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| Michigan House Approves Union Limit - New York Times Posted: 11 Dec 2012 09:27 AM PST By MONICA DAVEYPublished: December 11, 2012LANSING, Mich. — Over the shouts of thousands of angry protesters gathered outside the State Capitol here, Michigan's House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would vastly reduce the power of organized labor in this traditionally strong union state. The 58-to-51 vote was the first piece of a two-part package, that would, among other things, bar workers from being required to pay union fees as a condition of employment. Recall! Recall! Recall!" union supporters cried out from the gallery. Before the vote, Democrats in the state's House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a 64-to-46 majority over Democrats, were desperately trying to offer amendments to the measures in order to derail them. Among the suggestions: Send the question to a public vote. So far, all amendments had been rejected. "This is being forced down peoples' throats," said Jon M. Switalski, a Democrat, speaking against the legislation. "It's being done so in a very poor way — in lame-duck with no committee meetings." Democrats, one by one, recalled their family histories in labor unions and reminisced about what unions once meant to the country, but primarily, they talked about their objections to the speed and method of the Republican-sponsored legislation. Joan Bauer, a Democrat, said she was saddened and sickened by what was happening. "I cannot believe this legislations was rammed through in one day," Ms. Bauer said. But Rick Olson, a Republican, said the legislation was a matter of worker choice, not of harming unions. Mr. Olson described the move as "tough love" for unions. As the debate continued, the Capitol was closed after the authorities said the building had reached its capacity, leaving noisy union members — many dressed in red — on the lawn outside. They chanted, the sound of their drums becoming increasingly loud: "Kill the bill! Kill the bill!" Streets around the Capitol building were closed to traffic and numerous clusters of state police, some carrying riot gear, kept posts throughout the building and along nearby streets. At least two school districts around the state announced that they would close for the day, as word spread that teachers and other workers planned to protest in Lansing. Democrats, including President Obama, have denounced the measures. Final passage requires votes by the State House of Representatives on two measures — one dealing with employees at private companies, the other with most public workers — and a signature from Gov. Rick Snyder, which is expected later in the week. "You know, these so-called right-to-work laws, they don't have to do with economics," said Mr. Obama, during a visit to a truck factory outside Detroit on Monday. "They have everything to do with politics. What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money." From a distance, there would seem no more unlikely a target for this fight than Michigan, where labor, hoping to demonstrate strength after a series of setbacks, asked voters last month to enshrine collective bargaining into the State Constitution. But that ballot measure failed badly, and suddenly a reverse drive was under way that has brought the state to a moment startling in its symbolism. How the home of the United Automobile Workers finds itself close to becoming the 24th state to ban compulsory union fees — and only the second state to pass such legislation in a decade — is the latest chapter in a larger battle over the role of unions in the nation's midsection. It is a reflection of mounting tension between labor leaders and Michigan Republicans who took control of the state two years ago, and the result of a change of position by Mr. Snyder, a political novice who had long avoided the issue because, he had said, it was too divisive. It is also an effort being closely watched — and fueled, labor leaders say — by national conservative groups who see the outcome in Michigan as an emblem for similar measures in other states with far thinner union histories. "Everybody has this image of Michigan as a labor state," said Bill Ballenger, the editor of Inside Michigan Politics. "But organized labor has been losing clout, and the Republicans saw an opportunity, and now the chickens are coming home to roost." Since the wave of Republican wins in 2010 in statehouses in the Midwest, campaigns to limit unions have boiled over in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. But in Michigan, where Republicans also won control, those efforts had seemed more muted, with some in the party, including Mr. Snyder, shying away from the broadest, most sweeping measures. As it has throughout the country, membership in unions has fallen here in recent decades — about 17.5 percent of Michigan residents are members — and the statewide ballot proposal failed by 14 percentage points on Nov. 6, even as Mr. Obama won the state. |
| France urges rapid foreign military intervention in Mali - Jerusalem Post Posted: 11 Dec 2012 04:43 AM PST PARIS - France called on Tuesday for a new government to be formed quickly in Mali after the arrest and resignation of its prime minister, which Paris said bolstered the case for foreign military intervention. Prime Minister Cheick Mobido Diarra announced his resignation on state television hours after being arrested by soldiers while trying to leave the West African nation for France. "These developments underline the need for the rapid deployment of an African stabilization force," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot told reporters. |
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| KL shares remain steady at opening Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:12 PM PST Share prices on Bursa Malaysia maintained yesterday's steady performance on continued buying interest prompted by positive regional sentiment, dealers said. After 15 minutes of trading, the barometer FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 7.59 points better at 1,639.74, after opening 1.67 points higher at 1,633.82. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the key FBM KLCI may be eager to extend its 14.38 points gains recorded yesterday by riding on the positive momentum, following a surprisingly robust performance, albeit, on thin volume. "On the chart, the benchmark index could be challenging the resistance threshold of 1,635 next," it said in a note today.
Meanwhile, another dealer said investors may be tempted to lock in gains when the market kicks off trade today after the local bourse finished above the 1,630 points plateau. The Finance Index rose 40.81 points to 15,140.99, the Industrial Index gained 12.25 points to 2,713.7 and the Plantation Index added 35.15 points to 7,924.79. However, the Ace Index slipped 15.02 points to 4,160.04 but the FBMT100 advanced 46.62 points to 10,993.81, the FBM Emas garnered 45.59 points to 11,137.54 while the FBM Mid 70 index was 30.86 points better at 12,096.54. There were 110 gainers and 46 losers while 110 counters were unchanged, 1,374 counters untraded and 19 others were suspended. Volume stood at 50.39 million shares worth RM43.65 million. Among actives, Karambunai added one sen to 12 sen, DSC Solutions earned half-a-sen to 17 sen, Permaju rose two sen to 37.5 sen but Tiger Synergy shed one sen to 36.5 sen. Heavyweights, Maybank improved two sen to RM9.08 and CIMB increased four sen to RM7.64 while Sime Darby and Axiata were up three sen each at RM9.08 and RM6.22, respectively. -- BERNAMA |
| Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:36 PM PST The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today on the back of greenback selling globally ahead of the US's Federal Open Market Committee meeting later today, dealers said. Most market players remained sidelined as they await the outcome of the two-day meeting, which could determine the current monetary policy's stance for the world's largest economy. At 9.05 am, the ringgit was quoted at 3.0585/0620 compared with Monday's 3.0595/0625. Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against other major currencies. It eased against the Singapore dollar to 2.5043/5063 compared on with yesterday's 2.5004/5039 but gained against the Japanese yen to 3.7100/7151 from 3.7148/7207 on Monday.
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| Fiscal cliff negotiations ongoing: Boehner aide - Reuters Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:01 AM PST  U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 28, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON | (Reuters) - Negotiations between the White House and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on averting the December 31 "fiscal cliff" are continuing but Republicans are awaiting a counter-offer from President Barack Obama, an aide to Boehner said on Monday. "The Republican offer made last week remains the Republican offer," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. He said Boehner continues to "wait for the president to identify the spending cuts he's willing to make" in deficit-reduction negotiations. Last week, Boehner and his House leadership team sent Obama a proposal they said would produce $2.2 trillion in new savings over 10 years. It included $800 billion in new revenues that would be achieved through comprehensive tax reform. None of those new revenues would come from raising income tax rates on the 2 percent of families with the highest net incomes - a central Obama demand. Democrats have rejected Boehner's proposal, insisting that tax rates on the rich must be nailed down before negotiating further on how to proceed with tax reform efforts next year, along with new spending cuts for "entitlement" programs, such as the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly. The White House has proposed its own set of spending cuts that Republicans have rejected, arguing that they do not effectively deal with long-term rising costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs. On Sunday, Boehner met with Obama at the White House. Steel, on Monday, said "discussions with the White House are taking place." He did not say whether more face-to-face meetings are scheduled between the two key principles in the conflict. A Democratic aide, who asked not to be identified, said there was no indication that Sunday's talks between Obama and Boehner advanced efforts to avoid $600 billion in across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that are due to begin in January if Congress and the White House cannot find a more suitable replacement. (Reporting By Richard Cowan; Editing by Bill Trott) |
| Jenni Rivera, 43, Mexican-American Singer and TV Star, Is Dead - New York Times Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:10 AM PST By LARRY ROHTERPublished: December 10, 2012Jenni Rivera, the Mexican-American singer and reality television star known as "the Diva of Banda," died early Sunday in a plane crash outside Monterrey, Mexico, after a performance there. She was 43. Ms. Rivera was one of the biggest stars of the genre known as banda, a brassy, percussive form of Spanish-language pop music invented in northern Mexico and perfected in the American Southwest. She sold more than 15 million records, was nominated three times for a Latin Grammy Award, and developed a reputation for hard-hitting lyrics that addressed relationships between the sexes with a frankness similar to that of American country music: one of her albums, released in 2007, was entitled "My Crazy Life." Banda is a style popular primarily among Mexican-Americans, Mexicans and Central Americans. But in recent years Ms. Rivera's popularity expanded to other Hispanic groups in the United States, thanks to three reality television programs broadcast on the Mun2 channel that starred Ms. Rivera or her five children. In the best known of the shows, "I Love Jenni," Ms. Rivera cultivated a tough-talking persona, prone to making hilarious, outrageous statements and unafraid of offending family or friends. "Have a great day, don't get pregnant," she would warn a daughter. Promotional material for the show, which went on the air in 2011 and began production of its third season last month, described her as "the mama with lots of drama." "It doesn't bother me at all that some people think I am too outspoken," Ms. Rivera said in 2011. "Actually, if they are thinking about me, it bothers them. But, oh well, they'll get over it." Ms. Rivera's tough-mother approach stemmed from her own experience. By the time she was 16, she was married and had given birth to her first daughter, Janney, known as Chiquis and featured in two reality shows on Mun2, a cable channel owned by NBC Universal. She was married three times, most recently to the former major league pitcher Esteban Loaiza, but the couple divorced this fall. When her plane crashed, Ms. Rivera was on her way to the Mexico City area, where she was scheduled to tape an episode of the Mexican version of the singing competition show "The Voice," on which she was a judge. She was also developing an English-language family comedy for ABC with the producers of the hit show "Designing Women." |
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| Brahim's aims to take in flight catering global Posted: 09 Dec 2012 05:51 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Inflight caterer, Brahim's Holdings Bhd, is aiming to provide premium halal food and beverage (F&B) to the domestic and international aviation sectors as part of its endeavour to expand its operations. Executive chairman Datuk Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi said the company has a strong foothold in various F&B operations from providing flight catering services to operating airport restaurants and restaurant franchises to upstream sugar refinery operations. "Quite a number of enquiries have been made to the company from "We've actually got a number of enquiries from flight kitchens overseas that want to start their own halal facility with Malaysia's expertise in setting up halal flight catering," he told Bernama. Brahim's recently forged a joint venture with the Jordanian government to set up its first overseas factory to manufacture products for the Jordanian military. The venture would also serve as Brahim's hub for the lucrative Middle East market, he said. The factory's official opening is slated for early January, he said. The company is also eyeing penetrating other overseas markets such as Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria and several other Middle Eastern countries. The company recently obtained its shareholders' approval to complete the acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent shareholdings in Brahim's-LSG Sky Chefs Holdings Sdn Bhd (BSLG) for RM130 million. Upon completion of the acquisition exercise, Brahim's will be able to consolidate BLSG as its wholly-owned subsidiary, and capture 100 per cent of its revenue and earnings in the provision of in-flight catering and related services. It will also transform the company into a global halal food and beverage group. With the acquisition, it will have fully Malaysianised operating company of the world's largest halal flight kitchen, marking the accomplishment of a Bumiputera-listed company in providing halal in-flight meals catering to over 30 international airlines out of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and more significantly to its single largest customer, Malaysia Airlines Recent newsreports projected that Brahim's revenue would soar to RM200 million next year mainly through the full acquisition of BLSG and the recently secured premium food court and a separate fast-food outlet deal at KLIA2. -- BERNAMA |
| FBM KLCI opens higher in early trade Posted: 09 Dec 2012 05:57 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened higher in early trading Monday, extending Friday's gains on continued buying support, dealers said. After 35 minutes of trading, the barometer FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.42 points better at 1,622.42, after opening 0.48 of a point higher at 1,618.25. HwangDBS Vickers Research has expected the local bourse to open slightly lower today after getting a lift in the final minutes of trading to close at an intra-day high of 1,617.77 on Friday. "Nevertheless, the key market barometer is expected to show resilience against a fairly quiet market backdrop. HwangDBS also said the monthly plantation statistics on production, inventory and exports for November are due for release around noon today. Meanwhile, the Finance Index rose 12.14 points to 15,052.33, the Industrial Index gained 4.87 points to 2,691.67 and the Plantation Index added 7.32 points to 7,845.61. However, the Ace Index slipped 3.25 points to 4,162.99, but the FBMT100 advanced 24.13 points to 10,883.27, the FBM Emas garnered 25.01 points to 11,030.91, while the FBM Mid 70 index was 6.1 points better at 11,030.91. There were 126 gainers and 78 losers while 134 counters were unchanged, 1,301 counters untraded and 18 others were suspended. Volume stood at 102.2 million shares worth RM66.69 million. Among actives, Tiger Synergy rose three sen to 41.5 sen, Time engineering gained 2.5 sen to 31.5 sen while Takaso Resources and Asia Media earned one sen each to 34 sen and 43.5 sen, respectively. Heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB improved three sen each to RM9.09 and 7.58, respectively, Sime Darby added one sen to RM9.01 and Axiata gained two sen to RM6. -- BERNAMA |
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| Egypt's opposition scorns Mursi's concession - Reuters Posted: 09 Dec 2012 08:55 AM PST  CAIRO | (Reuters) - A concession offered by President Mohamed Mursi failed to placate opponents who accused him on Sunday of plunging Egypt deeper into crisis by refusing to postpone a vote on a constitution shaped by Islamists. Islamists say they see the referendum as sealing a democratic transition that began when a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak 22 months ago after three decades of military-backed one-man rule. Their liberal, leftist and Christian adversaries say the document being fast-tracked to a vote could threaten freedoms and fails to embrace the diversity of Egypt's 83 million people. More protests were planned near Mursi's palace, despite tanks, barbed wire and other barriers installed last week after clashes between Islamists and their rivals killed seven people. Mursi had given some ground the previous day when he retracted a fiercely contested decree giving himself extra powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review. But the president insisted the constitutional referendum go ahead next Saturday and the Muslim Brotherhood, from which he sprang, urged the opposition to accept the poll's verdict. Ahmed Said, a liberal leader of the main opposition National Salvation Front, described the race to a referendum as "shocking" and an "act of war" against Egyptians. The Front has promised a formal response later on Sunday. Egypt is torn between Islamists, who were suppressed for decades, and their rivals, who fear religious conservatives want to squeeze out other voices and restrict social freedoms. Many Egyptians just crave stability and economic recovery. Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said the scrapping of Mursi's decree had removed any reason for controversy. "We ask others to announce their acceptance of the referendum result," he said on the group's Facebook page, asking whether the opposition would accept "the basics of democracy". The retraction of Mursi's November 22 decree, announced around midnight after a "national dialogue" boycotted by almost all the president's critics, has not bridged a deep political divide. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, a technocrat with Islamist leanings, said the referendum was the best test of opinion. "The people are the makers of the future as long as they have the freedom to resort to the ballot box in a democratic, free and fair vote," he said in a cabinet statement. "CONSTITUTION WITHOUT CONSENSUS" But opposition factions, uncertain of their ability to vote down the constitution against the Islamists' organizational muscle, want the document redrafted before any vote. "A constitution without consensus can't go to a referendum," said Hermes Fawzi, 28, a protester outside the palace. "It's not logical that just one part of society makes the constitution." Egypt tipped into turmoil after Mursi grabbed powers to stop any court action aimed at hindering the transition. An assembly led by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists then swiftly approved the constitution it had spent six months drafting. Opponents, including minority Christians, had already quit the assembly in dismay, saying their voices were being ignored. A leftist group led by defeated presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy demanded the referendum be deferred until a consensus could be reached on a new draft, saying there could be "no dialogue while blood is being spilled in the streets". After the dialogue hosted by Mursi, a spokesman announced that the president had issued a new decree whose first article "cancels the constitutional declaration" of November 22. He said the referendum could not be delayed for legal reasons. The decree ignited more than two weeks of sometimes bloody protests and counter-rallies in Egypt. Mursi's foes have chanted for his downfall. Islamists fear a plot to oust the most populous Arab nation's first freely elected leader. The April 6 movement, prominent in the anti-Mubarak revolt, derided the result of Saturday's talks as "manipulation and a continuation of deception in the name of law and legitimacy". Islamists reckon they can win the referendum and, once the new constitution is in place, a parliamentary poll about two months later. The Islamist-led lower house elected this year was dissolved after a few months by a court order. Investors appeared relieved at Mursi's retraction of his decree, sending Egyptian stocks 4.4 percent higher on Sunday. Markets are awaiting approval of a $4.8 billion IMF loan later this month designed to support the budget and economic reforms. The military, which led Egypt's transition for 16 turbulent months after Mubarak fell, told feuding factions on Saturday that only dialogue could avert "catastrophe". But a military source said these remarks did not herald an army takeover. (Additional reporting by Edmund Blair and Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Stephen Powell) |
| Colorado Springs doctor kidnapped by Taliban in Afghanistan is rescued - Denver Post Posted: 09 Dec 2012 08:58 AM PST A Colorado Springs doctor is safe after being rescued from his Taliban captors in Afghanistan on Saturday, according to a relief agency. Dr. Dilip Joseph, a medical adviser for Morning Star Development, was the third and final member of a team freed after being kidnapped at 3:30 p.m., Afghanistan time, on Wednesday, according to a Morning Star statement. Morning star, a non-governmental organization, is an institute for leadership development, which lists one of its objectives as aiding Afghanistan to rebuild communities and lives through economic and community development initiatives, according to the website. Morning star is based in Colorado Springs, according to its website. Joseph was rescued by members of the U. S. armed forces after the other two team members were released by captors 11 hours earlier, after hours of negotiations were conducted over the three days, the release states. Joseph, who appeared to be uninjured, was taken to the Bagram Airfield north of Kabul, according to the release. The other members of the team were unnamed, but were identified as a member of Morning Star's medical staff and support staff. A group of armed men abducted the team in the eastern Kabul Province while the team returned from a visit to one of Morning Star's rural medical clinics, the release states. They were eventually taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border, according to the release. Morning Star's crisis management team, operating from Kabul and Colorado Springs, immediately began talks with the captors, which went back and forth over several days, according to the release. Joseph will be debriefed and return to his Colorado Springs home within the week, the release states. Morning Star Development said the organization paid no ransom, money or other consideration to the captors or anyone else to secure the release of the three hostages. Calls to Morning star for additional comment were not immediately returned. Ryan Parker: 303-954-2409, rparker@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ryanparkerdp |
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| Egypt's Leader Seen on a Path To Martial Law - New York Times Posted: 08 Dec 2012 09:29 AM PST By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICKPublished: December 8, 2012CAIRO — Struggling to quell street protests and political violence, President Mohamed Morsi is moving to impose a version of martial law by calling on the armed forces to keep order and authorizing soldiers to arrest civilians, Egyptian state media announced Saturday. If Mr. Morsi goes through with the plan, it would represent a historic role reversal. Before the ouster of Hosni Mubarak last year, Egypt's military-backed authoritarian presidents had spent six decades warning against the threat of an Islamist takeover and using martial law to hold onto their power. Mr. Morsi, a former leader of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, and many of his fellow Islamists spent months in jail under those decrees for their opposition to the government. A turn back to the military would come just four months after Mr. Morsi managed to pry political power out of the hands of the generals, who refused for months after his election to allow him full presidential power. The flagship state newspaper Al Ahram reported that Mr. Morsi "will soon issue a decision for the participation of the armed forces in the duties of maintaining security and protection of vital state institutions." The military would maintain its expanded role until the completion of a referendum on a draft constitution next Saturday and the election of a new Parliament expected two months after that. The announcement of impending martial law would represent the steepest escalation yet in the political battle between Egypt's new Islamist leaders and their secular opponents over the Islamist-backed draft constitution — a standoff that has already threatened to derail Egypt's promised transition to a constitutional democracy. Calling in the army could overcome the danger of protests or violence that might disrupt the planned referendum on the constitution and the election of a new parliament to follow. But resorting to the military to secure the vote could undermine Mr. Morsi's efforts to end the political crisis threatening his rule if it delegitimizes the new charter as an expression of national consensus and a vote of confidence in him. Although the plan would not fully suspend the civil law, it would nonetheless have the effect of suspending legal rights by empowering soldiers under the control of the defense minister to try civilians in military courts. There was no sign of military tanks in the streets Saturday evening, but the military appeared for now to back Mr. Morsi. Soon after the news of Mr. Morsi's plans, a military spokesman read a statement over state television that echoed the reports of Mr. Morsi's planned decree. The military "realizes its national responsibility for maintaining the supreme interests of the nation and securing and protecting the vital targets, public institutions, and the interests of the innocent citizens," the spokesman said, emphasizing the "sorrow and concern" over recent developments and warning of "divisions that threaten the state of Egypt." "Dialogue is the best and sole way to reach consensus that achieves the interests of the nation and the citizens," the spokesman said. "Anything other than that puts us in a dark tunnel with drastic consequences, which is something that we will not allow." Mr. Morsi's relationship with the military has been fraught since he was elected president in June in Egypt's first free vote for president. The generals at first had sought a continuing role in Egyptian politics — in part their supporters argued, as a safeguard against an Islamist takeover. But after taking office Mr. Morsi spent months courting the generals, sometimes earning the derision of liberal activists for his public flattery of their role. In an August decree, he relied on the backing of some top officers to remove the handful of generals who had insisted on maintaining a political role. And then last month, despite the protests of the same activists, the new Islamist-backed draft constitution turned out to include protections of the military's autonomy and privileges within the Egyptian government, suggesting an understanding between the two sides that may now come into effect. Under the president's planned martial law order, the defense minister would determine the scope of the military's role, Al Ahram reported. Military officers acting as police officers would be authorized "to use force to the extent necessary to perform their duty," the newspaper said.
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| Silvio Berlusconi confirms he will run – again – to be Italy's prime minister - The Guardian Posted: 08 Dec 2012 09:21 AM PST  Silvio Berlusconi: 3/1 to become the next Italian prime minister. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images Never a man to let defeat – or scandal – keep him down, the disgraced former prime minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi has announced he will run once again for the country's top job. With three colourful terms behind him, Berlusconi confirmed he would try for a fourth time to become premier, saying he was doing it out of "a sense of responsibility" days after his party withdrew its support for the technocrat government of the current prime minister, Mario Monti. The media mogul told reporters he was running to win and that "the campaign is already on". Monti took the loss of Berlusconi's support calmly, calling the situation "manageable", despite it increasing the likelihood of fresh elections. Although Italy's economy is still struggling, Monti is credited with calming the country's financial markets and rescuing it from financial disaster. Monti, who is a life-appointed senator, has said he will not stand in next year's vote, but is willing to step in afterwards if the result is not clear. The British betting firm Ladbrokes gave 3/1 odds on Berlusconi becoming the prime minister in 2013. Berlusconi stepped down last year amid a severe debt crisis. Allegations of his involvement with an underage prostitute and reports that he hosted sex-filled "bunga-bunga" parties also clouded his premiership. He has since been convicted of tax fraud and faces low favourability ratings in the polls. The three-time prime minister got his start selling vacuum cleaners and singing on cruise ships. In 1971, Berlusconi founded a local cable firm, Telemilano, which grew into the country's largest media company, Mediaset. He has since expanded his media empire to include Italy's largest publishing house, Mondadori, and the newspaper Il Giornale. Other business interests include owning the globally popular football club, AC Milan. Berlusconi entered politics in 1993, forming his own party and naming it after an AC Milan chant used by fans, Forza Italia, which means "go Italy". He rose to power the next year, winning the elections, and went on over the next 14 years to win twice more and lose twice, both times to Romano Prodi. |
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