Italy in Europe and the world – This week, the foreign press took the opportunity provided by the World Economic Forum in Davos to interview a few well-known Italian personalities. For Bloomberg it was the Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni who offered up his vision of protectionism in Europe and the world (January 24 – Europe Should ‘Play Its Own Game’ on Free Trade, Gentiloni Says), whilst in another article, Intesa SanPaolo’s CEO Carlo Messina was keen to stress that Italy’s economy is on the up (January 24 – Intesa CEO Says Italy’s Real Economy Is Recovering). For Liberation it was Enrico Letta’s views on the European debate about migrants that took centre stage (January 22 – Enrico Letta : «Sur la question migratoire, l’esprit européen n’existe pas»*).
Economy – This week’s news about Italy’s economy focused on recent acquisitions. The Financial Times took another look at the American companies that Ferrero has acquired from Nestlé as it expands its “chocolate empire” (January 19 – M&A: Ferrero spreads its chocolate empire*) and France’s Les Echos also featured the confectionary sector in an article about a major French investment group in Monviso, an Italian company that produces bread substitutes (January 23 – Céréa Partenaire rachète l’italien Monviso*). Other financial news also featured writing on 23 January about NTVs future public offerings (Reuters, January 23 – Ex-Ferrari boss takes high-speed rail firm down IPO route).
Culture – Le Monde wrote about the French translation of Mario Pomilio’s “Racconto interrotto” and its one hundred or so “delicious and sensitive pages” (January 25 – Le vieil homme et la littérature*). The same French paper also focused on Italian cinema with one article featuring a review of the movie Fortunata saying that actress Jasmine Trinca “showed impressive energy”(January 24 – « Fortunata » : un mélodrame maquillé comme un camion*) and another signalling the new edition of “Fellini Roma”, a documentary about the Eternal City as seen through the eyes of the masterly Italian cinematographer” (January 24 – DVD : Rome, ville monstre dans le regard de Fellini*).
Luxury & lifestyle– Following on from the end of Milan fashion week, the international press continued to show an interest in Italian-style luxury albeit in other sectors. Bloomberg took part in Ferrari’s Driving Course, available only to those who actually own one of the Maranello supercars (January 18 – This $14,000 Driving Course Will Give You a Taste of the Track). The news agency was also in Lucca to see the villa – now on sale – that used to belong to Paolina Buonaparte, a “house built for entertainment” located only an hour away from the heart of Tuscan culture and its beaches (January 18 – This $9.8 Million Italian Villa Was Owned by Napoleon’s Sister). On the other hand, El Mundo – lamented the passing of Bruno Giacosa, “one of the great men of the wine world known also as the “Nebbiolo wizard” – who was responsible for making that particular grape famous throughout the world (January 23 – Adiós, Giacosa, mago de la nebbiolo).
Sport – It was the latest win of Italian skier, Sofia Goggia, that featured in an article in Les Echos (January 19 – Ski: nouvelle victoire de l’Italienne Goggia en descente à Cortina*) whilst another win, this time by Marco Fassinotti in the high jump meeting in Cologne, that was the focus in a piece in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (January 24 – Italiener Fassinotti gewinnt Kölner Hochsprung-Meeting). It was however the passing, at the grand age of 102, of the first Italian woman gymnast to win a medal – in the 1928 Olympics – that featured in El Mundo (January 20 – Muere en Italia a los 102 años la medallista olímpica de mayor edad).
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