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THE NEW YORK TIMES. Giulietta Simionato, a leading Italian mezzo-soprano who sang in American opera houses in the 1950s and ’60s, died on Wednesday at her home in Rome. She was 99. (Read the article)
AFP. Italy's minister of culture said he would boycott next week's Cannes Film Festival after a documentary on the L'Aquila earthquake in April 2009 he deemed propaganda was included in the programme. Sandro Bondi declined the invitation, expressing his "regret and his concern" over the selection of "a propaganda film, 'Draquila', which insults the truth and the Italian people". "Draquila: Italy Trembles" by the comedian and satirical author Sabina Guzzanti, will be screened out of competition at the 63rd Cannes festival running May 12-23. (Read the article)
ANSA. Venice, May 6 - Cult US director Quentin Tarantino will chair the jury at this year's Venice Film Festival, organisers announced Thursday. (Read the article)
ANSA For the first time Italian government ministers are taking part in the classic Mille Miglia (1,000 Miles) car race from Brescia to Rome and back. (Read the article)
CONTACTMUSIC.COM. During a ceremony on April 22nd, Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. honored Bruce Springsteen in recognition of his career achievements as a rocker with Italian immigrant roots. The Boss' maternal great-grandmother, Raffaela Zerilli, travelled to New Jersey's Ellis Island from Vico Equense, Italy, in 1900, accompanied by her five children. Springsteen turned the event into a family affair, bringing along his mother Adele, 85, and other relatives. Accepting the award, Springsteen said, "You can't really know who you are and where you're going unless you know where you came from." (Read the story)
ANSA. A dazzling mix of images on display in the Italian capital recreates everyday life in late 1950s Rome through the snaps of American photographer William Klein. The exhibition at the Trajan's Market archaeological complex features 60 images of the Eternal City taken during the period 1956-1960. (Read the article)
ANSA. Italy's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected suits by several northern Italian gay couples who had challenged Italian law preventing gay marriages. (Read the article)
NEW YORK TIMES. An Italian judge convicted three Google employees in February of violating privacy laws because the Internet company had sought to profit from a video of an autistic boy being bullied by classmates, according to a judicial reasoning in the case released on Monday. (Read the article)
ANSA. A tribute to the renowned 20th-century Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani has inaugurated the new premises of an important national art museum in northern Italy.
The Gallarate Museum of Modern Art (MAGA), which has reopened to the public in a stunning new complex, is showing a selection of 20 paintings by Modigliani. (Read the article)
ANSA. Italian gay groups on Tuesday slammed Vatican No.2 Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone for claiming there was a link between homosexuality and paedophilia. (Read the article)