All Roads Lead...Out of Rome? Sardinia Plans Secession Referendum

The Italian region of Sardinia is pushing for a referendum. But it's not just about secession - a group of activists is in fact asking Rome to sell the island to Switzerland. A co-founder of the movement, Andrea Caruso, explained why locals are fed up with the central government.

Pope Attacks Global Economics for Worshipping 'God of Money'

REUTERS.COM: Pope Francis made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system on Sunday, saying it could no longer be based on a "god called money" and urged the unemployed to fight for work.

Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the Sardinian capital, Cagliari, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said. "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

He discarded his prepared speech after listening to Francesco Mattana, a 45-year-old married father of three who lost his job with an alternative energy company four years ago.

Mattana, his voice trembling, told the pope that unemployment "oppresses you and wears you out to the depths of your soul".

The crowd of about 20,000 people in a square near the city port chanted what Francis called a prayer for "work, work, work". They cheered each time he spoke of the rights of workers and the personal devastation caused by joblessness.

The pope, who later celebrated Mass for some 300,000 people outside the city's cathedral, told them: "We don't want this globalised economic system which does us so much harm. Men and women have to be at the centre (of an economic system) as God wants, not money."

"The world has become an idolator of this god called money," he said.

Sardinia's coast is famous for its idyllic beaches, exclusive resorts and seaside palatial residences of some of the world's richest people, including former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and a host of Hollywood actors.

But much of the island, particularly its large cities and the vast agricultural and industrial interior, has been blighted by the economic crisis, with factories closed and mines operating at low capacity. » | Philip Pullella | Cagliari, Sardinia | Edited by Will Waterman | Sunday, September 22, 2013

Tony's Cavorting on a Yacht with a Personal Butler to Rub in His Suncream. Isn't Life after No 10 Grand?
MAIL ONLINE: The impressive sight of the super-yacht Rising Sun hoving into view around the glamour spots of Europe is always enough to provoke envious glances - even among holidaying oligarchs and international playboys.

Built over five decks, the £150million vessel - the world's second largest privately owned yacht - boasts 82 rooms and an indoor swimming pool, basketball court, dance floor, spa, wine cellar and, of course, helipad.

Little wonder then, that Tony Blair chose to begin his current month-long vacation in one of its lavishly appointed staterooms.

Mr Blair expects only the best. In the past, he has complained - perhaps somewhat churlishly - that those giving him free bed and board have not provided him with accommodation of the absolute highest standard.

Indeed, his friends were flabbergasted when he moaned about a gratis holiday he and his family took three years ago at the Miami mansion of Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb. There was, Blair grumbled, simply not enough to do.

Happily, the accommodation on the Rising Sun is more than up to scratch. And Mr Blair's host, the billionaire software magnate Larry Ellison, has gone to immense trouble to ensure his stay is a comfortable one.

The former Prime Minister, who stayed aboard the yacht without wife Cherie or any of his four children, was assigned a personal butler to attend to his every whim. This extended, Mr Blair has confided, to applying his factor 30 sun cream.

After Mr Blair joined the vessel in Sardinia, Mr Ellison, the 64-year-old CEO of computer firm Oracle Corporation and the world's fourth richest man with a fortune of £13.6billion, threw a glitzy cocktail party on the deck in his honour.

Such opulence is a step up even from the luxury of Sir Cliff Richard's Barbados home, where the Blairs - when they were in Downing Street - used to spend their summer holidays.

Nowadays, Mr Blair likes to move in even more rarefied circles. Principal among his new super-rich friends is David Geffen, the self-made Tinseltown mogul and business partner of Steven Spielberg. The gay billionaire has become a close confidant.

In fact, so close are they that Mr Blair has introduced 66-year-old Geffen to his friend Peter Mandelson, who was a dinner guest on the Rising Sun himself last week.

The camp, shaven-headed Geffen has, in return, introduced the ex-Prime Minister to Hollywood stars Tom Hanks and Steve Martin, with whom the Blairs holidayed aboard a yacht in Greece last summer.

A story told by a source very close to Mr Blair illustrates the orbit of wealth and excess in which he has been moving of late. >>> Paul Scott | Friday, August 14, 2009

Saudi Princess Robbed in Sardinia
BBC: Italian police are investigating the theft of some $16m (£10m) in cash and jewellery from a Saudi princess staying on the Italian island of Sardinia.

The thieves used a master key to gain entry to her luxury hotel suite in Porto Cervo before ripping a safe from the wall, Italian media reports say.

They said the safe was only fixed with silicon to the wall in the suite.

Officials have not named the princess but say Italian and Saudi diplomats have had talks about the incident.

"The thieves used a master key. In 10 minutes at dinner time, without making any noise, they managed to remove the safe from a suite occupied by the Saudi princess," Italy's La Stampa newspaper reported.

The hotel is located in one of the most chic resort areas on the Italian island. [Source: BBC] | Sunday, August 09, 2009

Berlusconi Can't Rein In the Foreign Press
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: It's the Silvio and Noemi show – who's interested in Fiat now?

Silvio Berlusconi with his wife Veronica Lario, who has filed for divorce. Photo courtesy of The Independent
To say that Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, would like to control the Italian media, and to a large extent actually does, is hardly news. But last week saw him trying to rein in the foreign press too, and finding it rather more difficult.

The offending story is his relationship with an aspiring model from the Neapolitan hinterland, Noemi Letizia, and his mental health. A month ago, Berlusconi's wife, Veronica Lario, dropped a bombshell when she attacked her husband for making pretty showgirls into candidates for the European elections next week; she followed up a day later by saying that he also "consorted with underage girls" and "is not well". She said that he had gone to an 18-year-old's birthday party (Letizia's) when he hadn't even shown up for his children's 18th birthdays.

Since then, Italy and much of the rest of the world have been trying to work out what exactly was going on between Berlusconi and Letizia. Berlusconi is a media magnate who owns three of Italy's national TV channels and, as prime minister, has a dominant influence over the public broadcaster, RAI. He and his family own a couple of daily papers, one of the two main news weeklies and the country's biggest book publisher, Mondadori. He has been an active politician since 1994 and on the fringes since the 1960s. Despite this experience, his media management over the past month has been comically amateur. >>> By James Walston | Sunday, May 31, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Silvio Berlusconi Blocks Publication of Bikini-girls Photographs

Silvio Berlusconi has blocked the publication of potentially embarrassing photographs said to include images of young bikini-clad and topless girls at his villa in Sardinia.

Police seized hundreds of photographs, which are believed to feature Mirek Topolánek, the former Czech Prime Minister, in the nude, after the media tycoon claimed that they constituted an invasion of privacy.

Some of the pictures were taken on New Year’s Eve, when Noemi Letizia, 18, was among the guests. Veronica Lario, Mr Berlusconi’s wife, announced more than a month ago that she will be divorcing him, partly because she could not “stay with a man who consorts with minors”. >>> Lucy Bannerman and Richard Owen | Monday, June 01, 2009