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lead nothing has been the same in this little town since the beatles started turning young men 's thoughts to electric guitars . nothing has been the same in this little town since the beatles started turning young men 's thoughts to electric guitars . people will tell you with a pride nourished by nostalgia that castelfidardo was once rich and famous and respected . it was , they say , the undisputed accordion capital of the world . now , the men and women who still make accordions with loving hands fear the slow death reserved for anachronisms . driving into town , it is hard to miss the paolo soprani accordion factory , which was the biggest employer around for several generations . its four stories of yellow brick trimmed with scarlet paint are almost as gaudy as some of the instruments it turned out . but since the shutters were drawn and the gates were locked last fall , it has stood like a giant tombstone commemorating a glorious , now departed past . beatles were 'first big blow' ''the beatles , yes it was the beatles who delivered the first blow , '' said lucia soprani , great granddaughter of the founder . ''then the chinese delivered the coup de grace . '' rock and roll severely_restricted the market , but italy 's accordion makers then faced a far greater scourge foreign competitors with low labor costs and big sales volumes . in 1957 , when lawrence welk and ed sullivan reigned over american prime time television , castelfidardo exported about 220 , 000 accordions to the united_states alone . last year fewer than 30 , 000 were exported to all foreign customers . the disastrous decline prompts concern well beyond this hill town . castelfidardo is viewed as a miniature omen by those who worry about italy 's economic competitiveness . arguing whether small is better much of italy 's recent economic success has been built by companies that produce high quality , high priced goods for markets overseas much like the accordion makers . some argue that small is not better if there is an uncoordinated response to foreign challengers . others warn that if tradition is not sufficiently wed to technology , products will end up outmoded and overpriced . castelfidardo , a town of 14 , 000 people , sits in the heart of a region called the marches , where 80 percent of italy 's musical instruments are produced and where such economic issues have a high resonance . relatively little known and little visited , the region is at the center of the adriatic coast . no big city dominates the region instead it is a collection of towns scattered among hills that roll up from the sea to the apennines . industrial and pastoral until recently , the marches was primarily farmland , but from the ramparts of castelfidardo changes become evident . quonset huts and little cement block buildings have sprung up in fields as far as the eye can see . they are factories producing everything from industrial ceramics to toys , but this is the marches , so nothing is packed together enough to really spoil the countryside . it was something of a shock across the region when the paolo soprani factory closed its doors last year . ''soprani was the first and the biggest , '' said giancarlo borsini , who works at another family accordion business here . ''when a company like that goes down , none of us can feel safe . '' lucia soprani had directed the business for 10 years . a tall , strongly built woman , 42 years old , she puts out one cigarette and lights another when asked about the company 's demise . ''it was in october , but i can not tell you the exact date paolo soprani came to an end after 125 years because it is not a day i want to remember . '' clients at the table she was born and has lived her entire life in the big , gaudy building that housed the company 's factory , offices and living quarters of its owners . she speaks of her childhood like a southern belle remembering antebellum grandeur . ''our clients came from around the world , and they would always stay here with us , '' she said with a wistful smile . ''all the great languages were spoken at our dinner table , and the conversation was about music and art and far off places . '' a crisis swept through castelfidardo in the 1960 's when accordions went out of style . many companies turned to electric guitars and organs , but in the last decade this market has been attacked by the japanese . the sopranis stuck to making accordions in time honored ways , but found that east_german , czechoslovak and especially chinese manufacturers were selling instruments at one fifth the price . 'no one cares' accordion making has survived in castelfidardo primarily because of families like the borsinis , who produce professional quality instruments that cost from one to eight million lire ( 800 to 5 , 600 ) at the factory . giancarlo borsini , one of the 12 family members on the staff of 35 at borsini and company , said that even the limited professional market is gradually shrinking , and he complained angrily ''people sign petitions when some species of bird is going extinct , but no one cares that accordion makers are going extinct . if castelfidardo dies , the world will loose a little piece of its culture . '' the borsinis are a bit skeptical about some of the rescue plans being drawn up for their species . at the urging of industrial associations and local authorities , a consortium of accordion makers has been formed , supposedly to collaborate in the production of an inexpensive accordion . ''it is fine to say we should work together , '' mr . borsini said , ''but if we were not jealous and individualistic , we would not be artists . '' there are secrets to protect , like the location of a stream with just the right salinity for treating the leather that goes into the reeds of borsini accordions . ''they tell us we need technology , '' mr . borsini said , ''but to make accordions you need patience , not technology . '' some of the wood that goes into his accordions is aged for five years under special conditions at the factory . making a top of the line accordion can take eight months because some of the pieces are allowed to age further after they are cut and joined . rather than cut corners to meet the competition , mr . borsini now hopes for a renaissance because popular musicians like paul_simon have added accordians to their bands . what rock took away , rock might give back . ''i know accordions will be popular again , '' lucia soprani said . ''history goes in cycles . i am just very sad that paolo soprani will not be there when the day comes . '' | has a location of italy |
giancarlo parretti , a flamboyant former hollywood mogul with longstanding international arrest_warrants hanging over him for convictions on perjury and other frauds , was arrested today near orvieto , a medieval hilltop town about 70 miles north of rome . mr . parretti , 58 , an italian financier who engineered a 1 . 3 billion takeover of metro goldwyn mayer inc . in 1990 and was later accused of nearly driving it into financial ruin , was taken into custody by italian_police while at a weight_loss farm outside orvieto , his italian lawyer said . orvieto police , who arrested mr . parretti on a request for extradition from the united_states , said a court in orvieto must decide within the next 96 hours whether mr . parretti may be detained until a hearing can be held on the extradition request . manlio morcella , mr . parretti 's lawyer , said by telephone that the court could order mr . parretti held if it suspected he might flee , a suspicion he said would be ''excessive . '' the police had first rung the bell of mr . parretti 's home in orvieto , where he had been living apparently unnoticed in italy 's olive growing region , before they were alerted to his exact whereabouts . their relatively easy apprehension of the fugitive financier , mr . morcella said , made it ''absurd'' to believe he would seek flight . mr . parretti 's arrest comes about one month after german police arrested martin r . frankel , a connecticut money manager whom the american authorities have accused of embezzling money from insurance_companies . mr . frankel is in a hamburg jail awaiting possible extradition . but while mr . frankel had been the target of a four month trans_atlantic manhunt , mr . parretti had been on the run for almost three years . he fled the united_states for italy before he could be sentenced on a conviction of perjury and tampering with evidence in a delaware court . mr . parretti is also sought for extradition by the french , after a court in paris convicted him in march on corruption charges and sentenced him in absentia to four years in prison and a 165 , 000 fine . exactly how mr . parretti fled the united_states remains a mystery . it also was still unclear tonight how long italian_police had been hunting for mr . parretti or when the united_states had sought his extradition . but by skipping the country , he joined a band of rogue financiers like marc d . rich and robert vesco . and indeed , the ins and outs of mr . parretti 's legal scuffles on both sides of the atlantic could provide grist for a john grisham novel . for one thing is certain mr . parretti left behind legal battles in several countries . in november 1990 , mr . parretti had acquired mgm , with help from loans raised by the big french bank , credit_lyonnais , which was later crushed by billions of dollars of bad debt and had to be bailed out by the french government . within months of mr . parretti 's purchase of mgm , its creditors went to court complaining that they were not getting paid . several months later , credit_lyonnais removed mr . parretti from mgm 's board , accusing him of gross mismanagement , and had its action validated by a state court in delaware , where mgm is incorporated . after a litany of lawsuits and countersuits mr . parretti was convicted in 1996 in delaware of perjury and tampering with evidence in the court trial in which credit_lyonnais asserted its control of mgm . but before mr . parretti could be sentenced , he fled the united_states . earlier , in a case before a federal court in california , mr . parretti had been seeking to avoid extradition to france to face criminal_charges there that he had looted credit_lyonnais . in seeking to avoid extradition to france , mr . parretti had posted bail in california . one condition of the bail agreement was that if mr . parretti jumped bail , he could be ruled in default in yet a third lawsuit , a civil case in yet another california court . in that suit , mr . parretti and credit_lyonnais were suing each other over his dismissal from mgm 's board . in 1997 , the judge in that case ruled for credit_lyonnais , citing the bail condition and the fact that mr . parretti was a fugitive . the court ordered mr . parretti to pay credit_lyonnais damages totaling 1 . 4 billion . jay m . coggan , an attorney in beverly_hills , calif . , who represented mr . parretti in the delaware case , said the court in delaware was ''extremely interested in his return . '' mr . coggan said he received inquiries from the court about every three months regarding mr . parretti 's whereabouts . he said that , by court order , he remained mr . parretti 's attorney in delaware . | has a location of italy |
lead texas instruments said it would build a 250 million semiconductor fabrication plant in avezzano , italy , about 65 miles east of rome , to supply the european semiconductor market . the plant will begin production of integrated circuit wafers , including dynamic random access memory chips , in late 1990 . texas instruments said it would build a 250 million semiconductor fabrication plant in avezzano , italy , about 65 miles east of rome , to supply the european semiconductor market . the plant will begin production of integrated circuit wafers , including dynamic random access memory chips , in late 1990 . the new operation is expected to employ about 500 when it reaches full production in 1991 . texas instruments will use the wafers manufactured in avezzano at its assembly plant in rieti , 35 miles to the north , where it has had semiconductor operations for 20 years . in 1987 , the technology company reported sales of 967 million for its european operations , the majority of which was in semiconductors , a company spokesman said . company news | has a location of italy |
the dutch bank abn_amro bid 6.3 billion_euros ( 8 . 1 billion ) to buy banca antonveneta of italy . abn , which is based in amsterdam , bid 25 euros ( 32 . 30 ) a share for the 87 percent of antonveneta that it does not already own . antonveneta , which ranks among the 10 biggest banks in italy with 1 , 000 branches , is based in padua and has a strong foothold in the northeastern part of the country . the bid is subject to approval by antonio_fazio , left , governor of the bank of italy . mr . fazio has blocked such proposals in the past , but he has been told by the european_union to open the country to foreign investors . on tuesday , banco bilbao vizcaya argentaria of spain offered to buy banca_nazionale del lavorno , based in rome , for 8 . 5 billion in a stock deal . eric_sylvers ( nyt ) | has a location of italy |
as it hovered near bankruptcy , alitalia , italy 's flagship air carrier , gave some hints on tuesday of a turnaround plan that it referred to as a ''hypothesis , '' as the government considered offering tax breaks to the entire airline_industry . after ruling out a sale of alitalia two months ago , prime_minister silvio_berlusconi is weighing a decree to offer tax breaks to all airlines operating in italy . in addition , the decree would give airlines access to a government program that lets companies lay off employees with the government picking up most of their salary for several years . though the plan does not specifically mention alitalia , the flagship would stand to benefit most as it has half the air travel market in italy . the government is hoping to give alitalia some breathing room , but it is also betting that it can get european_union approval for the plan by broadening it to include all airlines , thus avoiding accusations of illegal aid to government owned companies . alitalia is 62 percent owned by the government and has lost money in three of the last four years . the european_commission has already begun scrutinizing the italian government 's not yet official plan for the airline sector and the commission 's president , romano_prodi , himself italian , has raised doubts that it is legal . a minister from the berlusconi government attributed mr . prodi 's response to political rivalry . alitalia aspires to join the air_france klm merger , but those airlines have said that alitalia could join only if the italian government significantly reduced its stake , something mr . berlusconi has ruled out . the plan alitalia presented on tuesday was light on financial details , as it was not yet clear whether the tax decree would materialize and how negotiations with its roughly 10 unions would end , the airline said . alitalia did say that it expects its revenues to increase 30 percent by 2006 from 4.4 billion_euros ( 5 . 2 billion ) last year . the airline also planned to increase capacity by 12 percent a year through 2006 and said it would seek to deepen its commercial alliance with air_france . the government 's decision on the decree could come this week . alitalia lost 511 million_euros ( 608 million ) in 2003 , an amount that was more than a third the value of the airline 's assets . in italy , that is the cutoff point at which a company must either find fresh capital to cover its losses and debt , or file for bankruptcy . in addition , alitalia 's stock has slumped nearly 90 percent in the last five years , making it difficult to persuade anyone to buy new shares . if alitalia gets the tax breaks under consideration , it could apply the money saved to last year 's results , lower its net loss and no longer be forced to raise capital or seek bankruptcy_protection . some airlines , like british_airways , have been able to revamp by firing thousands of employees after the sept . 11 , 2001 , attacks , and others , like air_france , have been able to radically cut costs . but alitalia has not yet formulated a response to the crisis in the airline sector . in october , francesco mengozzi , then alitalia 's chief executive , proposed a revamping plan that called for 1 , 400 layoffs and the moving of 1 , 300 people from alitalia to other companies that would do outsourced work for alitalia . the airline 's unions rejected that plan and when the government 's support began to waffle , mr . mengozzi resigned in february . the new chief , marco zanichelli , has been meeting with unions over the last month and has promised to take their suggestions and the government decree into consideration in his final bailout plan for the airline , which should be presented by may 20 . the decree , which has not yet been finalized , is likely to include tax breaks on gasoline and tickets sales as well as lower landing and takeoff fees . the transportation industry would also be included in an unemployment program in which laid off employees would be paid most of their salary by the government . the workers would be rehired only if alitalia needed them . the automaker fiat used the plan to move thousands of workers off its payroll last year and then rehired some when its financial situation improved . | has a location of italy |
ferruzzi finanziaria s.p.a . and gemina s.p.a . said today that they had called off the proposed merger of their companies because of the " difficult stock_market conditions " in italy . ferruzzi said it would ask shareholders to buy 1 . 05 trillion_lire , or about 625 million , of new shares to provide the fresh capital that the company would have received from the merger . ferruzzi 's proposed merger with gemina and parts of fiat_s.p.a . nicknamed super gemina would have created italy 's second largest private company with 38 trillion_lire in revenue and businesses including sugar , chemicals , insurance , publishing and textiles . the merger with cash rich gemina would also have reduced ferruzzi 's debt of 2 trillion_lire . the merger ran into trouble soon after it was announced in early september , when gemina discovered extra losses at its publishing units . italian judges are investigating whether company management falsified the balance_sheets . the merger was also criticized for ignoring the rights of minority_shareholders and for increasing the power of italy 's already powerful mediobanca s.p.a . investment_bank and fiat , which would have controlled the resulting group . in a brief six line statement , gemina said that it was postponing the merger because of " difficult market conditions . " italy 's stock_market has fallen almost 6 percent in the last three trading days because of concern that prime_minister lamberto_dini could be voted out of office later this week by parliament . the merger had already been delayed two months because of gemina 's problems . ferruzzi said in a separate statement that it needed to ask its shareholders for fresh funds because the merger would not be taking place . it also said that a difficult real_estate market meant that its program of selling assets was behind schedule . it said it wanted to sell 1.5 trillion_lire of real_estate from 1993 to 1997 but had sold just 120 billion lire so far . ferruzzi said it would ask shareholders to buy one share at 1 , 000 lire each for every two shares already held . it will also hand out a warrant with each new share giving the right to buy one new share at 1 , 000 lire for every 10 warrants held anytime until the end of 1998 . ferruzzi is largely controlled by its creditor banks , which rescued it after it nearly went bankrupt in 1993 . international business | has a location of italy |
lead the italian senate passed a bill today that would restrict ownership of television and newspapers , and ban commercials during film , opera and theater productions on television . the measure is seen as a major threat to the television empire of the italian media holder silvio_berlusconi . the italian senate passed a bill today that would restrict ownership of television and newspapers , and ban commercials during film , opera and theater productions on television . the measure is seen as a major threat to the television empire of the italian media holder silvio_berlusconi . the law would prevent those who own more than 16 percent of italy 's total newspaper circulation from owning a television_station . those who control from 8 to 16 percent would be restricted to one station , and those who own up to 8 percent could own two stations . someone who does not own a newspaper could own up to three television stations . under the bill , mr . berlusconi could be forced to give up one of his three stations or his newspapers . the rome daily la republica , over which mr . berlusconi gained control after his acquisition of mondadori editore , estimated that he could lose up to 320 million a year in advertising if the amendment on commercials passes . gianni letta , a spokesman for mr . berlusconi 's holding_company , fininvest , said on wednesday that approval of the amendment ''would mean the end of commercial television in italy to the advantage of a monopoly by r.a.i . , '' the state run station , which carries advertising but mainly between programs . the bill , approved by a show of hands in the senate , must be considered next week by the chamber of deputies , the lower_house of parliament . the media business | has a location of italy |
prime_minister silvio_berlusconi , left , said he had done everything possible to persuade the bank of italy 's governor to resign after a protracted scandal that has caused mr . berlusconi 's own cabinet to fray . speaking to parliament , mr . berlusconi said , ''the government could not intervene directly , and therefore i did the only thing i could do appeal to the governor , to his sensibility and to his conscience . '' the bank 's governor , antonio_fazio , is suspected of unfairly favoring an italian bank over foreign competitors in its takeover bid for another italian bank . many prominent italian business and political leaders have urged mr . fazio to step down , but he says he has done nothing wrong , and he has tenure for life . last week , the economy minister , domenico siniscalco , resigned , citing his frustration with the government 's ''immobility'' in handling the situation . brian wingfield ( nyt ) | has a location of italy |
the cabinet of silvio_berlusconi , italy 's prime_minister , approved a bill that beginning in 2008 will raise to 40 from 35 the minimum number of years people must work if they want to collect a pension before reaching the standard retirement age of 65 for men and 60 for women . the bill still must be approved by parliament , which is expected to rubber_stamp it since mr . berlusconi has a solid majority in both houses . italy 's largest trade_unions have planned a four hour general_strike for oct . 24 to protest the changes to the pension system . eric_sylvers ( nyt ) | has a location of italy |
italians showed the remarkable ability this year to reward silvio_berlusconi for his victory in last march 's national elections by scooping up shares on the milan stock_market in unheard of volumes for about one month and then , after mr . berlusconi and his political partners stumbled from one gaffe to the next , to simply walk away . that , in effect , explains the frenzied buying last spring that sent the mibtel index of shares to a high in may of about 13 , 500 , only to deflate in dribs and drabs ever since , to 11 , 004 when the market closed this week it was not all the fault of mr . berlusconi , italy 's tycoon turned prime_minister . much of the selling was prompted by the expectation that interest rates , which were cut aggressively in 1992 , would begin to rise again . the surprise discount_rate increase earlier this month by the bank of italy , the central_bank , to 7.5 percent from 7 percent , seemed to bear out those concerns . mr . berlusconi 's liability in all this has been the inability of his government to appear united on setting priorities . italy 's economy is not doing badly . a shaky dollar and a hefty german_mark have enabled italian businesses , whose biggest export market is in germany , to profit from the low cost of their products when sold for marks , while the prices paid for raw_materials and components , which are often denominated in dollars , stayed low . the result has been a rise in industrial production , with record low inflation . angelo tantazzi , director of the prometeia forecasting group in bologna , predicts that with industry awash in foreign orders , italy 's growth this year will surpass 2 percent , reaching 3 percent in 1995 . with the economy purring , the only real problem facing mr . berlusconi was italy 's 1 . 2 trillion public debt , and the government 's borrowing needs to pay the interest , which have a ratcheting upward effect on interest rates . financial analysts complain that since the march elections , mr . berlusconi has dithered away his time in rome , fiddling over highly charged political battles , instead of addressing the debt issue and defining areas where the government wants to cut spending and increase revenues . while he attacked the magistrates investigating italy 's endless corruption scandals , and generally squabbled with the parliamentary opposition and his own fractious political partners , the market smoldered . " the market is now waiting to see whether the government can do any worse than it has until now , " said fausto galleotti , director of research at pasfin securities in milan . for change to come , mr . berlusconi 's first task will be to manage the differences in his government between its coalition partners the separatist northern league , with a constituency in the industrialized north bent on fiscal_restraint , and the neo_fascist national alliance , whose voters in the less developed south rely on government spending . while leaders of the league like budget minister giancarlo pagliarini have been pressing for spending cuts in sensitive areas like the bloated pension system , alliance politicians have assailed the central_bank 's tight money policy and demanded an amnesty for pension fraud . so what should investors watch for over the next several weeks ? analysts say they will be looking at corporate half year profit estimates , which usually come in late september . jane alsop , the director of research in milan for the deutsche_bank group , said the companies to bear in mind would be manufacturers with heavy export volume , like the fiat auto group telecommunications companies like the recently privatized giant telecom_italia olivetti , which makes computers , and pirelli , which manufactures cables . both olivetti and pirelli are looking to expand in telecommunications . but first , and more crucial , will be any harbingers of movement within the government toward a 1995 budget bill . if the omens are favorable , and coincide with increased corporate profitability , the market could bounce back . analysts like mr . galleotti advise looking at financial service companies , including insurers like generali , sai , and fondiaria that would generally benefit from private funds created by an overhaul of the pension system , as well as at banks on good financial footing , like banca_commerciale and imi . the question of when domestic shops , retail distributors , housing and furnishings businesses will revive depends largely on how well the government can get its own act together . that is because spending for big infrastructure projects like roads , railway improvement and telecommunications , which generate jobs and improve consumer_spending , hinges on the government 's ability to set spending priorities . when that happens , ms . alsop said she would favor companies in the construction sector like italcementi . massimo gaggiotti , an analyst at intereuropa s.i.m. , a milan brokerage_firm , also recommends textile companies , like benetton . the downside of all this remains italy 's fragile political situation . what encourages analysts to believe the government might get it under control is the scare that roiled markets earlier this month , when the surprise discount_rate increase drove down italian bond and share prices and sent the lira spiraling to a record low of 1 , 030 to the mark , the bellwether european currency . shaken by the turmoil , the italian president , oscar luigi scalfaro , told the government to keep its hands off the central_bank , and to start seeking consensus on spending cuts . " if they manage to flesh it out , " said ms . alsop of the coming budget bill , " you can expect to see a good autumn . " | has a location of italy |
lead for one student , emanuela gentile , the choices under italy 's ' 'religion hour'' order were few but not simple . for one student , emanuela gentile , the choices under italy 's ' 'religion hour'' order were few but not simple . like every public schoolboy and girl in italy , she had to decide whether to take a course in religion for an hour a week , which in this country means roman_catholic studies , or one of four alternative programs being offered by her high_school , liceo mamiani in rome . taking nothing at all was not an option . ''wherever you go , the church has some role it has always been true and probably always will be , '' miss gentile , 17 years old , said . ''i felt like protesting . '' that , she explained , was how she ended up in a once a week economics class . but to a 16 year old schoolmate , veronica cutolo , a weekly dose of religion made sense . ''i 'm not really sure about the existence of god , but i think that in this class i can find some answers , '' she said . ''at least , i might find out why other people believe . '' so she sat attentively at liceo mamiani one recent saturday morning as a priest , the rev . angelo arrighini , roamed a field of subjects from the newly discredited shroud of turin to satanic cults , with occasional detours into questions such as whether jesus 's hair was long or short . 'tradition of this country' it was not his intention to teach catholic doctrine , father arrighini said . ''what i try to do , '' he said , ''is simply to show how catholicism is part of the historical and cultural tradition of this country . '' the very existence of his course was proof enough . four years ago , the vatican and italy 's government signed a revised concordat that ended catholicism 's status as the state_religion . but today , the two sides continue to wrestle with the problem and their relationship . the focus of the dispute , early in the new academic year , is the court ordered ' 'religion hour , '' a contentious issue embroiling students , parents , teachers , school administrators , religious groups and politicians . under the old concordat , concluded between pope pius xi and mussolini in 1929 , classes in catholic doctrine were compulsory in state schools unless students or parents asked for exemptions . the changes made in 1984 were intended to make such instruction voluntary . choice is mandatory that is not exactly how things have worked out , however . in a recent ruling , a high level court , the council of state , interpreted the new agreement to mean that all students from nursery_school through high_school are obliged to take either a weekly hour of religious instruction or an alternative of some sort . the point was that they had to choose something . the practical result is that 90 percent of italian public_school students continue to receive religious education , from catholic priests selected by the church and paid as all priests are by the state . some students actively prefer the religion hour , or their parents do . but many are also responding to group pressure , or to the imperatives of tradition , or to the fact that some schools , especially in more remote districts , offer no desirable alternatives . ''many of them are so disenchanted , they simply do n't care , '' said luigi covatta , an under secretary in the ministry of public education . ''they 're not afraid of one hour of religion , so they take it . but it 's not important to them . '' even so , protestant and jewish groups protest what they regard as the preservation of the special status of catholicism , whether or not it is called the state_religion . lay political_parties , including some that belong to the five party governing coalition , complain that at least a third option should be added that of taking no course at all . avoiding temptation that idea hardly appeals to church leaders , who assume that most students would simply stay away . ''even i as a catholic boy would have gone home , '' said msgr . cesare nosiglia , an official of the italian bishops' conference . ''one less hour of school is a temptation that 's too strong . '' the church 's concern is underlined in schools that provide genuine alternatives to the religion hour . at liceo mimiani , for example , students may choose among courses in economics , music , law and computers . one consequence is that barely half the students signed up this term for religion classes . despite the fact that organized religion has fallen on troubled times in italy surveys show , for instance , that only 25 percent of catholics attend sunday mass the cultural grip of the church remains formidable . in overwhelming numbers , italians continue to be baptized , married and buried by priests . ''it 's still a catholic country that 's the reality , '' said carlo cardia , a lawyer who sits on a church state commission that deals with concordat questions . mr . cardia typifies the tug of war within the italian soul . he is a communist . yet on the wall behind his desk hangs a large oil portrait of the magi adoring the infant jesus . asked to reconcile the apparent contradiction , he shrugged . the new system is a challenge for priests as well . they must figure out how to teach the basics of their faith and yet not disaffect parents who want catechism kept out of public schools . under the old concordat , priests had a captive audience , if often an indifferent one . now , the assignment is tougher , says the rev . gianni todescato of santa chiara church in northern rome . ''if we do n't live up to students' expectations , '' he said , ''we will lose them . '' | has a location of italy |
an earthquake shook eastern sicily early_today , killing 18 people , officials said . the disaster took the biggest toll in carlentini , a town of 10 , 000 people between catania and syracuse , where members of four families were killed when their homes crumbled on top of them as they slept . the quake struck at about 1 30 a.m . and was followed by dozens of aftershocks during the day . the united_states earthquake information center in golden , colo . measured the quake at 5.1 on the richter_scale . on the scale , a gauge of energy released as measured by ground motion , a quake of magnitude 5 can cause considerable damage . 13 bodies in carlentini the bodies of 13 people were pulled from the rubble in carlentini . they included an elderly couple a woman , her two daughters and two grandchildren a 32 year old bar owner , and a couple and their 18 month old daughter . five others died of heart attacks after the quake , including one person in the town of francofonte and another in militello , the authorities said . a rescue worker in carlentini told the news_agency ansa that he had found the bodies of sebastiano musumeci , his wife , francesca , and their 18 month old daughter , veronica . " they 're all hugging in a big bed , " the unidentified worker said . " maybe they were in such a deep sleep that they did n't even understand what happened . let 's hope it was like that . " the couple 's 5 year old son , rosario , survived . damage put at 400 million about 200 people were injured , the italian news_agency agi said . the quake caused at least 400 million in damage , according to the prefect 's office in syracuse . up to 2 , 500 people were left homeless , the civil protection ministry said . in carlentini , about 20 miles north of syracuse , officials said they would set up a huge tent on the village sports field to shelter some of the 1 , 300 homeless people . two neighborhoods were badly_damaged . the quake 's epicenter was in the gulf of noto about 30 miles southeast of syracuse , the national institute of geophysics said . sicily has been struck several times by major earthquakes . in 1968 , nearly 400 people died in a quake . in 1908 , a quake leveled the city of messina , killing 83 , 000 people . | has a location of italy |
it took near disaster at pirelli s.p.a. , italy 's giant rubber company , to bring marco tronchetti provera to the helm . rapid expansion in europe and the united_states in the 1980 's had spawned a mountain of debt , and by 1992 , when mr . tronchetti took over as chief executive in the midst of recession , the company 's anchor businesses of automobile tires and electrical_cables were floundering . the success of mr . tronchetti , who is 46 , in refloating pirelli made him just about the most talked about man in italian business , raised the company 's sagging share price , and last year landed him on the cover of fortune_magazine 's international edition as one of europe 's tough new generation of managers . this year , the question is whether the tall , lean and energetic mr . tronchetti is tough enough to face down what may be a stiffer challenge keeping pirelli from sinking in the new storms swirling in italian politics . the storms threaten to swamp his strategic plan for the future of the company 's electric cable division , on which many analysts think the future of the company as a whole rests . and they have come at time when drastic retrenchment and a strike at the company 's tire division in the united_states , the pirelli armstrong tire corporation , are highlighting the survival risks confronting all in the tire making industry except the giants , like the michelin tire corporation , the goodyear tire and rubber company and the bridgestone corporation . for all of this , investors remain bullish about pirelli . by the end of the second week in july , when pirelli closed at 2 , 725 lire ( 1 . 77 ) the stock had shown a 9 percent increase since the start of july . since , the stock , like all stocks traded in milan , has been buffeted by the near collapse of the government of prime_minister silvio_berlusconi . pirelli is the world 's third largest maker of optical fiber cables , and mr . tronchetti 's strategic plan is this he badly wants to acquire a sizable stake in telecom_italia , a company still on the government 's drawing board as part of its work to privatize the state controlled telecommunications industry . the acquisition , he says , would assure the nation a major telecommunications company with the scale to compete when europe 's telecommunications monopolies break up . it would also preserve a base for pirelli 's cable manufacturing . " i think it important there be movement on both wings of the business , " said luca comi , a share analyst at milan 's intereuropa brokerage . " but telecom is very important , also at a psychological level . optical fibers is where the company is lagging , and it would provide pirelli with a privileged access channel . " italian politicians take a different view . with telecom being taken public this fall , mr . tronchetti is under assault by two key groups . facing multiple roadblocks one group is the state industries' professional managers , worried about their jobs if an aggressive industrial shareholder of the likes of pirelli with clear business goals assumes a major share . the other group is made up of small businesses central to the uneasy coalition that keeps the right wing government of mr . berlusconi , himself a tycoon turned politician , in power the small businesses have long feared the weight of large industrial concerns . in rome , legislators are accusing mr . tronchetti of trying to transform what had been a public monopoly into a private one , and have vowed to block any attempt by pirelli to obtain a controlling share of telecom . mr . tronchetti rejects all such charges . " whoever accuses us is speaking in bad_faith , " he said , stiffening his back during an interview at pirelli 's headquarters here . " liberalization will cause two phenomena first will be a lowering of rates , and second , a reduction of everyone 's market_share , " he continued . " we 've got to seize the opportunity , or italy risks becoming marginalized , forced to cede development to third parties . " a leader who seizes the moment if history is any guide , mr . tronchetti is a master at seizing opportunity . a graduate of the management school of milan 's bocconi_university , mr . tronchetti got his start in the tronchettis' 320 million a year family business , camfin s.p.a. , , trading raw_materials and petroleum products . after a spell in london as a trainee with a marine transport company , he returned to italy to set up a shipping agency , and at age 28 married leopoldo pirelli 's daughter ( they have since separated ) . he succeeded mr . pirelli , grandson of giovanni battista pirelli , who founded the company in 1883 , as chief executive of the company at time when its shareholders were badly_shaken by debt resulting from a failed attempt to buy germany 's big continental rubber company in 1991 . his first goal was to return the company to its industrial roots . he jettisoned about 40 subsidiaries making everything from sneakers to conveyor belts . shedding the philosophy of bigness , he dismissed 170 executives , nearly one quarter of management . he dramatized his hands on approach by moving the company headquarters from fashionable piazzale cadorna in downtown milan to austere quarters on pirelli 's original factory grounds north of the city . and he has been advertising the company 's new look with a provocative campaign that recently plastered much of europe with billboards featuring the american sprinter carl_lewis bent over in a starting position , sporting bright red women 's high heels . the ad 's message promotes the sure grip of pirelli tires " power is nothing without control . " this year , the company expects to turn a modest profit , after losses of 27 million in 1993 , on global sales of 5 . 7 billion . ( in telecommunications , for example , pirelli is a major supplier of cables to american telephone and power companies . it also sells sophisticated components like optical amplifiers , which strengthen signals in glass fiber cables , to long distance carriers like the mci_communications corporation . ) net debt , which stood at 2 billion in 1991 , has been almost halved to 1 . 1 billion . the company is leaner than it has been in a long while , employing 43 , 000 people , 8 , 500 fewer than in 1991 . u.s . operations displeasing mr . tronchetti has not been pleased with operations in the united_states , where roughly 16 percent of pirelli 's total sales has been generated through sales of armstrong replacement tires at big retail outlets like sears , roebuck company . for the last two years , pirelli armstrong has been restructuring , to focus on car and light truck tires and on productivity gains . in the second week of july , pirelli armstrong announced the company intended to phase out health_care benefits for 3 , 000 retirees . and since , the new haven based subsidiary announced it had reached an agreement to sell its des_moines factory , which makes tires for farm vehicles , to titan wheel international inc . of quincy , ill . the des_moines factory is one of three pirelli plants the others are in nashville and in hanford , calif . struck by 1 , 700 members of the united rubber workers july 15 . the union says armstrong 's health and pension offers are unacceptable . paul calvi , chief executive of pirelli armstrong , says " the financial viability of pirelli armstrong is being threatened by health costs . " mr . tronchetti declined to comment . what is going on with armstrong , said giancarlo rocco di torrepadula , a pirelli spokesman , is a local problem being dealt with by local management . according to stephen reitman , an auto industry analyst at ubs philips drew in london , pirelli armstrong 's problems provide one more piece of evidence for the strains in the the world tire market , where recovery awaits a revival of europe 's sluggish automobile market . " maybe the shakeout is just taking longer than expected , " he says . " maybe it 's the smaller manufacturers , the continentals , the pirellis , the dunlops , that are going to go . " one possible key to survival such an analysis highlights the importance of pirelli 's telecommunications division and of a stake in telecom to the company 's future . to foil any single investor taking control , rome has been insisting on limiting share purchases to about 3 percent of equity . one way to skirt such restrictions is to get a group of allied companies to snap up 3 percent packages , and then act in concert as a shareholder group . in any event , mr . tronchetti is not saying what strategy pirelli will use until he sees which way the present government plans to go . in the meantime , he takes every opportunity to hammer away at what he sees as italy 's need to shed a mentality based on government ownership . " our problem remains learning to understand the state as a regulator , not as owner and operator , " he said . mr . tronchetti is a passionate yachtsman and owns a finnish built boat named kauris , finnish for capricorn , his zodiac sign . his abiding interest in the sea is reflected in the antique maps of italy and its surrounding waters that adorn his office walls . and does he see a connection between boating and business ? " i enjoy being at the helm , " he replied . | has a location of italy |
the italian government today renewed its decree for a capital_gains_tax , an issue that helped to provoke a stock traders' strike earlier this week , but it postponed putting the tax into effect for two months . the cabinet 's action put off the tax until feb . 15 . it had to renew the decree because without action , the decree would have expired after parliament 's failure to approve it within a two month period . the capital_gains_tax applies to small investors . companies and institutional_investors already have to include capital gains on stock trading in their corporate earnings . but individual investors are not required to include capital gains on their income_tax filings . | has a location of italy |
alitalia , the italian flagship carrier that has been on the edge of bankruptcy since the start of the year , said that its cash had dwindled to 150 million_euros and that it needed a government guaranteed loan by the end of september to continue operating . the airline burned through 100 million_euros ( 121 million ) in the last three months , a clip of about 1.1 million a day . the airline is waiting for the european_union to rule on whether the italian government , which owns 62 percent of alitalia , can provide a loan_guarantee . eric_sylvers ( nyt ) | has a location of italy |
italy 's stock_market , popular in the first half of 1990 , has fallen sharply as the year winds down . and the outlook for 1991 is no rosier . the hoped for drop in interest rates and resulting market rally , which led many analysts to bet on italy , did not materialize because of the iraqi_invasion_of_kuwait and concerns about a weakening lira . many analysts expect italy , with 1991 growth expected to be around 1.5 percent after adjustment for inflation , to be one of the slowest growing of the continental economies . but there is little that italian leaders can do about this because the european monetary system limits their freedom to lower interest rates . italy is in the same bind as britain , the newest member of the system , which links the currencies of 10 countries in trading ranges and requires member governments to defend these levels . at the end of last year , italy moved the lira from the wider 12 percent trading range , which britain is in , to the narrower 4.5 percent band . this at least added credibility to the country 's commitment to follow the anti inflation leadership of the german bundesbank , whose mark is the key currency in the european system . the pound , which rallied after britain joined the monetary system in october , is now the weakest of the 10 currencies . and the lira , which was one of the two strongest currencies earlier this year , is now moving toward the bottom of the heap . if britain or italy dropped interest rates the logical move to help a slowing or falling economy they would weaken their currencies , threatening to push them to the bottom of their trading band in the system , which is also known as the european rate mechanism , or e.r.m . when that happens , a government must defend its currency with central_bank intervention or by raising interest rates or devalue the currency . none of the options are palatable . in a signal of the acceptance of the e.r.m . discipline , britain 's new chancellor of the exchequer , norman lamont , last week told parliament , " there is no question of a reduction in interest rates , which is not fully justified by our position in the e.r.m. " this commitment comes even as economic indicators show the british economy falling faster than expected . the number of unemployed jumped 57 , 600 in november bringing the country 's adjusted unemployment rate to 6.2 percent . italian officials also began to worry as the lira fell this fall in response , the central_bank pushed short term interest rates higher again . from just below 13 percent in the first quarter , three month rates had fallen to 10 . 25 percent in the third quarter . now , they 're back up , to around 12 . 5 percent . " this is the rule of the e.r.m . , " said richard_reid , chief european economist for ubs phillips drew in london . italy 's problems are complicated by a budget_deficit problem that rivals washington 's . ubs economists expect the deficit to be much higher than the 132 trillion lira ( 119 billion ) projected , partially because the government is optimistically projecting 2.7 percent economic_growth and counting on many american like budget cuts tougher tax collectors and sales of government properties which usually bring in far less than hoped . " i do n't think this 1991 will be a great year for the italian stock_market , " said erich stock , investment manager for shearson global asset_management in london , which runs the italy fund . he thinks it is far too early to consider getting back into the italian market . " i would n't leap into the italian market , " added guy rigdon , director of strategy at ubs phillips drew . " all the big stocks fiat , olivetti , assicurazioni generali are unattractive . " francesco ricciulli , the analyst for italy at salomon_brothers in london , agrees that the market looks unappetizing right now . " the market suffers from a lack of choice , " he said . autos and chemicals face declining earnings because of the economic slowdown the insurance sector is unhealthy , and telecommunications companies , with their debt , are not as appealing as they appear . but mr . ricciulli thinks there are important noneconomic developments on the horizon that will make the market more attractive . these are the laws that would limit practices that favor insiders in italy and hurt unwary investors , especially foreigners . most important among these are bills for restructuring the stock_market , redesigning the broker business , limiting off market trades , banning insider_trading , improving shareholders' rights and regulating takeovers . " the strong arguments for the future are these exogenous factors , " said mr . ricciulli . the changes have been years in coming prompting a brokers' strike in november that shut down the milan bourse and will take several years to put in place . but another strike , which was scheduled for last thursday , was suspended after the brokers met with the prime_minister and after the lower_house of parliament approved the broker legislation . final approval is expected soon . | has a location of italy |
you can receive text_messages on a cellphone . an organizer . at least a couple of wristwatches . and now , as the universe of connectivity continues to expand , you can even get them on light fixtures . a chandelier has been wired to receive and display text_messages sent from any cellphone that happens to be in the room . at a furniture show in milan last month , swarovski , the austrian crystal manufacturer , introduced lolita , a chandelier by the designer ron arad . lolita is a five foot tall spiral of crystal embedded with more than 1 , 000 white light emitting diodes . processors in the chandelier pick up a phone 's s.m.s . signal and route the data to the l.e.d . 's , which display the text message as it scrolls from the top of the crystal spiral to the bottom . lolita ( www . swarovskisparkles . com ) was a hit with partygoers at its unveiling , and swarovski executives hope the concept will attract interest from high end clients like hotels , upscale nightclubs and perhaps builders of luxury homes ( there is no word from the company on how lolita might be priced ) . a drawback depending on what message is being sent may be the very public nature of lolita 's display . but then , of course , there is a fallback method for delivering messages of a more private variety the cellphone . chris larson news watch display | has a location of italy |
continental_airlines and alitalia airlines said yesterday that they would start offering joint flights in july between rome and newark , adding to the growing list of carriers that have linked forces to extend their networks of routes . this popular industry tactic is known as " code_sharing , " because the same flight is listed with each partner 's two letter code in computer reservation systems . but it has been called deceptive by some industry executives and politicians , including senator wendell h . ford , democrat of kentucky , who has called code_sharing " inherently dishonest . " still , continental and alitalia may have found a way to blunt some of the criticism that they are hiding something the left side of the continental dc 10 that will make daily nonstop flights between rome and newark will retain its continental logo , while the right side will be repainted with alitalia 's colors and logo . " a truly unique visual statement , " robert r . ferguson , continental 's chief executive , said in a news conference yesterday . few corporate_identity experts disagreed with mr . ferguson 's assessment yesterday , and most applauded the move as a bold sign to consumers that the two partners were committed to their new relationship . but they had some doubts . " i do think that from a consumer 's standpoint , it is going to be very confusing , " said clay timon , chairman of landor associates . the practice is not unprecedented . in 1977 , british_airways and singapore_airlines took sides on a concorde that flew between london and singapore , although british_airways later dropped the route . in what was perhaps a tacit_acknowledgment that alitalia and continental executives were not totally sold on the idea , the carriers said yesterday that they were working on a joint design that would better incorporate each logo and lend a less bifurcated appearance to the single aircraft that will receive this special treatment . but then again , many travelers may not have the opportunity to appreciate the customized paint job . because most airports use covered walkways to guide passengers from the airport gate to the plane , few of them will see anything but the continental logo as they enter the left side of the plane . company news | has a location of italy |
lead the italian_lira was devalued by 3 percent against other major european currencies late today , while its trading band within the european monetary system was narrowed . the italian_lira was devalued by 3 percent against other major european currencies late today , while its trading band within the european monetary system was narrowed . a spokesman for the european_commission said the changes had been agreed by the community 's finance ministers and central_bank chiefs at night . speculation of a lira devaluation had swirled through the currency markets all day , but the announcement did not take place until a few minutes before midnight . in new york trading before the announcement was made the lira was quoted at 754 . 60 to the west_german mark , compared with 751 . 00 thursday . since early december the mark has appreciated by about 2 percent against the lira . the lira 's move to a narrower trading band of 2 . 25 percent from 6 percent previously is an essential step toward the wider objective of european monetary_union . italy has taken great strides in tackling inflation and achieving sustained economic_growth in recent years , and the bank of italy is now confident of its ability to hold the lira within a narrower band . the sweeping changes taking place in eastern_europe have pushed the mark sharply higher against other currencies . pressure has been building in the markets for an upward adjustment of the mark , but this has been strongly resisted by france 's finance minister pierre_beregovoy . | has a location of italy |
two years after it began an investigation into accusations against him , the vatican on monday formally rebuked a belgian jesuit theologian , the rev . jacques dupuis , over his writings . obedient but unbowed , father dupuis said this week that he could ''in good conscience'' continue with his work . ''the notification was not very pleasant , '' father dupuis , 77 , said of a vatican document published on monday that concluded that his writings on religious pluralism ''contained ambiguities'' about doctrine that could lead readers to ''erroneous or harmful positions . '' ''but after two and a half years of imposed silence , i feel free . '' father dupuis said on tuesday . only up to a point , though . father dupuis complained that after he finally signed a notification last december that the church had found errors in his work , the vatican added a paragraph explaining that his signature obliged him to ''abide'' by the vatican 's objections . father dupuis said he felt he had agreed only to take them into account , ''which is very different , '' he said . the long and secretive vatican investigation of father dupuis , a theology teacher at the pontifical gregorian university in rome , is only one example of how pope_john_paul_ii is determined to rein in catholic theologians who stray from strict doctrinal orthodoxy . the compromise reached by the vatican allows father dupuis to publish his book as long as he attaches the vatican 's conclusions a kind of theological surgeon_general 's warning . but in defending his position and pointing out where he felt the vatican had erred , father dupuis lifted a veil from one of the most ancient and mysterious procedures of the roman_catholic_church , rooting out heresy . in a commentary on tuesday in l'osservatore romano , a vatican newspaper , cardinal joseph ratzinger , director of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith , regretted the seemingly harsh tone of the notification , but said he had no choice . ''the clear , declarative assertive tone of a magisterial document , '' he wrote , ''aims at communicating to the faithful that one is not dealing with opiniable arguments or disputed questions , but with the truth . '' on sept . 26 , 1998 , cardinal ratzinger notified the leader of the jesuit order that father dupuis 's 1997 book , ''toward a christian theology of religious pluralism , '' was under investigation . ''i received 12 pages of questions , '' father dupuis recalled . ''i sent a 200 page reply . '' after seven months , he was informed that his answers were not ' 'satisfactory'' and received an additional 12 pages of questions . he said he responded with 60 more pages . on sept . 4 , 2000 , he was summoned to meet with cardinal ratzinger and asked to sign a draft of a notification that found ''grave errors'' in his work . ''it became clear , '' father dupuis said , ''that the text submitted for my approval contained false accusations against my book . '' on sept . 5 , the vatican issued a document by cardinal ratzinger that laid out the primacy of the roman_catholic_church and described other denominations as ' 'deficient . '' several cardinals criticized the document , but it was mostly aimed at reining in theologians like father dupuis . the next day , father dupuis received a new draft that toned down charges of ''grave error'' to ''ambiguities . '' father dupuis said that his superiors persuaded him that by signing ''i would be able to continue my theological work and remain faithful to my conscience and also to the church . '' | has a location of italy |
for the last 5 of his 13 years as head of ferrari , luca cordero di montezemolo has savored the heady success of seeing his cars and drivers take trophies on the formula one circuit . now , though , he faces different and some would say much more perilous contests altogether , taking on two jobs that make him yet more prominent in italian life than running ferrari , a company that combines the status of a national icon with a rare story of business success . as the newly chosen head of confindustria , italy 's manufacturers' association , his mission is to get italian business onto the start grid of global competitiveness , let alone within sight of the checkered flag . and his effort comes at a time when the country 's economy is stagnant , industrial productivity is low and business confidence is still shaken by the collapse of the parmalat food empire and the near bankruptcy of the alitalia airline . but that is not the only challenge . mr . di montezemolo , 56 , has also been appointed chairman of the giant debt burdened fiat , italy 's biggest private_sector employer , at a time when european rivals have elbowed the turin based automaker out of its traditional small car markets and as it faces critical decisions about its future . on the surface , the two jobs along with the continued chairmanship of ferrari , a fiat subsidiary might seem an uneasy fit at best and , at worst , a combination of responsibilities that offers too little time to address its components . but , in a peculiarly italian way , mr . montezemolo 's position reflects his unusual status as a member of the gilded elite , the product of credentials honed for more than 30 years as the viceroy of the agnelli family , italy 's premier industrial dynasty and the leading investors in fiat . suave and debonair , mr . montezemolo has been linked to the family that molded his fortunes since his teens . as a young man he raced rally cars with cristiano rattazzi , son of susanna agnelli , the sister of giovanni_agnelli . mr . agnelli , the one time fiat patriarch who died in 2003 , first appointed mr . montezemolo sporting director of ferrari at age 26 . he went on to run other fiat owned interests , while preparing italy to be host of the 1990 soccer world_cup . with his flowing hair , double_breasted suits and button down shirts worn unbuttoned , he seems cast in the same stylish mold as giovanni_agnelli . like his mentor , he has combined business ascendancy with the reputation in his youth as something of a playboy . his marriage to ludovica andreoni is his third . and like all serious italian tycoons , he has a close interest in a soccer club he is vice chairman of the club in bologna , his hometown in addition to the fiat owned juventus team . when he was appointed chairman of fiat in late may , it seemed to some that his ascendancy was a story long foretold , at least among the agnellis . ''the family is all behind him , '' said susanna agnelli , a powerful force within the family that still holds 30 percent of fiat through a cascade of holding_companies . ''i consider luca as if he were my son , '' she said in a telephone conversation . it was the strength of those ties that catapulted mr . montezemolo into the chairman 's seat at fiat after a series of events confronted the agnelli family with an agonizing decision after the death of the fiat chairman , umberto agnelli , the brother of giovanni_agnelli . mr . montezemolo had just been formally anointed head of confindustria , a body that represents some 113 , 000 industrialists , 90 percent of them from small , largely family run companies that have traditionally been the backbone of italian industrial output alongside giants like fiat and pirelli . mr . agnelli 's death presented the family with a quandary , as fiat 's hard_nosed chief executive , giuseppe morchio , was widely reported to be coveting a joint role as chief and chairman . in a rapid fire succession of events , the family insisted that mr . montezemolo become chairman . mr . morchio , who had been chief executive for only 15 months , quit and the family looked to another of its managers , sergio marchionne , to take over . in a sit down interview his first with a non italian newspaper since taking both jobs mr . montezemolo made no attempt to cloak his role at fiat not so much as a hands on manager like mr . marchionne but , in part , as a mentor and protector of the agnelli family 's newest generation whose members have yet to gain the experience for the prominence that is their likely legacy . in particular , john elkann , 28 , giovanni_agnelli 's grandson and now vice chairman of fiat , is seen as the ultimate heir to the fiat empire provided the family can maintain its grip on the company in the face of fiat 's debts and other uncertainties . ''what i try to do , is try to let john between me and sergio marchionne grow up , '' he said . indeed , he said , appointing managers purely for their family_ties could well be a mistake . he commonly advises entrepreneurs in italy to develop good managers over managers from the family tree who may not have the makings of a leader . ''because if not , family becomes a limit to the development of the company , '' mr . montezemolo said . ''in fiat , it 's the same . it 's not the feudal approach . '' mr . montezemolo spoke in a salon bedecked with oil paintings at the confindustria representative office on the chic via veneto in rome , offering his remarks in english learned in part during his years as a student at columbia_university in new york , studying international commercial law in the early 1970 's after graduating in law from the university of rome . before the interview , he said he would not answer detailed questions about fiat until he had ''immersed'' himself in its problems , which , according to analysts , include poor sales of one recent model , the stilo , a creaky distribution network , and , most significantly , a seeming inability to build the kind of small cars that once made it no . 2 after volkswagen in europe and the undisputed leader in italy . additionally , the company faces two major decisions in 2005 one relating to a four year old deal with general_motors that could technically oblige the american company to buy up the remaining 90 percent of the stock it does not hold in fiat 's auto division , and the other concerning a 3 billion euro debt to italian banks that , if converted to fiat shares , would dilute the agnelli family 's stake to a little over 20 percent . ''maybe the family could sustain a situation with 22 percent of a healthy fiat instead of 30 percent of a group which is ailing , '' said gabriele gambarova , an auto industry analyst in milan , reflecting remarks by one agnelli family advisor who said recently that a lowered stake would ''not be the end of the world . '' in the interview , mr . montezemolo restricted himself to general remarks , hinting in particular that one fiat brand , alfa romeo , had ''important potential'' in the high ticket market for executive class cars currently dominated by german cars like audi and bmw . as a member of italy 's business elite , his image has been enhanced not only by his stewardship at ferrari , taking sales to more than 1 . 4 billion a year , but also by his directorships in luxury_goods companies in italy and france . his critics have argued , however , that as an entrepreneur he has never had direct experience in risking his own capital in his business ventures , unlike the agnelli family . and , some argue , he owes much to an undoubted ability to nurture close ties with his sponsors . indeed , one italian business magazine , prima comunicazione , recently said that he had ''built a myth of himself , choosing the right people to cultivate at the right time , '' including ''one after another of the sisters and the widows and all the children of the house of agnelli . '' mr . montezemolo rejects the inference that he had been maneuvering in the wings , arguing that , had umberto agnelli lived longer , his presence in the chairmanship of fiat would not have been required . but when pressed , mr . montezemolo said , ''it was impossible for me to say no to a family with which i have been in touch since i was 18 years old . '' before fiat 's crisis in late may , mr . montezemolo , as head of confindustria , had already signaled his ambition to initiate what he has called a ''cycle of hope'' in an economy growing at a lowly 0.3 percent , even less than the euro_zone 's meager average of 0.4 percent . italy , of course , is an exception in other ways . its creditworthiness was just downgraded by the standard_poor 's rating agency . its debt is among the most onerous in europe . its prime_minister , silvio_berlusconi , is also its richest man , controlling a 14 billion media empire that includes three of the seven television stations , along with publishing and advertising businesses . not only that , the prime_minister is seeking to honor election pledges of tax cuts and to cut spending . that puts the government on a potential collision course with business . ''we do n't want to reduce taxes if this means cutting investment in the future , '' mr . montezemolo said . ''if they want to cut inefficient costs , i say yes , yes , yes . '' but , he said , ''i 'm not in favor of less development , less taxes , period . '' indeed , on another front , as chairman of the italian association of newspaper publishers from 2001 to 2004 , he fought changes in a law that were designed to shield mr . berlusconi from conflict of interest charges . ''i made a big war , '' he said . mr . montezemolo also seems to be seeking something of a modernizing revolution among italian businesses , creating more medium size and large companies and weaning small businesses away from family roots . ''i 'm looking for a country much more concentrated on the future than on the past , '' he said . ''we say 'o . k. , give us the possibility to make investments in infrastructure , not only roads and bridges , but also intellectual infrastructure . all infrastructure . improve the bureaucracy . have less taxes for development investments . and we will do our job . ''' ''we are coming from many years in which in italy everyone said small is beautiful . hmmm , '' he said . ''well , maybe small is beautiful , but small is not enough anymore . '' | has a location of italy |
the holding_company that controls the big italian manufacturer of tires and telecommunication cables , pirelli compagnie , began a 2 . 4 billion bid for unione immobiliare s.p.a . in a move that would create one of italy 's largest real_estate companies . italian real_estate is emerging from a slump that lasted through much of the 1990 's , and pirelli has sought to cash in by expanding its real_estate division , milano centrale , which is the vehicle for the bid . john_tagliabue ( nyt ) world business briefing europe | has a location of italy |
in the latest blow to the world 's best known brand , italian regulators fined the bottler for the coca cola company in italy more than 16 million yesterday after finding that the bottler had engaged in unfair practices . the fine amounts to about 3 percent of sales in italy this year but is less than half the maximum penalty . it will be paid by coca_cola , which owns 51 percent of the bottler , coca_cola beverages . the bottler was also ordered to end some discounts in its exclusive contracts with supermarkets , a move that could curb its business . more troublesome , the penalty hints of obstacles to a planned merger by the bottler . the ruling , released yesterday in 200 pages by the italian antitrust authority , suggests that ''european regulators will probably take a hard line with coke and ccb , '' adam spielman , a beverage stocks analyst with salomon_smith_barney , said in a note to investors . coca_cola beverages , which was spun off from coca cola amatil in february 1998 , has announced plans to merge with the far more profitable hellenic bottling of athens . if the european_union blocked the merger , mr . spielman wrote , it would be ''extremely negative for ccb shares . '' coca_cola said it would appeal the ruling . enrico nardulli , the chairman of coca_cola beverages in italy , said the bottler respected the decision but called it ''inconsistent with italian and european_competition laws and with commercial practices widely accepted in italy as well as in other parts of europe and around the world . '' the fine was the second biggest ever from the italian antitrust authority , which in october fined italy 's two largest wireless telephone companies five times the amount to be paid by coke after declaring them guilty of collusion . that decision is being appealed . another investigation into coke 's practices is continuing after july raids by european regulators on coke offices in austria , denmark and germany , as well as on coca_cola beverages' office in london . under european union law , a company that has a dominant position in a business cannot offer certain discounts to retailers and wholesalers for exclusive contracts because they may inhibit small players unfairly . coke maintains that it is not dominant in italy when all nonalcoholic beverages are counted . the italian government counters that coke has 80 percent of the cola market , making it far and away the largest player . according to beverage digest , an industry publication , coca_cola has 45 . 8 percent of the italian soft_drink market , compared with 5.9 percent for pepsi_cola . even in its own annual report , coca_cola estimates its italian market_share at nearly four times that of its nearest competitor . the italian investigation began last year , after complaints from coca_cola 's chief rival , pepsico , and an italian supermarket_chain , esselunga s.p.a . in august , the italian authorities released a report describing some business practices at coca_cola that they found objectionable . these included offering discounts to retailers that agreed to carry only coca_cola products , more discounts for retailers that expanded coke displays and year end bonuses to wholesalers that carried only coca_cola . in addition , the report said coca_cola had a plan ''to expel pepsi'' from the marketplace by encouraging wholesalers to handle only coke products in fountain accounts . esselunga said coke representatives had told it to invest heavily in display cases and refrigerator equipment if it wanted to sell coke . that investment , esselunga said , would prevent it from making a profit . the fine announced yesterday amounted to 3 percent of coca_cola beverages' sales during the 14 months of the investigation . some analysts had speculated that coke and its bottler could be subject to a fine as high as 10 percent . though the fine is relatively small for the giant company , it is another setback in a difficult year for coca_cola , which has been dealing with the global economic slowdown , a european recall , and some racial issues at its atlanta headquarters , capped by a discrimination lawsuit and the resignation of its highest ranking black executive . on dec . 6 , coca_cola 's chairman and chief executive , m . douglas ivester , said he would step down next year . coke 's board said he would be replaced by douglas n . daft , who recently said that smoothing european relations was a priority . ''they need this like a hole in the head , '' said emanuel goldman , who tracks global consumer products companies for merrill_lynch . ''here and there , the image of the company has been under attack . the image of the company is crucial going forward . '' | has a location of italy |
alitalia needs a bailout this spring or risks not being able to pay salaries , according to domenico cempella , the executive appointed last month to save italy 's ailing national carrier . in discussions with other members of the airline 's management , the gist of which has been published here , mr . cempella said alitalia 's debt now totals the equivalent of 2 . 2 billion , double the amount one year ago and almost one third of it in costly short term obligations . alitalia lost 175 million in the latest quarter , more than in all of 1995 . an infusion of 260 million from the sale by alitalia last year of its share in the company that runs rome 's municipal airports is used up , he said . mr . cempella did not say when the istituto per la ricostruzione industriale , or i.r.i. , the state holding_company that controls alitalia , would seek permission from the european_union to provide fresh capital . such a move would make alitalia the latest state run european airline to get help . in recent years , air_france , air portugal , iberia of spain and olympic airways of greece have obtained a total of 7 . 4 billion in subsidies with grudging approval from the european_union , which wants such aid to be halted by 1997 , when full deregulation of the continent 's airlines begins . time is not on alitalia 's side . i.r.i. , which owns 90 percent of alitalia , evidently fears that after deregulation opens europe to competition , alitalia will be battered by more efficient european carriers like lufthansa and british_airways . moreover , in the partial liberalization that has already begun , new low fare airlines are elbowing into alitalia 's lucrative domestic routes . in recent months , former charter airlines like air one , noman and meridiana have begun scheduled flights on the heavily trafficked milan rome route at fares 30 percent below alitalia 's . though 10 percent of alitalia 's shares trade on the milan stock_exchange , the idea of raising fresh capital there appears unfeasible . " with debt at six times equity , it 's too high a risk , " said luca comi , who follows alitalia at the milan brokerage_firm intereuropa . few doubt that given the precedent elsewhere , alitalia will get what it needs . yet its case is complicated . for one thing , resistance to government handouts is mounting among europe 's healthier airlines , which are riding a revival of air travel to strong profits . scandinavia 's air carrier , s.a.s. , recently protested that air_france was using at least part of the 3 . 7 billion subsidy it won last year to finance aggressive low fares . british air , which was sold to private investors in 1987 and has since been thriving , has gone to the european_court_of_justice to challenge the aid given to air_france . " obviously subsidies skew their positions , " said hedda harris , a british air spokeswoman in london . moreover , italians go to the polls in april to elect a new parliament whose principal task will be to bring the relentless growth of government spending under control and accelerate the selloff of state owned assets like alitalia . in 1994 , i.r.i . appointed two tough executives from private industry , renato riverso , the former chairman of ibm europe , and roberto schisano , a former manager at texas instruments , to straighten out alitalia , which last turned a profit in 1987 . alitalia had followed the growth of other international airlines in the 1980 's by overextending its fleet and travel routes without attending to costs . service and punctuality were bad and productivity notoriously low . last year , while pilots at british_airways logged 18 million passenger miles , alitalia 's pilots flew half that amount . on intercontinental routes , alitalia racked up losses with big and costly to run boeing 747 's when competitors were flying more efficient jetliners like boeing 's 767 or new 777 . when mr . riverso sought to change that by leasing 767 's from other carriers , alitalia 's pilots struck . last year , alitalia faced 184 hours of strikes . to offset losses on intercontinental routes , alitalia traditionally milked cash cows like the milan rome run . but the arrival of the new low fare airlines ended that . paolo rubino , air one 's commercial director , said air one expects to win a 30 percent share of the milan rome traffic this year . though only flying since november with five boeing 737 's , air one expects pretax_profits in 1996 of 2 . 5 million to 3 million . the remedy prescribed by mr . riverso and mr . schisano resembled that applied elsewhere in the industry improve productivity by cutting jobs and scaling back routes , then expand the airline 's profitable activities and commence a new phase of growth . last november , however , after a controversy over concessions that were reputedly secretly made to pilots , mr . schisano was dismissed , and in march , mr . riverso quit amid bitter recriminations over i.r.i . 's corporate_governance . but mostly , i.r.i . 's withdrawal of support was because of jobs and politics . " there are 18 , 000 people at alitalia , and elections are soon , " said giulio la starza , who started noman as a regional charter carrier in the 1980 's and is now its general_manager . mr . cempella , 59 , a former alitalia executive who left the airline temporarily to run the rome airport company , has not said how he will resolve alitalia 's problems and has asked for two months of labor peace to work out a plan . but as a condition for fresh capital , the european_union will almost certainly mandate measures like job cuts and reductions in the number of alitalia 's aircraft and routes . some industry executives believe mr . cempella , who seems to understand the carrier 's culture and unions and who successfully oversaw the recent expansion of rome 's airports , might succeed where outsiders have failed . " it 's a strong recovery of competence and of leadership , " said mr . rubino of air one . international business | has a location of italy |
amid the political upheaval in italy , the government is trying to sell some huge , state owned companies including an ice_cream maker and the producer of the best selling olive_oil exported to the united_states . the aims of the intended sales are to unravel decades of state involvement in the economy , reduce a 100 billion budget_deficit and also take aim at the 1 . 2 trillion national debt . timed from 1992 to 1995 , the sales of government stakes in banks , food_processing companies , engineering firms , and energy and insurance enterprises were supposed to raise more than 25 billion , making the project the largest divestiture of state assets in continental_europe . thus far , though , nothing has been sold , and critics are suggesting that the plan was overly ambitious . the only transactions in a relatively advanced stage involve two food retailing divisions owned by societa meridionale finanziaria s.p.a. , known as sme . that , in turn , is 62 percent owned by a giant state holding_company , istituto per la ricostruzione industriale , or iri . the two divisions are italgel and cirio bertolli derica . what makes them attractive to potential buyers is both their profitability and their market position . italgel is no . 2 in the italian ice_cream market with a 30 percent share , and no . 2 among all frozen foods with 18 percent . a big name in tomatoes in addition , cirio bertolli derica leads the processed tomato products market with a 27 percent share and is italy 's top canned food producer with 22 percent . their brand names , including cirio canned foods and bertolli olive_oil also a market leader are household words in italy . and bertolli is the leading imported olive_oil in the united_states , with 24 percent of the market , a company spokesman said . " the interest in buying into these companies is basically twofold , " a food industry analyst who spoke in return for anonymity said . for italian companies , it offers a way of expanding their share of the market . for outsiders , it offers a point of entry into a very big market . italian news reports last week said 12 corporations , nine of them italian , had survived a selection process to enter bids . five bid for italgel and the others for cirio bertolli derica . they included some of the country 's food giants , including ferruzzi , barilla and parmalat . the foreign bidders were said to include nestle , unilever , grand_metropolitan p.l.c . of britain and the bsn group of france . the names of the bidders , however , have not been formally announced by the american merchant banker wasserstein , perella company , which is handling the deal . details of the bids were not immediately known . the auction has had its uneven stretches . workers at sme headquarters in naples occupied the premises for nearly three months this year until managers agreed that whatever happened to the company its headquarters would remain in naples . touched by scandal nor has sme escaped the vast national bribery scandal . its managing director , mario artali , was jailed for a time , and then freed this month to face questioning about the illicit financing of political_parties that forms a main strand of the scandal . beyond this pending sale , the privatization program has mostly generated debate . conservative opponents of the process forced the suspension of a decree that would have created a separate privatization ministry . and opposition is mounting to the next , far more controversial sale of a 67 percent stake in credito_italiano , the country 's sixth largest bank . " possibly , it was done in too much of a hurry , " said enzo berlanda , the head of italy 's stockbrokers' confederation , " because when we talk about a bank , we are talking about money , assets and the danger of foreigners taking over . " treasury minister piero barucci said recently that the government planned to shed its majority stake in energy companies , acknowledging that details needed to be worked out . in the meantime , italy is facing the prospect of a new government and a protracted political crisis over electoral reform . the privatization program was not squarely in the public eye this past week because of a national referendum on the reforms , in which italians voted_overwhelmingly to scrap much of the system that has prevailed since world_war_ii . if changes on that scale come to pass in the electoral system , and thus in the way the country is run , privatization will assume even greater importance as the economic underpinning of what some hope will be a political revolution . there are further pressures on italy to privatize . european_community rules on competition make it impossible for the state to continue financing money losing industrial albatrosses . the giants of state ownership , iri and the energy conglomerate eni , need to revitalize subsidiaries and pay off debts . and italy is committed to reducing its deficit to meet european_community standards . rome 's ability to continue drawing on a_10 billion community loan , granted in part to offset the costs of trying to defend the lira during the currency_crisis last september , depends on meeting tighter fiscal management targets . company news | has a location of italy |
italy 's richest family owned business empires acknowledged deepening troubles today with their separate companies . fiat , the giant auto and industrial company controlled by the agnellis , forecast a near tripling of debt to some 7 billion by the end of the year , and the reigning heirs of the ferruzzi family resigned from their debt laden holding_company . the woes affecting the two dynasties came as a further illustration of italy 's problems in pulling out of a recession that has been worsened by europe 's slowdown . in the case of fiat , today 's pronouncements about its debt showed how much the company was gambling on improvement in the european auto markets by mid 1994 . the hope is that fiat 's investments will pay off in a recovery , fiat 's chairman , giovanni_agnelli , said at a news conference after his company 's annual meeting in turin that debt running at some 2 . 5 billion at the end of last year had risen to more than 4 billion by this month . shedding some assets moreoever , he said , it could reach around 7 billion this year its highest in a decade unless the auto giant shed nonauto assets worth 1 . 4 billion to 2 billion . mr . agnelli ascribed the increase in debt from only some 250 million a year ago to the company 's ambitious investment program at a time when fiat 's share of the dwindling european markets is falling . in ravenna , meanwhile , the collapsing ferruzzi empire italy 's second biggest private company after fiat crumbled further when arturo ferruzzi , the only son of the founder , serafino ferruzzi , resigned as chairman of the family holding_company , ferruzzi finanziaria , and his brother in law , carlo sama , quit as its chief executive . laboring under some 20 billion of debt it has said it cannot repay , the sprawling conglomerate with holdings from food to chemicals and energy has already placed its management in the hands of banks . payments are cited the latest resignations , however , came after disclosures this week of further undeclared debts totaling some 213 million , which italian news reports said reflected payments of illicit funds to politicians in the country 's huge bribery scandal . ferruzzi and its main operating company , montedison , ran up the huge debts during a buying_spree that lasted from the 1980 's until last year and transformed the company from a family grains business to an international conglomerate . such are the company 's tangled finances that milan magistrates investigating italy 's tangentopoli bribe city affair have appointed an investigator to monitor the company 's crisis for links with the scandal . the magistrates are already seeking montedison 's fugitive ex chairman , giuseppe garofano , to question him about a 166 , 000 contribution he has acknowledged making to the once dominant christian democrats . fiat pressed for details the scandal 's long tentacles also reached into the fiat annual meeting here today with shareholders pressing mr . agnelli and fiat 's chief executive , cesare romiti , for details about the bribes senior fiat managers have acknowledged paying to politicians to obtain contracts . more than 10 top executives , including the finance director , paolo mattioli , and the chief_operating_officer , giorgio garruzzo , are under investigation and mr . romiti has been told that he is under scrutiny . mr . agnelli insisted today that kickbacks by the company over the last 10 years and totaling an amount he said was 35 million had not damaged profitability . asked how it was possible that some of his most senior executives could have been embroiled in the scandal without his knowledge or consent , he said the amounts involved were so small that " the chief_executive_officer and the chairman of the board is not involved in this kind of thing . " | has a location of italy |
for now , few americans have heard of enel , though millions have seen its handiwork . the company , italy 's former electricity monopoly , supplied the power that lighted the giant crystal apple that descended in times_square to greet the new year . but enel has ideas about introducing itself to america in a much bigger way , by concentrating on one of its strengths renewable_energy . enel , the largest electric_utility by market value in the world , is also among the world 's leading producers of power from renewable resources , and it is confident that it can do so profitably where others have struggled . ''there are some very good opportunities in the u.s. , and if the conditions are right we will consider acquisitions , '' said marco arcelli , who will become chief executive of enel 's american operations next week , a month before his 32nd birthday . ''some american utilities are busy selling assets and cleaning up their balance_sheet , '' mr . arcelli said in an interview . ''this is a situation we can take advantage of . '' when the company was deregulated and taken public in 1999 ( the italian state still holds two thirds of the stock ) , enel was ordered to sell some assets in italy to provide openings for competitors . over the last three years , it has parted with 15 , 000 megawatts of generation capacity in italy , enough to supply 20 million families . in the process , it has built up a huge store of cash . and its operations keep adding to the pile . enel said last month that it expected to generate a total of 14 billion_euros ( 15 . 6 billion ) in free cash_flow , after interest and taxes have been paid . planned sales of real_estate assets this summer will probably yield another 3 billion_euros , analysts said the bidding process on the assets is already under way . and enel has said that its telecommunications unit , wind no . 2 in italian fixed line phone service after telecom_italia and a major mobile phone operator is no longer one of its core businesses and may be sold . what to do with all that cash ? buy outside italy . mr . arcelli said the most likely places for acquisitions were in the western and northeastern united states , markets where enel already has a presence through chi energy , which it acquired in late 2000 for 312 million . while other american markets , especially florida , appeal to enel , mr . arcelli said , its first preference is to expand where it already knows the laws and regulators . chi energy , which is based in stamford , conn . , produces electricity in 16 states , including new york , california , washington and vermont , using renewable resources like wind , water or methane from landfills . enel has also bought or built power_plants elsewhere since deregulation , notably in bulgaria and spain , and diversified into telecommunications and natural_gas distribution . it is the fifth largest commercial power producer in the world . but though it has slimmed down to controlling just half the italian power market , the company remains fundamentally an italian business , deriving about 70 percent of its revenue from selling wattage to italians . but where many other publicly traded utilities have dabbled in renewable_energy , enel has embraced it , generating 2 , 000 megawatts of ''green power'' in italy and another 700 megawatts elsewhere , mainly from hydropower and geothermal plants . chi 's operations in the united_states account for 400 megawatts of the total . one challenge for mr . arcelli , who worked at general_electric for five years and is fluent in english , is to bring chi energy into closer harness with enel , which has so far done little to integrate its american unit with the parent company . ''part of my move to the u.s . is to push the integration with enel , '' mr . arcelli said . ''we recognize that there are differences , but we want people over there to think enel day and night . '' still , even an aggressive buying_spree in the united_states will not shift enel 's center of gravity across the atlantic , mr . arcelli said . ''how big we get in the u.s . will depend on the opportunities we find , but we will remain a european company and our core will always be in italy . '' the company has lost considerable favor with italian investors since its initial_public_offering in november 1999 . many first time investors were encouraged by the company , the government and italy 's banks to buy shares in the 18 billion euro offering , only to have them sink in value by nearly one quarter since then . the offering also included american_depository_receipts , which represent five ordinary shares and trade on the new york stock_exchange they rose slightly today , to close at 29 . 84 . about 3 percent of enel 's total equity is held by american mutual_funds . to raise its profile in the united_states , enel is considering rechristening chi energy with a name like enel inc . or enel north_america , mr . arcelli said . ''a friend of mine in the u.s . last week said to me that enel is the biggest company nobody 's ever heard of , '' he said . ''that is something we would like to change . '' | has a location of italy |
parmalat filed for protection from creditors under a new italian government decree that allows it to reorganize . but despite italy 's move , europe 's patchwork of laws may make corporate housecleaning difficult , no matter how much countries want to clamp down as the united_states did after the collapse of enron . business day , page c1 . | has a location of italy |
lead tourists and romans today got a glimpse of five well known monuments from ancient_rome , most of them restored for the first time since they were erected in the first centuries after the birth of christ . tourists and romans today got a glimpse of five well known monuments from ancient_rome , most of them restored for the first time since they were erected in the first centuries after the birth of christ . visitors were allowed onto the scaffoldings of the two columns , two arches and a temple that have shrouded the works since 1981 , when the project began . one , the arch of constantine , erected in a.d . 315 near the colosseum , is considered the last notable work of roman architecture , although it actually was built over three arches from fragments of older monuments . the nearly intact 100 foot trajan 's column , one of the roman forum 's most outstanding monuments with its relief carvings , also was unveiled along with the majestic column of marcus aurelius , erected in a.d . 169 176 . to be revealed slowly also newly restored were the arch of septimius severus , a triple arch 69 feet_tall and 75 feet wide , that rises at the northwest corner of the roman forum , and the temple of hadrian , whose remains are incorporated into the facade of the stock_exchange in downtown rome . giangiacomo martines , the architect who supervised the restoration , said the monuments would be revealed slowly during the spring as restorers gradually dismantle the scaffolding . restorers removed layers of dirt and smog , which threatened to damage the marble surface , using sandpaper and water mixed with resins . restoration of a section about three feet square typically took 10 hours , mr . martines said . | has a location of italy |
to the editor as mayor of venice i cannot but be pleased by the prominence you give to coverage of the city in william j . broad 's article ''that sinking feeling , again'' ( aug . 29 ) . what is a little less pleasing is the final message readers might gather from the piece venice is on the point of disappearing forever . this has become a rather tired leitmotif since thomas_mann published his ''death in venice . '' unfortunately , each time it is trotted out , it tends to encourage people to hurry and visit the place before it goes for good . it is more than probable that the scare stimulates even more day tripper ''raids'' on venice , and thus may actually serve to make its own grim prophecies self fulfilling except that , in the end , venice will not be submerged beneath the waves of the sea but beneath floods of visitors . perhaps most worrying is the rather questionable arguments put forward by the archaeologist albert j . ammermann and the geologist charles e . mcclennen , who are studying the origins of venice . their predictions that the city will sink within 100 years and flood repeatedly involves a forecast of an increase in the sea_level because of global_warming , a complex subject that dr . ammermann has not studied . the questionable conclusion goes against the results of the most recent studies carried out by experts in the field . fortunately , i see no reason for doubting that venice has a long life ahead of it . we are already working to guarantee that life . paolo costa venice | has a location of italy |
this summer the president of the italian state broadcasting system , rai , addressed the national congress of the national alliance , the right wing party led principally by what are known as ''post fascists . '' the official , antonio baldassarre , announced that it was time to ' 'rewrite history'' that is , as it is presented on italian television . ''the old rai represented only one culture and not others , '' he said . ''often , they did n't tell real history , but told fables , offered one sided interpretations . '' this exhortation before a party whose older leaders were youthful fascists had a very clear meaning no more black and white representations of anti fascists and partisan fighters as noble patriots and fascists as evil criminals . history , cynics say , is written by the winners . at the end of world_war_ii , the anti fascists who had been kept out of public life for 20 years got to tell their story and name streets and piazzas after their heroes . but with the return of a center right coalition last year , whose second largest party is the national alliance , many on the right feel that it is their turn now . domenico fisichella , a professor of political_science at the university of rome and a senator representing the national alliance , believes that the political changes have opened up new possibilities . ''the right has given up fascism as a model , '' he said . ''and at the same time , the historiographical debate on the fascist period has grown more serene , more balanced . '' mr . fisichella first proposed forming the national alliance in 1994 out of what had , up to that time , been a neo_fascist party known as the italian social movement . he is one of several scholars who have offered a more mixed judgment of the fascist era . ''it was clearly an authoritarian government but not a totalitarian one , '' he said in a telephone interview . ''fascism committed serious errors that led to the tragedy we all know , '' he added , referring to the alliance with hitler and world_war_ii . ''but it also passed a great deal of social and economic legislation that was quite valid , that was innovative for its time and even copied in part by the new deal in ending the depression . the gospel of left_wing historiography failed to make these distinctions and simply bunched fascism with nazism . '' an end to the demonization of fascism by scholars created an opportunity for italy 's old neo_fascist party to move from the political fringe toward the center . the leadership of the national alliance has seized it and gone out of its way to distance itself from fascism . the party leader , gianfranco fini , has criticized fascism 's racial laws and has traveled to both auschwitz and israel . earlier this year , he publicly retracted a statement he had made 10 years ago calling benito mussolini ''the greatest statesman of the 20th_century . '' moreover , mr . fini proclaimed april 25 the date in 1945 when world_war_ii ended in italy a day for all italians to celebrate the return of liberty and democracy . this was a major concession most of the leaders of the old italian social movement and many in the newer national alliance had been repubblichini , young volunteers in the republic of salo , the government of die_hard fascists who fought alongside mussolini and hitler after the official italian government had switched sides and thrown in its lot with the anglo american allies . the two movements may seem contradictory the post fascists being more critical of fascism and the historians treating it more kindly but they are intimately related . the rehabilitation of the national alliance would probably not have been possible without a gradual softening of the portrayal of fascism both in the scholarly literature and the popular media . if the older leaders of the national alliance were regarded as war_criminals like the nazis , it would have been impossible for them to occupy positions in the government . but now one former repubblichino , mirko tremaglia , is even a minister of the current government . a less unfavorable view of the mussolini era is prevailing , partly because of the political necessity of integrating the former neo fascists into the mainstream . for example , prime_minister silvio_berlusconi , whose forza_italia ( go , italy ) party leads the government , justifies his partnership with the national alliance by saying that the good in fascism must be remembered as well as the bad . a few years ago , francesco rutelli , a center left politician who was then the mayor of rome , proposed naming a street after giuseppe bottai , minister of education under mussolini . the idea was dropped when many protested that bottai had enthusiastically carried out the racial laws that forced jewish professors and students out of the italian public_school system . this trend is a marked change . for much of the postwar period , fascism was portrayed as a criminal regime imposed by mussolini and his squads of black shirts a_20 year ''parenthesis'' in the history of a democratic italy that began with independence in 1861 . this view was challenged during the 1970 's by scholars like mr . fisichella but , most important , by renzo de felice , a historian who devoted more than 30 years to a multivolume biography of mussolini and whose work dominated the italian historiography of fascism until his death a few years ago . ''de felice offered a broader and less moralistic picture of fascism , '' said roberto vivarelli , a professor of history at the university of florence . ''i think he showed that fascism was not extraneous to the history of italy , not a parenthesis . '' de felice insisted that the demonization of fascism failed to explain adequately its rise and hold on one of the principal countries of europe . mussolini , he argued , enjoyed popularity and the ''consensus'' of most of the country up until world_war_ii . de felice stressed the differences between italian fascism and german national socialism . fascism , despite its claim to being a ''totalitarian'' regime , was , he argued , a softer dictatorship that retained much of the liberal bureaucracy , made peace with the roman_catholic_church and did not share hitler 's obsession with racism and the jews . ( mussolini , he observed , adopted racial laws only on the eve of the war , largely to cement his alliance with germany . ) even some historians with impeccable anti fascist credentials feel that the re examination of fascism has led to a more rounded , less doctrinaire history . claudio pavone , a former resistance fighter and historian , for example , annoyed some anti fascists when he portrayed the struggle between partisans and repubblichini at the end of world_war_ii as a civil_war instead of a war of liberation . it was a war that pitted italians against other italians , and tens of thousands of repubblichini , he argued , volunteered out of genuine patriotic fervor , however unpleasant or misguided . yet many others feel that de felice went too far in rehabilitating fascism . in a recent collection of essays debating the merits of de felice 's work , denis mack smith , an oxford historian , denounces de felice for minimizing the uglier side of fascism , like mussolini 's personal responsibility for killing political opponents and leading italy to ruin in world_war_ii . nicola tranfaglia , a professor of history at the university of turin , argues that de felice overstated il duce 's popular support . ''i think it 's wrong to speak of 'consensus' in a dictatorship , '' he said . mussolini enjoyed a measure of popularity , even adulation , mr . tranfaglia said , but never dared put it to the test of free elections . during the 1980 's , cruder and more simplified versions of the de felice thesis began to circulate . contrary to mr . baldassarre 's assertion that rai has told only one side of the story of fascism , the state broadcasting system used de felice as a consultant on many broadcasts and hired a number of his less refined acolytes to make documentaries . some of them offered admiring portraits of fascist leaders that included little historical context . indeed , in response to mr . baldassarre 's remarks about the one sided , left_wing history of the state broadcasting system , james walston , a professor of history at the american_university of rome , pointed out that rai had run films that focused on the courageous efforts of italian army officials to rescue jews during world_war_ii , while glossing over the effects of mussolini 's racial laws and the republic of salo 's collaboration with the nazis in deporting jews . to victoria de grazia , a professor of history at columbia_university , de felice exercised undue_influence in determining the way history was written . ''by declaring that mussolini was not hitler , he closed the door on good , comparative research between germany and italy , '' she said . de felice was in the unusual position of being the first to receive the documents of the italian state as they were declassified . he kept much important material at his home , and controlled access to it carefully . ( since de felice 's death , she added , important new work has been done on the darker sides of fascism , like the killing of political opponents and the massacres during the invasions of ethiopia and yugoslavia . ) but far more publicity has gone to books pushing an increasingly revisionist point of view . in 1996 in his book ''la morte della patria'' ( ''the death of the fatherland'' ) , ernesto galli della loggia , a professor of history at the university of perugia and a prominent conservative political commentator , even blamed those who fought alongside the anglo american allies for the death of national feeling in italy . a strange confirmation of the reversal of the usual opposition between ''good partisans'' and ''evil fascists'' came in 1997 when a rome magistrate opened a war_crimes investigation of the partisans who had blown up a convoy of german soldiers during world_war_ii . the judge , maurizio pacioni , maintained that the partisans were responsible for the death of an 11 year old boy accidentally killed by the partisans' bomb , but shelved the case because of an amnesty for crimes from the fascist period . ( members of the national alliance had encouraged the boy 's family to pursue the case . ) nonetheless , what had always been regarded as a heroic episode had now , in the eyes of some , been criminalized . a romantic version of the republic of salo as noble loyalists to a lost cause and a new critical view of the partisan struggle have already seeped into the popular media , said massimo salvadori , a historian at the university of turin . ''there was one rai broadcast that portrayed the repubblichini as more morally coherent , patriots who refused to change sides even when defeat was imminent , while the partisans were seen to be opportunistic turncoats who were jumping on the winning bandwagon , '' he said . the need to recognize former repubblichini in the government as people of good faith , mr . salvadori says , has distorted the historical discussion ''what matters to me as a historian is not good faith , but the objective consequences of people 's actions . many nazi storm troopers were no doubt also in good faith , believing they were serving their country , but what were the consequences of their actions ? the republic of salo fought alongside hitler , and had they won , it would have meant dictatorship in italy and the rest of europe . the consequence of the partisan struggle was to restore democracy and civil_liberties to italy . so , objectively , i think it 's possible to say one was right and the other wrong . '' curiously , in a period in which so many are bending over backward to be fair to fascism , it is now left to a former neo_fascist , mr . fini , the leader of the national alliance , to state that the anti fascist victory ending world_war_ii was a victory for all italians . | has a location of italy |
lead the italian government gave permission for e.n.i. , the state run energy group , to pull out of the troubled chemical venture enimont s.p.a . ente_nazionale_idrocarburi , and its private_sector partner , montedison s.p.a. , have fought for control of enimont since it was formed last year . each has a 40 percent interest in the venture . company news | has a location of italy |
lead along via stadera , in a neighborhood they call purgatory , hoodlums of the camorra , the neapolitan version of the mafia , sprayed gunfire this month at a group of laborers building apartments for people left homeless after the earthquake six years ago . those gunshots shook some of the brighter assumptions about this gracefully decaying mediterranean city . along via stadera , in a neighborhood they call purgatory , hoodlums of the camorra , the neapolitan version of the mafia , sprayed gunfire this month at a group of laborers building apartments for people left homeless after the earthquake six years ago . those gunshots shook some of the brighter assumptions about this gracefully decaying mediterranean city . progress has never had much of an audience in naples , a society that seems to wrap itself in contrasts of violence and tolerance , splendor and confusion , overlaid with a fundamental joy in life . but naples has recently begun shaking off the indolence . for guido d'angelo , the 54 year old chief executive of mededil , the government owned construction company , the metaphor of all this is the city 's immense reconstruction of 28 , 000 homes , together with schools and public utilities , after the earthquake , and the building of a 260 acre business and residential center to relieve congestion in the historic center . all of this is making naples easily europe 's largest construction site . " there has been an awakening , a flowering in the wake of the earthquake , " said mr . d'angelo , a veteran of the city 's struggle against decline . " there were two elements first , the need to act quickly and to develop flexible administrative channels , and secondly , the flow of money , given the liquidity of the national economy . " a cultural revival too there is also an enthusiastic cultural revival . maurizio barracco , a calabrian aristocrat , and his wife , mirella , a neapolitan , have poured their energies into an unusual foundation , naples 99 . they have had extraordinary success over the last four years in winning corporate support for restoring the city 's artistic riches . scaffolding covers monuments like the arch of alphonse of aragon on the massive anjou castle , and ideas are about for a new university and reconstruction of large parts of the city 's center and industrial periphery . further stimulation should come from plans the government in rome is drawing up to invest 14 . 7 billion over three years in rebuilding the country 's decaying roads , railways and communication links . more than one third the amount is earmarked for southern_italy . the shots in via stadera were like a throwback to earlier ways . they also raised questions of whether fresh money will not merely provide fertile terrain for the organized_crime that has always been the city 's bane . for some , too , the prospect of immense public works evokes earlier unsuccessful efforts by previous governments in rome to close the economic gap between north and south . symbols of those failed efforts abound here . across the bay stands the huge nationalized italsider steel works , which earlier planners hoped would bring jobs and prosperity . but the collapse of the steel market and cheap foreign competition forced italsider to eliminate more than 6 , 500 of the 8 , 000 jobs it had in 1977 . at the same time , the decay of the city 's natural beauty in its hills and waters and of its artistic treasures led to a decline in tourism . in contrast to a widening flow of visitors to florence and rome , tourism in naples dropped by more than 6 percent from 1979 to 1984 . economic decline was aggravated by political turmoil . naples went through six mayors in two years , and since november a rome imposed commissioner has been running the city until elections in may . not waiting for stability but business leaders like mr . d'angelo contend naples cannot wait for political stability . in the fall , a group of companies some privately_owned , like fiat , others from the nationalized industries held a convention called " the kingdom of the possible . " the meeting was set up to talk about ideas for the development of naples to the year 2000 , in the conviction that perhaps private initiative might succeed where public effort failed , notably in spurring development and uprooting the camorra . this vision sees large consortia of private and publicly owned companies developing specific proposals for urban_renewal . not unexpectedly , strong dissent comes from the communist opposition , which argues that private industry is appropriating prerogatives of governments that have failed as engines of change . " business is evolving into a political force here , a party of interests , " said isaia sales , the chief communist_party theoretician in naples . according to mr . sales , big public works projects will do little to relieve chronic joblessness , generating only demand for basic manual labor . moreover , he cites the via stadera shooting to argue that the camorra , following the example of the sicilian mafia , has set itself up in legitimate businesses and is prepared to muscle in on lucrative bidding . paolo mancuso , a naples magistrate who specializes in camorra related crimes , said the camorra 's tentacles already encircled the lucrative market for building materials . mr . mancuso , 39 years old , said the attack in via stadera was probably designed by camorra backed contractors against laborers who had been striking because they were owed several months pay . still , for mr . mancuso , the fact that the camorra resorted to open violence has an encouraging side . " in a sense , it was a good sign , " the magistrate said . " they never previously felt the need for open violence , as long as intimidation succeeded . this tells us that a minimum of resistance exists , that there is a capacity to resist . " | has a location of italy |
lead more than 25 artists and groups from new york representing theater , opera , dance and music will perform this month in italy at the carnival of venice . italian artists will take part in the international festival of the arts to be held in new york next year . martin e . segal , the chairman of the new york festival , and italy 's consul general , francesco corrias , announced the exchange at a press conference yesterday . more than 25 artists and groups from new york representing theater , opera , dance and music will perform this month in italy at the carnival of venice . italian artists will take part in the international festival of the arts to be held in new york next year . martin e . segal , the chairman of the new york festival , and italy 's consul general , francesco corrias , announced the exchange at a press conference yesterday . the new york city ballet , bernadette peters and the soprano martina arroyo are among the artists who will perform in venice and palermo during the 12 day festival , which begins feb . 20 . | has a location of italy |
in the latest step in the widening investigation into an accounting scandal at the italian dairy giant parmalat , the police on wednesday arrested the wife of the former chief_financial_officer , fausto tonna , for suspected money_laundering , according to a court official at the parma courthouse . mr . tonna 's wife , donatella alinovi , is suspected of withdrawing about 1 million_euros last week from an account linked to a parmalat unit , according to the official , who is close to the investigation . ms . alinovi is suspected of withdrawing the money some time after her husband was arrested on new year 's eve and putting it in two safe deposit boxes at a bank in parma , the person said . the police seized the safe deposit boxes . ms . alinovi was placed under house_arrest on wednesday and is the 10th person to be detained in the investigation , which began last month and may involve as much as 10 billion_euros in false_accounting . prosecutors continued their interrogation of mr . tonna , questioning him for 14 hours on tuesday , and continuing on wednesday . mr . tonna was a close adviser of calisto_tanzi , parmalat 's jailed founder and its chairman and chief executive until a month ago . in the last week , the investigation into the scandal at parmalat , italy 's eighth largest company , has expanded beyond the company 's management and is likely to grow even further . prosecutors have met with executives at deutsche_bank and a lawyer for citigroup . citigroup helped parmalat set up an offshore investment vehicle now suspected of being one way that the company hid losses and siphoned off money . italian newspapers have reported in recent days that the investigation may soon look at local politicians . mr . tanzi 's sway over parma was such that it would be difficult , if not impossible , for an important politician not to be linked in some way to parmalat , said a professor at parma 's university who has close ties to a local judge , and asked not to be identified . while mr . tanzi managed to escape unscathed from the ''clean hands'' investigation of the mid 1990 's that implicated hundreds of businessmen and politicians in italy , the collapse of his company may lead to its own political upheaval . while italy waits to see which , if any , politicians may be implicated in parmalat , attention remains on mr . tonna 's secret testimony and mr . tanzi 's health . officials decided on tuesday that despite mr . tanzi 's weak heart , he would remain in milan 's san vittore prison where he has been held since dec . 27 . as a precaution , he was moved to the prison 's medical ward . mr . tanzi 's lawyer on tuesday denied that his client had attempted to commit_suicide , according to the italian financial daily il sole 24 ore . | has a location of italy |
asea brown_boveri said yesterday that it had received an order worth 470 million to build a 260 megawatt power plant in italy . the plant will be at an oil_refinery in falconara that is owned by anonima petroli italiana . the order was placed by api energia , a 50 50 joint_venture between abb . and petroli italiana . the plant will produce electrical power from oil_refinery residues . ( associated press ) international briefs | has a location of italy |
when a powerful earthquake ravaged the vaulted ceiling of the basilica of st . francis of assisi two years ago , the damage to priceless 13th and 14th century frescos was so devastating that it overshadowed the loss of 11 lives and many thousands of homes . on sunday , the basilica , one of the most revered shrines of the roman_catholic_church , will be fully reopened to the public . the extraordinary restoration of the early renaissance masterpiece was so speedy and efficient that it has been dubbed ''the miracle of assisi . '' but another expected miracle a free_market experiment in disaster relief that was supposed to find new shelter for thousands of victims within two years has not materialized . in the rolling_hills surrounding assisi , medieval towns and mountain villages are still dotted with makeshift camp sites , bleak rows of corrugated metal huts that italians call ''containers , '' which were hastily erected to shelter many of the 40 , 000 people in umbria and the marches left homeless by the 1997 earthquake . more than 10 , 000 people are still living in containers , looking ahead to their third christmas in crowded , 375 square_foot metal boxes . some of them complain that the fate of the basilica monopolized international attention and government concern . ''when you show the world the reconstructed basilica , people will assume that the earthquake emergency is over , '' said dante amici , the head of the falling star campground in colfiorito , a mountain village 24 miles from assisi that was the epicenter of the quake . one fifth of the village 's 500 inhabitants are living in containers . ''but in reality the emergency is still here , we are it . '' the earthquake , on sept . 26 , 1997 , was by no means the most devastating in recent history . the 1980 earthquake in irpinia , near naples , left 2 , 500 dead and 300 , 000 homeless . that disaster remains etched in the national psyche as an act of god made worse by human greed much of the 27 billion in state funds sent for reconstruction was siphoned off by corrupt officials and local organized_crime . even today , some irpinia victims are still living in containers . that and other bad experiences prompted the italian government to do two things . it proposed a law to mandate private earthquake insurance , a deeply controversial innovation in a country where the state is expected to provide in a catastrophe . and immediately after the assisi quake , the government passed a measure to allot state funds directly to victims , to allow them to hire their own contractors to rebuild their homes bypassing the local authorities , lessening the opportunities for corruption and , in theory , bulldozing through bureaucracy and speeding up the reconstruction process . ''the model presupposes the fashionable view that the less government the better , '' said vincenzo riommi , deputy_mayor of foligno , a regional center that was also badly hit by the quake . ''people could chose their own builders and take responsibility for themselves instead of waiting for the state to do everything . but what we did n't foresee in this free_market system is that supply and demand would end up so imbalanced . '' overnight , there were several thousand people in need of new homes . the regional council of umbria drew a list of 570 companies that could execute the plans . but most of the contracts ended up going to fewer than than 100 companies . ''we relied on private initiative , the desire of individual homeowners to build as soon as possible , '' said bruno bracalente , president of the umbria regional government . ''but people had different reactions . they hired contractors and architects the way they choose family doctors , somebody they knew and trusted . '' that backlog was compounded by bureaucratic delays in inspecting sites , approving blueprints and granting building permits . ''italy is the land of paper , '' complained giuliano ricci , head of the colfiorito reconstruction committee . ''every time you try to present your building proposal , they ask you for your social_security_number 50 times . '' nor has fraud been totally eliminated from the process . the police in foligno announced this week that they had uncovered a scam by a phony construction company that bilked both suppliers and homeowners for more than 1 million . in september 1998 , mr . bracalente confidently predicted that 4 , 500 dislocated families would be back in their own homes within 12 months . now he concedes that it could take several more years . in contrast , the repair of the basilica of st . francis proved a model of speed and almost superhuman cooperation . friars , government bureaucrats , art restorers , construction crews and hundreds of volunteers worked around the clock to bolster the structure against future quakes and to reconstruct the vault of the nave , famous for its brilliantly colored frescos by giotto and cimabue . the images of only two saints , st . rufino and st . vittorino , traditionally attributed to giotto , were reconstituted by piecing together more than 3 , 000 tiny fragments like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle . and even many of the people left homeless by the same disaster say the basilica deserved priority . ''it 's st . francis , and it is also the main draw for tourism around here they had to fix it first , '' said giovanni polveri , 21 , who has spent the last two years in a container in foligno with his parents and sister . he said his contractor had so many other commissions that his reconstruction permits had not yet been processed . ''there is nothing we can do , but we are very sick of living in this place , '' he said . the state has spent 39 million on the basilica and the sacred convent attached to it , but that expense is small compared with the 5 billion it has earmarked over the same time to reconstruct ruined homes , churches and historic buildings . by italian standards , however , the pace is exemplary . it took three years for the first reconstruction sites to go up after an earthquake in friuli in 1976 , and 12 years to rehouse its 80 , 000 victims , a vast public works project that is considered a model compared with irpinia . ''certainly having these many families still in containers is a problem , '' mr . bracalente said . ''but in reality , things are moving very fast in umbria alone , we now have 4 , 500 open construction sites . many should be finished by spring . '' yet many small communities are less sanguine . they are using some state funds to throw up apartment buildings to offer better housing to residents stuck in containers . once their own homes are finally reconstructed , those new buildings will be turned into public_housing . after the quake , the homeless were given the option of receiving government assistance to rent temporary housing , about 140 per person a month with a ceiling of 330 per family . or they could move into containers , supplied for free , with discounted utility charges . in larger towns like foligno , most people chose the rental money . many who chose containers were immigrant workers who viewed the boxes as an improvement over the crowded tenements they lived in before the quake . in rural areas , however , there were very few apartments available to rent , and almost all chose containers that allowed them to stay near their farms , herds of cattle and jobs . after two years , most campgrounds have their own makeshift playgrounds , satellite dishes , metal chapels and cafes , and look eerily settled like lunar colonies plunked down on pastures and potato fields . many of the inhabitants are elderly villagers , passively waiting to be told what to do . but there are also young couples who felt they had no better choice . ''i could n't keep my job and commute from an apartment , '' said marcello massimiani , 31 , who works as a butcher in colfiorito . while they wait for an apartment , he and his wife , monica , and their 7 month old twins live in a container they fixed up with lace curtains , a television and microwave , squeezing two cribs next to their bed . ''for the first two months , we lived in a tent , so this seemed luxurious , '' mrs . massimiani said with a smile . ''that wore off once the twins came . '' she said she had adjusted to the cramped living quarters and solitary walks across muddy campgrounds with her double stroller . ''we have to live with it , and so we got used to it , this is our reality , but we do n't have any idea when it will end , '' she said , adding with a grimace , ''i dread the day the twins start to walk . '' | has a location of italy |
the whirlpool corporation announced today that it would dismiss 4 , 700 employees just more than 10 percent of its work force and take a 350 million charge against earnings as part of a plan to improve profits . the reorganization plan will affect mainly its european operations , where whirlpool has run into strong local competition , made marketing missteps and , more recently , faced adverse exchange_rates in italy , its european manufacturing hub . the company said it also planned to seek strategic alliances or other alternatives that will get it out of money losing joint_ventures that make refrigerators and air_conditioners in china . ''we 're addressing the realities of the marketplaces in which we operate , '' said david r . whitwam , chairman and chief executive of the appliance giant , which is based in benton harbor , mich . mr . whitwam stressed that the revamping did not represent a retreat from the company 's global expansion , which began in 1989 . indeed , in addition to the retrenching , whirlpool also said that it would assume control of brasmotor s.a. , the profitable brazilian appliance company that has been its longtime partner in south_america , by paying 217 million to increase its stake to 66 percent from 33 percent . to cover the cost of that investment and reduce its financial risks , whirlpool will sell 1 . 6 billion in receivables and other assets and operations of the whirlpool financial corporation , its finance subsidiary , mostly to the transamerica corporation . whirlpool projects that the deal will bring in 300 million after it pays off associated debts . whirlpool had announced in july that it was considering its options for its finance arm . the moves to cut losses in china and europe were long overdue from wall_street 's perspective . investors sent whirlpool 's shares soaring 14 . 2 percent , up 8 . 0625 , to a 52 week high of 64 . 875 on the new york stock_exchange . ''they really cracked the whip , '' said nicholas heymann , a consumer products analyst at prudential_securities , which raised its recommendation on the stock to a buy . whirlpool 's moves came just months after electrolux , its largest european rival , announced a reorganization that will cut up to 12 , 000 jobs and close 25 plants . whirlpool 's write off will come to 3 . 38 a share and will be taken in the current quarter . the sale of whirlpool 's finance operations , expected in the fourth_quarter , should add 53 cents a share to earnings . the result would be a slim net_profit for the year . without such special charges , analysts expected earnings for the year to be 3 . 18 , according to zacks investment research . whirlpool earned 111 million , or 1 . 48 a share , on sales of 4 . 2 billion in the first half of the year . whirlpool said that the job cuts would take place over three years and that the annual savings from the reorganization would reach 180 million in 2000 . roughly half of the job reductions are expected to be in europe . as many as 800 jobs could be eliminated in the united_states , not counting employees of whirlpool finance . ''it 's our goal to grow our commercial finance business , and this is a big expansion for us , especially of our base in europe , '' said william mcclave , a spokesman for transamerica , which is based in san_francisco . the deal with whirlpool calls for transamerica to continue providing a range of financial_services over 10 years . whirlpool 's global drive had once been viewed as a well executed plan to expand out of its market leading but stagnant north_american appliance base . an interview with mr . whitwam published in the harvard business review in 1994 was titled ''the right way to go global , '' and the company 's stock rose to 74 early that year . mr . whitwam said that whirlpool was prospering because it was not just operating overseas but making sure that new technology , manufacturing skills and other assets were shared among countries . but problems were already growing , both at home , where second ranked general_electric was stepping up its efforts , and in europe , where whirlpool had been slow to consolidate manufacturing plants it had acquired and where demand was too sluggish to raise prices . meanwhile , whirlpool 's rapid buildup in asia was draining cash . whirlpool 's stock tumbled below 50 in 1994 and hovered at that level for three years as setbacks undermined each hint of recovery . the company took a 240 million write off at the end of 1994 in a reorganization aimed at eliminating 3 , 200 jobs , including 1 , 200 in north_america . whirlpool was not the only appliance_maker struggling with attempts to extend its geographical reach . maytag , which invested heavily in europe , finally gave up in 1995 , swallowing a 135 million loss on the sale of its operations there . mr . whitwam said that the restructuring announced today reflected whirlpool 's conclusion that high unemployment rates and low levels of consumer confidence pointed to poor market conditions in europe for a long time to come . in china , mr . whitwam said , whirlpool decided to stop making refrigerators and air_conditioners because there was severe overcapacity and other manufacturers planned even more production . ''there wo n't be equilibrium for years , '' mr . whitwam said , but whirlpool intends to continue making washing_machines , where it has the leading market_share , and microwave ovens , where it has the third most popular brand . ''we 'll sell 2.2 million appliances in asia this year , up from 40 , 000 four years ago , '' mr . whitwam said . ''we 'll sell more next year and will be doing it profitably . '' | has a location of italy |
italy plans to set aside 6 billion in credit to hep the troubled soviet economy . senior officials said last week that italy would guarantee export credits of five trillion_lire ( about 4 . 3 billion ) through 1994 . the government has also sent an emergency bill to parliament that would provide moscow with a credit line of 2.2 trillion_lire ( 1 . 9 billion ) , the largest in italian history . the foreign trade minister , renato ruggiero , said moscow would be allowed to use part of the credit line to repay outstanding debts to italian companies . soviet enterprises are estimated to have fallen behind on about one trillion_lire worth of short term debt to italian exporters . | has a location of italy |
italy 's state controlled defense company , finmeccanica , said it might team with the carlyle group of the united_states in a joint bid to buy fiat 's aeronautics unit fiatavio . analysts have said fiatavio could sell for as much as 2 billion_euros . fiat , which agreed a week ago to sell its insurance unit , is raising funds that will be invested in the company 's money losing car business . finmeccanica 's chairman , pier francesco guarguaglini , said the italian company could finance its portion of the acquisition without having to sell its most valuable asset , an 18 percent stake in the semiconductor maker stmicroelectronics . eric_sylvers ( nyt ) | has a location of italy |
italy will probably cut its growth forecast for this year by close to half and its deficit will most likely rise above the limit set by the european_union , the country 's economy minister , domenico siniscalco , left , said yesterday . while he did not indicate exactly how much the growth estimate would be cut or what the deficit would be , he did say a drop in growth of six tenths of a percentage point would lead to a deficit of 3 . 75 percent of gross_domestic_product . european_union laws put the deficit limit at 3 percent . his comments come just a week after the announcement that italy officially entered a recession for the second time in two years . eric_sylvers ( iht ) | has a location of italy |
lead the inexorable rise of silvio_berlusconi , who has become the most powerful figure in the italian media , has been abruptly halted by a series of legal and political blows that threaten his private television empire and his hold over italy 's largest publishing group . the inexorable rise of silvio_berlusconi , who has become the most powerful figure in the italian media , has been abruptly halted by a series of legal and political blows that threaten his private television empire and his hold over italy 's largest publishing group . widely viewed as a reaction to mr . berlusconi 's overwhelming power in italian television , newspapers and magazines , the recent setbacks for the milan businessman appear to represent the first concerted response to the concentration of the italian media in the hands of a small group of industrialists , analysts said . for more than a year , mr . berlusconi has been enmeshed in a bitter struggle with carlo de benedetti , the industrialist who took the italian company olivetti from typewriters to computers , for control of arnoldo mondadori editore s.p.a. , the milan based publisher . position undermined mondadori owns the leading rome newspaper la_repubblica , as well as a number of other publications . just four months ago , mr . berlusconi appeared to have the upper hand as he assumed the chairmanship of mondadori . but recent court rulings on key blocks of shares have now undermined his position . at the same time , legislation has been passed in the italian senate , or upper_house , that would strike at the heart of his media empire . the proposed measure , which could be still modified in the lower_house , would forbid advertising during television movies a crucial source of revenue for mr . berlusconi 's three private television channels . it would also place strict limits on holdings of television channels and newspapers . such a move would apparently make mr . berlusconi 's current holdings illegal . the setbacks amount to the most serious threats to mr . berlusconi 's power since he embarked on a rapid diversification from the construction business to media a decade ago , analysts said . during this time , he took control of italy 's three leading private television channels , as well as the milan daily il giornale and , most recently , mondadori . ''mr . berlusconi seemed invincible on every front , from soccer to mondadori to tv , '' claudio gatti , the new york correspondent of europeo , a news weekly , said in an interview . ''now the situation is abruptly reversed . perhaps , even for italy , his power became too great . '' ( mr . berlusconi 's soccer club , ac_milan , which had been a favorite to win the championship , ended the season poorly , and the title went to naples . ) situation called 'delicate' a spokeswoman for mondadori declined to comment yesterday on the situation , saying it was ''too delicate . '' officials at fininvest , mr . berlusconi 's financial holding_company in milan , also declined to comment . mr . berlusconi 's problems mounted significantly last friday when he effectively lost control of the board of ame finanziaria s.p.a. , a financial holding_company that controls 50 . 3 percent of mondadori 's voting stock . one of mr . berlusconi 's top aides , fedele confalonieri , lost the presidency of ame finanziaria in a board vote . he was replaced by giacinto spizzico , one of three officials appointed to the ame finanziaria board to represent shares now under court sequestration . it was his earlier control of ame finanziaria that enabled mr . berlusconi to gain the chairmanship of mondadori last january . the decisions at amef stemmed from a series of suits filed in milan courts by mr . de benedetti 's holding_company , compagnie industriali riunite s.p.a. , or cir , which is based in milan . through these lawsuits , mr . de benedetti has been able to freeze a crucial 25 . 7 percent stake in ame finanziaria , initially pledged to him by a member of the mondadori family but later offered to mr . berlusconi . he has also secured a court decision releasing cir from a shareholders' pact that prevented mr . de benedetti from using his own 27 percent stake in ame finanziaria to vote against mr . berlusconi . as a result , with the court sequestered 25 . 7 percent and his own 27 percent share in ame finanziaria , mr . de benedetti has been able , at least for now , to set up a challenge to mr . berlusconi 's control . corrado passera , the director general of cir , said cir hoped to use its current advantage at a june 26 shareholders' meeting to oust mr . berlusconi from the presidency . mondadori 's attraction to the two entrepreneurs lies in its control of repubblica , as well as three leading weekly magazines l'espresso , panorama and epoca and several regional newspapers . it also has extensive book publishing activities . and sales last year were 1 . 9 billion . under one compromise proposal being widely discussed , mr . de benedetti would take repubblica , l'espresso and the regional papers , leaving mr . berlusconi panorama and mondadori 's book publishing activities . but cir executives said major differences were still blocking an accord . they declined to elaborate . there 's still a dispute meanwhile , the fate of the decisive court sequestered shares is still under dispute . as he battles for mondadori , mr . berlusconi is also under fire from politicians who believe his concentration of power in the communications industry has become unacceptable . with mondadori and his three television stations , mr . berlusconi controls more than 40 percent of italy 's advertising market and about 16 percent of daily newspaper circulation . proposed legislation , known as the ''mammi law'' after its author , senator oscar mammi , passed in the senate six weeks ago and states that anyone with 16 percent of italy 's daily newspaper circulation cannot own any television networks . anyone with 8 percent of newspaper circulation is permitted one network , and nobody can own more than two networks . the media business | has a location of italy |
an italian judge today ordered the head of the philip_morris companies' european operations and 10 officials of an italian company that philip_morris does business with to stand trial on charges that they illegally evaded corporate taxes . the judge said that walter thoma , the president of philip_morris 's european unit , based in switzerland , and 10 executives and board members of intertaba s.p.a. , a cigarette company based in the northern italian city of bologna , are accused of illegally avoiding paying taxes totaling the equivalent of 5 . 8 million on revenue of 5 . 5 billion pocketed for cigarettes sold in italy between 1987 and 1996 . philip_morris denies any wrongdoing . raffaele marino , the judge in the southern port city of naples , said more serious charges of criminal association that prosecutors had sought against the officials had been dropped for lack of evidence . the trial is expected to begin in naples in january . it is unclear what penalties the officials face if convicted . the charges arise from investigations in recent months into whether philip_morris failed to pay taxes on royalties it received for cigarettes that were produced for sale in italy . in a statement , judge marino said the court would seek to determine whether philip_morris illegally claimed tax exemptions meant for foreign companies operating in italy through italian subsidiaries . at the heart of the issue is whether intertaba , which makes and distributes cigarettes and cigarette filters for philip_morris , is an independent company or is , in effect , a subsidiary of philip_morris . under italian law , sale of tobacco_products is subject to a government monopoly controlled by the finance ministry , which also collects taxes . among the intertaba officers ordered to stand trial are the company 's president , paolo ferrari , two other company officers and seven of its board members . in january , philip_morris submitted a written statement to the italian parliament 's finance committee stating that charges that employees of philip_morris or its affiliate companies were involved in tax_evasion were groundless . david davies , the chief counsel for philip_morris 's european operations in lausanne , switzerland , noted that a civil court in milan had dismissed in july a case against the company involving charges of nonpayment of value added taxes . he said philip_morris was ''obviously , very pleased'' that the naples court had decided to drop the charge of criminal association , and that it would ''vigorously contest'' the remaining criminal_charges in naples . the parliamentary finance committee has been holding hearings on the functioning of the state tobacco monopoly after complaints about philip_morris 's share of the italian market the complaints came from the european_commission and the r . j . reynolds_tobacco company unit of rjr_nabisco inc . philip_morris , the world 's largest tobacco company , distributes marlboro , merit and other brands in italy , and controls roughly half of the italian market . international business | has a location of italy |
to the editor re ''venice turns to future'' venetians and all those who love our city should be worried about the huge dam project described in the article . we should remember that engineering works , like the channels dredged to bring oil_tankers into venice 's lagoon , have contributed to flooding in the city . as board members of the venice chapter of italia nostra , a private conservation group that has fought to protect the city and its lagoon for decades , we believe that the companies behind the dam project should have consulted with us or other major environmental groups . instead , proponents of the project have pushed ahead like a steamroller over the concerns of citizens and experts . the project failed its 1998 environmental impact assessment . venice and its lagoon need better plans . alvise benedetti anthony zamparutti venice | has a location of italy |
lead rudolf_nureyev was quoted today as saying he would like to dance again in the soviet_union after living more than 25 years in the west . rudolf_nureyev was quoted today as saying he would like to dance again in the soviet_union after living more than 25 years in the west . in milan for a performance of the paris_opera_ballet , of which he is director , mr . nureyev was quoted in the milan daily corriere_della_sera as saying he would like to see his mother and show his countrymen ''how we dance the classics in the west . '' ''i ca n't say i am nostalgic in the sense of the russians who cry when they are far from home , '' mr . nureyev said . ''i have been living in the west for a long time , and i have grown up as a man and an artist here . '' | has a location of italy |
the european_commission ordered an official inquiry yesterday into italy 's plans to inject 1.5 trillion_lire , or 1 billion , into its ailing national_airline , alitalia . the european_union 's antitrust agency is worried that the bailout , to be paid by the state owned holding_company that controls alitalia , contains state aid that the commission must approve . the commission has vowed to end the common european practice of pumping government money into state owned airlines . the payment is part of a 3 trillion_lire bailout plan for the airline . ( ap ) international briefs | has a location of italy |
prosecutors in naples say they are investigating the philip_morris companies for possible evasion of taxes on the earnings from 6 . 4 billion in revenue over the last decade . as part of their inquiry , they said , they have frozen 35 million in royalty payments to the american tobacco company and ordered the confiscation of the passports of a senior philip_morris executive and four officials of an italian company that philip_morris does business with . philip_morris denied any wrongdoing . raffaele marino , chief prosecutor in the southern italian city , said the investigation was focusing on whether philip_morris had failed to pay taxes on royalties it received for cigarettes that were produced for sale in italy between 1987 and 1996 . prosecutors said the revenues totaled 10 trillion_lire , or about 6 . 4 billion . there was no indication of how much italian authorities believe they are owed in unpaid taxes . under arrangements with tobacco manufacturers , a government monopoly pays royalties for cigarettes and other tobacco_products it purchases for distribution in italy . the italian news_agency ansa said that the prosecutors were seeking to learn whether philip_morris illegally claimed tax exemptions meant for foreign companies operating in italy without an italian subsidiary . at the heart of the inquiry is whether intertaba , a company based in the northern city of bologna , which makes cigarette filters and distributes tobacco for the american concern , is an independent company or a de facto subsidiary of philip_morris . the prosecutors said they had ordered the seizure of the passports of the president of philip_morris 's swiss based european unit , walter thoma , and four intertaba officials . david davies , the chief counsel for philip_morris 's european operations in lausanne , switzerland , said the company was not yet familiar with the details of the naples accusations . but he said that the company had regularly paid a withholding_tax in italy on the royalties it received , while paying taxes on its italian earnings to the united_states_government . " we are confident that in the 30 years we have done business in italy , we have been in full compliance with italian fiscal law , " mr . davies said . the italian finance ministry said in a statement that on thursday the finance minister , vincenzo visco , had met the prosecutors to determine whether government officials were guilty of wrongdoing . under italian law , the sale of tobacco_products is subject to a government monopoly controlled by the finance ministry , which also collects taxes . some government officials have suggested that given that arrangement , it would have been impossible for the ministry not to have been aware of philip_morris 's tax dealings . whatever the outcome of the investigation , its disclosure is particularly uncomfortable for philip_morris since it is the second time recently that the giant tobacco company has been the object of negative publicity in europe . last month , an aggressive ad campaign by the company in european newspapers , which contended that secondhand tobacco smoke posed no significant risk to nonsmokers , touched off a wave of public protests , government criticism and lawsuits . philip_morris , the world 's biggest cigarette maker , distributes marlboro , merit and other brands in italy and controls 46 percent of the italian market . international business | has a location of italy |
a milan appeals court sentenced the italian financier carlo de benedetti today to four and a half years in prison for his part in italy 's most spectacular postwar bank failure . mr . de benedetti , who was not in court , was sentenced with 15 others for his involvement in the collapse of banco_ambrosiano , italy 's largest private_bank at the time . mr . de benedetti , chairman of olivetti s.p.a. , said in a statement that he would appeal the sentence , which he called " unjust and unjustified . " the case will now go to italy 's highest court for a final hearing , a process that could take several years . mr . de benedetti is unlikely to have to serve any part of the sentence while an appeal is pending . banco_ambrosiano collapsed with around 1 billion of debts in 1982 . under an agreement with ambrosiano 's then chairman , roberto calvi , mr . de benedetti agreed to step down from the bank 's board while mr . calvi bought back his stake . mr . calvi was found hanged under london 's blackfriars bridge in june 1982 . prosecutors have said the terms of the deal damaged the bank and contributed to its collapse . | has a location of italy |
seeking to extricate itself from italy 's huge year old corruption scandal , fiat_s.p.a. , italy 's biggest private company , today became the first corporation in the country to issue a code of ethical conduct for its employees . the code , said by fiat executives to be modeled on those used by leading american corporations , forbids any of fiat 's 300 , 000 employees to offer bribes of any kind including sponsorships or consultancies to public officials or politicians to promote corporate interests " even if under illicit pressures . " the statement said managers who violated the code would face disciplinary_action " within the existing rules . " a fiat spokesman said that meant they " will be dismissed from their jobs . " the document , said to have been personally ordered by the company 's chairman , giovanni_agnelli , is part of an unfolding strategy by the turin auto giant to distance itself from the scandal , first by acknowledging its part in it , as it did last month , and then by casting itself as a moral beacon for having done so . since february 1992 , more than 1 , 500 people have been arrested or interrogated in connection with the so called mani pulite clean hands investigation into the systematic payment of bribes by business to politicians and their parties in return for government contracts . initially , fiat hotly denied involvement and seemed inclined to lambaste judicial investigators for their impertinence in questioning its corporate probity . but a series of arrest_warrants issued earlier this year against senior executives persuaded the company to think otherwise . the chief_financial_officer , francesco paolo mattioli , spent 38 days in jail and the chief_operating_officer , giorgio garuzzo , is currently under house_arrest . an internal fiat investigation confirmed that managers of companies under fiat 's control were involved in the scandal . a total of 12 senior fiat executives have been investigated . at a board meeting on april 13 , mr . agnelli reportedly declared , " we should work to get out of this situation as soon as possible and give fiat 's contribution to the moral and economic_reconstruction of the country . " the code will take effect as soon as it is approved by the group 's divisions and subsidiaries , a company statement said . company news | has a location of italy |
many guests were caught off guard at the recent opening of the chinese_porcelain company 's exhibition of venetian_glass , which continues through june 20 at its gallery at park_avenue and 58th_street . interior_designers like albert hadley were hoping to find the sleek modern vases that venini , barovier and other venetian companies began to produce in the 1930 's . such wares , designed by carlo scarpa , gio ponti and other renowned 20th_century italian architects , are now hotter than the portofino sun . the gallery 's regular park_avenue clients were anticipating more traditional venetian_glass the pale , delicate goblets first produced in the renaissance , the glass of choice for european rulers for 400 years ( partly because it was thought to shatter if poisoned liquid was poured in ) . guests like paul soros and daisy soros , veronica hearst , beth rudin dewoody and judy peabody looked for splendor mosaic glass , millefiori ( glass embodying slices of varicolored rods that give it a flowery pattern ) and chalcedony ( glass made to imitate ancient carved agate ) . instead , the gallery director , khalil rizk , surprised them with an acid green glass compote whose stem was a swirling duo of glass dragons locked in combat , their open jaws revealing bright red tongues , and a scallop edged dish of opalescent blue whose handle was a fanciful sea creature . some of the other 90 pieces had swans , serpents , seahorses , shells and flowers . at first glance , these wares look like ( and may be ) souvenirs our great grandmothers hauled home from venice a century ago . they have charm , but as works of art they are difficult to take seriously ( each costs several thousand dollars ) . mr . rizk defended them . ''i have a soft spot for 19th_century venetian_glass , '' he said . ''it 's slightly kitschy , but i love it . it 's a very little known period , and there 's almost no literature on it . the 1860 's began the last explosion of handmade glass in venice . it 's practically impossible to do these things now because they would take too long and cost too much . contemporary glass does n't have the virtuosity . '' lee mindel , a new york architect who collects 20th_century venetian_glass , understands the appeal . ''venice was always able to articulate the design esthetic of the moment and turn it into glass , '' he said . ''glass is a wonderful idiom for expression , especially in venice , which features water and light . venetian_glass represents water and filters light . that 's what the medium is all about . '' the chinese_porcelain company is selling pieces belonging to marjorie reed gordon , a private new york dealer and collector of venetian_glass . her timing seems good . as usha subramaniam , the head of 20th_century decorative_arts at phillips new york , said ''now that venetian_glass made after 1930 is getting more expensive , collectors are looking at the earlier material , which is just coming into its own . it will take a while for people to see what 's good and what 's rare . at first , it all looks derivative of past styles . '' mrs . gordon 's collection is featured in a new book by sheldon barr , president of gardner barr , a gallery at 213 east 60th_street that specializes in vintage glass from murano , an island off venice and the epicenter of the glassmaking industry . mr . barr 's book , ''venetian_glass confections in glass 1855 1914'' ( harry n . abrams ) , puts this unknown period into historical perspective . it is easy to forget that venice once nearly ceased making glass . napoleon helped bring about the near halt in production , which lasted six decades . in 1798 , the year after venice surrendered , he handed the city over to austria . ''vengeful austria was determined to ruin the venetian_glass industry in favor of her own bohemian glass factories , '' mr . barr writes . austria put huge tariffs on both the import of raw_materials and the export of the glassware . venice , he recounts , ''was forced to import sand from the fontainebleau quarries in france and wood from dalmatia and istria . '' mr . barr adds ''the austrians taxed them all heavily and made continued glass production profitless . ultimately , the proud murano glass industry , once furnisher of fabulous glassware to emperors , popes and kings , was reduced to producing glass beads for austria 's colonial trade . '' only in the 1860 's , after venice became part of italy , was the glass industry fully revived , to provide work for the glassmakers and cash for the kingdom of italy . the mayor of murano and antonio salviati , a venetian lawyer , opened a museum of old venetian_glass and started a design school . the old companies revived the traditional antique style glass . then the craftsmen began to compete . ''the young glassmakers started to experiment almost right away , '' said mr . barr , who is to sign copies of his book at sotheby 's , 1334 york avenue , at 72d street , on monday from 6 to 8 p.m . ''they were trying to outdo their ancestors with new concoctions exotic animals , dolphins , dragons , seahorses , serpents nothing was too difficult , '' he said , adding that they ''indulged their taste for overembellishment . '' the easiest place to find vintage venetian_glass is in a quarterly newsletter , ''vetri italian glass news , '' published in fort_lee , n.j. , and at gardner barr . kenneth lesko , a private dealer in rocky river , ohio , has a booth devoted solely to italian glass at the triple pier show in manhattan . michael d . trapp , an antiques_dealer in west cornwall , conn . , often has venetian wares . in venice , alessandro zoppi sells fine ( and expensive ) examples at his gallery , antichita cesana . venetian_glass was inspired by ancient phoenician and roman glass . the christie 's antiquities sale today includes a lot of roman glass . most spectacular , perhaps , are a large , elegant scallop shell in opaque green glass , circa fourth century a.d . and estimated to sell for 3 , 000 to 4 , 000 , and a five inch roman glass beaker in the shape of a cone , with applied blue dots and carved facets ( estimate 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 ) . at phillips new york , the 20th_century decorative_arts sale on wednesday has venetian_glass from a top 20th_century company , venini , including blue green striped pitchers and tumblers , and a chandelier with clear glass arms ( estimate 8 , 000 to 12 , 000 ) . lot 377 is a 1989 prototype of a glass lamp by frank_gehry , the american architect . it is a sinuous cobra with translucent scales illuminated from within . today , venice is producing a lot of muscular modern glass . a new york architect , adam d . tihany , is one of the few commissioning venetian glassware that is as delicate , colorful and whimsical as its 19th_century predecessors . when he designed the manhattan restaurant remi , he installed his own collection of antique venetian glasses in the bar and commissioned rainbowlike chandeliers from carlo moretti in murano . for his latest restaurant , jean georges , he ordered the candleholders in venice . ''i like to work with the artisans there , '' he said . ''with that kind of quality , why buy anywhere else ? '' antiques | has a location of italy |
lead the financier carlo de benedetti was questioned on tuesday for six hours by a judge about his 65 days as a vice_president of banco_ambrosiano , the bank whose failure in 1982 was at the center of an italian scandal . at the end of the questioning , mr . de benedetti told reporters he was ' 'serene and satisfied'' because he was able to tell the magistrate ''the total honesty of my behavior . the financier carlo de benedetti was questioned on tuesday for six hours by a judge about his 65 days as a vice_president of banco_ambrosiano , the bank whose failure in 1982 was at the center of an italian scandal . at the end of the questioning , mr . de benedetti told reporters he was ' 'serene and satisfied'' because he was able to tell the magistrate ''the total honesty of my behavior . '' mr . de benedetti , the head of a financial empire that includes the olivetti computer group , was questioned by raffaele invrea , chief judge of the milan court of appeals , after being notified that he was suspected of possible involvement in fraudulent bankruptcy . a lower court took no action last year after investigating whether mr . de benedetti had made an illegal profit from his investment of about 52 billion lire ( 40 million ) in the bank . mr . de benedetti has repeatedly denied that he profited from his investment . | has a location of italy |
the european_competition commissioner , mario_monti , said after an initial examination , that italy 's proposed new insolvency law for large companies facing bankruptcy , like the dairy group parmalat , did not pose any problems under unionwide government aid laws . the new law , known as the marzano decree , allows for quicker procedures for adopting a restructuring plan of any italian company with more than 1 , 000 employees and debt of more than 1 billion_euros . he said he would re examine the law once it had been passed by the italian parliament . paul_meller ( nyt ) | has a location of italy |
the dollar tumbled to an 11 week low against the german_mark yesterday as a political crisis in italy sent traders fleeing to the german currency . in addition to the italian_lira , the british_pound also lost ground to the mark . the german currency has also been climbing against the french_franc because of political uncertainty in france . the speculation is building up again in europe against both the lira and the franc , and that 's driving everyone into marks , " said karl halligan , vice_president of strategic trading at cic bank in new york . " the dollar is a casualty of that . " the mark 's surge prompted some investors to sell dollars for marks , as they sought any opportunity to buy the german currency . a portion of trade among european currencies is done through the dollar for example , traders sometimes sell lire for dollars , then sell those dollars for marks . the dollar fell as low as 1 . 3955 marks , its lowest since aug . 4 , when it touched 1 . 3895 marks . in new york , the dollar settled at 1 . 3977 marks , down from 1 . 4078 marks on thursday . the dollar also slipped to 100 . 35 japanese_yen from 100 . 43 yen and to 1 . 1409 swiss_francs from 1 . 1485 swiss_francs . the british_pound fell to 1 . 5729 from 1 . 5756 . " we 've had buying of marks across the board , and it 's tripped into dollars , " said paul farrell , manager of strategic currency trading at chase_manhattan bank . with yesterday 's decline , the dollar broke out of its four week trading range of 1 . 4045 to 1 . 4440 marks . investors sold lire and italian securities after former prime_minister silvio_berlusconi and his allies called for a no confidence vote against the government of prime_minister lamberto_dini by monday . mr . berlusconi also vowed not to support mr . dini 's 1996 budget . also weighing on the dollar were remarks on thursday from the president of the bundesbank , hans_tietmeyer , who raised doubts about whether the bundesbank would help other central_banks bolster the dollar . in other trading , the canadian_dollar fell sharply after a poll by the angus reid group of toronto found that 45 . 3 percent of voters in quebec favored breaking away from canada , while 43 . 7 percent wanted to stay . a referendum on secession is scheduled for oct . 30 . the canadian currency " is taking it on the chin , " said jim phoenix , vice_president at canadian_imperial_bank_of_commerce in new york . " the uncertainty is causing people to sell canadian dollars . " the canadian_dollar was last quoted at 73 . 90 united_states cents , down from 74 . 52 cents on thursday . currency markets | has a location of italy |
a proposal by rome 's mayor to name a street for the mussolini era government minister who ordered jews ejected from italy 's education system has rekindled an impassioned debate about the country 's fascist past . the proposal to name a street for giuseppe bottai , who helped found fascism in 1919 and served as minister of national education from 1936 to 1943 , came from mayor francesco rutelli , a former communist who was elected three years ago as a green_party candidate . mr . rutelli defends the idea as a step to reconcile italians and re evaluate the contribution of figures like mr . bottai , who was also mayor of rome . the far right national alliance , the party that traces its roots to fascism , immediately welcomed the idea , as did the vatican newspaper , l'osservatore romano , which criticized opponents for their " ignorance " of mr . bottai 's contribution to italian culture . he was editor of several cultural journals and as mayor was responsible for important archeological excavations . others have bitterly attacked the proposal . the leftist daily la_repubblica , calling mr . bottai " one of the most zealous promoters of the racial campaign , " accused him of having helped to enlist italy in nazi_germany 's anti_jewish crusade . other newspapers depicted him as a vicious anti semite . gabriele turi , a writer on the period , recalled that as education minister mr . bottai had begun accumulating lists of jewish teachers and students even before the fascist government formally enacted its racial laws in 1938 . italy 's jewish_community bitterly opposed honoring him . tullia zevi , the jewish_community president , called mr . bottai " one of the most detestable promoters of the total expulsion of jews from the education world , " and said that naming a street for him would open a " revisionist pandora 's box . " since mussolini 's fall in 1943 , anti fascism has been a kind of national creed in italy , extolled , institutionalized and at times politically exploited . only recently especially since last year , when the neo_fascist national alliance entered the government for the first time since world_war_ii has anyone argued that it is obsolete . in 1992 , mr . rutelli won a hard fought mayoralty race against the popular leader of national alliance , gianfranco fini . critics of mr . rutelli have attacked the idea of honoring mr . bottai , who died in 1959 , as political expedience . fascist italy 's campaign against the jews began in july 1938 under pressure from nazi_germany with the publication of a " manifesto of fascist racism . " later that year , a law went into effect , signed by mr . bottai , that banned jewish students and teachers from the school system . | has a location of italy |
a few years ago alitalia , the italian airline , was a joke among travelers . executives tell about missing connecting flights in rome and having to spend the night at a hotel . frequent strikes scrambled schedules and left travelers stranded at distant airports . the airline 's employees were often indifferent , and the on time performance was a disaster . lufthansa , the german airline , was building loyalty among italian business travelers . but alitalia 's competitors are not laughing anymore . in the last three years , under a new management and unfamiliar prodding from its holding_company , alitalia is remaking itself into a formidable competitor . its on time performance has sharply improved , and its employees really seem to be trying to win the loyalty of customers . and alitalia has undertaken ambitious expansions of both its fleet and its routes . the changes are coming none too soon . the end of 1992 is supposed to bring a whole new way of life for businesses in europe . the national regulations and tax policies that favor home based companies and workers are scheduled to fall away . few industries are likely to face a more chilling introduction to competition than the airlines . while carriers in the united_states were fighting to the death in the 1980 's , their european counterparts were postponing the day of reckoning . now it appears there are too many airlines with too many employees . the conventional_wisdom is that alitalia , the national_airline , is particularly vulnerable . " they were going to be slaughtered like lambs if they did n't get their act together , " said daniel m . kasper , an analyst for harbridge house , a consulting_firm in boston . in addition to its former unsavory reputation , alitalia has a problem with size . it is far smaller than lufthansa and british_airways the strongest european airlines . in addition , the american giants united , american and delta have increased service to europe . but alitalia may be too big to carve out a niche as a low cost carrier . nevertheless , alitalia insists that its situation is already much better than many people realize . the carrier has slashed layers of management and has energized its work force , vastly improved its service and started to move toward profitability . in addition , it believes it will be both agile and aggressive enough to make winning moves when the barriers to competition come down . under giovanni bisignani , its 46 year old managing director and chief executive , the carrier is simultaneously growing and shrinking . in his three years at the head of alitalia , mr . bisignani has slashed operating costs and has cut back from 2 , 000 management positions to 300 . many of the executives who were cut , he said , were more expert in dealing with government bureaucrats than in operating in a competitive market . suddenly , there is a greater awareness among the carrier 's 28 , 900 workers that their jobs are no longer guaranteed for life . and alitalia 's service is no longer disrupted by strikes . its three main unions all have three year contracts . even more surprising , the carrier had the best on time record of all major carriers in europe in 1990 . last year its on time performance 80 percent stayed near the top of the rankings . but at the same time he is taking a hard line on costs and productivity , mr . bisignani plans to spend 3 . 6 billion through 1995 to buy new airplanes and expand its routes . this year the carrier will open seven new gateways in asia , south_america , the caribbean and europe , and it is adding 20 new planes . this expansion means 1992 will be one of the strongest years for growth since the airline was founded as aerolinee italieane internationali in 1947 . the growth mainly effects overseas markets . in latin_america its flights will increase by 59 percent in north_america , by 37 percent , and in the pacific , by 33 percent . in europe where it already has 1 , 656 flights a week , its growth will be a more modest 7.5 percent . so far mr . bisignani has had the backing of franco nobili , the president of the istituto per la ricostruzione industriale , the huge italian state holding_company , which owns 86 . 4 percent of alitalia and reviews all important strategic moves . the carrier has not received any subsidies from the state since the mid 80 's and must make it on its own resources . alitalia , which was last profitable in 1988 , has taken steps to cut its losses . it ended with a loss of 28 million in 1991 , a year that was one of the worst ever for the industry as a whole , compared with a loss of 82 million in 1990 . mr . bisignani believes that if alitalia is to survive it must win over the business traveler coming to italy . but he is wary of seeking alliances with other carriers . some observers think , however , that medium_sized european carriers like alitalia and their smaller rivals will have to find merger partners or grow quickly to have a strong presence beyond their own boundaries . up to this point mr . bisignani , who moved to the united_states in his early 20 's as a student at the harvard_business_school , maintains that his willingness to take risks and his determination to build an organization that can quickly capitalize on opportunity stems from his american training . an example of the bold management style that mr . bisignani is trying to instill was alitalia'a response to the virtual disappearance of international traffic during the gulf_war last year . like other carriers , alitalia suspended flights to the middle_east and cut back capacity in other markets , resulting in savings of about 150 million . but he did not lay off workers or mothball planes as other carriers did . rather , he had his staff draw up detailed plans for restarting service quickly once the war ended . but on feb . 27 , the day allied forces suspended military operations against iraq , alitalia decided to put all its suspended flights back in operation within days , while many rivals phased in service gradually . it was a risky move , as it was uncertain whether traffic would rebound . within 10 days , however , traffic surged . the gamble to resume flights quickly paid off . alitalia 's traffic has grown steadily , and in the fourth_quarter , for instance , its traffic was up 10 . 6 percent from a year earlier , compared with a 5.2 percent rise for the rest of the european carriers . it has also increased its market_share of international traffic at its key hubs in rome and milan to 48 percent from 45 . in terms of flights between the united_states and italy , its market_share rose to 51 percent . as the head of alitalia , mr . bisignani has made moves that are not unlike the recent transformations occurring at many united_states companies . he has drastically trimmed the top layer of management and has pushed the responsibility for making decisions down to lower levels . thus , airport managers are now expected to decide about flight schedules and staffing without checking in frequently with central management . the airline has also recruited from other carriers to strengthen its marketing staff . some analysts believe that mr . bisignani has awakened a sleeping giant . " alitalia has long been regarded as one of the weaker carriers among the european giants , " said julius maldutis , an airline analyst for salomon_brothers . " given the actions that bisignani and management have taken , alitalia could very well prove to be a much stronger competitor . " he added that alitalia was well positioned geographically to build international service , with rome becoming the gateway to north_africa and the middle_east . but in this territory it will face tough competitors in lufthansa and air_france . mr . kasper of harbridge house believes alitalia is in a position similar to the one faced by midsized american carriers like western and republic after deregulation in 1979 . larger carriers had more frequent and convenient flights smaller carriers had lower labor costs . eventually , western and republic were absorbed by larger carriers . the same fate may befall alitalia , he said , although the carrier may have more of a grace_period because there are still questions about how fast the european_community will move toward one air regulatory system . mr . bisignani does not expect europe to endure the kind of cutthroat competition that broke out in the united_states . and he wants to avoid such turmoil . but mr . bisignani may ultimately have no choice but to find a bigger partner . toon h . woltman , vice_president and general_manager in the united_states for klm_royal_dutch_airlines , said " if you really want to play a role in the next 10 years , you have to be a european carrier . you cannot stay an italian carrier , a french carrier or a german carrier . " the man with the wade into the fray style giovanni bisignani is short and energetic , and he walks with a determined pace . he speaks quickly and gets to the point . at 46 , he is one of the youngest chief executives of a leading company in europe . he looks even younger . his active style is evident in his personal life as well . mr . bisignani lives in rome with his wife , helena , and his 14 year old daughter . but on weekends the family generally goes to a house near the seashore in tuscany . in winter mr . bisignani likes to ride his bicycle , and in summer he takes his boat out on the mediterranean , where he likes to snorkel . certainly he is the opposite of umberto nordio , who ran alitalia for years until he was removed in 1989 for allowing the carrier to slip as the european market grew more competitive . mr . nordio was an aloof executive who dressed stylishly and represented the airline well at formal meetings . mr . bisignani , on the other hand , enjoys slapping backs , shaking hands and having lunch with employees in the cafeteria in the sleek new headquarters building in rome . he has sought to convince workers that the fate of the airline depends on them as well as on his making the right decisions . he had little airline experience before joining alitalia . after getting his law degree from rome university and teaching public_law , he spent three years in the united_states , where he attended harvard_business_school and ran a five person currency trading operation for citibank in 1970 . he recalled with fondness his days in new york , where he lived in a midtown hotel . " it was a wonderful time , " he said . after he returned to rome , mr . bisignani joined the instituto per la ricostruzione industriale , the huge state holding_company , which holds 86 . 4 percent of alitalia 's shares . he started in 1979 as an assistant to the president and rose to corporate senior vice_president , head of foreign_affairs in 1983 . throughout his career , he said , his experience working in the united_states , where the government as a matter of policy does not routinely bail out companies that suffer losses , remained a strong influence . when he joined alitalia in 1989 as managing director and chief executive , he was in tune with carlo verri , alitalia 's president . mr . verri began renewing the fleet and revamping the management ranks . but mr . verri was killed in an automobile accident in november 1989 , and mr . bisignani , who was 42 years old , took over . this spring he was appointed by i.r.i . to run the airline for another three years . | has a location of italy |
no pope at madonna 's crucifixion madonna invited the pope to her crucifixion . he did n't come , but 70 , 000 of her devotees filled the olympic_stadium just a mile or so from vatican city in rome on sunday_night for another performance in her worldwide confessions tour , reuters reported . wearing a fake crown of thorns , she was raised on a glittery cross during her two and a half hour show , which included a display of photographs of pope_benedict as well as of mussolini . before she invited the pope , the vatican had accused madonna , right , of blasphemy and provocation for even considering the sham crucifixion . for the most part fans shrugged off the conflict by dancing , singing and jumping as she performed songs from her latest album , ''confessions on a dance floor , '' and old hits including ''like a virgin . '' but the cheering diminished when she was raised on the cross . ''the crucifixion was unnecessary and provocative , '' said tonia valerio , a 39 year old roman . ''because this is rome , i wish she 'd cut it out . but it 's madonna , she 's an icon , and that balances out her need to provoke . '' more controversy is expected next month when the tour reaches moscow , where the russian_orthodox_church has advised followers to boycott the show because of the crucifixion scene , the interfax news_agency reported . in edinburgh , lights out on churchill 's havana established history bowed to current correctness at the edinburgh fringe festival yesterday when mel smith , below , an actor portraying winston_churchill , drew back from his threat to light a havana cigar onstage in defiance of a new scottish antismoking law , the bbc reported . the edinburgh city_council had warned it would shut the theater if the law was broken . william burdett coutts , the artistic director of the theater , said he had been told he would lose his fringe license permanently and be fined about 1 , 900 if mr . smith smoked during his performance in ''allegiance , '' about a 1921 visit to london by the irish leader michael collins . but mr . burdett coutts said he thought it was ' 'stupid when smoking is an integral part of a show to enforce this law . '' he added , ''i am all for a smoking_ban in bars , but not to have an actor smoking while he represents a character in history who did smoke is absurd . '' warm reception for osawa at tanglewood seiji ozawa , below , music director laureate of the boston symphony orchestra , received prolonged standing_ovations before and after he conducted the orchestra in front of an audience of 10 , 000 at the koussevitzky music shed at tanglewood on saturday night . mr . ozawa , 70 , now the music director of the vienna state opera , canceled engagements earlier this year when he was hospitalized with a bronchial infection and shingles , which affected his vision , the associated press reported . he led the boston symphony orchestra from 1973 to 2002 , longer than any other conductor in its 125 year history . on saturday , he received an ovation when he walked onstage to conduct mahler 's symphony no . 2 , the ''resurrection , '' and was given a nearly six minute ovation when the 90 minute performance ended . a new stage for symphony hall , boston symphony hall in boston is going to get a new stage for the first time since it opened on oct . 15 , 1900 . after more than two years of planning by james levine , the music director of the boston symphony orchestra , as well as by management , staff and musicians , new planks will be put down this week to replace the floorboards that were taken up last month , the boston_globe reported . the new floor , a 250 , 000 project , will be ready for the opening of the season , on sept . 29 . the old floor was uneven and pockmarked by a century 's worth of stabbings by the end pins of cellos and basses , by rolling pianos and by risers . boards squeaked and some were close to buckling . mark volpe , the managing director of the orchestra , said the decision to replace the floor was attributable to ' 'safety considerations . '' he said ''people ask me , 'why are you replacing the floor now ? ' a better question is 'what took us so long ? ' '' footnote ''the little dog laughed , '' the much praised comedy of manners by douglas carter beane ( ''as bees in honey drown'' ) , is broadway bound . the play , which uses hollywood for target practice , opened in january at the second stage theater . it will reopen on broadway at the cort theater , beginning in previews on oct . 26 , with an official opening scheduled for nov . 13 . julie white as the agent and johnny galecki as the escort will reprise their roles ( above , ms . white and mr . galecki ) tom everett scott will join the cast as the closeted hollywood star . | has a location of italy |
lead prosecutors have been enthroned on special daises in courtrooms up and down italy since time immemorial . beginning oct . 25 , they will be seated in a humbler position , opposite defense counsel and on the same level . the symbolic lowering of the state accuser 's place by a few inches is part of a reform of the italian criminal_justice system that the news_media , lawyers , magistrates and even legislators are calling the perry prosecutors have been enthroned on special daises in courtrooms up and down italy since time immemorial . beginning oct . 25 , they will be seated in a humbler position , opposite defense counsel and on the same level . the symbolic lowering of the state accuser 's place by a few inches is part of a reform of the italian criminal_justice system that the news_media , lawyers , magistrates and even legislators are calling the perry mason trial . if life at times imitates art , in italy the law has taken inspiration from imported american television shows . the old serial featuring perry mason as the indomitable defense lawyer who wins his clients' acquittals and helps discover the real villains became immensely_popular in italy from the moment the state television_network began showing it in prime time in the 1960 's . the show is still being rerun every now and then . what 's more , barely a day passes without rai radiotelevisione italiana or at least one of the many private channels offering american programs , including ''l . a . law'' and ''the people 's court , '' with dramatic courtroom scenes . the oratorical duels and all other dialogue are always dubbed . ways to show respect for many years , it has been commonplace in italian courthouses to hear defendants or witnesses who had never before attended a trial address the presiding judge as ''vostro onore , '' the way the people on their favorite american courtroom program renders ''your honor . '' equally stereotyped is the inevitable rebuke from the bench , ''i am not your honor , and you 're not perry mason ! '' the proper way to show respect to an italian magistrate on the lowest rung of the judicial ladder is to say signor pretore , or mr . praetor , a title that like much else in italian law comes straight from ancient_rome . higher magistrates expect the honorifics of the italian equivalents of mr . justice , mr . counselor , mr . president or even your excellency . magistrates who are women are often addressed as mr . pretor and do not object . yet vostro onore is so ingrained by now that it may become official sooner or later . it would grammatically fit men or women . ''the italians have become familiar with the trial procedures in the perry mason manner through the movies and above all through television , whereas they were almost completely ignorant of our old court system , '' said adolfo beria de argentine , a prominent milan magistrate . the old trial rules were based on a code of penal procedure enacted in 1930 under mussolini . that statute was rooted in french law and , more remotely , in the methods of roman_catholic_church tribunals and ultimately in classical roman criminal_justice . up to now , criminal trials were prepared by an investigating magistrate , who in cooperation with the state prosecutor directed police inquiries , questioned defendants and witnesses , and sifted other evidence all in secret proceedings that might take years . sometimes suspects had been long in detention while the investigators were still searching for evidence . when defendants at last faced their judges in the open courtroom , the bench already had at its disposal voluminous written records of the pretrial investigation . the powers of the prosecutor who in the italian system is part of the judiciary were much broader before and during public hearings than those of the defense counsel . borrowing a phrase watching legal principles in action in the courtroom scenes of many american television programs was a revelation for italian audiences . when perry mason cuts into the insinuating line of questioning by the district_attorney , the hapless hamilton burger , with a sharp ''objection , your honor ! , '' viewers from the alps to sicily know that he will not permit an innocent to be framed . ''obiezione , vostro onore ! '' has since become an italian everyday idiom , often jocular . the phrase will also be acceptable in courtrooms because the reform will introduce cross_examination in trial hearings . the new legislation also borrows plea bargaining from united_states judicial practice to ease the staggering caseload of the italian courts . with all that , trials in italy still remain different from those in countries steeped in the anglo_saxon common_law tradition and from the american television models . as before , most sentences will be handed down by learned judges while only defendants charged with the gravest crimes stand trial by a court of assizes composed of two magistrates and six popular , or nonprofessional , judges who have to reach their verdict jointly . there still will not be any jury trials . all future criminal cases will be prepared by a judge of preliminary inquiry acting as a kind of one person grand_jury . in the last few months , masons and cabinetmakers have been busy in hundreds of italian courtrooms , adapting them to the new status of prosecutors and defense counsel . the professional organizations of magistrates and the bar associations have been holding classes to familiarize their members with the new trial procedures . and there is a seller 's market for bootleg videocassettes of old perry mason episodes . | has a location of italy |
lead a 510 year old transcript of a famous trial that destroyed a jewish_community in northern_italy has found its way to yeshiva_university in washington_heights . a 510 year old transcript of a famous trial that destroyed a jewish_community in northern_italy has found its way to yeshiva_university in washington_heights . the trent manuscript , named for the town where jews were accused of the ritual murder of a christian infant , was bought for 176 , 000 at sotheby 's last december by ludwig and erica jesselson and presented to the university 's museum . mr . jesselson , a director and former executive vice_president of salomon inc . and former chairman of philipp brothers inc . , is chairman of the executive committee of the boards of yeshiva and treasurer of its board of trustees mrs . jesselson is board chairman of the yeshiva university museum , which the couple has endowed . the 614 pages were written in 1478 as a beautifully illustrated german manuscript with stunning gothic calligraphy . the transcript , made for eberhardt the bearded , the first duke of wurttemberg , is the only one in german . two other records , both shorter and in latin , survive , one in the vatican and the other in the national_library in vienna . a familiar charge the case is based on a charge familiar in jewish history jews are accused of killing christians , particularly children and particularly around passover , to use their blood in ritual . such accusations have been made in england ( the first recorded in norwich in 1144 ) , france , syria and russia , where the so called beilis affair in 1911 13 aroused international protest and resulted in a not guilty_verdict by a jury that refused to be bullied by an anti_jewish government . the history of the trent manuscript in the centuries between its writing and its subsequent appearance a half century ago at auction in london is not fully known . although it is believed to have been in a private collection for part of that time , one of the chores ahead for researchers will be to fill the gaps in its background . recently , pearl berger , the benjamin gottesman librarian and dean of libraries at yeshiva_university , showed the volume to a visitor . ''it has been preserved for 510 years , '' she said . ''it is on paper made of rag cloth , which was made without chemicals that make later paper deteriorate , and that is why the oldest books are in the finest condition . the vellum binding was put on in 1615 . '' within that binding is an account of legal proceedings whose fictions were not officially reversed by the vatican until 1965 . the small jewish_community in trent apparently german speaking , as were others involved in the case , according to mrs . berger had settled in the town by the beginning of the 14th century and by 1475 had a synagogue , a house of study and three other houses for a jewish population of about 30 people . shortly before easter in that year and after fiery lenten sermons by a franciscan , bernardino da feltre , against the jews and ritual killings , the body of a christian infant named simon was , it was charged , found near the house of the jewish_community 's leader . as a result , every man , woman and child in the jewish_community was arrested . the document attests to the ''confessions'' of 17 jews after 15 days of torture . one of the jews died in prison , six were burned at the stake and two who had converted to christianity received what was considered the more benevolent penalty of death by strangulation . a papal emissary who came to investigate the charges and contradicted the verdict was driven out of town by the people of trent . a year later , with approval of pope sixtus iv , whose papal court justified the proceedings with a document that is in the introduction to the manuscript , five more jews were executed and four women were converted to christianity . jewish property was confiscated and jews were banished from trent , a banishment lasting through the 18th_century . the infant , simon of trent , was beatified because of the belief that he had been ritually murdered , and this sanctification remained in force until 1965 , when it ( and implicitly the accusation ) was revoked . monograph is sought ''this account gives the testimony of all involved in the trial , including the testimony of women , which was unusual at that time , '' mrs . berger said . ''we would like to have a monograph published about it , and we 've found a scholar who is interested . '' mrs . berger said the scholar is prof . ronnie po chia hsia , of the university of massachusetts at amherst , the author of ''the myth of ritual murder , '' which was recently published . the manuscript is housed in a special box that keeps the materials acid free and prevents the pages from rubbing against anything else . such cases and climate control preserve yeshiva 's collection of 1 , 000 rare documents and 8 , 000 rare books . the trent manuscript is one of the oldest in the collection . sylvia a . herskowitz , director of the museum , said the trent manuscript would go on display with other rare papers early next year . | has a location of italy |
perugia , italy unlike many americans who decide to follow their dream of restoring an abandoned italian house in the countryside , douglas andrews knew exactly what he was getting into . not only did he have experience restoring other properties in italy , he also had very specific requirements for his ideal home . ''i had been living in rome for the past 15 years , '' mr . andrews said , ''and wanted to find a place in the countryside that could accommodate my ever expanding collection of contemporary_art . '' mr . andrews , 43 , first moved to rome as a student in temple_university 's junior year abroad program . while he studied art_history and did his share of the usual partying , he also began to dabble in real_estate . ''unlike some of my schoolmates , '' he explained , ''i made a lot of italian friends and it was through them that i discovered that rome had quite a lot of undervalued and nondeveloped properties . '' he was able to buy centrally located apartments and fix them up for relatively small investments . ''while i was able to turn them around pretty quickly , at a profit , '' he added , ''i also had the great pleasure in living in most of them . '' after 15 years in the city , mr . andrews decided to make a move to the countryside . ''by this time i had a rather large dog , argo , '' he recalled , ''and it just seemed like the right time to start looking for a weekend house . '' he and his partner chose umbria , which is close enough to rome for weekend commuting . after eight months they found what they were looking for an abandoned casa padronale . unlike run of the mill farmhouses , which traditionally are on the small side and have living areas for both man and beast , case padronali are more formal mini villas usually built by landowners . his find , the casa dei frati ( or house of the friars ) , was at the end of a farm road , and had privacy as well as sweeping views of the tranquil tiber valley . originally built by priests , the structure later had landowners as tenants . it was during that period that a wing was added and a grand entrance hall created . but the most recent residents were farmers , so that much of the ground floor had been subdivided and given over to stables . a tobacco drying tower 10 meters , or 32 feet , tall was an addition from the '50s . ''we had very strong ideas about how we wanted to restore the villa , '' mr . andrews said . his partner , who had studied architecture and already had a lot of experience fixing up places in rome , drew a plan that restored the house 's symmetry and , even more important , its wall space , which was soon put to use as a backdrop for their art collection . ''the symmetry and formality of the house was something we really wanted to emphasize , '' mr . andrews said . ''we did this by creating a semi enclosed courtyard between the main house and the 16th_century outbuilding in the back . '' low brick walls embrace that side of the garden , which has a bubbling fountain as its centerpiece . because of building restrictions , the restoration project had to follow the footprint of the original structure . the main villa is on two levels , with 350 square meters , or 3 , 367 square_feet , of living area . a large eat in kitchen and the formal living room both open onto a terrace with a panoramic view . on the upper level , there are four master suites , a den and an office , all of which look out over the valley . two small buildings were also restored . one , measuring 90 square meters , or 969 square_feet , is used as an artist 's studio , while the other , slightly smaller , is a garage and also has a small staff room . mr . andrews declined to specify how much they have spent on the house , but johannes hermel , whose real_estate agency , casambiente , specializes in umbrian properties , estimates that a similar villa would sell for about 2.1 million_euros to 2.5 million_euros , or 2 . 7 million to 3 . 2 million . ''it 's hard to give a firm square meter estimate of how much a house of this caliber would go for , '' mr . hermel said , but he added that , in certain parts of umbria , the price per square meter can reach about 4 , 000 euros . according to mr . andrews ''our idea originally was that this would be a weekend retreat . eventually , though , the weekends kept stretching from two days to three days , and finally we found ourselves spending most of our time in the country . i realized that it was time to give up the apartment in rome , and move full time to the country . '' ''this is our home base now , '' mr . andrews said as he walked through the fruit orchard , followed by argo and his two other dogs . when asked how he likes winters in umbria , which tend to be dark and dreary , he admitted ''since my family is in the states , and i have a lot of friends in berlin and london , i tend to travel a lot . and in the summer we both like spending time at the sea . '' ''also , '' he continued , ''the restoration bug is biting again , so while we are calling this home for now , we never get too attached to the places we restore . we may be moving on to our next project soon . '' but mr . andrews recently sank his roots even deeper into the umbrian countryside , establishing an olive_oil business , canonica verde , with a friend and neighbor , paula hughes . the company 's web_site , canonicaverde . com , also offers umbrian honey and spice blends . ''we realized that , while the trees are beautiful to look at , the oil is unique , delicious and surprisingly hard to get in the states , '' he said . | has a location of italy |
air_france klm , europe 's biggest airline , said thursday that it had begun talks that could eventually lead to the takeover of alitalia , the italian carrier . alitalia , which is half owned by the italian government , is actively looking for a partner . but analysts see any deal as uncertain as long as the company continues to lose money . the stock of both companies fell in europe . alitalia has not made an operating profit since 1998 . before exploratory talks can move forward , the airline must become financially stable , said jean cyril spinetta , chief executive of air_france klm . alitalia had a pretax loss of 275 million_euros ( 354 million ) in the first nine months of the year , but the company has forecast that it will be profitable in the fourth_quarter . in recent years , alitalia has continued to be affected by labor unrest and an inability to meet the challenge of rising fuel prices and competition from low_cost_airlines like easyjet and ryanair . ''alitalia is besieged by inertia , labor strikes and increased competition from new entrants and low_cost_airlines , '' two citigroup analysts wrote in a recent report . meanwhile , air_france has managed to reach accords with unions , allowing the company to grow and successfully integrate klm . ''while the rest of the sector recovers , alitalia 's losses are increasing , the report said . ''we do not believe that this situation will reverse in the short term or that alitalia will be acquired by air_france . '' analysts have criticized alitalia for opting to keep hubs in both milan and rome , and it has lost ground on intercontinental flights to companies with bigger european hubs . a deal between air_france and alitalia would have to receive the approval of alitalia 's unions . ''we have nothing against a deal with air_france , but alitalia is in a difficult financial position right now and to go into an alliance in this condition would mean accepting tough conditions from the french , '' said antonio amoroso , the coordinator of confederazione unitaria di base , a union that represents about 700 alitalia workers . ''we do n't want a situation where the italian government bends to every french demand . '' in previous discussions between the two airlines , mr . amoroso said , air_france had asked as part of an eventual deal that alitalia stop some flights and that some intercontinental flights be shifted to paris and amsterdam . the two companies already have a commercial accord through the sky team alliance , which also includes delta_air_lines and northwest_airlines . the french president jacques_chirac and the italian prime_minister romano_prodi were scheduled to meet in italy on friday and there were indications that they would discuss the two national carriers . mr . prodi has already indicated that he has reservations about a deal . ''i have always supported contacts between the two groups , '' he said in an interview thursday in le_figaro , the french daily . ''now , i have a lot of doubts . i would like to know air_france 's real intentions . does it want to create a big european transport group in which italy would also have a place , or simply grab the italian air transport market , which is large and very lucrative ? '' alitalia has teetered near bankruptcy several times in the last few years . the government has come to the rescue each time , but that might not always be the case . mr . prodi in october said that alitalia was ''out of control , '' a comment that some industry observers read as an indication that the government might be willing to let the company go bankrupt . the government has said that it will make a decision on the airline 's future by the end of january . | has a location of italy |