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AP. Mario Benedetti, a prolific Uruguayan writer whose novels and poems reflect the idiosyncrasies of Montevideo's middle class and a social commitment forged by years in exile from a military dictatorship, died Sunday, his secretary said. He was 88. (Read the article)
VOICE OF AMERICA. The White House announced Saturday that U.S. President Barack Obama will travel to Russia, Italy and Ghana in July. (Read the article)
CINEMATICAL. Now I know I'm not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall's Nine. But the first trailer has been released on Apple (Read the article)
LOS ANGELES TIMES. Francis Ford Coppola returned to the Cannes Film Festival with his self-financed film, "Tetro." As the first film to go before the critics at the fest, Coppola's film faces a tough crowd. But the legendary director is also beloved in Cannes, so how did his latest film fare? A brief roundup of reactions. (Read the article)
ANSA. Sardinian scientists believe they've traced the roots of the 'death-defying' sardonic grin to a plant commonly found on the Italian island. (Read the article)
ANSA. Workers from Fiat's plants throughout Italy will converge Saturday on Turin, where the carmaker has its headquarters, to demand to know more about Fiat's expansion plans and protest against any possible factory closings and job cuts. (Read the article)
REUTERS. Susanna Agnelli, a scion of the Agnelli family which controls Italian car maker FIAT and Italy's only female foreign minister, died on Friday at a hospital in Rome. She was 87. (Read the article)
ANSA. Venice is fizzing up its campaign to persuade citizens to move from bottled to tap water.
The city's water utility, Veritas, is offering residents a ten-euro discount on carbonators that put bubbles into tap water. (Read the article)
ANSA. Modern hikers following a medieval route once used by pilgrims travelling from Canterbury to Rome are to get an international web portal to help them en route. The new site will provide detailed guidance on the 1,000-kilometre Italian stretch of the Via Francigena, running from the Valle d'Aosta to Lazio. (Read the article)
ANSA. Italy's GDP plummeted 5.9% in the first quarter of the year, over the same period in 2008, but Premier Silvio Berlusconi said the drop had been expected and the situation would gradually improve during the course of the year. (Read the article)