The great American Italian restaurant has changed in style probably more than any other genre of restaurant over the past several decades. Even as recently as 50 years ago, the term "Italian restaurant" conjured images of red and white checkered tablecloths, carafes of middling chianti, and a red sauce-heavy menu with classics like chicken Parmigiana that were more Italian-American than authentic Italian. Then something interesting happened: people got bored, and a new breed of Italian restaurant came onto the scene, able to rival even the highest-end French dining rooms. From a neighborhood trattoria in Brooklyn to a high-end restaurant in San Francisco with a tasting menu focused on the bounty of Northern California, we rounded up the 20 best Italian restaurants in America.

 Italian jewelry and watch maker Morellato Group is not for sale and hopes to add other domestic brands to its portfolio, chief executive Massimo Carraro said. The global financial crisis, which sapped consumer demand for luxury goods and dried up finance, has turned many Italian jewelers into targets or put some out of business altogether. 

 The goalkeeper will equal Fabio Cannavaro's appearance record for Italy on Tuesday night but there was a time when he did not want to get out of his car at the training ground.

 Italy can seal World Cup 2014 qualification when it takes on the Czech Republic on Tuesday, providing the team at least matches Bulgaria's result against Malta.Cesare Prandelli's side put itself on the verge of qualification with a 1-0 win over Bulgaria in Palermo on Friday and could become the first European nation to book a ticket to Brazil on Tuesday.Alberto Gilardino's goal moved the team seven points clear at the top of Group B and Italy will fancy its chances of adding to its 13 goals this qualification campaign against a Czech side that shipped two goals against Armenia.

 There is a striking scene in "The Great Beauty," Paolo Sorrentino’s luscious new film, in which Jep Gambardella, a perpetually amused, impeccably tailored blocked novelist, looks down on the hulking body of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which has been lodged off the Tuscan coast since its captain all but sank it there nearly two years ago.

 The use of chemical weapons in Syria is a "tragic mistake" but Italy will only participate in military action with the approval of the United Nations Security Council, according to the country's finance minister.