Seeing familiar faces at 'Today' show in 2017

These days, Savannah Guthrie is on maternity leave from the 'Today' show. She is one of my favorite female anchors on tv, and she has been the main female anchor on the 'Today' show since 2012. NBC has decided to have Meredith Vieira and Katie Couric as anchors, during the first two weeks of January 2017. Meredith hosted the 'Today' show in 2013, and she was back on NBC in 2014 covering the winter olympics. Vieira was the main female anchor on the NBC morning show from 2006 to 2011. It is refreshing to see that Meredith will be back in the anchor's chair soon. Now, let's chat about Katie Couric. She was the host of the 'Today' show from 1991 to 2006. Since 2014, she has worked for Yahoo! as a global news anchor. Over the past decade, Katie has come back to the 'today' show to serve as a host. Katie has worked at ABC News, and CBS too. She worked at '60 minutes' back in 2009 and 2010. Finally, both of these women do work outside of journalism. Katie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a renowned public policy think tank. Meredith has appeared in movies, and tv shows like '30 rock' and 'madagascar 2' movie. In closing, both journalists have impressive careers in journalism and tv/radio/internet too. Enjoy the picture above of both ladies from a 'today' show celebration, back in 2012. Looking forward to seeing both of these former 'today' show hosts in 2017.

December 2016 is end of Matteo Renzi era in Italy. Stunning political coup!!

Well, Italy is going through some tough times. Matteo Renzi is the youngest Italian Prime Minister, but he will be resigning this week. Renzi was Prime Minister for close to three years, yet December 4 is the turning point in his tenure in office. His proposals for constitutional reform in Italy, were met with a resounding 'No' vote. It is anybody's guess on who will be the next PM in Italy. Italy is the third largest economy in the Euro zone, most likely behind Germany and France. Furthermore, the elections could happen in January 2017 as the country braces for political turmoil. The political parties in Italy will have to work together to fix the electoral law. Matteo Renzi will continue to be the leader of the Democratic Party in Italy, yet he will resign his post of Prime Minister. The 2016 Italian constitutional referendum defeat signals the end for the former mayor of Florence. What lies ahead for Matteo Renzi? This year, politics has been a major topic of change in United States and Great Britain. Now, Italy is adding to the mix of a year of change. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan is seen to be the next Prime Minister in Italy, but the elections could bring in another new candidate. President Obama was a big supporter of Matteo Renzi, as Obama supported Renzi in his last state dinner in Washington DC. Italy's banking system has been troubled for the past decade, and their political scene needs some new changes. Finally, the Five Star Movement has a clear ability to win voters on the left and right with a mix of social liberalism, economic populism and tough law-and-order talk. Will this party be the clear choice of change in Italy? The current European Union is not working, according to the Five Star Movement. Hopefully, these changes in government in Europe and U.S. will not lead their economies to falter further. The economies of these two regions need to be strengthened further. It is Italy's younger people that need to be employed, and they need to shape the right change for their economy. The picture above shows Matteo Renzi giving his resignation speech. Ciao Matteo!!