"Italian voters reject Berlusconi initiatives" June 14, 2011|Associated Press
MILAN — Italian voters dealt Premier Silvio Berlusconi a serious political blow, overturning laws passed by his government to revive nuclear energy, privatize the water supply, and help him avoid prosecution, final results showed yesterday.
Even before the polls closed, Berlusconi, at a news conference with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, conceded that Italy would probably have to give up plans to return to nuclear energy and instead focus on renewable energy....
Awwwww.
It is the second time Italians have said no to nuclear energy in a referendum. The first was in 1987, after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and this time the images of the nuclear disaster in Japan, following the March 11 quake and tsunami, weighed heavily in voters’ minds.
The Italian referendum on nuclear energy came just weeks after Germany announced plans to abandon its nuclear program by 2022, in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster. It also came two weeks after Berlusconi’s candidates lost key local elections....
Related: Boston Globe Closes Doors on Berlusconi Trial
I guess we have enough weiners to keep us distracted.
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