MILAN: Italy’s economy returned to growth in the first quarter after two quarters of contraction, giving the populist government a boost ahead of European elections. Gross domestic product expanded by 0.2% in the three months to March, having dropped by 0.1% in the final two quarters of 2018, the Istat statistics office reported on Tuesday. The return to slender growth was heralded by surprisingly positive industrial output figures in January and February after four months of contraction. Year-on-year GDP growth was 0.1%, Istat said, buoyed by all sectors, including agriculture, industry and services. Last year’s technical recession had put pressure on the populist government in the eurozone’s third largest economy, which took power in June on the back of big-spending electoral promises. Italy is Europe’s second largest manufacturer and was the only European Union member in recession, although growth in export powerhouse Germany also halted in late 2018. Istat … [Read more...] about Italy emerges from recession in first quarter
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News France, Italy mark 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death in Loire Valley
AMBOISE, France -- Five hundred years after the death of Italian master painter Leonardo da Vinci, the Loire Valley town where he spent his last three years will host top-level festivities celebrating his life. The Renaissance genius died in the French town of Amboise in 1519, at the age of 67. And France's Emmanuel Macron and Italian President Sergio Mattarella are travelling here on Thursday to mark the anniversary. Leonardo was 64 when he was invited to France by the young Francis I, at a time when rivals Michelangelo and Raphael were rising stars on the Italian peninsula. And with his own commissions drying up, it came as a great relief and no small vindication for the Tuscan artist, who received a handsome stipend as the "first painter, engineer and architect of the king." He brought with him three of his favourite paintings: the Mona Lisa, the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, and Saint John the Baptist -- all of which today hang in the Louvre museum in Paris. The joint … [Read more...] about News France, Italy mark 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death in Loire Valley
Italy’s Berlusconi hospitalised but vows to resume campaign
MILAN: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalised with severe kidney pain on Tuesday but his political party said the 82-year-old planned to quickly resume campaigning for European Parliament elections due next month.Berlusconi has faded as a political force since being forced to quit as prime minister in 2011 but he still leads his conservative Forza Italia party and his family holding group, Fininvest, controls Italy's largest private media group, Mediaset.He has been dogged by health concerns in recent years, undergoing open heart surgery in 2016, but he has never indicated he is ready to retire from politics and is standing as a candidate for the May 26 European elections.Forza Italia described his complaint as renal colic, a severe pain caused by kidney stones. The party said he wanted to return to the campaign trail immediately."As soon as checks currently been carried out are over, he has promised to be present at the Forza Italia event scheduled for this … [Read more...] about Italy’s Berlusconi hospitalised but vows to resume campaign
These contemporary Filipino artists will be showcased in Pinto International’s show in Italy
“Mountains that hug the earth, skies that are open, and clouds that float”—these are the words that Philippine Art Gallery owner Lyd Arguilla used to describe the watercolors of Leon Pacunayen. After moving to the Italian city of Perugia in the 1960s, the artist could be very well be the underappreciated thread by which contemporary Filipino art is connected today. Pacunayen’s moody, atmospheric approach to painting, and his somber palette adopts the technical lineage of sfumato and chiaroscuro is widespread in the creations of many modern artists. More cross-cultural art: How Fernando Zobel saved a dying Spanish city by opening a museum These vintage Italian posters prove Pinoy films were being screened in Europe as early as the ‘60s Luna’s study of “Death of Cleopatra” sells for Php 9.3 million at auction When JAZA met Xyza: the tycoon and photographer talk about the story behind the pictures Pacunayen is the jumping point in … [Read more...] about These contemporary Filipino artists will be showcased in Pinto International’s show in Italy
Italy’s Five Star party seeks political shift in EU
WARSAW: Italy's Five Star Movement (M5S) wants to team up with like-minded anti-establishment parties and form a new grouping within the European Parliament to wrest power from the traditional left and right, its leader said on Sunday (Apr 28)."I don't think that the traditional parties have the potential to attain an absolute majority in the European Parliament," M5S chief Luigi di Maio said.Speaking at an event in Warsaw with Poland's populist Kukiz'15 movement and Croatia's Zivi Zid (Human Shield) party, Di Maio said the traditional differentiation between politics of the "left" and "right" was "outdated"."I prefer to distinguish between good and bad ideas," said Di Maio, who is Italy's deputy prime minister.He said his party was open to collaboration with any political movement "that comes up with good proposals."Di Maio's Polish host, the punk-rocker-turned-politician Pawel Kukiz, said his party's slogan for the EU elections would be "Poland in Europe, Europe for Poland" and … [Read more...] about Italy’s Five Star party seeks political shift in EU