"This was not just a planned attacked on a police officer but also on the postal workers involved and society as a whole, " the ministers said.

BBC: Strabane bomb intended for police inspector

And Mr D'Alema will find it equally hard to tackle the countless lobbies that make any reform in Italy so difficult: from rail workers to postal workers, from school-teachers to the officer corps, from politically motivated magistrates to the Christian pressure-groups that make sure the immigration laws are not implemented (this week, once again, hundreds of people landed illegally on Italy's shores).

ECONOMIST: Italy

"It is unfortunate that out of nearly 100, 000 postal packs that this number appears to have been mislaid, " said Tom Riordan, returning officer for Leeds.

BBC: Leeds Civic Hall