Cat Fight In Rome: Beloved Shelter Faces Closure
Anyone who has visited Rome and its antique monuments has also seen their four-legged residents: the many stray cats that bask in the sun amid the ruins.One site in central Rome is known as "cat...
View ArticleSpain's Economic Woes Take A Toll On The Media
Three years of euro-zone recession have badly hurt Spain's media sector, where some 8,500 journalists have lost their jobs. Dozens of newspapers have closed and the remaining publications are sharply...
View ArticleSpain's Crisis Leads To Rise Of Grass-Roots Groups
A year and a half ago, recession-ravaged Spanish society reacted to the economic crisis with the "Indignados," a mass protest that inspired the worldwide "Occupy" movement.The "angry ones" are long...
View ArticleFamilies Of Spain's 'Stolen Babies' Seek Answers — And Reunions
Allegations of the existence of a secret network of doctors and nuns who stole newborn babies and sold them for adoption are reviving a dark chapter in Spain's recent history.More than 1,000 people...
View ArticleAt Christmas, A Roman Holiday Revolves Around The Food
The city of Rome may be the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, but as far as bright, glitzy decorations, Christmas there has always been a rather sober affair.And yet at Christmastime, there's one area...
View ArticleA Showdown In Italy Over A Polluting Steel Plant
In an effort to safeguard some 20,000 jobs at a time of rising unemployment,
View ArticleBerlusconi Plots His Comeback: 'You Italians Need Me'
With elections in Italy just weeks away, polls show leftist parties with a comfortable lead.
View ArticleHonoring 'Our Will To Live': The Lost Music Of The Holocaust
For the past two decades, in a small town in southern Italy, a pianist and music teacher has been hunting for and resurrecting the music of the dead.Francesco Lotoro has found thousands of songs,...
View ArticleFor Greeks, Painful Cuts Keep Tearing At The Social Fabric
Greeks are feeling the squeeze. The social repercussions of three years of austerity measures imposed by international lenders are hitting hard. Thousands of businesses have shut down, unemployment is...
View ArticlePrivatization Of Greek Assets Runs Behind Schedule
In exchange for multibillion-euro bailouts, Greece was required to sell state-owned assets. But the sweeping privatization process is behind schedule.
View ArticleKnights Of Malta Celebrates 900th Anniversary At Vatican
Pilgrims and tourists visiting the Vatican received a special treat Saturday, when some 4,000 members of the Knights of Malta marched in procession to the tomb of St. Peter.The last of the great...
View ArticleBenedict XVI, Vatican's Traditionalist Enforcer, Steps Down
The first German pope in a thousand years is a cold, distant intellectual who never served as a parish priest. Cardinal Ratzinger, the Vatican Enforcer, became Pope Benedict XVI. As successor to John...
View ArticlePope Benedict XVI: A Champion Of Catholic Tradition
On April 19, 2005, when wisps of white smoke puffed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Catholic Church had its first German pope since the 11th century.Just one day before his...
View ArticleGreece's Economic Crisis Reveals Fault Lines In The Media
Three years of spiraling economic crisis in Greece have devastated every sector of the economy. The Greek media are among the hardest hit. Many newspapers and TV outlets have closed or are on the...
View Article'The Real Jiminy Cricket': Unlikely Candidate Upends Italian Elections
Italy's election campaign has been dominated by an upstart comedian-turned-politician whose Five Star Movement is soaring in the polls. The movement is not expected to win in the weekend vote, but its...
View ArticleCardinals At Odds Over When To Begin Choosing Next Pope
The College of Cardinals is holding its first official meetings at the Vatican on Monday. The top agenda item is choosing which day to start the closed-door conclave that will elect the new pope. With...
View ArticleSistine Chapel Conclave Prep Includes Ensuring Social Media Blackout
Last-minute preparations are under way at the Vatican where the conclave to elect the new pope begins Tuesday.The 115 cardinal electors will remain at the Sistine Chapel incommunicado from the rest of...
View ArticleWhistleblower Law Unlikely To Help Italy's Migrants
Italy recently approved a decree that would grant work and residence permits to migrants who blow the whistle on bosses who exploit them in the economy illegally.But in places like the southern region...
View ArticleItaly Worries Sicily's Woes Could Have Ripple Effect
In antiquity, Sicily was known as Greater Greece. Now, the eurozone crisis has led to sharp spending cuts and, with an economy based on public sector wages, Sicily is being called Italy's Greece. The...
View ArticleItalian Yacht Owners Weigh Anchor To Dodge Taxes
Italy has a public debt of nearly 2 trillion euros, and it's cracking down on its notoriously wily tax evaders. Owners of luxury yachts are a prime target, with tax police launching dockside raids to...
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