ROME, May 13 (Reuters) – The thought of eating beetles,
caterpillars and ants may give you the creeps, but the authors
of a U.N. report published on Monday said the health benefits of
consuming nutritious insects could help fight obesity.

More than 1,900 species of insects are eaten around the
world, mainly in Africa and Asia, but people in the West
generally turn their noses up at the likes of grasshoppers,
termites and other crunchy fare.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s first black minister has responded to a barrage of sexist and racial insults by saying she is proud to be black, not colored, and that Italy is not really a racist country.

Cecile Kyenge, an eye doctor and Italian citizen originally from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was named integration minister by Prime Minister Enrico Letta last Saturday, one of seven women in the new government.

ROME, April 11 (Reuters) – Global food prices rose 1 percent
in March, the United Nations’ food agency said on Thursday,
pointing to a surge in dairy costs, while cereals prices were
little changed and seen facing downward pressure in coming
months.

Food prices spiked over the summer of 2012 fuelled by a
historic drought in the United States and dry weather in other
major producers. Prices eased slightly towards the end of last
year but have been nudging higher again for the past two months.

ROME (Reuters) – Two months after placing first in a vote but falling short of winning power, Italy’s main center-left party is still divided over whether to swallow its animosity and consider a government with its scandal-plagued nemesis, Silvio Berlusconi.

Italy has been in limbo since a February election gave no bloc enough votes to govern alone. The center left won a majority in the lower house but not in the Senate, and a huge protest vote for the populist 5-Star Movement has split parliament three ways.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s caretaker cabinet said on Saturday it would pay 40 billion euros ($52 billion) of the state’s debts to private companies over the next 12 months, while vowing to stick within the European Union’s deficit limit.

The government approved a decree intended to provide vital liquidity to cash-strapped firms and help tackle a deep recession in the euro zone’s third-largest economy. But industry groups said it would still be difficult for businesses to claim their money despite the measures.

ROME (Reuters) – Scientists have criticized an Italian government decree allowing a group of terminally-ill patients to continue using an unproven stem cell treatment, saying such therapies may cause harm and risk exploiting desperate people.

The treatment, created by the privately-owned Stamina Foundation, was banned by Italian medicines regulator AIFA last year after it inspected their laboratories, leading to a series of legal challenges by families of patients.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s top court on Tuesday ordered a retrial of American Amanda Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, re-opening a case that prompted harsh criticism of the Italian justice system.

Kercher’s half-naked body, with more than 40 wounds and a deep gash in the throat, was found in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia, where both were studying during a year abroad in 2007.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s top court on Tuesday ordered a retrial of American Amanda Knox and a former boyfriend for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, re-opening a case that prompted harsh criticism of the Italian justice system.

Kercher’s body, with more than 40 wounds and a deep gash in the throat, was found in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia in 2007.

ROME/NEW DELHI March 22 (Reuters) – A decision to return two
Italian marines accused of murdering fishermen to stand trial in
India stirred anger in Italy on Friday and calls for Foreign
Minister Giulio Terzi to resign.

Mario Monti’s caretaker government on Thursday reversed a
March 11 decision not to send the marines back from a home visit
after Rome secured a promise from New Delhi that the two would
not face the death penalty if convicted, officials said.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis set the tone for a new, humbler papacy at his inaugural Mass on Tuesday where he called for the Church to defend the weak and protect the environment.

Addressing up to 200,000 people including many foreign leaders gathered under bright sunshine in St. Peter’s Square, the Argentine pope underlined his central message since he was elected by a secret conclave of cardinals last Wednesday – that the Church’s mission was to defend the poor and disadvantaged.