Italy

Despite its long-held reputation as the most aesthetically minded nation in the civilized West, Italy has never been able to produce a decent, well-known rock band. With (H)itweek L.A., Rome-based music promoter Francesco Del Maro is hoping to change that. "My main goal is to show the world we're not just about the mandolino," said Del Maro, 37, who is behind the Italian music and culture festival that comes to town this week and concludes Sunday. "We have very successful artists, from rock to heavy metal to reggae to world music.

The smell, said Carmela Di Nardo, undulates sickeningly, a cross between rotten eggs, burned skin and dead animals. You try not to breathe very deeply. You keep your children inside. "It smells worse than sewage," Di Nardo said. "This is shameful."

Twenty months after it came to power, the Italian government fell late Thursday when Prime Minister Romano Prodi lost a vote of confidence in Parliament and was forced to resign. The demise of Prodi's center-left coalition caps weeks of bitter political fighting but sends Italy into a new period of uncertainty while either an interim government is installed or fresh elections are called. Prodi had spent much of his time in office simply trying to survive politically.

Italy's recalcitrant politicians on Wednesday pushed the country into an early election, one that may return flamboyant business tycoon Silvio Berlusconi to power but will probably exacerbate long-running economic and social troubles. Acting with what he said was deep regret, President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved Parliament and called elections, which were set for April 13-14. That is just two years after the last vote, and approximately three years ahead of schedule.

American and Italian authorities Thursday swept up dozens of suspects wanted in connection with a transatlantic drug trafficking operation and a string of U.S. Mafia crimes dating to the 1970s. The coordinated operation -- which was three years in the making -- targeted at least 30 suspects in Sicily and 62 in New York, law enforcement officials said. By Thursday night, most of those in New York and New Jersey had been taken into custody.

The "Made in Italy" label conjures images of little old men and women in aprons and spectacles, stooped over wooden tables, cutting leather and sewing by hand in workshops that dot the hills of Tuscany. It certainly doesn't make you picture Chinese immigrants toiling long hours in ramshackle, poorly illuminated sheds, and then sleeping in small rooms behind thin plywood right there in the factories.

With television cameras capturing the moment, Italy's agriculture minister on Thursday ceremoniously devoured pieces of white, chewy mozzarella cheese and proclaimed that there was no reason for alarm. But alarm is what is engulfing Italy's $500-million mozzarella industry after the cheese that is a beloved quintessential national product came under unsettling scrutiny.

The woman was still woozy from anesthesia when Italian police interrogated her shortly after she had had an abortion. Then they confiscated the fetus. In Spain, police have swept into clinics, hauled away cartons of medical records and questioned dozens of women who had terminated their pregnancies, sometimes showing up at their homes, to their great mortification.

When they vote this weekend, Italians can choose among any number of convicted felons or the odd TV go-go dancer on the ballot. Not to mention the personal friends, relatives and, in one case, the physical therapist of party leaders putting together potential governments. Crime does not disqualify you from running for office in this country, nor are qualifications necessarily necessary.

World Cup holder Italy crashed out of soccer's European Championship on Sunday, losing to Spain, 4-2 on penalty kicks, after the teams had played to a 0-0 tie after 120 minutes of regulation and overtime. Spain dominated the quarterfinal match in Vienna but was unable to capitalize on the scoring chances it created. That, plus the goalkeeping of Italy's Gianluigi Buffon and a bit of bad luck, kept the Spaniards off the scoreboard for two hours.