Free Republic

Italy's right-wing government has backed a bill that would ban laboratory-produced meat and other synthetic foods, highlighting Italian food heritage and health protection. If the proposals go through, breaking the ban would attract fines of up to €60,000 (£53,000). Francesco Lollobrigida, who runs the rebranded ministry for agriculture and food sovereignty, spoke of the importance of Italy's food tradition. The farmers' lobby praised the move. But it was a blow for some animal welfare groups, which have highlighted lab-made meat as a solution to issues including protecting the environment from carbon emissions and food safety. Coldiretti and other agriculture lobbies...

ROME, Feb 25 - Italy wants to team up with France and Germany to "influence" and slow the pace of European Union laws on cutting car and truck emissions, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Saturday. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has already come out strongly against the bloc's decision to outlaw the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, with one minister calling the forced switch to electric "suicide" and a "gift" to Chinese industry. Speaking to the TGcom news channel, Urso called on the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, to take a "pragmatic, concrete,...

Dozens of migrants are feared to have drowned after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean sea en route from Libya to Italy with the Coast Guard allegedly not turning up. According to the NGO Alarm Phone, dozens of migrants are feared to have drowned today, Sunday, March 12, after their boat went adrift in the Mediterranean sea. “We are shocked. According to various sources, dozens of people from this ship have drowned,”, the organisation wrote on its Twitter account. “As of 2:28 a.m. on March 11, the authorities were informed of the urgency and danger of the situation. The Italian...

Berlin said it would oppose the plan unless Brussels agrees to allow so-called synthetic fuels that can burn like gasoline and diesel but spew fewer climate-damaging emissions alongside fully electric vehicles. Italy’s Environment Ministry said that environmental targets should be pursued in a way that avoids harming jobs and production and that electric vehicles shouldn’t be seen as the only route to zero emissions. Meanwhile, Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Stellantis NV, whose brands include Fiat, Peugeot, Jeep and Chrysler, warned on an earnings call with reporters last month that the industry may be getting ahead of its customers. “I...

ROME — A vessel carrying over 100 migrants shipwrecked off the coast off the southern Italian region of Calabria on Sunday morning leaving at least 43 dead and scores missing. Police arrested an alleged human trafficker found among the survivors of the shipwreck, suggesting that the voyage was part of ongoing human smuggling effort engaged in ferrying migrants across the Mediterranean Sea into Italy. The boat sank off the coast of Cutro in the province of Crotone, after which a number of bodies were found on the beach in Steccato, while others were recovered from the sea. Among the dead...

The iconic rowing boats have been left stranded after a winter of little rain and snow resulted in unusually low water levels in the canal-filled northeastern city. Concerns also have mounted that Italy could be in for another drought after last summer’s emergency, according to the outlet, which cited scientists and environmental groups. In addition to the lack of precipitation, arid conditions in Venice are being blamed on a high-pressure system, a full moon, low tides and unfavorable sea currents. Gondolas and water buses known as vaporettos have been left high and dry as a result.

"Turn on your Heart Light" My proximity to you is an eternal embrace so let go of your life for it is in my hand and your destiny is everlasting as long as you love to forgive with a true heart found only through me for my love is the window to your peace and joy found in the power of Virtue for holiness must be the voice in your mind perpetually to see as I see and hear The Shepherd of your heart light !

Welcome To Your Weekend... Was Kamala Harris a "Martin Luther King" speaking at that sacred spot in Memphis... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted peace in Vietnam while Harris and Biden pursue war in Ukraine... Dr. King was speaking about the United States resembling China or Russia when he made that famous speech... The government and the media in this country have censored the last two election cycles in this country (2020 and 2022). How do you censor the next election in 2024? Do you get into a war with China and or Russia to justify messing with the internet...

A convicted Italian mafia killer on the run since 2006 has been caught in France, having hidden in plain sight as a pizza chef for at least three years. Edgardo Greco's capture in Saint-Étienne is the second high-profile mafia arrest by Italian authorities in a matter of weeks. Matteo Messina Denaro had been on the run for 30 years, when he was detained on a visit to a clinic in Sicily. Both men were wanted for carrying out grisly murders in the 1990s. While Messina Denaro was the "boss of bosses" for Sicily's notorious Cosa Nostra, Greco was part of...

A former trigger man who once reportedly boasted he could "fill a cemetery" with his victims, the 60-year-old Messina Denaro is believed to have become the mafia's "boss of bosses" following the death of Salvatore "The Beast" Riina in November 2017. Messina Denaro was detained at a private clinic in Palermo, where he was undergoing treatment for an unspeci fied illness, the Carabinieri's commander Pasquale Angelosanto told reporters. A photograph released by police showed Messina Denaro in the back seat of a vehicle, wearing a cream hat, sunglasses and a brown leather jacket with a cream sheepskin lining. Before that,...

Eva Kaili is the name on everyone's lips in Brussels.The Greek MEP was considered, until her arrest on 9 December, a rising star among the ranks of the socialist group (S&D). Known as media-friendly and approachable, Kaili was first elected to the European Parliament in 2014, running with the centre-left PASOK party, and was re-elected in 2019.In January 2022, the 44-year-old was named one of the parliament's 14 vice presidents, a culmination of her legislative work in digital topics such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and blockchain.Since her shocking detainment, Kaili has been expelled from PASOK, suspended from the S&D group...

Gina Lollobrigida arrives on the red carpet during the 4th Rome International Film Festival in Rome on October 16, 2009. She died Monday at age 95. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida, whose sultry roles in the 1950s and 1960s established her as a international sex symbol, has died, Italian media reported Monday. She was 95. Known affectionately to her countrymen as "La Bersagliera" for her starring role in Luigi Comencini's 1953 film Bread, Love and Dreams, Lollobrigida's family broke the news of her death, the Italian agency ANSA...

Italy football great Gianluca Vialli has died aged 58 after what he described as his "journey" with an "unwelcome travel companion" -- pancreatic cancer. Vialli announced in December that he was stepping away from his role with the Italian national federation for health reasons after consultation with his oncologists. Vialli had publicly struggled with cancer for years. He first announced that he'd been treated in 2018 but said he was 'very well' in an interview with an Italian newspaper. Another bout with the disease swiftly followed in 2019, before his former team Chelsea announced he'd been 'given the all-clear' in...

Witches have had a long and elaborate history, even back to ancient Greece. Thanks to Homer and his epic adventure tale the Odyssey, we met Circe, who has often been identified as the first witch in Greek mythology. Circe was one of the most dangerous women a man could come across. She was known for seducing men, luring them to her island, and never letting them go. When men, driven mad by their desire to touch her, visited the island, she caught them off guard and used a spell to transform them into pigs, trapping them forever in their ignominious...

ROME (AP) — Opposition lawmakers in Italy are seeking a parliamentary commission of inquiry into three cold cases that have consumed the Italian public’s imagination for decades, including the 1983 disappearance of a 15-year-old that was highlighted in the Netflix documentary, “Vatican Girl.”The aim of the inquest, said Sen. Carlo Calenda, would be to pressure the Vatican to finally turn over everything it knows about Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance to Italian law enforcement authorities, saying its longstanding official claim of ignorance was “hardly credible.” “We are a great secular nation that treats the Vatican with respect, but this case certainly cannot...

When thinking of Sicily, it's easy to imagine white sandy beaches, timeless architecture and a host of delicacies like arancini, caponata and cannoli. But panettone would not be among the first things to come to mind. The popular Christmas cake is traditionally baked in the north of Italy, particularly in the city of Milan, where it was invented. That's almost 1,000 miles — the length of the whole country — from Palermo, Sicily's main city. But not far from Palermo, Nicola Fiasconaro is upending panettone tradition — and exporting his upstart creation all over the world. It all started in...

The Tour de France will start in Italy for the first time in 2024 and the opening three stages will be held there, race organisers said on Wednesday. Italy gets the honour of hosting the Grand Depart 100 years after Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian to win cycling's most prestigious event. The Tour will start on June 29, with the opening stage from Florence to Rimini on the Adriatic coast. The second stage will be from Cesenatico to Bologna and the third will start in Piacenza and end in Turin.

'European democracy is under attack': Roberta Metsola addresses EU Parliament corruption scandal By Euronews • Updated: 13/12/2022 - 11:31 Roberta Metsola address the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, France. Roberta Metsola address the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, France. - Copyright Philippe BUISSIN/ European Union 2022 - Source : EP Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, warned on Monday that there would be "no impunity" for those found guilty of corruption as she addressed what is perhaps the gravest graft scandal to hit the hemicycle in recent years. "Make no mistake, the European Parliament, dear colleague, is under...

Nearly one million people have so far signed a petition to expel Iran’s ambassadors from the G7 countries in protest to the heavy crackdown on demonstrators. The campaign initiated by the founding members of “Iranians for Justice and Human Rights” called on the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy to immediately designate the ambassadors or other representatives of the Islamic Republic in their countries

Japan announced Friday that it will jointly develop its next-generation fighter jet with the U.K. and Italy as it looks to expand defense cooperation beyond its traditional ally, the United States. The Mitsubishi F-X fighter jet will replace the aging fleet of F-2s that Japan previously developed with the United States. The nations will merge their current plans for development of next-generation planes – the F-X and Britain’s Tempest, a successor to the Eurofighter Typhoon – to produce the new combat aircraft for deployment in 2035. The deal will give Japan greater support in countering China’s growing assertiveness and allow...