Transaltions It.-En.
June 2006
PRESIDENT BUSH: I would like first of all to thank Silvio Berlusconi for his work in Afghanistan and in Iraq. I appreciate his vision of peace in the Balkans. In the past we worked together to make the Libyan leader understand that now we live in a different world, in which we must work together for peace. It’s an honour for me to welcome the Italian Prime Minister here in the White House.
PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI: Thank you, President. Thank you for inviting me.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you for coming.
PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI: I apologize for the mistakes that I could make. First of all, President I would like to say I can’t wait to share with you the new strategies to be adopted in the Middle East.
by Arrigo D’Alessandro
July 2006
In the space of few years Europe will be transformed. Certainly it will be the strongest political Union in the world and the biggest economic market. Great Britain should be the heart. This is its right and its destiny. Because of enlargement Europe is trying to change the way it works. In a Europe of 25 or 27, or perhaps 28, a presidency that changes every 6 months doesn’t make much sense; greater continuity and coherence are necessary in a larger Europe. For example on 1st July, it will be Finland’s turn, that will fill the presidency until the next 1st January. The new treaty replaces a president that changes every 6 months, with a president who remains in office for 5 years.
by Arrigo D’Alessandro
September 2006
At last Europe has decided. The foreign ministers of the European Union have met at an extraordinary summit in Brussels, in the presence of UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, and have reached an agreement to send 7-8 thousand European soldiers to Lebanon. According to European diplomatic sources, Annan said he will propose a rotating command to the UN: in February 2007 it will pass into Italian hands. The news was confirmed by the French foreign Minister. “ Within a week 3-4 thousand men will be ready”, said Annan. This is the first stage: there will be a phase that will finish by 5 October and a third by 4 November.
by Arrigo D’Alessandro and Mariarosa Cioce
December 2006
Three years have passed since Saddam Hussein’s fall and now Baghdad court has decided to sentence him to die. These have been three years of conflict and bloodshed. But these years have also seen some important things. Despite fear, terrorism, violence, kidnappings and many other horrible acts of the human nature, a democratic political process was born. A new government has been formed. A few weeks ago I went to Baghdad, I spoke to the main leaders chosen by the people, Sunnis, Kurds and although they all belonged to different political parties, they gave me the same message: they want Iraq to be a democratic country. They want its people to be free. They want to tolerate the differences and celebrate diversity. They want the law and not violence to determine their destiny.
by Arrigo D’Alessandro
March 2007
Last week, there was an article in the Italian weekly “Panorama”: Americans don’t love us. They probably love Italy, but not Italians. Italians don’t love Americans, too. It is another culture, very different from us. Consider the latest crisis between the two countries, after releasing Daniele Mastrogiacomo, an Italian prisoner. As is known it was not an unilateral release but an exchange: three or maybe more of their prisoners in exchange for the Repubblica correspondent. The criticism has arrived not just from Washington but also from European capitals. Yesterday Panorama published an article, saying that: it is wrong to say that Italians don’t love America and Americans. Maybe it’s better to say that they don’t love Bush administration.
Mariagrazia De Nicolo
January 2007
The capital punishment.
Florida, California and Maryland have suspended the lethal injection. On 13th December last, Angel Diaz was the last victim to received the lethal injection. Two days later, Jab Bush, Florida’s governor (the President’s brother) suspended all executions in the state. He also set up a commission to decide whether lethal injection in Florida is constitutional or not. These days, other states are considering the same question. A 2006 pole said that two thirds of the population agree on capital punishment for people accused of homicide. The situation has changed little since 1990.
Mariagrazia De Nicolo
June 2007
At 7.15 a.m. on April 16th , in a dormitory called West Ambler-Johston Hall, a Virginia Tech student Cho Seung-hui, shot and killed Emily Hilsher, an attractive girl of 19, who was studying at Virginia Tech to become a vet. A short time later, he shot Ryan Clark, a famous member of the University band. We don’t know why he chose these two students as his first victims. Maybe he liked the girl, but it is not certain. Maybe Ryan Clark had tried to intervene. “You forced me to do it”, said Cho Seug-hui, after killing 32 persons. In his room the police found a letter, in which the student blamed everybody except himself for what he was going to do. In this letter ha raged against religion, against women, against rich students and against everybody in Virginia Tech, where he studied English.
Mariagrazia De Nicolo
January 2008
The Lisbon Treaty is so called because it was signed by the European Union’s Member States on the 13th of December in Lisbon. The treaty known as “ THE REFORM TREATY “ aims to revise the European Constitution, after that French and Dutch refused to ratify it, in 2005. On the 19th of October in an officially summit that took place in Lisbon, all the countries finally reached an agreement. They will sign a new treaty that will have to be ratified before the next parliamentary elections in 2009. So, on the 4th of June, the new text was produced in French and it has been reduced from 63,000 words to 12,000 words and from 448 articles to 70 articles. During the June meeting, the European Union members decided to eliminate the name “European Constitution” and replace it with the name “The Reform Treaty”.
by Arrigo D’Alessandro