Worldcrunch
Donald Trump’s reelection marks a new social coalition that found no voice in traditional political forces, writes Italian historian Giovanni Orsina in daily La Stampa. The utopian-liberal order of the 21st century failed to deliver on its promises and it succumbed to a boisterous, combative new right.
The list of notable deaths in 2023 includes Henry Kissinger and Silvio Berlusconi, who many believe had already overstayed their public welcome before our writer was even born.
The Italian government’s use of a computerized version of Botticelli’s Venus as an influencer to promote Italian culture has been described as “humiliating” and “grotesque”. But it is not Italy’s first ridiculous and costly tourism campaign. Italy’s La Stampa daily looks at a long and solid traditions of failures when the country tried to promote itself as a tourist paradise.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s death at the age of 86 reveals his complexity as both a public and political figure — in Italy and beyond. The author, who has tried in vain to write Berlusconi’s biography, sifts through the truth behind the many myths.
On Monday, news came that Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age of 86. Much has been written about Berlusconi, having been the center of Italian political life for so long, including this particular piece by a veteran Italian columnist back in 2011 after the prime minister had resigned.
-Analysis- What do South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Italy, France, Portugal, and Iceland all have in common? They’re all wealthy democracies that have charged and prosecuted former heads of state or heads of government for criminal acts committed while in office. The United States is not a member of this club — at least, not yet. […]
Meloni serving her full five-year term will be a minor miracle in the famously fickle world of Italian politics, whose political instability the UK now appears ready to outdo.
September 23-24 ️ STARTER September Is Rolling Ukraine’s Way. Will It Hit A Wall In Rome? Viewed from afar, the pace of a war can vary greatly: from rapid battlefield strikes and diplomatic breakthroughs to a slow, cruel slog. Watching the war in Ukraine, the month of September has been moving at lightning speed. Over […]
September 17-18 ️ STARTER Party time for Giorgia? We don’t need more women leaders like these This autumn’s electoral campaign in Italy is a disturbing trip down memory lane. Silvio Berlusconi, who turns 86 at the end of the month, is now busy addressing his potential new voters on TikTok. Meanwhile, the Cadorna train station […]
? Здраво!* Welcome to Friday, where Joe Biden vows to protect Taiwan from China, Alec Baldwin accidentally kills a cinematographer, and can you guess what day it is TODAY? We also have a report from a researcher in San Diego, USA on the sociological dark side of food trucks. [*Zdravo – Macedonian] SPOTLIGHT Iran-Saudi […]
Take 5 — Donald Trump’s Alter Egos, International par Worldcrunch
Czech President Milos Zeman, Donald Trump and other over-the-top personalities may not offer any practical solutions to society’s problems, but they do have a function in an increasingly uniform political arena.
TURIN — Like in a comedy that suddenly turns into tragedy, a caricature of Silvio Berlusconi may become the next president of the United States. It’s not really shocking that Donald Trump would propose closing the Internet and the borders to Muslims, as Americans have grown sick and tired of President Obama’s babblings and potential […]
Photo: Alberto Lingria/Zuma FOUR MILLION SYRIAN REFUGEES More than four million Syrians — a sixth of the population — have fled the country since the war broke out more than four years ago, and more than seven million who have remained have been forced out of their homes, according to the United Nations and international […]
-OpEd- ROME — We must remember that Wednesday’s vote to oust Silvio Berlusconi from the Senate does not mean his political demise. Still, his exclusion from Parliament, the sentence for tax fraud and the other alleged cases — involving underaged prostitution, extortion, the bribing of parliamentarians, and corruption of witnesses — put the former prime […]
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford lets loose again, so does Silvio Berlusconi. There’s also a controversy over FARC rebels on a yacht, up-close memories of Pope John Paul II and more of the week’s news, collected in quotes. (cover photo: Danielle Scott)
ROME — Berlusconi’s world has never been at such odds with Berlusconi himself. Nobody could rightly agree with the decision to pull out of the coalition that was providing stability for the Italian government as the country attempts to pull out of a deep recession. You could count on one hand the number of loyalists […]
-OpEd- ROME – Italy’s entire political establishment is working together to avoid the collision between addressing the urgent social and economic problems that are engulfing the country, and the personal and judicial destiny of Silvio Berlusconi. Every time there is a political statement, and on the regular talk-show circuit, it is repeated over and over […]
-Essay- We’re all critical of the leaders of our time: Obama let us down, Merkel isn’t Adenauer, and Hollande and Cameron are just pale copies of Monsieur Mitterrand and Lady Thatcher. Meanwhile, in Italy, in front of the disappointing batch of candidates for national elections, nostalgia runs deep for figures of the past from Christian […]
Silvio Berlusconi bad-mouths Angela Merkel, while Mario Monti tries to woo her. But there are deeper reasons the German factor is at play as Italians go to the polls Sunday.
BERLIN – Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former Prime Minister who harbors ambitions to return to his old job, has had a year to adjust reality to his private world view. And now he’s letting fellow Italians and Europeans know how he thinks. The widening of the Italo-German government bond “spread” shortly before his government fell last […]
LA STAMPA, CORRIERE DELLA SERA (Italy) Worldcrunch MILAN – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for tax fraud in his dealings with the Mediaset televsion network, which he owns. The case, which took six years to arrive at a verdict, is the latest in a long string […]
CORRIERE DELLA SERA, LA STAMPA, TG5 (Italy) TWITTER Worldcrunch ROME – For one brief, shining moment, he was back. For those who like their politics, well, colorful, the prospect of another run for office by controversial three-time Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had hung in the air for the past two months in Italy. But on […]