Economic recovery as seen by business groups – Signs of Italy’s economic recovery have also been reflected in the performance of large industrial and financial groups. As the season of annual reports approaches, the foreign press turned its attention to economic trends and the prospects of a number of companies. The Financial Times analyzed the relaunch of Generali, explaining that the Trieste insurance firm is a good place to start for anyone looking for signs of hope, thanks to the ability of its CEO Mario Greco (March 14 –Competitive Italian cyclist Greco puts Generali in top gear *) but the City’s paper also wrote about the dream of Snam, which is planning to create a European gas network (March 19 – Snam: pipe dreams).
Some articles concentrated on another great name of Italian industry, Pirelli, the object of interest and investments by the Russian Roseneft (March 17 su Financial Times– Rosneft gains 13% of Pirelli for €500m *; Wall Street Journal – Rosneft Buys Stake in Pirelli *). The foreign press also covered Italian hi-tech, with the story of Gabrielle Cirulli, the 19 year old of Gorizia who became famous on the web thanks to the success of his online game “2048” (Wall Street Journal, March 18 – Want to Stay Anonymous? Don’t Make a Hit Computer Game).
Food in business and recipes – Italian cooking was again the center of attention, and not only because of its delicious recipes. The American Daily Beast wrote about the Eataly project; the company is planning to open a Disney for food lovers in Bologna (March 16 – Italy Plans a Disneyland for Foodies), while Les Echos reported on Prada’s plans to purchase the Milan pastry firm Marchesi (March 17 – Prada acquiert une pâtisserie milanaise). The Wall Street Journal published a video on the merits of Barbera (14 – One-Minute Wine: Barbera) the Washington Post used St Joseph’s Day to give readers a recipe for the classic cream puffs (March 19 – St. Joseph Cream Puffs).
Turism and Culture – And, as usual, there were numerous suggestions for tourist. Last week, there was interest in Piedmont. The Financial Times, visited the best cafes in Turin, a paradise for those with a sweet tooth (March 14 – Five of the best: Turin cafés *), and the Washington Post visited Fossano, the perfect starting place to discover a charming region (March 14 – Fossano, Italy, is the perfect hub for exploring the lush Piedmont region). Meanwhile, the New York Times, visited the area for its wealth of villas and places to live… like a prince (March 20 – House Hunting in … the Italian Piedmont)
The New York daily also told its readers about the celebration dedicated to Claudio Monteverdi in Tuscany (March 17 – At Monteverdi Tuscany, a Celebration of the Composer ), as the Wall Street Journal visited London’s National Gallery to cover the upcoming exhibit dedicated to the Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese (March 14 – Looking up at Veronese’s Grandeur *).
Finally, El Pais ran an article about literature, reviewing the second novel by Caterina Cutolo, “Romanticidio” (March 20 – El romántico homicidio del amor).
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