May 29th - June 4th

Atlanta, June 3rd (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Health) – Italy is one of the protagonists of ASCO, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Congress and the most important world congress in the sector, being held in Atlanta, Georgia. A totally “made in Italy” study is being presented for the first time. This study has obtained a 30% survival rate in breast cancer patients who were at a high risk of relapse following surgery.

Perugia, June 3rd (Adnkronos) – Three days are being dedicated to olive oil in Umbria with the participation of 200 Italian and foreign brands for visitors to taste. This is a true journey into the flavours and aromas of the best extra virgin olive oils produced in the world with Italy and Umbria heading the classification as the recognized leaders of the international olive oil scenario. Visitors can taste other olive oils coming from 15 countries besides Italy: France, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

Palermo, June 3rd (Adnkronos) – Eggplants also have their gold medal with an original food event today in Palermo dedicated to one of the food symbols of the Trinacria area, the eggplant. The Italian Cuisine Academy organized the “Eggplant Olympics” today in Palermo at the Genoardo Park Hotel to pay tribute to one of the typical and tastiest products of Sicily and the entire Mediterranean region.

Rome, June 3rd (Adnkronos) – Young wine enthusiasts were the protagonists of the 2006 edition of “Cantine Aperte” (Open Wine Cellars). This initiative, a symbol of Made in Italy which exhibited more than 800,000 Italian wine cellars during the last Sunday of May with tasting events for all wine lovers, successfully concluded registering an enormous participation of wine fans and the evolution of taste and the important role reached by the wine territories.

Rome, June 3rd (Adnkronos)- “Finnlady”, the ferryboat commissioned by the Finnish Group, Finnlines, one of the main European ship owning Groups, was launched today at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia. Finnlines operates in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area and besides traditional shipping activities (through a fleet of 70 ships); it also offers port services (terminal management, cargo and other). Antti Lagerroos, the president and MD of Finnlines and Giuseppe Bono, the Fincantieri MD, were among those present at the launching ceremony.

Bolzano, June 1st (Adnkronos) – During his stay in Vienna for a Forum on traffic, the president of the Province, Luis Durnwalder met with the Austrian Minister of Agriculture, Josef Proll to discuss the issue of the imminent reorganization of the wine market. The EU is pushing the liberalization of the market and with regards to the procedures defining the quality of the product; this would mean penalizing the origin of the grapes and instead promoting where the wine is produced so opening up the way towards the import of grapes from countries outside of the EU.

Macerata, June 1st (Adnkronos/Adnkronos Culture) – 150 products of the Marches Regional wine and food traditions, with all of their diversities due to history and productive volumes, are the protagonists of a book titled “The Traditional Products of the Marches Region”, realized by the Regional Agriculture, Food and Fishing councillorship and presented this afternoon at the Villa Potenza Fair Centre in Macerata during the inauguration of the 20th edition of the Central Italy-Raci 2006 Farm Fair.

Rome, June 1st (Adnkronos) – The conference “From the EC Regulation N. 2081/92 to the EC Regulation N. 510/06: Considerations on Development Opportunities” will analyze in-depth the evolution of the regulations relative to the geographical indication sector. The conference is organized by Buonitalia SpA and AICIG, the Italian Geographical Indication Consortium Association, in collaboration with the Agriculture, Food and Forestry Ministry and it is scheduled for June 5th at 10:30 am at the Unioncamere Office in Piazza Sallustio No. 21 in Rome.

Rome, June 1st (Adnkronos) – The Dante Alighieri Society, the most important Italian institution in the field of the promotion and diffusion of the Italian language and culture, is opening up its 400 Committees all over the world, from New Zealand to Sweden, from Switzerland to the USA and all of the southern area of the American continent, for the 60th Anniversary of the Italian Republic. The people all over the world can so celebrate Italy through conferences, exhibits, concerts and literary readings.

Rome, June 1st (Adnkronos) – Following a downbeat 2005, the export of Italian farm food products to France demonstrates a recovery. Exports registered +8/38% in the first two months of 2006 and the +9% increase in agriculture products was especially positive. Wine exports increased 8% and oil exports were at +15%. “L’Italie a’ Table”, an expo- market organized in Nice by the Italian Chamber of Commerce of this French city, will be dedicated to the state of the arts products of Italian cuisine. The event starts today and lasts until June 4th and it is sponsored by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, the Productive Activities Ministry and with the collaboration of the CNA Alimentare.

Rome, June 1st (Adnkronos) – The magnificent Marble Palace of Saint Petersburg and the Bosco Café at the GUM Gallery in Moscow were the background of the workshops organized by the Italian Quality – Great Brands Wines Institute on May 23rd and 24th. The workshops were in the ambit of a promotional tour to important international cities held in prestigious locations. A warm reception was given by the many people present who accepted this invitation by the 18 great Italian wine brands which are touring the world together.

Macerata, June 1st (Adnkronos) - Maurizio Ciaschini, Dean of the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the University of Macerata, is the newly appointed three-year president of the International Vineyard Data Qualification Society, a scientific association studying vineyards with headquarters in Paris. VDQS was constituted to promote the development and economic research in the wine sector and it elected its new president unanimously during its 13th Annual Conference held in Bordeaux (France) at the ENITA (Ecole Nationale d'Inge'nieurs des Travaux Agricoles) University on May 26th and 27th.

Milan, June 1st (Adnkronos) – The Socotherm Espana production plant was inaugurated yesterday in Spain. Socotherm is listed in the Italian Stock Exchange and it invested €10M in this new subsidiary which will produce protective covering for oil, gas and water extraction and transportation pipes.

Arezzo, June 1st (Adnkronos) – The Arezzo Wine Route arrives all the way to South America as the Association together with the Province and Chamber of Commerce of Arezzo is participating in a wine sector promotional and trade initiative hosted at the Italian Embassy in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Arezzo wines will be presented at the Embassy tomorrow, Friday, June 2nd, on the day of the Italian Republic Day.

Rome, June 1st (Adnkronos) - Consip is among the five finalists of the Computerworld Honors Program, the prestigious American award, a sort of Oscar for the most innovative computer projects which are the most beneficial for society. Consip together with the General State Accounting Office is competing in the “Government Non-Profit Organizations” category with the Point RGS Project, a system monitoring the trend of public finance indicators.

Florence, May 31st (Adnkronos) – Following the article published last Saturday by the Times, a large number of English people have accessed the online version of Florence TV to see the English language version of a video showing a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci hidden under the painting of “The Adoration of the Three Kings”. Following the news appearing in the London newspaper which clearly mentioned the WebTv site of the Province of Florence, Florence TV doubled the number of visitors. Interest for the results of diagnostic tests on Leonardo’s work carried out by a team of experts led by Maurizio Seracini are on the increase also outside of Italy.

Rome, May 31st (Adnkronos) – Italy-China cooperation in the field of research fundamental for space activities has been strengthened and this strictly scientific collaboration could transform into a locomotive for Italy’s aerospace enterprises and technologies sectors on the Chinese market. Joint projects in the field of astroparticle physics, antimatter and obscure matter studies on board the International Space Station and the development of new space monitoring techniques relative to phenomena predicting the arrival of earthquakes are among the sectors in which Italian and Chinese researchers are strengthening their common scientific activities.

Todi, May 31st (Adnkronos) – The 5th edition of “Typical POD Art”, the event promoted by Coldiretti Umbria in the ambit of the project “Friendly Farms” dedicated to typical productions, farm food excellence and artistic handicrafts, begins tomorrow in the historic centre of Todi, in the Province of Perugia. Various regional and national authorities are going to be at the inauguration and using the slogan “Quality of Life and Clean Energy from Agriculture” they will start off the many venues of this four-day event.

Rome, May 30th (Adnkronos) – Italian – Argentinean collaboration in the space field has been strengthened following the visit in this South American county by the president of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Sergio Vetrella, and the undersigning of an important MoU at the San Martin Residence in Buenos Aires. Under the agreement, ASI, CONAE (Argentinean Space Agency) and the University of Cordoba are partners in the development of applicatory models and products which could serve all of the Latin American countries besides the international organizations and ONG committed in sustainable development projects.

Turin, May 30th (Adnkronos)- The new Iveco Daily, the new industrial transportation commercial vehicle of the Fiat Group, has already registered 5,000 sales orders all over Europe even before its official launching on the respective markets. The new Daily, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, was presented to the international press during an event in Turin on May 10th.

Rome, May 30th (Adnkronos) - Fimit Sgr has started up its international investments program by buying out a prestigious real estate complex mainly made up of office buildings in the German city of Cologne from a Blackstone Group subsidiary on behalf of Fondo Gamma. This was announced by the Company underlining that the real estate complex includes three buildings for a total surface area of about 40,000 m² and it is situated in the “banking district” of Cologne, the fourth most important German city and one of the most steady real estate markets in Europe.

Florence, May 30th (Adnkronos) – The objective of regional funding that will be assigned in the following months thanks to a public tender published in the following Official Bulletin of the Tuscany Region in favour of the Mountain Communities, is to improve the network of DOC restaurants belonging to “Vetrina Toscana a Tavola” and increase the quality of the small food stores and specialized “home-made” food boutiques constituting the fundamental units of the quality food line that goes from production to catering services to distribution to small enterprise.

Lamezia Terme, May 30th (Adnkronos) – Coldiretti Calabria will participate in the 60th anniversary of the Foundation of the Republic held in Brussels on June 3rd. For the first time ever, this Italian holiday will be celebrated in the European capital with the objective of bestowing European recognition on a historical festivity and also bring some of the best expressions of Made in Calabria culture, economy and food traditions to all of the Italians present in the political capital city of the European Union.

Bologna, May 30th (Adnkronos) – Stefano Bollettinari, the Regional Secretary of the Emilia Romagna Chapter of Confesercenti, was nominated president of the Vitrines d’Europe European Federation, an organization with headquarters in Barcelona also founded by Confesercenti. His nomination came during the 6th edition of the “European Urban Commerce Conference” held yesterday in Porto, Portugal. 'Vitrines d'Europe' unites all the commerce associations of the urban centres in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal with the objective of promoting and valorising European small and medium enterprises.

Rome, May 30th (Adnkronos) - Telecom Italia is launching the new “land-mobile” telephone “Unico” all over Europe and it is presenting its new summer offers in Barcelona where it has already collected orders for 2.5 million innovative terminals for a value of approximately €400 million, announced Telecom Italia in a press release.

Lamezia Terme, May 29th (Adnkronos) – Cold meats, cheeses, wines and extra virgin olive oil obtained through the prestigious cultivations of the Province of Reggio Calabria, occupied an important place at the Naxxar fair district, a small town a few kilometres from La Valletta, the capital of Malta, where these products were the stars of special tasting events, announced Coldiretti.

Prato, May 29th (Adnkronos) – Pratotrade, the Prato textile industry promotion consortium, held a various workshops on the Chinese market in the regions of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, the main regions in this Asian giant. The participants of this initiative met with about 50 Chinese clients operating in the high range of the market. Most of the clients were chosen by the China Fashion Association, an agency working with the Consortium for some time now. More in-depth and personal relations were established through this initiative and participants had the opportunity to give a better understanding of the Prato industrial district and its productions.

Florence, May 29th (Adnkronos) - ''The latest figures relative to the trade balance in the stone sector for the year 2005, analyzed by the International Marble and Machinery Association (IMM), show that the sector is still suffering with results lower than expected”, said Ambrogio Brenna, the Tuscany Regional Productive Activities councillor, presenting the International CarraraMarmotec 2006 Trade Fair in Florence. “However – he explained – there are some signs of recovery and these are encouraging because the consumption of stone products is growing in the entire world. It is up to the Tuscany stone sector to take advantage of this development opportunity and wager on the quality of production and added value from the strengthening of the marble sector”.

Bolzano, May 29th (Adnkronos) –The marketing project launched by the Province of Bolzano councillor, Hans Berger, with the support of the EU, concentrates on speck ham and apples, the only two local products with the EU Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) seal. The EU gives a contribution of up to 70% of the recognized costs for the promotion and marketing of EU quality products.. However, in order to receive the contribution, there has to be the joint promotion of at least two PGI products. So, the Province of Bolzano presented a marketing project for quality products, for its speck ham and apples, recently in Rome.

Rome, May 29th (Adnkronos) - AnsaldoBreda, a Finmeccanica company, has won a public tender for the modernization of 27 light subway trains for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority of Buffalo, in the State of New York. The contract is worth $32.8M. This was announced by the Group in a press release in which it underlines that the AnsaldoBreda offer was considered to be the best of four international competitors, in the ambit of a project with the objective of extending the operation of the system of vehicles until 2035. The new trains will be equipped with modern communications and control systems, including electronic passenger count and propulsion check.

Bologna, May 29th (Adnkronos) – “We will begin a debate in Italy, a sort of States General on wine, during which we will begin talks with producers” relative to the risks of unfair competition which could generate in the market if some countries decide to use wood shavings to age wine without transparent labelling. This was announced by the newly appointed Agriculture Minister, Paolo De Castro, speaking in Bologna following the presentation of the 2005 Emilia Romagna Farm Food System Report.

Rome, May 29th (Adnkronos) – The Italian ceramic tile industry registered a downturn in sales and production in 2005. The +4.73% increase in average prices both on the domestic and international markets was annulled by the increase in production costs, above all in energy and transportation expenses. Over 100 million m² were produced in foreign plants belonging to Italian ceramics groups for revenue equalling €698.6M. This information is from the 26th Italian Ceramic Tile Industry National Statistics Report presented today during the Assembly of the Association.

Perugia, May 29th (Adnkronos) – The historic centre of the city of Corciano (Perugia) is hosting four days dedicated to the shapes, flavours and traditions of Italian bread from June 1st to the 4th with various events celebrating the main food on Italian dinner tables.

Florence, May 29th (Adnkronos) – “Tuscany enterprises can aim towards many and various sectors of the Argentinean economy for the internationalization of their productions. The sectors go from the farm food and food industry sectors to new technologies, stone and marble sectors, textiles and machinery, chemical and biomedical products, the naval sector and least but not last the magnificent opportunities offered by the tourism sector”, said Ambrogio Brenna, the Tuscany Regional Productive Activities councillor, speaking at the “Argentina 2006 – Business and Investment Opportunities” Country Presentation, held at the offices of Toscana Promozione in Florence.