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2002-01-03
The use of imperial conversions in the Italy news
reports for the English language only are inconsistant. I would speculate
that when FFU appears, there is an Italian-American doing the translating.
If this person has the day off and someone else does the translating, the FFU
never appears.
John
FOREIGN MINISTER VENTS FRUSTRATION OVER GOVERNMENT'S COLD RECEPTION OF THE
EURO
Foreign minister Renato Ruggiero deplored in the national press today his government's cold reception of Europe's new common currency. "While each European leader went out of his way to hail the new single currency as a symbol of political and ethical unity, our leaders did their best to underrate it," he said. Several exponents of the conservative governing coalition, including Defense Minister Antonio Martino, Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi and Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti have all showed a skeptical attitude towards the euro. Mr. Ruggiero praised president Carlo Azegli Ciampi for hailing the birth of the euro in his traditional New Year's Eve address. But Mr. Ruggiero expresed his concern about the direction the current cabinet is taking regarding foreign policy. EURO STABILIZES AT FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET On the third day after its introduction, the euro, the new single currency of the 12 European Union member nations, stabilized its exchange rate with a slight increase against the dollar on the world's financial markets, while it showed a slight loss against the yen. Today's opening quote was 0.9015 against the dollar, a slight drop in comparison to yesterday's 0.9038 closing. The new currency also decreased slightly in value against the Japanese yen from yesterday's quotation of 119.53 yen to today's 118.71. SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES PERSIST AND THERE'S MORE TO COME
Northern Turin recorded a temperature of -11 C (12 F) last night, one degree colder than l'Aquila in central Abruzzo which registered -10 C (14 F). Milan and Piacenza in northern Italy both dipped to -9 C (16 F). The thermometer in Florence measured -8 C (18 F), and in Udine to -6 C (21 F). Rome and Naples measured below freezing overnight temperatures of -2 C (28 F), while in Cagliari, Sardinia, hit -1 C (30 F). The city registering the least cold temperatures last night was the Sicilian capital of Palermo at + 6 C (43 F). Starting tomorrow, a high-pressure front will pass over Italy bringing more polar weather to the peninsula, with very chilly nights and daily sunshine that will only partially succeed in burning off the extreme cold. Starting Sunday, humidity levels will rise and are expected to bring fog to the northern and central Italian plains. |
