Berlusconi attacked
The week's news at a glance.
Rome
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was strolling through Rome’s Piazza Navona on New Year’s Eve when a young man banged him over the head with a camera tripod. Berlusconi got a black eye but was otherwise unharmed, and the man, Roberto Del Bosco, was immediately arrested. Del Bosco, a leftist, said that he was taken completely by surprise to see the right-wing prime minister, “the man I hate most in the world,” standing so close to him. “At first I just wanted to touch his forehead, like you do to the bulls at Pamplona,” Del Bosco said. “But I had my tripod in my hand, and I used it.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published