Rome  - Italy's banking sector is "less sophisticated" than in other European nations and hence more "robust" in dealing with the current financial crisis, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said Thursday.

He was adressing parliament on measures approved Wednesday by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government to restore confidence in the country's banks.

Besides an existing provision guaranteeing bank deposits of up to 103,000 euros (140,000 dollars), the state would assist banks that risked failure because of an inability to raise capital on the market, Tremonti indicated.

Rome - In Prato they are proud of their famous biscuits; just don't call them cantucci, even if your name is Pope Benedict XVI.

The German pontiff, noted for his sweet tooth, is reportedly a fan of the slice-like, almond-studded confectionary, a passion he shares with among others, former US president Bill Clinton. Designer Giorgio Armani offers them to visitors at his fashion showroom in Milan.

The cantucci or cantuccini (the smaller version) may have conquered palates beyond the confines of their Tuscan town of origin, but back home they all insist on calling them the biscotti di Prato (the biscuits of Prato).

Rome - The Italian government late Wednesday forged a stabilization package as a "precautionary" measure to secure banks and bank deposits.

"No bank will go bankrupt," conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said late Wednesday in Rome, after an emergency meeting of his Cabinet.

He said that Italian savers have nothing to worry about and despite the widening global financial crisis have no need to hide their euros under a mattress.

Rome - Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti indicated Wednesday that Italy could follow Britain's example in fashioning a financial crisis package.

A government statement said Tremonti "agrees with the measures announced this morning by the British government," a reference to London's rescue package for leading banks of 50 billion pounds (87 billion dollars).

Stockholm  - On the eve of Thursday's announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature, punters seemed to favour a winner from other countries than the United States.

At least according to two online betting sites.

The speculation mirrors that of Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter that in a survey Wednesday concluded that 85 per cent of all literature laureates since 1995 have been Europeans.

Rome - Italy's scientific community is up in arms over what it charges as the unfair exclusion of an Italian researcher from this year's Nobel Prize for physics.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday awarded the prize to US researcher Yoichiro Nambu and his Japanese colleagues Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa, for discoveries linked to describing the smallest building blocks in nature.