August 9, 2002

Italian Scholars Offer Independent Commentary; Vietnam Disqualifies 2,000 in Cheating Scandal

A group of Italian academics has started a Web site offering independent political commentary to the public.

Marco Biagi, an economics professor and co-author of a government plan to deregulate the labor market and reduce legal barriers to the firing of workers, was murdered by terrorists last March in Bologna. The following month, as Italy's unions held their first daylong strike in 20 years to protest the government plan, a group of Mr. Biagi's academic colleagues conceived of a