The new United States ambassador to Italy John R. Phillips arrived in Rome on 13 September. Ambassador Phillips succeeds David Thorne, who has completed his four-year term.

Ambassador Phillips, who is of Italian extraction, has been an influential lawyer in Washington DC for many years. He is expert in class action and anti-fraud cases and was the founder of Taxpayers Against Fraud.

He was a major fundraiser for the Obama election campaign and his wife was the director of communications for the White House office of health reform from 2009-2010.

He takes up his appointment just before the visit of the Italian prime minister Enrico Letta to the USA on 16 October.