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ROME (Reuters) - Some 84 percent of Italians oppose a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that crucifixes should be removed from Italian classrooms, according to a poll on Sunday. The poll in the Corriere della Sera newspaper showed 84 percent of Italians want the crucifixes to stay, 14 percent said they should be taken down and two percent had no opinion. Those in favor included many who are not practicing Catholics. Some 68 percent of those who said they never attended Mass said they still wanted the crucifixes to stay in schools. Italy has said it...

ROME, November 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemning the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools could result in the removal of all public displays of a Christian origin in all public buildings of Europe under the newly passed Lisbon Treaty, a British legal expert has warned. Given the intimate connections between the ECHR, the Lisbon Treaty and the European Convention on Human Rights, UK barrister and anti-discrimination law expert Neil Addison told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN), "unless the European Court of Human Rights overrules itself on appeal, Italy, and indeed the...

VIENNA, Austria, NOV. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Real religious freedom is not freedom from religion, says a historian writing in response to this week's European court decision discouraging crucifixes in Italian schools. Martin Kugler, an expert for the human rights network Christianophobia.eu in Vienna, offered 12 theses to unveil the mistaken thinking of the court, which decided in favor of an atheist mother who protested the crucifix in her children's school. Kugler explained: "The right to religious freedom can only mean its exercise -- not the freedom from confrontation. The meaning of 'freedom of religion' has nothing to do with creating...

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.” - Psalm 33: 12 On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights fined the Italian government for having crucifixes in its schools. It’s yet another example of oversize, secular bureaucracies pitted against the most natural forms of agreement, in this case the nation. The European Court of Human Rights ordered that the government pay 5,000 Euro ($7,390) to Soile Lautsi, a mother of two who claimed that public schools in her northern Italian town refused eight years ago to remove...

Deck Guns Gain Range Nov 4, 2009 Andy Nativi/Genoa The demand for naval guns is driven by two requirements, each at the extreme end of the performance spectrum. One is for artillery whose ranges go well beyond those of the big guns used in World War II. The average range of naval guns then was 35-40 km. (22-25 mi.), with the 18-in. (46-cm.) guns of Japan's Yamato-class battleships capable of firing 1,460-kg. (3,218-lb.) projectiles 26 mi. The other requirement is for small-caliber weapons to defend against airborne and asymmetric threats and for use in missions where navies confront pirates and...

ABC News' Rachel Martin reports: The US intelligence gathering program known as “extraordinary rendition” was essentially put on trial for the first time - in Italy - and this week the court rendered a guilty verdict. Italian Judge Oscar Magi convicted 23 Americans of the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric on a street in Milan, Italy. The cleric, known as Abu Omar, alleged that he was abducted by CIA operatives who then shuttled him between US bases in Europe and then moved him to Egypt where Omar says he was tortured. The Italian judge tried the Americans, all but...

Rome, Italy, Nov 4, 2009 / 10:21 am (CNA).- Italy’s Minister of Education, Mariastella Gelmini, has rejected the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in favor of removing crucifixes from public schools.  She stated, “Nobody, much less a European court that is steeped in ideology, will be allowed to strip our identity away.” The court ruled the presence of crucifixes in classrooms could be a “bother” to students who practice other faiths or who are atheists and that the State should abstain from imposing beliefs in public places. “Religious neutrality should be observed in the context of public...

A judge in Milan convicted 23 Americans today of the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003, culminating a landmark trial that gave a look into the secret world of CIA renditions of terror suspects. Judge Oscar Magi acquitted three Americans, including the former CIA station chief in Italy, because they had diplomatic immunity when a secret team abducted militant cleric Abu Omar in Milan and flew him to Egypt, where he underwent months of torture and abuse. The Americans were tried in absentia, and given that the U.S. government has long declined to cooperate with the prosecution, it seemed...

MILAN - An Italian judge says he has convicted 23 Americans of the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric from a Milan street in a CIA extraordinary rendition. Citing diplomatic immunity, Judge Oscar Magi told the Milan courtroom Wednesday that he was acquitting three other Americans. Twenty-two of the convicted Americans were immediately sentenced to five years in jail at the end of the nearly three-year trial. The other convicted American, Milan CIA station chief Robert Seldon Lady, was given the stiffest sentence, eight years in prison. Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here All of the Americans were...

Italy's bishops are saying the European Court of Human Rights is guilty of a partial and ideological outlook with its Tuesday decision that crucifixes in public school are a violation of freedom. The Vatican and the Italian government expressed dismay with Tuesday's decision and Italian bishops expressed their own perplexity. The court ruled in favor of an Italian citizen of Finnish origin who complained in 2002 that the state school where her two children studied violated their freedom by displaying crucifixes. The school's administration refused to remove them, contending that the crucifix is part of Italian cultural patrimony; Italian courts...

An Italian judge on Wednesday began deliberating the fate of 26 Americans and seven Italians accused of kidnapping an Egyptian terror suspect in 2003, the first trial in the world involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. After a nearly three years of hearings, Judge Oscar Magi heard final arguments before beginning deliberations. A verdict was expected Wednesday. The American suspects -- all but one identified by prosecutors as CIA agents -- are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives. Their lawyers, who have had no contact with their clients, have entered innocent pleas on their behalf. The Americans are...

This update is Italy's reaction to the "European Court: No Crucifixes in Italian Schools" article. Way to go guys! Italy, Vatican in uproar over court crucifix ruling By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) – The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that crucifixes should be removed from Italian classrooms, prompting Vatican anger and sparking uproar in Italy, where such icons are embedded in the national psyche.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the use of crucifixes in classrooms in Italy. It said the practice violated the right of parents to educate their children as they saw fit, and ran counter to the child's right to freedom of religion. The case was brought by an Italian mother, Soile Lautsi, who wants to give her children a secular education. But the ruling has sparked anger in the largely Catholic country, with one politician calling the move "shameful". The Strasbourg court found that: "The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used...

ROME – The Vatican has denounced a ruling by the European court of human rights that said the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and educational freedoms. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says the crucifix is a "fundamental sign of the importance of religious values" in Italian history and culture. He says the European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian matter .. .. In Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday ordered Italy to pay a euro5,000 ($7,390) fine to a mother who wanted crucifixes removed from her children's classrooms. The Italian government said it...

Once again we see Christianity under attack in Europe. The question is, will the pro-Christianity, anti-Islamic government of Italy put up with this? European court: No crucifixes in Italian schools By ALESSANDRA RIZZO ROME – Europe's court of human rights said Tuesday the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and education freedoms, prompting an angry reaction from the Catholic Church and government officials in Rome.

A BIKER has appealed after losing his licence when speed cameras clocked him riding at an impossible 383 mph. Motorbike mad Paolo Turina of Cernusco Lombardone, Italy - who also copped a £200 fine - claims the speed camera was clearly so defective the charge should never have been brought. The 26-year-old said: "If I could go that fast I'd enter my bike in the MotoGP world championships. What did they think they were clocking - a jet fighter?" Police claim the camera was working perfectly but bungling staff botched the charge paperwork, as reported in the Austrian Times.

Note: The following text is a quote: October 28, 2009 ICE agents arrest Albanian national wanted for murder in Italy The Albanian national also faces criminal visa-fraud charges NEW YORK - An Albanian national, who was convicted in absentia for a murder in Italy, was arrested on Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Ferdinand Marku, also known as Edmond Voli, faces visa-fraud charges for knowingly and intentionally making false statements on a federal immigration application. Marku, 39, was convicted in absentia, in Rome, Italy, for the November 2000 fatal stabbing of a victim near a subway station...

Remnant Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - OCTOBER 20, 2009CONTACT: H. M. OWEN (U.S.), noevolutioninfo@gmail.com or PETER WILDERS (Europe), wilderspeter@gmail.com The Scientific Impossibility of Evolution November 9, 2009 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. St. Pius V University (Rome) In Response to Pope Benedict XVI’s Call for Both Sides to be Heard The 150th anniversary of Darwin’s "Origin of the Species" in November 2009 will be the occasion for a unique conference at Pope Pius V University in Rome presenting a scientific refutation of evolution theory. According to Russian sedimentologist Alexander Lalamov...

Bridge from the Italian mainland to Sicily will be a symbol of shining modernity, a gleaming steel thread arcing over one of the most picturesque stretches of the Mediterranean. The £6 billion suspension bridge that the Italian government has announced it will start building on December 23 has the enthusiastic backing of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, whose supporters believe it will form an enduring legacy of his period in office - and represent a final step in the unification of Italy. But the bridge - to be the longest of its kind in the world - will connect two...

Veterans Day is coming up, but there are few vets who have a story to tell like Mario Avignone.His life was changed during World War II when he was stationed near the monastery inhabited by St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Avignone, a salt-of-the-earth Chicagoan, and two fellow soldiers befriended the stigmatic miracle worker. Since then, he expresses his devotion to the saint by sharing his experiences with others, visiting the sick, and praying with the aid of relics.After a talk Avignone gave at St. Mary of the Angels Church on the city’s North Side, the 90-year-old veteran, over a meal...

According to the evidence presented by prosecutors, Luca was not allowed to play with other children, go to church, participate in sports or leave the house before or after school. The boy's teachers said he was sent to school with his snacks already cut into bite-size portions for him. Investigators say the teachers noticed that he was both physically and psychologically stunted from such around-the-clock doting. "He didn't know how to run. He had the motor skills of a 3-year-old child," Andrew Marzola, the lawyer representing the boy, told the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The Italian parliament has rejected an attempt by homosexualist campaigners to install "sexual orientation" as a privileged category in hate crime legislation. The measure was defeated by a vote of 285- 222. Opponents had argued that the change to the criminal code would have produced an inequality, in fact a case of reverse discrimination. Politician Rocco Buttiglione said that homosexuals are protected under the law in the same way as all other citizens and said that the defeat of the bill was a victory for "the principle of the equality of all citizens - a principle enshrined in our constitution."...

Italy denies report it 'paid off' Taliban to protect its troops LONDON, England (CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denied Thursday that payments to the Taliban in Afghanistan were authorized to protect Italian soldiers deployed there. Silvio The accusation, published by the London Times, is "baseless," his office said in a written statement. "Berlusconi's government has never authorized nor allowed any form of money payment in favor of members of the Taliban insurgency, nor does it have any knowledge of these types of initiatives enacted by the previous government. "As a way of proving this, it is enough to...

When ten French soldiers were killed last year in an ambush by Afghan insurgents in what had seemed a relatively peaceful area, the French public were horrified. Their revulsion increased with the news that many of the dead soldiers had been mutilated — and with the publication of photographs showing the militants triumphantly sporting their victims’ flak jackets and weapons. The French had been in charge of the Sarobi area, east of Kabul, for only a month, taking over from the Italians; it was one of the biggest single losses of life by Nato forces in Afghanistan. What the grieving...

Extremist websites have lauded Libyan immigrant Mohammed Game’ s botched bombing of a military barracks in northern Italy – the country’s first attempted suicide attack. Police have arrested two people suspected of helping Game in Monday’s attack, in which he lost a hand, his eyesight and suffered injuries to his face. An Italian soldier was slightly injured in the attack. “Well done, God will reward you,” wrote a user of an Al-Qaeda linked website who called himself ‘Abdelaziz the Algerian’. “What great men are those who are accompanied by their God. Death to the tyrants! No regrets, no recrimination, only...

MILAN (AP) - A Libyan man set off a small bomb while trying to enter an army barracks in Milan on Monday, seriously injuring himself and slightly wounding the guard who stopped him, Italian law enforcement officials said. The man attempted to enter the barracks on foot at around 7:45 a.m. (0545 GMT; 4:45 a.m. EDT), taking advantage of the main gate opening to allow an authorized car through, said Col. Giuseppe Affini, a chief spokesman for the army in the Lombardy region that includes Milan. "He was immediately blocked by the guard, who yelled 'Halt.' He exploded the briefcase...

Algeria cancels weapons deal over Israeli parts Algerian newspaper quotes senior source as saying air force called off major weapons deal with France when manufacturers failed to guarantee equipment does not include components made in Israel Doron Peskin Published: 10.12.09, 12:17 An Algerian newspaper claimed that the North African nation's air force cancelled a major weapons deal with France after the French manufacturers were unwilling to guarantee that the equipment to be provided does not include any components made in Israel. The el-Khabar newspaper quoted a senior Algerian source as saying the deal would not be executed due to the...

News to Note, October 10, 2009: A weekly feature examining news from the biblical viewpoint...

Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Friday defended a remark he made that Milan ''seemed like an African city'' because of the number of foreigners in the streets. ''I took a photograph of reality by referring to a walk through a central street in Milan where I saw 60% of people were foreigners and 40% were Italian,'' Berlusconi said. ''I asked myself if this is the Italy of the future that Italians want: the answer is no''.

Italy's newest aircraft carrier like a son-captain By Jo Winterbottom LA SPEZIA, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Italy's newest aircraft carrier is a pretty big baby. But the Cavour's captain sees his ship as exactly that: a son growing up before his eyes. "I saw the ship growing day by day. So I feel it's like a son," Captain Gianluigi Reversi told Reuters in a recent interview aboard the 27,500 tonne ship. The Cavour is docked at La Spezia while it undergoes maintenance following a year of tests, before it goes into full service probably some time in 2010. Reversi became...

Dr. John P. Jackson / The Shroud of Turin Colorado Springs, Colo., Oct 6, 2009 / 09:27 pm (CNA).- An Italian scientist is claiming to have re-created the burial cloth believed to have covered the crucified body of Jesus, called the Shroud of Turin.  However, CNA spoke with experts who maintain that there are till several major differences between the new shroud and the ancient one.According to Reuters, Luigi Garlaschelli, an organic chemistry professor at the University of Pavia announced that he and his team “have shown it is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as...

The 26 year old, who has not been named, was traced by detectives after the owner of the house reported the crime. Officers noticed the computer was still on and when the 52 year old owner touched the keyboard, the social network site's homepage flashed up. The man, from Albano Laziale near Rome told police he was not a member, and they quickly realised the last person to use the computer had been the burglar. He had written several messages on his wall - but not revealed he was carrying out a crime - and police were quickly able to...

It's 2 a.m. and the hours of sustained drinking are taking their toll. Smashed glass and plastic cups litter the streets, trash cans overflow with empty beer cans, and girls in high heels and short skirts totter unsteadily out of rowdy pubs. But this is not London or New York. It's Rome. Italians have long been regarded as a model of Mediterranean restraint when it comes to alcohol consumption. But all that is changing, for a complex mix of reasons. Italian parents, struggling in the country's worst recession since World War II, are working longer hours and have less time...

A Ferrari worth 3 million kronor ($434,000) was left nursing a crumpled front end after a hapless Swedish motor vehicle inspection driver took it for an impromptu spin. The Ferrari F40 had been recently imported into Sweden by Von Braun Sports Cars in Skene in southern Sweden and was duly subjected to a routine registration inspection in nearby Kinna on Thursday. But when the state-owned Swedish Motor Vehicle Inspection Company (Bilprovningen) driver sat behind the wheel of the powerful Italian sports car something went seriously awry and the vehicle lurched into a fence in the test area. "It is not...

Here's another of the Mafia's trademark offers-you-can't-refuse: pay or be eaten by a crocodile. Italy's anti-Mafia police unit said Wednesday it has seized a crocodile used by an alleged Naples mob boss to intimidate local businessmen from whom he demanded protection money.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hassan Nemazee, a fund-raiser for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other Democrats, has been indicted for defrauding Bank of America, HSBC and Citigroup Inc out of more than $290 million in loan proceeds, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday. The announcement follows last month's indictment of Nemazee, head of a private equity firm and an Iranian American Political Action Committee board member, on one count of defrauding Citigroup's Citibank. The new indictment adds allegations that he defrauded two other banks, Bank of America and HSBC Bank USA, in a similar fashion by falsifying documents and signatures to...

Google search the title to get to story. I'm not sure I can even post the link here [whack] This is a new story, not the same suspicious bonds from June of this year which showed up in Italy with Japanese travelers.

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said it would be "best" for the country's troops to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible after six were killed in a car bombing in Kabul. Berlusconi, speaking to reporters Thursday, gave no timeline for a withdrawal and said any pullout would have to be coordinated with Italy's allies. "There is no idea," Berlusconi said about a possible date for leaving Afghanistan. "It is an international problem. It is not a problem that a country present there can take on its own. Doing so could betray the accord and trust of...

Rome, 16 Sept. (AKI) - A Moroccan man is facing murder charges after allegedly stabbing his 18-year-old daughter to death for falling in love with an older man in a small northern Italian town. Sanaa Dafani was stabbed in the throat while she was sitting in a car with her 31-year-old boyfriend in Montereale Valcellina, northwest of Trieste, late Tuesday. Her father, El Ketawi Dafani was later detained by police and interrogated overnight. Some Italian news reports said he had made some admissions about being present at the scene of the alleged crime but had also contradicted himself in relation...

Fr. Matteo Ricci Related articles: Paul's Missionary Journeys & Last VoyageThursdayThursdayThursday Venice, Italy, Sep 12, 2009 / 06:13 pm (CNA).- A new documentary on the life of Fr. Matteo Ricci, a pioneering Jesuit missionary to China, was screened at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday. The film is part of a revival of interest in Ricci, whom Pope Benedict XVI has called a model for a “fruitful meeting” between civilizations.The movie, directed by Italian filmmaker Gjon Kolndrekaj, was shot in China and Italy.Political and religious dignitaries from both countries attended the screening, ANSA reports. They included the Patriarch of...

Stealthy Italian submarine will train with U.S. Navy The ITS Scire is paying a visit to Mayport to take part in a Joint Task Force Exercise. By Timothy J. Gibbons From its high-tech fuel cell engine to its automated torpedo loading system, the ITS Scire proudly shows off the advanced technology crammed into its narrow body. But being on the crew of a cutting-edge fighting vessel doesn't mean one has to ignore the comforts of life - which perhaps is why cans of extra virgin olive oil manage to find a corner amid the fearsome torpedoes. From the espresso machine...

UP...

ROME, SEPT. 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A hundred online pedophile communities will be disconnected and prosecuted by U.S. and Italian authorities thanks to the work of the Meter Association, founded by Italian Father Fortunato Di Noto.ZENIT learned from the association that the networks consisted of some 18,181 people who used online community Web sites to host and exchange "thousands of images and video footage -- 27,894 pedophiliac photos and 1,617 videos -- as well as information regarding the trade of minors." The news was further publicized by Rome's Italian police force, in cooperation with other security forces. "Thousands of children were...

PICTURES: Italy prepares AMX fleet for possible Afghanistan deployment By Luca Peruzzi The Italian air force has completed a four-week qualification campaign intended to clear its AMX ground-attack aircraft for possible operations in Afghanistan. Ten of the aircraft, upgraded to Italy's latest ACOL standard, participated in a "Green Flag West" exercise at Nellis AFB, Nevada, flying 171 sorties totalling 300 flight hours by day and night. Supported by nearly 180 personnel, including from air force and army special forces units, the aircraft were used for tasks such as convoy escort and urban close air support during the manoeuvres. A total...

A wealthy investment banker and prominent fundraiser for President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats was arrested Tuesday on charges he lied to get a $74 million business loan that -- once confronted by authorities -- he hastily repaid. Prosecutors accused Hassan Nemazee of giving Citibank documents showing he owned millions of dollars in collateral. They said the documents were "fraudulent and forged." A Clinton spokesman didn't immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment. The chairman and chief executive of Manhattan-based Nemazee Capital Corp. served as national finance chairman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, and later...

The author of a book about Silvio Berlusconi's wife says aides to the Italian prime minister want him to get treated for sex addiction. An updated version of "The Veronica Trend" by Maria Latella is scheduled to hit bookstores Wednesday, The Times of London reported. Veronica Lario, a former actress, has threatened to divorce Berlusconi. In the book, Latella says some aides have suggested Berlusconi and Lario announce a formal separation, with Lario then privately working to help her husband. Berlusconi would stay for a week or two in a clinic specializing in sex addiction. "This scenario hasn't been completely...

The anti-immigration mayor of a northern Italian city has barred Muslim women from wearing the controversial body-concealing swimsuit known as a burqini, a report said Wednesday. Women wearing the garment made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings face a fine of 500 euros (700 dollars) if spotted at swimming pools or riversides in the northern Piedmont town of Varallo Sesia, the ANSA news agency reported. "The sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene," mayor Gianluca Buonanno was quoted as saying. "We don't have to be tolerant all the time,"...

Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi has lashed out at the United States by likening the 1986 U.S. Strikes on Libya to Osama bin Laden's terror attacks on the United States in 2001. He was speaking Thursday in Rome, where he is on a three-day official visit. In a speech to Italian lawmakers, Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi urged the world to understand the reasons that motivate terrorists. He called for dialogue with terrorists, saying, "One must talk to the devil, if it brings about a solution." While condemning al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, he implied there was little difference between bin Laden's...

Libya’s sudden decision to end its years in the international wilderness and embrace the West has abruptly transformed one of the world’s most isolated countries. Iason Athanasiadis reports from a nation in flux There is something of the pasha in Khalifa Mahdaoui, a descendant of one of Libya’s most influential tribes. It is not just the red fez perched on his head as he ambles in his suit and tie from his ground-floor office to the trellised porch outside, lights a menthol cigarette and takes a sip from the dainty cup of Turkish coffee delivered by an aide.The impression is...

An Italian tugboat and its crew of 16, seized by Somali pirates four months ago, has been released. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed his satisfaction at the outcome after months of negotiations. The Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on April 11. On board was a crew of 10 Italians, 5 Romanians and one Croatian. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that the Somali prime minister informed him directly about the vessel's release and said it was the result of exceptional work on the part of Somalia authorities and Italian intelligence. Frattini said Italy was...