Breaking: EU Fines ‘Hello Kitty’

The parent company of the ‘Hello Kitty’conglomerate was fined $7 million by the EU’s antitrust commission for resticting sales of the fab feline‘s merchandise in different countries within the European bloc for the last 11 years.

More:

“Hello Kitty’s Parent Company Fined $6.9 Million by E.U.,” Geneva Abdul, New York Times

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Image (“Newscatster, in the Style of Modigliani”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Berlusconi’s Back. Europe Shrugs.

Billionaire octagenarian, former football team owner, Bunga-Bunga Party host, one-time cruise ship crooner and disgraced 3-time former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, forced out of the Italian Senate over his 2013 tax-fraud conviction, has started serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Madonna Mia!

More:

“Forget the tax fraud and sex scandals. Italy’s Berlusconi is back.” Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post

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Image (“Pasha Berlusconi and His Harem, after François Gabriel Lepaulle”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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EU to UK: GTFO!

After an ill-advised referendum last Thursday, British citizens woke up horrified to learn they had voted to exit from the European Union. United Kingdom politicians are hemming, hawing, stalling for time, and even calling for a do-over vote. EU members aren’t having it. Their message to the UK: Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

It’s going to be a messy divorce, really ugly. Expect a custody battle over Scotland, Gibraltar, and Northern Ireland. And the UK can forget about being a Norwegian-style “friend with benefits.”

More (NSFW):

Berlusconi on Facebook

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in the news again, but for his economic policies, not his romantic escapades. The Italian economy, third largest in Europe, is starting to tank. The P.M.’s allies are jumping ship, urging him to quit. “That Silvio Berlusconi is about to resign is clear. It is a question of hours, some say of minutes,” wrote one long-time friend. The Prime Minister issued a denial:  “Le voci di mie dimissioni sono destituite di fondamento” (“The rumors of my resignation are groundless “).

Silvio Berlusconi, third richest man in Italy, controls the country’s commercial television stations and newspapers and magazines. As PM, he controls RAI, the Italian government broadcasting network. So how did Mr. Berlusconi make his defiant announcement?

On Facebook.

Related:

“Quick Primer On Chances Of Italy Destroying The World Economy,” Seeking Alpha

“Politicans and Business Close Ranks Against Berlusconi,” Fiona Ehlers, Spiegel Online

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Image (“Berlusconi on Facebook, after François Gabriel Lepaulle”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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