The coalition, which includes former prime minister’s Forza Italia (Go Italy) Silvio Berlusconi and two far-right parties, is being seen within the context of Europe’s lurch away from conventional parties ahead of the March 4 vote.
The campaign for Mexico's Jul 1 presidential election began in earnest on Sunday (Feb 18) as the country's top parties officially nominated their candidates, with all three front-runners trying to sell a message of change.
Argentina is taking new steps to solidify its security relationship with the United States, a move that may be aimed at generating support — both political and material — for a shift toward more hard-line domestic crime-fighting policies. In a trip to the United States last week, Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich met with several top US officials to discuss security issues.
Brazil's President Michel Temer on Friday handed the military full control of security in Rio de Janeiro in an increasingly desperate fight to tame runaway gang violence. Army patrols are already used in Rio's gang-ruled favelas, but a decree signed by Temer will now give the military full control of security operations in Rio state, which the president said had virtually been seized by organized crime gangs.
Angela Merkel has said that she is not frustrated by Britain's lack of clarity in Brexit, but is still curious about what the UK government actually wants to achieve in negotiations.
Florida Governor Rick Scott called on Friday for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign in the wake of revelations the bureau ignored a January 5 tip about Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 when he opened fire on Valentine's Day. The agency said earlier Thursday in a statement that it received a call in January from a person close to Cruz through its Public Access Line tip-line to express concerns about Cruz's erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts.
The United Kingdom and Argentina, following on the September 2016 joint communiqué to establish additional air links with the Falkland Islands, jointly announced on Friday that third country airlines interested in such operations will be contacted. It is expected that by the end of February the commercial process will be initiated, led by the Falkland Islands, and sometime next October the new weekly air link, with a monthly call in Argentina, will become operational.
The government of Peru announced through its prime minister, Mercedes Aráoz, that it has withdrawn the invitation it sent to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in November to attend the eighth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Lima on the 13th and 14th. of April; a week of the criticized presidential elections decreed by the Constituent Assembly in Venezuela.
Italy's election race includes a dark horse. Opinion polls suggest a national vote on March 4 will produce either a conservative government or a broad coalition that will not threaten the status quo. But new electoral rules make predictions harder than usual. A post-election alliance of anti-EU parties is improbable - but not impossible.
Theresa May is due to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she seeks to make progress on negotiating Brexit. The PM will travel on Friday to Berlin for the meeting at the Chancellery. It comes a day ahead of a speech on Saturday in which she is expected to set out the security partnership she wants to maintain with the EU.