Italy

NEW YORK - Carnival Cruise Lines prices have taken a dip this spring, according to pricing data, and some industry observers blame headlines about problems on several Carnival ships. Todd Elliott, owner of Cruise Vacation Outlet, said his agents had seen a drop in price of 20 percent or more for equivalent cruises. "Rates are far lower than I have seen in a while; for example, the Carnival Dream, seven nights, Eastern Caribbean out of Port Canaveral, May 4 is $299 per person," he said.

Penn's Landing was turned into a piece of Italy yesterday in celebration of the National Day of the Republic of Italy. The event, which began in the afternoon and stretched into the evening, featured music from opera to folk tunes, as well as dancing, theater and Italian food.

Switzerland has expanded at Italy's expense because of melting glaciers in the high Alps. The Swiss government yesterday approved shifting the border up to 164 yards into Italian territory in some areas. The Italian Embassy in Bern said the change already had been approved by Rome. The changes were made after the Swiss Federal Office of Topography found that the watershed which determined the border in 1942 had moved because of melting glaciers and snowfields. Topographer Daniel Gutknecht said Switzerland had become "a little bit" larger but added, "We won't be correcting the atlas.

Stefania Belmondo of Italy won the gold medal in the women's 30-kilomter freestyle cross-country race at the Winter Olympics today. Lyubov Egorova of the Unified Team took the silver medal, while Elena Valbe, also of the Unified Team, took the bronze. Belmondo won the gold in a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes, 30.1 seconds. Egorova was 21.9 seconds behind the Italian. In bobsledding, Wolfgang Hoppe overcame a nagging injury and piloted Germany to the first-day lead today in the four-man competition.

ROME - With markets tumbling around the globe, Italy's president promised emphatically yesterday that Silvio Berlusconi will step down soon as premier and lavished honors on a leading economist who instantly became Berlusconi's presumed successor. Across the Ionian Sea, the debt crisis in Greece deepened with the breakdown of talks aimed at creating a power-sharing government to prevent the country from slipping into bankruptcy. The collapse came just minutes after the prime minister delivered a farewell speech to the nation.

Italy yesterday mourned cyclist Marco Pantani as a tragic "lost hero" one day after he was found dead in a hotel room in the Adriatic resort city of Rimini. Pantani, 34, is the last cyclist other than Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France. While several bottles of medicine and tranquilizers were found in the room, prosecutors ruled out suicide pending an autopsy scheduled for today. The coroner who examined Pantani initially said cardiac arrest was the probable cause, news reports said.

The Boston Celtics announced yesterday that guard Brian Shaw, who left the team to play in Italy after an excellent rookie season last year, had agreed to a multiyear contract that would bring him back to Boston next season. Shaw, 24, whose contract with Il Messagerro Roma in Italy is valued at about $1 million, leads the team with 25.1 points and 9.4 assists a game. "Playing in Italy this past year has been an interesting and educational experience, but playing in the NBA is the dream of every basketball player," Shaw, the Celtics' top draft pick in 1988, said in a statement.

It was a brilliant winter day, crisp and clear and not too cold. The sun glinted on snow-capped mountains far in the distance and gave a golden tinge to the earthy browns and russets of the forested hills closer at hand as I drove along the satisfying curves of a country road in southern Umbria. The air was so clear that it seemed to magnify everything in sight and every so often, it would carry the scent of wood smoke from a farmhouse hearth. Suddenly, I rounded a bend and slammed on the brakes so that I could take in an eerie panorama.

According to German captain Michael Ballack, his national team's chances in a World Cup semifinal match against Italy at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, today are, well, nonexistent. "We really stand no chance," he said yesterday. "They beat us clearly and dominated us. " Ballack was being facetious. But the fact is, whether wearing the national colors in a friendly in March or playing as Bayern Munich against AC Milan in a recent Champions League game, the Germans were short of answers in identical 4-1 losses to Italy.

ROME - Economist Mario Monti accepted the monumental task yesterday of trying to form a new government that can rescue Italy from financial ruin, expressing confidence that the nation can beat the crisis if its people pull together. His selection came a day after Silvio Berlusconi reluctantly resigned as premier, bowing out after world markets pummeled Italy's borrowing ability, reflecting a loss of faith in the 75-year-old media mogul's leadership. Berlusconi quit after the Italian parliament approved new reform measures demanded by the European Union and central bank officials - but even those are not considered enough to right Italy's ailing economy.

ROME - Giulio Andreotti personified the nation he helped shape, the good and the bad. One of Italy's most important postwar figures, he helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, served seven times as premier, and spent 60 years in Parliament. But the Christian Democrat who was friends with popes and cardinals was also a controversial figure who survived corruption scandals and allegations of aiding the Mafia: Mr. Andreotti was accused of exchanging a "kiss of honor" with the mob's longtime No. 1 boss and was indicted in what was called "the trial of the century" in Palermo.

ROME - In the very moments as Italy's new coalition government was being sworn in, ending months of political paralysis in a country hoping to revive a bleak economy, a middle-aged unemployed bricklayer opened fire Sunday in the square outside the premier's office, seriously wounding two policemen, authorities said. The alleged gunman from Calabria, a southern region plagued by joblessness and organized crime, told investigators he wanted to shoot politicians. But finding none in the square, he shot at Carabinieri paramilitary police.

ROME - Center-left leader Enrico Letta forged a new Italian government Saturday in a coalition with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservatives, an unusual alliance of bitter rivals that broke a two-month political stalemate from inconclusive elections in the recession-mired country. The daunting achievement was pulled off by Letta, who will be sworn in as prime minister along with the cabinet Sunday. Letta, 46, is a moderate with a reputation as a political bridge-builder.

ROME - Italy's polarized Parliament failed in a second day of balloting Friday to elect a president, as the high-profile candidacy of ex-Premier Romano Prodi fell far short of the votes needed. The rebuff deepened the political paralysis gripping the eurozone's third-largest economy. Prodi, the only politician to defeat media mogul Silvio Berlusconi for the premier's office, was the center-left's latest choice to be Italy's next head of state, replacing President Giorgio Napolitano, whose seven-year term expires next month.

ADAM STROUSS (Episcopal Academy) ran 6 yards for a touchdown and passed 3-for-7 for 35 yards as Team Stars & Stripes crushed the Italian Under-19 National Team, 67-7, Saturday in Torino, Italy. Also, Germantown Academy's Matt Levy caught a TD pass. Defensive back Matt Rushton (Episcopal) and linemen Matt McLaughlin, Jack Florio (both Episcopal), Mark Opaliski (Penn Charter) and Vince LoStracco (Father Judge) were also on the U.S. squad, and former Episcopal coach Bill Gallagher was an assistant.

NEW YORK - Investors just can't get past Europe. Renewed worries about the long-running debt crisis weighed on the Dow Jones industrial average Wednesday and held the Standard & Poor's 500 index back from reaching an all-time high. Investors are watching to see whether Cyprus can shore up its banking system. They are also keeping an eye on Italy, where political parties are struggling to form a new government in the eurozone's third-largest economy. The Dow fell 33.49 points to close at 14,526.16, a loss of 0.2 percent.

Mayor Nutter will spend the next five days in Florence, Italy, comparing notes on the creative economy with a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and an organization of Italian counterparts. The full tab for airfare, lodging and meals will be picked up by the Conference of Mayors at no cost to city taxpayers, said Mark McDonald, the mayor's press secretary. At 10 a.m. Thursday in Florence (5 a.m. Philadelphia time), Nutter will join a panel discussion on culture and sports as contributors to economic development.

Ordinarily, we at Touch 'Em All stay away from novelty sports like the World Baseball Classic, but when the Romans win their second game in a row - on a mercy ruling, no less - we have to write something. Italy routed Canada, 14-4, Friday in Phoenix to improve to 2-0 in group play. The game was called after Italy scored five times in the eighth to make it a 10-run game. Italy takes on Team USA on Saturday. The Italians are the reigning European champion, so it's hard to malign their victory - even if they did began as a 100-1 choice to win it all. By the way, Italy's only other win in the classic came in 2009 . . . against Canada.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run double off San Francisco Giants closer Sergio Romo in the ninth inning and Jason Grilli escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half to help Italy rally to beat Mexico, 6-5, in the opening game of Pool D in the World Baseball Classic on Thursday. Romo (0-1) entered to a loud ovation from the Mexican fans, but gave up three hits, the last a fly ball by Rizzo to the warning track in left that Mexican outfielder Edgar Gonzalez couldn't handle in the sunlight at Salt River Fields.

LONDON - Italy's voters gave their verdict on the austerity medicine they've been forced to take when they went to the polls this week. By Friday, one of the reasons behind the protest was highlighted when the country's unemployment rate hit its highest level in at least two decades. Official figures Friday showed that unemployment in the country in January rose to 11.7 percent from the previous month's 11.3 percent. January's figure was the highest since the current way of measuring unemployment was introduced in 1992.