Focus::Daily News
NEWSLINE
The New York Times. A long the seafront of this ancient Italian port city, several thousand Irish soccer fans were relaxing and making friends the day before Ireland’s World Cup qualifying game against Italy. Great swaths of pasty-white flesh, stark against the green jerseys and the dark blue water of the Adriatic, were exposed in the on-off sunshine, and fans from Trap’s Army carried flags and banners declaring their allegiance to Giovanni Trapattoni, 70, the silver-haired Italian manager of Ireland’s national team. (Read the article by John Dole)
ANSA. The Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) has set up an unprecedented loan security fund to help families who have lost all sources of income due to the economic crisis. (Read the article)
ANSA. Palermo is to see its first wedding with no prospect of putting a euro into the Mafia's pockets after all the suppliers joined the couple's campaign against 'pizzo' protection money. (Read article)
ANSA. Florence is putting hundreds of ashtrays outside shops, eateries and watering holes in its historic centre.
Florence issued a ban on discarding cigarette butts last July but people have been ignoring it. (Read the article)
ANSA. he foreign and university research ministries on Monday announced the first commercial gains for a ground-breaking Italian satellite system for Earth observation and disaster prevention. (Read the article)
ANSA. talian researchers have discovered genes that predispose people to heart attacks independently of risk factors usually associated with the disease. (Read the article)
Reuters. At least 21 migrants died and hundreds more were missing after two boats to Italy sank off Libya in separate incidents, Libyan officials said on Monday. The bodies were found after a rickety boat carrying 253 people sank off the coast of the North African state. (Read the article)
The New York TImes. Speaking a day after the White House pushed out the chairman of G.M., Mr. Obama said Chrysler has been instructed to form a partnership with the Italian automaker Fiat within 30 days as conditions for receiving another much-needed round of government aid. (Read the article)
LOS ANGELES TIMES. A slow-motion crisis unfolds in famed welfare states as the middle class feels the pinch of a sagging economy. The French are eating near-expired food, and Italians are shoplifting pasta and Parmesan. (Read the article by Sebastina Rotella)
ANSA. A new exhibition here seeks to end a controversy that has dogged a renowned image by one of the world's first photojournalists, Robert Capa, for over 30 years. (Read the article)