If England needed any more motivation for their quarter-final against Italy, the knowledge that a victory would set up a semi-final with arch-rivals Germany certainly would.

Italy came close to taking the lead early on when Daniele De Rossi hit a curling volley from outside the penalty box, which had goalkeeper Joe Hart beaten. Fortunately for England, the shot cannoned back off the post before being cleared from the danger zone.

Another golden opportunity presented itself just a minute later; this time it was England’s turn to come close, with a low cross falling to Glen Johnson in the penalty area. The England defenders’ shot was saved expertly by Gianluigi Buffon to keep the scores level.

Although the game quieted down from its frenetic opening minutes, both teams were still playing a brand of attacking football unexpected by most coming into the game. Many pundits had predicted a cagey, defensively dominated affair between the two teams, but with twenty minutes played, the game seemed anything but that.

With half an hour gone the Italians seemed to be gaining the upper hand, controlling the pace of the game and shading the possession battle. This spell of dominance presented two clear chances for controversial striker Mario Balotelli, but the Italian was denied firstly by a last ditch John Terry tackle and secondly by a good low save from Hart.

Despite their dominance, and further chances for both Balotelli and Antonio Cassano, Italy was unable to take a lead before the interval, although there were no doubts that Cesare Prandelli was the happier of the two managers as both teams left the field for half-time.

If De Rossi was cursing his luck following his shot which hit the post in the first half, his self-berating was a little early. In the second half, after England cleared their lines from a corner, the ball was knocked back into the penalty area and reached De Rossi who scuffed his shot when one on one with Hart.

Things went from bad to worse for England as Italy enjoyed a succession of chances from Balotelli and Ricardo Montolivo. They seemed to beat England’s offside trap time after time, only to be denied by a combination of poor finishing and the goalkeeping heroics of Hart.

The double substitution of Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott on for Danny Welbeck and James Milner respectively seemed to breathe some life into England, who began to show signs of the attacking intent with which they started the game. England nearly capitalized on this pressure when Steven Gerrard’s free kick was agonizingly close to Wayne Rooney’s attempted header, when any kind of contact would likely have taken the ball beyond the reaches of Buffon.

An attempted overhead kick from Rooney almost gave England their fairytale ending, but the Manchester United striker could not keep his shot down, sending the game into extra time.

The first half of extra time from England was much more encouraging than much of their play in the opening 90 minutes; it still failed to yield a break in the deadlock for either side, setting up a very tense final 15 minutes.

The second half played out in similar fashion and brought the conclusion to the game that all England fans were dreading, the penalty shootout.

Opening penalties were slotted home by Balotelli and Gerrard respectively, only for England to then gain the advantage after Rooney scored, following a miss from Montolivo. England’s advantage was short lived however as Ashley Young’s missed penalty – after Pirlo’s successful spot kick – leveled the scores at 2-2. Another miss from England, this time from Ashley Cole, proved to be England’s final undoing. Alessandro Diamanti stepped up to convert and sent Italy through to face the Germans in the semi-finals.

Image Courtesy of  Julian Finney

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Rome, Italy - “It is cause for great satisfaction that the date for the election of the National Assembly of the new Libya has been set for 7 July,” said Minister Giulio Terzi, according to whom “despite the many difficulties that any transition carries with it, by holding free elections, Libya is about to take a fundamental step toward building a democratic State fully integrated into the International community.

Recalling the “primary importance in this phase of the role of the United Nations Support Mission”, Terzi underscored that “the new government named by the Assembly will have the task of relaying the foundations of a Libyan State apparatus, based first and foremost on respect for human rights and, at the same time, of offering new opportunities for economic and social advancement to all the components of the Libyan society.”

“Italy is watching with confidence,” Terzi concluded, “as Libya follows the path to adopting a new constitution and will continue to steadfastly support the construction of a new, prosperous, free and democratic Libya, in the conviction that that nation’s progress and the gradual reduction of distance from the European Union are elements essential to regional stability.”

Minister Terzi is the Foreign Minister of Italy and has been working closely with many leaders of the Arab nation, including those in Libya. He received the diplomats from Syria and members of the Arab League in May to discuss the revolutions of Arab Spring and the future of the Arab world.

Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata has been Italy’s Foreign Minister since November of 2011. Prior to his position as the Minister of Foreign Affairs he was the Permanent Representative of Italy at the United Nations in New York and was also the head of the Italy delegation in the Security Council of the United Nations.

Image Courtsey of the  Italian Embassy

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In recent weeks Spain’s banking crisis has gone from bad to worse. Spain’s credit rating has recently been downgraded from an A to BBB+ by Standard & Poor’s because of the debt it will most likely take on from its banks and regional government failures. Spain is the fifth largest economy in the Eurozone, leaving many worrying about the ramifications of these recent developments on the rest of Europe.

Currently Spain’s deficit is too high for the Eurozone. The European Commission says that Spain can be given more time to reduce their deficit from the 8.9% of the GDP – as it stands currently – by 2013. However, the high deficit in Spain is causing fewer individuals and countries to risk investing in the country.

Bond yields in Spain are up to 6.7% meaning that they are high risk. Yields on bonds are higher when they are riskier because investors want a higher return if they are putting money into something that is unstable. In contrast the German and US bond yield is at 1.28% and 1.64% respectively. Therefore, instead of investing in Spain’s government bonds more people are investing in the US and Germany. However, this high bond yield also means that Spain will accumulate more debt and have to pay a higher interest when borrowing money.

Despite all recent efforts the Spanish economy is expected to shrink 1.8% this year alone and another 0.3% next year. However, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insists that Spain will not require a bailout like Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, and Greece have needed; Spanish banks, on the other hand, have already asked for bailout money.

Bankia, a recently formed banking group of seven banks, asked for a 19 billion Euro bailout. Bankia originally reported a 309 million Euro profit for the year of 2011 when it actually had lost 2.98 billion euros. It is unknown as of yet how Spain will get the bailout money when it is already struggling under its own deficit.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has suggested that they use the Eurozone’s new 500 billion euro stability mechanism to inject some capital into the banks, but Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has already rejected the plan. Another option is for Spain to give Bankia government bonds to then trade with the European Central Bank (ECB) for money.

Although it has been reported that the ECB has already rejected this plan a recent article by the BBC claims that these reports are false and that the solution is not yet off the table. The European Commission has also suggested creating a “banking union” to monitor all Eurozone banks in the future.

In addition to struggling with the mounting bank debts, Spain is also forced to rescue several regional governments who are no longer capable of borrowing money. Several regional governments have gone bankrupt and rating agencies, such as Standard & Poor’s, have put these regions at junk status. Most recently Catalonia, the wealthiest autonomous region in Spain, has asked for help from the central government; Catalonia accounts for one-fifth of the Spanish economy.

Spain is giving these regions government-backed bonds which they can then use to borrow money. However, as stated previously, these bonds are at a high yield which makes this solution temporary. A Spanish economy ministry spokesperson stated, “the goal is to reduce the pressure on the regions, which is often greater than the pressure on the state in general, with some regions not ale to borrow on the market.”

Regional banks have tried to strengthen each other through mergers. Ibercaja, Liberbank, and Caja3 merged in late May to become more resilient. This merger created the seventh biggest lender in Spain with 120 billion euros in assets. Liberbank and Caja3 were previously mergers of four and three regional banks respectively.

Spain’s unemployment as of April is at 24.3%, the worst in the Eurozone – even worse than Greece. It is expected to climb to 25.1% by 2013 even with the recent precautions taken by the newly elected center-right government. Prime Minister Rajoy has made several labor market cuts including cutting back on severance pay and restricting inflation-linked increases in salary; these decisions have been unpopular with unions and workers. Spain’s high unemployment also means that there are fewer people who are paying higher tax rates or even paying taxes.

Spain’s economy is heavily tied to the economy of Italy, the fourth largest economy in Europe. These close ties lead investors to worry that if there is a run on the Spanish banks there will also be a run on the Italian banks, throwing both countries into a deeper crisis. Italy is now borrowing at a rate over 5.66%; borrowing at a consistent 7% rate is considered unstable and has triggered the bailouts for Greece, Portugal, and the Republic of Ireland in the past.

The Spanish debt crisis was not caused by irresponsible government spending such as in Greece. Spain ran a balanced budget every year until the recession hit in 2008. The problems were planted when Spain joined the euro in 1999 and interest rates fell because Spain’s economy was good and other economies, such as the German economy, were not.

Investors wanted to invest in Spain which is what drove the interest rates lower. While the Spanish government resisted taking out more loans because of the cheaper interest rate the Spanish people did not. The country experienced a long housing boom that also affected the construction sector. When the recession hit, the housing and credit bubbles burst leaving many banks with toxic debt – debt that was unlikely to be repaid.

Image Courtesy of  Alberto Carrasco Casado

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Washington, U.S.A - International agency Oxfam warned that the announcement of the “New Alliance to Increase Food and Nutrition Security” focuses too heavily on the role of the private sector to tackle the complex challenges of food insecurity in the developing world. The organization called instead for G8 leaders to keep the promises they have already made to help developing countries invest in sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty.

“The New Alliance is neither new nor a true alliance,” said Oxfam’s Lamine Ndiaye. “The rhetoric invokes small-scale producers, particularly women, but the plan must do more to bring them to the table.” Smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, make up the majority of hungry people in poor countries and are key agents of change in their communities.

Three years ago, at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, and President Obama rallied the leaders of the world’s richest countries to pledge $22 billion to poor countries that had good plans to tackle hunger. Seven months away from the end of the L’Aquila initiative, dozens of poor countries have lived up to their end of the bargain, but the G8 is falling down on the job.

“President Obama deserves credit for focusing the G8′s attention on the fact that one billion people go to bed hungry every night,” said Oxfam’s Gregory Adams. “We applaud the clear focus on the target of helping 50 million people escape hunger and poverty through agriculture.”

“G8 leaders should join President Obama to commit resources to help developing countries reach this ambitious goal. The pledge to find $1.2 billion for the trust fund to support country agriculture plans is a good start. But the G8 should recommit to the partnership they began at L’Aquila and maintain that level of investments. Otherwise, they’ll be offering a shrinking solution to a growing problem.”

The alliance includes 45 companies from around the world, representing what G8 leaders hope will be the missing link to achieve transformational development in poor countries. While there is a positive role for the private sector in the fight against global hunger, the plan’s top down approach does not reflect what many people in poor countries say they want or need. The average private sector role in existing country food security plans, the basis for the L’Aquila agreement, is about 5%, and most have no role at all.

“This new alliance – is a nice complement at best, a deflection at worst. The role of the private sector is important, but they will not be able to make up for the G8′s broken promises,” said Ndiaye. “Smallholder farmers need the freedom to pursue their own growing strategies, not take overly-prescriptive tips on farming from G8 leaders, or one size fits all technologies from far away CEOs.”

A number of African civil society leaders and groups publicly raised concerns about the path the G8 is taking on food security in an open a letter to the G8 and a declaration signed at a Committee on World Food Security Consultation for African civil society groups in April of 2012.

“Having been developed without African civil society, it’s unclear what role they will play in its execution,” said Ndiaye.

The plan mentions but must do more to address the growing threats of climate change and natural resource constraints. And while the G8′s initiative endorses the United Nations Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure, an important step forward in preventing land grabs, they make a misstep in also legitimizing a weaker World Bank standard.

“Unless the G8 reaffirms and continues its L’Aquila pledges, they are passing the buck on global hunger,” said Adams. “The private sector, especially local small and medium enterprises, can play an important role in tackling food security, but G8 leaders have to first deliver on their end of the deal.”

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Despite Group B containing the likes of Germany, Portugal and Holland, Group C will also show off a number of young stars in Poland and Ukraine this summer. Current holders as well as World Cup winners Spain are the favorites, but they’ll face stiff competition from Italy, Ireland and Croatia in what promises to be a close group.

Jordi Alba (Valencia & Spain)

He is Barcelona through and through, apart from the fact he plays for Valencia. The talented left-back grew up in Catalonia and played for the Barca youth team, but Alba has come to be noticed with his defensive and attacking performances for Valencia in the last couple of years. He’s still only 23 and seems almost certain for a move to Barcelona sooner rather than later.

His international career has only just begun going though, Alba has made 3 appearances for the national team starting last year, but with left-back possibly the only position Spain lacks a definite starter in, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Alba in that position when Spain kicks off against Italy in June.

Iker Muniain (Athletic Club & Spain)

The little 19-year old is being touted as the next big thing, Muniain’s name was known before this season, but two performances against Manchester United in the Europa League really brought him to prominence. He’s not a prolific goal scorer but the winger is creative and quick. He won’t be a starter for Spain this summer, and he might not even make the squad such is the talent flowing through the Spanish ranks, but he made his international debut this year and definitely has a shot at boarding the plane in a few months.

Javi Martinez (Athletic Club & Spain)

Another one of Athletic’s prodigies, Javi Martinez is a little ahead of Iker Muniain. The 23-year old has already made over 100 appearances for the La Liga side and captained the Spanish U21 side to the U21 European Championship title last summer. The defensive midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League and seems destined to become a top midfielder.

His international career is also ahead of Muniain. He’s only made 7 caps, but he made his debut back in 2010, and, like Muniain, may not even make the plane this summer. Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Xabi Alonso & Sergio Busquets is tough competition to get in on but if Martinez does go to the EURO’s this summer, he’s sure to do himself justice.

Fabio Borini (AS Roma & Italy)

Similar to Portugal, there’s not a great deal of youth flowing through the current Italy squad, but if there is one man who could make an impact in a side looking to recover from an embarrassing World Cup campaign, it’s Fabio Borini. The 21-year old never really got a chance to impress at Chelsea, but he has had 9 goals in 19 appearances for Roma this season and has put himself in contention for the Italy squad this summer.

His impact didn’t go unnoticed by his national side, and Borini made his senior debut for Italy this year against the USA. Like others mentioned so far, Borini’s not certain to be on the plane to Eastern Europe this summer, but if Italy are to look towards a more youthful approach, Borini might be the man.

James McClean (Sunderland & Ireland)

Here’s a name who might be more familiar to the majority of readers. Premier League winger, James McClean, has a real chance of going to the EURO’s this summer. He was bought last summer but didn’t make an appearance until Steve Bruce was sacked, making his debut shortly after 2012 began well for McClean. He started his first game on January 1st, and impressed in the victory over Manchester City.

Since then, McClean has gone on to give many defenders issues and has been key to Sunderland’s climb up the table. Like Borini, McClean has gotten one international cap but has put himself in contention and Ireland would be unwise not to take a chance on him this summer.

Sime Vrsaljko (Dinamo & Croatia)

Football Manager fans rejoice! Vrsaljko may be unheard of in real life to many, but in Croatia he and a few other young players have been making waves and giving themselves a chance at a spot in the squad for this summers tournament. Vrsaljko is one of them. The Dinamo right-back has made 45 appearances for his club and this season has broken into the Croatia squad on three occasions.

He’s definitely one for the future but there’s no reason why Sime can’t make the plane this summer, along with a few other starlets.

Milan Badelj (Dinamo & Croatia)

Milan Badelj is 23 but still has a big future ahead of him. The creativity at the hub of Dinamo’s domestic success, Badelj has already surpassed 150 appearances for his club, and has 30 goals to show for it. Like his younger team-mate, Badelj also has three caps for Croatia, but playing further up the field he’s already scored his first goal for the national side.

Badelj is another one of those who could be on the fringes of the squad this summer, but like many other teams, Croatia could look towards youth sooner rather than later, and if they do, Badelj & Vrsaljko may be at the very top of the list.

Image Courtesy of   DSPA / Shutterstock.com

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On Saturday November 12 at 9.42 pm CET Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has officially resigned.

His resignation arrived just few hours after the Italian parliament’s lower house passed an austerity measures package demanded by European Union and ECB in order to restore confidence in Italy’s economy and face the country’s heavy debt crisis.

Over 17 years, Berlusconi has always been the main character of the political scene in Italy, he was elected four times as prime minister – in 1994, 2001, 2005, and 2008 – and survived to more than 20 trials and accusations, several votes of confidence, sex scandals and conflict of interest.

After failing to win a parliamentary majority on a budget vote four days ago – for the first time since his election in 2008 – , he announced he would have left office right after the passage of the austerity package demanded by EU.

While the political events were getting hotter day by day, the economic crisis of the country kept on worsening especially because of the strong financial speculation of the markets.

Hence, in such a difficult and hard situation Berlusconi seemed to have no choice and had to surrender and eventually step down.

The news of his future resignation was welcomed by all the opposition parties, one part of his government coalition and a large portion of economics and politics experts and specialists.

Today after the austerity package was approved by the parliament lower chamber with 380 votes and the Republic President signed the legislation in the afternoon, the crucial moment arrived.

The official meeting to hand in his resignation to Republic President Giorgio Napolitano was set for 8.30 pm CET but Berlusconi arrived notably late.

Many people gathered in Rome, out of the presidential palace, to witness the last minutes of Berlusconi as prime minister and celebrate his resignation. At his arrival at the crowds started shouting “Buffoon!”, “Shame!”, and “Get out!”.

For about 40 minutes all the country waited for the official news. Journalists from all around the world were there and the attention of the media was totally drawn on this extraordinary event. November 12 was called the “freedom day” by the crowds gathered in Rome as by many people on social network sites happy to see him leaving the scene.

When the news of Berlusconi resignation broke at 9.42 pm CET, the crowds erupted in cheers, waving Italian and European flags, singing, dancing, jumping for joy. Resistance period songs were struck, bottle of champagne open to toast, and also the Handel’s Hallelujah was performed by chorus of professional and non-professional singers and classical musicians.

Silvio Berlusconi stated he won’t run for next elections but he will keep on contributing and collaborating with his political party. He also wants to participate in the new transition government foundation putting members of his party as candidates.

The new government, which will be led by Mario Monti former European commissioner, will be probably made up of technocrats and economics experts who will have to deal with the heavy economic crisis and the huge debt of the country. Tomorrow Sunday 13, Republic President Giorgio Napolitano will announce the complete government coalition.

The resignation of Berlusconi is seen as the end of an era and a new start for Italy and its political scene but the scenario is still unclear and confused. Next weeks and months will tell us what will be the future of a country that is on the brink of precipice.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/andresubierna/6241870752/

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On the streets of Rome, Italy’s capital, up to 200.000 demonstrators took the streets to join the global protest called from one side to other of the world. Among those, a group of Black Bloc protesters – between 100 and 200 people – hijacked the peaceful march with an explosion of violence against stores, banks, cars, police and other protesters.

October 15th was the day of worldwide demonstrations. In 951 cities in more than 80 countries hundreds of thousands of people took the streets and the squares to protest against financial elites, capitalists, bankers and governments’ austerity measures and to claim rights and real democracy for all.

Although the massive participation in most of the cities, reports on violence are rare and the protests were peaceful and quiet even in the European capitals which are the epicenter of the crisis and where the anger and the frustration are stronger.

In this scenario of collaboration and solidarity the exception has been Rome. Here just half an hour after the peaceful march of the Italian “indignados” started – at around 2.30 pm Italian time –, a small group of demonstrators with covered faces and clad totally in black broke away from the main rally and began to throw bottles, stones and incendiary devices at stores, banks, and police.

Numerous cars and trash bins were set on fire in the streets of downtown, offices of the Defence Ministry were assaulted and set on fire as well, banks and stores’ windows were smashed, journalists crew were attacked and many other damages were caused by the group of Black Bloc rioters. Pictures and videos report images of urban guerrilla, terrified people, bloody faces, fire, smoke, destruction and violence. They show the “total black protesters” breaking away from the main group and attacking police and peaceful demonstrators on their way.

The estimated number of injured people is around 70. Two protesters and one policeman have been seriously hurt, one of them – a 52-years-old man who tried to stop the violents – lost two fingers for the explosion of a firecracker thrown by one of the Black Blocs – as it’s shown in one video.

During a high tension moment of clashes between riot police and the violent group, a police armour-plated car was set on fire and police charged repeatedly the protesters and used tear gas and water cannons to stop the riots. The peaceful part of demonstrators, that is the big majority of them, ran away and fled the violence. Some of them who turned against the small violent group trying to stop and push them away were attacked and injured.

Around 12 people have been arrested. Rome’s mayor Gianni Alemanno, ministers and leaders of all parties blamed the violence. Some leader of the opposition questioned on how it was possible that the police was not able to stop such a small and well identifiable violent group for so many hours.

Meanwhile, on the web and on social media some users are rising the question on whether the Black Blocs could be real protesters or infiltrated policemen. Some suggest also that those protesters could have been paid and supported by “men of power”, who have strong interests in a violent hijacking of the peaceful protest to boycott it and manipulate the consequent news for condemning the demonstration. At the moment there is no proof for these conjectures to be true.

What it’s sure is that the news of the violent riots spread easier and stronger than the actual and true mass event which was this global peaceful protest covering it up. Though this has been a serious and blameworthy violence episode, we should also look to the importance and the strength of a worldwide movement that gathered 200.000 people just in Rome who are claiming for a future and protesting against a heavy economical crisis which is not the people’s fault. Also in a country which is standing on bended knees such as Italy, people answered to the call “People of the word: rise up!”.

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Convicted of murder, American student Amanda Knox, prepares to appeal her murder charge on Monday in an Italian court. The sister of the slain victim, Meredith Kercher, reminds the public of the life that was lost.

“Please remember our beautiful Meredith,” said Stephanie Kercher in a statement distributed Sunday by attorney Francesco Maresca. Stephanie Kercher said that the media frenzy that developed around the Amanda Knox trial has made people forget about what was taken from Meredith – her life.

In 2007, Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted for the death of Meredith Kercher, 21. Kercher, a British exchange student, was found dead in the villa she and Knox rented together in the central Italian university town of Perugia. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25.

A third defendant in the case is drug dealer Rudy Guede. An immigrant from the Ivory Coast, Guede was jailed in connection with Kercher’s death. According to CNN, he was sentenced to 30 years for murder and sexual violence following a fast-track trial in 2008. His sentence was later cut to 16 years.

His case will not be appealed. According to a prosecution reconstruction, Guede and Sollecito held Kercher down, while Knox stabbed her. Kercher was found semi-naked, with her throat slashed. In July, the Italian appeals court heard the testimony of a new DNA analysis that may call Knox’s conviction into question.

The proceeding will resume Monday, reported CNN. The original DNA found on the alleged murder weapon — the knife — has been dismissed as evidence. According to the West Seattle Herald, the Kercher family, who is suing Knox and Sollecito in a civil suit, believes the couple is guilty of mudering Meredith.

The fact that the experts, professors Carol Vecchiotti and Stefano Conti, who will be reexamining the case evidence Monday were appointed by the judge, is expected to create much controversy in the courtroom. “Over the last week, we have waited anxiously and with great concern as the rumours surrounding the original DNA evidence findings are spreading,” Stephanie Kercher said in the statement.

CNN reported that at trial, authorities testified that a knife found in Sollecito’s home had traces of Knox’s genetic material on the handle and Kercher’s on the blade. Kercher’s bra had traces of Sollecito’s DNA. Vecchiotti and Conti have brought into question the strength of the evidence that convicted Knox and Sollecito.

Edda Knox, Amanda’s mother, expressed to the Seattle Herald her gratitude for all those backing her daughter. “We are thrilled that so many people see that Amanda is clearly innocent,” Edda Knox said. “Support for her continues to grow and we appreciate each person.” Kercher said she is hopeful that the appeal will not change the original verdict on the case of her sister’s death.

“We still have confidence in the Perugia police and every faith in all those involved in court and the investigation,” Kercher said.

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On a 15 meter-long boat landed on the island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, the Italian coastguards found 25 bodies of dead migrants coming from Libya.

According to Reuters news agency on board were 296 people, including 36 women and 21 children. They are all refugees fleeing from Sub Saharan Africa.

The 25 bodies were found in the engine room of the boat during a rescue operation a mile away from Lampedusa. The victims were all men except of one woman, and most of them were young. They

During last night, when the boat was around 35 miles off Lampedusa, the coastguards got a call from the mobile phone of one of the migrants on board. The bodies were no mentioned in the call and the rescuers couldn’t imagine what was to be discovered in the hold. From the first reconstructions of the events the 25 victims seem to be dead of asphyxiation by the engine fumes.

The only access for the engine room was a 50 centimeters wide trapdoor. The space was insufficient for all those passengers, and the gas from the engine made the hold’s air unbreathable.

The corpses were already in state of decomposition, for this reason investigators believe that the migrants died in international waters.

Doctor Pietro Bartolo said to reporters “Given the state in which the corpses were found, they could have been dead for at least 48 hours”.

A survivor told also that another man was dropped overboard, some sources reported he was already dead, others that he was still alive.

Italian police keeps on questioning the survivors and the corpses will be subjected to postmortem examination to understand  the real causes of death. The boat is under sequestration and an inquiry has been set up.

Another tragedy in the way of the hope to Lampedusa Island, the gate of Europe for the North African refugees.

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The world-famous jazz trumpet and saxhorn player Paolo Fresu celebrated his 50 birthday with 50 concerts throughout Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the heart of Mediterranean Sea, invading it with the light sound and soft words of jazz music in the warm summer atmosphere.

From June 12 to July 31 he played every evening for a self-planned and directed tour, changing places, performances and partners day by day. A full immersion of jazz music in the most uncontaminated and wild areas of the island. An actual collection of fascinating places full of mystery, culture, magic and history.

Arts and culture join nature in the total respect of environment. Indeed, all the energy needed for the stage was provided by an ecological electrical generator, supplied through solar panels exposed to the day light before any concert. The intention was to create a relationship between music and landscape, promoting renewable energy and trying to sensitize public awareness of environmental issues.

The sound of Fresu’s trumpet re-echoed around green mountains, mines, archeological areas, accompanied by several musicians, actors, writers, orchestras from all around the world. Just to mention some of these musicians, Ralph Towner from Washington U.S., Richard Galliano from France, Omar Sosa from Cuba, Enrico Rava from Italy, Dave Douglas from New York U.S., Eivind Aarset from Norway, Glenn Ferris from Los Angeles U.S., Dhafer Youssef from Tunisia, Ludovico Einaudi from Italy, Nguyén Lé from France, and Uri Caine from Philadelphia U.S.

!50 music tour offered to all jazz lovers a special gift made by music, nature and culture. Words and music merged in an explosion of warm sounds and surreal atmospheres. And all for free, in fact there was no ticket to pay , only passion and taste for good jazz music were needed. The concerts performances were also available on live streaming.

The “sleepless trumpeter”, as Fresu is being called for his incessant musical activity – more than 300 recorded albums and 2500 concerts up to present -, never stops surprising his fans and his island with his skill as an artist and his simplicity as a man.

Paolo Fresu was born in Berchidda, a small village in north Sardinia. He started playing trumpet at the age of 11 and after different musical experiences in 1980 he began his jazz career. Nowadays he is one of the most appreciated and popular European jazzman. Since the ‘80s he has won several awards as best jazz musician in different countries, such as the prestigious Django d’Or in France. In 2005 he was one of the nominees for the Latin Grammy Awards of Santa Monica, California.

Over the last 30 years he has performed all over the world with a wide set of international artists such as John Zorn, Dave Holland, Gil Evans, John Abercrombie, Trilok Gurtu, John Taylor, Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen, Gerry Mulligan, David Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Richard Beirach, Jim Hall, Helen Merril, Ralph Towner, Richard Galliano, Michel Portal, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Jeanne Lee, Gunther Schüller, Paul McCandless, Toots Thielemans, Andy Sheppard, and many more.

There is not much more to say about this great jazzman, his music can speak better than thousands of words.

!50 Paolo Fresu & Uri Caine video

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The deliberation 668/2010 of the Italian Authority for Communications Guarantees (AGCOM) in matter of online copyright threatens the freedom of the web.

According to this deliberation, AGCOM would be entitled to remove contents from web pages or to block the access to foreign web sites for Italian users in case of copyright violation, all within 48 hours. The Authority would be free to decide following an administrative procedure, this means that judicial proceedings won’t be required and AGCOM will operate with complete independence from the judiciary system.

No distinction among public web sites, blogs, private pages, web portals. Any web page would be under AGCOM’s control and would be subjected only to the Authority’s censorship rules, bypassing the judges’ pronouncement required until now. A simple report by the copyright owners will be sufficient for proceeding to the removal of the contents or, in case of a foreign web site, to the IP address blockage denying the access to all Italian users.

This measure should come into effect on July 6^th making Italy become the first country in the world where an administrative authority can order the removal of a multimedia content from the public telematic space. A sad “world record” for a democratic European country.

AGCOM denies the censorious nature of this measure and explains it away as a necessary and targeted action aimed to fight digital piracy. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who also owns the Mediaset Group – the largest commercial broadcaster in Italy -, strongly pushed and supported the measure for obvious commercial and political interests.

The negative effects on freedom of speech and expression on the web could be very heavy. It’s unimaginable what may happen only making a quote or linking a page, or using a song as a video soundtrack for example. All the simple and usual actions we do daily on the web would be subjected to censure. There is no real control warranty and it’s not clear how AGCOM is going to manage the matter.

The web site Agorà Digitale (http://www.agoradigitale.org/) launched a campaign against the web censorship and the AGCOM measure, and from facebook to twitter the users’ mobilization is constantly increasing. Moreover, Anonymous Italy and Lulzsec Italy, two hackers groups united in fighting the measure, started the “Operation Italian Internet Freedom” attacking the AGCOM web site. The two hackers groups asked everybody to join the protest and fight for the right of a free and impartial web. The Authority’s web site is currently not accessible as a consequence of the hackers’ attacks.

Meanwhile, another web site committed in the no censorship campaign www.sitononraggiungibile.it has been victim of a hacker attack. At risk the data and the email addresses of the people who signed a petition against the AGCOM measure through the web site. It seems a real no holds barred war on the web.

In the opinion of many experts and jurists the measure is a threat for the freedom of the web and it should be rejected.The web represents an actual source of freedom and democracy, how is it possible for a democratic country to put into effects a measure like this?

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The center-right government launched a financial plan aimed at increasing tax revenues and lowering the spending by introducing a set of measures, some of which are not very clear yet. This plan has passed as decree but, as required by the legislative procedure, it has to be approved by the parliament within the next 60 days in order to become law.

In view of the parliament vote, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sought the opposition support, aware of his coalition’s majority weakening and of the strong tensions which inflame the parliament over the austerity measures. “There is a need for unity in defense of our common currency,” said Berlusconi during a press conference. Nevertheless, the opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani described the financial plan as a “time-bomb”.

As the Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti explained, the new austerity package consists of a set of cuts in various sectors in order to increase the revenues. The major aim is to reduce the public spending of government, both at central and local level, and to stabilize the country’s finance – as the European Union required. Only few details have been provided in regard to the actual extent of the cuts and the other measures which were confirmed in the latest version of the financial plan approved by the cabinet.

It seems that will be the public health service the most affected by the austerity measures. The estimated cuts in this sector will be heavy and the cost of public medical services will increase, in order to avoid the waste. In most of the public sectors the labour turnover will be stopped until 2014, as also the wage rise for public employees. The retirement age for women will be gradually increased from 2012. Furthermore, a special commission will be established to develop a plan to reduce the politician’s salaries and benefits, which will come into force from 2014 – with the next government – and will bring the Italian politicians’ compensation in line with the European Union’s average.

“Reducing the budget deficit is not just about numbers, it is a political and ethical objective of a country,” said Tremonti in a press conference. “It is reflected in choices of responsibilities between citizens and generations.”

Italy’s public debt is about 120% of its gross domestic product, which is one of the highest in the world and it’s second only to Greece in the eurozone. Because of this the country is under the particular observation of the rating’s agencies and the European Union. Recently Standard & Poor’s downgraded Italy from stable to negative, and doesn’t consider the new austerity package enough for the growth of the country – which was just 0.1% in the first quarter of the year.

Oppositions and some economist criticized the government’s financial plan particularly worried for the current situation of the country. In the meanwhile, the national institute of statistic (ISTAT) published the latest survey’s result about unemployment rate in Italy, which is currently at 8.6%. For young people between 15 and 24 the unemployment is at 29.6% – the highest level since 2004 -, and the rate of inactivity is at 37.8%. Italy and its people have to face a very difficult situation.

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For the first time in Italy next Sunday will be officially celebrated a gay marriage between two homosexual men.

Ciro Celsi, a forty-two years old architect, and Guido Lanza, a sixty-two former computer programmer, both Protestants, will get married in the Waldensian Evangelic Church of Milan. This is a Protestant Reformed Church based mostly in Northern Italy, which has active congregations also in Argentina, Uruguay, United States and other European countries, which were all founded by Italian immigrants.

Waldensians support the LGBT community and encourage the homosexual couples’ blessing. Their commitment for the gay issue and the struggle against homophobia has been always strong. Last year the Waldensian Synod also approved gay couples, making possible in this way the union between people of the same sex.

As other Protestants, the Waldensians don’t recognize the marriage as a sacrament, but only as an official blessing for couples who want to obtain the recognition of their love by their Church. “Waldensians don’t intend to consecrate homosexuality; we just take note of a mutual and reliable bond. It is a wonderful thing. I’m scandalized by the hypocrisy and by the sour spirit of those who use the Holy Scriptures to discriminate and offend,” said the Milan Minister Giuseppe Platone. “Ciro and Guido are not demanding their right to be respected, this would be the State’s duty, but to show their love’s gift,” he added.

And about the Italian law he said: “I’m indignant for the juridical lack on this matter, when for example in a Catholic country as Spain it is also possible the marriage between homosexual people. It’s shameful that a country as Italy is not able to respect the rights of all, of all the people who love each other. The Waldensian Church is not Las Vegas, it’s not a marriage bureau, it asks to God”. “Our choice doesn’t have any juridical value; it’s just an act of faith, a moral commitment”.

Besides the homosexuality issue, the Waldensian Church is involved also in debates regarding other issues as euthanasia, abortion, living will, and stem cell research. Waldensians strongly support the total and complete laity of the state, an objective difficult to achieve in a country as Italy, which is still heavily influenced by the Catholic Church also in its juridical decisions.

Next Sunday’s gay marriage won’t be official but a good sign of respect for people and their love. Why in the 21st century religion is still so strong to influence countries’ legislation and lay societies?

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Brazil Supreme Court decision to reject extradition for the Italian ex terrorist Cesare Battisti could have heavy consequences on diplomatic relations between Italy and Brazil.

The sentence passed by the Brazilian Court just confirmed the decision of December 2010 of the former President Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva, who announced on his last effective day as president his refusal to extradite Battisti.

Franco Frattini, Italy’s foreign minister, has defined the sentence of release shameful, and he said it was like “a slap in the face of the whole democratic world that fights terrorism”. The fist reaction of Italy was the recall of its ambassador in Brasilia Gherardo La Francesca, to discuss and study in depth the judicial bilateral agreements between the two countries, and to decide the steps to take to reverse the decision.

“What we have failed to achieve through the national judicial route we can achieve through the international judicial route,” declared the Foreign Minister announcing Italy’s intention to appeal to The Hague International Court of Justice. Also Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, and other Italian officials and politicians, condemned and criticized the Brazilian Supreme Court decision.

Brazilian former President Lula da Silva, cancelled his official visit to Italy this week, to avoid possible protests and disorders. During the Beach Volley World Championship, which is now taking place in Italy, a group of Italian protesters threw oranges at the Brazilian national team players, as a sign of disappointment for the decision on Battisti’s case.

Cesare Battisti, member of the Italian far-left militant group, Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC) during the turbulent period of the so-called “anni di piombo” (years of lead), has been convicted of four murders committed in the ‘70s and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Italian Court. He escaped from Italy in 1981, after the first sentence for participation in armed group, first to France and later to Mexico, where he devoted himself to the writer activity. He returned to France in 1990 where he spent several years as a free man until 2004, when after the French government decided to arrest him and extradite him, he escaped to Brazil. There he was arrested in 2007, and in 2009 Brazilian government granted him the status of political refugee, until their final decision and subsequent release on 9^th of June.

During all the years he was in hiding, Battisti always denied having committed any of the murders he was charged with. His defending counsels challenge the decision of the Italian Court, asserting that there isn’t any proof of Battisti’s guilt, and that the sentence was based only on the declarations of Pietro Mutti, a militant of PAC who accused his fellow PAC member in order to obtain a penalty reduction for himself. Many intellectuals, writers, journalists, politicians and NGOs’ representatives in several countries supported and still support Cesare Battisti.

On the contrary, the relatives of the victims and some politicians in Italy now express outrage and push to reverse the decision of the Brazilian Court. Meanwhile in Rome the protests goes on; vice-minister of transports Roberto Castelli, refused to sign the air transports bilateral agreement with Brazil, as “a sign of protest towards a country which showed no respect for Italy,” he said.

The relations between the two countries seem to be deteriorating more and more as a result of the Battisti Case’s conclusion.

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Farid al-Ghadry, President of the Reform Party of Syria, the opposition party which is based in United States, visited Italy and participated to a international meeting to discuss the situation is Syria and in the Middle-East area.

Ghadry met the Italian President of Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini in occasion of a press conference, organized by the Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Commission Fiamma Nirenstein, in which the Reform Party President was the main guest.

He asked Italy to cut its diplomatic relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but to keep the relations with Syria. “Europe should vote for a humanitarian resolution in support of Syrian people,” he said. “We have to stop atrocities and violence against women, children and men tortured by Assad’s forces.”

“The regime is not able to survive to this revolution, we have just to speed up the fall. For this reason we don’t want external military intervention in the country. We ask Europe to go on pressing on Assad’s regime in order to create the conditions for a military coup d’état within the country, which could free Syria”, added the reformist leader.

He asserts that “The fall of the regime will be the beginning of a new season for the relations with Israeli, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, but especially could push also for a change in Iran,” referring to the so-called “domino effect”.

Italy expressed its support to Syria and its commitment for the Syrian cause and its democratic aspirations. Ghadry, sincerely moved by the Italian support and solidarity, thanked Italy and the politicians who welcomed him and organized the conference, in which many crucial points about the Syrian repression and the situation in many of the Middle-Eastern countries were discussed.

Farid al-Ghadry currently lives in United States where he emigrated in 1964 with his parents, but he was born in Aleppo, Syria. His Syrian citizenship was revoked by President Assad in 2007 after visiting Israel’s Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He founded the Reform Party of Syria in US, gathering Syrians who are living in America and other countries.

Syrian government doesn’t allow the formation of opposition parties, and doesn’t recognize the Reform Party as representative of Syrians. Political opponents as Ghadry are obliged to choose exile.

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After all the boycott attempts made by the Italian government and especially by the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his party, the 57% of Italian people went to vote for the four referendums last Sunday and Monday.

More than 29 millions of Italians went to the polls and 95% of them said no to the return to nuclear energy, no to privatization of public water and no to parliamentary immunity law.

These results are very important both for the future of the country and for the political sign given by the electors to the government. Italian people rejected all the programs and the laws introduced by Berlusconi and his parliamentary majority, giving another slap in the face to the Prime Minister and the government just after the heavy defeat of the local elections of May.

In spite of the numerous abstention requests made by Berlusconi and his party, the electors – also the right-wing ones – expressed their democratic will on the four fundamental questions of the referendum, ruining the government’s plans.

The need of change and the frustration of the Italian people were stronger than the boycott campaign carried out by the government by any means. The appeals to the courts for the referendums to be declared invalid and illegal and the sabotage of the television information turned out completely vain and useless.

Italians sent another strong signal to Berlusconi and the ruling class. It is clear that the distance between people and government is getting wider every day, and that the country has the will to change and want to express its disapproval of the disastrous policy of the government.

Also from a political perspective the results of the referendums are very important. The right-wing governmental coalition seems to be giving way after the defeats suffered in the last weeks. Northern League – the second party of the majority – expressed its discontent in regard to Berlusconi’s policy and his party’s line. Moreover, many Northern League exponents have publicly opposed Berlusconi’s program in occasion of the referendums’ campaign.

It remains to be seen which will be the choices of the government in the matter of energy, the country needs an energy plan but we don’t know yet what will be chosen as “substitute” to Berlusconi’s dearly beloved nuclear plants.

Anyway, for the second time in 24 years, Italy says no to nuclear energy – the first referendum had been held in 1987 – and for at least the next five years the country won’t start any atomic plan.

About the questions on privatization of water, Italians decided to keep the service public as it has been until now, confirming the value of water as a fundamental public good.

The other question was about legitimate impediment law which, if not rejected by electors, would have warranted the parliamentary immunity to the Prime Minister and the other ministers, saving Berlusconi from his numerous trials – four at the moment.

Thus, a terrible blow for the Premier and his government, and a strong signal by the people that there is a need for democracy and change.

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Pope Benedict XVI has closed down a historic monastery in Rome after a Vatican investigation revealed “liturgical and financial irregularities.”

The monastery was attached to the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which was built in 320 AD to house sacred relics brought back from the Holy Land by the mother of Emperor Constantine I.  Its former abbot, Father Simone Fioraso, is credited with raising its profile through a number of outreach initiatives.  Fioraso had been a fashion designer prior to taking his vows and he quickly gained a reputation for flamboyance.  In addition to renovating Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Fioraso and the monks also opened a hotel and began a regular concert series.  The monastery quickly became popular with celebrities, including Madonna and Gloria Estefan.

In 2009, the monastery invited Sister Anna Nobili, a former nightclub dancer who had become a nun, to perform her “holy dance” at once of their concerts.  Nobili’s dance routine involved lying spread-eagled in front of the altar while clutching a crucifix and gyrating in a manner reminiscent of a pole dancing routine.  Nobili said that her unorthodox behavior was a form of prayer, telling La Repubblica at the time that “I dance for God and I’m happy. All my choreography is dedicated to Him. My aim is to pray using my body.”

That same year it was alleged that organic food sold in the monastery gift shop was actually taken from the shelves of local supermarkets.

Abbot Fioraso was removed from his post in 2009, but the monastery’s woes have continued.  Recently, the Pope ordered an ‘apostolic visitation’ of the monastery in his capacity as Bishop of Rome.  The results of the investigation were transmitted to the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Pope ultimately decided to dissolve the monastery.  The reasoning behind the unusual decision has not been released, though Vatican spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini said that “their lifestyles were not in keeping with what one would expect of monks.”

The twenty Cistercian monks who live in the monastery will be transferred to other monasteries around Italy.

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Current TV landed in Italy in May 2008 on channel 130 of Sky Italia platform, with the purpose of representing an alternative global network of independent information.

Italy is the first non English-speaking country where this channel has been launched, and it constitutes an actual alternative in the Italian scenario where media, especially television, can’t be defined really free and independent and the information’s flow is subjected to a strong conditioning.

Some weeks ago Sky Italia announced the intention of dropping Current TV in consequence of the decision taken in New York by News Corporation, the Rupert Murdoch’s company which owns Sky Italia. This decision was a “complete shock” for Al Gore, the co-founder and the chairman of Current.

After he had got the news he travelled to Italy to react and start a campaign in support of Current. He invited all the Italian Sky’s subscribers and Current viewers to press for the revocation of the measure in the name of independent and free information’s right. He also participated to Annozero, the political talk show conducted by Michele Santoro, an Italian journalist and anchorman who had been hosted by Current in 2010 for the program “Raiperunanotte” in reply to the interruption and the ban of the Italian public service broadcaster’s political talk shows imposed by the government in occasion of the regional elections.

“In this time of rapid political, economic and social transition, the future of healthy democracies depends on independent journalism that is untethered and unafraid. We at Current have dedicated our international media platform to unleash truth tellers, and there is no more critical time for truth telling than in Italy right now,” said Al Gore. “I came to Italy to personally ask Current’s loyal viewers here to tell Sky they want to keep Current.”

Gore upholds that the sudden decision of Sky Italia is due to a real abuse of power from News Corporation, and the reasons are totally political. The first point regards the discontent of Murdoch about the decision of Current to hire Keith Olbermann, a US leftwing journalist considered rather troublesome who has often been clearly critical of News Corporation.

A second point regards the “rapprochement” between Rupert Murdoch and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, “Sky Italia is in the midst of negotiations to enter the digital terrestrial television market and they need Berlusconi’s support,” said Gore.

Current TV has been often critical of Berlusconi and his government and it also broadcasted the documentary produced by PBS “Citizen Berlusconi” about his media’s empire and the conflict of interests, which had never been broadcasted in Italy.

News Corp and Sky Italia excuse their decision through only commercial motivations.

“The non-renewal of Current TV’s carriage agreement with Sky Italia is purely commercial. Current TV asked Sky Italia for double the carriage fee when prime-time viewing had fallen by 40% in the past year. Sky Italia’s offer was in line with the market and reflected the performance of the channel. It had nothing to do with politics”, told a News Corporation spokesman.

However the contradictions of the reasons of News Corp seem to be many and many are the unclear and discordant points especially in regard of the resolution of the contract, the offers of negotiation for a renewal and the data about the audience rating.

For sure the loss of Current TV in Italy would represent also the loss of a channel of independent, not partisan nor influenced information, which is rather uncommon in this country.

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The local elections’ second ballot in Italy confirmed the victory of the left-wing coalition in most of the cities and towns called to vote. Since the first round the voters’ trend has been very clear. Many of the strongholds of Silvio Berlusconi and his right-wing party Pdl fell into the hands of the opposition party, embittering strongly the clash between the parties.

The hottest challenges were those of Milan and Naples concluded both at the second ballot with a crushing victory of the Left – Milan 55.1% and Naples 65.4% -. The first is Berlusconi’s home and has been ruled by the Right during the last 20 years, the second was considered as his ” tour de force” in regard of the infinite empty promises he made both during the electoral campaign in 2008 and these 3 years of his government.

Over the last weeks of electoral campaign, fought as a real war with no holds barred, Italians have been witnesses to a set of incredible tricks and events as slanders, fake assaults, electoral posters disparaging and libelous, attempts of votes’ sale, clashes between supporters, tension, and much more.

Berlusconi characterized these elections as a personal struggle against the Left and his supporters. As usual he used unfortunate appellations in referring to his opponents and their supporters, for example, communist, terrorist, extremist, and brainless. He also tried to hit them pushing on subjects as Islam, gypsies, homosexuality, criminality, communism and immorality.

The candidates of his party accused their adversaries during TV shows or through the media of having committed objectionable or criminal acts, of being tied to criminals, Muslims, or Romani groups, inciting indirectly to racism, intolerance, and fanaticism, and also trying to strike terror into people.

This wrong strategy contributed in leading to this heavy defeat. Italians have the will to change and have gotten to a saturation point maybe. The results of these local elections are a clear sign of a need of alternative, a sign of general weariness and of mistrust towards a ruling party and their leaders who has failed on all fronts, and who is very far away from the problems of the country and the people.

The Left celebrates this victory proud of the crushing defeat inflicted to Berlusconi. After a long absence of an actual opposition and of an alternative, the left-wing coalition seems to be gaining ground and to be reconstructing a strong political group with the support of new parties as SEL, Nichi Vendola’s party which many of the new mayors elected belong to, as for example the mayor of Milan Giuliano Pisapia.

In Naples the election of the ex-magistrate Luigi De Magistris has a great symbolic value in reference to the justice theme and the attacks of Berlusconi to magistracy.

The geography of Italy has changed, from North to South a high percentage of local administrations are in the Left’s hands now, but the country is still ruled by Berlusconi and his coalition. He has a strong majority which enables him to operate over important political and economic questions.

In spite of scandals, strong clashes between institutions, laws and personal abuse of power, and conflict of interest over the last 17 years Berlusconi has been elected four times as Prime Minister and has deeply changed Italian politics and the structure of the country. Has he had his day?  It is yet to be seen.

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The leaders of the major world’s economies gathered in Deauville, France, in occasion of the annual G8 summit. Besides Nicolas Sarkozy, French President and also President of the G8 for 2011, the leaders of Canada, Japan, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, Italy and European Union met to debate important and crucial world’s issues.

The summit was going to start when the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took the opportunity to approach the U.S. President Barack Obama to have a chat with him. Mister Berlusconi had clearly the intention to carve out a niche for himself to have an informal and apparently confidential talk with the world’s most powerful man.

He made a quick move and, right after the U.S. President’s entry, he rushed to the other side of the summit’s table approaching suddenly Mister Obama in a friendly way, then he started talking to him. Taking advantage of the presence of his interpreter the Italian Prime Minister, who doesn’t speak English fluently, condensed his message to the U.S. President in a few sentences.

The chat between the two leaders was shot by the reporters who were at the summit, and Berlusconi’s words started spreading quickly all around the world.

“How are you?” began Berlusconi, “We have a new majority,” he continued, “We have introduced the justice reform which is fundamental for us, because in Italy at the moment we have almost a left-wing judges’ dictatorship. I have been acquitted 31 times” Barack Obama listened and nodded, meanwhile the other leaders were seated down at table waiting to start the summit. The talk ended and Obama and Berlusconi shook hands one another.

This was just another “exploit” of the Italian Prime Minister, who is in the habit of coming out with particular poses or funny expressions. It is clear that for Berlusconi the constant attacks to the Italian magistracy at national level are not enough, he needs to broaden them also at international level.

He has been always arguing that his judicial problems are due only to the doggedness of Italian judges, defined as communist, left-wing, and even terrorist. The institutional clash between Prime Minister and the magistracy is very strong, and it gets worse everyday. Berlusconi is being fighting a real war both on the media as on the streets, by any means, with videos, conferences, posters, public accusations and so on.

The justice reform introduced by Berlusconi’s government would be the solution to all his judicial problems, and would reduce strongly the magistracy’s powers. For this reason the Italian parliament deals almost only with this question, leaving out all the other national issues, and trying to constantly increase the government majority in order to have the right number of votes to pass the reform.

Therefore, the country is stuck in a situation of political paralysis and is being affected by a serious instability. The institutional clashes multiply and the people look in astonishment at their country’s mess.

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Naples is an ancient city in Italy, one of the oldest in the world, famous for its history, its beauties, its art and its gastronomical specialities. Born as a Greek colony 2,800 years ago during its all history was the scene of many events that left their mark , characterizing the Italian history playing an important role in promoting the unification of the country and the Italian culture spread all over the world.

The beautiful gulf, the view of the volcano Vesuvius, the architectural and artistic treasures are the characteristics that make Naples the wonderful city that Italians know and foreigners dream.

Its historical center, which is the largest of Europe, has been listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995 thanks to its immense artistic and cultural value.

Nowadays all these beauties are in a real grip of garbage. The latest news reported that currently almost 2,000 tons of garbage lie on the streets of the city.

Residents say the smell is unbearable. In many cases it is even difficult for them going out from their houses because the waste bags are left outside the doors and sometime the piles reach the windows of buildings first floors.

A situation almost unimaginable in a big city of a Western European country, but that for Naples residents is the sad and not new reality.

In fact the garbage issue is a recurring issue for Naples. Since the middle of 1990 the city and its surroundings have suffered from waste management problems. The incapacity of the local administration and the infiltration of the Camorra – the local mafia organization that import waste from all over Europe – in the municipal garbage disposal business have led to the strong crisis which broke out in 2008, and still weigh heavily on this area.

The solution of the crisis promised by the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi since starting his mandate – that was also the point on which he built up his electoral campaign – didn’t solve the problem.

The center of the city and some other area were cleaned, but this situation of apparent calm lasted just for a while. In 2010 the government proposed to open new landfills in the region to face the problem – for example inside the Vesuvius National Park – but in the residents of the designed areas tried to block this action.

Cashes with the police, garbage trucks blocked by people stuck in the middle of the streets, rubbish skip committed to the flames, real scenes of urban guerrilla warfare that made Naples famous all over the world not for its beauties but for its garbage.

Until now all the government’s measures turned out totally useless and definitely not appropriate, and the emergency goes on.

Meanwhile the worries about the population’s health rise. Leukemia, throat cancer, and respiratory illnesses rates are higher day after day due to air and water pollution. A very high price to pay for the residents which watch with impotence the decay of their city and risk to compromise their state of health.

There is still a possibility for Naples to be free from the garbage and to be famous just for its beauties again?

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During the initial international military operation in Libya, the coalition forces engaged in operation Odyssey Dawn between March 19-31. However, the operation was essentially a code word for actions of war disguised as humanitarian aid. The allied forces collaborated against Muammar Gaddafi on their mission of ‘liberation’ to save the people of Libya from their ‘bloodthirsty’ oppressor, forgetting that for several years they had a civil relationship and strong political and financial bonds with the very same man.

At the beginning, NATO’s participation and exactly who was going to be heading the mission, was a mystery. However, within a few days, France’s PM Nicola Sarkozy, took the lead in this operation. “Sarkozy likes nothing better than a crisis, a fight and a gamble,” said Financial Times columnist Peggy Hollinger. “With his approval ratings at an all-time low, this Libyan intervention could be just what he needs to revive his faltering popularity at home.” However, without the firepower of the United States in the form of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles and aircraft carrier based aircraft, nothing would have been achieved. For the U.S., Odyssey Dawn was a coming out party for America’s newest military formation, African Command (Africom). It is no accident that at the very moment that African oil reserves are becoming a major source for the United States, Washington should create a military formation for the continent. It is very important to keep in mind that the control of energy resources is always central to U.S. strategy, and with world reserves declining, the scramble to hold the petroleum high ground is always part of the agenda.

The big argument for the operation leadership was between France and England, while the Americans made their involvement obvious via missiles but reiterated that they did not intend to deploy any soldier into Libya. Washington, Paris, and London concluded that Muammar Gaddafi is not a target himself, even though his palace in Tripoli had been under attack. A missile also landed just 50 meters away of the famous tent that he used to welcome the foreign leaders in.

The types and numbers of forces against Gaddafi were massive. France, Britain, United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Qatar and United Arab Emirates comprised an undefeatable opponent against Gaddafi’s forces.

I’m wondering, what kind of humanitarian mission consists of fighting as well as spying aircrafts, aircraft carriers, submarines, battle cruisers, tankers, and a rain of missiles?

On the other hand, regarding Libyan forces, colonel Gaddafi is considered to have a personal army consisting of thousands of members, much more than a   simple army. However, we cannot be sure how many of them have defected so far. They have tanks, aircrafts, armed and armored vehicles for transportation, submarines, armed ships, and picket boats at their disposal. Although, many of them are either destroyed or useless.

Is this another war for oil? We all know the scenario and the answer is probably affirmative. Curiosity, somehow wouldn’t let me rest, and after a little research a dilemma suddenly appeared – Was the Libyan war being pursued for  obtaining black gold or for water?

One conspiracy theory, called New World Order (NWO), seems to suggest a link. Between the lines, since the beginning of the past century, oil magnates created a cartel to take control of all oil reserves around the planet, as well as  take some of them out of production. Nevertheless, some years ago the NWO conspirators reached the conclusion that very soon oil would be replaced as the Earth’s most valuable resource by another, less suspected one. Instead,  that valuable resources will be pure, sweet drinking water. Of course, water is an abundant resource with enough on this planet to satisfy the needs of many times the current levels of population. But, exactly as they did with oil, another abundant resource, they plan to make drinking water artificially scarce by having control over its main sources.

So, why Libya?  In late 1983, Qaddafi created the Great Man-Made River Authority. The job of the authority was to take water from the aquifers in the south, and bring it in the most efficient and economic way to the Libyan coastal belt. In 1996, the Great Man-Made River Project, reached one of its final stages, and a huge amount of sweet, unpolluted water began reaching the homes and gardens of the citizens of Libya’s capital Tripoli. The rest I leave to you.

I do not assume that all these are necessarily truth, but I believe it is important to have as much information as possible so we can make up our minds more accurately.

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The face of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi became the image for the new campaign of the German public television networks ARD and ZDF, promoting the freedom and the independence of the media.

Next to the image of the smiling Italian Premier appears the slogan “Democracy is only as strong as its media”. Simple and clear the recall to the Italian “special situation” regarding media freedom and the concentration of powers in the Prime Minister’s hands.

Mr Berlusconi is the owner of Mediaset, the largest broadcast media group in Italy, but that’s not all. He is also the main Italian publisher because he owns the publishing house Mondadori, which controls the 50 per cent of the books market and a very large share of that of magazine too. Moreover his family is the owner of the newspaper Il Giornale, that constantly expresses support to him and to his political party.

Being the Prime Minister, the head of the government, he also exerts a strong influence over the public television RAI, that has always been characterized by a historical politicization and conditioning from the government and the political parties.

During his various legislatures since 1994 – the current is the forth – were passed numerous laws which favoured Mr Berlusconi and his family’s enterprises also in the regulations of the media sector.

The particular situation of Italy in matter of media freedom is an actual anomaly. The conflict of interest of the Prime Minister, the concentration of the media, the strong political control of the governments alternatively in charge over the broadcasting service are the peculiarities of this anomaly.

Since 2004 Freedom House in reporting its results of an analysis about freedom of press and information in the world’s countries, defined Italy as “partly free” according to its position in the rank scale. 2010 results see Italy at 75 position, just before Bulgaria and Namibia, still defining it as partly free.

Many international institutions and organization – as “Special Rapporteur” of UN, OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, International Press Institute, Council of Europe, EFJ International Federation of Journalists, OSI Open Society Institute, IHF International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights – expressed their concern on the Italian situation of independence and freedom of media.

The OSCE reported about the conflict of interest: “In a democracy, it is incompatible to be both in command of news media and to hold a public post”.

On the same issue the International Press Institute “Italy has a special place in Europe with regard to freedom of the media because in no European country does the prime minister, the head of the government, who is the politician that can exert the most power over the state media, own most of the other broadcasting media, and many of the print media”.

The European Commission gave notice also of “the imbalance between press and television, that absorbs the 60 per cent of the overall mass media advertising spending; the substantial monopoly of privately-owned television, with Mediaset that continues to show a significant increase in income and revenues every year, thanks to the “dragging effect” of the “Berlusconi-Prime Minister” factor.

The problems of the Italian style democracy in the media sector – and in other fields as well – are well-known, but been an insider the consciousness of a real lack of independence in the media is stronger than out of the country.

Just who is used to watch the various TV channels can feel the difference between them and their way to supply information. The same news can sound very different from channel to channel according to their political tendency or their ownership. Even the images can be totally conflicting. Television and press are clearly politicized. The “inconvenient news” for the ruling class and its head is opportunely avoided or disguised by the main channels and newspapers.

Only the opposition gives a wider view of the facts, but also in those channels and newspapers – which are not as influential as the others – is the political tendency or the membership to a political party that influence the news. Journalism is always political in Italy, in a way or another.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister’s image is being used in another country as a negative figure to promote the freedom of media, Italians have to face this sad reality – mostly unawares – which sounds very far from the Western democratic world.

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The Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s controversial film, Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) is probably one of the most striking films ever with its several disturbing sexual and violent imagery. The film is based on 18th century French libertine Marquis de Sade’s book, The 120 Days of Sodom. The book is about 4 libertines holding up several slaves for 4 months in a castle in order to experience the sexual gratification without boundaries which contains sado-masochistic attitudes. Pasolini, transposes the book to Mussolini’s Italy in 1944. Therefore Sade’s libertine novel becomes an extreme critique of fascism and leads the audience to think about the problem of evil.

The movie consists of four parts: Anti inferno, the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit and the Circle of Blood. In Anti inferno we see the kidnapped men and women taken to a palace and four powerful men, the Duke, the Bishop, the Magistrate and the President chooses 18 of them (9 of each sex) as their victims. The victims are basically for this 4 men to give them pleasure by any means. There is no hope for escape, no freedom, no laws, no morality, no nothing for victims, all promised is death in the end. Victims are definitely forbidden to attend any kind of religious behavior and sexual intercourse with each other. Thus we clearly see how individuality is completely erased by once being defined as a victim.

The sexuality in the film is without any kind of intimacy and eroticism, only based on 4 fascist’s sexual desires. The degradation of human as a whole and using the human body only as a mediation of pleasure are quite disturbing and since there are no boundaries, the audience has to bear literally intolerable scenes of rape, torture, blood, eating feces, etc. throughout the film.

The extreme imagery of the film points out how far human can go when he holds the power or in other words when violence is legitimate. But the striking part of this film is that Pasolini is not just focusing on the power holder while criticizing fascism. He approaches to the issue from the other side as well, by pointing out victim’s “immoral” behavior when they have the chance to save themselves. So the film evokes the questions such as, is anything acceptable when one’s own being is under threat, namely in times of crisis? Does the victim has the right to do anything when he has the chance to save his own life? Where does the border appear between being the fascist and the victim?

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom is an intense film focusing on the problem of evil and fascism, though it is hard to watch. But maybe just because it is shocking, it is a must-see film.

There is one last thing to draw attention. Ironically, a short time after the release of Salo, Pasolini was murdered by being run over several times with his own car on November 2, 1975. It is notable that one day before his death, Furio Colombo interviewed with him and the title of the interview was “We Are All In Danger”.

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This year Italy lands at Tribeca Film Festival of New York with the movie “A quiet life” – in Italian “Una vita tranquilla” – directed by Claudio Cupellini.

This movie come out in Italy in November 2010 and took part in the International Film Festival of Rome. At Tribeca Festival it was presented at the spotlight section and it was welcomed with the audience’s applause.

Rosario Russo is an Italian man immigrated to Germany, he lives in a small and quiet town with his German young wife Renate and his son Mathias. He owns a restaurant and hotel in a rural area leading a simple life and enjoying his fellow villagers’ esteem.

One day the arrival of two young Italian man from Naples , on a secret mission for a settling of scores, stirs his quiet life and his past emerges all in one go. Since that moment two lives, two faces and two worlds interlace for Rosario. His old and real identity comes back and he starts to be in torment with it.

For him past means camorra, and camorra, as it is shown in the movie, doesn’t stick in Naples, but goes beyond the Italian borders without losing its power and its rules.

The immigration of Rosario Russo to Germany is in fact the escape from a certain death of the camorrist Antonio Di Martino, whom left his first wife and son in Naples to take refuge abroad under false pretences.

A tangled mix between ties with past, family and camorra which leads to a short circuit of violence, pain and love developed with a slow and suspenseful rhythm.

The action has a minor importance in comparison with the characters, which being explored and studied, are the actual focus of the story. The antihero figure of Rosario, interpreted by Toni Servillo – the actor of Gomorrah and Il Divo -, plays a central role especially for his inner conflicts and his fixation for preserving the future and cheat the death.

This crime-drama movie, structured as a thriller, digs into an individual man’s soul to make emerge the two scourges that afflict Naples: camorra and garbage, which are indissolubly tied.

The linguistics choices are very careful, the alternation between Italian and German is useful to achieve the effect of separation among Rosario’s two worlds and two faces. Also the choice of the regional Napolitani marked Italian – perceptible by Italian native or high level speakers – appears to be appropriated for creating a sense of reality.

Director Claudio Cupellini makes sophisticated and careful choices succeeding in constructing a net of symbols, fine metaphors, significances and correspondences with a brilliant result in terms of a realistic representation of the human being and the world.

Toni Servillo’s performance is excellent in conveying Rosario’s strong inner conflicts, managing to express the constant tension between his double personality and double feelings, highlighting the discrepancy of the two different lives and the true human nature which broods over fear, individualism and violence.

Another Italian crime movie masterpiece.

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“Being a Toonarian has made me learn and allows me to achieve my own goals – making me experience new things and allowing me to discover inner strengths that I have. You feel small, and then you start feeling bigger, you feel valuable”

This Toonarian was born and raised in Sardinia, Italy. Since she started this adventurous journey she has learned a lot. Francesca has always lived in Sardinia, but this has not limited her dreams of going abroad. On two occasions she went to Hungary. She did her Erasmus for one semester in Budapest. She likes to experience new cultures, and live through new things. She says: ” I never feel I have just one home”. She explains her desire to leave a small universe for a bigger one; “I love my small universe of course, but I know that I have too many limitations here. I’m always looking outside, to go to a bigger universe.”

As any other young person, she had a dream. “I was fascinated by the idea of being a journalist, I had to see how it would go, since it is not easy to find a job in this area.” She started searching for an internship abroad, checking several websites, created a profile where the companies could see her curriculum. She recalls signing up for Europlacement.com and after two months, and unexpected email surprised her, welcoming her into an internship.

She noticed that the internship was located in United States, but soon realized that this was not an ordinary internship. It was going to be a virtual experience. Francesca thought at this moment, “Everything just sounded so new I have never heard of this kind of internship online”

“When I explained to my friends and family about the new internship I had found everyone was surprise. They asked me questions but I wasn’t sure how to answer since the experience was pretty new to me too, and I didn’t know all the incredible things you are able to do. The first thing that came to my mind was just to tell that it was cool since you talked to your colleagues, learn and work at home. This actually seemed less interesting but it turned out to be the great thing about our internship. That it’s not possible to put it into words because it offers something else that you only experience by being part of it.

Once she started, she recalls despite being full of excitement, she was also nervous since she didn’t know exactly how it was going to develop. Especially because this is not exactly how one would picture the first day of work. Actually, you will meet and talk to people, but not physically. Once the meeting started she realized something amazing, “the first training, it wasn’t like a regular lesson where you write down things and are assigned work, but it was more open. The interns could actually exchange their ideas, learn new things, and learn to create their projects with their own suggestions.”

“At the beginning, Toonari Post was about to be launched. We were assigned to write a lot of articles. I was like ‘O.M.G! I have to do a lot of things in such a small period of time’. I thought I have to do my best because it was at the start. I was a bit nervous but now I feel more comfortable and I trust myself more because I found myself achieving things that brought me inner satisfactions and made me proud.”

The internship surprised her in a way that helped discover inner talents and taste of different fields. She explained that having her article published on the website the first time was a very enriching feeling. “It was so strange – I believed I could do it, but I had never actually tried. When I started I said ‘okay I will try, but it is hard to come up with the most important thing that I should write’. But mainly just trying to be clear, putting altogether the ideas and hoping that people can actually understand what I really mean”.

She asked for her friends’ opinion, in order to make sure that her article was understandable. “After the first, second and third article you see the audience that likes or criticizes what you wrote, and this is the main thing that brings me motivation to keep going, and writing.

Regarding the English language, the explains what it is like to come from Italy. “At the University I don’t write in English that often, mostly just for the exams. But as part of this internship, language is another field that it includes for me, and it helps me learn and practice the English language. I can learn about languages, journalism and communication all at the same time!”

“It is not so easy to find a job that you really like. And that makes you happy. The best part of it is the relationships we are building between us. Because of the great work atmosphere, relations between your colleagues and your boss go hand in hand.”

The virtual element is a different way of working.” We’ve never seen each other; we don’t have the visual impact that often can generate different perceptions. When you meet a person, of course you judge their physical appearance and even if you don’t want to, you do it. We know each other through conversation, expressing our ideas, and collaborating. Therefore, we can truly express ourselves from our insides, leaving apart physical judgments.”

“I think we should explain to new interns, that you really create something through your work and effort. And when you see the results, you think ‘I did it! It is my job!’. You really feel it is something of yours! When you start, you don’t have any idea if you would like it or not, but if you stay, you find in yourself the right things, discover the field you like to work on. You make connections, and you even learn how to create these connections. Maybe you think that a small topic about a small event can be indifferent, but then you understand that if you take this small thing and you connect it with a bigger thing it becomes a global thing.”

Also, the international aspect is something that has grabbed her attention. “Since we are all international, this is a way of exploring, maybe even more depths of a person coming from the other side of the world, than from a person that lives next to you. It is a good opportunity to learn, by exchanging opinions, ideas, and points of view. You learn what people think and how they share things in common. You compare, and understand certain cultural differences and mentality that probably you could have never get to experience without living your country.

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It has been a rough year for animals so far, particularly birds and fish.  There have been countless massive and unexplained animal deaths since the year began.  Even some with official explanations still seem questionable.

The New Year began ominously with 5,000 blackbirds literally falling out of the sky is Beebe, Arkansas.  Officials have concluded that fireworks were probably to blame for scaring the birds and causing them to fly into each other and other objects.  But, fireworks are launched at least two times a year in most communities and such a large number of bird deaths are extremely rare.  Following that, it was difficult to keep up with the dying birds.  Large numbers of birds were found dead in Sweden, Italy, Louisiana, Kentucky, and California.   Even just last week, 200 geese in Ohio have died and many more are sick.  Officials have offered a number of explanations for the bird deaths although nothing has been conclusive.  Officials also stress that these occurrences are not connected.   Are the large number of dead birds a normal thing that we have just focused on more or is it something else?

Marine life has also been dying at alarming rates.  Hundreds of thousands of fish were found dead in the Arkansas River, not far from the first bird deaths in Arkansas.  Fish were found dead in Florida, New Zealand, and Illinois.   An estimated 40,000 crabs washed ashore in England during January.  Two million fish were found dead in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.  In Brazil, millions of dead fish washed up on the beach.  Officials blame most of the deaths on cold temperatures.

More recently, some mammals have died in massive numbers.  10,000 cattle died in Vietnam and officials say that cold weather is to blame.  However, the weather wasn’t really that cold and cattle can survive in colder weather.  200 cows died in Wisconsin, but that is one animal death with a definitive answer—the poor cows ate moldy sweet potatoes.   Now, the dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are turning up dead.  Although, this probably isn’t very mysterious since millions of gallons of oil spilled there last year.  60 dolphins, many newborns, have been found dead in the last month.  Is this all just a normal cycle of nature or is it something else?

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“An ancient Mediterranean necropolis described as one of the world’s greatest historical sites is being submerged beneath cement, high rise housing and rubbish dumps, according to Italian conservationists. Tuvixeddu – which means “hills with small cavities” in the Sardinian dialect – contains thousands of Phoenician and Punic burial chambers from the 6th century BC. It has long been robbed of funerary objects but some of its tombs have retained their original paintings, including “Ureo’s Tomb”, named after a sacred serpent, and “The Warrior’s Tomb”, in which a decoration depicts a warrior throwing a spear.”

This was the beginning of an article of the English newspaper The Times in 2008. The first time that a foreign newspaper turned its eyes to the biggest and unknown Phoenician necropolis of Mediterranean Sea, in the island of Sardinia in Italy. Before that article no one out of Italy had never heard about this archaeological area in the heart of Cagliari, the regional capital town of Sardinia.

Very few people know about this place even in Italy, very few people imagine that in a small angle of a not very popular town there is a place on a hill called Tuvixeddu and that this place is an ancient and beautiful necropolis more than 2500 years old.

Unfortunately the only reason why some newspaper told the story of this place is the “modern threat” of a future that seems not to have any respect for history. It’s unbelievable but the reality is that Tuvixeddu is becoming famous just for its struggle against the threat of 260 thousand cubic meters of cement.

Some years ago a project of more than 150 millions of euros has been proposed by a famous and powerful builder, Gualtiero Cualbu that seems to be a good supporter of the current regional president in office – who is of the same party of Berlusconi and was supported by the Prime Minister for his electoral campaign in 2009 with a strong advertisement -, and also a friend of various politicians of the right wing, that currently have the power and the administration of the major institutions in the island.

This “monstrous” project, supported without delay by the right parties, consists of the building of a new and functional residential area right next to the archaeological area of Tuvixeddu.

The former president of Sardinia,Renato Soru – of the left wing party-, with the support of the cultural and ecologist association Italia Nostra and the political group Sardegna Democratica, reported and stopped the building while he was in office – until 2009 – for defending the area and the treasures which are held inside the tombs and the cavities. But in 2009, after the loss of Soru, the new local government canceled the blockage and the project could be relaunched.

Some days ago the good news, the sentence of the Council of State blocked the building, saving in this way the necropolis from the cement. The struggle of the former regional president has been won, the monster that threatened this invaluable treasure – the cement – has been defeated. In a world where the respect for the ancient times and the antiquities counts less than the business and the personal and political interests this is an important conquest.

Now our wish is that Tuvixeddu could become famous for its real value and not just for its disgraces.

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In Sardinia,an Italian island in the Mediterranean sea,there is a drilling experimental firing range called “Salto di Quirra”, located in Perdasdefogu, a small village. Since the 1st of July 1956, along a natural area of 120 square kilometers in the south-east coast of the island, various types of rockets and missiles are tested under the authority of the Italian Air Force.

This is the only firing range of Italy used for space activities, arms and means testing and military drilling for wars around the world.

It’s a small place in a small island but it hides a big and important truth. Many lambs and other animals which were born in this land have six legs or no eyes, a high rate of fetal malformations and of tumors and leukemia affect the population that lives in the villages around the firing range.

The medical research of the last ten years shows that the number of people affected by tumor disease is constantly increasing in this area, and researchers are analyzing the possible causes and the links between these cases and the arms used in the firing range of Quirra. A syndrome that seems to have much in common with the pathologies contracted by the soldiers who came back from missions in Afghanistan, Iraq or the Balkans regions. The reason of these similarities seems to be related to the usage of depleted uranium munitions, or to the presence of heavy metals nanoparticles.

Many charges for suspect deaths and for tumors cases have been filed by the inhabitants of the villages around the Salto di Quirra and by the soldiers who had worked there but, especially by the farmers that graze their flocks in the surroundings.

This area is one of the less populated of the island therefore the high incidence of diseases and malformations in the population has attracted the attention of various researchers that are trying to investigate about this “strange” situation.

Until now indifference have been the way followed by the institutions and the politicians. In many years of unofficial research nothing certain has been declared and nowadays there are very conflicting opinions about this case. Fortunately now the solicitor’s office of the area has blocked the activities of the firing range to start an official investigation. Also the Italian Government has approved the necessity of the investigation to make clear the situation.

A special team of researchers led by Antonietta Morena Gatti, a nanoparticles expert and a consultant of the national parliamentary commission of depleted uranium inquiry, have been charged with monitoring and analyzing all the finds and the reports about the subjects living or working in that area which have been affected by tumor disease in the last years, with the aim to verify the relations between the substances present in the firing range and those found in the human tissues.

During the last weeks some arms have been seized to make precise checks. The latest news say that some of them present traces of enriched uranium, the radioactivity rate recorded is five times higher than the normal. But as always there is no certainty.

The investigations should carry on until June 2011. The hope is that finally there will be real and clear explanations. Besides for the inhabitants’ health, the range is also damaging to the environment. The sea floor in front of the Salto di Quirra is an actual bombs and rockets cemetery devastated by the explosions. The arms underlie the sea over the years.

Real proof but not even one certainty yet in this small and unknown angle of Europe in the heart of the Mediterranean sea. Meanwhile different interests interlace and clash, the truth has yet to come to light.

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From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, all around the world we hear stories about ministers and politicians’ resignation.

Last recent case in Europe occurred in Germany where the Defense Minister, Karl-Theodor Zu Guttenberg, has resigned in consequence of a plagiarism scandal. After it was revealed that he copied word for word from internet the half of the pages of his university doctorate thesis in 2006, he couldn’t stand the pressure therefore admitted his “mistake” and did the right thing: quitting his job.

But he is not the only one. On the other side of the world, in Japan 2,180 euros were sufficient to make resign the Foreign Minister Saiji Maehara. The revelation of receiving in 2005 an illegal donation from a South Korean woman resident of Japan cost him his office. Admitting the fact he officially apologized to electors, bowing in front of them and in front of the Japan’s flag,and he resigned.

Back to Europe. The French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has resigned after the strong criticism on the initial offer of help for putting down the uprising and the following Christmas holiday she spent in Tunisia guest of the former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, right during the rebellion.

In Africa recently was the Culture and Sport Minister of Rwanda, Joseph Habineza, who resigned. In this case the cause was a photo scandal. Some photos taken on St. Valentine’s Day in 2008, showing the minister and a couple off women in intimate poses, were published on a website. “When you see people publishing pictures and all that, it is not good for your image as a minister,” he said.

In the United States was a shirtless photo which made the married Republican congressman Chris Lee resign. He took this photo and sent it to a woman met online. This virtual flirtation – in perfect teenagers’ style – in a country as US has led to resignation.

If we look back at the very last years we can remember also the resignation of Eliot Spitzer, the New York Governor, in 2008. His involvement with a sex scandal – because he was found with some prostitutes – was the reason. Official admission of guilt and apology to his family and to the public for him too.

In 2009 in the United Kingdom the revelations over the expenses claims led the Britain’s first female home secretary Jacqui Smith to resign. Also two pornographic films watched by her husband on the pay per view TV were claimed – “inadvertently” she said -.

And then the Australian Ports Minister Paul McLeay resignation from cabinet in 2010 after the spreading of the news about his usual surfing on porn and online gaming sites.

So how about Italy and its funny Prime Minister? Silvio Berlusconi’s trials started at the end of February. Totally will be four, some old some new. He is charged with judicial corruption, illegal financing of political parties, false accounting, extortion, abuse of power and prostitution of minors than eighteen – the Rubygate affair -. The consequences?

The Italian Premier doesn’t resign but continues to accuse his political opponents and the magistrates of conspiracy against him. He finds all the possible ways not to go to the hearings, he is also trying to reform the justice system in order to get out of troubles.

Italians?Almost the half of the people seem to believe that he’s innocent and don’t think he should resign. In the parliament he is constantly increasing his government majority – finding magically new supporters from others parties -. The story about Bunga-Bunga parties has become very popular and also Berlusconi uses it to make jokes inviting journalists, electors and other politicians to participate during public conferences.

A politician should follow an appropriate behaviour, in accordance to his public figure. The electors need to take those figures as their model. In a civil country, with a right justice system, the consequences of actions which undermine the credibility of the country should be suitable to a right sense of decency, responsibility and morality.

How should be filthy a scandal in Italy to lead a Prime Minister to resign? Is this the country of indecency and immorality?

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