It had already been a terrible year for the Italian prime minister. Castigated by the Roman Catholic Church for his dalliances with showgirls, sued for divorce, accused of sleeping with a prostitute and facing two corruption trials, the last 12 months of personal and political pitfalls were capped last weekend when he was struck in the face with a souvenir model of Milan's cathedral. Yet even as many Italians felt unexpected sympathy for the terrible injuries suffered by their sometimes embarrassing leader, and wondered whether his famous verve would ever fully recover, a handful noticed a striking - and perhaps significant - parallel with a notorious predecessor.
It had already been a terrible year for the Italian prime minister. Castigated by the Roman Catholic Church for his dalliances with showgirls, sued for divorce, accused of sleeping with a prostitute and facing two corruption trials, the last 12 months of personal and political pitfalls were capped last weekend when he was struck in the face with a souvenir model of Milan's cathedral.
Yet even as many Italians felt unexpected sympathy for the terrible injuries suffered by their sometimes embarrassing leader, and wondered whether his famous verve would ever fully recover, a handful noticed a striking - and perhaps significant - parallel with a notorious predecessor.
Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has insisted he will return to the public stage on Christmas Eve despite his family's pleas to take a break from politics after he was attacked at a rally last week. Doctors and aides urged Berlusconi, 73, to rest for three weeks after he suffered a broken nose and two broken teeth when Massimo Tartaglia, 42, an electronics engineer with mental problems, threw a spiked marble and metal replica of Milan Cathedral at him. On Friday, his first day out of hospital, Berlusconi received 17 visitors at his mansion near Milan. His nose was bandaged and he had difficulty speaking. Nevertheless, he was said to have told party members that he would spend Christmas Eve at the village of Onna in L'Aquila in central Italy, which was devastated by an earthquake in April. He was equally determined in rebuffing his daughter Marina, 43, head of the Fininvest media holding company, when she urged him to think more about himself and his family and less about politics. A well-informed source said Marina, Berlusconi's daughter by his first marriage, had "begged" him to take it easy.
Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has insisted he will return to the public stage on Christmas Eve despite his family's pleas to take a break from politics after he was attacked at a rally last week.
Doctors and aides urged Berlusconi, 73, to rest for three weeks after he suffered a broken nose and two broken teeth when Massimo Tartaglia, 42, an electronics engineer with mental problems, threw a spiked marble and metal replica of Milan Cathedral at him.
On Friday, his first day out of hospital, Berlusconi received 17 visitors at his mansion near Milan. His nose was bandaged and he had difficulty speaking.
Nevertheless, he was said to have told party members that he would spend Christmas Eve at the village of Onna in L'Aquila in central Italy, which was devastated by an earthquake in April.
He was equally determined in rebuffing his daughter Marina, 43, head of the Fininvest media holding company, when she urged him to think more about himself and his family and less about politics. A well-informed source said Marina, Berlusconi's daughter by his first marriage, had "begged" him to take it easy.
a striking - and perhaps significant - parallel with a notorious predecessor.
Dutch police say teenage sailor Laura Dekker - who seeks to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world -has been missing since Friday.Police say the 14-year-old's boat is moored at its berth and she appears to have left her father's home on her own.
Dutch police say teenage sailor Laura Dekker - who seeks to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world -has been missing since Friday.
Police say the 14-year-old's boat is moored at its berth and she appears to have left her father's home on her own.
GENEVA - Roman Polanski is finishing the edit of his latest movie "Ghost" from his house arrest in Switzerland, surrounded by family and bombarded by telephone calls of support, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy said in an interview Sunday. AC = --> Levy, a friend of the 76-year-old director, told the Lausanne-based weekly Le Matin Dimanche that he visited Polanski in his chalet in the luxury Swiss resort of Gstaad about 10 days ago and found him like "a rock," working and confident even though his family is worried about the U.S. extradition request hanging over him."It's in fact very impressive. He is in the process of finishing at a distance the editing of his next film, which I understand will be in the official selection at the next Berlin Festival," Levy said.
GENEVA - Roman Polanski is finishing the edit of his latest movie "Ghost" from his house arrest in Switzerland, surrounded by family and bombarded by telephone calls of support, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy said in an interview Sunday. AC = -->
Levy, a friend of the 76-year-old director, told the Lausanne-based weekly Le Matin Dimanche that he visited Polanski in his chalet in the luxury Swiss resort of Gstaad about 10 days ago and found him like "a rock," working and confident even though his family is worried about the U.S. extradition request hanging over him.
"It's in fact very impressive. He is in the process of finishing at a distance the editing of his next film, which I understand will be in the official selection at the next Berlin Festival," Levy said.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Black belted Russian leader Vladimir Putin has offered to join the national judo team after showing off his martial arts skills to members of the squad. The 57-year-old prime minister made the proposal at a special coaching session on Saturday aired on state television, adding to his carefully-crafted macho image. Putin, who many observers believe is still paramount leader despite standing down as president last year, entered the hall of St Petersburg's School of Sport Mastery dressed in a white judogi and black belt, to applause from the assembled squad. After bowing, the former KGB spy went onto the mats, throwing squad members half his age and even tackling the chief trainer, Olympic Gold medallist Ezio Gamba.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Black belted Russian leader Vladimir Putin has offered to join the national judo team after showing off his martial arts skills to members of the squad.
The 57-year-old prime minister made the proposal at a special coaching session on Saturday aired on state television, adding to his carefully-crafted macho image.
Putin, who many observers believe is still paramount leader despite standing down as president last year, entered the hall of St Petersburg's School of Sport Mastery dressed in a white judogi and black belt, to applause from the assembled squad.
After bowing, the former KGB spy went onto the mats, throwing squad members half his age and even tackling the chief trainer, Olympic Gold medallist Ezio Gamba.
Rock band Rage Against The Machine has won the most competitive battle in years for the Christmas number one.The band's single, Killing In The Name, sold 500,000 downloads beating X Factor winner Joe McElderry's The Climb by 50,000 copies to clinch the top spot. Their success followed a Facebook campaign designed to prevent another X Factor number one. One retailer said it was a "truly remarkable outcome - possibly the greatest chart upset ever". Speaking on the Radio 1 chart show, Zack de la Rocha from Rage said: "We are very, very ecstatic about being number one." He added it was an "incredible organic grassroots campaign".
Rock band Rage Against The Machine has won the most competitive battle in years for the Christmas number one.
The band's single, Killing In The Name, sold 500,000 downloads beating X Factor winner Joe McElderry's The Climb by 50,000 copies to clinch the top spot.
Their success followed a Facebook campaign designed to prevent another X Factor number one.
One retailer said it was a "truly remarkable outcome - possibly the greatest chart upset ever".
Speaking on the Radio 1 chart show, Zack de la Rocha from Rage said: "We are very, very ecstatic about being number one."
He added it was an "incredible organic grassroots campaign".
For a lot of us kids growing up in the Southern California suburbs, as did Zack de la Rocha himself, Rage Against The Machine was our first exposure to those kind of politicized messages pointing out the inherent racism and oppressiveness of much of American society, certainly of its government and police forces. Later on as we grew up we learned to intellectualize this and understand those criticisms more completely, but Rage was our "gateway drug" to radicalism. Sold to us, of course, by Epic Records.
One could point to other contemporaneous music with similar messages, such as the entirety of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton album, but 1) I was a bit younger when that came out, and 2) most suburban whites experienced that music basically as minstrelsy, an amusing caricature of black life. Only later did the truth become clearer. And the world will live as one
Police in the US are investigating a detective who appears to draw his gun during a mass snowball fight on the streets of Washington DC.Video taken at the scene shows people pelting a man with snowballs after his car, a Hummer, gets stuck in the snow. The man - not in uniform at the time - then appears to pull out a gun while an angry crowd gathers and chants: "Don't bring a gun to a snowball fight." DC police refused to comment, telling the BBC an investigation was under way.
Police in the US are investigating a detective who appears to draw his gun during a mass snowball fight on the streets of Washington DC.
Video taken at the scene shows people pelting a man with snowballs after his car, a Hummer, gets stuck in the snow.
The man - not in uniform at the time - then appears to pull out a gun while an angry crowd gathers and chants: "Don't bring a gun to a snowball fight."
DC police refused to comment, telling the BBC an investigation was under way.
