ROME- Football is deeply embedded in Italian culture- it is one of those things that demands loyalty that is handed down generations. It is a stream that if disrupted can tear apart families.

ROME- Romans are a lot like New Yorkers: they are thick-skinned to outsiders and seemingly unaffected by the qualms of visitors.

ROME- A reading by Simon West climaxed his six-month Roman ‘writer-in-residence’ term, giving insight into Australian identity and transforming borderline-philistines into avid poetry junkies.

ROME- The Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, will visit Finland on early August on the invitation of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, who met him in Rome last April.

ROME-The last stage of the Chamber of Commerce project that shows Rome and the Lazio region to the Americas was held recently in Toronto. 

ROME- If I am lucky I can park my car in Paradise – piazza del Paradiso, so named for a mediæval inn known for its gastronomic delights.

ROME-“I come to entertain.” These are the words of Zdeněk Zeman, the idiosyncratic Czech coach who will return to the AS Roma bench after 13 years away.

ROME- The Rome International school (RIS) earned an astounding 33,835 euro for the school's reconstruction project in Haiti at their third annual Gala dinner last month.

ROME-The dazzling Diamond Jubilee birthday party of Queen Elizabeth II held in Villa Wolkonski was an outstanding effort by British Ambassador, Christopher Prentice and his talented staff.

ROME- A dramatic turning point took place in the Rebibbia courtroom bunker during the third hearing of the trial against the alleged Somali pirates last week.

ROME- Professor, scholar and former Lemonhead guitarist Corey Brennan gave an animated, extensive farewell lecture at the American University of Rome the other day.

ROME - Two days to celebrate the genius of John Cage (1912-1992) in Rome are scheduled this week. The American composer, music theorist, and artist will be remembered in the garden of the Accademia

ROME - A national strike organized by independent unions to protest austerity measures hit both public and private transportation across Italy Friday.

 ROME- The Accademia Tedesca hosted their Festa dell’Estate or summer festival in the enchanting Villa Massimo property last week.

ROME– The capital’s Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, has called for a sponsor to save the Trevi Fountain after a piece of its decorative cornicing came loose over the weekend.

ROME-- The Gagosian Gallery has presented an exhibition of sensational large-scale drawings by contemporary German artist Albert Oehlen.

ROME-- City mayor Giorgio Alemanno has come under fire for allowing a group accused of Fascist nostalgia to hire a room in the prestigious Capitoline Museum.

 ROME-- A "summit" was being held Monday to tackle Rome’s mushrooming refuse crisis, as residents of proposed landfill sites again made their displeasure heard.

 ROME-- The owner of a restaurant next to the Trevi Fountain has accused city council officials of conning him out of a 26,000 euro bribe for favourable treatment which was not then forthcoming.

 ROME-- A notorious Roman loan shark known as Lady Casamonica has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison.

ROME– Rome International School hopes to raise more than 30,000 euros for recovering Haiti in this year’s gala dinner.

ROME– Woody Allen’s latest film, To Rome with Love, has been denounced by Italian critics who deplore the portrayal of a tourist’s rich and sunny capital, ignoring the reality of a city in the clut

ROME-- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was rumbled by his own creation when social networkers posted seeing him on his honeymoon in Rome this week.