Naples, April 20 - NTV, a new high-speed rail company poised to break the Italian FS state railway monopoly had its inaugural voyage on Friday, departing from the southern Italian town of Naples for Milan. The open-access, high-speed rail operator is headed by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, also the chairman of iconic carmakers Ferrari, and is set to start services for the public April 28.

Roberto Cavalli is known for making outlandish comments, but this time he may have taken his words too far by attacking the one woman in fashion you don't want to insult: Anna Wintour.

ROME—Thousands of demonstrators have marched peacefully in Rome to protest the government's intention to make it easier for companies to fire employees. CGIL labor confederation leader Susanna Camusso told a rally on Friday that she will call a general strike if Premier Mario Monti's government doesn't back down.

MILAN -- Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is making a rare appearance at his trial in Milan on charges he paid for sex with an underage prostitute and then used his office to try to cover it up.The media mogul made no remarks to reporters as he entered the courthouse Friday. He has denied all wrongdoing.  

Dinner at Cantina del Picchio, a charming restaurant in Offida, a medieval town in le Marche began with an aperitif of the local wine, a sparkling Pecorino by Ciu Ciu wineries and the local delicacy— olives Ascolane, succulent olives filled with a mix of cooked pork, beef and chicken and then lightly fried. These stuffed olives are so good, in fact, that in 2006 it officially became a protected DOP product.

Little Italy — or Littler Italy, as certain wits have called it — has lost a good deal of its square footage and authentic flavor over the years. Caught between an encroaching Chinatown and a growing SoHo fashion trade, its pork stores and red-sauce joints have been left to huddle largely on its main drag, Mulberry Street. The 2010 census failed to find a single neighborhood resident — not one — who was actually born in Italy.

Antonio Manfredi plans to torch a photograph entitled "The great circus of Humanity" by Filippos Tsitsopoulus, on Thursday. He has already destroyed two paintings and has selected three more works from the museum's collection of 1,000 for next week. The 50-year-old Manfredi is a full-time artist who has been director of the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum for seven years.

Rome, April 18 - Premier Mario Monti said on Wednesday that recession-hit Italy would be "close" to hitting its target of balancing the budget next year.
Media reports had said on Tuesday that the government intended to delay by a year its plan to balance the budget because of the country's low growth prospects in the short term.