An Italian at the head of European diplomacy – An Italian has been chosen to lead EU diplomacy: Federica Moghereini was appointed as the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the news was carried by the major international papers (Wall Street Journal, August 31 – Polish Premier and Italian Foreign Minister Win Top EU Jobs*; Washington Post, August 30 – EU leaders pick Italian as bloc’s new top diplomat; Reuters, August 30 – EU names Tusk, Mogherini to top jobs, ready Russian sanctions;Sueddeutsche Zeitung, August 30 – Europas junge Stimme in der Welt; Expansion, August 31 – El polaco Tusk presidirá el Consejo Europeo y la italiana Mogherini será la jefa diplomática de la UE; Clarin, August 31 – Una italiana dirigirá la diplomacia europea). Even before Moghereini’s appointment, the foreign press started running profiles of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (El Pais, August 28 – Una ministra socialista italiana aspira a dirigir la diplomacia europea; Die Zeit, August 28 – Italienerin Mogherini soll neue EU-Außenbeauftragte werden).
Investments of Italian industry – There was also interest in economic news coming from Italy, related both to investments in Italy by foreign businesses and the march of Italian firms to international markets. The main items included the investment of Ethias in Alitalia (Reuters, August 8 – Alitalia secures rescue with long-awaited Etihad deal, Valor Economico, August 8 –Etihad Airways investirá 1,76 bilhão de euros na Alitalia, Le Figaro, August 8 – Etihad prêt à embarquer à bord d’Alitalia) and the listing of the new Fiat-Chrysler on the New York Exchange (Financial Times, August 1 – Fiat shareholders approve merger with Chrysler*; Wall Street Journal, August 1 – Fiat Shareholders Approve Reorganization*).
There were also articles on growth and revenues and the strategies of groups such as ENI (Bloomberg,July 31 – Eni profits rise due to renegotiated gas contracts), Enel (Bloomberg, July 28 – Enel Green Power Starts Building Its First Wind Farm in Uruguay), Brembo (Reuters, August 5 – Italy’s Brembo seeks growth on road, race track and in the skies).
And while the Chinese Central Bank pushes for further investments in the large Italian groups (Reuters, August 8 – China central bank pushes on with Italy stake acquisitions), there are companies such as Barilla that are growing abroad. The pasta company’s brand is planning to increase production on the French market (Les Echos, August 18 – Avec Harrys, Barilla montre de l’appétit pour ses usines française).
Finally, the spotlight shone in companies planning to be listed on the stock market, including the coffee group Zanetti (New York Times, August 7 – Italian Coffee Producer Massimo Zanetti Seeks to List Shares*).
Cinema, art, literature – There was also interest in culture this summer as the Venice Film festival opened (Washington Post, September 2 – VENICE WATCH: Editor honored; surreal Swede shines; El Pais, September 3 – Cine de francotirador en Venecia). In addition, there were reviews of more traditional art forms, such as the story of the portrait of Jacopo Boncompagni, by Scipione Pulzone, which has just come to the Frick Collection (Wall Street Journal, August 8 – Mind Your Mannerism*; The discovery of a fresco by Caravaggio (El Pais, August 17 – La chulería de Caravaggio ; and the works of Veronese (El Pais, August 16 – El Veronés brilla en su casa).
Visiting the “great beauties” of Italy – The multitude of beautiful works of art dusting the country (ABC, August 4 – La gran belleza italiana) gave rise to numerous articles on tourism published over the last several weeks in the foreign press. Suggested locations ran the gamut from Venice (The Times, August 23 – Away from the crowded canals: Island-hopping in Venice*) and down the peninsula passing through Padua (Diario de Noticias, August 3 Pádua: as lágrimas de Giotto), Verona (The Times, August 2 – The Italian job: a twin-centre holiday in Verona and the Italian Lakes*), Pisa (El Pais, August 19 – Pisa en cuatro plazas), Firenze (El Pais, August 20 – Ruta cinéfila por Florencia) and reaching the Marches (Financial Times, August 13 – Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, Italy – review*) and Umbria (The Times, August 16 – 20 best places to stay in Umbria*), without forgetting Lazio and Rome (Wall Street Journal, August 1 – Rome Opens Some Hidden Rooms of a Venerable Castle*; El Mundo, August 20 – Vuelta a la Roma de Augusto) and Bolsena (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 27 – Nehmt euch vor den lüsternen Sirenen in Acht!). The journey also covered the south, with a stop in “romantic” Calabria (Financial Times, August 22 – An Italian adventure: the trip to Calabria*), and the islands great and small, from Capri (El Pais,August 21 – Caprichos de Capri) to Stromboli (The Times, August 14 – Stromboli attracts lava lovers*), and passing through the stunning capital of Siciliy, Palermo (El Pais, July 25 – Un vino dulce en Palermo).
* marked articles viewable online upon payment or registration