Friday, January 24, 2003
posted by Carla Passino at 8:48 AM
Gianni Agnelli Dies
Italy's legendary tycoon passes away on his company's day of reckoning
One of Italy's most influential tycoons, Gianni Agnelli passed away this morning at 8.30 CET (7.30 GMT) at his home in Turin (link in Italian).
The co-owner and honorary chairman of troubled FIAT, Italy's largest car manufacturer, lost his year-long battle with cancer just when his company was in greatest need of his steadying presence. This morning, FIAT's main shareholders are meeting to appoint Gianni's brother, Umberto, as chairman of the car behemoth, in a bid to save what remains of their business.
Despite his illness, Gianni Agnelli - who dominated Italy's economic scene throughout the last fifty years - still played an active role in managing FIAT's devastating financial crisis over the last few months. He didn't make it. Will his company survive him?
UPDATE: it would appear that the market didn't like Gianni Agnelli so much. As the news of his death reach trading floors round the world, FIAT shares keep going up.
Thursday, January 23, 2003
posted by Carla Passino at 7:42 PM
Ken Solves All Your Problems
The Mayor of London champions creative problem-solving
As Londoners prepare to pay £5 a day to drive through the city centre from next month, their media-savvy mayor, Ken Livingstone makes guest appearances everywhere in a bid to answer their every question. Speaking at the BBC London radio programme tonight, he replied to a call from an anguished woman who does night shifts and drives to and from work because she doesn’t feel safe waiting at the bus stop after dark. She is understandably concerned that the charge, which she will have to pay to get back home in the morning, will eat straight into her disposable income. Not to worry, says the mayor: if she feels unsafe on night buses and doesn’t drive a motorbike, which is exempted from the levy, she should obtain compensation from her employers. And if they do not offer it, well then it's about time she changed jobs. There you go, problem solved!
posted by Carla Passino at 1:02 PM
Build to Your Heart's Content
Illegal buildings will never have to face the bulldozer again in Italy if Berlusconi has his way
After dealing with economy (by reducing the penalties for false accounting in March 2002) and justice (by introducing a law which allows defendants to ask that their trial be transferred to another court if there is "legitimate suspicion" that the examining judges are politically biased against them), Italy's sterling Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has moved on to property, proposing to reduce penalties for property-related misdemeanours (in Italian, short English summary follows below).
Italy has a long history of constructing buildings, often in areas of outstanding natural beauty, without acquiring the necessary planning permissions first. Until now, illegally erected buildings and house extensions faced the bulldozers - except, that is, when the Government needed money and allowed the owners to be cleared of any wrongdoing by paying a one-off fine. Effectively, it was a case of amnesty for cash. Nevertheless, some illegal constructions were knocked to the ground. Now, however, Berlusconi plans to keep the buildings intact so long as their owners are prepared to "provide public gardens and amusement park facilities" as a payback to the community. "This," he said, "is a more modern, proactive stance when compared to merely forcing owners to demolish buildings which are in breach of planning law".
The proposal would be a dream come true for unscrupulous property developers, who would be able to flaunt planning permissions to their heart's content yet remain within the law, while honest developers would quickly find themselves at disadvantage as they battled Italian red tape to obtain the necessary licences. If the proposal becomes a bill, how long will it take for Italy's parks and coastlines to be marred forever by Government-blessed eyesores?
Sunday, January 19, 2003
posted by Mooraq at 12:58 PM
Hunting Al Qaeda
A lot of terrorists are still at large but markedly fewer than before
Nobody doubts that the war against terror will be long and painful. It is also an asymmetric war, where each battle has to be won and even a single success for the terrorists would be one too many.
As a society we are ill prepared to this kind of threat, the same qualities that make us what we are - democracy, freedom, openess - may help the enemy attacking us. On top of this, our police and intelligence forces are facing a steep learing curve to understand how to respond to this new kind of terrorism.
Nevertheless one could take heart from the lessons of 2002. Despite dire predictions, no major terrorist attack has been successfully carried out in a developed country last year, many men linked to the Al Qaeda network have been identified and arrested and many plots have been foiled. I believe that the terrorists out there are hundreds, but not thousands. Mantaining such a network would be too expensive and complex even for the likes of bin Laden. Hundreds of terrorists are obviously not to be taken lightly - especially if they are so determined to face even death to perpetrate their acts - but the many arrests that have taken place in the last 12 months have surely taken a heavy toll on Al Qaeda capacity. Each single arrest is also a new dent that could help pierce the armor of secrecy which shrouds Al Qaeda.
Overall I think we can be pretty proud at the efficiency shown by our berated police and intelligence forces so far. This does not mean lowering our guard, quite the opposite, but realising that we have the capacity to protect ourselves. We are not defenseless against these blood-thirsty animals.
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