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Reuters. Moody's lowered its rating on Italy's bonds by three notches on Tuesday, saying it saw a "material increase" in funding risks for euro zone countries with high levels of debt and warning that further downgrades were possible. (Read the article)
ANSA. One of Italy's famous fashion names, Santo Versace, on Thursday said he had quit Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party after his coalition's decision to back a minister with alleged links to the mafia . (Read the article)
PRI. The Catholic Church publicly condemns behavior Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Berlusconi, who is embroiled in yet another sex scandal. (Read the article)
The New York Times. The manslaughter trial of six seismologists and a government official in the central Italian city of L’Aquila, stemming from what the authorities say was a failure to warn the population before a deadly 2009 earthquake, has outraged many scientists. Thousands have signed petitions protesting the prosecution as anti-science. (Read the article)
New York Times. FIAT said Monday that it would withdraw from the leading employers’ group in Italy as it pushed for more flexibility with its labor agreements, which the European Central Bank has deemed fundamental if Italy is to increase growth and pay down its crippling debt. (Read the article)
CBS. Amanda Knox left prison Monday, a free woman for the first time in four years, after an Italian appeals court threw out the young American's murder conviction for the brutal stabbing death of her British roommate after a drug-fueled sexual assault. (Read the article)
PC WORLD. Messagenet, based in Milan, has written to the Commission to warn it about the probable antitrust ramifications arising from the merger of Skype and Microsoft. As a result, the Commission may demand the unbundling of Skype from Microsoft's dominant Windows Office suite before approving the proposed deal. (Read the article by Jennifer Baker)
CBS NEWS. An Italian-American advocacy group is outraged by the decision by the Paterson School District to keep schools and open on Columbus Day. It’s particularly outrageous, the Italian American One Voice Coalition says, because the district will be closed on Nov. 7 to mark the Muslim holiday of Eidh-Al-Adha. (Read the article)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday called for a new electoral law, and added words sure to anger Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition allies."It seems to me a new electoral law is needed," Napolitano said after a speech in Naples, local news agencies reported. (Read the article)
MASSLIVE.COM. October is Italian-American Heritage Month, and Springfield marked the occasion with a City Hall flag-raising ceremony on Friday that drew Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, members of the city's Italian community and others. (Read the article by Conor Berry)