Click for Uebelhor
Google TOC
Make This My Homepage
In The News
In flap over S. Carolina law, old tensions and a campaign issue

In flap over S. Carolina law, old tensions and a campaign issue


By Andy Sullivan COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - The state that fired the first shot in the Civil War is once again battling the U.S. government in a racially charged conflict that is drawing ...
Divers suspend search of capsized Italy liner

Divers suspend search of capsized Italy liner


By Steve Scherer and Gabriele Pileri GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) - Divers searching the capsized Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia suspended work on Wednesday after the vast wreck shifted slightly but officials said they are ...
Italy ship search suspended after hulk moves-officials

Italy ship search suspended after hulk moves-officials


GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) - Italian divers suspended their search of the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia after the vessel shifted slightly on its resting place near the Tuscan island of Giglio, officials said on Wednesday. ...

Italian PD (Democratic Party) leader Pier Luigi Bersani reacts during a news conference in Rome February 26, 2013. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Prospect of new Italy vote heightens as Grillo faces ultimatum
Prospect of new Italy vote heightens as Grillo faces ultimatum
Posted : Monday, 04 March 2013 04:11AM

By Steve Scherer

ROME (Reuters) - Italy appeared to be inching toward another round of elections on Monday after centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani issued an ultimatum to 5-Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo to support a temporary government or "we'll all go home".

Appearing on RAI state television late on Sunday, Bersani ruled out another technocrat government like the last one, led by Mario Monti. Last week's vote left no one with a working majority in parliament, making an alliance with a rival the only solution to forming a government.

"Now (Grillo) must say what he wants, otherwise we all go home, including him," Bersani said.

Financial markets are watching Italy closely and the spread between Italian 10-year benchmark bonds and German bunds - a measure of investor confidence - widened on Monday to an almost three-month high as the country entered its second week of gridlock.

Grillo last week called Bersani a "dead man talking" when the centre-left leader made first overtures to Grillo's populist movement, which became Italy's single biggest party in its first national test.

On Monday and Tuesday, Grillo will meet with the 163 new 5-Star lawmakers, who have never before been in parliament, to talk about their strategy ahead of parliament's first session on March 15, and subsequent formal consultations with President Giorgio Napolitano on the formation of a government.

Napolitano, who has the power to dissolve parliament and select prime ministers, has said he wants to avoid an immediate round of new elections.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp