The domestic political situation continues to occupy the front pages of the German press. A comment in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (6/10) on the continuing political stalemate reads as follows: “ Citizens are beginning to lose their patience about what is happening in Berlin. For five months this country has no longer been governed, but only administered and badly administered at that. There is no budget ready for approval and not even a prospective timescale for the formation of a new government. The German people can no longer be satisfied with the declarations of willingness to form a solid coalition able to stick together for four years. What they want now is facts. For their part, the two popular parties, the only ones still able to form a majority, are slowly beginning to grasp the fact that they cannot unduly abuse the patience of the public with quarrels compelling but also debilitating about the chancellorship“. And writing in the Frankfurter Rundschau, Richard Meng comments: “ Apart from the jockeying for power, the question needs to be clarified whether the two major parties actually want to govern together“. “ The most important result three weeks after the vote is that ever since then practically nothing has changed in the heads” of the politicians. “The electoral result has still not sunk into the reality of day-to-day political life”. Commenting on the quarrel about the “grand coalition”, the weekly Spiegel (3/10) notes: “ The crazy post-electoral days in which the leaders of the parties had dedicated themselves to day-dreaming have ended. Now, the protagonists are beginning to realise the need to adapt to the reality of the situation. A situation that downsizes everyone“. And the magazine continues: “ Of all the political constellations that gave wings to the imagination until a few days ago, only one has remained. The leaders of the CDU and the SPD have understood that there are no alternatives to the grand coalition, which coincides with the electoral result, with the situation of the country and with the mood of citizens. Within the parties, the question is not whether to participate, but how“. The French daily La Croix ((05/10) dedicates ample coverage to the flood of clandestine immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa into the Spanish enclave of Melilla. The new emergency, which has aroused interest at the world level, has been accelerating since August, when several hundred illegal immigrants began to force the barriers of the Spanish enclave. Since then writes the paper “ the scenario seems to know no end. Large numbers of migrants continue to flow into the area to try their luck“. “ We are not terrorists, but human beings“, declare some of the Africans interviewed by the paper’s correspondent, Armandone Penna, “ all we want is a better life, and a job to be able to send money to our families. We ask the European Union to facilitate this task“. Meanwhile the assaults on the enclave continue, even though its authorities have decided to raise the barriers in height and erect a third fence, so as to make it virtually impossible to get inside. Again in La Croix coverage is devoted to the “ largest religious gathering of the year in the Marian city of Lourdes, held by the Dominican father Timothy Radcliffe, former Master of the order“. In the report, under the title “ The rosary with Timothy Radcliffe“, Francois Vayne writes that “ the 1600 young people (they have never been so numerous at the Rosary) are also very ‘intrigued’ by the ‘uncle of Harry Potter’, namely Radcliffe himself: his nephew is in fact the lead actor in the films of the famous Harry Potter books“. But the reasons for the deep interest in this prayer meeting were quite different: “ Born from a first group that left Toulouse in 1908, the pilgrimage organized by the Dominican family in France will celebrate its centenary in three years time, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions at Lourdes“. This longevity is according to La Croix the secret of the event, which is set to reach record figures this year. The weekly Time (10/10) dedicates an editorial by Peter Gumbel to current Italian scandals with the title “ Land without shame“, recalling that “ ten years since it began its internal clean up, Italy is once again immersed in scandals“. The references are to the case of Fazio (the beleaguered head of the national bank), the conflicts of interest of premier Berlusconi, the affaire Parmalat, and “ the attempt to introduce a law on the prescription of crimes of corruption“. “ Honour and accountability concludes the magazine have not entirely disappeared“. As a proof of this it cites the case of Collina, who honourably resigned as a referee in Italy’s premier league, after signing a sponsorization deal with Opel. In terms of religious values, the first interventions of Pope Benedict XVI are arousing some interest. “ Ratzinger is right: worshipping idols (dedicating to them our best time, our strongest energies, our deepest thoughts) is a sign of a deviant and fallacious religiosity“, says an editorial in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (06/10) in which Davide Rondoni comments on the words of the Pope on Psalm 134, spoken during his general audience on Wednesday. “ How much devotion of ‘religious’ type do we now see aimed at obtaining power, fame and immediate satisfaction in every field! How many idols are we palming off on our children! How many devotees are there about! Devotees to the cult of self-interest, to one’s own comfort and ease …“.———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1420 N.ro relativo : 69 Data pubblicazione : 07/10/05
