Nuns, dead people and Big Brother (Odd moments in Italy's two-day election

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Nuns, dead people and Big Brother
Odd moments in Italy's two-day election

(ANSA) - Rome, April 10 - Italy's general election has been enlived by some bizarre incidents - perhaps unsurprisingly after a campaign characterized by a series of odd moments, such as premier Silvio Berlusconi's announcement he was temporarily giving up sex .


Mischievous to the last, Berlusconi caused a stir when he tried telling his elderly mother how to vote .

The two arrived at their Milanese polling station together and after collecting their ballots, Berlusconi told 'Mama Rosa': "Put your cross here, next to Forza Italia" .

A local opposition leader swiftly intervened, reminding the premier that it was illegal to tell someone else how to vote .

"What, not even my own mother?" Berlusconi smilingly asked, only to be greeted with a brusque negative from the representative .

But of far greater interest to many sections of the Italian public was news that members of the Big Brother reality TV show had been let out to vote .

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The Big Brother participants weren't the only ones given a special exit permit for the elections .

A group of nuns living in a cloistered convent in the central Italian town of Nocera Umbra were also granted a dispensation to briefly leave their life of silence

The five nuns - including 80-year-old Mother Bernadetta, who took her vows half a century ago - trooped out of the cloister on Monday morning, where they were met by a local priest who drove them to the nearby voting station .


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http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-04-10_1107316.html