Erstellt am: 11. 7. 2011 - 13:59 Uhr

Could Italy become another Greece?

Eurozone financial crisis meeting focuses on Italy, and an accidental explosion in Cyprus kills 12 and knock out the power grid

Today's Reality Check

Two stories dominated our early morning news meeting: the Volga Ship disaster and the blast in Cyprus. Both appear to be tragic disaster stories with little scope for background analysis, apart from the numbers of dead and the circumstances leading up to the incidents. The Cyprus story we decided to cover, since it was more current and the part of the island severely affected by power outages is the tourist regions – so there may be listeners heading there this week. Also, we wanted to know more about the storage of confiscated weapons from the Middle East, and what was such a highly sensitive storage of weapons doing so close to the major power station of Cyprus?
Then, we came to Italy which is making the news with the meeting of EU finance chiefs in Brussels. It could sound like just another set of financial woes for another Eurozone country. But the point was made that if Italy starts to looks shaky then this is something the Eurozone could probably not fix with bailouts. We also wondered about connections to Austria with Italy’s biggest bank Unicredit owning most of Bank Austria. We called Simon Taylor of The Economist, who wandered back into his Brussels office to talk to us.

Italy's financial crisis

They are calling last Friday "black Friday", when shares in Italy's largest bank, Unicredit Spa fell 7.9% and it Italian share index fell by 3.5%. Now Italy is a main topic at the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. Some analysts are blaming Berlusconi's populist style of government for the countries financial troubles, but Simon Taylor of The Economist says it goes deeper and further back in history.

Deadly explosion at Cyprus naval base

At least 12 people have died following a huge explosion at a naval base near Cyprus' main power plant. The cause of the explosion is believed to be a bush fire which started in the intense heat the island has been experienceing. Locals and visitors to the island could now be faced with days without normal power services, according to our Nicosia correspondent, Nathan Morley.

FM4 Reality Check

Monday to friday from 12 to 14. And after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.