Today marks the 7th anniversary of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, so I thought it timely to reflect on the Italian Government’s position on this contentious matter. 
Italian policy currently reflects the broad European view of “non assistance with Guantanamo Bay detainees”, although important questions were raised in June 2008 regarding the Italian secret service’s [...]

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For any student of Italian language and culture, it is worth exploring the ongoing debate around the revenue equalisation regime, because it mirrors the important historical tension between the wealthy north and the less affluent south.
A brief background
Under the 1948 Constitution, the equalisation regime has been used by the State to distribute federal revenue amongst [...]

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I received my local council rates notice last week (*grrr*).
After choking on my crostili and musing, yet again, on the nefarious black art of working out j-u-s-t how far one can load up our rates burden without triggering civil unrest, I started to think about how Local Government works in Italy.
And so off I ventured [...]

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