“Speak softly and carry a big stick” (T. Roosevelt)
From the category archives:
Italian Premier Romano Prodi came under fire from opposition figures on Wednesday, after saying his government backed an “open doors policy” on immigration.
Addressing the Foreign Press Association in the capital, Prodi said the centre-left coalition had no intention of changing “the open doors policy it has responsibly embarked upon” since coming to power last year. [...]
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Welcome to our Weekend Open Trackback! Do you have an interesting post you want to share with everyone? Link it here! The Open Trackback article URL is this. The reciprocal ping URL is this. You can also use Linkfests. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Benvenuti al nostro Weekend Open Trackback! Avete un post interessante che [...]
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French film star Fanny Ardant arrived at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday amid continuing polemics over her recent expressions of admiration for the Red Brigades, Italy’s far-left terrorist movement, and its founder.
The 58-year-old French actress triggered the row last month by telling an Italian magazine: “I have always considered the Red Brigades phenomenon very [...]
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Residents of the Campania region, where the streets of many towns have been lined with uncollected trash for weeks, pay some of the highest rubbish taxes in Italy. At 264 euros a year, the average refuse tax in the region surrounding Naples is 60 euros higher than the national average, according to a study by [...]
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European Union leaders have reached agreement in Brussels on an outline of new guidelines to govern the 27-member bloc for drafting a new EU treaty to replace the bloc’s aborted constitution.
At dawn on Saturday they announced a compromise to delay until 2014 a new voting system that reduces Poland’s influence - the main stumbling bloc. [...]
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Prostitutes in the northern Italian city of Padova plan to refund clients who have been fined by the police, daily Corriere della Sera reported Friday. The move follows the approval last week of a city ordinance slapping 50 euros (67 dollars) fines on drivers who stop their cars to invite prostitutes in.
The ordinance was promoted [...]
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Naples’ ever-resourceful scooter riders have found a new way to get out of fines for not wearing helmets: claiming they’re depressed. A rash of very similar cases - at least ten - have occurred over the last two weeks, local daily Il Mattino reported on Tuesday.
The young offenders have been trooping into courts armed with [...]
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Germany enacted Friday a hike in its retirement age from 65 to 67, with the Bundesrat upper house putting its seal on the legislation which aims to head off a crisis in ageing German society.
With Germans living longer, there are no longer enough active workers in the workforce to fund pensions for the older generation, [...]
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Daniele Mastrogiacomo was freed on Monday in exchange for the release of up to five Taliban prisoners being held by the Afghan government. Our prediction was correct, unfortunately.
An unnamed official in the administration of US President George W. Bush, told news agencies on Wednesday that Washington had expressed “disappointment” over the deal to the Italian [...]
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The Taliban want Italy to quit Afghanistan in exchange for the release of a kidnapped reporter, Italian public broadcaster Rai reported today.
Rai interviewed a Pakistani journalist, Rahimullah Yousefzai, who claims to be in direct touch with the Islamists holding La Repubblica correspondent Daniele Mastrogiacomo. As well as the withdrawal of Italy’s some 2,000 troops, the [...]
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