italian economic policy affairs, the foreign press chose to turn the spotlight this week on Italian industry-related news. The bulk of the reports published focused on some of the more vibrant names in Italian fashion and design and their internationalization strategies.

Can the “iron professor” save Europe? – The foreign press continued to look with interest this week at developments in the Italian economy. Mario Monti was once again the focus of interviews, profiles and editorials that appeared in newspapers around the world.

The narrowing bond spread and the “Monti revolution” – The story involving Italy that attracted the most interest this week in the foreign press, whose attentions continued to be focused on the economic situation in the country, was undoubtedly the performance of Italian government bonds and the narrowing of the yield gap (the so-called “spread”) between Italian BTPs and German Bunds.

Monti’s “Grow-Italy” plan and the role of Italy in Europe – Whilst foreign press attention on recent breaking events in Italy (in particular, the sinking of the cruise ship Costa Concordia) was on the wane this week, focus on the Italian government’s liberalization plans remained unabated.