Free Republic

“Bittersweet” was the word of the night, the one often used to describe President Barack Obama’s final State Dinner. “We saved the best for last,” he said Tuesday as he welcomed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, Agnese Landini, to the White House. He wasn’t joking. The final gala meant everything was big or bigger, from the personality of the guest chef (Mario Batali) who collaborated on the menu to the size of the white tent (huge) on the South Lawn where the soirée was held, to the guest list (nearly 400 people). […] Obama has held 13...

An Iraqi militant group led by Al-Qaeda vowed massacre against the "worshippers of the cross" in response to a recent speech by Pope Benedict on Islam that caused offence across the Muslim world. "We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya," said an Internet statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council. "We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty...

Italy Returns Stolen Obelisk to Ethiopia By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News Nov. 23, 2004 — A cyclopean task will put to an end a decades-long diplomatic dispute between Italy and Ethiopia over a looted obelisk, according to a bilateral agreement signed last week in Rome. Signed by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin and Italian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantica, the deal set up the final details over the transport of a 160-ton granite stele from Rome to the city of Axum. “ This is a symbol of national identity to Ethiopians. ” The monument is one of a group of...