(1) FINI BACKS US POLICY WITH STRONG WORDS
(2) RUGGIERO ON DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO MIDDLE EAST
(3) ITALY CANCELS THIRD WORLD DEBT
(4) HIGH TECHNOLOGY SPURS ITALIAN GROWTH RATE
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(1) WASHINGTON: FINI BACKS US POLICY WITH STRONG WORDS

Vice-premier Gianfranco Fini was in Washington D.C. yesterday where he 
announced, "Today we have a duty: all people who believe in democracy must be 
united against terrorism.A future of peace and security cannot be attained as 
long as there is one terrorist on the loose. The twin towers have fallen, but 
America will not"  Mr. Ruggiero went on to say that the solidarity of the 
Italian government and people with that of America is total. "The war, as 
President Bush stated will be long and hard, but I know that we will prevail. 
No good American and no good Italian will ever back down"Mr. Ruggiero said.
 

(2) RUGGIERO ON DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO MIDDLE EAST

Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero left today for a two-day whirlwind 
tour of Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Turkey for a series of meetings with the 
nations' leading politicians to discuss bilateral relations and the current 
international crisis. The first leg of the minister's trip will begin tonight 
in Beirut where he will meet with the Lebanese president and various 
government officials. He will then leave tomorrow to meet with Syrian 
President Hafez al-Assad in Damascus. Later in the day he will travel to 
Tehran and finish up his journey in Ankara.

(3) ITALY CANCELS THIRD WORLD DEBT

The Italian government signed into law last year's agreement that calls for 
the cancellation of debts incurred by Third World nations. The first country 
that will benefit from the action will be New Guinea, which will formalize 
the accord with the Italian Church in the upcoming weeks to take advantage of 
the "counterpart fund" which will be issued by the Ecclesiastic Campaign for 
the Reduction of World Debt. With the signing of the accord, the Italian 
government has effectively cancelled New Guinea's debt in exchange for the 
financing of an equivalent fund for the real value of the debt (10% of the 
nominal value) on behalf of the debtor nation. Included in the fund is the 
church's contribution, which has already passed the 30 billion lire mark, a 
number higher than previously predicted.

(4) HIGH TECHNOLOGY SPURS ITALIAN GROWTH RATE

SMAU, the National Innovation Fair, currently taking place in Milan, released 
reassuring data regarding Italian economic growth. The data indicate a 
possible rebound for Europe's slumping ICT market. The European Information 
and Technology Observatory (EITO) said that by the end of 2001 there should 
be a 7% jump. Italy is expected to gain over 8% thanks to growth in both the 
computer and telecommunications industries which are expected to make gains 
of 7.5% and 9.3% respectively. According to EITO President Bruno Lamborghini, 
the market will present "ample space" for the utilization of Internet and 
computer technology both in small and medium-sized family and public 
enterprises.