“Chávez does not have the support he thinks he has in the armed forces,”
Mr. Baduel
May 31, 2009
Prime Minister’s Escapades Finally Raise Eyebrows
May 29, 2009
Prime Minister’s Escapades Finally Raise Eyebrows
By RACHEL DONADIO
ROME — When the wife of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took to the front pages this month to announce that she wanted a divorce and accused him of dallying with very young women, it seemed like yet another storm that Italy’s most powerful man would easily weather. For years, Italy has winked at Mr. Berlusconi, where other nations might have glared.
But then things took a turn for the surreal.
First came a rare and inescapable torrent of speculation — in blogs, on television and radio, at dinner tables across Italy — about the nature and origins of his relationship with Noemi Letizia, a pretty blond aspiring model whose 18th birthday party he attended in Naples last month, and who has said she calls him Daddy. This was the party that caused Mr. Berlusconi’s wife to declare their marriage, one year older than Ms. Letizia, over.
More recent are allegations, potentially more damaging, that Mr. Berlusconi, 72, invited Ms. Letizia and about 40 other girls, some like her at the time younger than 18, to spend New Year’s Eve at one of his villas in Sardinia.
Much of Mr. Berlusconi’s success has stemmed from his uncanny ability to read the national mood. Now many wonder if he has finally miscalculated it and is pushing tolerant Italians too far, and whether his late-career reputation may increasingly resemble the Roman imperial decadence of Fellini’s “Satyricon.”
The prime minister has repeatedly denied anything untoward in his rapport with Ms. Letizia, who has posed in her underwear and said in a recent interview that she was a virgin. On Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi said he had “absolutely not” had “a relationship, let’s say steamy or more than steamy, with an under-age girl.”
The age of consent in Italy is 16, but people are considered minors until 18.
“I have sworn it on the life of my children,” he added. “If this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later.”
The story is taking on political dimensions less than two weeks before elections for the European Parliament, and a month before Italy is scheduled to host the Group of 8 meeting of world leaders, and when Mr. Berlusconi is trying to secure his standing with the Obama administration.
Dario Franceschini, the leader of the center-left opposition, has been asking voters this question about Mr. Berlusconi: “Would you have your children raised by this man?”
Critics say the debate is not just about sex, but reflects an inattention to Italy’s deep problems, like the economy, or reconstruction after the earthquake that left 70,000 people homeless in central Italy. The leader of another opposition party recently compared him to Nero, fiddling while Rome burned. The Financial Times editorialized this week that Mr. Berlusconi was “a malign example to all.”
And yet, Mr. Berlusconi still governs virtually unopposed. “The problem is simply that the Italians can’t imagine who could replace Berlusconi at the moment,” said Tim Parks, a novelist and commentator on Italy. “It’s too dangerous and too much effort to replace him. So it hardly matters how bad the scandal is.”
Or, as the right-wing politician Francesco Storace said in a recent radio interview, “People don’t vote for Berlusconi because he tells the truth; they vote for him because they like him.”
In what many see as a sign of Mr. Berlusconi’s grip on the levers of power in Italy and the Vatican, the Italian Bishops Conference this week essentially gave him a pass, or at least a no comment, calling for “adult behavior,” but saying that each person’s conduct was a matter “of individual conscience.”
Things are completely turned upside down,” said Gianluca Nicoletti, a commentator for Il Sole 24 Ore radio. “Those who always represented the family and faithful couples are happy to justify hanky-panky,” he said. While some on the left, “which always professed a belief in total sexual freedom, are now like inquisitors with their fingers wagging.”
What has come to be called simply “the Noemi case” presents new elements in Italy’s long relationship with Mr. Berlusconi’s questionable behavior. For the first time in recent memory, the Italian press is shining a bright light into the dark recesses of a politician’s personal life.
That campaign is being led by Mr. Berlusconi’s archenemy in the press, the left-wing daily La Repubblica. For the past two weeks it has published 10 questions for the prime minister, chief among them how he met Ms. Letizia’s father. Mr. Berlusconi has said he recently met Ms. Letizia through her father, Benedetto Letizia, a functionary for the city of Naples.
In recent weeks, Ms. Letizia’s father and mother have largely stood by Mr. Berlusconi’s accounts of how he met Ms. Letizia, while her former boyfriend and her aunt have contradicted them, creating a confusion that has prolonged the drama.
In an interview published by La Repubblica on Sunday, Ms. Letizia’s former boyfriend, who later turned out to have a criminal record, said that the prime minister first called Ms. Letizia last fall after seeing her picture in a modeling catalog.
He described Ms. Letizia’s relationship with Mr. Berlusconi as chaste and mentorlike. It was he who first said that she and a high school friend had been invited to spend New Year’s Eve at Mr. Berlusconi’s villa in Sardinia.
The newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Mr. Berlusconi had told associates that Ms. Letizia had been at the party along with many other guests.
Mr. Berlusconi’s many supporters believe he is being unjustly attacked in election season and should be left alone.
Giuliano Ferrara, a sometime adviser to Mr. Berlusconi, has urged La Repubblica to stop the inquisition, saying that “the only thing at stake” in the matter was “Berlusconi’s ego.”
Yet if Mr. Berlusconi and his wife, Veronica Lario, divorce, an inheritance battle is looming between his two children from his first marriage and three from his second to Ms. Lario, all of whom have defended their father.
The “Noemi case” has both deepened and distracted from other lingering black spots on the Berlusconi government. Last week, a Milan court issued its reasoning for convicting a British lawyer, David Mills, of accepting a $600,000 bribe from associates of Mr. Berlusconi.
Mr. Berlusconi was not on trial, having passed a law granting Italy’s top politicians immunity from prosecution while in office. He has repeatedly accused prosecutors of being left-wing ideologues out to get him.
Meanwhile, Ms. Letizia recently posed with a man identified as her new boyfriend for Chi, a magazine published by Mondadori, which is owned by Mr. Berlusconi. She discussed her personal life: “I haven’t yet taken that big step. Virginity is an important value. I believe strongly in God and am a practicing Catholic.”
Personal opnion:
This newsarticle from the New York Times is just another small stain on the image of mr Berlusconi. In the past years mr Berlusconi has been in the news a media tycoon, the director of AC Milan and as a man that does what thinks is right. As prime minister of Italy however man could reasonably expect mr Berlusconi to be more discrete. After a number of scandals involving the prime minister this seems to be just a new case. this time however there is a extra news story involved. The recent news of the diforce between the Berlusconi's makes the news story more interesting. A man who is 72 should not be involved with young teenage girls. Especially not since he is the prime minister.
Prime Minister’s Escapades Finally Raise Eyebrows
By RACHEL DONADIO
ROME — When the wife of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took to the front pages this month to announce that she wanted a divorce and accused him of dallying with very young women, it seemed like yet another storm that Italy’s most powerful man would easily weather. For years, Italy has winked at Mr. Berlusconi, where other nations might have glared.
But then things took a turn for the surreal.
First came a rare and inescapable torrent of speculation — in blogs, on television and radio, at dinner tables across Italy — about the nature and origins of his relationship with Noemi Letizia, a pretty blond aspiring model whose 18th birthday party he attended in Naples last month, and who has said she calls him Daddy. This was the party that caused Mr. Berlusconi’s wife to declare their marriage, one year older than Ms. Letizia, over.
More recent are allegations, potentially more damaging, that Mr. Berlusconi, 72, invited Ms. Letizia and about 40 other girls, some like her at the time younger than 18, to spend New Year’s Eve at one of his villas in Sardinia.
Much of Mr. Berlusconi’s success has stemmed from his uncanny ability to read the national mood. Now many wonder if he has finally miscalculated it and is pushing tolerant Italians too far, and whether his late-career reputation may increasingly resemble the Roman imperial decadence of Fellini’s “Satyricon.”
The prime minister has repeatedly denied anything untoward in his rapport with Ms. Letizia, who has posed in her underwear and said in a recent interview that she was a virgin. On Thursday, Mr. Berlusconi said he had “absolutely not” had “a relationship, let’s say steamy or more than steamy, with an under-age girl.”
The age of consent in Italy is 16, but people are considered minors until 18.
“I have sworn it on the life of my children,” he added. “If this were perjury, I would have to resign a minute later.”
The story is taking on political dimensions less than two weeks before elections for the European Parliament, and a month before Italy is scheduled to host the Group of 8 meeting of world leaders, and when Mr. Berlusconi is trying to secure his standing with the Obama administration.
Dario Franceschini, the leader of the center-left opposition, has been asking voters this question about Mr. Berlusconi: “Would you have your children raised by this man?”
Critics say the debate is not just about sex, but reflects an inattention to Italy’s deep problems, like the economy, or reconstruction after the earthquake that left 70,000 people homeless in central Italy. The leader of another opposition party recently compared him to Nero, fiddling while Rome burned. The Financial Times editorialized this week that Mr. Berlusconi was “a malign example to all.”
And yet, Mr. Berlusconi still governs virtually unopposed. “The problem is simply that the Italians can’t imagine who could replace Berlusconi at the moment,” said Tim Parks, a novelist and commentator on Italy. “It’s too dangerous and too much effort to replace him. So it hardly matters how bad the scandal is.”
Or, as the right-wing politician Francesco Storace said in a recent radio interview, “People don’t vote for Berlusconi because he tells the truth; they vote for him because they like him.”
In what many see as a sign of Mr. Berlusconi’s grip on the levers of power in Italy and the Vatican, the Italian Bishops Conference this week essentially gave him a pass, or at least a no comment, calling for “adult behavior,” but saying that each person’s conduct was a matter “of individual conscience.”
Things are completely turned upside down,” said Gianluca Nicoletti, a commentator for Il Sole 24 Ore radio. “Those who always represented the family and faithful couples are happy to justify hanky-panky,” he said. While some on the left, “which always professed a belief in total sexual freedom, are now like inquisitors with their fingers wagging.”
What has come to be called simply “the Noemi case” presents new elements in Italy’s long relationship with Mr. Berlusconi’s questionable behavior. For the first time in recent memory, the Italian press is shining a bright light into the dark recesses of a politician’s personal life.
That campaign is being led by Mr. Berlusconi’s archenemy in the press, the left-wing daily La Repubblica. For the past two weeks it has published 10 questions for the prime minister, chief among them how he met Ms. Letizia’s father. Mr. Berlusconi has said he recently met Ms. Letizia through her father, Benedetto Letizia, a functionary for the city of Naples.
In recent weeks, Ms. Letizia’s father and mother have largely stood by Mr. Berlusconi’s accounts of how he met Ms. Letizia, while her former boyfriend and her aunt have contradicted them, creating a confusion that has prolonged the drama.
In an interview published by La Repubblica on Sunday, Ms. Letizia’s former boyfriend, who later turned out to have a criminal record, said that the prime minister first called Ms. Letizia last fall after seeing her picture in a modeling catalog.
He described Ms. Letizia’s relationship with Mr. Berlusconi as chaste and mentorlike. It was he who first said that she and a high school friend had been invited to spend New Year’s Eve at Mr. Berlusconi’s villa in Sardinia.
The newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Mr. Berlusconi had told associates that Ms. Letizia had been at the party along with many other guests.
Mr. Berlusconi’s many supporters believe he is being unjustly attacked in election season and should be left alone.
Giuliano Ferrara, a sometime adviser to Mr. Berlusconi, has urged La Repubblica to stop the inquisition, saying that “the only thing at stake” in the matter was “Berlusconi’s ego.”
Yet if Mr. Berlusconi and his wife, Veronica Lario, divorce, an inheritance battle is looming between his two children from his first marriage and three from his second to Ms. Lario, all of whom have defended their father.
The “Noemi case” has both deepened and distracted from other lingering black spots on the Berlusconi government. Last week, a Milan court issued its reasoning for convicting a British lawyer, David Mills, of accepting a $600,000 bribe from associates of Mr. Berlusconi.
Mr. Berlusconi was not on trial, having passed a law granting Italy’s top politicians immunity from prosecution while in office. He has repeatedly accused prosecutors of being left-wing ideologues out to get him.
Meanwhile, Ms. Letizia recently posed with a man identified as her new boyfriend for Chi, a magazine published by Mondadori, which is owned by Mr. Berlusconi. She discussed her personal life: “I haven’t yet taken that big step. Virginity is an important value. I believe strongly in God and am a practicing Catholic.”
Personal opnion:
This newsarticle from the New York Times is just another small stain on the image of mr Berlusconi. In the past years mr Berlusconi has been in the news a media tycoon, the director of AC Milan and as a man that does what thinks is right. As prime minister of Italy however man could reasonably expect mr Berlusconi to be more discrete. After a number of scandals involving the prime minister this seems to be just a new case. this time however there is a extra news story involved. The recent news of the diforce between the Berlusconi's makes the news story more interesting. A man who is 72 should not be involved with young teenage girls. Especially not since he is the prime minister.
May 11, 2009
Quote of te week
“Both President Medvedev and I will decide what we will do — both he and I — depending on the results of our work,” he said. “As for him personally, you should ask him, but I repeat, I have known him for a long time and I know that he is a very decent man and he will look at his political future proceeding from the interest of the country and the results of our joint efforts. Time will tell.”
May 4, 2009
Quote of the week
And unlike the common types of seasonal flu, it appears to infect an unusually high percentage of young people. The median age of patients is 17.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the interim deputy director for science and public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the interim deputy director for science and public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Car Plows Into Crowd Celebrating Dutch Queen
May 1, 2009
Car Plows Into Crowd Celebrating Dutch Queen
By MARLISE SIMONS
PARIS — Five people were killed and a dozen wounded Thursday when a car sped into a crowd at a festival in the town of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, narrowly missing an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and members of her family.
Dutch officials said that minutes later, the driver admitted that he had aimed his car at the royal family, but they gave no details as to a possible motive.
The authorities declined to provide the driver’s name, but said he was a 38-year-old Dutchman who appeared to have acted alone and carried no weapons or explosives.
The man was severely injured, probably as his car crashed into a stone monument, but police officers spoke with him as they tried to free him from the wreck. They said he was hospitalized in critical condition and could not be questioned further.
Television images of the festivities, traditionally held to celebrate Queen’s Day, showed police officers rushing toward injured spectators lying on the ground. Members of the royal household atop the open bus watched the scene, some clasping their faces in horror. The police said that 4 of the 12 wounded people had serious injuries.
Queen Beatrix, looking tense and shaken, later appeared on national television to offer her condolences to the families of the victims. “What began as a beautiful day has ended in a terrible drama which has shocked all of us,” she said. “We are speechless that such a terrible event could have happened.”
The attack raised a host of questions about how the driver could have broken through several police barricades, coming within about 15 yards of the bus carrying the royal family.
Security, which used to be lax in the Netherlands, has become stricter in recent years since several public figures, including the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, were killed on the streets. Numerous roads were blocked off before the parade, and about 700 police officers, many in plainclothes, were in the area, Dutch officials said.
Queen’s Day, held on the birth date of the queen’s late mother, Queen Juliana, is a national holiday in the Netherlands and is widely celebrated with street markets, concerts and parades.
After the deadly episode, some cities canceled events, but in Amsterdam, the capital, squares and canals were still filled with thousands of revelers.
Police officers spent hours combing through the home of the driver, who lived in a small town not far from Apeldoorn. They said the man had no police record. Neighbors said he lived alone and had recently lost his job.
Personal Comment:
My article for Current World Affairs this week is about the most important/impressive news story of this week.
On the 30th of April Dutch people all over the world celebrate Queensday. This is the main event of the year for the Dutch.
The Dutch Queen and her family visits a city on this day. This year Apeldoorn was the desitination for the Queen. During her tour through the city in a open bus suddenly a car came driving through the public in an attempt to hit the bus.
At the moment 7 people died and one is still in a critical condition in the hospital. Among the dead is the driver of the car.
This week I do not have a news story able to give a personal opinion. However I feel that for me as a Dutch the disturbance of the Queensday celebration is a big issue. This is the reason for me to share it with my fellow students.
Here is a link to a youtube video of the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw1JbgrLYH8&feature=related
Car Plows Into Crowd Celebrating Dutch Queen
By MARLISE SIMONS
PARIS — Five people were killed and a dozen wounded Thursday when a car sped into a crowd at a festival in the town of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, narrowly missing an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and members of her family.
Dutch officials said that minutes later, the driver admitted that he had aimed his car at the royal family, but they gave no details as to a possible motive.
The authorities declined to provide the driver’s name, but said he was a 38-year-old Dutchman who appeared to have acted alone and carried no weapons or explosives.
The man was severely injured, probably as his car crashed into a stone monument, but police officers spoke with him as they tried to free him from the wreck. They said he was hospitalized in critical condition and could not be questioned further.
Television images of the festivities, traditionally held to celebrate Queen’s Day, showed police officers rushing toward injured spectators lying on the ground. Members of the royal household atop the open bus watched the scene, some clasping their faces in horror. The police said that 4 of the 12 wounded people had serious injuries.
Queen Beatrix, looking tense and shaken, later appeared on national television to offer her condolences to the families of the victims. “What began as a beautiful day has ended in a terrible drama which has shocked all of us,” she said. “We are speechless that such a terrible event could have happened.”
The attack raised a host of questions about how the driver could have broken through several police barricades, coming within about 15 yards of the bus carrying the royal family.
Security, which used to be lax in the Netherlands, has become stricter in recent years since several public figures, including the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, were killed on the streets. Numerous roads were blocked off before the parade, and about 700 police officers, many in plainclothes, were in the area, Dutch officials said.
Queen’s Day, held on the birth date of the queen’s late mother, Queen Juliana, is a national holiday in the Netherlands and is widely celebrated with street markets, concerts and parades.
After the deadly episode, some cities canceled events, but in Amsterdam, the capital, squares and canals were still filled with thousands of revelers.
Police officers spent hours combing through the home of the driver, who lived in a small town not far from Apeldoorn. They said the man had no police record. Neighbors said he lived alone and had recently lost his job.
Personal Comment:
My article for Current World Affairs this week is about the most important/impressive news story of this week.
On the 30th of April Dutch people all over the world celebrate Queensday. This is the main event of the year for the Dutch.
The Dutch Queen and her family visits a city on this day. This year Apeldoorn was the desitination for the Queen. During her tour through the city in a open bus suddenly a car came driving through the public in an attempt to hit the bus.
At the moment 7 people died and one is still in a critical condition in the hospital. Among the dead is the driver of the car.
This week I do not have a news story able to give a personal opinion. However I feel that for me as a Dutch the disturbance of the Queensday celebration is a big issue. This is the reason for me to share it with my fellow students.
Here is a link to a youtube video of the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw1JbgrLYH8&feature=related
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