Berlusconi eager to strike optimistic note as G8 meet in L’Aquila

Metaphors may not have been in the mind of Silvio Berlusconi when he summoned the leaders of the world’s most advanced states to survey the battered planet from the scene of an earthquake. A field of ruins seems an apt venue, though, as presidents Obama, Sarkozy and Medvedev, along with Gordon Brown and the rest of the Group of Eight, gather today in the Italian town of L’Aquila to seek ways to rebuild, feed and clean a damaged world. The Italian Prime Minister, whose exotic private life has clouded his turn in the club chair, wants the summit to reflect hope and recovery. He has summoned an extra four dozen other leaders and international figures — representing 90 per cent of the world economy, he boasts — to commune over climate change, food security, trade and global revival. Italy has, however, set a poor example, falling far behind all the other rich nations in keeping earlier G8 promises to help Africa. When it comes to who has the moral and political authority, Mr Berlusconi is likely to be overshadowed by Mr Obama. Continue ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6663074.ece