Christmas season in Italy is traditionally celebrated December 24-January 6, or Christmas Eve through Epiphany. This follows the pagan season of celebrations that started with Saturnalia, a winter solstice festival, and ended with the Roman New Year, the Calends. However there are lots of Christmas things to see during December prior to Christmas, many starting on December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.

While the economy is still flagging this Christmas season, they’re rolling in dough over at the Piro household — pasta dough, that is. “I start making pasta a few days before and freeze it, so it is ready to serve on Christmas Eve,” said Immacolata (De Caro) Piro, matron of one of the few Italian-American clans left in Westerly who still celebrate Christmas Eve the old fashioned way: with a full, seven-course fish dinner known as The Feast of the Seven Fishes, or “La Vigilia” (The Vigil). 

Italians will feast on 2.5 billion euros worth of food and drink for the combined meals of Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas lunch, according to figures released Monday by Coldiretti and SWG, a food business association and a polling company, respectively. The figure represents a 10% increase over last year. 

Vatican City - Benedict XVI kicked off his eighth Christmas since being elected pope by unveiling the Nativity scene in Saint Peter's Square on Christmas Eve. The German pontiff turned on the 'light of peace' on this year's creche from the window of his apartment in the Vatican shortly after it was uncovered to the public for the first time on Monday afternoon.

The Italian economy is set to pull out of recession in the second half of next year, but the real challenge is to ensure it enjoys solid, sustained growth, the Bank of Italy said on Friday. Italy has suffered from sluggish economic growth for a decade and last year it slipped into its second recession since the global financial crisis started in 2008. 

A Milan appeals court on Friday acquitted three Google managers convicted of privacy violation due to a video showing a handicapped student insulted and harassed by schoolmates. The case made international headlines when the managers were handed a six-month prison sentence in February 2010.
 

Gremlins hit the Rome metro twice on Friday, forcing the second evacuation in eight days.
First vandals broke an emergency switch at Termini station, causing long delays on the B line, and then a technical fault caused the evacuation of the Tiburtina station on the same line. 

Italian Premier Mario Monti will outline his "road map" for Italy on Sunday, but he will not say whether he intends to stand at upcoming elections until some days later, according to ANSA sources.