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The Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice is the continuation of a Greek fraternity founded in 1498 The story began in 1498, a few decades after the fall of Constantinople, when the Greeks in Venice — la nazione greca (or the Greek nation) — gained permission from the Serene Republic to create a fraternity. Merchants and simple migrants from Western Greece, refugees from Constantinople, artists and others from Venetian-ruled Crete — all were Orthodox Christians who spoke Greek. The Most Serene Republic of Venice — the Serenissima — which ruled the Eastern Mediterranean, willingly offered them asylum; first,...

Victory! Something is changing. Some positive effects of the Charlie Hebdo atrocities are felt in Italy, with crackdown on the cult of Islam. First Massimo Bitonci, the mayor of the city of Padua, in the region of Venice (Veneto), Northern Italy, simply and clearly said: "No more mosques in Padua. The city council will not grant any more public space for the building of mosques and Islamic places of worship." Padua's councillor Marina Buffoni sent the city's police to Muslim meeting places, to confiscate posters and images of women in burka. She said: "These posters showed women completely covered...

The Italian government on Wednesday said police had seized more than 5,000 ancient artefacts in a record 45-million-euro haul after dismantling a Swiss-Italian trafficking ring. Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said it was the country's "largest discovery yet" of looted works and consisted of 5,361 pieces, including vases, jewellery, frescoes and bronze statues, all dating from the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD. The archaeological treasures came from illegal digs across Italy and "will be returned to where they were found", the minister told reporters. Police said the items were worth around 45 million euros ($52 million) and were...

talian oil group Eni has warned oil could shoot up to $200 a barrel if the Opec cartel fails to cut supplies. Eni's chief executive, Claudio Descalzi, said the oil industry would cut capital spending by 10-13% this year because of slumping prices. He said that would create longer-term shortages and sharp price rises in four to five years' time. Mr Descalzi was speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos. He said: "Opec is like the central bank for oil which must give stability to the oil prices to be able to invest in a...

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Monday called for an anti-terror alliance with Arab countries to boost cooperation and information-sharing in the wake of deadly attacks and arrests across Europe. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday that "we need an alliance. We need to strengthen our way of cooperating together."...

BRUSSELS -- EU High Representative Federica Mogherini met here Monday Nabil Al-Araby, Secretary General of the Arab League and discussed how to increase counter-terrorism cooperation. Speaking to reporters before the meeting, she underlined that terrorism "is not an issue between the West and Islam, terrorist attacks are targeting most of all Muslims in the world so we need an alliance and a dialogue to face the issue together." "We also need to take full responsibility for what we do and say, I think respect is one of the core values of the EU, drawing the line between freedom and respect...

A man was kneeling in prayer before the statue of the revered Madonna, with the photograph of a loved one in hand, in the small chapel of St. Barnabas in Perugia (Italy), when he was attacked by five “immigrants.” The first thing they did was rip the photo from his hands. Next they unleashed their hatred against the image of the Virgin Mary. They broke the statue to pieces and then urinated on it. Don Scarda, pastor of St. Barnabas, said the event was led byfive “foreigners.” By the time police arrived at the chapel, the unidentified attackers had already fled. The...

Alleged spy seen in video calling Saddam 'our inspired leader' ILLINOIS -- Prosecutors say he spied on dissidents, reported to U.N. mission honeycombed with secret agents. By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) -- Jurors watched a video Tuesday in which a man accused of spying on Iraqi dissidents for Saddam Hussein's intelligence service described the dictator as "our inspired leader" and spoke scornfully of "American colonial imperialism." "A light has illuminated our path and our procession toward the struggle and the liberation," Khaled Dumeisi said in describing Hussein at an April 2001 birthday party for the dictator at...

My Kingdom Economics are derived through "Thanksgiving"for it was in this manner the waters parted for Moses and the snakebites were of no consequence(I will lift my eyes to the hills) for as The Son Of God is lifted up doors open and miracles begin ! My endowment to Him( Jesus) is you( My children of Light ) and so it is as your love for Us is poured out ," Truly " it is returned flowing down upon your heads pressed down shaken together and flowing over into My very Will. So enter My Courts with Thanksgiving "YES" but...

Anita Ekberg, the Swedish-born actress who is best known for her role in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, has died at the age of 83. La Dolce Vita actress Anita Ekberg has died at the age of 83 +13 La Dolce Vita actress Anita Ekberg has died at the age of 83. The moment where her character Sylvia, wades through Rome's Trevi Fountain in nothing but a strapless black dress is remembered as one the most iconic scenes ever in a movie and one which turned her into a fully-fledged sex-symbol.

A monumental display of history outside of Redipuglia, Italy, is more than just a climb up Monte Sei Busi; it’s a bitter reminder of the Great War. The Military Sacrarium Redipuglia is about an hour’s drive from Aviano Air Base. Its grand steps symbolize the hard-fought battles soldiers endured during World War I to maintain control of the mountain’s summit. Inscribed on plaques are the names of places considered to be the worst battles fought. The military shrine, completed in 1938, is said to be the largest World War I shrine in Italy. Steps leading up the mountainside hug the...

Giorgio Nadali, a religion teacher in Milan who had taught for 26 years, published 9 books and contributed to several magazines, has been suspended from teaching the Catholic religion. His “crime” was to show his secondary school students the famous 30-minute documentary The Silent Scream (whose video you can see by clicking on the "Enza Ferreri Blog" link above) in Italian. The film was made in 1984 in the USA, narrated by obstetrician and gynecologist Bernard Nathanson, MD. It illustrates the abortion process via ultrasound and portrays an abortion taking place in the uterus. It's a vivid representation of a...

Excerpt - Federal prosecutors charged Raffaello Follieri, an Italian entrepreneur and former business partner of California billionaire Ron Burkle, with funding a lavish lifestyle by using money from a real-estate venture that was supposed to capitalize on his alleged Vatican ties to redevelop surplus Catholic Church properties. ~ snip ~ A criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan Tuesday alleged that Mr. Follieri stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor money to pay for a $37,000-a-month New York apartment where he lived for a time with Ms. Hathaway; private jet travel; expensive restaurants and clothes; medical expenses,...

Francis ‘Urbi et Orbi’ Pro-Life Words Censored by Translator According to a source at Priests for Life: Something I wanted to bring to your attention is the address that Pope Francis gave on Christmas day at noon during his “Urbi et Orbi� (to the city and to the world) blessing. He mentioned the babies in the womb, and his exact words in that section of his address were as follows: “The Child Jesus. My thoughts turn to all those children today who are killed and ill-treated, be they infants killed in the womb, deprived of that generous love of their...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyNew York, New York — December 30 … Lethal, Islamic terror attacks and the potential for a new Middle East war were avoided this evening as the UN Security Council defeated a Palestinian resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories by late 2017. The UN resolution called for negotiations to be based on territorial lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the Six Day War. It also demanded that a peace agreement be reached within 12 months. If a bid for Palestinian statehood was...

The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said Tuesday's vote at the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Palestinian statehood underlined the need for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to urgently resume peace negotiations. The Security Council failed to adopt an Arab-backed resolution that would have paved the way to a Palestinian state, setting a 12-month deadline for Israel to reach a final peace deal with the PA and calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria by the end of 2017. The vote "underlines once again the urgency of resuming meaningful negotiations between the...

The UN Security Council on Tuesday rejected a resolution on Palestinian statehood, with the Palestinians failing to get the minimum nine “yes” votes required for adoption by the 15-member council: Eight voted for the resolution and two voted against, with five abstentions. France, China and Russia were among the countries that supported the text setting a 12-month deadline for negotiations on a final peace deal with Israel and an imposed full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem by the end of 2017. Argentina, Chad, Chile, Jordan and Luxembourg also voted for the resolution. Australia and the United...

The draft resolution by the Palestinians calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem within three years and revised to include language declaring East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state was presented to the UN Security Council late Monday. The draft resolution affirms the urgent need to achieve “a just, lasting and comprehensive peaceful solution” to the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict within 12 months and sets a December 31, 2017 deadline for Israel’s occupation to end. Many of the changes to the draft are semantic, such as the addition of the word “just,” to...

PA's unilateral resolution calling on Israel to "end the occupation" fails to receive the nine required votes to pass. Only eight countries voted in favor of the resolution, two voted against, and there were five abstentions. The resolution needed nine votes in favor to have passed. Australia and the United States voted against.

Abbas ignored Kerry’s hints of sanctions and told him Jordan will present a resolution to the UN to force Israel to "Auschwitz borders.” Abbas, the one who is short in size and common sense, with Kerry, the one who is tall in size but short on common sense. Mahmoud Abbas is ignoring hints of American sanctions and a possible defeat in the U.N. Security Council which is set to consider a resolution from Jordan on Monday, ordering Israel to sign a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority in one year. The resolution calls on Israel to surrender within three years...

Mahmoud Abbas: Failing the Palestinians and PeacePosted By Joseph Puder On December 29, 2014 @ 12:35 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments Mahmoud Abbas, (aka Abu Mazen) has been a failure as the Palestinian “Rais.” He failed to lead the Palestinian Authority (PA) toward peace with Israel, and he mismanaged the alleged goal to achieve statehood for the Palestinians. Instead of facing the tough issues and making compromises required in negotiating peace and statehood with the Israelis, Abbas chose an alliance with the Gaza controlled terrorist group Hamas. Following Abbas’ pact with Hamas last April, Israel broke off peace negotiations with the...

Skiers trying to make their way to and from French Alps resorts were plunged into chaos on Saturday night as 15,000 cars were trapped on the roads and emergency overnight centres were set up to shelter trapped tourists. Across the Savoie region, thousands of people were trapped in their cars, snowed in their chalets or stranded at airports as long-awaited snow finally dumped on the Alps - several feet, in some places.

The death toll following a fire on the Norman Atlantic ferry off Corfu has risen to 10, with the evacuation of all those on board now complete. One man was killed when trying to escape the ship, and a further nine bodies have since been found. More than 400 people were rescued amid gale-force winds and thick smoke. It is not clear if others are still missing. The Italian authorities said they could not verify the actual number of people originally on board. Rescuers are still searching the vessel. The ferry company operating the journey from the Greek city of...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Why the Next Pope Needs to Be Italian By ROBERTO PAZZI Published: January 11, 2004 FERRARA, Italy--For years Vatican specialists in Italy have, in delineating the uncertain features of John Paul II's successor, been fueled by a silent question: will the new pope be Italian? Why, one might ask, should Italy hope for an Italian pope, given the almost universal praise for the pontificate of Karol Wojtyla? The origins of this question go back in time and deserve examination. I was watching on that unforgettable Roman evening of Oct. 16, 1978, when, on the state television network, RAI,...

Two painted chow chow dogs posing as pandas have been seized from a circus in northern Italy, after tricking children into handing over cash, police have said. The male and female dogs were seized by police after it became clear that they were not, in fact, pandas. To an unassuming child visiting the circus in Brescia, a small furry animal with white and black stripes may do the trick. But The Local readers may notice a distinct difference. Here is a real panda: Panda photo by Shutterstock. And here are the dogs-in-disguise: The police were not fooled, who said the...

FULL TITLE: Nurse Who Killed 100 Patients Because They Were “Annoying” May be Second Biggest Serial Killer Ever LifeNews has twice profiled Daniela Poggiali, an Italian nurse who was arrested in October for allegedly killing up to 38 patients because she found them or their relatives annoying. Later, reports indicated she may have killed as many as 96 patients. One of her victims, Rosa Calderoni, brought her crimes to light after she died from an injection of potassium. Officials suspect that Ms. Poggiali may have killed two more patients on the same day of Calderoni’s death. Under Italian law, killing...

This Brilliant Graphic Shows You Which Country Discovered Every Element In The Periodic Table Alex Heber, Business Insider Australia April 28, 2014 When it comes to discovering elements the United Kingdom is at the top of the table. This periodic table graphic was posted by Google Science Fair on Sunday and shows which nations discovered each element on the periodic table. Leading the charge, the UK has discovered 24 elements, closely followed by the US with 21, Sweden with 20 and Germany with 19. A number of old favorites including gold, mercury and copper are listed as “ancient discovery” and...

ROME (Reuters) - An underwater volcano with a base larger than Washington D.C. has been discovered just off the shores of Sicily, a scientist with Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said on Thursday. The volcanic structure, which incorporates peaks previously thought to be separate volcanoes, was named Empedocles after the Greek philosopher who named the four classic elements of earth, air, fire and water. Legend has it that the philosopher died by throwing himself into Mount Etna, the nearby Sicilian volcano. Giovanni Lanzafame, who works at the institute and led the research, said Empedocles was at least 400...

The Russians called the EU’s bluff by pulling out of the project instead of accepting the EU’s conditions and are cutting deals with China and Turkey instead.By Alexander Mercouris ~ Russia Insider The reaction to the cancellation of the Sound Stream project has been a wonder to behold and needs to be explained very carefully. In order to understand what has happened it is first necessary to go back to the way Russian-European relations were developing in the 1990s. Briefly, at that period, the assumption was that Russia would become the great supplier of energy and raw materials to Europe....

By ROB KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer BANGKOK, Thailand - A German statesman, a Czech supermodel and a Swedish Olympic ski champion were among the vacationers whose search for peace and sun in tropical southern Asia was shattered by the tsunamis that spared neither rich nor poor. AP Photo   Petra Nemcova — who appeared on the cover of 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue — was carried away with her boyfriend, the fashion photographer Simon Atlee, after a huge wave plowed into southern Thailand on Sunday. Nemcova's New York spokesman, Rob Shuter, said the model and her boyfriend had been vacationing...

An Italian historian has unveiled a previously unknown document that sheds fresh light on explorer John Cabot’s discovery of Canada — a brief entry in a 516-year-old accounting ledger that shows Cabot had financial backing from a Florence-based bank in England and, most intriguingly, may have had prior knowledge of the distant land his famous 1497 voyage would put on the world map. The Italian-born Cabot is known to have sailed from England in search of the New World three times between 1496 and 1498. He is believed to have reached Newfoundland aboard the Matthew in 1497, but Cabot disappears...

Yesterday, June 28, 2014, marked the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Assassin Gavrilo Princip fired the first shot in what was to become a horrific years-long bloodbath. However, after the sound of gunfire was silenced on Armistice Day, the deaths continued to mount. Revolutions spawned in Russia and Germany, arbitrary redrawing of national borders set the stage for decades of conflict, harsh reparation demands inspired the rise of Nazi Germany and the onset of World War II. The first World War continues to kill to this day - just this past March, two Belgian construction workers...

There's only one real way to compare military strength, and thankfully the world hasn't had many opportunities lately. Despite the potential powder keg in the South China Sea, standoffs in Ukraine, and proxy wars throughout the Middle East, inter-state warfare between the world's military powers has been all but banished from the global scene (for the time being, at least). For a simpler evaluation of military power, we turned to the Global Firepower Index, a ranking of 106 nations based on more than 50 factors including overall military budget, available manpower, and the amount of equipment each country has in...

Beginning of an Italian Civil War against Immigration, Enza Ferreri's Blog, December 15, 2013 Does the situation seem familiar to that in the Obama Nation? This article is published by permission from the author. ************** For once we have riots that are not by anti-white black protesters — to whose violence Ferguson, among others, has accustomed us — but by indigenous Europeans defending their land against invaders. In Rome, on the night of 10–11 November, a group of residents of the Tor Sapienza suburb living in public housing attempted to assault the local centre for refugees and asylum seekers incongruously...

Your prerequisite in all things is to first acquire My Presence for in My courts there are libraries of scrolls providing the wisdom and knowledge in first acquiring the understanding to decipher and illuminate My Word in Spirit and Truth and it is in the interpretation of your heavenly languages, "that exist even now in the alcoves of your wellspring" but these can only rise up into reality and understanding as you manifest and operate totally in the Menorah of light " The Manifold Wisdom of God " My very fullness indwelling you as "an eternal light of My Kingdom...

For once we have riots that are not by anti-white black protesters — to whose violence Ferguson, among others, has accustomed us — but by indigenous Europeans defending their land against invaders. In Rome, on the night of 10–11 November, a group of residents of the Tor Sapienza suburb living in public housing attempted to assault the local centre for refugees and asylum seekers incongruously named “Il sorriso” (The Smile), throwing stones and bottles and setting dumpsters on fire, amidst broken glass and screams of “We want to burn you”. The reception centre houses over 40 youths — Gambians,...

Turkey could scrap a controversial plan to buy missile defense systems from China that alarmed the United States and its Western allies, Turkish and European sources said on Nov. 12. Key NATO member Turkey said in September last year that it was entering negotiations with the China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation (CPMIEC) to acquire its first long-range anti-missile systems. However, the plan has deeply concerned the United States, which has already imposed sanctions on the Chinese company for supplying arms to Iran and Syria in defiance of an embargo. "Several options are on the table, including a cancellation of the...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming talks in Rome on Sunday, during opening remarks for his weekly Cabinet meeting. “Tomorrow I will leave for Rome to meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and US Secretary of State John Kerry,” he said. “I will tell them that Israel, to a large degree, stands as a solitary island against the waves of Islamic extremism that are washing over the entire Middle East.” “Until now, we have successfully withstood and repelled these attacks and now we also stand against the possibility of a diplomatic assault, i.e....

S&P cuts Italy sovereign rating to BBB-, just above junk ROME Fri Dec 5, 2014 1:32pm EST Dec 5 (Reuters) - Standard & Poors on Friday cut Italy's sovereign credit rating from BBB to BBB-, just one notch above junk, citing the country's weak growth and poor competitiveness which undermine the sustainability of its huge public debt.

EAST RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — Renae Yellowhorse stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon, 26 bumpy miles across the Painted Desert from the nearest paved road, not a glint of civilization in sight. Ms. Yellowhorse, 52, who has lived her whole life on this Navajo land, cast an arm over the gulf sweeping out to the horizon, pointing to where the Colorado River and the Little Colorado meet in a dazzling burst of deep blue 3,000 feet below. “This is where the tram would go,” she said. “This is the heart of our Mother Earth. This...

Almost 100 deaths occurred under the watch of an Italian nurse accused of murdering dozens of patients, health officials said. The figure is several times higher than that of other nurses at the same hospital. Police were initially investigating 38 suspect deaths at a hospital in Lugo di Romagna, near Ravenna, after an autopsy found poison in the system of an elderly woman in the care of Daniela Poggiali, a 42-year-old nurse from the nearby town of Faenza. Detectives have now extended their probe to as many as 96 deaths that occurred during Poggiali's shifts in a 12 months period....

As Michelangelo was finishing his famous sculpture David, a powerful patron appeared below the ladder on which he was standing and suggested that perhaps the nose was too thick. The artist came down and stood beside his patron to assess things. When the man looked away, Michelangelo quickly snatched a handful of dust and ascended again, pretending to tap his chisel and letting the dust slip between his fingers. Having altered nothing, he climbed down once more and waited for an opinion. The patron was delighted: “Oh, that’s much better! Now you’ve really brought it to life.” The anecdote is...

Representatives of Eurosceptic and far-right groups from Italy to Bulgaria gathered at the National Front party conference in Lyon at the weekend to warn France and Europe of a “neo-Ottoman” onslaught of Islam-preaching, benefit-stealing migrants. Digging through the history books, Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), warned that “Arab armies plundered Lyon in 725 and are now busy doing the same in Iraq and Syria”. Strache went on to blast Europe’s mainstream parties for, among other things, stoking “mass immigration, ideological terror, gay marriage and gender theory”. The Austrian far-right leader was one of seven foreign...

"extraordinary act of self-destruction"

Nicolo Marchetti of the University of Bologna is project director of the excavation at Karkemish, a 5,000-year-old city located along the Turkey-Syria border. About one-third of the site lies inside Syria and is off-limits. The site is also very close to Jarablous, a Syrian city that is now ISIS-controlled territory. “Still, we have had no problem at all.…We work in a military area. It is very well protected,” Marchetti told the Associated Press. This year his team has recovered sculptures from the palace of King Katuwa that date to 900 B.C., and a 700 B.C. mosaic floor in the palace...

Ambassadors from five major European Union (EU) member states met with the Foreign Ministry's senior diplomat Alon Ushpiz in Jerusalem on Thursday, where they voiced opposition to the demolition of the homes of Arab terrorists. Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain were the five countries whose consul generals argued that such demolitions, which are meant as a deterrent for future terrorists and a punishment for heinous crimes, are "counterproductive." The ambassadors also denounced the attack on a Jerusalem synagogue this Tuesday in which four Jews and a Druze police officer were murdered by two Arab terrorists, reports Haaretz citing Israeli...

Messianism of new age: The road to universal happiness lays through the creation of Palestinian State Right after taking office, Federica Mogherini, the new EU foreign minister, said she “would be happy if by the end of my term, a Palestinian state existed”. Her words exactly - “would be happy”. The solution of acute and painful conflict in Ukraine, the destruction of the ISIS, anarchy in Libya, hundreds of thousands of African migrants rushing to Italy (home of Mogherini, by the way), massacre in Syria, exodus of Christians from Middle East, stabilization of Lebanon, standing on the brink of chaos...

BRUSSELS - Europe’s new foreign relations chief has denied the EU is in talks on Israel sanctions, despite a leaked paper on the issue. Federica Mogherini, who chaired her first foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday (17 November), told press the leaked paper is a “technical working hypothesis” which “member states requested” when her predecessor was in office. She added: “It is not at the heart of today’s discussions on how to start a positive process with the Israelis and Palestinians. There’s currently no question of sanctioning anybody. The question is rather how to motivate people to … restart...

Calling it the "cavitá" ('hole' or 'hollow' in Italian), or hypogeum, the archaeologists have thus far excavated about 15 meters down. They marked their third year at the site in 2014. By then they had uncovered significant amounts of what they classify as Gray and Black bucchero, commonware, and Red and Black Figure pottery remains. They have dated deposits to the middle to the end of the 6th century BCE. "We know that the site was sealed toward the end of the 5th century BCE," George, et al. continue. "It appears to have been a single event. Of great significance...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The divers descended 410 feet into the Mediterranean off Italy, shining bright lights on a ship that sank thousands of years ago. A sea-crusted anchor rested amid piles of terra cotta jars traditionally used to carry wine, olive oil and other cargo.