(1) ITALIAN RANKS AS ONE OF WORLD'S MOST POPULAR LANGUAGES
(2) LARGE CROWD PACKS COMPLEX IN SUPPORT OF MANI PULITE
(3) NEW RAI ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL NOMINATED BY PARLIAMENT
(4) WINTER OLYMPICS UPDATE
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(1) ITALIAN RANKS AS ONE OF WORLD'S MOST POPULAR LANGUAGES

According to research conducted by "Italiano 2000," more and more students 
around the world are studying the Italian language. Tullio De Mauro, director 
of the organization, presented the study's findings at Farnese Palace. Almost 
1% of the world's population currently speaks Italian, a position that ranks 
19th among the world's languages. 

Even more impressive is the fact that Italian is the fourth most popular 
language among students. Of the students surveyed for the study, 84.3% said 
they are studying Italian so that they can find employment with an Italian 
company, while 62.7% said they are learning it for "affairs of the heart." 
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(2) LARGE CROWD PACKS COMPLEX IN SUPPORT OF MANI PULITE

[RAA Note: "Clean Hands" attacks a "brazen" form of political corruption.
McCain's Campaign Funding Reform in the US attacks a more "camouflaged'
form of political corruption]

Approximately 40,000 people jammed the Palavobis sports and entertainment 
complex in Milan to show their support of "Mani Pulite," the investigation 
begun ten years ago which uncovered the web of corruption at work in the 
Italian political system. Paolo Flores D'Arcais, editor-in-chief of Micromega 
magazine, the sponsors of the event, said, "If we had known that so many 
people wanted to attend, we would have had the event in the Piazza Duomo 
instead of the Palavobis." 

In order to alleviate the crush of people, event organizers assembled a 
platform outside the complex to accommodate the crowd. Politicians and 
celebrities took turns addressing the audience. Antonio Di Pietro, the judge 
who spearheaded "Mani Pulite," was present as well.
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NEW RAI ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL NOMINATED BY PARLIAMENT

[RAA Note: It has been widely feared, that Berlusconi would "pack" the Council,
thereby further extending his "Conservative" influence in the Media, because of 
his private Media empire. This would put him in the similar, and "unhealthy" 
position of the "Liberal" Media in the US.[;-)]

Chairmen in both houses of Parliament nominated the new administrative 
council for RAI, Italy's publicly owned television network. Among the 
nominees are former president of the Constitutional Court Antonio Baldassare, 
Lottomatica delegate Marco Staderini, Lombardy cultural head Ettore 
Albertoni, editor Carmine Donzelli, and former Jubilee 2000 director Luigi 
Zanda. The nominations were announced after fiery debate between the majority 
and the opposition. Mr. Baldassare, who in all probability will become the 
next network president, declared that he will try to "carry out his duties 
with the utmost impartiality and with the greatest possible moderation." 
Responding to criticism directed at him by the Left, Mr. Baldassare said, 
"I'm not a member of any political party, and I don't know by whom I was 
nominated."
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(4) WINTER OLYMPICS UPDATE (By RAA)

Italy, for much of the Games in 6th Place, has slipped to 9th as of today.
The USA has already doubled it's previous best Medal production, and is only 
2 Medals behind Germany, the Leader.  

Germany (35), USA (33), Norway (22), Russia (16), Canada (16), Austria (16),
France (11), Switzerland (11), Italy (10)...etc