Thursday, 25 February 2016

Italy faces fine over CIA abduction of Egyptian cleric

Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic

in Southern Europe, bordering several

neighboring countries to the north and

consisting of the entire Italian peninsula

to the south. It includes the

Mediterranean islands of Sicily and

Sardinia, and encompasses the sovereign

states of San Marino and Vatican City.

Rome, its capital, was the political and

religious center of the Western World

for centuries.

Italy emerged from a fascist dictatorship

under Benito Mussolini to become a

democracy after World War II, later

helping to found both NATO and the

European Union. Having enjoyed a

prolonged economic boom beginning in

the 1940s, Italy has since suffered from

economic stagnation and political

paralysis, as well as government

malfeasance typified by the misdeeds of

former Prime Min Silvio Berlusconi .

Matteo Renzi , who replaced Enrico Letta

as prime minister in 2014, faces the

challenge of shaking the country out of

its economic malaise and rooting out

corruption.