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• vor 14.11.2011 10:21
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• Berlusconi Resigns: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Steps Down After 17 Years

  Berlusconi Resigns: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Steps Down After 17 Years

  NICOLE WINFIELD 11/12/11 11:01 PM ET

  ROME — A chorus of Handel's "Alleluia" rang out Saturday as Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Italian premier, ending a tumultuous 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink of economic crisis. Berlusconi stepped down amid jeers, cheers and heckles of "Buffoon" from thousands of people who packed downtown Rome to witness his government's downfall after a stunning week of market turmoil that upended his defiant hold on power and threatened to tear apart the eurozone. Respected former European commissioner Mario Monti remained the top choice to try to steer the country out of its debt woes as the head of a transitional government. But the job is Herculean, given the enormity of reforms required and Italy's often-paralyzed parliament. President Giorgio Napolitano will hold consultations Sunday morning with each of Italy's main political forces before proceeding with the expected request that Monti try to form a new government. Napolitano has scheduled back-to-back, 10-minute meetings all morning, indicating the talks won't drag on and that by the open of markets Monday, Italy may well have charted a new political course. Late Saturday, Berlusconi's party said it would support Monti, albeit with conditions. In front of Napolitano's office, where Berlusconi handed in his resignation late Saturday, protesters uncorked sparkling wine and danced in a conga line, shouting "We're free!" Several dozen singers and classical musicians – complete with music stands and chairs – performed Handel's "Alleluia" to rejoice in the end of Berlusconi's scandal-marred reign and welcome Monti into office.

  "I think he (Monti) is going to bring trust back to Italian people who are losing it, are a bit fed up with what's going on and have lost the trust and the respect" they had for Berlusconi, said Sophie Duffort of France, who was in the piazza Saturday night. Berlusconi supporters were also out in force, some singing the national anthem, but they were vastly outnumbered. His resignation was set in motion after the Chamber of Deputies approved economic reforms demanded by the European Union which include increasing the retirement age starting in 2026 but do nothing to open up Italy's inflexible labor market. The Senate approved the legislation a day earlier and Napolitano signed it into law Saturday afternoon, paving the way for Berlusconi to leave office as he promised to do after losing his parliamentary majority earlier in the week. Berlusconi stood as lawmakers applauded him in the parliament chamber immediately after the vote. But outside his office and in front of government palazzos across town, thousands of curiosity-seekers massing to witness his government's final hours heckled him and his ministers.

  "Shame!" and "Get Out!" they yelled, many toting "Bye Bye Silvio Party" posters as they marched through downtown Rome in a festive indication that for many Italians, like financial markets, the time had come for Berlusconi to go. It was an ignoble end for the 75-year-old billionaire media mogul, who came to power for the first time in 1994 using a soccer chant "Let's Go Italy" as the name of his political party and selling Italians on a dream of prosperity with his own personal story of transformation from cruise-ship crooner to Italy's richest man. While he became Italy's longest-serving post-war premier, Berlusconi's three stints as premier were tainted by corruption trials and accusations that he used his political power to help his business interests. His last term was marred by sex scandals, "bunga bunga" parties and criminal charges he paid a 17-year-old girl to have sex – accusations he denies. In the end, his downfall came swiftly: Just last week Berlusconi boldly told a G-20 summit in Cannes, France, he was the only one who could steer Italy out of its economic morass.

  A week of battering on the markets and the defection of several party members later, his fate was sealed. Italy is under intense pressure to quickly put in place a new and effective government to replace him, one that can push through even more painful reforms and austerity measures to deal with its staggering debts, which stand at euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion), or a huge 120 percent of economic output. Italy has to roll over a little more than euro300 billion ($410 billion) of its debts next year alone. Markets battered Italy this past week amid uncertainty that Berlusconi would really leave and questions over whether Italy's divided parliament could rally around a replacement. But Italy's borrowing rates pulled back after Napolitano made clear he intended to tap the politically neutral economist Monti to try to head an interim government to push the reforms through. The yield on benchmark Italian 10-year bonds fell to 6.48 percent Friday, safely below the crisis level of 7 percent reached earlier this week. Greece, Ireland and Portugal all required international bailouts after their own borrowing rates passed 7 percent. The Italian economy would not be so easy to save. It totals $2 trillion, twice as much as the other three countries combined. An Italian default could tear apart the coalition of 17 countries that use the euro as a common currency and deal a strong blow to the economies of Europe and the U.S., both trying to avoid recessions.

  The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said Saturday that Italy's political transition over the next few days should send a "clear sign of clarification and of credibility" that the country is now on the right path to get its finances back in order. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Lagarde had high praise for Monti, saying she had great esteem for the "quality" economist with whom she had long enjoyed a "extremely warm" and effective relationship. The IMF has a key role to play over the next few months in overseeing Italy's efforts to pull itself back from a Greek-style economic disaster, monitoring how it implements reforms to rein in debt and spur growth, which is projected at a scant 0.6 percent this year and 0.3 percent next year. Amid market turmoil last week, Berlusconi was forced to ask for IMF monitoring of Italy's finances, a humiliating prospect for the eurozone's third-largest economy and an embarrassment for the long-defiant Berlusconi. By Saturday, he was resigned to reality and held a working lunch with Monti in a clear sign the political transition was already under way, news reports said.

  While the euroskeptic Northern League remained opposed to Monti's nomination, some lawmakers suggested they could support a Monti-led government for a few months to enact the additional EU-demanded reforms before elections are held in early 2012. In a statement issued late Saturday, Berlusconi's Peoples of Liberty party said its members would support Monti, but added that they would also ensure that Monti's Cabinet, legislative agenda and the timeframe of his government meets their requirements. Napolitano appealed for lawmakers to put the good of the country ahead of short-term, local interests – an indirect appeal to members of Berlusconi's party and the allied Northern League to work with the new government. "All political forces must act with a sense of responsibility," he said.

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• vor 14.11.2011 10:17
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• Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Libya Interim Leader

  Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Libya Interim Leader

  Says No Place For Extremist Islam KARIN LAUB 11/12/11 12:25 PM ET

  TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya won't turn into an extremist Islamic country, its interim leader assured the European Union's top diplomat on Saturday, adding that the formation of a new government of experts is to be completed in the coming week. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, caused a stir in the West last month when he said Islamic Shariah law would be the main source of legislation in the new Libya and that tenets violating it would be nullified. At a news conference with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he addressed those concerns. "We will not be an extremist Islamic country," he said. "Our Islam is moderate." Other NTC members have said Abdul-Jalil had expressed his personal views on the role of Shariah law. They noted that a constitution, which would address the role of religion in Libya, will only be written next year. Ashton told a women's conference in Tripoli that Libya's women should make sure their rights are enshrined in the future constitution, calling for gender-equality in the male-dominated country. "The European Union wants to be with you on this journey, to try and help overcome the political and social barriers, to help ensure your role in shaping your future," Ashton said. Abdul-Jalil said women would play a role in Libyan politics and business and that they would be represented in the interim government that is now being formed and will run Libya until a national assembly is elected by June.

  He said the 63-member NTC has four female members, citing it as an example of the political participation of women. The recently appointed prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keib, is to present the list of names of the new ministers to the NTC in the coming week, Abdul-Jalil said Saturday. Ministers would be chosen based on expertise, not tribal considerations, he said. The NTC chief was evasive when asked about growing concerns about the uncontrolled ownership of weapons. Since the end of the eight-month civil war that toppled the Gadhafi regime, rival anti-Gadhafi militias have clashed repeatedly. On Saturday, two former fighters from the coastal city of Zawiya, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, were killed in a clash with a rival militia from a nearby town, said Mukhtar al-Akhdar, commander of an armed group that was not involved in the confrontation. Saturday's deaths brought to four the number of people killed in the dispute over the past two days. The fighting was the latest of a series of violent confrontations between militias jockeying for position.

  El-Keib, the prime minister, has said he could not disarm fighters until he has prepared alternatives, including jobs and training. Abdul-Jalil seemed to affirm the slow approach Saturday, noting that 75 percent of those carrying weapons are unemployed. "We will provide real opportunities of employment. We will support them," he said. Ashton opened an EU office in Tripoli and said her visit was meant to show support for the post-Gadhafi Libya. "We hope to be here for many years as your partner," she told Abdul-Jalil. She said she would try to ensure that billions of dollars in Libyan assets abroad, frozen as part of international sanctions against the Gadhafi regime, will be released as quickly as possible. She said she would raise the issue when European foreign ministers meet on Monday. The EU has so far given Libya 155 million euros in humanitarian support and is to help in other fields, including building state institutions and supporting the health sector, an EU statement said.

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• vor 14.11.2011 10:08
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• Syria Protests Erupt Over Arab League Membership Vote, Government Calls For Urgent Summit

  Syria Protests Erupt Over Arab League Membership Vote, Government Calls For Urgent Summit

  ZEINA KARAM 11/13/11 09:19 PM ET

  BEIRUT — Syria's embattled regime called for an urgent Arab summit as it faced growing isolation Sunday, not only by the West but by its neighbors, over its bloody crackdown against an eight-month uprising. The crisis raised regional tensions, with Turkey sending a plane to evacuate nonessential personnel after a night of attacks on several embassies by Syrian government supporters angry over the Arab League decision Saturday to suspend their country's membership. The 22-member bloc's rare, near-unanimous vote – only Lebanon, Yemen and Syria were opposed – put Damascus in direct confrontation with other Arab powers, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who were pushing for the suspension. The vote constituted a major boost for the Syrian opposition. Tens of thousands of government supporters poured into the streets of Damascus and other cities, the turnout helped by the government's closing of businesses and schools so that people could take part. "You Arab leaders are the tails of Obama," read a banner held at a huge pro-regime rally in Damascus accusing the Arab League of bowing to pressure from the U.S. Violence continued elsewhere, with activists reporting at least 14 people killed in shootings by security forces in several parts of the country. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven of the deaths occurred in Hama when security forces fired on opposition protesters who infiltrated a pro-government rally. Syria's call for an Arab summit to discuss the country's spiraling political unrest was seen as another possible bid by President Bashar Assad to buy time as he faces snowballing punitive action over a crackdown that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 3,500 people since mid-March.

  In a thinly veiled warning, the government said it was calling for the meeting "because the fallout from the Syrian crisis could harm regional security" – an apparent effort to play on fears that Assad's ouster would spread chaos around the Middle East. But in a significant concession, Syria also invited Arab League officials to visit before the membership suspension is scheduled to take effect on Wednesday, and said they could bring any civilian or military observers they deem appropriate to oversee implementation of an Arab League plan for ending the bloodshed. The Syrian government is usually loath to accept anything resembling foreign intervention, and the invitation signaled the government's alarm over the Arab action. Arab League officials did not immediately respond to the request for an emergency summit. Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby, on a visit to Libya, demanded immediate implementation of the peace plan. The Nov. 2 plan called on Syria to halt attacks on protesters, pull tanks out of cities and hold talks with the opposition. Syria signed on to the plan, but nothing has changed on the ground. In voting for the suspension, the Arab League said it would meet again Wednesday in the Moroccan capital of Rabat to reconsider the decision, giving Assad some time to take action to prevent it.

  Arab nations are eager to avoid seeing another leader toppled violently, as happened to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi last month. Assad asserts that extremists pushing a foreign agenda to destabilize Syria are behind the country's unrest, rather than true reform-seekers aiming to open the country's autocratic political system. Sunday's demonstrators accused Arab countries of being complicit in the purported conspiracy. Iraq, which abstained from Saturday's vote, warned that the Arab League suspension could make matters worse. "The suspension of Syria's membership will deprive the Arab League of any communication channel with the Syrian government, and this move does not serve the interests of the Syrian people," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. Members of the Syrian opposition, meanwhile, rejoiced. "This gives strong legitimacy to our cause," said Bassma Kodmani, a spokeswoman for the Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group. "We consider this decision to be a victory for the Syrian revolution." Hours after the Arab League vote, pro-regime demonstrators in Syria assaulted the diplomatic offices of countries critical of the Syrian government, breaking into the Saudi and Qatari embassies and attacking Turkish and French diplomatic posts across the country.

  Syrian security forces confronted the attackers with batons and tear gas but were unable to stop a group from breaking into the Qatari embassy and replacing the Qatari flag with the Syrian banner. Others entered Saudi Arabia's embassy compound, broke windows and ransacked some sections, the kingdom's media reported. Nobody was reported injured, but the embassy attacks were likely to stoke anger in Arab states against the regime in Damascus. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry condemned the mob violence. And Turkey sent a plane to Damascus on Sunday to evacuate diplomatic families as well as nonessential staff, Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

  The Turkish Foreign Ministry also summoned Syria's charge d'affaires, who was given a formal protest note over the attacks. Turkey is not a member of the Arab League but has been sharply critical of Syria's crackdown, and Turkey's foreign minister welcomed the Arab League vote. France also said it had summoned Syria's ambassador to "remind" him of Syria's international obligations. On Sunday, hundreds of baton-carrying Syrian riot police in helmets ringed the U.S., Qatari, Saudi and Turkish embassies. ___ Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Greg Keller in Paris, France, contributed to this report.

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• vor 14.11.2011 09:15
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• 15 Dumbest Things About Going To The Gym

  15 Dumbest Things About Going To The Gym

  First Posted: 11/14/11 01:28 AM ET Updated: 11/14/11 01:28 AM ET

  Dumb As A Blog: There is only one guaranteed way to lose your triple chin or cheese gut: working out at the gym, a semi-public place where people try to avoid eye contact while grunting and secreting bodily fluids because, you know, we all want to look good in the buff. But there is lots about the gym that is done, whether its locker rooms full of sweaty people airing out their genitals, or He-men moaning in pain and/or pleasure.

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