Last Minute Portal

Italians are tired of Labor Unions bloated number of, and overpaid employees, and Politicians using airline as source of Patronage .

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers using a medical scanner have worked out why a Stradivarius violin sounds so good -- it is because of the remarkably even density of the wood.

For the past 300 years, musicians and scientists have puzzled over the unparalleled quality of classical Cremonese violins made by Italian masters like Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.

Now a Dutch doctor and a violin maker from Arkansas think they have cracked the mystery after comparing five classical and eight modern violins in a computed tomography (CT) scanner normally used to examine patients.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has pledged to end the rubbish crisis in Naples and the surrounding area by the end of July.

Italian authorities have begun fingerprinting tens of thousands of gypsies living in nomad camps across the country - adults and children alike - brushing aside accusations of racism by human rights advocates ...

FIFA ranked Euro 2008 champion Spain No. 1, with 2007 World Cup Winner Italy #2,. Also Italy was the only team to hold Spain to a 0-0 score, to lose on PKs.

About a year ago, some of you must have thought I had gone off my "rocker" when in one of my Reports, I called the idea of turning Food into Fuel "insane". OK, now that Barilla is saying it, maybe now you'll believe me. It is galactically stupid, to drive the price of food up, in a world with so many starving, and so many people living in poverty, rather than seek alternative forms of energy. Maybe cornstalks and native grasses, and maybe even sugar cane when there is a glut,........... but grains, ????? Super Dum.

I am trying to get information on around-the-world air tickets going west from the United States. But I have not found any information on airline Web sites. Can you help? William Gibson, Asheville, North Carolina

All my life, Naples has been the symbol of chaos, stress, and culture shock for European travel. I remember my first visit as a wide-eyed 18-year-old to this quintessential southern Italian city.

Italians are shirking pizza due to skyrocketing bills and turning increasingly to pasta, which remains comparatively cheap despite also seeing large increases in cost.

Romans founded London on marshy gravel islands at the lowest crossing point of the Thames after the conquest in AD43.

The combination of Italian banks always being parsimonious about handing out loans, and Italians traditionally disliking credit, will be saving Italy from the worst. The economic situations in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Ireland are outlined in this article.