Word: italian
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...Diana's funeral week, what had been considered the virtues--the Roman virtues, an earlier generation would have called them--of restraint, stoicism and quiet, private mourning were tossed overboard. For Diana, you were allowed public gestures and declamations usually reserved for the final act of an Italian opera. That this happened in Britain of all places--home of the stiff upper lip and the sort of strangulated emotional life that has provided Hugh Grant with endless paychecks--only added to the oddity of the events. Those in other nations who thought they knew the British wondered what sort...
This spring, when Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped in the southern province of Helmand, the Afghan government, going against U.S. wishes, exchanged the hostage for five Taliban prisoners. It is also alleged that another Italian, photographer Gabriele Torsello, was ransomed for $2 million last October, fueling speculation that these more recent kidnappings may be motivated by financial as much as political gain. "Rumors are going around that the Koreans are worth $1 million a head," says Parliamentarian Khalid Pashtun. "So of course this is going to encourage more kidnappings." At this point it's unclear if Meier's abductors...
...Meier, who is said to be five months pregnant, was abducted in front of a bakery popular with foreigners; witnesses say they heard gunshots and saw the woman bundled into a blue Toyota Corolla by unidentified armed men. She is the first foreigner to be abducted in Kabul since Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni was seized in front of her compound in May of 2005. Cantoni was eventually released unharmed 24 days later; it is still unknown if a ransom was paid. Meier may not be so lucky. One of the German engineers was shot within a few days...
...Democracy Italian Style Your report on the state of Italy's democratic insitutions was an illuminating look into the seldom-mentioned dark side of democracy [Aug. 13]. However, I was saddened to see that the story made no mention of a possible remedy. Perhaps the Italians themselves have not developed one. With the political system dominated by octogenarian bureaucrats and Berlusconi- like operators, would it be out of the question for Italy to restore the monarchy? With the exception of the U.S., the most successful democracies, and those least prone to such institutional dystrophy, are monarchies, from the U.K., Canada...
...have dreamed of serving tap are ditching the bottles. At Del Posto, Mario Batali's newest spot in Manhattan, entrées can cost more than $40, but the restaurant isn't interested in adding environmental cost--it will soon stop selling bottled water. Co-owner Joseph Bastianich says the Italian restaurant will instead serve diners its kitchen's purified tap water, sparkling and still. "We try to run the restaurant more responsibly and sustainably," says Bastianich. "The cost of shipping water all over the world and the packing don't seem worth...