http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/italy/ en-us Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:19:20 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2104187/posts Francesco Rutelli, the former Italian Minister for Culture and Deputy Prime Minister, told the Italian Parliament he had believed that some of the antiquities to be auctioned in London next week had been exported illegally from Italy. In an "urgent question" to Sandro Bondi, his successor as Culture Minister, he accused the centre-right Berlusconi Government, which took power in May, of failing to take action over the illegal export of archaeological treasures. Mr Rutelli later told reporters that he was most concerned about an elaborately decorated Apulian 4th-century BC red krater or Greek vase that forms part of the Bonhams... Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2104187/posts#comment Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:19:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102354/posts Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi said political leaders discussing idea of closing world's financial markets while they 'rewrite the rules of international finance'... MORE Nothing follows. I can't get to the Bloomberg story its getting hammered. This is huge and series. Load your shotguns folks. Deudge http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102354/posts#comment Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:12:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2099731/posts WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Tuesday discussed the global economic crisis with leaders of Britain, France, and Italy, underlining the need for cooperation, the White House said. The US president, who was also expected to reach out soon to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, emphasized that "it's critical that everybody gets on the same page," said spokeswoman Dana Perino. Bush's conversations with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came ahead of the Group of Seven finance ministers meeting this week in Washington. "We want to make sure that... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2099731/posts#comment Tue, 7 Oct 2008 18:01:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2099288/posts Italian police bust Chinese imports in operation 'Toxic Shoes' Fri Sep 26, 5:59 PM ET Italian police said Friday they had confiscated some 1.7 million counterfeit shoes made with leather containing illegal toxins, most of them from China. Operation "Toxic Shoes" began in May and 21 Chinese and seven Italians are now being prosecuted for selling counterfeit products and threatening public health, a police spokesman told AFP. Shoes containing hexavalent chromium compounds which are illegal in Italy due to their high toxicity and potentially carcinogenic effect were seized in Tuscany, police said. AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2099288/posts#comment Tue, 7 Oct 2008 03:53:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098958/posts In the end, the global jihad, and the West's fickle response to radical Islam's assault on its civilization, is about hating Jews. This truth, never wholly hidden from view, was exposed in all its ugliness in recent months with startling disclosures by former Italian president and Senator-for-life Francesco Cossiga. In a letter to Italy's Corriere della Serra in August, Cossiga acknowledged that during the early 1970s, then Italian prime minister Aldo Moro signed an agreement with Yassir Arafat's PLO and affiliated organizations that enabled the Palestinians to field terrorists, operate bases and store weapons in Italy in exchange for immunity... Caroline Glick.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098958/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 20:58:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2098236/posts A Mycenaean warrior who died in western Greece over 3,000 years ago was the proud owner of a rare gold-wired sword imported from the Italian peninsula, a senior archaeologist said on Thursday. "This is a very rare discovery, particularly because of the gold wire wrapped around the hilt," archaeologist Maria Gatsi told AFP. "To my knowledge, no such sword has ever been found in Greece," said Gatsi, head of the regional archaeological department of Aetoloakarnania prefecture. Tests in Austria have confirmed that the bronze used in the 12th century BCE, 94-centimetre (37-inch) sword came from the Italian peninsula, she said.... Howrah News Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2098236/posts#comment Sun, 5 Oct 2008 22:49:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097061/posts Pope Benedict XVI will kick off a week-long reading of the Bible on Italian television starting Sunday, with readers to include three former presidents and Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni. Some 2,000 people will take turns reading the Bible's 73 books, from the Old Testament's Genesis to the New Testament's Book of Revelations, at Rome's Holy Cross in Jerusalem basilica. The pope will record the first reading at the Vatican. Senator for life Giulio Andreotti, former presidents Francesco Cossiga, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi as well as several ministers in the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi including his top... Breitbart.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097061/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 23:23:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095320/posts WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2008 – Through a high-adventure recreation program the Army calls Warrior Adventure Quest, soldiers have a new way of transitioning from combat to a “new normal,” reducing the potential for high-risk behaviors that are counterproductive to unit training requirements. Soldiers from the 503rd Infantry in Vicenza, Italy, navigate through nearly 30 miles of mountain trails during a Warrior Adventure Quest activity that also included paintball and whitewater rafting. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “In the past,” said John O’Sullivan, Outdoor Recreation Program Manager at the Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095320/posts#comment Wed, 1 Oct 2008 23:37:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2094030/posts From Times Online September 30, 2008 Italian war veterans denounce 'insulting' Spike Lee film Richard Owen, in Rome Italian partisan organisations are to stage protests tomorrow at the Italian premiere of Spike Lee's film Miracle at St. Anna, which they say is full of lies, and insults the memory of the Italian Resistance during the Second World War. The controversial film, already released in the United States, will be running in Italian cinemas from Friday. But it is being shown first at Viareggio on the Tuscan coast, close to the village of Sant' Anna di Stazzema in the Apennine hills... www.timesonline.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2094030/posts#comment Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:33:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088370/posts 175 Alleged Gulf Cartel Members and Associates Arrested in Massive International Law Enforcement Operation "Project Reckoning" Leads to the Seizure of $60 Million and More Than 40 Tons of Illegal Drugs From One of Mexico's Largest Drug Trafficking Cartels NEW YORK - Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey announced that 175 individuals were arrested on Sept. 16, 2008, on charges related to an international drug trafficking cartel in a coordinated enforcement action by hundreds of international, federal, state and local law enforcement officials throughout the United States and Italy. Including the operations announced today, a long-term investigation of one of Mexico's... ICE http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088370/posts#comment Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:00:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087563/posts ROME (Reuters) - A group of foreigners, including five Italians, was kidnapped in Egypt. This was announced by the Foreign Ministry, without giving other details on the exact place where the abduction took place. "The foreign minister, Franco Frattini, in flight to the United States, follows closely with the crisis unit of the Ministry of kidnapping cases in Egypt by a group of foreigners, among whom there are five Italians," you law in a note. "The minister - continues the note - has provisions to enable the full cooperation between the countries concerned, and the foreign ministry at this... Reuters Italy via translation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087563/posts#comment Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:46:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086901/posts Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced Saturday the introduction of "a national energy plan" paving the way for a controversial return to nuclear energy, ANSA news agency reported. "From now until next spring, the government will present a national energy plan," he said at the opening of an off-shore regasification unit in northeast Rovigo, adding that it will see "the launch of nuclear and renewable energy." A month after Berlusconi returned to power in April, the Italian government said it would begin building nuclear power stations to solve the country's dependence on foreign oil and gas supplies. The decision reversed... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086901/posts#comment Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:49:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2084427/posts The hidden ruins of an ancient lagoon city that was the ancestor of Venice have been unearthed by scientists using satellite imaging. The outlines are clearly visible about three feet below the earth in what is now open countryside... Paolo Mozzi, a researcher at the University of Padua geography department, said high-definition satellite photographs had revealed the ruins of an extensive town much closer to present day Venice at Altino -- known in Roman times as Altinum -- a little more than seven miles north of the city, close to Marco Polo airport... The newly identified ruins include streets, palaces,... The Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2084427/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:08:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083643/posts ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Northern League, allies of centre-right Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, want to limit the growth of Islam in the centre of world Catholicism by blocking the construction of mosques through strict new regulations. Muslim immigrants using Italy as a route into Europe already get a foretaste of the mistrust with which many Europeans view their religion, with many projects for mosques and prayer halls already blocked by the opposition of local Italian residents. But if the anti-immigrant Northern League pushes its bill through parliament -- where Berlusconi's coalition has a strong majority -- Italy will soon have... reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083643/posts#comment Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:21:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080695/posts Four times Italian women's champion Lara Liotta, 29, was on a street in broad daylight in central Rome when the man, a Romanian immigrant of no fixed abode, approached her and asked her for a cigarette. When she told him she did not smoke he allegedly lunged for her and grabbed her around the neck. Miss Liotta, who works as prison officer, immediately put her black belt training to good use, delivering two swift jabs to the man's face which sent him crashing to the ground. The karate champion was fortunate she could rely on her skills to fight off... telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080695/posts#comment Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:38:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078454/posts Vice President Dick Cheney made his last scheduled trip to Italy Tuesday, issuing remarks that praised the relationship between the two nations, stating that "relations between Italy and the United States are as strong as they've ever been." In a joint appearance with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Cheney stressed the unity between the two nations. The U.S. and Italy stand together on Iran, Cheney said, stating that he and the Italian Prime Minister "agreed that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon." rttnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078454/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 21:09:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077286/posts CAGLIARI, Sardinia — Pope Benedict XVI, who has said he is living out his own old age serenely, met in Sardinia with some of the Mediterranean island's "super old" faithful Sunday, including a 105-year-old woman who wished the pontiff a life as long as hers.Benedict was making a one-day pilgrimage to the port city of Cagliari to mark the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Virgin Mary of Bonaria as the island's religious patron.While some 150,000 faithful braved muggy air outside the sanctuary's basilica, inside the church waiting to meet the 81-year-old pontiff were about 30 centenarians.Scientists and sociologists... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077286/posts#comment Mon, 8 Sep 2008 13:42:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076020/posts IT WAS A SPECTACULAR LATE-MAY AFTERNOON IN SOUTHERN ITALY,but the streets of Laviano — a gloriously situated hamlet ranged across a few folds in the mountains of the Campania region — were deserted. There were no day-trippers from Naples, no tourists to take in the views up the steep slopes, the olive trees on terraces, the ruins of the 11th-century fortress with wild poppies spotting its grassy flanks like flecks of blood. And there were no locals in sight either. The town has housing enough to support a population of 3,000, but fewer than 1,600 live here. SNIP The figure... NY Times Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076020/posts#comment Sat, 6 Sep 2008 14:31:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2075400/posts Rome, Sep 5, 2008 / 01:34 am (CNA).- An Italian priest has been ordered to pay more than eighty thousand dollars to a woman living near his church because she claims the bells were rung too loud and too long at “unsocial hours.”The judgment was handed down by a court in the town of Chiavari after retired university teacher Flora Leuzzi and others claimed the ringing of church bells created a form of noise pollution, the Guardian reports.Professor Leuzzi lives close to the Carmine church in Lavagna, which is near Genoa. She first voiced complaints about the bell ringing... CNA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2075400/posts#comment Fri, 5 Sep 2008 16:45:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071686/posts Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation of the country during the 20th century. The money will be invested by Italy over a 25-year period. For VOA, Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday signed a "friendship pact" with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. Under the pact, Italy agreed to compensate Libya for abuses it committed during its colonial rule of the North African country. Italy will invest $5 billion in Libya in a deal that effectively turns the page on colonial-era disputes that have long... Voice of America http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071686/posts#comment Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:20:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071310/posts RIMINI, Italy, AUG. 28, 2008 (Zenit.org).- People in favor of euthanasia often support it "for others," without thinking about the end of their own lives, contends a cancer patient who changed her mind about life after she was diagnosed with her terminal disease. Silvie Menard, a French oncologist and consultant at the Center of Experimental Oncology of the National Institute of Tumors in Milan, Italy, spoke of her change of perspective in a conference at the Rimini meeting organized by Communion and Liberation. The annual meeting is under way through Saturday. She said she had arranged for a living will,... Zenit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071310/posts#comment Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:25:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070754/posts An Italian museum has defied Pope Benedict by refusing to remove a statue of a crucified green frog clutching a beer mug and an egg. The Vatican had condemned the modern art sculpture as blasphemous. The board of the Museion museum in the northern city of Bolzano voted it was a work of art, however. The board decreed it would stay in place for the remainder of an exhibition. The wooden sculpture by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger depicts a frog about 1 metre 30 cm (4 feet) high nailed to brown cross and holding a beer mug in... Evening Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070754/posts#comment Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:25:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069770/posts BOLZANO, Italy— Italian politician Franz Pahl revealed today that Pope Benedict XVI has criticized Martin Kippenberger's controversial sculpture of a crucified frog, ANSA reports. The pope wrote to Pahl in a letter on August 7, saying the artwork "has injured the religious feeling of many people who see in the cross the symbol of the love of God and of our salvation which deserves recognition and religious devotion." Benedict was vacationing in Bressanone, a town near Bolzano, and discussed the work with local bishop Wilhelm Egger. Kippenberger's sculpture has sparked controversy since its installation in the Museum of Modern and... Art Info http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069770/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:00:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069716/posts Italians were shocked yesterday by a ferocious assault on Franciscan monks by hooded thugs at a monastery in the foothills of the Alps which has left one of the monks fighting for his life. Father Sergio Baldini, 48, the guardian of the San Colombano Belmonte monastery near Turin, and three elderly monks from the Franciscan order of Friars Minor were having their evening meal when they were attacked by three hooded men who gagged and bound them before punching, kicking and beating them with clubs. Father Baldini suffered severe head injuries but also has "serious respiratory problems" because he choked... Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069716/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:48:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2068952/posts Italy, the worlds leader in the fight against Islam attempts to take it up a notch and put a ban on Mosque construction. If this passes look for a call to end all Mosque construction to spread across Europe. As the Swedes have already looked to put an end to the Islamic calls to prayers being broadcast in their country. Islam in Action http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2068952/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:53:40 GMT