ITALIAN PRESIDENT BOWS TO EU

  Italian President Sergio Mattarella announced his rejection of Italy’s populist coalition government Sunday evening in what is being billed as one of the worst days in Italian political history.
  Mattarella’s move is being widely interpreted as a rejection not only of the government but of the national will as expressed in democratic elections, and massive demonstrations are expected Monday. The Italian president was reportedly under heavy pressure from Brussels, Berlin, and other centres of European power to abort the eurosceptic government, which they viewed as a threat to European stability.
  While it appeared that Mattarella would have no choice but to confirm the elected government, in the end he decided against it, underscoring his opposition to the coalition’s choice of economy minister and his fears that the new government would end by pulling the country out of the Europe Union’s common currency, the euro.