Free Republic

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced he will resign after his populist government lost the support of a key coalition member. Mr Conte accused Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party, of trying to ruin the ruling coalition for personal and political gain, risking financial instability for Italy.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resisted calls to resign on Thursday after a junior coalition party pulled out of his government, stripping him of a parliamentary majority in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Conte signalled he wanted to take his fight for survival to parliament, with his main coalition partners backing plans to try to find so-called “responsible” lawmakers from among opposition ranks to prop up the administration. On Monday he will address the Chamber of Deputies on the crisis and what is sure to be a fiery debate will be followed by a vote...

President Trump on Monday insisted that the United States will not drop sanctions against Moscow. “Sanctions on Russia will remain as is,” Trump said, even as Putin demands that they be dropped. Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte first broached the subject and said lifting the sanctions would be “unthinkable.” Trump also scolded Germany — just as he did at the NATO summit — for agreeing to use a Russian natural gas pipeline while, in his estimation, not paying enough for defense.

Just met the new Prime Minister of Italy, @GiuseppeConteIT, a really great guy. He will be honored in Washington, at the @WhiteHouse, shortly. He will do a great job - the people of Italy got it righthttps://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1005550889422110721

The problem with African coup d’etats is not just the fact that they flout constitutionalism — they also have an unfortunate tendency to propel virtual clowns to power whose only distinction is force of arms. Moussa Dadis Camara in Guinea is a perfect example. A small-time army captain whom nobody had heard of before, stormed to power in December last year promising a clean sweep. The regime of Lansana Conte, who had just died, had presided since 1984 over a basketcase of a country, dirt-poor despite having perhaps the leading deposits of bauxite in the world, plus a fair amount...

Thousands of Guineans on Wednesday cheered a young army captain chosen as de facto head of state by the military junta that took over the West African country in a coup after the death of President Lansana Conte. The installation of Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara as leader of the world's top bauxite exporter went ahead despite international condemnation and statements opposing the coup from civilian leaders and the top military commander. The coup leaders, calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), appeared unopposed in their control of the Guinean capital Conakry two days after Conte's death from...

CONAKRY, Guinea — Coup leaders in Guinea issued a declaration on state radio Sunday saying all military generals of the former regime had been demoted, raising the spectre of instability in the country. The demotions included more than 20 military heads, including those who ran the country's army, navy and air force. The list also includes security force chiefs. .... The move comes amid questions about whether coup leader Capt. Moussa Camara is able to control the plethora of military units created under Conte's 24-year rule. Capt. Camara's group seized public airwaves and declared a coup Tuesday just hours after...

Army officers seized power in Guinea on Tuesday hours after the death of president Lansana Conte, suspending the west African nation's constitution and summoning ministers to a military base. snip- "If the army coup is confirmed, it is a flagrant violation of the constitution and of African legality which absolutely forbids unconstitutional changes of government," said Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra.

Bill Romanowski used steroids and human growth hormone supplied by Victor Conte, the former NFL linebacker tells CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. Romanowski said he took illegal steroids for a two-year period starting in 2001 and got them from Conte, the former head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which has been at the center of a steroids controversy in several sports. Advertisement "I took (human growth hormone) for a brief period and ... I definitely didn't receive what I got out of THG," Romanowski said, referring to another drug he got from Conte. In...

Bill Romanowski used steroids and human growth hormone supplied by Victor Conte, the former NFL linebacker tells CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. Romanowski said he took illegal steroids for a two-year period starting in 2001 and got them from Conte, the former head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which has been at the center of a steroids controversy in several sports.... Last May, he agreed to pay former Raiders teammate Marcus Williams $415,000 in damages for a hit to the face during a practice drill in 2003. Williams' career ended after his eye socket...

Victor Conte, accused mastermind of the BALCO steroids conspiracy, has agreed to a plea bargain that will require him to spend four months in federal prison for distributing banned drugs to elite athletes, a source familiar with the case told The Chronicle. Conte, the founder of the Burlingame-based nutritional supplements company that became the flash point for an international sports doping scandal, is scheduled to appear at a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco today. His lawyers are expected to ask Judge Susan Illston to approve the plea, which was reached after negotiations with federal prosecutors in the...

FBI agents raided the San Mateo home of accused steroid dealer Victor Conte Wednesday as part of a federal probe into how The Chronicle had obtained federal grand jury testimony for stories about the BALCO sports-doping scandal, informed sources said. The sources, who asked not to be quoted by name because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said the agents arrived before 8 a.m. with a search warrant at the home of Conte, who is BALCO's founder and accused mastermind of an international steroid conspiracy. Agents seized Conte's computer and other items, the sources said. The sources said the FBI...

December 8, 2004 George Bush vs. Barry Bonds The government's effective smear campaign against baseball's best player Matt Welch The United States government has sent the impressionable Youth of America an unmistakable signal: Do not, under any circumstances, break any sporting records after adding 18 pounds of muscle at age 36. If you do, Uncle Sam will use the awesome powers at his disposal—grand jury inquisitions, illegal leaks, even the State of the Union address—to humiliate you in public and pressure your union to accept year-round random urine testing, even if you will never be charged with breaking a single...