Labour minister says government will do what is necessary

Consultations good but ultimate responsibility lies with Renzi

(ANSA) - Rome, March 24 - Premier Matteo Renzi's government intends to consult before labour market reforms are implemented, but it will ultimately do what is necessary, Labour Minister Giuliano Poletti said Monday. "It is our intention to meet and discuss, but in the end the government will decide," what course of action to take, Poletti said in an interview with Rai radio.

As labour minister, Poletti said his role will involve discussions with "social partners" including union leaders, but he said the government will have final say. One day earlier, Renzi described criticisms from senior union officials, including Susanna Camusso, general secretary of the CGIL union, as well as from Giorgio Squinzi, the head of leading business organization Confindustria, against his government's actions as those of an "odd couple". Unions have condemned a decree extending the limit for temporary labour contracts from one year to three years, described as a central part of Renzi's so-called Jobs Act to simplify labour regulations and reduce the current plethora of different contracts and benefits available.

Poletti also reiterated the government's idea of introducing a single form of labour contract that could be applied across the country, which Camusso has said her union is willing is discuss - but only if the decree is scrapped. All parties must accept changes at a difficult time for Italy and no one can get everything they ask for, said Poletti. "If you are dissatisfied with a little here and a little over there, then we did well," he said.

Napolitano warns European unity under attack

Cooperation in EU contributes to peace, says Italian president

(ANSA) - Rome, March 24 - Achieving peace across Europe has been a gift that cannot be taken for granted, but that unity is now under threat, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said Monday. Speaking at the Fosse Ardeatine, the site of a Second World War massacre, he urged greater unity across Europe and criticized parties that Napolitano said are attacking the European Union. "Peace cannot ever be taken for granted, but is an achievement," said Napolitano. But today, he added, "various parties are trying to discredit and attack," institutions such as the European Union that contribute to peace and unity.

With elections upcoming in May for the European Parliament, opponents of the EU are rallying and these should be countered, said Napolitano. "We must remember...that we cannot play with these opponents who tend to discredit our heritage of the struggle for freedom," he added.

Napolitano spoke during a ceremony to commemorate the March 1944 massacre of 335 men and boys at Rome's Fosse Ardeatine, a network of caves on the southern edge of the city. Nazis soldiers carried out the murders in a reprisal for a partisan attack that killed 33 German soldiers. In retaliation, for every one German killed, the army seized 10 Italians including civilians as well as numerous political prisoners and Jews who were in custody,+plus another five more also executed.

New allegations surface in 1978 murder of Aldo Moro

Prosecutors asked to investigate reports in killing of statesman

(ANSA) - Rome, March 24 - Rome's public prosecutor was asked Monday to look into new allegations in the kidnapping and execution of statesman Aldo Moro in 1978. Allegations that intelligence agents may have been involved in the case, but not fully investigated, have come to light, ANSA has learned.

Red Brigade terrorists kidnapped Moro on March 16,1978 and killed him 55 days later, on May 9, 1978. It has previously been alleged that the Italian secret services knew where Moro was being held and were tapping his captors' phones from the floor above, yet authorities failed to try to save Moro. 

Former Finmeccanica officials arrested

Allegations of wrongdoing at State-controlled defence giant

(ANSA) - Rome, March 24 - Finance police said Monday two former officials with State-controlled Finmeccanica and two businessmen were arrested as part of a probe into allegations of bribery. Searches were also being conducted following the house arrest of Lorenzo Borgogni, former director of external relations for Finmeccanica, and Stefano Carlini, former chief operating officer of subsidiary Selex.

Two Rome entrepreneurs, Vincenzo Angeloni and Luigi Malavisi, were also arrested as part of the probe into thedefence giant.

Police said they seized 28 bank accounts and two safe boxes and said that former chairman of Finmeccanica, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, was also under investigation.

Lamborghini Huracan: Geneva's Most Intimidating Car (+playlist)

Berlusconi spends too long at home, says former minister

(AGI) Rome, March 23 - Silvio Berlusconi was wounded by an unjust sentence and has become a shut-in, "comforted by a select few people", said former minister Claudio Scajola (of Berlusconi's same party). Asked by Sky's Maria Latella whether the Forza Italia party is suffering from the existence of the so-called 'inner circle', Scajola replied: "I know Maria Rosaria Rossi and Francesca Pascale [Berlusconi's girlfriend, ed.]. Rossi is very bright and is brilliant, but I only met Pascale while she handled Neapolitan politics. Right now, Berlusconi's suffering from an unjust sentence is prevalent".

Russia has sizeable forces at Ukraine border, says NATO

(AGI) Brussels, March 23 - Russia has amassed enough forces on Ukraine's border to pose a threat to the disputed region of Transnistria, NATO's top military commander said on Sunday.

"The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready," NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, told an event held by the German Marshall Fund think tank. "There is absolutely sufficient (Russian) force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transnistria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome. Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner," he said.