Fleetwood Mac readies tour and new music

NEW YORK (AP) — Fleetwood Mac is heading back on the road, and that means the top-selling group will release new music — sort of.

On its 34-city North American tour, which kicks off April 4 in Columbus, Ohio, the band will perform two new songs, and it could mean a new album will follow. Or not.

Stevie Nicks recently sang on tracks that Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie worked on, calling the sessions “great.” But Nicks also says she’s not sure where the band fits in today’s music industry.

“Whether or not we’re gonna do any more (songs), we don’t know because we’re so completely bummed out with the state of the music industry and the fact that nobody even wants a full record,” she said. “Everybody wants two songs, so we’re going to give them two songs.”

Nicks said depending on the response to the new tracks — which Buckingham calls “the most Fleetwood Mac-y stuff … in a long time” — more material could come next.

“Maybe we’ll get an EP out of it or something,” Buckingham said.

Nicks will continue to record solo albums, though. The group is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the best-selling “Rumours” album, which has moved some 20 million units in the United States. She knows that’s not possible again, despite the success of Adele’s “21,” which has sold 10 million units in America in less than two years.

“This is Adele’s ‘Rumours,’” Nicks said. “She had a baby, she’s going to take a year off to take care of her baby — that’s why I never had any kids. She’s going to go back and start writing again, you never know what the next record’s going to be. Is it going to sell 10 million records? You don’t know,” she said.

Buckingham said he initially wanted to record a new album, but Nicks “wasn’t too into that.” But the guitarist and singer knows that new music isn’t a priority for the band’s fans.

“It wouldn’t matter if they didn’t hear anything new. In a way there’s a freedom to that — it becomes not what you got, but what you do with what you got. Part of the challenge of this tour is figuring out a presentation that has some twists and turns to it without having a full album,” he said.

Fleetwood Mac, which was formed in 1967, last released an album in 2003, though they hit the road in 2009. Nicks and Buckingham — who originally joined the band in 1974 as a couple — both released solo albums and toured last year. Buckingham had suggested that Fleetwood Mac tour last year, but says getting everyone to agree was tough.

“If you look at Fleetwood Mac as a group, you can make the case of saying we’re a bunch of individuals who don’t necessarily belong in the same group together, but it’s the synergy of that that makes us so good. But it also makes the politics a little more tenuous,” he said. “You can say that not only can it be a political minefield, someone’s always causing trouble, right? I caused trouble for years so I can’t point any fingers.”

The tour also includes cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and will end June 12 in Detroit.

_____

Online:

http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/

You can follow Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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Obama Is Taking Himself and #My2K to Twitter This Afternoon

What a day for Twitter! First the Pope, then the Royal Baby, and now President Obama will come online to answer questions about the fiscal cliff. A @WhiteHouse tweet with the distincitive “-bo” signature, announced not long ago that the big guy himself will be taking questions online, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Good to see lots of folks on twitter speaking out on extending middle class tax cuts. I’ll answer some Qs on that at 2ET. Ask w/ #My2k –bo

— The White House (@whitehouse) December 3, 2012

Unfortunately, he’s sticking with the troublesome #My2K hashtag that conservatives have already seized upon in a back-and-forth battle for messaging. Trying to mobilize your supporters through social media is all well and good, but the problem with any genuinely open town hall, is that anyone can invite themselves—even those who disagree with you and might be louder than your friends. (Plus, any reasonably popular hashtag moves much to fast for anyone to follow it or have an actual conversation on Twitter anyway.)

RELATED: Don’t Expect Too Much From Social Media Town Halls

But ask away! Maybe you’ll get luck and get RT’d by the President himself. And then find yourself becoming the next conservative meme as soon as the hashtag-averse pundits start making fun of your question. Should be a fun afternoon.

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Estudio asocia método de relajación con la disminución de los sofocos

NUEVA YORK (Reuters Health) – Aunque los estudios sobre los

efectos de las técnicas de relajación en los síntomas de la

menopausia dieron resultados contradictorios, un ensayo de

Suecia se define a favor del enfoque como una alternativa a la

terapia hormonal.

Un grupo de mujeres postmenopáusicas entrenadas para

relajarse antes y durante la aparición de los sofocos pudo

reducir a la mitad la frecuencia de esos síntomas durante los

tres meses que duró el ensayo, comparado con un grupo que no

recibió tratamiento alguno.

“Los resultados dicen que el enfoque daría resultado”, dijo

Kim Innes, de West Virginia University y que no participó del

estudio. “Fue un estudio sobre una muestra mediana que dio un

resultado promisorio, aunque no definitivo, sobre la efectividad

de la técnica utilizada”.

En una revisión de más de una docena de estudios previos

sobre la meditación, el yoga y el Tai Chi, Innes había observado

que esas técnicas podrían aliviar los síntomas de la menopausia,

pero que era muy pronto para confirmarlo.

Ahora, el equipo de Lotta Lindh-Åstrand, de la Universidad

de Linköping, analizó los efectos de un método de relajación

desarrollado en Suecia en los años 80 a partir de la terapia

cognitiva conductual.

Para eso, reunió a 60 mujeres suecas saludables: algo más de

la mitad realizó el método de relajación, mientras que el resto

no recibió tratamiento alguno (grupo control). La mayoría de las

participantes tenían más de 50, habían dejado de menstruar hacía

un año o más, pero todas sentían sofocos y sudoración nocturna.

Las 33 mujeres tratadas con relajación aprendieron a

concentrarse en la respiración y a liberar la tensión muscular

antes y durante los sofocos.

En la primera semana, las participantes registraron las

sensaciones antes y durante los sofocos u otros síntomas

menopáusicos. Luego, se las alentó a dedicar 15 minutos dos

veces por día a tensar y relajar los músculos de cabeza a pies.

De a poco, aprendieron a reducir el tiempo necesario para

relajarse con el control de la respiración y sin tensar los

músculos.

Al final del estudio, se les pidió que practicaran la

relajación 20 veces por día, durante 30 segundos cada vez. En el

ejercicio final, las mujeres debían poder aplicar esas

habilidades respiratorias y de relajación durante un sofoco.

Al inicio del estudio, todas las participantes tenían unos

10 sofocos por día. A los tres meses, según publica Menopause,

el grupo tratado con relajación padecía unos cuatro sofocos por

día, versus ocho sofoco el grupo control.

El equipo halló también una mejoría leve de la calidad de

vida, incluidos los trastornos del sueño y los dolores, en las

mujeres tratadas con relajación.

Para Innes y otros investigadores, el mecanismo detrás de

las terapias mente-cuerpo y sus efectos en los síntomas

menopáusicos podría estar asociado con el sistema nervioso

simpático, que controla la respuesta de “lucha y huída” y

funciones básicas como la frecuencia cardiaca, la presión y la

sudoración.

Por eso, el equipo señaló que los resultados no son finales

y que se necesitan más estudios.

“El próximo paso -dijo Innes- debería ser un estudio

aleatorizado” con un grupo control activo y entre, por ejemplo,

las técnicas de relajación y el ejercicio.

Lindh-Åstrand recordó que las técnicas de relajación no son

para todas las mujeres, en especial para aquellas con depresión

grave o ansiedad. Estas mujeres, paradójicamente, se sentirían

más tensas.

FUENTE: Menopause, 12 de noviembre del 2012.

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Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

ABC News' Christina Ng and Carolyn Durand report:

Kate Middleton is pregnant.


The most eagerly awaited pregnancy was announced today by St. James Palace on behalf of Middleton and her husband Prince William.

The child, whether boy or girl, will eventually be heir to the British
throne according to new legislation awaiting final approval.

The duchess was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital today in central
London with hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which
requires supplementary hydration and nutrients, the palace said.

Click here for photos of Kate through the years.

"As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is
expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period
of rest thereafter," the statement said.

The royal family was clearly delighted with the news.

"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very
pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby,"
the palace said in a statement today. "The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh,
The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and
members of both families are delighted with the news."

The baby will be the queen's third great-grandchild.

Robert Lacey, author of the definitive book "Majesty" said, "The British
public and indeed the whole world will be delighted for the same, it
keeps the monarchy going. The royal wedding brought a magic back to the
monarchy and people are fascinated by William and Catherine."

The announcement follows relentless public and media speculation about
when Prince William and his wife would have an heir. The guessing game
began almost immediately after the couple said, "I do."

VOTE: What Should They Name the Baby?

Tabloids began snapping close-ups of Middleton's stomach for any
indication of a baby bump. Baby rumors abounded when the duchess held a
baby at a press event and when she declined peanut butter at another
event. British physicians are known to warn women against eating peanuts
during pregnancy. When the couple got a dog, Lupo, headlines wondered
if they were practicing for another addition to the family.

The palace, which rarely comments on speculation, took the unusual step
of saying, "We would be the ones to make the announcement, not
Hollywood."

"It is quite strange reading about it, but I try not to let it bother
me," Prince William said in an interview with ABC News' Katie Couric in
May 2012. "I'm just very keen to have a family and both Catherine and I
are looking forward to having a family in the future."

Asked by Couric if there was anything else he wanted to share, he coyly
answered, "You won't get anything out of me. Tight lipped."

Due to a dramatic change in the rules of succession, the royal couple's
first-born will likely be the heir to the throne, regardless of the
baby's gender.

Last year, the heads of 16 Commonwealth countries agreed to a change in
the rules of succession so that first-born children of either gender can
take the throne. Queen Elizabeth II was only eligible to be monarch
because her father had no male children. The British Parliament must
still amend existing law to make the succession change official.

"Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little
girl, that girl would one day be our queen," British Prime Minister
David Cameron told reporters in 2011.

Royal babies have typically been born within one year of marriage.
Princess Diana gave birth to William just 11 months after her wedding
and the queen gave birth to Prince Charles six days before her first
wedding anniversary.

PHOTOS: Royal Heirs Around the World

Prince William and Kate were married on April 29, 2011.

Click here for an interactive look at William and Kate's love story.

William, who has long been known for making privacy a priority, will now
be faced with the inevitable fascination with his first child. And the
scrutiny will doubtless be familiar to him.

From his infant trip to Australia with his mother to his graduation from
St. Andrews University, William's life was filled with photo ops.

"We have a paradox here. William loathes the press and exposure to the
publicity. On the other hand, Diana exposed both sons at an early age.
They are immensely assured young men," Lacey said. "While he may want to
keep his children out the limelight, as a modern monarch he knows he
has to deal with the media."


PHOTOS: William and Kate: The College Years

Now, the name guessing game begins.

"They'll stick to traditional names," Lacey predicts. "William has a
great sense of history from working with his grandmother. The queen
would have him over for tea to teach him about history and the workings
of the monarchy."

It's typical for royals to have three or four names. Prince William's full name is William Arthur Philip Louis.

"If it's a girl it's not likely to be called Diana," Lacey said. "But
you're very likely to see Diana in one of the middle names. You might
very likely get Elizabeth Diana something. It shows the bravery with
which he's kept his mother's memory alive, right down to the ring on
Kate's finger."

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Gunmen assassinate peasant leader in Paraguay

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Gunmen murdered one of the surviving leaders of a peasant movement whose land dispute with a powerful politician prompted the end of Fernando Lugo‘s presidency last June.

Vidal Vega, 48, was hit four times early Saturday by bullets from a 12-gauge shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver fired by two unidentified men who sped away on a motorcycle, according to an official report prepared at the police headquarters in the provincial capital of Curuguaty.

A friend, Mario Espinola, told The Associated Press that Vega was shot down when he stepped outside to feed his farm animals.

Vega was among the public faces of a commission of landless peasants from the settlement of Yby Pyta, which means Red Dirt in their native Guarani language.

He had lobbied the government for many years to redistribute some of the ranchland that Colorado Party Sen. Blas Riquelme began occupying in the 1960s.

By last May, the peasants finally lost patience and moved onto the land. A firefight during their eviction on June 15 killed 11 peasants and six police officers, prompting the Colorado Party and other leading parties to vote Lugo out of office for allegedly mismanaging the dispute.

Twelve suspects, nearly all of them peasants from Yby Pyta, have been jailed without formal charges since then on suspicion of murdering the officers, seizing property and resisting authority. The prosecutor had six months to develop the case and will present his findings Dec. 16.

Vega was expected to be a witness at the criminal trial, since he was among the few leaders who weren’t killed in the clash or jailed afterward.

He wasn’t charged because he was away getting supplies when the violence erupted at the settlement erected by the peasants inside Riquelme’s ranch, the Naranjaty Commission’s secretary, Martina Paredes, told the AP.

“We think he was assassinated by hit men who were sent, we don’t know by whom, perhaps to frighten us and frustrate our fight to recover the state lands that were illegally taken by Riquelme,” she said.

Riquelme, who died of natural causes about a month after the battle in June, occupied the land during the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, whose government gave away land for free to anyone willing to put it to productive use.

A local court in Curuguaty upheld Riquelme’s claim to the land years later. Lugo’s government later sought to overturn the decision, but the case remains tied up in court.

Latin America News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Palace says Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

LONDON (AP) — Get the nursery ready: Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their first child.

St. James’s Palace announced the pregnancy Monday, saying that the Duchess of Cambridge — formerly known as Kate Middleton — has a severe form of morning sickness and is currently in a London hospital. William is at his wife’s side.

The palace said since the pregnancy is in its “very early stages,” the 30-year-old duchess is expected to stay in the hospital for several days and will require a period of rest afterward.

It would not say how far along she is, only that she has not yet reached the 12-week mark.

News of the pregnancy drew congratulations from across the world, with the hashtag “royalbaby” trending globally on Twitter.

Not only are the attractive young couple popular — with William’s easy common touch reminding many of his mother, the late Princess Diana — but their child is expected to play an important role in British national life for decades to come.

William is second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles, so the couple’s first child would normally eventually become a monarch.

In recent days, Middleton has kept up her royal appearances — recently playing field hockey with schoolchildren at her former school.

The confirmation of her pregnancy caps a jam-packed year of highs and lows for the young royals, who were married in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey last year.

They have traveled the world extensively as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and weathered the embarrassment of a nude photos scandal, after a tabloid published topless images of the duchess.

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the news bookended a year that saw the royal family riding high in popular esteem after celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne.

“We’re riding on a royal high at the moment at the end of the Diamond Jubilee year,” he said. “People enjoyed the royal romance last year and now there’s this. It’s just a good news story amid all the doom and gloom.”

Speculation about when the couple would start a family has been rife since their wedding.

William’s mother — the late Princess Diana — got pregnant just four months after her wedding in 1981. Diana reportedly suffered from morning sickness for months and complained of constant media attention.

“The whole world is watching my stomach,” Diana once said.

American tabloid speculation of the pregnancy has been rampant for months. One newspaper even cited anonymous sources talking about Kate’s hormone levels. Others have focused on the first signs of the royal bump.

The palace said the royal family was “delighted” by the news, while British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter that the royals “will make wonderful parents.”

Whether boy or girl, the child will be next in line behind William in the line of succession to the throne, Cabinet Office officials have said.

Leaders of Britain and the 15 former colonies that have the monarch as their head of state agreed in 2011 to new rules which give females equal status with males in the order of succession.

Although none of the nations had legislated to make the change as of September 2012, the British Cabinet Office confirmed that this is now the de-facto rule.

On the couple’s recent tour of Malaysia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu in September, William reportedly said he hoped he and Kate would have two children.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Paisley Dodds contributed to this report.

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Apple to sell new iPads, iPhone 5 in China in Dec.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple Inc. on Friday said its latest iPad models will go on sale in China on Dec. 7, followed by the iPhone 5 a week later.

China is one of Apple‘s largest and fastest-growing markets. Analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets said iPhone 5 is launching roughly when he expected it, but he hadn’t expected the iPad mini and the fourth-generation, full-size iPad to go on sale in China this year.

“Our conversations during our meetings and casual consumer interactions during our China trips tell us that the iPad Mini will take off like wildfire in China,” White wrote in a research report Friday morning. “The smaller form factor and lower price point, we believe Apple will be able to sell the iPad mini in meaningful volumes.”

White said uptake of the iPhone 4S was relatively slow in China, because the signature new feature, voice-recognition-powered virtual assistant Siri, did not understand Mandarin Chinese. With this year’s software update, Siri now does understand the language, which should encourage upgrades, he said.

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Investigation under way into New Jersey train derailment, chemical leak

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Federal transportation investigators have begun interviewing the crew of a train that was carrying hazardous materials when it derailed on a railroad bridge in New Jersey, officials said on Saturday.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said the agency would spend the next two weeks preparing a preliminary report on Friday’s accident in the industrial town of Paulsboro.

A bridge collapse derailed seven of the 82 Conrail freight train cars, and a tanker car that fell into Mantua Creek leaked vinyl chloride into the waterway, which feeds into the Delaware River near Philadelphia.

More than 12,000 gallons (45,425 liters) of the highly toxic and flammable industrial chemical vinyl chloride leaked from a gash in the tanker car’s side following the derailment on Friday morning.

Twenty-two people were examined at a nearby hospital, but air monitors in the area did not register any problem, officials have said. Exposure to vinyl chloride can cause a burning sensation in the eyes or respiratory discomfort.

Investigators were obtaining records from Conrail on inspections of the bridge over the Mantua Creek. They also examined a derailment on the bridge in 2009, as well as any possible impact on the bridge from the high winds and rising waters that accompanied superstorm Sandy.

“We are continuing to question the crew to get additional information,” Hersman said at a press briefing. “We still have some work to do.”

State Senator Steve Sweeney, whose district includes Paulsboro, told Reuters on Saturday that 106 residents who live close to the crash scene were evacuated from the area on Friday night in case any more of vinyl chloride escaped into the air or water.

“What it really was was just to be cautious,” Sweeney said. The residents will be out of their homes for several days, and are staying with friends and relatives or hotels, he said.

Conrail is jointly owned by rail operators CSX Corp and Norfolk Southern Corp.

(This story corrects name of town in second paragraph to Paulsboro, not Paulson)

(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Bill Trott)

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Geithner on averting cliff: 'I actually think we're going to get there'

Boehner, Geithner (AP/Getty)

With the fiscal cliff looming--and Republicans, like House Speaker John Boehner, slamming the White House's latest proposal--U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hit the Sunday morning talk show circuit, saying the partisan posturing is a necessary part of "political theater" but that he's hopeful a deal will get done before the end of the year.

"I actually think that we're gonna get there," Geithner said on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." "I mean, inevitably [there is] gonna be a little political theater in this context--sometimes that's a sign of progress. I think we're actually making a little bit of progress, but we're still some distance apart."

Geithner said the GOP lawmakers need to realize that the burden is now on them to work with Democrats--and that the ball is in their court.

"There's just no reason why 98 percent of Americans have to see their taxes go up because some members of Congress on the Republican side want to block tax rate increases for 2 percent of the wealthiest Americans," the treasury secretary said.

"They really are in a difficult position," he added. "And they're going to have to figure out their politics of what they do next."

On CNN's "State of the Union With Candy Crowley," Geithner dismissed Boehner's contention that debt talks were at a "stalemate."

"I think we're far apart still, but I think we're moving closer together," Geithner said. "Republicans have said for the first time in decades, if I'm not mistaken, that they are prepared to raise taxes as part of a deal that helps reduce our long-term deficits. Now, what they haven't said to us is how far they're willing to go both on rates and revenues. And that's something we're going to need to see from them if we're going to have an agreement."

He added: "There's going to be a lot of political theater between now and when we get there."

On "Meet The Press," Geithner said he thinks a deal will get done by the end of the year.

"The only thing standing in the way of that would be a refusal by Republicans to accept that rates are going to have to go up on the wealthiest Americans," he said. "And I don't really see them doing that."

Geithner's Sunday talk show tour was met with immediate criticism from the GOP.

"The president and the White House have had three weeks and this is the best we've got?" Boehner asked on "Fox News Sunday." "We are nowhere."

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Italy votes for center-left candidate for premier

ROME (AP) — Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again.

Sunday’s runoff pits a veteran center-left leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, who has campaigned on an Obama-style “Let’s change Italy now” mantra.

Nearly all polls show Bersani winning the primary, after he won the first round of balloting Nov. 25 with 44.9 percent of the vote. Since he didn’t get an absolute majority, he was forced into a runoff with Renzi, who garnered 35.5 percent.

After battling all week to get more voters to the polling stations for round two, Renzi seemed almost resigned to a Bersani win by Sunday, saying he hoped that by Monday “we can all work together.”

Bersani, a former transport and industry minister, seemed confident of victory as well, joking about Berlusconi’s flip-flopping political ambitions by asking “What time did he say it?” when told that the media mogul had purportedly decided against running.

Next year’s general election will largely decide how and whether Italy continues on the path to financial health charted by Premier Mario Monti, appointed last year to save Italy from a Greek-style debt crisis.

The former European commissioner was named to head a technical government after international markets lost confidence in then-Premier Berlusconi’s ability to reign in Italy’s public debt and push through sorely needed structural reforms.

Berlusconi has largely stayed out of the public spotlight for the past year, but he returned with force in recent weeks, announcing he was thinking about running again, then changing his mind, then threatening to bring down Monti’s government, and most recently staying silent about his political plans.

His waffling has thrown his People of Freedom party into disarray and disrupted its own plans for a primary — all of which has only seemed to bolster the impression of order, stability and organization within the center-left camp.

A poll published Friday gave the Democratic Party 30 percent of the vote if the election were held now, compared with some 19.5 percent for the upstart populist movement of comic Beppe Grillo, and Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party in third with 14.3 percent. The poll, by the SWG firm for state-run RAI 3, surveyed 5,000 voting-age adults by telephone between Nov. 26 and 28. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.36 percentage points.

It’s quite a turnabout for Berlusconi’s once-dominant movement, and a similarly remarkable shift in fortunes for the Democratic Party, which had been in shambles for years, unable to capitalize on Berlusconi’s professional and personal failings while he was premier.

But Berlusconi’s 2011 downfall and a series of recent political party funding scandals that have targeted mostly center-right politicians have contributed to the party’s rise as Italy struggles through a grinding recession and near-record high unemployment.

Angelino Alfano, Berlusconi’s hand-picked political heir, seemed again exasperated Sunday after a long meeting with his patron over Berlusconi’s plans. News reports have suggested Berlusconi might split the party in two and re-launch the Forza Italia party that brought him to political power for the first time in 1994.

“We have to work to reconstruct the center-right, and reconstructing it means having a big center-right party,” not a divided one, Alfano said.

He added that Berlusconi didn’t say one way or another if he would run himself. “It’s his choice,” he said. “If there are any decisions in this regard, he’ll be the one to say so.”

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

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