Economy – This week’s financial news has focused on the international growth of a few of Italy’s leading companies. Les Echos, wrote about how Fincantieri, the construction giant that has just bought France’s Sainte Nazaire has “a tail wind” pushing it forwards (April 24 – Fincantieri, l’italien qui a le vent en poupe*) , and the Financial Times analyzed the 2.5 billion international investment plan recently announced by Enel – the biggest generator of energy in Europe (April 24 – Enel chief backs renewables in spite of Trump*).
Leading Figures – Several Italians, well known in cultural or political circles, have made it into the foreign press this week. The Financial Times featured an extensive interview with Emma Bonino in which the woman who has come to symbolize what it means to be a civil rights activist, talked about her life and explained what makes her small Rome apartment so special (April 19 – ‘One of Italy’s greats’: maverick politician and activist Emma Bonino*). Italian cinema was the focus of Spain’s El Pas in a piece all about Nanni Moretti, a guest star at the Bafici, Buenos Aries’ film festival (April 23 – Nanni Moretti: “No debemos pensar que el cine puede cambiar el mundo”) and die Zeit interviewed Luca Guadagnino, who directed ‘I am love’ (April 24 – “Die Schönheit liegt in den Hinterhöfen”). From the world of Art, Maurizio Cattelan was the subject of an article in New York Times, reporting on the day spent in his company as he mooched around the Big Apple (April 20 – Maurizio Cattelan, Naughty as Ever, Plays Games and Tours the Whitney*), whilst die Welt wrote about the scholarship that the Dresden Foundation for Art and Music has just awarded the visual artist, Marinella Salvatore (April 25 – Kunststipendium 2017 für Italienerin Senatore).
Culture – Other news on this sector included the new climate controlled environment designed to protect and preserve da Vinci’s “Last Supper” for the next 500 years, reported by El Mundo (April 20 – Aire limpio para proteger “La última cena” de Leonardo da Vinci), whilst a piece in the New York Times spoke of Antonio Canova’s sculpture of George Washington, currently on exhibition in the US for the first time ever (April 23 – Finally, From Italy, the Full George Washington*).
Tourism – also generated articles with a cultural slant this week, with, for example, a piece in Le Monde that used the novels of Elena Ferrante as a guide to exploring Naples (April 25 – Vous aimez Elena Ferrante, vous adorerez Naples), whilst the New York Times took a look at Palermo, as seen through the eyes of the author Jaimi Attemberg (April 19 – How Sicily Cemented an Unlikely Friendship). Another writer, Stephanie Danle, and her “tasty” cultural and culinary experiences in Sicily, were the subject of a piece in El País (April 21 – Alcaparras y cuscús en Sicilia) whilst another one this time in the New York Times, featured the island’s capital and the story of its Jewish community – also describing a visit to St. Mary’s of the Sabbath, the baroque oratorio that became Palermo’s first synagogue (April 24 – 500 Years After Expulsion, Sicily’s Jews Reclaim a Lost History.) Moreover, the same paper shifted its focus north in another article, suggesting Genoa as a destination readers might want to consider, explaining that although it is nothing like Rome or Florence, it is a city that lent itself to individual exploration and enjoyment (April 25 – Genoa Isn’t Rome or Florence. That’s Part of Its Charm). Meantime, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, was in Lignano to take a look at somewhere that has been a popular destination for three generations of German tourists (April 20 – Abwechslung wird auch überbewertet.)
It was Rome, however, that featured in an article in the Financial Times, suggesting that anyone considering buying a property there might want to consider Trastevere, a fascinating neighborhood where prices are good (April 26 – Why buyers seeking the ‘real’ Rome head for Trastevere).
Food –Austria’s Der Standard wrote about the low fat, but “guilty” little gastronomic pleasures that are the Quarisimali fiorentini (April 25 – Quaresimali Fiorentini: Fettarme und knusprige Kekse mit Kakao) and New York’s Enoteca Maria featured in a piece in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that paid tribute to the Italian food tradition (April 20 – In diesem Restaurant sind Großmütter die Chefköchinnen). Also the Wall Street Journal shared a few ideas on how to tinker with the classic recipe for a Negroni without losing that special something that makes it unique (April 20 – The Negroni Variations: Rethinking the Classic Recipe).
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