Italy to Pardon 1/3 of Its Incarcerated

On Saturday il Senato voted 245-56, with 6 abstentions, in favor of a bill that pardons 1/3 (20,000) of Italy's incarcerated. Forza Italia, l'Unione, and the Christian Democrats voted in favor of the bill, Lega Nord and Italia dei Valori against.

In 1990 the Italian senate passed a similar resolution, aimed at resolving the problem of overpopulated prisons.

Rome Treaty Not to be Built in One Day

Rife with disagreement, and U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice's brushing aside of an immediate ceasefire, Prodi's Lebanon Summit was largely a failure, showing no immediate results.

In Lebanon the bombardments continue, the IDF advances, and in Haifa the Hezbollah rockets continue to fall. The idea of an international force, supported by many, remains hypothetical, with no nations volunteering troops, and security experts sustaining that any international force in southern Lebanon without Syrian involvement is doomed to failure.

Israel hopes to establish a mile wide buffer-zone, a "strip" in southern Lebanon, so as to rid Hezbollah of a staging ground for rocket attacks.

Nabih Berri, President of the Lebanese Parliament and a Hezbollah spokesman, has invited Prodi's government to be "mediator" in an Italian-brokered ceasefire and prisoner exchange.

Berlusconi Mingles in Marrakech

Aujourd'hui Le Maroc, a French-language Moroccan daily has reported that Berlusconi was in Marrakech (Morocco) this past week to celebrate his wife's 50th birthday. Berlusconi planned the trip for Veronica on the sly, having her children pretend they were taking her to the Guggenheim in Bilbao (Spain) for her birthday. Veronica was escorted to Morocco, and upon arrival brought to Cafè de France (where her 7 best female friends surprised her when they peeled off their burkas) and then to a posh restaurant called Dar Marjana, where Berlusconi, dressed up as a Berber (his face covered in a blue veil), performed traditional dances and invited Veronica to dance. Veronica refused, not knowing who the veiled man was. Suddenly, the music stopped. Berlusconi (still veiled) whipped out a diamond necklace and began singing "Happy Birthday, amore mio".

The paper further reported that Berlusconi, while moseying through the souk, "promised" to be "back within a month" -- at once addicted to the same morphine marocaine that hooked the Clintons, the Chiracs and Martha Stewart.

Bologna Court: Islamic Martyrs Legitimate

The Comune della Liberta di Bologna has ruled that "acts of violence are excluded from the sphere of terrorism -- no matter who carries them out -- when they are against military members involved in an armed conflict, except when the acts are illegal under other applications of international law, for example war crimes or crimes against humanity."

The court ruling was applied June 27th, in regard to the release of 18 suspected Islamic terrorists. The ruling is sure to be controversial.

Prodi to Host Hold Lebanon Talks in Rome

A mere two months after Berlusconi's shameless exit from the Italian political stage, and Italy's diplomatic sway has begun to swagger. Months ago, with Berlusconi still in office, the Bush administration requested that Italy take a central role in the Israel-Palestine crisis. The Bush adminstration's appeal seemed to be motivated by Washington's strong, decades-long alliance with Italy; what Washington perceives as Italy's relatively warm relations with Israel; and Washington's distaste for the ex-Chancellor of Germany, Gerard Schroeder, and the current French president, Jacques Chirac.

This Wednesday, July 26th, Rome will hold an international summit on the Lebanon crisis. Prodi, his cabinet, Condoleezza Rice, and various Arab, Russian, British, German, French, U.N. and World Bank officials will be in attendence. Arab leaders are unlikely to host U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice until a permanent cease-fire is established in Lebanon.

Addressing the choice of Rome, Prodi stated: "I consider it particularly significant that Rome was decided as the place to hold the Lebanon talks. I believe that meeting in Rome constitutes an acknowledgement of the efforts that our government has made to create a path for peace in the Middle East."

At the summit, Rice plans to stress the disarment of Hizballah, particulary as it relates to U.N. Resolution 1559 -- passed in 2004 -- a resolution that called for the immediate disarment of all militias and foreign forces operating on Lebanese territory, and an extension of the Lebanese government's authority to all corners of the country. Rice also plans to stress the necessity for a "robust" international force on the southern Lebanese border, but for now does not see American troops being a part of it.

Ticino Film Festival Drops Israel in Protest

The organizers of this year's Locarno International Film Festival have removed the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs from its lists of sponsors in protest of Israel's most-recent bombing campaigns in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Several Lebanese and Palestinian film directors made it clear that they would not attend the festival if Israel remained a sponsor, stating, "We make this demand in consideration of the hundreds of innocent civilians that have been murdered by the State of Israel in its ongoing campaign... ...We do so because we are in solidarity with those who are under siege..."

Locarno is on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore, in Ticino, an Italian-speaking region in southern Switzerland with strong historical and cultural ties to Italy.

The Locarno International Film Festival is August 2nd-12th.

Oh yeah. Italy Won the World Cup.

Italy won the World Cup on Sunday after a penalty kick shoot-out against France. Italy's win was largely overshadowed in the world's press due to the Zidane-Materazzi incident. Zidane was said to be provoked countless times by Italy's Marco Materazzi (both verbally and by tugging on his jersey) and Zidane finally snapped after hearing "some very harsh words about my mother and sister." After hearing the harsh words, words that Zidane refused to repeat, Zidane's mother said "Materazzi should be castrated. I want his testicles on a platter." The match was Zidane's last match ever, and he was given a red card, and therefore expelled, minutes before the end of the game