Italy

If all goes according to plan, a starkly modern, $30 million Holocaust museum will soon rise on the site of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s Rome residence.

Having spent time in Taranto, Italy, I am a member of a very small club. Whenever I mention I was writing about Taranto — even when I take care to emphasize the first syllable — people immediately confuse it with the better-known (and more-visited) Canadian burg.

There isn’t much information online about Taranto, an Italian naval base that sits at the northwest entrance of the Apulian peninsula. What little press Taranto does get is usually negative: corruption, pollution, the usual Southern Italian scourges.

ROME (JTA) -- Italy will never recognize a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

Berlusconi at a celebration of Israel's 63rd birthday praised the Jewish state as the only democracy in the Middle East. He was the guest of honor Wednesday at an Israeli Independence Day reception hosted by Israeli Ambassador Gideon Meir.

"No, absolutely not," he was quoted as telling reporters when asked whether Italy would recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state.

Rome (JTA) — The official Vatican newspaper slammed Italy’s prime minister for a joke that played on Jewish stereotypes and made fun of the Holocaust.
Silvio Berlusconi told “offensive” and “deplorable” jokes, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said in an editorial published Sunday
Berlusconi was filmed telling the “Jewish joke” to well-wishers Oct. 2; the video clip was posted online by the anti-Berlusconi newspaper La Repubblica.

 It’s August, and just like every year, a good third of the travelers I know are doing the classic Italy triangle: Venice, Florence and Rome.

They have plenty of company, recession notwithstanding. Italy’s three most popular cities are all singularly stunning, brimming with unrivaled art and culture — in short, this itinerary is popular for good reason.