Free Republic

Up to 20,000 migrants and asylum seekers could be turfed onto the streets in Italy because of a shortfall in funding for the country’s overstretched reception centres, the interior ministry has warned. A budget shortfall of 60 million euros could lead to the closing of some reception centres within weeks. Migrants would then have to fend for themselves but would also be free to try to head towards the wealthier countries of northern Europe, including Britain. The interior ministry warned that having so many migrants wandering around Italy “could create problems of public order because of the social tensions that...

The accommodation centers which house migrants across Italy are running out of money and if the funds don’t turn up by the end of the month, they may be unable to continue. The centers are run by charitable organizations and NGOs, which provide accommodation, food and health care to those living there. But the Italian Treasury owes them €600 million, according to Il Corriere, and the organizations have set the government a strict deadline to pay up: this Friday. […] The cost of providing accommodation, food and healthcare for new arrivals cost Italy over €1 billion in 2015. …

Nothing special. A YouTube video of Boney-M and one of their popular songs "Rasputin". It is funny in today's social & political context. Check out the Italian presenter with his bouffant hairdo.. if you speak Italian it'd be a bonus.

New York, September 19 - Premier Matteo Renzi on Monday reiterated his disappointment at Friday's EU summit in Bratislava, which concluded with him openly coming out against Germany's and France's stance on migrants and economic growth for the bloc's post-Brexit future. "If Europe continues like this, we'll have to get organised and act autonomously on immigration," Renzi said. "This is the only new development to come from Bratislava, where there were so many words, but we weren't capable to saying anything clear about the issue of Africa. "That's why, to use a euphemism, we didn't take it well. "(European Commission...

After a string of high-profile cyberbullying and revenge-porn incidents, the Italian Chamber of Deputies has put forward a bill that will do nothing to prevent these abuses, and everything to allow for rampant, unaccountable censorship of the Italian internet, without rule of law or penalty for abuse. Under the proposed law, the "site manager" of Italian media, including bloggers, newspapers and social networks would be obliged to censor "mockery" based on "the personal and social condition" of the victim -- that is, anything the recipient felt was personally insulting. The penalty for failing to take action is a fine of...

"We have no use for staged events," the Italian PM has said one day after a meeting of European Union leaders. Renzi had refused to appear during closing press conference with his German and French counterparts. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi blasted the latest European Union summit in Bratislava on Saturday, effectively labeling Friday's high-level meeting a waste of time. "I don't think it would be right for Italy to pretend not to notice when things are not getting any better," Renzi said at a conference in Florence. Hours earlier, he criticized the summit in an interview with TV broadcaster...

These are the first pictures of a new pre-fab migrant camp that has been built in the heart of an Italian tourist hotspot that is popular with the rich and famous including Hollywood star George Clooney. And officials in the town have admitted that the camp could remain there for years. Tucked away on a side street and sandwiched between an empty factory and cemetery in Como, the site is where up to 300 migrants will now call home until they can leave Italy.

Scientists on Monday revealed part of the secret to why a small village in southern Italy has an unusual number of centenarians - low levels of a particular hormone that affects circulation. Italian and US experts have spent the last six months investigating the extraordinary longevity of residents of Acciaroli, where more than one in 10 - 81 at the mayor's last count - of the village's population of 700 is over 100 years old.

The latest edition of the edgy French publication features a cartoon entitled "Earthquake, Italian-style," which depicts victims of the 6.2-magnitude quake with varying degrees of injury, each likened to an Italian recipe. A severely bleeding man is labelled "penne with tomato sauce." A woman with a badly bruised or burned face is "penne au gratin." And a pile of victims pancaked beneath a collapsed building, their legs sticking out from the bloodied rubble, is "lasagna."

A deadly plague haunts Venice, and it’s not the cholera to which Thomas Mann’s character Gustav von Aschenbach succumbed in the Nobel laureate’s 1912 novella “Death in Venice.” A rapacious tourist monoculture threatens Venice’s existence, decimating the historic city and turning the Queen of the Adriatic into a Disneyfied shopping mall. Millions of tourists pour into Venice’s streets and canals each year, profoundly altering the population and the economy, as many native citizens are banished from the island city and those who remain have no choice but to serve in hotels, restaurants and shops selling glass souvenirs and carnival masks.

ASCOLI PIECENO, Italy – In the chaos of Italy's devastating earthquake, an older sister's embrace allowed a four-year-old girl to survive. The heartbreaking story of Giulia Rinaldo, 9, and her 4-year-old sister Giorgia was recounted Saturday by the bishop who celebrated a funeral Mass for 35 of the 290 people killed by the quake that ravaged central Italy before dawn Wednesday. Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole recalled that around 6 or 6:30 p.m. Wednesday — 15 hours after the quake — he returned to a church in his diocese in the town of Pescara Del Tronto to recover its crucifix. He said...

Israel Earthquake Search, Rescue Team Arrives In Italy By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — August 26, 2016 … IsraAID has arrived at Italy’s earthquake epicenter with a 20 member team of Search and Rescue, Relief and Trauma Specialists. IsraAID is an Israeli-based humanitarian aid agency that responds to emergency crises and engages in international development around the world. The Israeli search and rescue team wears blue and orange. IsraAID was able to send the rescue team thanks to the support of The Ted Arison Family Foundation. The death toll in earthquake ravaged Italy is climbing slowly, and it...

UPDATE: ROME, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday has killed at least 159 people, the country's civil protection agency said, raising a previous count of 124. The search for bodies is continuing through the night, authorities said. EARLIER STORY: An earthquake flattened towns in central Italy in the early hours of Wednesday, killing at least 120 people and burying some alive in their sleep, with volunteers and firefighters racing to free those trapped under mounds of rubble as darkness fell. The quake razed mountain homes and buckled roads in a cluster of communities some...

There is no compromise in My Kingdom for I AM THE WORD ETERNAL therefore I AM both Provider and the lover of your soul. I know the plans I have for you and there is no need for you to compromise with the evil one for he has already been judged by me as un-righteous therefore remain in My will and in My WORD for it is your rudder and key to open each door I have set before you and it is My Spirit that moves these doors as you declare My will in your life. So come and...

ACCUMOLI, Italy (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake devastated a string of mountainous towns in central Italy on Wednesday, trapping residents under piles of rubble, killing at least 38 people and leaving thousands homeless.The quake struck in the early hours of the morning when most residents were asleep, razing homes and buckling roads in a cluster of communities some 140 km (85 miles) east of Rome.A family of four, including two boys aged 8 months and 9 years, were buried when their house in Accumoli imploded. As rescue workers carried away the body of the infant, carefully covered by a small...

The scale of the devastating Italian earthquake was laid bare this morning as shocking pictures and terrifying eyewitness accounts revealed how four towns were almost wiped off the map in just a matter of seconds. At least 63 people were killed, including two babies, and 150 people are missing, believed to be trapped under rubble after the 6.2-magnitude quake struck at 3.30am local time while villagers slept in their beds. Today rescuers spoke of hearing children's screams from the rubble and locals were spotted frantically digging with their bare hands to try and save loved ones. The quake which devastated...

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least six people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said. The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 76 km (47 miles) southeast of the city of Perugia, at the very shallow depth of 10km (six miles), the USGS said. The mayor of one town told Italian radio that "half the town is gone". In Rome, some buildings shook for 20 seconds, according to La Repubblica newspaper. A family of four had been found under rubble in the town of Accumoli, the town's mayor Stefano Petrucci told RAI TV.

Whether or not President Obama wants to publicly admit that he is harming the security of the United States, the proof is in the pudding. Fox News reported last Saturday that a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner released by Obama was arrested recently after being identified as a top recruiter for ISIS. According to Fox News:

Shallow - may have caused considerable damage. Map

The leaders of Germany, France and Italy will meet on Monday to discuss how to keep the European project together in the second set of talks between the premiers of the eurozone’s three largest economies since Britain’s shock vote to leave the bloc. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi hosts German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on an island off the coast of Naples ahead of September’s EU summit called to discuss reverberations from the Brexit vote. “They will be coming to discuss how to relaunch Europe from the bottom up; there’s a big need,” Renzi said on...

Leader of Muslim group says there is 'no reason' for polygamy not to be permitted now that same-sex unions have been legalisedThe leader of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy has said there is “no reason” for polygamy not to be legalised after the Italian government passed a law to recognise the union of same-sex civil unions. In a Facebook status, Hamza Piccardo wrote: “There’s no reason for Italy not to accept polygamous marriages of consenting persons. “When it comes to civil rights here, then polygamy is a civil right. Muslims don’t agree with homosexual partnership and still they...

Libyan authorities have informed Italy an Islamic State cell linked to veteran jihadi Abu Nassim has formed in Milan. Italian media reported Sunday documents left behind after a raid in the Libyan city of Sirte contained information on ISIS’s activities in Italy. The reports further the Italian worry that ISIS militants sail from Libya to Italy posing as refugees. (RELATED: Defeated ISIS Fighters May Sail To Europe Posing As Refugees, Italy Warns) Abu Nassim, whose real name is Moez Ben Abdelkader Fezzani, is believed to have close ties to the newly-formed cell in Milan.

Libyan authorities have warned Italy about an ISIS cell based in the Milan area with links to one of the extremist group’s battle-hardened veterans, Italian media reported Sunday. The existence of the network was reportedly revealed by documents seized by Libyan agents after government forces took over an ISIS headquarters in the city of Sirte earlier this week. The Italy-based militants were said to be associates of Abu Nassim, 47, a Tunisian who lived in Italy for most of his 20s and subsequently fought in Afghanistan and Syria, before becoming an ISIS commander in Libya. …

If parliamentarian Elvira Savino has her way, Italian parents who insist on a vegan diet for their children will risk up to four years in jail. Savino, from the conservative Forza Italia party, has put forward a law that would hold parents legally responsible for feeding their children on "a diet devoid of elements essential for healthy and balanced growth," according to its text. "I have nothing against vegans or veganism as long as it is a free choice by adults," she told Reuters on Wednesday, days after she presented the proposed law in the lower house Chamber of Deputies.

As other migratory routes north have closed, migrants have converged on the Italian city of Milan, in what Italian press are describing as an “invasion” of thousands of migrants and fear of thousands more. In past weeks, caravans of migrants who arrive in southern Italy have made their way north, only to find their progress halted by tight borders with France, Austria and Switzerland. The result has been a growing migrant population forming in such areas as Lake Como, Ventimiglia and now the Italian industrial capital of Milan.

The Italian government believes Mafiosi have infiltrated the local administration of Corleone, the Sicilian town which inspired the fictional crime clan’s name in “The Godfather” novel and movie. Premier Matteo Renzi’s Cabinet on Wednesday dissolved Corleone’s municipal government and put its City Hall under temporary control of the interior ministry. …

Italy fears "another Calais" on its border with France as desperate migrants and refugees are thwarted in their bid to cross the frontier and reach northern Europe. Tighter border controls by the French authorities have created a bottleneck around the Italian town of Ventimiglia, just a few miles from the French border. The Italians are trying to transfer migrants and refugees to reception centres in other parts of the country in order to prevent the development of ramshackle camps such as the notorious 'Jungle' in Calais and the tent village that sprung up earlier this year at Idomeni, along the...

Following the introduction of civil partnerships, Muslim representatives in Italy are now demanding the legalisation of polygamy. Responding to a new law allowing same sex couples to enter civil unions, Hamza Piccardo argued that if gay relationships, which Muslims disagree with, are a civil right then Italians must accept polygamy as a civil right too. The founder of the Union of Islamic Communities and Organisations (UCOII) in Italy took to Facebook to claim polygamy is a “civil right” and that Italy would benefit from the large number of Muslim births it would promote.

You "ARE" forgiven forever whether others forgive you or hold onto their guile "I" have forever set you free for I AM GOD and not man . So now walk in my forgiveness and take hold of this freedom and just fly for the Heavenlies "ARE REAL" and Zion is yours "Today" for you "ARE" seated with Me in Heavenly places even NOW ! Galatians 5:1 Walk by the Spirit 5 It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which...

The Portiuncula (small portion) refers to the land in Assisi, Italy, that belonged to the Benedictines. On this land  was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God but abandoned. The great St. Francis had great devotion to the queen of the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to live there constantly and repair it.  He heard that the angels often visited it, so that it was called St. Mary of the Angels. The Benedictines wanted to give Francis the church but in order to remain faithful to Lady Poverty, Francis rented it from them...

Greg Nash Visiting Italy this week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is emphasizing the importance of maintaining close ties with NATO allies –– an unveiled, if indirect, shot at Donald Trump's vow to make such support conditional. After meeting Monday with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and other top officials, Pelosi said the talks focused on "counterterrorism, cyber security and other critical national security topics." She referred to Italy as "our close friend in NATO" and praised Italy's participation in the allied group as vital for promoting global security. “In our meeting with President Mattarella, we thanked him for...

My love abounds in the riches of the fruit from My Tree. So come and partake of Me in Mercy and Grace. Bathe yourself in My humility and find Peace in all you do for I AM a Wellspring of knowledge and as you seek MY Face I will adorn you in My manifold Spirit so you to may walk in the fullness of My ways and not lack anymore. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Too bad we can’t keep them all in one bowl, pour on the milk, and chow down. Some of us feel destined to remain stuck in the pits.Tragically, disgraceful, reprobate lawmakers are not only turning California into sanctuary state for illegal aliens, but also the final resting place for bigots, statist, and budding tyrants. Indeed, the state legislature just shoved a rash of anti-Second Amendment bills down our barrels. Now it will be a crime to buy guns with a “bullet button” for example. California has one of the worst business climates, with the highest taxes in the nation (including...

In a far corner of southern Italy, transactions in fake currency are not only accepted by local shopkeepers, they are positively encouraged. The small Calabrian town of Gioiosa Ionica, population 7,000, is currently home to a group of asylum seekers, who are given the imitation bank notes, or "tickets" as they are known, as part of a voucher system. The refugees can spend the cash on whatever they like, but only in the town, so that local businesses benefit. Rather than featuring European architectural gems, they bear the likenesses of a collection of communists and leftist leaders - Che Guevara...

George Clooney's wealthy neighbours in the Alpine beauty spot of Lake Como say their Italian idyll is being ruined by the influx of hundreds of migrants to a makeshift camp on their doorstep. The picturesque area is best known as a hide-away for Clooney and a multitude of other Hollywood A-listers includ Brad Pitt, wife Angelina Jolie, and pop superstar Madonna. But a clamp-down by Switzerland on illegal immigrants entering the country from Italy threatens to turn this chic resort into a frontier town overrun by the homeless and desperate.

Turkish police made a hundred arrests across Istanbul and nine other Turkish provinces connected with a wide-ranging investigation of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen, 72, currently lives in Pennsylvania, but is considered a powerful “arch-foe” of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the Rudaw news service puts it. Gulen “runs an international Islamic network of schools, businesses, media outlets, and charity organizations from his exile home in Pennsylvania” and is “believed to be deeply influential in the Turkish judicial system and police,” according to Rudaw. In fact, he is so influential that Erdogan has accused him of trying to...

The young man of North African origin damaged an ancient Christian artifact at St. Jeremiah church in Venice. The Muslim man rushed into the church and threw the Crucifix to the floor. The Muslim broke the arms off the crucifix. Il Giornale reported: (translated) A young man of North African origin likely entered the church of St. Jeremiah and has heavily damaged the religious artifact. It was stopped by the caretaker and some faithful.“It’s wrong. It’s all wrong,” he kept repeating the young Muslims that this morning has created havoc in the church of St. Jeremiah , in Cannaregio, Venice...

We have numerous reports of BANK RUNS taking place right now throughout Italy. Reports of lines of people at ATM's are draining the automatic tellers of all cash. This comes after weeks of speculation about the health of several Italian banks, including the oldest Bank Monte dei Paschi, which has been in business since the year 1472 - twenty years before Columbus discovered America! Snce March of this year, SuperStation95 has been reporting the Italian banking system is a “leaning tower” heading toward collapse at literally any moment. And as Italy’s banks begin to go down like dominoes, it is...

A study released by the Pew Research Center on Monday shows a startling development in European attitudes towards Middle Eastern refugees. In eight of the ten countries surveyed, majorities of citizens polled believe incoming refugees increase the likelihood of terrorism at home. Respondents in Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Greece, and the United Kingdom all responded that they believe incoming refugees increase the risk of terrorism. Respondents in Hungary are most likely (at 76 percent) to believe incoming refugees increase the risk of terrorism, while respondents in Spain are the least likely to believe incoming refugees increase the likelihood of terrorism (at 40...

Vito Montanaro, director general of the Bari heath authority, said 20 people had died and 35 were injured in the crash on single-track near the town of Andria in southern Italy. Local authorities had earlier put the death toll at 12. Eighteen of the 35 reported to be injured are in a critical condition. Hospitals have issued an urgent call for blood donors. "We need blood group 0," Giuseppe Corrado, president of Barletta-Andria-Trani province, said. The injured have been taken to hospitals in Andria, Barletta and Bisceglie. People are still trapped in the wreckage of the crash, which was caused...

German firms expect exports to Britain to tumble five percent next year in the wake of the Britain’s vote to quit the EU, an industry survey showed on Thursday. The German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) also revised its projection for 2016 to a one-percent drop rather than five percent growth. The figures were based on a survey of 5,600 businesses that export to Britain following the June 23 referendum in which 52 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU. Britain is currently Germany’s third-largest export market, buying up €89 billion of goods in 2015. …

Four new polls show comedian Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement (M5S) ahead of prime minister Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) were an election held today. The next election will be no later than May 23, 2018. Renzi promised to step down if he fails a constitutional reform referendum later this year. The reform referendum will likely be held no later than this October. “The populist Five Star Movement has emerged as Italy’s leading political party, overtaking Matteo Renzi’s ruling Democratic party (PD) in four separate opinion polls that have exposed the growing vulnerability of the country’s centre-left prime minister. The...

If you’ve banished pasta from your kitchen cupboard in the hope of squeezing into last year’s Speedos or bikini before your summer holidays, you’re making a terrible mistake. An Italian study, published in the journal “Nutrition and Diabetes” this month, reveals for the first time a link between how much pasta you eat and how slim you are likely to be. […] “Our findings show a negative association of pasta consumption with general and central obesity,” the authors wrote. In short: the more you eat pasta, the less you are likely to be overweight. …

The name was terrible, but the “K Disease� was not a lethal virus. It was actually the clever invention of Professor Giovanni Borromeo and a religious of the Hospital of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, to save the lives of dozens of Jews persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.When the SS entered the Fatebenefratelli hospital located on the Tiber Island in Rome, medical personnel and religious explained to the Germans that behind the doors of two special wards, there were patients suffering from this terrible K Disease, some of whom were terminally ill. The...

Plans for 'a closer European Union' have been branded an attempt to create a 'European superstate'. Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault today presented a proposal for closer EU integration based on three key areas - internal and external security, the migrant crisis, and economic cooperation. But the plans have been described as an 'ultimatum' in Poland, with claims it would mean countries transfer their armies, economic systems and border controls to the EU. Zaoralek added that the four eastern members had reservations about the proposed common security policy. Eastern members have become increasingly jittery...

An MP has revealed the petition calling for a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU is being investigated for fraudulent signatures added. After it was revealed the plea, which has garnered the support of over three million people, was in fact set up by a Leave campaigner before the referendum, reports surfaced of thousands of signatories to it potentially being fake. Data on the parliamentary petitions website shows over 39,000 of those who have added their names to it come from Vatican City; the city state’s total population is just 800. The website also purports that 23,000 signatories...

POLITICIANS across Europe have called for their own referendums in the wake of Britain's historic decision to quit the EU. Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star movement has now officially called for a referendum on whether to keep the Euro. Buoyed by big gains in local elections, Luigi Di Maio, a vice president of the lower house of parliament, said: "We want a consultative referendum on the Euro. “The Euro as it is today does not work. We either have alternative currencies or a 'Euro 2’. The 5-Star movement has called for two different currencies in Europe, one for the rich northern countries...

The right-wing parties of Europe who have been keenly watching Britain’s EU referendum with an eye on their own efforts to exit the European Union have reacted to the Brexit vote with jubilation today.

Voters in France, Italy and the Netherlands are demanding their own votes on European Union membership and the euro, as the continent faces a “contagion” of referendums. EU leaders fear a string of copycat polls could tear the organisation apart, as leaders come under pressure to emulate David Cameron and hold votes. It came as German business leaders handed a considerable boost to the Leave campaign by saying it would be “very, very foolish” to deny the UK a free trade deal after Brexit. Markus Kerber, the head of the BDI, which represents German industry, said that 1970s-style trade barriers...

A majority of British voters said Thursday that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union, launching markets into turmoil as investors tried to digest what the referendum means for the U.K. and the European bloc as a whole. Although concern for the future of the EU may seem like hyperbole, nearly every member state has a political contingent in favor of leaving the union, and the successful Brexit vote may have just politically legitimized — and energized — those movements.