Today in Italy: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
The death of a pizzeria owner, a forecast of snow and storms, Russell Crowe at Sanremo, and more news from around Italy on Tuesday.
Italy’s top story on Tuesday:
News headlines were dominated on Tuesday by the story of a pizzeria owner who committed suicide this weekend following a social media controversy.
Italian police were investigating the death of Giovanna Pedretti, a 59-year-old woman whose body was found on the banks of the River Lambro in Lodi, northern Italy, on Sunday.
She had made headlines in Italy in previous days over her response to a now-deleted online review of her pizzeria, Le Vignole, in which a customer complained about having to sit next to gay people and a disabled boy.
"In the face of such human baseness and bad taste...I think our establishment is not for you. We do not select our customers based on sexual orientation, much less disability," her reply read.
Police were attempting to verify the review after speculation, including from a celebrity chef, that it may have been faked for publicity, with social media users noting that the fonts in her screenshot appeared different to those in other Google reviews.
Pedretti's daughter accused journalists of "hounding" her over the story and blamed the media for her mother's death.
Russell Crowe to perform at Italy's Sanremo music festival
Russell Crowe will make a guest appearance at Sanremo, Italy's most famous song competition and music festival, the event's organisers have announced.
The Hollywood star was expected to perform on February 8th after wrapping up a film shoot in Australia two days before, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
"He will come to play... you know he's much loved around the world for blues music," said TV presenter and longtime Sanremo artistic director Amadeus in his announcement on the TV show Viva Rai2!.
In a video shown on the same programme, Crowe greets Amadeus and co-host Rosario Fiorello in fairly fluent Italian, saying that he is "delighted" by the invite and can't wait to come.
The Gladiator actor has "blood ties" to Italy, he said in the clip, having recently discovered he has Italian ancestors hailing from Ascoli Piceno and Parma.
"On my command, unleash hell!" Crowe said, repeating his iconic line from the Oscar-winning movie.
Storms and snow forecast this week
A spell of turbulent weather was due to hit Italy later this week with up to three separate meteorological "disturbances" forecast.
Cold air coming in from the Atlantic colliding with warm subtropical currents from the Canary islands will create unstable atmospheric conditions, leading to rain, storms and even snow, meteorologists said.
Rain was forecast for the north of the country and the western Tyrrhenian coastline on Wednesday and Thursday, with Liguria and northern Tuscany anticipated to be particularly hard-hit by thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
Snow was expected in parts of northern Italy, including in the Alps and pre-Alpine areas of Lombardy and the northeasten Triveneto area, at altitudes as low as 200-300m on Wednesday, weather site Ilmeteo reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, temperates in the centre and south will increase, with Sicily set to experience highs of 24-25C; before Arctic winds sweep across the country on Friday causing temperatures to drop by several degrees.
Comments
See Also
Italy’s top story on Tuesday:
News headlines were dominated on Tuesday by the story of a pizzeria owner who committed suicide this weekend following a social media controversy.
Italian police were investigating the death of Giovanna Pedretti, a 59-year-old woman whose body was found on the banks of the River Lambro in Lodi, northern Italy, on Sunday.
She had made headlines in Italy in previous days over her response to a now-deleted online review of her pizzeria, Le Vignole, in which a customer complained about having to sit next to gay people and a disabled boy.
"In the face of such human baseness and bad taste...I think our establishment is not for you. We do not select our customers based on sexual orientation, much less disability," her reply read.
Police were attempting to verify the review after speculation, including from a celebrity chef, that it may have been faked for publicity, with social media users noting that the fonts in her screenshot appeared different to those in other Google reviews.
Pedretti's daughter accused journalists of "hounding" her over the story and blamed the media for her mother's death.
Russell Crowe to perform at Italy's Sanremo music festival
Russell Crowe will make a guest appearance at Sanremo, Italy's most famous song competition and music festival, the event's organisers have announced.
The Hollywood star was expected to perform on February 8th after wrapping up a film shoot in Australia two days before, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
"He will come to play... you know he's much loved around the world for blues music," said TV presenter and longtime Sanremo artistic director Amadeus in his announcement on the TV show Viva Rai2!.
In a video shown on the same programme, Crowe greets Amadeus and co-host Rosario Fiorello in fairly fluent Italian, saying that he is "delighted" by the invite and can't wait to come.
The Gladiator actor has "blood ties" to Italy, he said in the clip, having recently discovered he has Italian ancestors hailing from Ascoli Piceno and Parma.
"On my command, unleash hell!" Crowe said, repeating his iconic line from the Oscar-winning movie.
Storms and snow forecast this week
A spell of turbulent weather was due to hit Italy later this week with up to three separate meteorological "disturbances" forecast.
Cold air coming in from the Atlantic colliding with warm subtropical currents from the Canary islands will create unstable atmospheric conditions, leading to rain, storms and even snow, meteorologists said.
Rain was forecast for the north of the country and the western Tyrrhenian coastline on Wednesday and Thursday, with Liguria and northern Tuscany anticipated to be particularly hard-hit by thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
Snow was expected in parts of northern Italy, including in the Alps and pre-Alpine areas of Lombardy and the northeasten Triveneto area, at altitudes as low as 200-300m on Wednesday, weather site Ilmeteo reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, temperates in the centre and south will increase, with Sicily set to experience highs of 24-25C; before Arctic winds sweep across the country on Friday causing temperatures to drop by several degrees.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.