Amid all the bleakness, there was a bright spot: "Berlusconi Lashes Out at Italian Establishment" on the New York Times website.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2006/03/12/wberl12.jpg
"Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi went on the warpath on Thursday, three days before a general election, accusing the judiciary, the press, big business and banks of plotting his defeat.
"In a series of fierce outbursts, Berlusconi presented himself as a martyr for democracy and warned that civil liberties would be trampled on if his rival Romano Prodi won the ballot on April 9 and 10."
Hehehe. Can he be any more hypocritical? Don't he and his relatives own something like 80% of the media? Hasn't he been actively trying to control more?
"He also blasted magistrates in Milan, saying they had deliberately tried to wreck his political ambitions by seeking to press charges against him ahead of the election."
Come now; there's always someone pressing charges against Berlusconi. Anyway, the author of the article doesn't seem particularly sympathizing, for instance remarking that Berlusconi's "trademark smile" was "replaced by a scowl."
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-italy.html
Reuters, April 6, 2006; filed 2:27 pm ET
More information about PM Silvio Berlusconi: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3034600.stm
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A revealing comment (italics mine) about a migrant smuggler who was shot by the Cuban Coast Guard during a confrontation:
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington that it would be ''deeply disturbing'' if the dead man turned out to be an American.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Cuba-Smugglers-Shot.html
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Next, an article about the deadlock surrounding the Northern Irish parliament. Established under the Good Friday Agreement, it apparently hasn't been working for four years. I'd heard about the granting of parliaments to Scotland and Northern Ireland in Political Science 220, but I had no idea how they were turning out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/world/europe/06cnd-irish.html
"Work it Out, Blair Warns Belfast's Rival Parties," by Brian Lavery
Published: April 6, 2006
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Finally, here is an opinion piece from the Manchester Guardian regarding the ID card and House of Lords legislation being passed or pushed by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"Blair's inner circle and its ferocious grab for power," by Jenni Russell
Thursday April 6, 2006
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