Live the high life at lower cost

View of the village on the coast of Amalfi. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

Inside Amalfi on the Italian Riviera. Picture: Readers Escape Source: Supplied

THE PURE magic of Italy's normally exclusive and extravagant Amalfi coast will now leave you with change in your pocket, writes Mike Smithson.

I'm sitting at a roof-top restaurant high above the turquoise water of the Mediterranean, as dusk brings out the twinkling lights from surrounding towns. It's a nightly occurrence for visitors on Italy's spectacular Amalfi coast and the current weakness of the euro means this once extravagant holiday lifestyle is within reach of more people.

The ancient coastal town of Praiano is perched at the foot of surrounding steep hills covered with chestnut forests. It's on the winding road between Positano and Amalfi, but it doesn't suffer the same tourist hustle and bustle as those more famous towns.

There are few flashy hotels here but plenty of comfortable villas that offer tourists an authentic Mediterranean atmosphere without the hype of other destinations. Most cafes and restaurants are family-run and boast similarly wonderful views. Without this, they'd

O'Neill not jealous of City spending

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill will battle with Manchester City counterpart Roberto Mancini insisting he is not jealous of the Italian's spending power.

The 59-year-old Irishman will welcome Mancini to the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day hoping to put a further dent in City's Barclays Premier League title ambitions following their 0-0 Boxing Day draw at West Brom.

O'Neill, who had a brief - and largely unsuccessful, by his standards - spell as a player at Maine Road, will attempt to prepare his injury-hit side for a backlash from a club whose squad is packed with expensively-acquired, top international players.

However, he has no problem with the cash-rich pretenders to Manchester United's crown flexing their financial muscles.

He said: "It's just part of the game. If you drop back to

Aging Brains Match Youth in Some Mental Tasks

Image: Flickr/gavinzac

Since physical abilities decline as people age, many people think the elderly are also less able to perform mental jumping jacks as they age. New research indicates this might not be true with all brain-powered tasks: In some ways the elderly are fit to compete with their younger counterparts.

Both young and old brains take longer to reach decisions in some settings, the researchers say, because they make the conscious choice to choose accuracy over speed.

"Many people think that it is just natural for older people's brains to slow down as they age, but we're finding that isn't always true," study researcher Roger Ratcliff, of

Chile wants to pool young voters: registry automatic but voting voluntary

Chileans queuing on voting day

Chile’s Electoral Service predicts the change will see 4.7 million new voters added to its electoral registry in time for the 2012 municipal election next October, a change sure to affect both local and national politics alike. Nearly 75% of Chile’s new voters will be under the age of 30, reported the Associated Press.

“The system of automatic registration allows a historic growth for the electoral roll, covering, for the first time in our history, all citizens who are eligible to vote,” Secretary

Argentine Media bill: “a dictatorship couldn’t have done it better”

The Brazilian O Estado de Sao Paulo spared no words to criticize the law

The newspaper was referring to “anti-terrorism” legislation recently passed by the government of Cristina Fernandez intimidating the press and limiting access to newsprint.

“The Argentine government is making the exercise of freedom of the press extremely difficult with acts of intimidation which make honour to a dictatorial regime, a dictatorship couldn’t make it better” said O Estado de Sao Paulo.

Last week the Argentine congress

“Falkland Islands don’t want to join Argentina”

The bellicose attempts by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to challenge the Island’s sovereignty, and to engage in efforts to disrupt shipping links to the Islands, are without justification. British Prime Minister David Cameron is right to reject such challenges, and to reiterate the UK firm commitment to the Islands’ prosperity and security.
 

Ms. Fernandez de Kirchner may gain support at home for exploiting feelings among some Argentines that they have a rightful claim to the Islands, known there as Las Malvinas. Argentina has successfully pressured members in the Mercosur trading bloc, including Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil, to

Suicide bomber strikes Afghan funeral, killing 19

A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday just after a funeral in northern Afghanistan, killing 19 people, including a member of the national parliament, the Interior Ministry said.

The attack came as mourners were leaving at the end of the funeral of a village elder in the town of Talaqan in northern Takhar province, a statement said, killing 19 and wounding 40. Among the dead was parliament member Abdul Mutaleb Baik.

Suicide attacks are rare in Takhar province, which is located 250 kilometres northeast of Kabul and is considered one the nation's calmer regions.

Sayed Ikramuddin Masomi, another lawmaker from