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TIMES ON LINE. A scarf is the only thing protecting the modesty of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, in a painting of him and his Minister for Equal Opportunities, Mara Carfagna, 32, a former topless model, as angels. The work by Filippo Panseca is in a show at Savona on the Italian Riviera. (Read the article)
The Dallas Morning News. Mexican drug traffickers are funneling cocaine to Italian organized crime, and some shipments are moving through Dallas. "We've got some of the major cartel members established here dealing their wares in Europe," said James Capra, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Dallas office. (Read the article)
AP. Rita Levi Montalcini, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, said Saturday that even though she is about to turn 100, her mind is sharper than it was she when she was 20. Levi Montalcini, who also serves as a senator for life in Italy, celebrates her 100th birthday on Wednesday, and she spoke at a ceremony held in her honor by the European Brain Research Institute. (Read the article)
THE NEW YORK TIMES. There has been a conspicuous shift in the Italian film industry — from the big screen to the computer screen. Several of the best-known Italian directors have turned their lenses to making short movies for the Internet. Some have been lured by commercial projects, others by the opportunity to tell poignant stories in a condensed form. And in a country with one of the lowest levels of Internet access in Europe, for many it is the first time they have flirted with the medium. (Read the article)
FOX NEWS. Faculty at Brown University — the seventh-oldest and arguably the most progressive of America's higher learning institutions — caved into pressure by students and teachers trying to right the perceived wrongs of history by voting earlier this month to rename the Columbus Day holiday as "Fall Weekend." Proponents cited Christopher Columbus' enslavement and violent treatment of Native Americans, and argued the name of the Italian explorer should be expunged from the day of celebration. (Read the article)
NJ VOICES. t. Lucy's Roman Catholic Church, an enduring fortress of tradition in a changing Newark, will lose the priest who was its spiritual guide for a half-century. But Monsignor Joseph Granato won't go without a fight -- a fight his supporters say will both maintain that tradition and keep the cleric in the city. (Read the article)
news.com.au. Italy will allow a Turkish cargo ship carrying 140 rescued migrants to dock in one of its ports "for humanitarian reasons", ending a four-day standoff with its European Union neighbour Malta. (Read the article)
THE NEW YORK TIMES. Following in the footsteps of more famous actors-turned-politicians like Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura, Mr. Anthony J. Ribustello -- who played Tony Soprano’s driver on the HBO mob series -- is running for Bronx borough president this week. (Read the article by Katherine Bindley.)
TIMES ON LINE. Pope Benedict XVI is to visit the Abruzzo earthquake zone on 1 May, a week before his trip to the Holy Land, according to rescue workers in the L'Aquila area. (Read the article)
In a time of tragedy and suffering, Linda Serio, a Shreveport native who returned home after fleeing Hurricane Katrina, knows the power of a new dress. Someone sent a beautiful dress and it lifted my spirits so much," she said.Serio, who is a member of the Sons of Italy Heritage Club, which aims to preserve and promote Italian-American culture, thought about that feeling when an earthquake rocked the mountainous Abruzzo region in northern Italy on April 6. (Read the article)