Economy – The spotlight shines on Italian companies showing signs of a comeback, and on their growth strategies: Bloomberg reports on how Ferrari’s orders have gone back to pre-pandemic levels, seeing results at the high end of the forecast range (November 3 – Ferrari Orders Bounce All the Way Back to Pre-Pandemic Level*), while Handelsblatt covers the export boom in Germany recorded by Barilla (November 3 – Pasta boomt in der Pandemie: Nudel-Zug rollt bald viermal wöchentlich über die Alpen).
Positive signals are also coming from the financial sector, with Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit posting higher than expected results in the fourth quarter (November 4 and 5 in Financial Times – Italy’s biggest bank posts higher than expected profits; Reuters – Italy’s Intesa hits 2020 profit goal early, before UBI boost; Reuters– Italy’s UniCredit confirms profit goals after better than expected third quarter).
Reuters also covers the offer by Italy’s Nexi, “Italy’s biggest payment group” to purchase Nordic rival Nets (November 2 – Italy’s Nexi in exclusive talks to merge with Nordic rival Nets). And while Boersen Zeitung interviews the CEP of Illimity, Corrado Passera, as he explains the importance of financial initiatives for reconstruction (October 31 – “Italien kann es schaffen”*), Bloomberg analyzes the “transformation ” of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, able to do almost € 10 billion of deals since the summer, with the ambition to “revive Italy” (October 30 – Inside the Secret Banking Heavyweight That Aims to Revive Italy*).
The focus is also on growth plans in the world of style and design: The New York Times covers the new Missoni collection entering the world of wristwatches (November 3 – Missoni Zigzags on the Wrist), while Le Matin proposes the new Fiat 500 in the 3+1 version (November 3 – La nouvelle 500 se décline en version 3+1).
Culture – In culture, the newspapers have published more recollections of Enzo Mari, “designer, artist and polemicist,” maker of “simple, beautiful objects … that delighted generations” of designers (The New York Times, November 1 – Enzo Mari, industrial designer who kept things simple, dies at 88*.), thanks to work “infused” with political passion (The Guardian, November 1 – Enzo Mari obituary).
The international dailies dedicate a great deal of coverage to cinema: Financial Times celebrates the return to cinema of “screen legend” Sophia Loren (November 3 – Screen legend Sophia Loren: ‘It’s too soon to be remembered’*), while The Guardian discusses The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, the masterwork of “astonishing power” by Vittorio de Sica, to be reshown in the UK at the Jewish film festival (November 3 – Love, death and tennis: the forgotten Italian masterpiece about the horror of fascism). Le Monde, on the other hand, dedicates coverage to the art of Vittorio Cottafavi and Riccardo Freda, film-makers and “defenders of a popular cinema,” rediscovered today with a DVD retrospective (November 3 – Vittorio Cottafavi et Riccardo Freda, cinéastes de la fantaisie à revoir en DVD*). Lastly, in photography, attention is devoted to the 2020 edition of the Italian Photo Vogue Festival (The Guardian, November 4 – Come together: images of unity at Photo Vogue festival 2020 – in pictures).
Tourism – In tourism news, Financial Times, in its “Hot Property” column, proposes an early twentieth-century villa on Lake Maggiore, with views “over one of Italy’s most spectacular stretches of water” (October 30 – Hot property: homes with amazing views*) and, between Umbria and Tuscany, pays a visit to Castello di Reschio, a “country retreat that leaves others for dust,” and “one of central Italy’s most ambitious ongoing rehabilitation projects” (October 30 – To the Reschio – an Italian country retreat that leaves others for dust*).
El País, on the other hand, reports on Taormina, with the “transparent waters of Isola Bella, dawn at the Greek theatre, and tranquil terraces where time slows down” (October 30 – Taormina, la costa feliz de Sicilia).
Food – Lastly, the focus is on Italian wine & food in the United States, with The Washington Post proposing an Alto Adige Pinot Grigio “from the mountains of northern Italy” on sale on the American market (October 30 – This $15 pinot grigio from Italy’s mountains is bracing and edgy*) and Der Standard reporting on how New York’s Little Italy is preparing the tradition of turkey en croute (November 3 – Little Italy: Hühnerfilet in Parmesankruste).
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