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The Signature
Italian Coalition Wins Senate Vote, Allowing it to Govern From AFP
Italy’s new governing coalition has been given the green light to govern after winning a confidence vote in the upper house of Parliament. But, after a heated debate, in the end it was a close-run affair. The coalition of the antiestablishment Five-Star Movement (M5S) and center-left Democratic Party (PD), led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, was approved by Italy’s Senate on September 10. It was the last hurdle the new coalition needed to clear to begin governing, after winning a confidence vote in the lower house the day before. The new, more pro-European government took the Senate vote by 169 to 133. The vote was expected to be a close one, as the government held a much slimmer majority there than it did in the lower house. The populist M5S and the PD agreed to join forces after far-right League leader and former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini pulled his party out of the previous coalition with the M5S. Salvini accused the M5S and PD of working together purely out of their mutual opposition to his leadership. Rome’s new government has signaled that it will pursue an expansive economic policy, but without jeopardizing public finances. It will also likely step back from the hardline punitive measures that Salvini employed with the country’s immigration policy. The new cabinet is the youngest in Italy’s history. At age 33, M5S leader and former Deputy Prime
The town of Corleone, which became famous worldwide for its connection to “The Godfather” book and film trilogy, is the actual birthplace of several Mafia bosses. Some are fictional, such as The Godfather’s Vito Corleone, and some real, such as Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. The local community and grassroots anti-mafia movements have been trying to shrug off the town’s infamous stereotyped brand, which some use to attract tourists. (Photo from Spokesman.com)
Minister Luigi Di Maio is also the youngest foreign minister the country has ever had.
Sicily Lures Visitors with ‘Ethical Tourism’ Free of Mafia Taint By The Standard
At the crossroads of the Mediterranean, Sicily has lured hordes of visitors in its 2500-year history. Today, it is enticing ethical tourists who do not want to line the pockets of organized criminals. Challenging the stereotypical portrayal of Sicilians as mobsters, businesses are steering visitors toward mafia-free hotels, restaurants and shops. In the last decade, AddioPizzoTrav-
el, the social enterprise offshoot of an anti-mafia grassroots movement, has been working with locals determined to shake up the status quo by declining to pay the “pizzo” - Sicilian slang for protection money. According to a 2012 study, nearly three-quarters of Sicily’s businesses do pay. AddioPizzo also proposes tours geared toward discovering the island’s natural and cultural treasures while learning about its history of civic resistance to the mafia, as well as the stories of activists and magistrates who paid with their lives. “We wanted to promote the beauty of our landscapes and our "ITALIAN NEWS" continued on Page 13
