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AUTOBLOG. Marking the first time in a long time that an Italian vehicle other than a Lamborghini or Ferrari has appeared at a U.S. auto show, Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press showed up at his company's press conference this morning in a Fiat 500. (Read the article)

AP. The Vatican appealed Wednesday to experts worldwide to volunteer to restore paintings and other treasures from churches devastated in quakes this week in central Italy. (Read the article)

THE NEW YORK TIMES. Stanislao Pugliese's editorial on the New York Times is about the earthquake that destroyed writer Ignazio Silone's howetown in 1915. Pescina,a very antique town in the region of Abruzzo, lost 3,500 of its 5,000 residents in a matter of 30 seconds.
"Among the dead were Silone’s beloved mother, whose body he dug from the rubble with his own hands. After several days of desperate labor, the 14-year-old Silone freed his only surviving family member, a younger brother. (...) 'Only loss is universal,'  he once wrote, 'and true cosmopolitanism in this world must be based on suffering."

“In an earthquake everyone dies: rich and poor, learned and illiterate, authorities and the people. An earthquake accomplishes what words and laws promise and never achieve: the equality of all. But it is an ephemeral equality, for when fear had died down, collective misfortune became the opportunity for even greater injustices.” (Read the Article)

Stanislao G. Pugliese is a professor of European history at Hofstra University and the author of the forthcoming “Bitter Spring: A Life of Ignazio Silone.”

ANSA. Italy may accept help from the United States following the L'Aquila earthquake, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday. After initially turning down offers of help that have poured in from abroad, Berlusconi appeared to change his mind after receiving ''a long phone call'' from US President Barack Obama as he toured temporary camps set up to house those who had lost their homes in the disaster. (Read the article)