Magazine

THE GUARDIAN. The ­Sopranos is not especially original – stepping into the shoes of two ­classic mafia movies, The Godfather and ­Goodfellas – but its ­radicalism was in the application of this subject-matter to a weekly ­domestic drama. (Read the article)

CBSNEWS. Of his latest challenge — directing a Broadway play — actor Stanley Tucci said, "I don't do this just to have a certain level of fame. I do it because I want a challenge. I want to keep growing." (Read the article)

THE WALL STREET. Violent riots and the evacuation of immigrants from a southern Italian town have prompted a wave of national soul-searching over how Italy should respond to racial tensions stoked by economic malaise. (Read the article)

THE NEW YORK TIMES. Sergio Marchionne, who serves as chief executive of both Chrysler and Fiat, said on Monday that the company had to endure a fallow period before it could refresh its vehicle lineup. (Read the article)

THE NEW YORK TIMES. - Clashes between immigrants and locals in a southern Italian town entered a second day on Friday, with the government rushing extra police to try to stem one of the worst episodes of racial unrest in years. (Read the article)

EW.COM. Scarlett Johansson and Broadway vet Liev Schreiber will take to Broadway’s stage in Arthur Miller’s 1955 play, A View From the Bridge, now playing and opening Jan. 24. In the play, which focuses on a tightly knit Italian-American neighborhood in New York City, Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman from Red Hook, Brooklyn obsessed with his niece, Catherine, played by Johansson. (Read the article)

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Having banned smoking from so-called public spaces (including privately owned restaurants and bars) four years ago, Italy is now considering forbidding drivers to light up their cigarettes in the privacy of their own car. (Read the article)

AFP. Scuffles have broken out between Italian police and hundreds of immigrant workers in the southern city of Rosarno, injuring several people, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. (Read the article)

THE NEW YORK TIMES. Italy and Switzerland have been waging a quiet border war lately, and this picturesque town on the shores of an Alpine lake is caught in the cross-fire. (Read the article)

ANSA. Full body scanners will be installed in three Italian airports for testing by spring, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni announced on Thursday. (Read the article)

ANSA. A Venice heritage association is appealing to French First Lady Carla Bruni to persuade the Louvre to return the most famous painting looted by Napoleon from the lagoon city. (Read the article)

THE NEW YORK TIMES. "In the United States even the most unrepentant, obviously guilty serial killer or multimillion-dollar defrauder is entitled to a defense. It is in that spirit that this writer, an actual resident of New Jersey, steps forward to defend “Jersey Shore,” which seems likely to be the consensus choice for most appalling show of 2009." With these words begins the article by Neil Genzlinger published yesterday on the NYT. Despite the appearances, the article contains a subtle, ironic critique of the show, the Guido subclulture, and of self-styled defenders of political correctness. (Read it)

THE NEWYORK TIMES. Thousands of fans make their way to an industrial park on the outskirts of Bologna to ooh and aah at the Ducati museum. (Read the article)

ABC. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has returned to an old passion of his while recovering from last month's attack at a rally: writing Neapolitan love songs, news reports said.  (Read the article)

ANSA. Italy's well-heeled fashionistas have been given the chance to continue indulging their passion despite the credit crunch, with the opening of the country's first-ever 'designer swapping store'. (Read the article)

ANSA. Britart legend Damien Hirst's huge tiger shark suspended in a glass tank full of formaldehyde is among the highlights of a major new exhibition in Naples. (Read the article)

ANSA. flood watch along the Tuscan riviera had opera lovers holding their breath on Wednesday as water levels remained perilously high near the lakeside home of turn-of-the-century composer Giacomo Puccini. (Read the article)

ANSA. The minds of churchgoers need to be nourished but too often Sunday sermons are boring, uninspired and unpalatable fare, a top Italian cleric said on Wednesday. (Read the article)

ANSA. The agriculture ministry will continue to be responsible for guaranteeing the authenticity of the prized Italian wine Brunello di Montalcino at least until June 30 of next year, Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said on Tuesday. (Read the article)

THE NEW YORK TIMES. For more than a century and a half, The New York Times has been recording the pleasures and prejudices of the American palate. “The Way We Ate” is a weekly tasting menu of vintage food writing from The Times’s archives. (Read the article)