My Publicist Note Book

A 12th-century Italian skirmish, reenacted with 500,000 pounds of flying citrus.  The largest food fight in Italy - These Kats are serious .....Each year in the days preceding Fat Tuesday, townspeople of Ivrea divide up into nine different squads.  Dressed in their battle attire, they make their way to certain streets of Ivrea that are designated for war. Over the course of the next three days leading up to the holiday, men, women, and children hurl oranges at each other, attempting to “kill” the other teams. Although the origins are historically unclear, most people know the tale of the evil Marquis, who attempted to rape a young woman in the town but was instead decapitated by the woman.  In the aftermath of his death, the townspeople stormed his palace in revolt. It is this revolt, which is symbolized by the Battle of the Oranges every year. To add a certain level of authenticity to the event, a young woman is chosen from the town to represent the...

An Italian court has returned a verdict in the third trial of Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, in the 2007 death of Meredeth Kercher: Knox was found guilty of the crime for the second time in the notorious case. Amanda was sentenced to 28 years and six months in jail, though it's rather unclear if she'll ever serve even a day of that. More on that in a second. The first two trials produced flip-flop verdicts of guilty then innocent for Knox and Sollecito, who were acquitted on appeal in 2011 after four years in custody. An appeals court found that important evidence regarding blood and DNA had been handled improperly by investigators, leading to the released of the duo. It's not really an o-face. More like an uh-oh face! But Italy's supreme court, called the Court of Cassation, dismissed that ruling based on what it said was key evidence that had been omitted during the appeal. A new trial, at which Amanda Knox did not app...