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Vandals uprooted the fungus-resistant Arborio rice, which was being tested in the country’s first ever field trial of a CRISPR-edited crop ================================================================== Researchers arrived at a site near Pavia, Italy, on 21 June to find their crops uprooted and mown down. VITTORIA FRANCESCA BRAMBILLA ================================================================ Italy’s first field trial of a gene-edited crop is in tatters, after vandals completely destroyed a test plot of experimental rice near the northern city of Pavia. No one has claimed responsibility for the destruction. The small field trial of Arborio rice altered to make it more resistant to a common fungus was the country’s...

Who can you put next to President Joe Biden that will make him look good? We know it’s not the G7, as Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni had to wrangle the US commander-in-chief when he threatened to drift away from the group of world leaders during a parachuting demonstration. And Saturday confirmed that former president Barack Obama isn’t the answer either, after grabbing his former VP by the wrist and guiding him by his shoulders off the stage at a Los Angeles event as Biden appeared to freeze for about five seconds. Biden’s handlers have already equipped him with special...

You gotta love this part here where Macron just very subtly nods to Meloni, like: "Yeah, he's doing it again. Go get him."

US Central Command reporting destruction... Russia says it repelled a massive Ukrainian drone attack...Slight damage reported from a Ukrainian attack on an oil depot... The US Justice Department says that police in Phoenix engaged in a pattern of conduct violating the civil rights of residents... A senior Hezbollah commander reportedly killed in southern Lebanon tonight. Israel launching what... At the G7 summit Joe Biden signing a ten-year security pact with Ukrainian President... In the British Election there is a new You Gov poll showing Reform UK at 19 percent leading the Conservatives at 18 percent for the first time... Dutch...

President Biden traveled to another meeting of world leaders and, once again, weirdness ensued. Mr. Biden, the last of the honchos to arrive at the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday, was greeted by the host country’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. Upon shuffling onto the stage where Ms. Meloni waited, Mr. Biden kissed her on the head and appeared to sniff her hair. Following a brief exchange, she directed the president toward a frame bearing the G7 logo, which each leader signed with a marker. Before departing the platform, he offered an awkward salute to the prime minister.

President Biden awkwardly saluted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as he arrived at the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday. Biden, 81, was the last of the world leaders to arrive at the venue in southern Puglia as he shuffled onto the stage where Meloni was waiting. The two spoke for a few moments before Meloni pointed toward a frame of the G7 logo, which each leader in attendance signed with a marker. As he began to walk off the platform, Biden raised his right hand over his eye and saluted his Italian counterpart.

G7 leaders will agree on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine as they gather Thursday for a summit at a plush resort in southern Italy. The funds will come from profits stripped off frozen Russian assets. AFP reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will fly in to join U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan for the talks at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia. The money is destined to to help Kyiv with defence, budgetary support, and reconstruction after more than two years of war with Russia.

Three of Hunter Biden’s children are reportedly joining their grandfather, President Joe Biden, on a trip to Italy, a day after their father was convicted by a Delaware jury. Hunter’s three daughters, Naomi, 30, Finnegan, 23, and Maisy, 22, were confirmed to be traveling to Italy, along with Naomi’s husband, Peter Neal, a White House official confirmed to the Daily Mail. The president is traveling to Italy for the G7 Summit, which will take place from June 13 to June 15.

I left off the previous post considering what might have happened if Belisarius had accepted the imperial diadem of the Western Empire when it was offered to him at the end of the first war in Italy in AD 540. Could he have remained on the throne? How would Justinian have reacted? Did Belisarius have the diplomatic and administrative skills to manage the Western Empire? Would his men have remained loyal to him and willing to advance his military goals abroad? In a best-case scenario that's perhaps not too far-fetched, the answer is yes, Belisarius could certainly have ruled...

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...