APRIL 2006 – An unexpected shower of games greets players this spring, from racing classics to pugilistic paradise, as well as some handheld oddities. Nick Thorpe is the man delivering your weather forecast from the nottoo-distant past
NEWS APRIL 2006
The Italian general election, held on 9-10 April, was the subject of controversy after Romano Prodi’s alliance The Union defeated incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s House Of Freedoms coalition by a razor-thin margin. Berlusconi refused to concede defeat and the battle eventually ended up at Italy’s highest court, which ruled that Prodi had won by just 24,755 votes. This gave Prodi his second term, having previously served as Prime Minister from 1996-1998.
12.6 million people tuned in to see Mike Baldwin’s on 14 April. The character, portrayed by Johnny Briggs for almost 30 years, had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease since late 2005. During his final appearance, he suffered a heart attack in the street and died in the arms of his long-term rival Ken Barlow.
