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THE NEW YORK TIMES. Michael Ronis, one of the creators of Carmine’s, a NYC Italian American restaurant famous for its huge portions and its moderate prices, died yesterday at 60. The idea behind Carmine's "was to serve every meal in the style of an Italian wedding feast, offering piles of spaghetti and meatballs and other Italian-American standards in a nostalgic environment." (Read the article by Douglas Martin)
Corriere della Sera. Young Blood, a volume edited by the reporters’ co-operative that publishes Next Exit magazine. “It’s a yearbook of Italian talent, Italy’s unsung successes in art, architecture, design, fashion, advertising, photography and graphic design”, says the book’s editor, Daniela Ubaldi. (Read the article)
ANSA. Italian poet Alda Merini is to receive a state funeral in her native Milan, Mayor Letizia Moratti said Monday. Wednesday's funeral in the Duomo would pay tribute to a writer whose importance was both local and national, the mayor said. ''Alda Merini charted a course through the history and culture of our city, providing important reflections for the rest of the country,'' Moratti said. (Read the article)
ANSA. Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari has announced his intention to quit politics altogether once his current mandate expires next year. (Read the article)
ANSA. Criminal lawyers, inmates groups and opposition politicians sounded the alarm over conditions in Italian jails, following two recent prison deaths and a probe into violence by staff. (Read the article)
ANSA. Italy has appealed a landmark European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling against crucifixes in Italian classrooms that sparked a storm Tuesday in this heavily Catholic country. (Read the article)
AP. The bouncing mega-meatball record has landed in the East Coast. Matthew Mitnitsky, owner of Nonni's Italian Eatery in Concord, said Sunday that a 222.5-pound meatball was authenticated as the world's largest after being weighed by state weights and measures officials. (Read the article)
ANSA. An Italian publishing company wants to put Premier Silvio Berlusconi into the Italian version of a new French book on the world's greatest-ever outlaws, a French weekly reported Friday. (Read the article)
ANSA. A tiny-self portrait of Caravaggio in his famous painting of Bacchus can be seen clearly for the first time, thanks to a new study by researchers and restorers. The image of the artist working at his easel, hidden in a reflection of the glass carafe in the young god's hand, was first spotted by a restorer cleaning the canvas in 1922. (Read the article)
POLITICO. In 2006, Pelosi became the first woman, first Italian-American and first Californian to serve as speaker. She’s also second in line for presidential succession, behind the vice president. That’s a distinction most politicians would fight hard to not to lose. The gravitational pull is just too great. (Read the article)