Securitymanagement.com. The global recession may have hit Europe hard, but there's still one business that's thriving in these lean economic times: Italy's organized crime syndicates.

Reuters. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (a film by David Fincher film featuring Brad Pitt iand nominated for 13 Oscars) got a little stranger Friday after an attorney representing Adriana Pichini, an Italian office worker, filed legal papers alleging that the screenplay was based on a story she wrote in 1994. Pichini said the film seems to be based on a story she wrote 15 years ago called "Il ritorno di Arthur all'innocenza" (Arthur's Return to Innocence). ... The story was officially registered with the proper Italian copyright authorities in 1994 and even sent to publishers in the U.S., but was never published.

(Read the Article by Eric J. Lyman)

ANSA. Venice. A new 'restaurant for pilgrims' is driving Venice prices down by offering cheap, quality lunches to visitors to St Mark's Basilica. The eatery, which advertises three-course lunches for a tidy 13 euros ($17), has yet to open but has already caused a flutter around the famously pricey square. (Read the article)

ANSA. Sanremo. Reclusive Italian singing legend Mina is to open this year's Sanremo Song Festival with a video tribute to Italian music. ''It won't be a commercial release but a huge tribute to the history of Italian music,'' festival artistic producer and presenter Paolo Bonolis said Monday at a press conference on the February 17-21 event. (Read article)

In "The Journey of the Italians in America," a thick, coffee-table book, Vincenza Scarpaci documents vibrant immigrant communities that flourished in the early 20th century. (Read the Article by Katie Schneider)