The Italian biofuel devolution – A new green revolution is coming out of Crescentino in the province of Vercelli. The Financial Times wrote about the Mossi Ghisolifi biorefinery, the world’s first plant dedicated to second generation biofuels – i.e. processed from agricultural waste and not food (November 6 – Italy leads biofuels ‘revolution’ hopes*). According to the British daily, thanks to 12 years of research and the dedication of a local consortium (which also attracted international funds), Italy could lead the devolution in the development of this type of fuel, which can help lower CO2 emissions.
The roar of BTp Italia – “A roaring success” were the words used by the Wall Street Journal to describe the successful auction of Italian sovereign bonds, which reached a record 22.3 billion euro, 30 billion dollars (November 6 – Italy’s $30 Billion Bonanza Bond Aimed Squarely at Mom and Pop).
Bloomberg called the sale the largest by a European government (November 6 – Italy Issues Record $30 Billion Retail Bonds in Two-Day Sale). The result was reached thanks to the patriotic dedication of investors (Handelsblatt, November 6 – Italiens Patrioten schlagen wieder zu) and repeated the popular support of the four previous sovereign bond sales (Le Monde, November – L’Italie sollicite de nouveau l’épargne populaire pour financer sa dette).
Investor interest also was due to the signs of improvement of the Italian economy, which could – according to a video where Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni was interviewed – recover during the year’s fourth quarter (Financial Times – Italy confident of Q4 recovery).
“Grazie a tutti!” – New York City’s new mayor, Bill De Blasio spoke in Italian to thank his family and friends for their support – also from Italy – in his successful electoral bid (full text in the New York Times, November 6 – De Blasio’s Victory Speech).
There were other comments in the foreign press about the Italian origins of New York’s new mayor. The Daily Beast wrote about the history of the De Blasio family. Blasio (November 5 – The Wind Beneath de Blasio’s Wings). And the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post both visited Sant’Agata dei Goti (in the province of Benevento), where De Blasio’s grandfather lived before immigrating to the US. Now, if he wants to, De Blasio can return to his roots: he will be made an honorary citizen of the small town in the Apennine Mountains (November 6 – Next NY mayor’s Italian roots town cheers; Italian mountain town exults over de Blasio after NY mayoral win, invites him to visit).
From Vespas to food: Italian styles roams the world – As always, there were numerous articles on Italian style. In 2014, it will even be admired at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London with an exhibition – opening in April – entitled “The Glamour of Italian Fashion” (November 6 in The Times – The V&A celebrates Italian style* and The Guardian – The glamour of Italian fashion at the V&A – in pictures).
Fashion was the center of attention of an article about Marco Zanini, the new creative director of Maison Schiapparelli (Die Zeit, November 7 – Im Dienst einer großen Frau) and the Folha de Sao Paolo wrote about prospects for Italian design in Brazil in an interview with Giulio Cappellini (November 4 – Designer italiano vê bom momento para setor no Brasil).
The new Vespa 946 is also high on design. The New York Times took this new “fashion accessory” on a trial run along the streets of Manhattan (November 6 – The Vespa 946: A Scooter for the Wealthy).
Finally, how could there not be a piece on Italian cuisine? The French weekly L’Express wrote about the creativity of Laura Zavan, a writer who has described the uniqueness of Venetian cooking (November 1 – Laura Zavan, le goût de Venise).
* marked articles viewable online upon payment or registration