Italy

Stefano delle Chiaie, arch neo-Fascist terrorist and one-time protege of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, is back in Rome after 17 years on the run. The unexpected (and, in some quarters, most unwelcome) return of this 49- year-old fugitive could produce the most sensational trial in Italy's postwar history. If delle Chiaie lives that long. The founder of Italy's extreme rightwing Avanguardia Nazionale, or National Vanguard movement, delle Chiaie was deported from Venezuela Tuesday, after finally being nabbed in Caracas.

HE IS: Alfredo Mingrino. HE DOES: Customized carpentry. HE SUCCEEDS: By living his dreams. In a move he considers one of the best of his life, Alfredo Mingrino, 55, immigrated to Philadelphia from Italy nearly 30 years ago. He says he came to the United States to pursue the "American dream. " His son, Joe, comments that his father "also wanted to come because my Mom was here. " Mingrino smiles in acknowledgment. Sticking strictly to business, Mingrino says: "I couldn't make a good living in Sicily.

Scottie Reynolds liked his accommodations in Italy. He liked Prima Veroli, his team in the country's second division. He liked a lot of things about where he was. But he didn't need much time to realize his heart just wasn't in it. That is why the former Villanova star guard packed his bags and headed for home Oct. 26. Whether the NBA might have a lockout next season suddenly seemed immaterial. He wanted, one more time, to see whether he could play his way into the league. Reynolds turned up as the No. 13 overall pick in the NBA Developmental League, taken by the Tulsa 66ers yesterday, then promptly traded for a first-round draft choice to the Springfield (Mass.

Kim Glass used to think she was a basketball player. "I still love it and adore it," Glass said last night. "It's my favorite sport, still. " Maybe Glass didn't find volleyball. Maybe the sport found her. "It just started taking off - volleyball did," Glass said. It took her from high school in Lancaster to the high-powered Synergy volleyball club team in Bryn Mawr to heights she couldn't have imagined, toeing an Olympic ring on the floor as she served. As the U.S. volleyball team rallied against Italy, the youngest player on the team never left the floor.

For the first time in history, in the last quarter, according to preliminary estimates, Italy surpassed its immediate rival, France, in gross national product, to become the fourth largest economy in the world. Having passed the United Kingdom several years back, and steadily widened its lead, it is now the second largest economy in Europe, outstripped only by the juggernaut, Germany. To those who have followed Italy's steady rise, this news is not remarkable. What is surprising, however, is that the development has received little attention in the general press.

There's nothing like your birthday to take you back to your beginnings, so it made sense that I spent mine in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. The town is 2,000 years old, and being there made me feel like an infant, as I was turning a mere 55. For my next birthday, I'm going to Stonehenge. Then the more I travel, the younger I'll get. Ascoli Piceno was the hometown of my grandparents on my father's side, Mary and Antonio Scottoline, before they emigrated to America. My father and brother had been there once, but I never had, which is something I'll explain later.

The pain in her knee was so searing that Justine Henin-Hardenne knew there was only one thing to do - stop - even though the Fed Cup crown was on the line in the deciding doubles match. "I could not stay on court for another point," said the Belgian star. "It was like a ball blasted me at the back of the knee. " Francesca Schiavone and Roberta Vinci beat Henin-Hardenne and Kirsten Flipkens, 3-6, 6-2, 2-0, giving Italy a 3-2 victory over Belgium in Charleroi, Belgium. It was Italy's first title in the top team event in women's tennis.

As he said it, he was grinning, playing for laughs like the cruise-ship crooner he once was. But members of the European Parliament weren't laughing. They found nothing funny about likening an elected German lawmaker to a concentration-camp Nazi, as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi learned this week when he did just that on his second day as president of the European Union. By yesterday, the story was leading Europe's newscasts as condemnations rang out from all corners of the continent.

My journey of rediscovery to Italy, my grandparents' native land, occurred in May 2000, 32 years after my initial visit. Life in between had been consumed with commitment - to marriage and work and the raising of twins - but all through those years, I knew I would go back. Like the siren song of old that lured sailors, the call summoned me. The 2000 trip was a two-week adventure packed with every tourist's must-sees. And this time, I had a husband along with me to share the beauty and to indulge in the delights of great food and wine.

For years a wayward spendthrift, Italy is on the road to reform and is quite giddy about its prospects of joining a new Europe. From Fiat factories to fashion runways, everyone's talking "the euro. " "The most important benefit of the euro will be economic stabilization," said Sen. Antonio Enrico Morando. "We are a country where the economy has always been turbulent. We've had 55 governments since World War II. We've always had a gigantic public debt. The euro will force stability, and for Italians, that is like a dream.