'We kill God's word without humility, prayer' says pope

'Two simple things,' pontiff tells Mass

(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 21 - We kill God's Word if we are not humble and don't pray, Pope Francis said Friday. "What can we do in order not to kill God's Word, not trap the Holy Spirit?" Francis asked a Mass at St Martha's House in the Vatican. "Two simple things," he answered.

"This is the attitude of those who want to listen to the Word of God: first, be humble, second, prayer". 

Wasteful regional spending 82.3 bn say retailers

Sicily top, then Lazio and Campania

(ANSA) - Cernobbio, March 21 - Retailers' association Confcommercio on Friday said Italy's regions were wasting 82.3 billion euros of taxpayers' money each year. Sicily was top with 13.8 billion followed by Lazio with 11.1 billion and Campania with 10.7 billion.

The regions that wasted the least were Lombardy, which reportedly spent all its funds well, and Val D'Aosta, which wasted just 0.7 billion.

Regional spending is one of the many targets for spending cuts being lined up by Matteo Renzi's government.

The government's spending czar, Carlo Cottarelli, has identified five billion euros he says can be cut from the public sector in the next eight months including thousands of jobs.

But Renzi has said that is not the final figure, and the government will pick and choose from Cottarelli's list that includes savings on top pensions, bloat in the healthcare sector, unnecessary military outlays and red tape in general.

Grillo confident M5S will win European elections

Euroskeptic, anti-austerity parties expected to do well

(ANSA) - Rome, March 21 - While Premier Matteo Renzi was at a European Summit on Friday, Beppe Grillo said his anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) will win more votes than Italy's ruling Democratic Party (PD) at upcoming European Parliament elections. "And then the PD will have to face the consequences. In Italy, there's no Renzi government, just Renzi," said Grillo in interviews with several Italian dailies. Already Italy's second-biggest party, the M5S is among a number of Euroskeptic parties across Europe expected to do well at EP elections in May. Grillo's admittedly populist appeal helped launch the party to national prominence in last year's general election on an anti-austerity ticket. "When you start touching people's pensions, people don't vote for you anymore," said Grillo, commenting on Renzi's plan to cut top-bracket social-security payments. The comedian-turned-politician said the M5S platform was to "say no" to the fiscal compact, an EU treaty that imposes budget discipline on EU members if their deficits become too high.

"We'll propose eurobonds," he added, referring to bonds issued at an EU level. "And we'll win if we seat just one MEP more than the PD". 

Local elections May 25, same day as European Parliament vote

'To save money, drive turnout' says Italian cabinet

(ANSA) - Rome, March 21 - Local administrative elections are to be held in Italy on May 25, the same day as European Parliament elections, the government decided in a cabinet meeting Friday. In the event of a runoff, the polls will open again on June 8. Holding both elections on the same day is meant to drive voter turnout and save public funds.

Italian industrial turnover, orders shoot up in January

'Foreign markets driving growth' says Istat

(ANSA) - Rome, March 21 - Industrial turnover in Italy was up 3% in January, marking the strongest growth since December 2011, the national statistics agency said Friday.

Driving the growth were sales abroad, Istat added. Turnover was also positive in December, up 1.2%. Italian industrial orders also shot up in January, by 2.6% on the year, Istat said. Compared to December, orders were up 4.8%, marking the sharpest increase since December 2010. Once again, foreign markets drove the spike, Istat said.

Barroso confident in Renzi reforms as EU summit reconvenes

'Italy will respect budget rules,' Renzi assures EC president

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 21 - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that Italian Premier Matteo Renzi assured him at an ongoing EU summit that Italy will "fully respect" EU budget rules as it implements a series of economic reforms, which Barroso "supports very much".

The comments came before the second day of the summit in Brussels on Friday. Renzi's first day on Thursday seemed to produce positive results, with Barroso voicing support for Renzi's reforms, despite expressing some skepticism regarding Italy staying within its EU budget requirements. Aiming to jolt the stagnant economy out of a slow recovery from Italy's worst recession since World War II, Renzi plans to cut income taxes by 10 billion euros, invest 1.74 billion euros in social housing programs, spend 3.5 billion euros on schools and repay 68 billion euros in outstanding bills, among other things. Renzi, who was sworn in as premier last month, aims to implement them without breaching the EU deficit-to-GDP limit of 3%, even though he considers the threshold "out of date". Renzi has also said that Italy's deficit for 2014 may be higher than the 2.6% forecast for this year, while remaining within the 3% limit. Before the open of sessions in Brussels Friday, Barroso once again backed Renzi's "very good" reforms, "that go in the right direction".

New labour law decree increases job security funds

(AGI) Rome, Mar 20 - The new Italian law decree on labour included funds for defensive job-security agreement. The decree law has been ratified by President Napolitano and will be published on Friday by the Gazzetta Ufficiale. The decree includes two parts and five articles, plus a sixth indicating the date of entry into force. The act includes provisions on relief contracts (art. 5), increasing the resources needed for this type of social cushion.