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ROME–Less than two years after the opening of Maxxi, Italy’s national museum of contemporary art, the Italian Culture Ministry last Friday initiated procedures to replace the board of directors of the foundation that manages the museum with a government-appointed administrator. The decision was taken, according a terse statement issued by the ministry, after the board failed to approve the 2012 budget, which is expected to register a “significant” deficit.
Now the former economics professor faces falling approval ratings, criticism of his reforms, rising bond yields and a feeling he may not be able to revolutionise Italy after all. Monti says his reforms of pensions, the service sector and the labour market lay the foundations for Italy to emerge from its record as one of the world's most sluggish economies.
A populist movement led by a former comedian who calls Prime Minister Mario Monti "Rigor Montis" and dismisses mainstream parties as "political diarrahea" has rattled Italy's political establishment ahead of next month's local elections.
The 5-Star Movement, founded by 63-year-old Beppe Grillo in 2009, is successfully exploiting disaffection with politicians who are seen as corrupt and ineffectual, and polls suggest it could be a big winner at mayoral elections on May 6-7.
TREVISO, Italy — OnNew Year's Eve, Antonio Tamiozzo, 53, hanged himself in the warehouse of his construction business near Vicenza, after several debtors did not pay what they owed him. Three weeks earlier, Giovanni Schiavon, 59, a contractor, shot himself in the head at the headquarters of his debt-ridden construction company on the outskirts of Padua. As he faced the bleak prospect of ordering Christmas layoffs at his family firm of two generations, he wrote a last message: “Sorry, I cannot take it anymore.”
Amid the seedy showbiz excesses of the Silvio Berlusconi era in Italy over the past two decades, Laura Morante was often seen as a symbol of another, more dignified version of Italian culture. One of the country's most famous actresses, Morante, who could be described as a kind of Italian Catherine Deneuve, is as well known for her intense roles, and the calibre of films she has starred in, as for her remarkable beauty.
The independent on Sunday has once again joined forces with Bradt travel Guides to offer readers the chance to win our travel writing competition, with a top price this year of a holiday for two to Abruzzo in Italy.
Wafts of perfume thrill visitors as soon as they set foot in the frescoed halls of the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy in Florence, a perfumer to poets, film stars and noblewomen through the ages.
The perfumer actually traces its roots back to 1221 by Dominican friars who cultivated medicinal herbs to make potions and balms. The company is housed in mediaeval halls with spectacular views on a cloister in the city centre.
Italy’s main labor unions took to the streets of Rome today to protest Prime Minister Mario Monti’s pension-system overhaul, saying it traps hundreds of thousands of workers in a legal limbo without retirement pay.
Woody Allen is a comic superstar in Italy -- but most Italians have never heard his voice.As in many European countries, Italians' ingrained dislike of subtitles has fed a powerful dubbing industry.As he attended the premiere of his new movie -- To Rome, With Love -- in the eternal city, the director wondered if he would have been as successful without a dubber.
Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini died Saturday after suffering cardiac arrest and collapsing on the field during his team’s Serie B match at Pescara, Italy. He was 25.