Naples Italy

The neighborhood is called the Flowers, and its streets have poetic names such as Magic Prague and Cherry Orchard. But it's universally known as the Third World. It's where Carmela Attrice, 47, was shot to death in mid-January after a young thug lured her from her apartment, still in her pajamas. It's where crime boss Cosimo "Fat Boy" Di Lauro, who allegedly ordered the killings of dozens of rivals, was arrested as hundreds of his supporters spat at police.

Through their eyes: Naples, Italy Thank you, Susan Spano, for reviving my happy memories of Naples, Italy, with your article on this amazing city ["Naples' Flourishes," Oct. 24]. Many Americans neglect to visit Naples, but in 2001 my 12-year-old daughter and I ventured there after a few days in Rome with my son, who was living in Naples at the time. Yes, it helps to have someone fluent in Italian with you, but crazy drivers aside, the city is bustling and full of interesting sites, and Pompeii is a train ride away.

Maybe I fell in love with this messy, intemperate city by the bay because I first saw it after spending a week in well-ordered Germany. Maybe I feel close to my family's southern Italian roots here. Or maybe I'm just drawn to underdogs. Naples, a city of about a million people, is definitely that; it was all but off the map for travelers in recent decades because of crime, poverty, decay and disasters like a 7.

The neighborhood is called the Flowers, and its streets have poetic names such as Magic Prague and Cherry Orchard. But it's universally known as the Third World. It's where Carmela Attrice, 47, was shot to death in mid-January after a young thug lured her from her apartment, still in her pajamas. It's where crime boss Cosimo "Fat Boy" Di Lauro, who allegedly ordered the killings of dozens of rivals, was arrested as hundreds of his supporters spat at police.

Naples to Host Next G7 Summit: Next year's annual summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will be held July 8 to 10 in the southern Italian city, the prime minister's office said. Russia would once again be invited to join the summit, the statement added. Italy, which takes over the rotating presidency of the G7 next year, said last month it would like the Russians to be given a more active role in the meeting.

Police have shut down two small private television stations here on suspicion they may have been transmitting coded messages to the Mafia. A police spokesman said Saturday that the owners of Televideo Napoli and Tele Centro Storico have been charged with running public bingo and lottery games without official authorization. The games were broadcast nightly into the city's Spanish quarter but were frequently interrupted by bizarre messages such as "beware of the white shoes" and "the boats have arrived."

A quarter-page sketch in the Turin newspaper Stampa Sera on Monday afternoon showed Italian Coach Azeglio Vicini on the foredeck of a galleon sailing confidently into Naples bay. On the shore to meet him stood Diego Maradona, the Argentine captain and the only player Vicini and much of the rest of the country believe can possibly stand between Italy and its logical destiny--a place in Sunday's World Cup final.

It's Friday night at the drive-in. As the pale-skinned hero of the season's hot new martial-arts flick snaps the bones of the Asian archvillain, the Winnetka 6 erupts in honking horns and flashing headlights. The movie that has the big-wheeled pickups beeping is "Bloodsport." Advertised as the true story of an American who defeated all comers 13 years ago in a no-holds-barred international tournament of warriors, the movie opened last month at 800 U.S.

Through their eyes: Naples, Italy Thank you, Susan Spano, for reviving my happy memories of Naples, Italy, with your article on this amazing city ["Naples' Flourishes," Oct. 24]. Many Americans neglect to visit Naples, but in 2001 my 12-year-old daughter and I ventured there after a few days in Rome with my son, who was living in Naples at the time. Yes, it helps to have someone fluent in Italian with you, but crazy drivers aside, the city is bustling and full of interesting sites, and Pompeii is a train ride away.

U.S. Navy jets, while on training exercises over the Mediterranean on Wednesday, shot down two Libyan MIG-23 fighters when the Libyans appeared to threaten the U.S. warplanes, American officials said. The incident, which occurred about noon local time (2 a.m. PST) in international airspace, comes at a time of increasing U.S. hostility toward Libya over that nation's construction of what U.S. officials charge is a chemical weapons plant near the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Maybe I fell in love with this messy, intemperate city by the bay because I first saw it after spending a week in well-ordered Germany. Maybe I feel close to my family's southern Italian roots here. Or maybe I'm just drawn to underdogs. Naples, a city of about a million people, is definitely that; it was all but off the map for travelers in recent decades because of crime, poverty, decay and disasters like a 7.

Naples to Host Next G7 Summit: Next year's annual summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will be held July 8 to 10 in the southern Italian city, the prime minister's office said. Russia would once again be invited to join the summit, the statement added. Italy, which takes over the rotating presidency of the G7 next year, said last month it would like the Russians to be given a more active role in the meeting.

A quarter-page sketch in the Turin newspaper Stampa Sera on Monday afternoon showed Italian Coach Azeglio Vicini on the foredeck of a galleon sailing confidently into Naples bay. On the shore to meet him stood Diego Maradona, the Argentine captain and the only player Vicini and much of the rest of the country believe can possibly stand between Italy and its logical destiny--a place in Sunday's World Cup final.

Police have shut down two small private television stations here on suspicion they may have been transmitting coded messages to the Mafia. A police spokesman said Saturday that the owners of Televideo Napoli and Tele Centro Storico have been charged with running public bingo and lottery games without official authorization. The games were broadcast nightly into the city's Spanish quarter but were frequently interrupted by bizarre messages such as "beware of the white shoes" and "the boats have arrived."

This capital of the nation's smallest state is one of the world's biggest costume jewelry manufacturing centers. Rhode Island produces 80% of the costume jewelry--or fashion jewelry, as the industry calls inexpensive to medium-priced adornments--made in America. Concentrated in Providence and its suburbs are 900 jewelry firms employing 24,400 workers with an annual payroll of $350 million.

Disgraced Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was ordered to appear in a Naples, Italy, court on May 31 to face charges of using and trafficking in drugs.