Free Republic

Wherever you look, establishment parties are in panic mode throughout Europe. The centrist old parties may still be in charge but their appeal is waning day by day. Polls show that more radical outfits on both sides of the political spectrum are beneficiaries of this silent rebellion. In particular, the surge of national conservative parties seems more pronounced and, at the same time, much more worrying for the mainstream. The haphazard efforts of the ruling class to keep the Right under control, in turn, only accelerate the ongoing right-wing surge. One important reason for this self-fulfilling prophecy is that the...

The Biden administration is planning to refer some migrants in Latin America for resettlement in Greece and Italy as part of another effort to discourage people in the region from traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border, two people familiar with the government's plans told CBS News. The initiative would involve Greece and Italy welcoming migrants processed at immigration offices that the Biden administration set up last year in four Latin American countries to screen migrants who hope to reach the U.S., the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss arrangements that have yet to be announced.

A secondary school in Treviso, Italy, has come under fire after it was revealed that Muslim students were exempted from studying Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy" due to the poem's depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in Hell. The epic poem, spanning Inferno, Purgatoria, and Paradiso, shows the fate of many non-Christians, per the immagination of the legendary Italian poet. Ancient poets Virgil, Aristotle, and other pagans are depicted as existing in Limbo due to their lack of Christianity. According to a report by The Telegraph, the school allowed two Muslim students, aged around 14, to skip classes during the study...

Prosecco is Italy's answer to champagne—a white sparkling wine that's available from dry to semi-sweet. Prosecco has protected status to ensure quality and is only produced in the Veneto region in northeast Italy. The bright and effervescent wine features flavors of melon, pear, and honeysuckle, and is lovely for toasts, sipping, pairing with foods, and making cocktails. It is relatively low in alcohol.

Beneath the azure skies of the Mediterranean, a dark cloud of tyranny and violence gathered. This was Fascist Italy, a nation where Benito Mussolini's iron-fisted rule smothered the voice of dissent and liberty. It was a time marked by the infamous years between the 1920s and 1940s, where the boot of fascism stomped upon the face of humanity. One cannot forget the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937, a horrific act of aggression during the Spanish Civil War. Orchestrated by the German Luftwaffe with support from the Italian Aviazione Legionaria and the Corpo Truppe Volontarie, which comprised regular army...

The economy is experiencing a golden moment thanks to exports and tourism after cleaning up its accounts. But the country has paid a price in migration of qualified workers and reduction of public services. Ten years after the departure of the “men in black” — the international managers of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank who cleaned up Portugal’s accounts with a machete, the country has emerged as the most diligent student in southern Europe. In 2023, for the first time, public debt fell below 100% of GDP (it stood at 98.7%) and there was a...

Mayor Eric Adams called out sick on the third day of his weekend visit to Rome – cancelling a tour of an Italian school teaching migrants the local language to help them assimilate to society. Adams, who left for the Eternal City on Thursday and is due back in the Big Apple on Monday, seemed the image of health earlier in his trip, but fell ill and was coughing before his visit to the school Sunday and decided to cancel. Hizzoner was due to tour the Sant’Egidio Community, which is housed in a 1700s building in Rome’s Piazza di Santa...

An ancient necropolis discovered near Naples, Italy was used to bury the dead about 2,800 years ago, around the time the city of Rome was founded about 100 miles (161 kilometers) to the northwest.The discovery gives researchers a rare insight into the Iron Age cultures that existed before the Roman domination of the region. The astonishing finds near the town of Amorosi, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Naples, include 88 burials in "pit tombs" of both men and women.The men were typically buried with weapons, whereas the women were often buried with bronze ornaments, including bracelets, pendants, brooches...

Italy's Senate passed a law which allows regions to permit groups "with a qualified experience supporting motherhood" to have access to women considering abortions at public clinics. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said "allowing those with a pro-life message into abortion clinics is intended to fully inform women. I believe that we must guarantee a free choice and I believe that to make a free choice you need to have all the necessary information." Silvana Agatone, president of the pro-choice association LAIGA, objected to the law saying "these pro-life advocates don't have the medical training or the credentials to give accurate...

Opponents of the amendment question the wisdom of allowing medically unqualified groups access to women considering an abortion but the government counters the move is designed so prospective patients can be better informed. Italy’s Senate has passed legislation which allows regions to permit groups “with a qualified experience supporting motherhood” to have access to women considering abortions at public clinics. For the right-wing government, the amendment fulfils the original intent of the 1978 law legalising abortion, known as Law 194, which includes provisions to prevent the procedure and support motherhood. But some in the medical profession have questioned the wisdom...

STORY: Volcanic vortex rings are natural, near-perfect circles of gas emitted from a volcano under specific conditions and scientists say Mount Etna emits more than any other volcano on earth. It is a relatively rare phenomenon caused by a constant release of vapours and gases. The gaseous mass ascends rapidly through the central part of the conduit, promoting the formation of rings by wrapping the gas upon itself in a vortex motion. Giuseppe Barbagallo, of the South Etna Alpine Guides Group, said the last time this happened at the Etna volcano was last December. The rings have led locals to...

A rare spectacle appeared in the sky over Sicily’s Mount Etna recently, as huge smoky vortex rings were spotted rising above the massive volcano. The largest volcano currently active in Europe, Mount Etna rises to a height of 10,902 feet (3,323 meters), making it both the tallest volcano on the continent, in addition to being the most active. Visitors to the area recently spotted the volcano producing unusual circles of what appeared to be smoke, known as vortex rings, which are actually the result of condensed gases from deep underground that make their way to the surface. Once they manifest...

It’s ethnic discrimination to force Big Apple pizzerias and matzah-makers to cut the smoky pollutants from their wood- and coal-fired ovens, according to a new bill sponsored by a state lawmaker. Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island) told the Post that his proposed law would exempt businesses — some of them legendary local establishments — from a controversial city green edict that orders them to reduce such emissions by 75%. “I’m trying to stop discrimination against ethnic restaurants. These misguided laws go against businesses that cook ethnic cuisine,” Pirozzolo said. “A cop just got killed. People are getting thrown in front...

[Catholic Caucus] Leading Italian bishop, Vatican newspaper pay tribute to ‘Via Crucis of a Gay Boy’The Vatican newspaper has published Bishop Francesco Savino’s preface to Via Crucis di un ragazzo gay [Via Crucis of a Gay Boy], a new book by Luigi Testa, an Italian law professor.Appointed a bishop in 2015, Bishop Savino has been the vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference since 2022. Father Sergio Massironi, an official of the Dicastery for the Promoting Integral Human Development, contributed an afterword to the book.In conjunction with Bishop Savino’s preface—which focused more on the prelate’s own reflections than on the...

The Italian airforce said on Friday it intercepted unidentified aircraft flying over international waters in the Baltic Sea, and two defence sources in Rome identified them as Russian planes. The two interceptions were carried out on Thursday and Friday morning by Italian Eurofighter jets based in the Polish base of Malbork as part of a NATO air policing mission, a statement said. After completing their activity, the Italian jets returned to the Polish base, the airforce added, without giving further details.

Archaeological excavations off the coast of Rome in the Mediterranean Sea reveal that Stone Age people living over 7,000 years ago utilized sophisticated manufacturing techniques and advanced nautical technology in the construction and operation of their seafaring vessels.According to an analysis published in the journal PLOS ONE, the ancient seafaring vessels discovered at the site are the oldest ever found in the Mediterranean, which may offer "invaluable insights" into the technological sophistication employed by Neolithic navigators...According to the researchers, they found five dugout canoes in the ancient lakeshore village of La Marmotta near the coast of Rome, Italy, dating from...

Approximately eight kilometers away from the town of Terni in Umbria, Italy, there is a waterfall that is one of the highest waterfalls in Europe: Cascata delle Marmore or the Marmore's Falls.In reality, this waterfall is not natural. The waterfall is the world's tallest man-made waterfall, standing 541 feet tall (165 meters). Its towering presence is a 2,000-year-old testament to human engineering.Romans created in 271 BC the former hydraulic system and the shape of the waterfall. During the Roman era, the River Velino had become vastly enlarged and had created a vast swathe of swamp-like, stagnant water. This unhealthy wetland...

A Milan fashion show featured clothing models having trash — including food and drinks — thrown at them by audience members in an effort by the designer to simulate online commentary. Designer Beate Karlsson created the new, garbage-covered line for Avavav, for which she is the creative director. The company describes itself as an independent fashion house "striving for creative freedom, driven by humor, entertainment and design evolution." Creative freedom might be an understatement for Karlsson's recent show during Milan Fashion Week, where models had drinks, discarded food wrappers, and other garbage thrown at them on the runway. The performance...

Archaeologists have recovered a Roman funerary altar which was found partially buried in the Torree river in the municipality of San Vito al Torre, Italy.The discovery was made by Ervino Silvestri after he noticed a block of partially exposed limestone and contacted the local authorities.Archaeologists from the ABAP FVG Superintendency conducted a series of excavations to not only free the monument, but gain further information about the surrounding archaeological stratigraphy.A preliminary examination dates the altar to the Imperial Era (31 BC – AD 476), which has been found almost completely intact except for the upper right corner.On the front is...

Newly discovered notes from 15th-century Italy show that the decimal point is actually 150 years older than what historians previously believed. Decimal points may seem basic, but they’re incredibly helpful in math. They divide whole numbers into tenths, hundredths, and thousandths, which makes calculations a lot easier compared to using fractions. Some forms of decimals have been around since the 900s in Damascus and the 1200s in China, as reported by Live Science. A solid system of decimals didn’t become fully established until 1593. This happened when the German mathematician Christopher Clavius included decimals in astronomical work. However, recent studies...