For Islam, Italian Style

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ITALY Over the past decade, Islam has become Italy’s second-largest religion — yet it has never achieved official government recognition. But now Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu is launching negotiations with Muslim leaders that would sanction religious holidays, schools, weddings and the right to receive state funding. In an interview with TIME, Pisanu revealed plans to convene an “Islamic Italian Council” of Muslim leaders, echoing recent efforts in France. Though Islam is Italy’s fastest-growing religion, the vast majority of the country’s 1 million-plus Muslims are immigrants, and only about 50,000 can vote.

Pisanu wants to reduce the influence of Arab and North African nations in Italy’s Islamic community. “We want an Italian Islam,” he told Time, “not an amalgam of mosques that operate as centers of prayer and political propaganda, and often depend on financing from foreign countries.” Though most Islamic leaders back the initiative, Hamza Piccardo, a prominent Italian convert, is suspicious. “We would be coming from a position of weakness,” he said. “There is no unifying voice, and our electoral weight is still not strong enough.” That could position Pisanu as arguably the most powerful voice in Italy’s Islamic affairs. — By Jeff Israely/Rome

A Shaken Country turkey The army fired warning shots to control 1,000 angry demonstrators who clashed with police Thursday in the southeast city of Bingol after a powerful earthquake struck the area, killing more than 120. The protesters accused the government of responding inadequately to the quake, which measured 6.4 on the Richter scale. They blamed lax building practices for the deaths of at least 70 children trapped when a four-storey public school dormitory in the village of Celtiksuyu collapsed as

they slept. Enes Gunce, 13, was pinned for 30 hours beneath the concrete rubble before being pulled out by rescuers, who used industrial machinery to cut through the bed he was buried under. Gunce had listened as his three roommates died one by one. “At first, we were talking to each other in the dark,” he said. “But after a while their voices died out.” Turks were outraged that the dormitory collapsed while other buildings around the school were still standing. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to pursue allegations that bad construction standards may have been responsible. — By Pelin Turgut/Istanbul

See Also: May Day Disaster

Poll Postponed

U.K. British Prime Minister Tony Blair postponed elections for Northern Ireland’s Assembly just four weeks before voters were set to go to the polls. The Assembly was suspended seven months ago after an I.R.A. spying scandal. The British and Irish governments rejected as too vague an I.R.A. statement supposedly detailing its commitment to give up all paramilitary activity. Republicans insisted the I.R.A.’s peaceful intentions were clear.

Three-Way Split

Iraq Coalition leaders announced that the country will be divided into three military sectors. Poland and Britain will each lead a multinational division overseeing one zone. The U.S. will keep reduced forces centered near Baghdad. The Bush Administration would like to avoid the stigma of American occupation and share the security of the country after weeks of violence and looting.

Neighborly Advice

zimbabwe South African President Thabo Mbeki confirmed that he will travel to Harare this week, accompanied by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Malawian leader Bakili Muluzi, for talks with President Robert Mugabe on the country’s economic and political crisis. But Mbeki’s spokesman denied reports that the group would pressure Mugabe to step down. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai criticized the planned visit, saying the only solution to the current emergency was for Mugabe to negotiate with his Movement for Democratic Change. In recent weeks the government has waged a campaign of violent intimidation against MDC supporters following two opposition-led nationwide strikes.

Standoff Ends

nigeria Striking Nigerian oil workers began releasing some 300 hostages held for two weeks aboard four offshore oil rigs. The crisis ended after an agreement between the oil workers’ union and the rigs’ owners, U.S.-based Transocean company. Hostage taking is not uncommon in the Southern Niger Delta, where much of the population remains extremely poor despite the country’s vast petroleum resources.

Race to the Finish

argentina Presidential hopefuls Carlos Menem and Nestor Kirchner kicked off their campaigns for the May 18 runoff after leading the first round of voting with 24% and 22% of the vote, respectively. Both Menem, a proponent of the free market, and the center-left Kirchner are members of the divided ruling Peronist Party. Menem is a two-time former President whose terms in office were marred by a series of corruption scandals. He is also blamed by many Argentines for the country’s current economic malaise.

meanwhile in the u.k. …

A Sweet Deal
The Cadbury company has a new promotion called Get Active, in which the firm donates sports equipment to schools in exchange for chocolate wrappers. To earn a free basketball, enterprising children have to collect 170 wrappers — about 8.3 kg-worth of chocolate. They’d have to play basketball for 90 hours to work that off. Cadbury said it wasn’t trying to encourage kids to eat more chocolate, just to save more wrappers.