Three Monkeys Online - the free current affairs & arts magazine

One thing that the worlds of entertainment and politics have in common in Italy is the fact that most of the key figures involved are past the normally accepted retirment age.

The political stage is dominated by figures like Silvio Berlusconi (age 72), Romano Prodi (age 67), not to mention the cabal which recently brought down the government in the senate - Giulio Andreotti (age 88) and Francesco Cossiga (age 78).

Entertainment on both the public and private TV channels is dominated by figures like Pippo Baudo (age 77), and Mike Buongiorno (age 83).

Last week the release of journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo sparked off controversy left, right, and centre - outside Italy. Inside Italy, apart from some opportunistic jibes from Berlusconi*, virtually all political parties supported the government’s efforts to release Mastrogiacomo, who had been held captive in Afghanistan by the Taliban.