THE NEW YORK TIMES. Until it implodes with preposterous plot manipulations, “The Narrows,” directed by François A. Velle, can be appreciated as the film equivalent of a reasonably palatable pasta dish concocted from a familiar recipe and served in a no-frills restaurant. Its eager-beaver protagonist, Mike Manadoro (Kevin Zegers), is an aspiring photographer from an Italian-American enclave in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, and is torn between making good money transporting mysterious packages for the crooked local kingpin (Titus Welliver) and studying his craft in Manhattan. (Read the article)

ANSA. The brutal tribulations of a 3rd-century Egyptian saint, protector of those with toothache, are explored by Andy Warhol and contemporary Italian artist Omar Galliani in a new exhibition here. (Read the article)

ANSA. taly is optimistic that a stalled deal on new helicopters for United States President Barack Obama can be revived, Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said on Thursday. Speaking at the Le Bourget air show, La Russa said Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who met Obama at the White House on Monday, was ''confident'' the contract involving Italo-British manufacturer AgustaWestland would be respected. (Read the article)

ANSA. From 2008 to 2010 the recession will cost some one million jobs, the industrial employers association Confindustria reported on Thursday. This will lift Italy's unemployment rate this year to 8.6% and in 2010 to 9.3%, the highest since 2000, Confindustria added. (Read the article)

ANSA. Andrea Bocelli is to get a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. The pop-classical tenor will make his mark on the famed sidewalk next March along with Ringo Starr, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Russell Crowe, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and James Cameron, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced. (Read the article)