Italy’s Piaggio unveils world’s first hybrid scooter

August 22nd, 2009 Winner picked in Italy's record €147 million lottoROME — A lucky lotto player in Tuscany won Italy's record €147.8 million ($211.8 million) state lottery Saturday, pocketing what has been billed as Europe's biggest jackpot. The winning ticket was purchased in the Sisal Biffi coffee shop in Bagnone, a town of about 2,000 in the province of Massa Carrara near the Tuscan coast, lottery officials said.

August 22nd, 2009 Winner picked in Italy's record euro147 million lottoROME — A lucky lotto player in Tuscany won Italy's record euro147.8 million ($211.8 million) state lottery Saturday, pocketing what has been billed as Europe's biggest jackpot. The winning ticket was purchased in the Sisal Biffi coffee shop in Bagnone, a town of about 2,000 in the province of Massa Carrara near the Tuscan coast, lottery officials said.

August 4th, 2009 UniCredit reports 2Q earns down 74 percentMILAN — The Italian bank UniCredit SpA says second-quarter net profit fell 74 percent due to lower fees and commissions. The group said in a statement Friday that net profit dropped to euro490 million ($705 million), compared with euro1.91 billion in the second quarter of 2008.

July 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world's fastest and most powerful supercomputer, named Novo-G, has become operational at the University of Florida. Novo-G gets the first part of its name from the Latin term for make anew, change, alter and the second from G for genesis.

July 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist has come up with an invention that could save million of gallons of fuel every day. Called the 'Plug-in Hybrid Retrofit Kit', it has been developed by Dr.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A novel nanotechnology technique can boost the longevity of dental fillings, claims a Medical College of Georgia (MCG) researcher. The tooth-coloured fillings are usually more attractive than silver ones, but the bonds between the white filling and the tooth quickly age and degrade.

July 2nd, 2009 Italy's train derailment death toll rises to 19ROME — Italian officials say the death toll from a train explosion in Tuscany has risen to 19, with 25 people injured. Premier Silvio Berlusconi says 11 of the injured are in very serious condition.

July 1st, 2009 Report: Italian train derailment death toll at 16ROME — News reports say two children have died after suffering severe burns in an explosion that followed a train derailment in northern Italy, raising the death toll to 16. The ANSA news agency and Sky Italia said Wednesday that a 3-year old girl died overnight in a Rome hospital, while a 2-year old boy died in a Florence hospital.

June 6th, 2009 Italy's prime minister to visit the White HouseWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will welcome Italy's prime minister to the White House. The president and Silvio Berlusconi will meet on June 15 to discuss preparations for the Group of Eight Summit in L'Aquila, Italy, next month.

June 5th, 2009 LONDON - Making long space voyage might sound thrilling and macho, but it will do no good to your appearance, claim scientists who believe space travel will leave astronauts looking short, fat and bald. Astrobiologist Dr Lewis Dartnell believes that near zero gravity would leave humans stunted and cause their bones and muscles to be underdeveloped.

June 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Test results on a novel ethanol-assisted engine by the Ford Motor Company have indicated that alcohol can make automobiles more climate-friendly. According to a report in New Scientist, the unit, called a direct-injection ethanol engine, runs primarily on petrol.

May 12th, 2009 Di Luca wins 4th stage of GiroSAN MARTINO DI CASTROZZA, Italy — Italy's Danilo Di Luca has won the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia in an uphill finish, with Lance Armstrong 15 seconds behind. Sweden's Thomas Lovkvist took the overall leader's pink jersey from Alessandro Petacchi of Italy on Tuesday.

April 24th, 2009 Italy's Eni says 1Q net profit down 43 percentMILAN — Italy's largest energy company, Eni SpA, says first quarter earnings dropped 43 percent due to the sharp reduction in oil prices and European demand for gas. Eni reported Friday that net profit in the first quarter of the year was euro1.9 billion ($2.48 billion) compared with euro3.32 billion a year ago.

April 11th, 2009 ROME - Rescue teams in Italy's central Abruzzo region continued to sift through the rubble Saturday, six days after an earthquake that left at least 290 dead. Volunteer rescue workers using a special microphone had Friday night scoured the rubble of a house in the city of L'Aquila, where noises had been heard.

March 30th, 2009 ROME - Italy's tunnels are the most dangerous in Europe, a report released Monday said. According to the report by Automobile Club ACI and roads agency ANAS, the result of controls run on 22 Italian tunnels so far showed a 'critical scenario', only one of three met safety standards, compared to eight out of 10 in the rest of Europe.