Free Republic

A local man is free on bond after his arrest Friday on charges he pulled out a chainsaw and shouted racial slurs during a road rage incident in Farmington on May 6. Michael Salafia, 30, of 64 Whitewood Drive, allegedly got out of his car with a chainsaw while at a red light and approached another driver, Farmington police said. As Salafia was advancing on the other driver, who was a black male, Salafia started the chainsaw and began yelling racial slurs, reports said. The other pulled out a gun, which he was carrying legally, police said, to stop Salafia...

It’s 3 p.m. on Arthur Avenue in The Bronx, and Filomena Magavero settles in for a late lunch inside the venerable Mario’s, a favorite Italian restaurant on this strip of Old World butcher shops, fish stores and bakeries. She sips a gin martini (“Is there any other kind?” Magavero gamely asks), and orders filet of flounder oreganata. “Fish is my mainstay,” says the diminutive and neatly coiffed Magavero, eyes sparkling. “Plus, I grew up eating legumes, and I still like my lentils and chickpeas.” As for the martini? “I have one whenever I eat out — which is about five...

Lindsay Hasz and her husband were recently enjoying a rare evening without kids when they decided to dine at Issaquah's Montalcino Ristorante Italiano. Hasz ordered the frutti di mare, a traditional Italian medley of seafood and shellfish. Then she bit into something unexpected. "It was quite jarring," she said. "In fact, I thought I almost broke my tooth it was so hard." Inside the meat of a clam on her dish she found what looked like a pearl. "I thought maybe it was an earring from an employee in the kitchen and it fell into my dish," Hasz said. She...

Sicily may be part of Italy, but so much of its history, culture, and cuisine are entirely unique from the rest of the country. Treat yourself with a visit to Sicily and your taste buds will be thanking you for the Mediterranean-Adriatic flavor combination found nowhere else in the world. Arancine Translating literally to 'little orange,' arancine are a culinary win all around. They're none too complicated, simply rice balls coated in breadcrumbs and fried, sometimes with a little butter or bolognese thrown into the mix. Heat one of these babies up and bada bing bada boom, you've got yourself...

An Italian minister says a second autopsy on the body of an Italian found slain in Egypt reveals that the doctoral student suffered "inhuman, animal-like" violence. Official results, still partial, are being relayed to Rome prosecutors who are investigating Giulio Regeni's death as a murder. Italian media, reporting on the autopsy completed Saturday night after the body arrived in Rome, say coroners have concluded that Regeni's neck was twisted or struck, breaking a vertebra and leaving him unable to breathe.

Economists find bikers, motorcyclists and pedestrians are most at risk. (Inside Science) -- When gasoline prices fall or the economy grows, people may have more money to spend, but there can be an unexpected downside. Traffic fatalities often increase because additional drivers take to the roads. Now, economists have established that another seemingly auspicious occurrence has a dark side: nice weather. That's the surprising finding from a pair of economists, who investigated how climate change may affect traffic accident rates in the United States over the next century. In their analysis, the researchers predict that as the planet warms, there...

The blast happened days after Egypt leading prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb. A huge explosion occurred in front of the Italian consulate in central Cairo on Saturday, wounding two policemen, state news agency MENA said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear but one security official said it was a car bomb. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. MENA cited a senior security source as saying preliminary investigations indicated that attackers had placed a bomb underneath a car near the consulate and remotely detonated it. MENA earlier cited a security source as saying...

Dr. Warren Weinstein, an American aid worker held hostage by al Qaeda, was accidentally killed in a U.S. counter-terrorism operation, as was an Italian hostage, Giovanni Lo Porto, and another American who was an al Qaeda leader, the White House announced on Thursday. Officials also announced that a separate operation killed Adam Gadahn, another American who became a prominent al Qaeda member. The White House said it was unaware the four were present at the sites. President Obama was set to make a statement after 10 a.m. ET. "The operation targeted an al-Qa'ida-associated compound, where we had no reason to...

One Saturday last month, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Ognissanti (All Saints’) Church in one of Rome’s working-class neighborhoods.

Italy’s coastguard announced Friday that it would allow its 11,000 members to carry weapons, following threats from Islamic militants in Libya, and recent confrontation with traffickers. Up till now, the Italian coastguard has operated on a different status from the ordinary military or even that of police officers, who have the right to carry firearms. Now the coastguard will be on a similar footing. This represents a noteworthy acceleration of events and a heightened understanding of the gravity of the situation. Just two weeks ago, the general commander of the coast guard himself, Admiral Felicio Angrisano, had said that there...

In March 1949, Joe DiMaggio posed in Yankee Stadium, smiling, with another famous Italian-American of his era — each in his professional uniform — but their friendship would not endure. On the evening of Nov. 5, 1954, the Yankee Clipper and Frank Sinatra hastily got up from dinner with friends at the Villa Capri in Hollywood and drove to a little apartment house at Kilkea Drive and Waring Avenue. DiMaggio was being divorced by Marilyn Monroe, his wife of less than a year. A private investigator, Barney Ruditsky, had called to report that she was there with another man. When...

Long Island Medium (Theresa Caputo) works for Satan She’s charming, she’s whacky, and she’s got funny hair and crazy fingernails- she’s also working for the devil. Sound harsh?  Good. , Theresa Caputo,AKA “The Long Island Medium” seen weekly on the TLC cable channel, is the devil’s own Pied Piper leading people along the devil’s path.  Does she know it?  Probably not, but she should. Caputo is a psychic- yes they do exist.  I am not talking about the “Miss Cleo” types who randomly make up anything to make a billion (yes, that’s right) dollars.  I am talking about the psychics...

An Italian man was crushed to death on Thursday by a giant crucifix dedicated to the late Pope John Paul II, just days before the Polish pontiff will be made a saint in a ceremony at the Vatican. In a bizarre coincidence, the 21-year-old man was reported to have been living in a street named after Pope John XXIII – who will also be canonised in the ceremony on Sunday, in an event that is unprecedented in the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church. The man, named as Marco Gusmini, was posing for a photograph with a group of...

All primary schools will be expected to teach foreign languages to pupils from 2014 as part of a major drive to boost education standards, it emerged. At least one subject from a seven-strong shortlist – French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Latin and ancient Greek – will be offered to seven- to 11-year-olds. The move – outlined in a consultation document published by the Department for Education – could result in a major rise in the number of pupils studying the classical languages at a young age....

If you're in need of a smile on your face - check this out. At a young age (2), Leah is already very aware of her cultural trait of Italian hand speaking.

Move over Pope Francis, there's a new spiritual sensation in town. An Italian nun has become a national star after she wowed judges on her country's version of "The Voice." Sister Cristina, from Sicily, saw all four chairs turn around during her blind audition of Alicia Keys' "No One." The 25-year-old then told the quartet: "I have a gift and I'm giving it to you." Broadcast on Wednesday night, the clip has already racked up more than 30,000 views. It shows the Catholic Sister confidently walking out onto the stage and belting out her version of the hit song. Fellow...

<p>MILAN (AP) — Foreign ministry officials in Rome and Vienna confirm that names of two nationals listed on the manifest of the missing Malaysian airlines flight match passports reported stolen in Thailand.</p> <p>Italy's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that an Italian man whose name was listed as being aboard is traveling in Thailand and was not aboard the plane.</p>

DUBLIN — An Italian man allegedly cut open his Dublin landlord's chest and tried to eat his heart following a fight over a chess match. Saverio Bellante, 34, was charged Monday with murder. Police say he admitted his guilt after being arrested Sunday at the home he shared with Tom O'Gorman, a policy researcher for a conservative Catholic think tank in Ireland. Pathologists said the 39-year-old victim suffered dozens of severe knife wounds to his head and chest, which had been cut fully open. Ireland's senior pathologist determined that the heart remained, but a lung was missing.

"Amanda Knox has reportedly told an Italian newspaper that if she is again convicted of murder, she will become a fugitive rather than return to an Italian prison."

Bill Dal Cerro of the Italic Institute of America [Free for All, Dec. 28] took Dana Milbank to task for allegedly stereotyping Italians in his Dec. 22 Sunday Opinion column, “Godfathers of the Capitol.” But Milbank never used the word “Italian.” He did write “mafia” twice, and he used the phrase “going to the mattresses” once. He also used the term “mob boss.” In my opinion, it takes more effort than it is worth to be offended, no matter what one’s origins, by any of these words. It seems to me that even in “today’s enlightened era,” to use Dal...