*Italy, along with the USA and India, managed to join
the politicized spying and wiretapping club, this
very month.
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=5356697
'The centre-left opposition, led by a former prime minister (and former president of the European Commission), Romano Prodi, could hardly have wished for a more propitious start to an election year. But its new-year euphoria lasted all of 24 hours. By January 2nd, the formerly communist Left Democrats (DS), the biggest party in Mr Prodi's alliance, the Union, was in crisis.
'A Berlusconi-backed newspaper, Il Giornale, had published extracts from a telephone call recorded by magistrates that puts the party's secretary-general, Piero Fassino (pictured above, talking to Mr Prodi), centre stage in Italy's long-running scandals over bank takeovers. These have already led to the arrest of several bankers and to the downfall of the Bank of Italy's governor, Antonio Fazio.'
