Erstellt am: 14. 11. 2011 - 15:42 Uhr

Berlsuconi - down, but definitely not yet out

Reality Check: Italy's new government, Germany's neo-nazi terrorist group, new allegations in Grasser case, Arab League suspends Syria, Swiss banks criticised for lax practices.

I must admit, I was a little surprised when Berlusconi resigned on Saturday. I had been expecting him to hang on to the very last, finding one excuse after another to hold on to office, as some analysts had been predicting at the end of last week. But he didn't - he stepped down, as he had promised, as soon as the lower house of parliament passed the package of stabilisation measures that had passed the senate on Friday.

Berlusconi left office on Saturday amid cheers, jeers, heckles and jubilant celebrations by thousands of people in central Rome. He seemed to be a broken man - but never underestimate the "comeback kid".

Within 24 hours of his ignominious departure from the presidential palace after handing in his resignation, he was delivering an emotional and dramatic speech on TV pledging his devotion to the country and promising his continued efforts in the political arena. You might think, that at the age of 75 and with a massive fortune from his many business interests, Berlusconi would feel it is time to take it easy and bunga-bunga off into the sunset, but apparently not. Power is a heady drug, and Berlusconi is a through and through political animal. "I'll be back" is the phrase that springs to mind.

Our Rome correspondent, David Willey, says that Berlsuconi can still make his presence felt on the political scene, and could yet make life very difficult for his successor, "Super Mario" Monti.

Arrests in Germany's National Socialist Underground

Germany is shocked by revelations about the neo-nazi terrorist group, the National Socialist Underground. The group is believed to have been active for over a decade and to be behind at least 10 murder cases. Now questions are being asked about how the group could have gone for so long undetected. Out Berlin correspondent, Hannah Cleaver, explains what is known about the group and how they have been discovered.

New accusations against Grasser

Former Finance Minister, Karl-Heinz Grasser, faces new evidence against him in corruption case.The Kurier newspaper says the investigators are in possession of audio recordings made by Michael Ramprecht, who was involved in the BUWOG deal and later turned against Grasser.

Joanna Bostock spoke to Erich Vogl, one of the Kurier journalists following the case.

Syria under increasing pressure from Arab League

The Arab League is to suspend Syria's membership and heighten sanctions to pressure President Assad's government into stopping its violent suppression of anti-government protests. Syria's finance minister has given apparently contradictory responses, on the one hand fiercely defending the government's action, and on the other, apologising for attacks on the Saudi and Turkish embassies by pro-government demonstrators. Shashank Joshi looks at the significance of the suspension, and of the mixed reactions.

Probe into Swiss banks

Swiss banks are coming under government investigation for alleged lax practices in handling funds of the deposed leaders in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Imogen Foulkes in Geneva looks at the investigation and the political motivation behind it.

FM4 Reality Check

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