They discuss Hamid Karzai’s second term, international calls to clean up corruption and the worsening security situation.

They also look at the fallout from a landmark case in Italy involving the alleged CIA abduction and so-called rendition of a Muslim cleric. An Italian judge convicted and sentenced 23 CIA agents, in their absence, of abducting the  cleric in Italy and taking him to Egypt where he says he was tortured.

Alessandra Baldini, the New York bureau chief of the Italian news agency ANSA, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss how Italians view the war in Afghanistan and the Obama administration.

Worldfocus producer Channtal Fleischfresser translated the following comments posted on the Web site of the Italian daily La Stampa, where there was a vigorous debate over Italy’s role and mission in NATO’s Afghanistan coalition.

Mozart 2006 said:
Six people died? I’m sorry. They are soldiers, they knew they were going to Afghanistan and not to Club Med. They knew what they would earn and what they would risk. They were VOLUNTEERS…. They died. Peace be upon their souls, and condolences to their families. But please, don’t associate me with this “our boys” rhetoric. They are not mine.

GC said:
If the Americans had left in 1943 at the first deaths. Hitler would have won. Or Stalin. Today the Taliban would win, and they would not be content only with Afghanistan.

MARCO V. said:
What would make the most sense would be to stay, employing an exit strategy… out of what at this point is becoming a senseless conflict: you can’t export democracy.
Oil cannot justify everything.

Gianfranco Lepore said:
Bring them home immediately and enough with the so-called “peace missions,” please! We should send these enormous sums of money to earthquake zones or any other cause, and stop calling these poor people who lost their lives martyrs: they were mercenaries and they knew they were risking their lives.

…Some 1000 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the year: no one cares about them!

Elisas said:
There’s not a lot of sense in staying to be targets for the Taliban… At this point it’s better to return home. It’s a senseless mission: you can’t bring democracy to those who don’t want it.

The 10 downtown stations under construction with major ruins in the way. See the whole map.

Rome is currently building its third metro line, which will pass through the gaping hole in the middle of the city not covered by the A and B lines.

Part of the fullypautomated C line is expected to open in 2011, but the construction process has been hampered by antiquities that are omnipresent in the historic center of Rome.

Two-thirds of the 17-mile line is slated to be underground. Of the 30 total stations, the 10 with major archaeological material are depicted. Read more (in Italian) about these specific stations from Rome’s archaeological agency (Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma).

Rome’s existing lines A and B, in addition to the planned C and D lines. Image from savingantiquities.org

More facts on the future Line C, according to the official project website:

• Velocity: 24 mph on average and 55 mph maximum

• Train capacity: 1,200 passengers per train and 24,000 per hour in one direction

• Cost: 3 billion euros ($4.3 billion)

• Archaeological digging: 21 million cubic feet, which is less than 1/7 of overall excavations

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai defended the integrity of the country’s presidential election on Thursday. He also admitted for the first time that there was fraud by government officials who support him, but said there was fraud as well by those supporting his main opponent.

The final but uncertified count gives Karzai more than 54 percent, but European election observers say about one-third of the votes were suspicious and should be examined for fraud. Karzai called on them to respect the votes of the Afghan people.

Should the U.S. demand a recount or accept the results?

Tell what you think in the comments section below. Please remember to be respectful and on-point in your comments. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted and repeat offenders will be banned.

Earlier this week, just as the G-8 summit was about to start, the pope issued a statement calling for a radical rethinking of the global economy.

Reverend Drew Christiansen, the editor-in-chief of the national Catholic weekly magazine ”America,” joins Martin Savidge to discuss the meeting and the pope’s statements.

U.S. President Barack Obama joins other world leaders at the G-8 summit in Italy. Official photo: Maurizio Brambatti

By all accounts, planning for the upcoming Group of 8 Summit-polooza in Italy has been disastrous. Complex logistics are one problem. Ever since Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi decided to allow PR considerations to trump sanity and move the location of the summit to earthquake-stricken L’Aquila, tremor measurements and evacuation plans have dominated the news coverage.

Another cloud is Berlusconi the man, who has been plagued by multiple scandals, the most recent involving very young women with very few clothes. But the underlying trouble is the G-8 itself. The world simply needs a different set of countries at the high table of global governance to tackle today’s challenges.

Inertia is the mother of this G-8 summit. It is occurring because the member countries—the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Great Britain, Canada, Russia, and Italy—agreed a number of years ago that it would. Over the years, though, the G-8 has lost credibility because it does not reflect the realities of power, influence, and capacity in the world today. For that and other reasons, the G-8 has not been able to effectively address today’s global problems.

Yet the G-8 is the only leaders forum the world has had. So the staged meetings, the scripted communiqués, and the photo-ops have carried on, with only the occasional deliverable to interrupt the flow.

That changed in late 2008, when President George W. Bush brought the Group of 20 to life at the leaders’ level, recognizing that China, India, Brazil, and other major economies needed to be at the table to plan a coordinated response to the global economic crisis. In response, Italy this year decided that instead of giving up the G-8 host prerogative—the political equivalent of a cheetah giving up its prey—it announced it would also invite the G-20 countries to meet alongside the G-8. That idea was later pushed aside and the three-day summit now includes meetings of the G-8, the G-8 plus emerging economies, the Major Economies Forum (17 countries), and the G-8 plus emerging economies plus leaders from select African countries. That’s a lot of Gs.

The most valuable commodity in international politics—leaders’ time, especially President Barak Obama’s time—is being lavished on all these meetings. I truly hope breakthroughs result because the issues on the table could not be more serious—the economic crisis, development, and climate change, among others.

There is some cause for hope. A draft communiqué suggests that the one area where a group of rich countries such as the G-8 can add value—allocating funds to alleviate poverty—will be approached in a new and sensible way. Instead of offering food to developing countries, the G-8 may instead pledge billions for agricultural development. While that will anger U.S. farmers, it promises to be more effective at actually feeding hungry people over the long term.

There is also the possibility of an agreement to conclude the stalled Doha round of trade talks in 2010. Further, the Major Economies Forum is set to debate on an agreement to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times and solidify last year’s “vision” of halving global carbon emissions by 2050.

Outcomes like these would be terrific. But at some point fairly soon, these G groupings need to be rationalized. Aside from all the leaders time, the separate meetings of the G-8 before the emerging economies (traditionally called the G-8+5, or the “Outreach 5”) create divisions among the countries that are now playing out in the worldwide media about whether or not a new global currency is part of the summit agenda. And with the invitees constantly shifting, officials spend their time deciding who is in the room instead of solving the pressing matters of the day.

Building a better G-Pick Your Number will not be easy. Hell hath known no fury like a politician uninvited to a leaders forum. To add to the challenges, Europe is overrepresented in every of these groups and yet the most enthusiastic about them. Yet all this fluidity in the Gs does means the window for forging a new forum is open, but who knows for how long.

What should the new G look like? My colleagues and I have suggested that the new leaders forum be the G-20, but a G-20 whose membership is mandated to evolve over time as the major economies of the world change and that has only 20 seats at the table, not the 27 it has already grown to include.

Grumbling about Italy has reached a point where some European diplomats have suggested replacing Italy with Spain in the G-8. It would be better if they just replaced the entire G-8 with a leaders group for the 21st century.

- Nina Hachigian

This post originally appeared at the Center for American Progress.

Aftermath of April’s devastating earthquake in Italy.

After an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck central Italy in April, killing more than 300 and displacing 65,000, more than a thousand survivors are still living in tents.

Mara Warwick is a senior urban environment specialist with the World Bank in China. After witnessing the devastation following that country’s earthquake in Sichuan, she recently visited the quake site in Italy.

Key after the quake is the work of volunteers

I am in the beautiful historic town of L’Aquila, devastated by the earthquake which struck the Ambruzzo region of central Italy at 3:30am on April 6, 2009.

Last Wednesday we visited Onna, a small village close to L’Aquila.  As we pass through the police cordon and walk down the main street of Onna with collapsed masonry houses on either side, for a moment I feel like I am in Sichuan again.  We can see clothes hanging in closets, their doors ajar on the top floor of a house that no longer has walls. Toys, personal papers and the daily paraphernalia of life is scattered through the masonry rubble.  A fleet of crushed cars is neatly parked and fenced on a neighboring field.  A foal — still on legs so spindly it must have been born after the quake — curiously noses the 42 bouquets of flowers lined up in memory of the villagers who died in this quake.

Just next to the devastation is an immaculately run tent camp housing more than 250 survivors.  Blue tents arranged in neat rows surround the central camp services.  A large tent houses the canteen, behind which is a fully-equipped cooking trailer.  The lady in charge of the kitchen – a volunteer who has been in the camp since hours after the earthquake – apologizes that the espresso machine is not working, but assures us that another is on its way from Rome for the camp residents.  She belongs to a volunteer organization from a neighboring region of Italy, fully trained and prepared by the Italian Civil Protection Agency to respond in just such an emergency.  The lady tells us that she recently lost her job because of the economic crisis and she is glad to have the chance to contribute to the recovery of Onna.

The largest tent right in the center of the camp is the temporary church.  Next to it is a wooden bell tower built by the fire brigade to house the bells that they retrieved from the collapsed church in the village, so that the bells may continue to ring out over Onna.  Nearby, nuns attend infants and toddlers in a tented childcare center which opened 2 days ago.  I am moved to see how volunteerism and religion are starting to bring this community together again to heal.

To read more, see the original post.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user αnnα under a Creative Commons license.

The town of L’Aquila was close to the epicenter of the earthquake. Photo: U.S. Geological Survey

UPDATE: The death toll in Italy’s earthquake is at least 207. 

A strong earthquake struck central Italy, injuring more than 1,500 and leaving tens of thousands homeless. It was Italy’s worst earthquake in decades.

Hardest hit was the town of L’Aquila, 60 miles northeast of Rome and not far from the epicenter.

Blogger “Will” in Rome describes the earthquake:

The building was making that groaning noise a building makes when its under stress. The bed was shaking, a cupboard door swung open and the inside light came on. The pipes were knocking together and the crystals on the chandelier in the living room making that tinkling sound that at 3:30 in the morning looses all sweetness and becomes just ominous. It was an earthquake. It went on for over a minute but seem longer; the repeat 45 minutes later was less intense and shorter. Maybe an hour later there was one more prolonged shudder.

[...]This morning was upsetting and it was hard to get back to sleep but for us that is really all that was disturbed: our sleep. For many others in the region around L’Aquila this morning more than their sleep has been disturbed - their homes have been destroyed or worse their loved ones lay in morgues or beneath rubble.

Blogger Patrick Hayden at “Making Light” writes that Italy’s buildings are no match for earthquakes: 

We knew pretty immediately that it had been an earthquake, which is kind of an alarming thing when you’re in a city built entirely out of bricks, stone, and concrete. 

[...]We were just in the countryside of central Italy the day before yesterday—not near l’Aquila, but more to the north-northeast, in the Sabine Hills—and while it’s easy to say that all of those ancient stone buildings have survived a lot of shaking, not every structure is ancient or, for that matter, well-built. 

Other bloggers have expressed anger at the government over its response to warning signs prior to the quake. An Italian seismologist who had earlier predicted a major earthquake around L’Aquila, Giacchino Giuliani, was reported to the police for “spreading alarm.”

Blogger “John Brownlee” blames bureaucracy for hindering response to national disasters:

A recent earthquake in Italy illustrates the problem bureaucracy can have in reacting to scientific predictions of natural disasters. [...] After a major earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale killed dozens of people in the area, the Mayor is looking none too good for his decision to prosecute Giuliani. But the situation is not so clear cut, as the head of Italy’s National Geophysics Institute made perfectly clear in a statement.

“Every time there is an earthquake there are people who claim to have predicted it,” he said. “As far as I know nobody predicted this earthquake with precision. It is not possible to predict earthquakes.”

It seems, then, that Giuliani’s prediction might have been more lucky soothsaying than science. But without a clear process for politicians to assess the real-world dangers of scientific predictions of disaster and to quickly act upon them, technology will be powerless to save lives.

Watch a video (Italian) of Giuliani making his prediction:

A mosque in Palermo, Sicily.

Editor Lisa Biagiotti researched Muslim immigration trends in Italy on a Fulbright grant in 2001. She recalls the post-9/11 climate in Italy and touches on the heightened immigration debate in Italy today.

As I read the Italian headlines these days — the government’s declaration of a state of emergency because of the immigrant influx, the proposal of special tests that could potentially segregate immigrant children and the general xenophobia toward immigrant groups — I remember the row of armed Italian policemen lining the U.S. embassy gate in Rome.

When I got off the plane in Rome a week after 9/11, I was ready to research Muslim immigration in Italy. I was prepared to link current Muslim immigration flows into Italy to colonialism under Mussolini, when Italy overthrew the Christian Coptics in Ethiopia and placed the Muslim minority in power. In typical Mussolini style, Italy built mosques and sent Ethiopian Muslims on pilgrimages to Mecca.

Actually, the connection between Italian colonialism and the rising tide of Muslim immigration was not significant. The immigration boom was due more to Italy’s geographic position — dipping down into the Mediterranean. People from Muslim countries in northern African and eastern Europe filtered through Italy. Today, there are just under 4 million immigrants (about 6 percent of the total population).

In the once-homogeneous country known for its emigration, I saw Filipino women pushing baby carriages and wheelchairs in Rome, African men hawking CDs on the streets, immigrant prostitutes hanging out behind the ruins along the old Appian Way, a bustling Chinatown in the Tuscan countryside and boats of refugees washing up on Italy’s shores.

After 9/11, as an American — and I don’t mean to be dramatic here — I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy not knowing when the next attack might strike. Muslims were not only affected in the U.S., but also in Italy where the immigration debate turned against them. Muslim immigrants faced Islamophobic blame and pressures. My research took on unexpected meaning.

Seven years later, the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the U.S. has seemingly erased much negative sentiment toward Americans — but the same is not true for Muslims and other minorities in Italy. Nonetheless, there are signs of hope for easier relations.

This year’s report on immigration statistics and trends seems at odds with newspaper headlines. Caritas di Roma reports increased integration — one in 10 marriages is between an Italian and an immigrant, and in some northern regions that percentage spikes to 25 percent.

As Martin Seemungal’s video shows, anti-immigrant sentiment still churns, but I guess I’m a little optimistic when I read about the Italians and immigrants rallying together to protest the murder of a Burkina Faso native or the Catholic-Muslim interfaith talks that took place in Rome earlier this month.

In some ironic way, maybe Mussolini’s vision and outreach of a predominantly Catholic Italy joining forces with Muslims could somehow play out peacefully today.

- Lisa Biagiotti

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Andrew & Suzanne under a Creative Commons license.

Nationality laws vary greatly around the globe.

In Greece, for example, some children face insecurity and confusion because they are not Greek citizens, despite being born in and living in the country. In Japan, the government may pass a law granting 20,000 mixed race children Japanese citizenship.

When a child is born, he or she can gain a nationality in a variety of ways – from the place of birth or from parents’ nationalities or ethnicities; sometimes automatically and other times requiring an application process.

Standard basis for citizenship:
Jus soli — birthright — a rule that the citizenship of a child is determined by the place of its birth
Jus sanguinis — blood right — a rule that a child’s citizenship is determined by its parents’ citizenship

The chart below details the foreign populations in world countries, residency requirements for naturalization (excluding special factors such as marriage to a national) and types of citizenship.

Data is from 2005, the latest available date for comprehensive comparative information. For more detailed information on citizenship laws and requirements in a particular country, visit that country’s Web site.

	642,000 15.9% of population *	Residence for 1,350 days of past 5 years	Eliminated birthright  citizenship in 2006
	1.2 million 15.1% of population 40.9% are nationals	10 years continuous residence	Blood right
	585,000 14.1% of population 45.2% are nationals	3 years residence	Eliminated automatic birthright citizenship in 2004
	38.36 million 12.9% of population 46.4% are nationals	Legal residency for 5 years	Birthright
	10.14 million 12.3% of population	At least 8 years  residence	Blood right
	6.47 million 10.7% of population 53.1% are nationals	5 years residence	Blood right; delayed birthright (can acquire citizenship on request)
	5.41 million 9.1% of population	5 years residence	Many types of  citizenship (vary)
	974,000 8.8% of population 41.5% are nationals	10 of last 12 years	Blood right; birthright if  no other nationality  acquired
	2.52 million 4.3% of population 47.5% are nationals	10 years residence	Blood right; birthright if no other nationality acquired
	168,000 2.7% of population	3 years residence	Birthright
	1.11 million 2.3% of population	4 of 8 last years	Blood right
	124,000 2.3% of population	5 years residence	Blood right
	2.05 million 1.6% of population	5 years of residence	Blood right
	644,000 0.6% of population	5 years residence	Birthright; recognizes  dual nationality
	596,000 0% of population	Settlement in China	Blood right

*When data on foreign-born nationals is blank, the information is not available.
Sources: United Nations, NationMaster. Photos courtesy of Flickr users under a Creative Commons license.

In July, the Italian government declared a state of emergency due to the high level of illegal immigration, largely from Africa. The following month, soldiers were deployed across the country in an effort to stop crime that has been blamed on illegal immigrants. Even the pope has weighed in on the issue.

More than 3.5 million foreign-born people currently live in Italy.

Worldfocus correspondent Martin Seemungal heads to the northern town of Treviso, where gunslinging mayor Giancarlo Gentilini has brought order to the town and cracked down on illegal immigration, even as accusations of racism linger.

Below, bloggers in Italy and around the world assess the country’s debate on immigration.

The “(We) Can Do Better” blog warns that “Italians are doomed to extinction,” arguing that crime and immigration are twin issues and that the battle for Italian civilization is already lost.

Blogger “Mohammad” suggests that the Italian people are not aware of the reality of immigration, in part because politicians have misused the issue.

The “Roma Rights Network,” written on behalf of the Romani people (many of whom live in camps outside of major Italian cities), claims that Mayor Gentilini has a history of racism and that too many are following his lead.

“The Mandarin” blog criticizes Gentilini’s forced removal of Chinese lanterns from restaurants in Treviso, given that the Chinese contributed greatly to Italian cuisine.

The “Mikeb302000″ blog calls the Berlusconi government’s deployment of military forces in cities a “transparent attempt” to appease xenophobic constituents, while the “Digger’s Realm” blog calls the move a “good start” and praises the prime minister’s stance on immigration.

Blogger “Gabriele,” an Italian currently in Singapore, writes that the three “I’s” of Italy are ignorance, intolerance and injustice, claiming that the country is missing out on the opportunities of a multi-ethnic society.

Giorgio Parisi, a professor at the La Sapienza University of Rome, gives a lesson in front of the Italian Parliament in protest of government education cuts.

Thousands of German students have taken to the streets, demanding smaller class sizes and more teachers. The country’s educational system was criticized by the United Nations in 2006.

The protests are only the latest in a string of demonstrations across Europe that have demanded educational reform.

Over the past month, Italy has seen the largest student demostrations in 15 years — tens of thousands of students and teachers across the country joining to protest a $10.2 billion cut in education and research funds.

The Italian Parliament approved the reforms in a vote last month. Italy’s education system is poor compared to other countries in western Europe.

Blogger “Danielle” outlines some of the cuts and posts images from a protest near her home. Watch a video here.

Blogger “Tim Hedges” defends Italian education minister Mariastella Gelmini, who is behind many of the reforms, arguing that trimming excesses in the system will promote efficiency.

Blogger “Kendra,” an American high school student studying in Italy, writes about the situation at her school, which has gone on strike. She describes the concerns of Italian students.

Educational cuts have also sparked controversy in France, where 11,200 teaching jobs were cut this year.

Blogger “Razvigor” posts an account of a protest in Paris, which featured songs and music.

“Brian’s Education Blog” compares French and British school systems, exploring the pitfalls of education in France.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Andrea Baldassarri under a Creative Commons license.

The main street of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil during the country’s Oktoberfest.

Germany’s famed Oktoberfest ended several weeks ago in Munich, but the party continues around the world.

Recently, Palestine celebrated its fourth annual Oktoberfest, sponsored by Palestinian Tybeh brand beer. Festival coordinator Maria C. Khoury writes at the online magazine “Counterpunch” that Oktoberfest represents some sense of normalcy amid violent living conditions.

Brazil’s Oktoberfest in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, is the largest Oktoberfest in the world outside of Germany. Watch a video of the celebrations, which will last through Oct. 26. The city of Blumenau was founded in 1850 by German immigrant Hermann Otto Blumenau and celebrates its twenty-fifth Oktoberfest.

More recently, a German migrant brought Oktoberfest to Peru.  The country recently celebrated the sixth annual Oktoberfest in Lima. The “Living in Peru” blog describes past festivities in Lima, attended by about 15,000.

Over the summer, several other countries had beer festivals. “An Englishman in Japan” blog writes about Japanese Oktoberfest, which toured Japan over a period of several months.

Last month, Denmark held a festival in Copenhagen, praised by the “Go Big or Go Home” blog.

Countries adapt beer festivals to their individual cultures. Foregoing Bavarian rhythms, Hindi music plays at Oktoberfest in India, according to “The Manipal Journal.”

And despite the worldwide fame of Italy’s wine, the “Real Italy” blog writes about Italian beer festivals and the country’s growing appreciation for the beverage.

Though many countries feature German or German-inspired beer, the “2point6billion” blog writes about pride in Asian beers and outlines some tasty varieties.

Oktoberfest begain in Munich, Germany in the year 1810 to celebrate a royal marriage. Today, the festival takes place in September to ensure better weather conditions. Higher beer prices have failed to deter the nearly six million people who travel to Munich for a stein or two, or three, or more.

Photos courtesy of Flickr users Ben Harris-Roxas and PedPin under a Creative Commons license.

Workers sit on the steps of a hotel in Qinghai, China.

As the U.S. deals with the fallout of the financial crisis, unemployment claims have reached historic highs. But citizens around the world are increasingly finding themselves out of a job. The global financial crisis could increase world unemployment by an estimated 20 million people.

Liberia has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates at about 85 percent. The country is still recovering from the effects of a civil war that ravaged the country for decades. Blogger “Micahel Donkor” writes about the despair of Liberians and refugees who have returned to the country only to find themselves jobless.

Spain has Europe’s highest unemployment rate at 11.3 percent. The “Megaspora” blog promotes a radical change to the country’s unemployment benefits system.

The UK unemployment rate is now skyrocketing at the fastest rate in over a decade, and currently sits at about 5.7 percent. The “Pbleepd” blog writes about the lack of prospects for new graduates.

Italy’s unemployment is expected to rise over the next year. An article in The Christian Science Monitor compares the Spanish and Italian tactics against illegal immigration — a point of contention when it comes to the status of job markets in both countries.

Though unemployment in Sweden has been declining since 2004, the recent economic downturn has sent the rate rising. The “Reflections on Sweden” blog writes about hardship in the Swedish job market.

Iraq’s violence may have dropped, but its unemployment rate continues to soar. As PBS’s “Wide Angle” reported earlier this year, options are limited for even the most skilled of Iraqi workers, and the country’s middle class is dwindling.

Qatar has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Middle East. A blogger at “Qatar Living” praises the country’s management amid economic gloom.

About 2.5 million people in India are unemployed. Recently, workers of India’s Jet Airways protested the firing of 1,100 employees. As Reuters’ India blog describes, the protests struck a chord with the struggling middles class in India. India’s central bank is expected to strike next week.

Today, Chinese workers are protesting the closure of three large toy factories — which put about 6,500 people out of work. Fresh graduates from China’s schools also face daunting prospects. A blogger in nearby Singapore writes about an influx of American and British banking professionals into the Asian market.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Kees & Sarah under a Creative Commons license.

Sharyn O’Halloran, professor of political science at Columbia University, speaks with Martin Savidge about the difficulty of coordinating international banking efforts, pointing out that many international agreements have not worked in the past.

Italians protested the murder of Burkina Faso native Abdul Salam Guibre and racism in Italy on Sept. 20.

Across Europe, hate crimes have made the headlines.

Today in Denmark, two men face extradition for producing right-wing hate music.

In Russia, skinhead attacks on non-Russians have accelerated in the wake of the conflict with Georgia. Last week, a neo-Nazi youth gang admitted to murdering 20 people and wounding dozens more in race-based attacks.

A United Kingdom feminist blog called “The F Word” writes about racist violence against Africans in Russia.

And in Italy, an African immigrant’s death and other racially-motivated attacks set the stage for a large anti-racism protest in Rome.

“The Hip and the Square” blog asks, “Is Italy racist?” and explores a shifting mood surrounding immigration.

An Italian journalist at “Desperate Italians” criticizes the government’s response to the increase in violence against immigrants.

The European Union opened its first immigration center in Mali on Monday and a pact for more uniform and stricter immigration guidelines may be implemented next week.

The “Europe in the World” blog writes that the forthcoming pact is the only feasible current solution, despite its many failings.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user nene_nabou under a Creative Commons license.

CNN’s international business blog writes that with support from the Italian government, the airline has enough cash to weather the crisis.

Vincent, at his blog “Plastic Pilot” discusses government intervention in the airline sector and suggests less is more. Years ago, almost all European airlines were owned by national governments, and some see Alitalia’s demise as part of the transition from national, state-owned carriers to private sector companies.

High oil prices and a sluggish economy have impacted the airline industry worldwide. At Paddypower.com, users work out odds on the next airline to go bust.

On Aug. 29, Alitalia declared bankruptcy. Union contracts precipitated the airline’s financial woes.

Associated photo courtesy of Flickr user caribb under a Creative Commons license.