Italy has had several crucial elections in the past. In 1946, right after the end of World War II, citizens were called to decide between Republic and Monarchy. Two years later, the 1948 general election…
For a little longer than a year, the “technical” government of Mario Monti was supported by a vast and heterogeneous coalition: the centre-right People of Freedom Party of Silvio Berlusconi (PDL), the…
Researchers worldwide have condemned an Italian court’s judgement that six scientists and a government official are guilty of manslaughter for underestimating the risk of an earthquake accurately. The…
When Fascist Italy declared war on Britain in mid-1940, almost 5,000 Italians living in Australia were imprisoned in internment camps. Few Italian families escaped the human cost of detention as “enemy…
On 23 July, the rating agency Moody’s put the triple A debt of Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on a negative outlook. The day after, the outlook on the European Financial Stability Fund was also…
Today Eurozone leaders will meet in Brussels. On the agenda is nothing less than the survival of the euro. Officially, it is about Spain: Spain’s economic and financial woes show the urgency. Moody’s drastically…
The decision by Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the debt of nine Eurozone countries last week, followed by the inevitable downgrade of the Eurozone rescue fund two days later, raises important questions…
Every year, on the evening of December 31, the President of the Republic of Italy addresses the Italian people with a video message broadcast by all the major radio and television networks. This “end of…
The announcement by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s overnight that it could downgrade the triple-A rating of Europe’s debt rescue fund has battered market confidence, which had been buoyed…
Last month, the South Australian parliament unanimously accepted a bi-partisan motion moved by Labor member, Tony Piccolo, to acknowledge the wrongful internment of Italian civilians living in Australia…
What could be a decisive week for Europe and its common currency has begun, with the announcement of a package of fiscal austerity measures in Italy. Markets, European partners, and – perhaps above all…
The departure of Silvio Berlusconi does not seem to have eased the pressure on Italy, with reports suggesting the International Monetary Fund is reading a 600 billion euro emergency bailout for the Eurozone’s…
“If I Ruled The World” was a tune made famous decades ago by English comedian and singer Harry Secombe who sang of making every day the first day of spring as well as other miraculous improvements. It…
Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
Early this week, sovereign bonds spreads for France and other Euro-core countries peaked. Around noon on Tuesday the spreads on French and Austrian 10-year government bonds exceeded the German bund rate…
Is the Eurozone about to crash and burn, leaving Club Med in its wake? Not so fast. Reports have suggested that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed a strategic…
Global markets have tumbled in the past 24 hours on fears over Italy’s worsening debt crisis, with media reports that Germany and France have begun talks to break up the Eurozone if the monetary union’s…
Italy’s sovereign debt crisis has been overshadowed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reluctant promise to resign after the country’s parliament made clear he no longer commanded a majority. Italy…
During protests in Rome last month, as groups of hooded protesters clashed with the police, set cars on fire, and smashed bank windows around the Piazza San Giovanni, two large speakers installed on a…
The move by international ratings agency Moody’s to cut Italy’s credit rating for the first time in two decades will do little to ease concerns about the Eurozone’s debt crisis, despite global markets…
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reassurance to his parliamentary colleagues during a speech on Wednesday did little allay about fears of a crisis in Eurozone’s third-biggest economy. The Italian…
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham