No Borders Brighton (Free subscription) | 30/11/2009
Wishing for a White Christmas has taken on a sinister new meaning in Coccaglio, Lombardy after the mayor Franco Claretti, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, decided to " start to do some 'cleaning' despite Coccaglio being a country where immigration has never been a problem of security or public order ". The extensive house-to-house checks by immigration officials ostensibly...
Ana the Imp (Free subscription) | 21/10/2009
When Barbarossa begins the world will hold its breath and…yawn! It has begun, though I suspect it’s not the Barbarossa that you are thinking of, the Barbarossa invoked by my opening sentence. It is, rather, an all Italian production, a cinematic epic released under the title of Barbarossa (Red Beard), the name once given to Frederick I of Hohenstaufen, king of Germany, king of Italy and...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 18/10/2009
Blow to campaign for a breakaway country as cinemagoers spurn Bossi's star-studded epic Silvio Berlusconi backed it as a celebration of northern Italian pride. The leader of Italy's most outspoken anti-immigrant political party appeared in it. And the state television network, Rai, partly paid for it. But despite the hype, a ¤19m (£17m) price tag and a host of star names, the first attempt...
No Right Turn (Free subscription) | 08/10/2009
In 2008, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had a problem: a spotlight was being shone on his shady business dealings, and he was facing multiple charges of corruption and bribery. So in typical style, he first suspended all "non-priority" trials to prevent a case against him from reaching the courts, then passed a law granting himself immunity from prosecution . Now the constitutional...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 07/10/2009
Judges reject prime minister's act which would exempt him from facing a series of trials for fraud, tax evasion and bribery Italy was cast back into political turmoil tonight when the country's constitutional court threw out a law passed by Silvio Berlusconi's government that gave him immunity from prosecution for as long as he remained prime minister. The majority decision represented a severe blow...
The Economist (Free subscription) | 07/10/2009
Italy's constitutional court rules against Silvio Berlusconi, yet again SO IT did not work. On Wednesday October 7th Italy’s constitutional court threw out Silvio Berlusconi’s latest wheeze for putting himself above the law. The judges voted by a majority that an immunity law passed last year was unconstitutional. It would have shielded from prosecution not only the prime minister, but...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 29/09/2009
A leading French actor who backs immigrants' rights has said she was shocked to discover that her latest film, an Italian historical epic, is being used as a propaganda tool by Italy's xenophobic Northern League party, an ally of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Cécile Cassel, the sister of actor Vincent Cassel, is starring in Barbarossa, a $30m (£19m) production part-funded...
The Telegraph (Free subscription) | 14/09/2009
The coalition government led by Silvio Berlusconi is facing another challenge after key ally Umberto Bossi demanded an independent state in northern Italy.
A little about .... (Free subscription) | 12/09/2009
London, Sept 12 - ANI: Responding to the sex scandal engulfing Silvio Berlusconi, Umberto Bossi, the key coalition partner in the Italian PMs government, said he believed Mafia had orchestrated all the dirty activities.
Charles Lambert (Free subscription) | 02/09/2009
As a sop to the thirsty for blood electorate of the Northern League, who seem to regard anyone born south of Florence as, in the words of their noble leader Umberto Bossi, bingo bongo , the Italian government recently voted in a law that severely restricts immigration into Italy and establishes that anyone who manages nonetheless to enter the country will not simply be sent home, as was the case before...
The Economist (Free subscription) | 27/08/2009
No matter the response, thousands of migrants still cross the Mediterranean FROM her hospital bed, Titi Tazrar, one of only five migrants who survived a crossing from Libya, described how 73 other passengers had died. They included three pregnant women who aborted at sea. “Some died because they fell into the sea at night,” said the 27 year-old Eritrean. “The pregnant women aboard...
Index on Censorship (Free subscription) | 24/08/2009
Following user protests, Facebook has decided to shut down gaming application “Bounce The Illegal Immigrant Back”. The game was posted by Renzo Bossi, the son of Umberto Bossi, party leader of the Northern League and part of Berlusconi’s fourth cabinet. The game sees players pushing back the “boats of hope” and kicking the immigrants [...]
The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 22/08/2009
Rome - Italy's Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi lashed out Saturday at the Vatican over criticism of Italy's immigration policies by Roman Catholic church officials and publications. Words that make little sense, Bossi said, referring to the condemna...
The Economist (Free subscription) | 13/08/2009
A political row brings new attention to Italy’s neglected, but still troubled, south THERE was a time when the problems of the Italian south, the mezzogiorno, seemed urgent not just for Italy but for all of Europe. Then new members with even poorer regions joined the European Union and the issue slipped off the agenda in Brussels and Rome. Silvio Berlusconi’s government does not even have...
Infidel Bloggers Alliance (Free subscription) | 28/07/2009
In a follow up to a story I posted yesterday , PM Silvio Berlusconi has re-affirmed the Italian government's commitment to the effort against Islamo-Fascism in Europe: Rome, 28 July ( AKI ) - Italy's 3,250 troops will remain in Afghanistan, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi stated on Tuesday. "There is no change of policy," he told journalists in Rome, reaffirming earlier statements made by...
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