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Making Mussolini's Granddaughter Smile

An Italian soccer star last Thursday flashed a Nazi salute to fans after scoring a goal. In Spain, fans made ape sounds whenever opposing black players touched the ball. What is going on in European soccer? Plus, Romania says it will no longer sell its babies for cash. And Germany gets an environmental nod as the world's leading producer of solar energy.

Soccer Shame

Professional European soccer has once again hit a political low. This time, the culprit is Rome's hero, Lazio team captain Paolo di Canio. The question is, did di Canio, abuse his larger than life stature on the playing field to break a political taboo? You decide.

After scoring a stunning a goal on Thursday, di Canio -- who is one of the country's best-known players -- raised his right arm straight up to the crowd and gave what appeared to be a fascist salute. The Lazio fans -- a portion of whom are well-known to be right-wing racists -- erupted in cheers. Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of World War II fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and herself the founder of a currently active far-right party was in attendance and applauded loudly. "What a delightful Roman salute!" she exclaimed. "I was deeply moved. I will write him a thank you note." Lazio was, after all, her grandfather's beloved soccer club and he often attended their games. Even now -- 60 years later -- the team maintains something of a fascist aura.

For his part, di Canio has defended the gesture, insisting it had nothing to do with politics and that it was not a political gesture. No? At the ripe age of 36, di Canio should know better and especially in Italy, where the wounds of fascism have yet to completely heal. After all, this is a man who has the word "Dux," a reference to Mussolini, tattooed on his arm. As a child, he also belonged to a right-wing Lazio fan group. And, in his autobiography, he writes that he was "fascinated" by Mussolini and that the dictator was "basically a very principled, ethical individual" who was "deeply misunderstood."

Lazio fans already have a reputation for their far-right leanings. Several times last year, fans showed up at games with swastikas and posters of Mussolini. With fans like these, players -- especially role models like di Canio -- should be especially cautious, rather than pointedly provocative. The head of Rome's soccer federation, Franco Baldini has criticized di Canio, saying he has "greatly damaged the image of his club." Italy's Minister for European Union affairs, the conservative Rocco Buttiglione, also expressed dismay. "The Roman salute brings back painful memories for many Italians," he said. "...He [di Canio] should think about the offspring of those who were killed and what it would be like for them to see that." Police and soccer officials are viewing video footage of the salute and trying to decide if it warrants a fine or penalties.

Meanwhile, Spain, too is embroiled in nasty soccer-related racism. On Sunday, fans of Atletico Madrid bellowed monkey chants at Real Madrid's black Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos. In a sign of utter shamelessness, the fans continued the chants even after a referee got on a loudspeaker and told them to stop. The team is likely to be fined. Last month, the Spanish soccer federation issued a warning to the team's coach, Luis Aragones, for making racist remarks about a black French player in October. To top it off, FIFA, soccer's governing body has nailed the entire Spanish soccer league with an $87,000 fine for the outrageous and shockingly racist behavior of Spanish fans during a supposedly friendly international match in Madrid on Nov. 17. During the game, Spanish fans taunted and made ape sounds any time England's black players touched the ball. FIFA also fined Real Madrid $13,023 for its fans' racist behavior during a Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen on Nov. 23.

Clearly, soccer certainly has the power to unite. In the last World Cup, 1.5 billion people tuned in for the final match, as Germany battled Brazil for a trophy more prized than almost any other in the sporting world. Yet, it can also divide. In an insightful new book, "How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization," Franklin Foer insists soccer proves that "you could love your country -- even consider it a superior group -- without desiring to dominate other groups or closing yourself off to foreign impulses." Clearly and sadly, it also can do the opposite. (1:30 p.m. CET)

No More Babies for Sale

Allyson and Michael Schaaf of New Hampshire have been waiting two years to adopt a daughter. The girl's name is Natasha, she is almost three and lives in a Romanian orphanage. The Schaafs successfully adopted a Romanian boy named Iain, who turns five this month, in 2000 and are desperate to add Natasha to their family. But impoverished Romania, which for years has been a popular source for rich Westerners wanting to adopt, is changing. Amid European Union accusations that the country has been "selling" its babies for tens of thousands of dollars and with its eye firmly focused on joining the European club in 2007, the nation has hardened its stance on adoptions. In 2001, the country voted to . A law -- approved in a 2001 vote -- which severely cuts back international adoptions went into effect Saturday and limits overseas adoption to foreign blood relatives. It also prohibits the adoption of children under two years of age. Only when it has been proven that a Romanian child has no blood relatives can he/she be considered adoptable.

The new law has left the Schaafs and about 2,500 other families -- 1,000 of whom are American -- with pending Romanian adoption cases and little chance of success. Will Natasha ever be able to join the Schaaf family? Schaaf and others are doing all they can to push their cases through and they have gotten quite far. In July, US President George W. Bush raised the issue with Romanian leaders. Now, the families are counting on the goodwill of the nation's new president, Traian Basescu, who was voted in on Dec. 12 amid pledges to break the former communist elite's grip on the state. Basescu has also said he wants to strengthen the nation's ties to the US. Schaaf and others would like him to start with the adoption cases. (11:45 a.m.CET)

Signs the End Isn't So Near, After All

You can almost see the green-minded Germans shining with pride. After a year that saw widespread construction of new renewable energy plants including ongoing installation of windmills and building of bio-mass energy factories, Germany has now surpassed Japan to become the world's biggest producer of solar energy. The Germans have been talking up their green energy prowess for some time, and now have even more hard numbers to back them up. UVS, the association of German solar technology companies, announced on Monday in Berlin that Germany's various solar producing plants -- including the world's largest, a 5 megawatt facility in the Eastern German town of Espenhain -- combined to produce around 300 megawatts this past year. That's 20 MW more than Japan, and over three times what the US produced. Sun-power is big business, too: The industry saw its turnover this year grow some 60 percent, to over €2 billion, and it currently employs about 30,000 people. All in all, something worth bragging about.

Now if only the country could figure out a way to get the sun to shine a little more often.... (11:15 a.m. CET)