After Richard Gere urged European leaders to allow North African migrants into their countries on Friday, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini responded with a sarcastic statement suggesting the Hollywood star will surely load up the migrants onto his &#8220;private jet&#8221; and house them in his villas.
&#8220;As the generous millionaire airs his demands about the fate of the Open Arms immigrants, we thank him: He will be able to bring everyone in his private jet to Hollywood and keep them in his villas,&#8221; Salvini said in a statement following Gere&#8217;s media stunt, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/richard-gere-matteo-salvini-migrants-mediterranean-sea-open-arms-a9051941.html">according</a> to The Independent. &#8220;Thank you, Richard!&#8221;
The &#8220;Pretty Woman&#8221; star spoke to the press on Friday on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, joining representatives from pro-migrant organization Open Arms. Surrounded by young male migrants, Gere said &#8220;the most important thing&#8221; is for the migrants aboard &#8220;to be able to get to a free port, to be able to get off the boats and get on land and start a new life.&#8221;
Gere was handing out supplies to the migrants aboard the ship.
Salvini has refused to accept the migrants into Italy, staying true to his tough talk on migrants and immigration, more broadly. According to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/42853/italy-migrant-numbers-plummet-face-new-nationalist-paul-bois">report</a> from Fox News published at the beginning of this year, Italy experienced a tumble in immigration. &#8220;Italy&#8217;s nationalist-populist government is hailing new numbers that show immigration into the country has plummeted dramatically within months of the government taking power, due to its refusal to accept NGO rescue boats of migrants coming from Africa,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;Official data show that in January 2018, 3,176 migrants landed on the Italian coast via boats. But in January 2019 that number was just 155.&#8221;
According to The Independent, Gere said at press conference concerning migrants that &#8220;demonizing people has to stop everywhere on the planet, and it will stop if we say stop.&#8221;
&#8220;We have our problems with refugees coming from Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico &#8230; It&#8217;s very similar to what you are going through here,&#8221; the actor said, drawing comparisons to President Donald Trump.
&#8220;These are extraordinary people, they are so strong, they have been such through such horrors,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;Their passage from their home counties to Libya, what they had to endure, the women above all. [&#8230;] The women had been all raped, multiple times. The men tortured in prison, not just once but multiple times,&#8221; Gere noted, adding, &#8220;What most people refer to as migrants, I refer to as refugees that are running from a fire.&#8221;
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As <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-10/italy-s-salvini-tells-richard-gere-to-take-stranded-migrants">noted</a> by Bloomberg News, &#8220;Salvini has made a flagship policy of refusing to allow the migrant vessels, coming mostly from nearby North Africa, to enter Italian waters. Now in the first steps of a months-long electoral campaign, Salvini is likely to double down on the anti-immigrant rhetoric that&#8217;s made him Italy&#8217;s most popular politician for now.&#8221;
Open Arms founder Oscar Camps claims migrants rescued in international waters &#8220;have a right to safe harbor and to apply for asylum in Europe,&#8221; the outlet noted, adding: &#8220;The vessel is floating in international waters near the island, which is located about half-way between Tunisia and the southern Italian coast.&#8221;
&#8220;No decree or fine will stop us from protecting people at sea,&#8221; Camps <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-10/italy-s-salvini-tells-richard-gere-to-take-stranded-migrants">vowed</a>.

Italy’s Matteo Salvini Stings Richard Gere With Sarcastic Statement After Refugee Plea

Hollywood

Italy

Migrants

Three female judges in an appeals court in Italy overturned a 2015 rape conviction in part because the victim in question was deemed too ugly to have been raped. The alleged victim, then 20 years old, was not found to be a credible rape victim because she was too unattractive and &#8220;masculine,&#8221; according to the three female judges. The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-6803911/Italy-outraged-court-finds-victim-ugly-raped.html?fbclid=IwAR3M1uxkT4CM_tWDx6bCmt0pJl0W7rMqxGX8WZWQWs2WxMHxFWgkoXiuCig">reports</a>:
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Two Peruvian men were initially convicted of the 2015 rape of a Peruvian woman in Ancona, but the Italian appeals court overturned the verdict and absolved them, finding that she was not a credible witness. In part of the ruling, the court noted that the suspects had found her unattractive and too &#8220;masculine&#8221; to be a credible rape victim.
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The conviction was overturned by an all-female panel in 2017 despite medics reportedly claiming the woman&#8217;s injuries were consistent with rape. The details concerning the reasoning behind the overturned conviction only became public earlier this month, however, according to The Daily Mail. &#8220;The Court of Cassation said Wednesday its own reasons for ordering the retrial will be issued next month,&#8221; noted the outlet.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a sentence that has shocked us, I was astonished when reading the motivation,&#8221; the woman&#8217;s lawyer, Cinzia Molinaro, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/13/europe/italy-rape-case-ancona-collapses-judges-rule-victim-masculine-intl/index.html">told</a> CNN.
The lawyer said the judges who overturned the conviction claimed his client was not credible because the men she accused &#8220;didn&#8217;t find her attractive, she was too masculine.&#8221;
Molinaro also said that the female judges further supported their ruling by noting that one of the accused men &#8220;saved the woman&#8217;s number in his phone as &#8216;Viking,&#8217; and stated that the &#8216;photograph present in her file would appear to confirm this,&#8217;&#8221; CNN reports.
The judges also questioned if the woman possibly &#8220;organized the &#8216;exuberant&#8217; evening&#8221; herself.
Molinaro said his client had to have &#8220;14 stitches in her vagina&#8221; the day following the alleged attack.
&#8220;She had confused memories of what exactly happened during the night because she was drugged,&#8221; Molinaro added.
Doctors, according to the lawyer, confirmed traces of the &#8220;date rape&#8221; drug in her blood.
Unsurprisingly, the new information has sparked protests within the country and Italy&#8217;s Justice Ministry has ordered a preliminary inquiry into the court.
A flashmob of angry protesters shouting &#8220;Shame!&#8221; reportedly erupted outside the Ancona court. <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/court-clears-men-after-woman-14137189">According</a> to The Mirror, protesters carried &#8220;Stop justifying male violence on women&#8221; signs.
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Oggi 200, domani 10 mila. Non scherzate con la rabbia delle donne (e degli uomini che le sostengono). <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchePride?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarchePride</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sentenza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sentenza</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vergogna?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vergogna</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ancona?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ancona</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stupro?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#stupro</a> <a href="https://t.co/UWPK2kgnxM">pic.twitter.com/UWPK2kgnxM</a>
&#8212; Rebel Network (@RebelNtwk) <a href="https://twitter.com/RebelNtwk/status/1105245819865833472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Rape does not satisfy a desire for pleasure, but is an abominable hatred and contempt for the victim,&#8221; feminist group Rebel Network&#8217;s Luisa Rizzitelli <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/court-clears-men-after-woman-14137189">said</a> of the case.
&#8220;It does not depend on how feminine you are,&#8221; she added.
According to The Daily Mail, &#8220;The Justice Ministry said it was conducting the &#8216;necessary preliminary investigations&#8217; into the appeals verdict. Molinaro said the ministry can send investigators to a court to check if there were any problems or omissions in the sentence, even when the case is still under appeal.&#8221;

All-Female Court Panel Overturns Rape Conviction Because Woman Is Too Ugly To Be Credible Victim

Rape

Sexual Assault

The notorious Amanda Knox is back in the news again, this time for making a murder joke on her Instagram account, dividing people over whether or not it was simply a creative jest or a tasteless bout of flippancy.
According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/amanda-knoxs-instagram-murder-joke-lights-up-social-media">Fox News</a>, Knox participated in a murder mystery party with friends recently. When posting photos of the event on social media, she used the opportunity to make some sarcastic comments about her role in the cosplay.
&#8220;Victorian London: A priceless painting goes missing and the owner is found both poisoned and stabbed. And would you believe it, I, the Countess of Lovelace, am accused,&#8221; Knox explained in an Instagram post on Sunday. &#8220;Also acquitted, all in 4 hours. Better than 4 years.&#8221;
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BuSOXCEDlKA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Victorian London: A priceless painting goes missing and the owner is found both poisoned and stabbed. And would you believe it, I, the Countess of Lovelace, am accused. Also acquitted, all in 4 hours. Better than 4 years. #murdermysteryparty Photos and party courtesy of @dame_valdis</a>
A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amamaknox/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Amanda Knox</a> (@amamaknox) on Feb 24, 2019 at 4:32pm PST&#8221;You have no shame,&#8221; one Instagram user wrote, in part.
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Knox became an instantaneous household name in 2009 when Italian authorities convicted her and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher. The conviction was later overturned by appeal in 2011 when evidence surfaced indicating Ivory Coast-born Rudy Guede was the killer. However, in 2014, Knox was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/world/europe/italy-amanda-knox-retrial/">found guilty again</a> by Italian authorities in yet another retrial. Despite Rudy Guede&#8217;s conviction, Italian prosecutors maintained that Knox and Sollecito played some role in Kercher&#8217;s death, arguing that Knox, Sollecito, and Guede murdered Kercher after she refused to become involved in a sex game. Italy&#8217;s Supreme Court overturned the acquittals, arguing that the jury did not consider all the evidence and that some discrepancies in their testimonies needed to be answered. In 2015, the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Cassation, definitively ruling that Knox and Sollecito were innocent of the charges.
In late January, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) later ordered the Italian government to pay Knox 18,400 Euros in compensation for having violated her rights. &#8220;Ms. Knox had been particularly vulnerable, being a foreign young woman, 20 at the time, not having been in Italy for very long and not being fluent in Italian,&#8221; the court noted.
Knox&#8217;s defense attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, argued her conviction was &#8220;probably the biggest legal mistake&#8221; Italy has seen in years.
&#8220;It is impossible to compensate Amanda for four years in prison for a mistake, said Carlo. &#8220;There will be no amount. We are not looking for compensation of damages. We are doing this on principle.&#8221;
Despite Knox&#8217;s clear sarcasm in the Instagram post, certain Instagram users were deeply offended by the joke, denouncing it as distasteful.
&#8220;You have no shame,&#8221; one Instagram user wrote, in part.
&#8220;Anything for attention,&#8221; a user echoed.
&#8220;Murder, your favourite subject!&#8221; a third added.
One user testified to Knox&#8217;s innocence while believing the joke distasteful: &#8220;I believe you are innocent of the murder of Meredith Kercher, Amanda, but really, this post is ridiculously tone deaf. Surely, you must have expected some backlash?&#8221;
Others were more supportive of Knox.
&#8220;Knox displayed class and admirable restraint in an incredibly trying setting. A lovely and dignified young lady I&#8217;d be honored to meet!&#8221; one user said.
Another said, &#8220;Sense of humor gets us through! To you folks trashing her &#8212; maybe you should get one.&#8221;

Amanda Knox Sets Internet Aflame With Sarcastic Murder Joke

Could Europe be witnessing a MIGA (Make Italy Great Again) moment under the nationalist policies of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini? According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/italy-sees-migrant-numbers-plummet-after-nationalist-policies-take-hold">Fox News</a>, the latest plunge in migration numbers seem to suggest that Italy may have its own Trump.
&#8220;Italy&#8217;s nationalist-populist government is hailing new numbers that show immigration into the country has plummeted dramatically within months of the government taking power, due to its refusal to accept NGO rescue boats of migrants coming from Africa,&#8221; reports Fox News. &#8220;Official data show that in January 2018, 3,176 migrants landed on the Italian coast via boats. But in January 2019 that number was just 155.&#8221;
The massive plunge in numbers stems from Salvini closing the ports to boats bringing migrants across the Mediterranean from Libya. &#8220;The data deny those who say that the Democratic Party had blocked the landings, we are doing more and better,&#8221; he told <a href="http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/gennaio-salvini-solo-155-migranti-pd-ne-fece-sbarcare-3mila-1635305.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Il Giornale</a>. &#8220;For the first time, returns are greater than arrivals.&#8221;
Other European leaders have harshly criticized Italy&#8217;s ascendant nationalist policies. Most recently, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/italys-salvini-slams-france-for-migrant-crisis-i-dont-take-lessons-on-humanity-and-generosity-from-macron" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">French President Emmanuel Macron</a> demanded that Salvini open the country&#8217;s ports, prompting the Italian leader to publicly distance himself from Macron.
&#8220;The migrant problem has many causes,&#8221; Salvini said, according to Italian news agency <a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/22/france-among-those-who-take-wealth-from-africa-says-salvini_40e7b439-ac36-46b6-8478-caad793cf4db.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ANSA</a>. &#8220;In Africa, some take away wealth from the people and the Continent and France is among them.&#8221;
Salvini accused France of having &#8220;no interest in stabilizing&#8221; the situation in places like Libya, adding that France &#8220;has little to get angry about because it has turned back thousands of migrants, including women and children, at the border.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t take lessons on humanity and generosity from Macron,&#8221; Salvini later added.
Despite the pressure, Salvini&#8217;s government has continued its hardline stance on immigration. Just last week, an NGO migrant rescue boat carrying 47 people was rerouted off the coast of Italy over to France.
&#8220;After that, I invite it to point the bow towards Marseilles and land people on French soil instead of waiting unnecessarily in Italian waters for days,&#8221; Salvini&#8217;s coalition counterpart Luigi Di Maio said via Facebook. &#8220;The Mediterranean is not only about Italy, Greece or Spain. But France too. And it has to do its part.&#8221;
Italian news agency <a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/30/mission-accomplished-on-sea-watch-probe-ngo-salvini_d302f8dd-f1f6-4c65-aa87-c0f17723b8ef.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ANSA</a> says an agreement was later reached for the 47 migrants to be distributed to Germany France, Portugal, Romania and Malta.
The migrant crisis in Italy has largely stemmed from the country&#8217;s dwindling birthrate, which could result in a population crash by 2065.
According to the <a href="https://www.istat.it/en/archivio/214235">Italian Statistics Bureau </a>(ISTAT), Italy&#8217;s population will drop a total of 10% between 2017 and 2065 &#8212; 60.6 million to 54.1 million. &#8220;Taking into account the variability associated with demographic events, the population estimate by 2065 ranges from a minimum of 46.4 million to a maximum of 62,&#8221; they report. &#8220;The chance of a population increase scenario by 2065 is 9%.&#8221;
The news comes as Italy&#8217;s birthrate continues to decline. In 2010, the birthrate stood at 1.46 children per woman; it <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20180208/italy-birthrate-lowest-ever">now stands</a> at just 1.34. Even if the birthrate were to increase in accordance with projections, it &#8220;will not be enough to offset projected deaths.&#8221;

ITALY: Migrant Numbers Plummet In The Face Of New Nationalist Policies

Immigration

A man in Italy whose two teenage daughters were allegedly sexually molested by a priest, prompting one of the girls to commit suicide at the age of 15 in 2008, is under investigation for possibly <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6548871/Paedophile-shot-dead-Italy-hitman-hired-father-15-year-old-victim.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline">hiring two hitmen to murder the priest,</a> who was killed after he was released from prison. The 15-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging from a tree.
Father Guiseppe Matarazzo, 45, was killed on July 19 in Frasso Telesino , shot five times after he was released from prison after serving an 11-year sentence for abusing the two teenage girls. On Friday, Generoso Nastam, 30, and Giuseppe Massaro, 55, were arrested for the murder. Nastam is <a href="https://www.cmjornal.pt/mundo/detalhe/pai-suspeito-de-ordenar-a-morte-de-padre-que-abusou-da-suas-filhas">suspected</a> of driving the car and using a pistol in the crime; Massaro is suspected of helping to plan the crime.
Benevento Chief Prosecutor Aldo Policastro told <a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2018/12/28/paedophile-victim-family-ordered-murder_018afbfc-7cd2-4ec9-a36d-dac2bbbba3da.html">ANSA</a>: &#8220;Those who commissioned the murder are to be found in the family milieu.&#8221; He confirmed the father of the daughters was under suspicion; he stated, &#8220;A rule of law can not tolerate revenge.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.today.it/cronaca/pedofilo-ucciso-benevento.html">Today.it,</a> &#8220;It is very likely that there was also a third person to take part in the murder, which materially shot five gunshots at Matarazzo, two of whom were mortally wounded.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://ilmattino.it/caserta/massaro_si_difende_non_ho_dato_l_auto_ai_killer_del_pastore_di_frasso_telesino-4199951.html">Il Mattino</a>, Massaro said that the Fiat Croma involved in the crime was registered to his wife. He stated, &#8220;My car was present in the territory of Frasso Telesino on July 17 and 18 because I had been commissioned by the organizers of the festival that takes place in Sant&#8217;Agata to check if posters had been posted to publicize it.&#8221; He claimed that his gun, a Magnum 357, which had been seized, had been kept by him in the safe and never given to anyone. He also offered an explanation to deal with documents mentioned in some phone calls. Il Mattino reported, &#8220;The documents, he said, were to be used to get some Italian friends of an Albanian friend to come to Italy. &#8216;I was also worried about a judicial case of extortion that involves me. And I also expressed this concern to Generoso Nista, whom I have known for some time because we have worked in the country in the past.&#8217;&#8221;
The funeral of Matarazzo featured posters displayed by his relatives; they claim that he had been convicted without evidence and that he was used as a scapegoat to hide others&#8217; crimes. His sister Teresa <a href="https://www.elmanana.com/familia-de-victima-de-abuso-sexual-ordena-muerte-de-pederasta-en-italia-guiseppe-matarazzo-abuso-sexual-pederasta/4714325">published an obituary</a> in which she claimed he was innocent and announced that she would fight &#8220;to make the truth come out.&#8221;
Under <a href="https://rm.coe.int/168047091e">Italian law</a>, anyone under 18 is a child. This is specified in the Civil Code at Article 2. This agrees with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Italy ratified on May 27, 1991. As the <a href="https://rm.coe.int/168047091e">Council of Europe</a> states, &#8220;The law of ratification of the Lanzarote Convention foresees the fact that not knowing the age of the person, minor of 18 years, cannot be considered an excuse in the crimes of reduction or maintenance in slavery or servitude, child prostitution, child pornography, possession of child pornography, tourism initiatives aimed at the exploitation of child prostitution, use of children begging, trafficking in persons, purchase and sale of slaves, sexual violence, sexual acts with a minor, gang rape, solicitation of a minor and corruption of minors.&#8221;

Father Of Girls Allegedly Sexually Molested By Priest Under Investigation For Hiring Two Hitmen To Kill Him

Murder

Pedophilia

While the United Kingdom allegedly refused to give asylum to Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Catholic woman whose release from prison precipitated thousands of Muslims to demand her head, Italy&#8217;s government has stated it will accept the woman who had been imprisoned on death row for nine years for blasphemy.
The U.K. feared &#8220;unrest among certain sections of the community&#8221; if it accepted Bibi, according to the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/britain-not-prepared-to-offer-asylum-to-persecuted-pakistani-christian_uk_5be3342be4b0dbe871a61b95?ncid=other_twitter_cooo9wqtham&amp;utm_campaign=share_twitter&amp;guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvL3R5a0hiOXBrODQ&amp;guce_referrer_cs=bn3_ImoClFM9fHdYI07Ong">Huffington Post</a>. Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said two countries had offered asylum, but the U.K. did not. He stated, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been led to believe that the U.K. government had concerns that her moving to the U.K. would cause security concerns and unrest among certain sections of the community and would also be a security threat to British embassies abroad which might be targeted by Islamist terrorists.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia-oceania/2018/11/10/italy-open-to-asylum-for-asia-bibi-uk-reportedly-demurs/">Cruxnow</a>, Bibi&#8217;s daughter Eisham released a video through the papal charity Aid to the Church in Need. On Tuesday, Italy&#8217;s Foreign Minister Matteo Salvini said that he&#8217;d do &#8220;everything humanly possible&#8221; to resettle Bibi in Italy, adding that Italy is working &#8220;discreetly&#8221; with other Western governments.
Meanwhile, British Home Office sources said that the rumors that Bibi had not been offered asylum owing to security fears were false.
Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary of the U.K., <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6382005/Britain-help-brave-mother-fear-lynch-mob.html">wrote a letter</a> to the U.K. Home Secretary stating, &#8220;I am well aware, as a former foreign secretary, of the constant threat to our overseas missions but we cannot allow the threat of violence to deter us from doing the right thing. I do not think it is a dignified position for the UK, given our historic links with Pakistan and the extent of our influence there, to look to others to do what we are allegedly nervous to do ourselves.&#8221;
The Church of England&#8217;s spokesman for international affairs stated, &#8220;In common with Christians around the world, the Church of England has been deeply distressed by the case of Asia Bibi. We call on the government of Pakistan to ensure that the decision of the nation&#8217;s supreme court is upheld. It is important she is offered every protection as she and her family seek to rebuild their lives.&#8221;
The most populous Pakistani community in the EU resides in the U.K. &#8212; over one million people.
CruxNow reported, &#8220;Reports from people on the ground say the Christian community in Pakistan in general remained indoors for the first four days after the decision was announced, as a result of violent protests led by Islamic religious hardliners.&#8221;
Bibi&#8217;s lawyer, Saif Mulook, fled to the Netherlands from Pakistan over the weekend and is currently in the Netherlands. He said Bibi had shared a dream she had, saying, &#8220;From my dream I&#8217;m very, very certain that my will is going to be accepted and I&#8217;m going to be freed. I have such faith in God that I have a strong feeling that nobody can hurt me.&#8221; Mulook added, &#8220;She&#8217;s been behind bars for 9 years, leaving behind two daughters, and she&#8217;s still so strong. I would have been broken in six months.&#8221;
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the Canadian government was communicating with the government of Pakistan, saying, &#8220;There is a delicate domestic context that we respect which is why I don&#8217;t want to say any more about that, but I will remind people Canada is a welcoming country.&#8221;

U.K. May Not Offer Asia Bibi Asylum. Italy Steps Forward To Do So.

Christianity

Islam

Pakistan

United Kingdom

Sorry, vegetarian and vegan men, but women prefer your meat-eating brethren.
At least according to <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-26154-001">a study</a> conducted by researchers at the University of Padova (that&#8217;s in Italy). The study titled &#8220;Eating Meat Makes You Sexy: Conformity to Dietary Gender Norms and Practices&#8221; found that when women were presented with fake bios of men that either showed food preferences that included meat or yogurt, they preferred the men who ate meat.
One experiment (out of three conducted by the researchers) asked 50 Italian women to rate the men&#8217;s bios as &#8220;attractive,&#8221; &#8220;sexy,&#8221; or even &#8220;I would date him.&#8221; Negative descriptors were also included.
An example bio, <a href="https://pjmedia.com/trending/study-women-dont-want-to-date-vegetarian-men/">as presented by PJ Media</a>, reads:
&#8220;Alessandro is a 29-year-old guy. &#8230; He works as a personal trainer and lives in an apartment with a friend. His hobbies are playing tennis and playing bass guitar. &#8230; His favorite dishes are polenta, salami and mushrooms, and strudel.&#8221;
Vegetarian and vegan men&#8217;s bios, however, claimed their favorite foods were things like fruit, soup, tiramisu, and yogurt.
Women &#8212; even vegetarian women &#8212; rated meat-loving men much higher.
&#8220;We have found that, in the Italian context, females seem to prefer omnivorous over vegetarian males as possible mates, and that this discrimination is stronger among women holding negative attitudes toward vegetarians,&#8221; the researchers wrote.
Another experiment showed that societal and gender norms may have played a role in the attractiveness ratings. The researchers found that men who thought vegetarianism was a feminine trait tended to be meat eaters, and often expected women they dated to order traditionally vegetarian foods like salads.
Obviously, there are problems with the study, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. For starters, this was conducted in Italy, so it might not transfer to American attitudes. It&#8217;s also just one limited study, so we don&#8217;t know if it can &#8212; or will &#8212; be replicated.
The researchers also appeared to want the conclusion that it was society, rather than biology or a desire for strong, healthy mates, that caused women to prefer meat-eaters.
While this is a fun study to share on social media &#8212; or write about &#8212; one should always question such experiments.

STUDY: Women Prefer Men Who Eat Meat

Gender

Vegetarian

An Italian Catholic bishop recently suggested he would be willing to let Islam supplant Christianity if it meant saving migrants.
Speaking <a href="https://www.agi.it/blog-italia/il-papa-pop/matteo_salvini_monsignor_nogaro-4191315/post/2018-07-23/">with reporters</a> earlier this month, the former bishop of Caserta, Raffaele Nogaro, appeared to have misunderstood the command of Christ to &#8220;baptize all nations.&#8221;
&#8220;Morally and as a man of faith I would be willing to turn all churches into mosques if it were useful to the cause and if it helped to save the lives of poor and unhappy men and women, because Christ did not come to earth to build churches but to help men regardless of race, religion, or nationality,&#8221; <a href="https://www.agi.it/blog-italia/il-papa-pop/matteo_salvini_monsignor_nogaro-4191315/post/2018-07-23/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> Nogaro.
Nogaro is either speaking falsity or expressing ignorance with such a statement. Does he not know that the very church he represents is one that Christ himself &#8220;built&#8221;? Regardless of how Protestants and Catholics view Matthew 16:18, the passage inarguably states: &#8220;I will build my church.&#8221;
So, contrary to what Nogaro states, Christ actually did come to earth to build churches, since those churches are the means through which He can &#8220;help men regardless of race, religion, or nationality.&#8221; Without such churches, no vehicle of grace exists, and therefore no offer of help.
Nogaro also said that those who oppose unfettered immigration from the Islamic world are guilty of &#8220;serious sin.&#8221;
&#8220;And instead there are politicians who in their speeches continue to preach of deportations and the worst thing is that they do it with the crown and the rosary in hand and taking the name of God in vain, a very serious sin,&#8221; he said.

Italian Bishop Says He Would Turn Churches Into Mosques To Save Migrants

Catholic Church

On Tuesday, in a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/aquarius-migrant-crisis-mediterranean-italy-france-emmanuel-macron-medicins-sans-frontieres-a8395681.html">staggering display of hypocrisy</a>, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Italy for refusing to accept 600 refugees from the rescue ship Aquarius. Macron stated that Italy was acting &#8220;irresponsibly&#8221; and rejecting its obligations under international maritime law, while the spokesman for his party, Gabriel Attal, told Public Senat TV: &#8220;The Italian position makes me vomit.&#8221;
Yet earlier on Tuesday, the French government <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20180612/france-defends-not-taking-in-aquarius-migrant-boat">rejected the offer</a> from Corsican leaders Gilles Simeoni and Jean-Guy Talamoni, the top politicians on the French Mediterranean island, to accept the refugees. Junior Europe and foreign affairs minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne told Sud Radio, &#8220;[Simeoni] is taking a position without having any responsibility which is easy. What does international law say? They need to go to the port that is safest and closest. And we can see that Corsica is not the closest or the safest. Given the boat&#8217;s location, it is between Italy and Malta.&#8221;
The refugees will be taken by two Italian navy ships to Spain; Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez agreed to take them in.
Italy&#8217;s interior minister Matteo Salvini wrote on Facebook, &#8220;Malta takes in nobody. France pushes people back at the border, Spain defends its frontier with weapons. From today, Italy will also start to say no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration.&#8221;
As The Independent notes, &#8220;Over 35,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, and almost 800 are estimated dead and missing. On average around 220 people a day are thought to leave North Africa on boats bound for European countries including Spain, Italy and Greece.&#8221;
Hungary&#8217;s prime minister Viktor Orban agrees with the Italian stance, saying, &#8220;It was so depressing to hear for years that it is impossible to protect maritime borders. Willpower has returned to Italy.&#8221;

Macron&#8217;s Hypocrisy: Italy Should Accept Refugees, But We Won&#8217;t

France

Could Italy follow Britain&#8217;s lead and exit the European Union? Given the populist nature of the newly sworn-in Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte&#8217;s rise, it&#8217;s at least a possibility.
In Italy&#8217;s recent election, the populist Five Star Movement dramatically <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2018/mar/05/italian-elections-2018-full-results-renzi-berlusconi">outperformed</a> their expectations compared to the multitude of Italy&#8217;s regional parties. The party won the most seats out of any other individual party because their platform focused on environmental sustainability, euroscepticism, and direct democracy. However, the Five Star Movement failed to earn a majority of seats in the legislature, and since they were not part of a party coalition, they&#8217;ve been working to strike a deal with another right-leaning party. Eventually they struck a deal with the League, another populist party, in order to gain control of the government. 
Italy was without a solvent government until Thursday, when President Sergio Mattarella called <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/europe/italy-giuseppe-conte-resume-ntl/index.html">Giuseppe Conte</a>, a law professor with no elected experience, to the Quirinale, Italy&#8217;s presidential palace, and confirmed Conte as the country&#8217;s new prime minister.
This may feel like dejavu because just last week President Mattarella confirmed Conte as Prime Minister, only for Conte to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/27/italys-pm-designate-giuseppe-conte-fails-to-form-populist-government">step down</a> after Mattarella rejected Conte&#8217;s choice for Finance Minister, 81-year old EU critic Paolo Savona. Following Savona&#8217;s rejection, Mattarella had two choices: schedule another election or attempt to appoint his own government and gain consent from the legislature. Mattarella chose the second and appointed Carlo Cottarelli as Italy&#8217;s PM.
In response, the new, populist-party coalition, led by FSM leader Luigi Di Maio and League Leader Matteo Salvini, appealed to their anti-establishment bases by rejecting Cottarelli, calling for Mattarella&#8217;s impeachment and an immediate referendum to remedy the situation. Many thought a later <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/italy-politics-crisis-what-you-need-to-known-2018-5?r=UK&amp;IR=T">referendum</a> would result in an even larger majority for the populist coalition because nothing motivates voters like political ire, which would only increase the chances of Italy leaving the European Union and the Euro. 
However, because the Europhillic president <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/europe/italy-giuseppe-conte-resume-ntl/index.html">confirmed Conte</a> as PM on Friday, along with his reshuffled cabinet, with Di Maio and Salvini in high ministerial roles, that will most likely not be the case, at least not anytime soon. 
What&#8217;s more, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/italian-referendum-leaving-the-eu-article-75-italexit-2018-5">Article 75</a> of the Italian Constitution makes it very difficult to withdraw from the EU by popular referendum. Part of the article states, &#8220;A general referendum may be held to repeal, in whole or in part, a law or a measure having the force of law, when so requested by five hundred thousand voters or five Regional Councils. No referendum may be held on a law regulating taxes, the budget, amnesty or pardon, or a law ratifying an international treaty.&#8221;
Since EU and eurozone membership qualify as international treaties, a constitutional referendum may be necessary in order to make a general referendum on EU membership possible in the first place.
Regardless, with a lot of fresh faces to politics leading Conte&#8217;s government (including Conte himself) who have expressed a desire to withdraw from the European Union, the results of the 2018 elections were a marked step in a possible &#8220;Ital-exit.&#8221;

ITAL-EXIT: Will Italy&#8217;s New Prime Minister Try To Leave The EU?

European Union

Great Britain

Secular culture has benefited Italy to the point of putting them on a collision course for a population collapse by the year 2065 due to the declining birthrate beyond replacement levels.
According to the <a href="https://www.istat.it/en/archivio/214235">Italian Statistics Bureau </a>(ISTAT), Italy&#8217;s population will drop a total of 10% between 2017 and 2065 &#8212; 60.6 million to 54.1 million. &#8220;Taking into account the variability associated with demographic events, the population estimate by 2065 ranges from a minimum of 46.4 million to a maximum of 62,&#8221; they report. &#8220;The chance of a population increase scenario by 2065 is 9%.&#8221;
The news comes as Italy&#8217;s birthrate continues to decline. In 2010, the birthrate stood at 1.46 children per woman; it <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20180208/italy-birthrate-lowest-ever">now stands</a> at just 1.34. Even if the birthrate were to increase in accordance with projections, it &#8220;will not be enough to offset projected deaths,&#8221; according to the analysis:
<blockquote>
In the median scenario, the natural change reaches a value of -200 thousand after a few years of projection, it is then projected to -300 and -400 thousand, respectively, in the medium and long-term.
Fertility is projected to rise from 1.34 to 1.59 children per woman between 2017 and 2065, according to the median scenario. However, uncertainty increases over the projection period. The 90% confidence interval projected to 2065 is rather high and ranges between 1.25 and 1.93 children per woman.
</blockquote>
Attempting to curtail their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11411907/Italy-is-a-dying-country-as-babies-no-longer-replace-people-who-die-says-health-minister.html">below replacement-level</a> birthrates, Italy launched a pro-fertility campaign in 2016 extolling the beauty of parenthood. Predictably, the feminists responded with outrage.
The campaign&#8217;s <a href="http://www.salute.gov.it/portale/news/p3_2_2_1_1.jsp?lingua=italiano&amp;menu=eventi&amp;p=daeventi&amp;id=431">official website</a> stated: &#8220;The first Fertility Day will be celebrated to attract attention to the topic of fertility and its protection &#8230; to underline the danger of falling birth rates in our country&#8221; and promote &#8220;the beauty of maternity and paternity.&#8221; The campaign also promises to provide &#8220;medical help for those people who are having problems conceiving.&#8221;
Having reality smacked in their face in such a spirit didn&#8217;t go over well with feminists. On cue, the buzzwords &#8220;patriarchy&#8221; and &#8220;chauvinism&#8221; were echoing across the cyber-sphere. Writing in Extra NewsFeed, feminist Giulia Blasi went as far as to say that Italy&#8217;s low birthrate somehow stems from their strict abortion policy, accusing the Health Minister Lorenzin of pushing &#8220;a campaign that treats all women as little more than walking <a href="https://extranewsfeed.com/the-fertility-day-fiasco-113991d48870#.eyzylaxh5">incubators</a>.&#8221;
&#8220;[The campaign] is the stuff of dystopian novels and fascist propaganda,&#8221; writes Blasi, &#8220;something Benito Mussolini was quite good at in times when contraception was unavailable and women did not have the right to vote, much less work outside the home.&#8221;
Another group of Italian feminists penned an <a href="http://abbattoimuri.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/fertilityday-lettera-aperta-alla-ministra-lorenzin/">open letter</a> calling Lorenzin&#8217;s campaign &#8220;confusing and dangerous,&#8221; saying it harkens back to a time of &#8220;social and cultural obscurantism that condemned women to secondary roles and functions, in subordination to and dependence on men.&#8221;
Writing for The Guardian, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/annalisa-coppolaro-nowell">Annalisa Coppolaro-Nowell</a> slammed the campaign as not only a sexist onslaught of the oppressive patriarchy, but also a resurgence of Mussolini fascism.
&#8220;It all sounds so similar to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/05/italys-fertility-day-posters-sexist-echoes-of-fascist-past">fascist</a> slogans of the 1930s, when posters on the walls incited women to give more children to the fatherland,&#8221; she laments. &#8220;Many cannot believe that a female minister has launched such a sexist, ageist, anachronistic campaign in a country where many other urgent problems remain to be addressed.&#8221;

Italy Headed For Population Crash By 2065 Thanks To Feminists

Abortion

Feminism

On Monday, before Alder Hey Children&#8217;s Hospital in Great Britain removed the ventilator from two-year-old Alfie Evans at 9:17 p.m., the Italian Embassy in London issued a warning to the hospital, seeing as Italy had <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-43872678">granted the child citizenship on Monday</a> so that he would be allowed to leave the U.K. and seek treatment. Tom Evans, the toddler&#8217;s father, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/23/protesters-storm-hospital-terminally-ill-alfie-evans-parents/">wrote on Facebook</a>: &#8220;Alfie has been granted Italian citizenship. Alfie belongs to Italy.&#8221;
The embassy tried its best:
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WOW. Italian Embassy in London: &#8220;If you remove the ventilator from Alfie Evans, we will file a complaint against you for the murder of an Italian citizen.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/11UGLbhy5h">https://t.co/11UGLbhy5h</a>
&#8212; Mahound&#8217;s Paradise (@MahoundParadise) <a href="https://twitter.com/MahoundParadise/status/988483196361887744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2018</a></blockquote>
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As The Daily Wire<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/29793/breaking-uk-toddler-fights-life-after-hospital-amanda-prestigiacomo"> reported</a> on Monday, &#8220;Alder Hey Children&#8217;s Hospital <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-43872678">claims</a> it&#8217;s not in the boy&#8217;s &#8216;best interests to stay on a ventilator and maintains that further treatment is futile.&#8217; The boy&#8217;s parents, alternatively, wish to continue to fight for their baby&#8217;s life.&#8221;
The Christian Legal Centre, which represents Alfie&#8217;s parents, stated: &#8220;The Italian ambassador has urgently contacted the court with a request for the Italian government to be allowed to intervene in the case and seek the return of their citizen Alfie Evans to Italy.&#8221;
Midday on Monday, Pope Francis tweeted:
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Moved by the prayers and immense solidarity shown little Alfie Evans, I renew my appeal that the suffering of his parents may be heard and that their desire to seek new forms of treatment may be granted.
&#8212; Pope Francis (@Pontifex) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/988496588283826177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2018</a></blockquote>
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All of the pleading was to no avail; the ventilator was removed.
Alfie&#8217;s father Tom tweeted after the removal of the ventilator, &#8220;He&#8217;s been sustaining his own life since 17 minutes past nine. We just need him oxygenated and they are denying us to do that. So, if anyone has any ideas or if anyone can help, feel free. Alfie is still here fighting.&#8221;

Italian Embassy To British Hospital: Remove The Ventilator From Alfie Evans And We Will Accuse You Of Murder

A 29-year-old Nigerian migrant has been <a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2018/02/02/murder-suspect-contempt-for-body-charge-3_97f231cc-e969-45dd-9647-aeebd559a87f.html">arrested</a> in connection with the brutal dismemberment murder of Italian teen Pamela Mastropietro.
Innocent Oseghale was charged with murdering the 18-year-old after her body was found on Wednesday. The girl&#8217;s dismembered body parts were packed in two suitcases and thrown into a dumpster near <a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollenza">Pollenza</a>.
<a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2018/02/02/murder-suspect-contempt-for-body-charge-3_97f231cc-e969-45dd-9647-aeebd559a87f.html">According</a> to ANSA.it, several large knives were found in the Macerata home of Oseghale, Carabinieri police say. Forensic experts also reportedly found blood stains in the apartment.
Mastropietro had a drug problem and was in a drug rehabilitation center in Corridonia until she left the facility on January 29. Her murder is thought to have taken place one day later.
The accused migrant has a number of drug offenses on record, according to police.
CCTV footage helped pin down Oseghale as a suspect, as well as a witness who said he saw the accused carrying the two suitcases.
&#8220;A prosecutor will request that Oseghale remain in jail on Friday in relation to a case that has shocked the nation,&#8221; notes ANSA.it.
Oseghale attempted to accuse two others of the crime, but the men have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The suspect was said to have been &#8220;confused and not very clear&#8221; during questioning. He has denied all charges.

Suspect In Brutal Dismemberment Murder Of Italian Teen Is Nigerian Migrant

Crime

Nutella is good. But is it shove-old-ladies-out-of-the-way good?
In some French grocery stores, yes, yes it is.
Intermarché supermarkets in France were scenes of chaos Thursday as customers competed for 70% discounts on the chocolate hazelnut spread. The grocery chain cut Nutella prices from &#8364;4.50 to &#8364;1.40, or about $5.60 to $1.74.
Shoppers pulled, punched, shoved, and used all means at their disposal to take advantage of the &#8364;3.10-per-jar discount.
A viral <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lesmoutonsrebelles/videos/1179486722154843/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">video</a> reminiscent of a Black Friday gone wrong showed dozens of people pushing each other as they frantically grabbed Nutella jars from crates set on the floor. One shopper told <a href="http://www.leprogres.fr/france-monde/2018/01/26/quand-le-prix-des-pommes-subventionne-le-nutella" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Le Progres</a> newspaper, &#8220;They are like animals. One woman had her hair pulled. An elderly lady took a box on her head. Another had a bloody hand. It was horrible.&#8221;
An Intermarché staffer in Moselle said shoppers piled in and &#8220;knocked everything over and broke stuff. It was an orgy.&#8221;
Le Parisien <a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/intermarche-une-promotion-sur-le-nutella-vire-presque-a-l-emeute-dans-plusieurs-magasins-25-01-2018-7522050.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that police were called to multiple Intermarche locations to break up fistfights.
The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5312737/Nutella-70-sale-sparks-riots-French-supermarkets.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Daily Mail</a> said customers at an Intermarché in Saint-Cyprien &#8220;pounced&#8221; on an employee as he was carrying a crate of Nutella to the shelves. An Intermarché in Montbrison, meanwhile, limited the number of jars per customer to three. Store manager Jean-Marie Daragon said that &#8220;700 pots flew off the shelves in just 45 minutes.&#8221;
Ferrero, the Italian maker of Nutella, criticized Intermarché for offering the doorbuster discount, and said it &#8220;deplores this operation and its consequences, which create confusion and disappointments in the mind of consumers.&#8221;
Intermarché said in a statement that it regrets the &#8220;disagreeable events customers suffered.&#8221;
Consumers worldwide buy hundreds of millions of pounds worth of Nutella per year &#8212; over 800 million pounds in 2013.
This may have been Intermarché&#8217;s last nutty discount, and not just because of Thursday&#8217;s chaos. The day prior, France&#8217;s agriculture minister announced a new bill that would cap promotional food discounts at 34%.

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WATCH: Doorbuster Nutella Discount Sparks &#8220;Orgy&#8221; Of Chaos At French Supermarkets

Black Friday

Capitalism

On Wednesday evening, Italian stadiums where soccer matches were being played <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/26/anne-franks-diary-was-read-in-italian-stadiums-some-fans-turned-their-backs-and-sang-in-protest/?utm_term=.d870cf3bb376">observed a minute of silence</a>, followed by excerpts from Holocaust victim Anne Frank&#8217;s diary being read through loudspeakers. Players wore T-shirts with the slogan &#8220;No to anti-Semitism,&#8221; with a picture of Anne Frank emblazoned on them; copies of Frank&#8217;s diary were distributed to fans in the stadium.
But in Turin, some anti-Semitic fans <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/41755228">protested</a> by turning their backs to the field and singing the Italian national anthem, according to the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/41762423">BBC</a> and Italian media.
More anti-Semitism arose this week in Italy when at least 15 supporters of the Lazio soccer club created and distributed pictures of Anne Frank wearing a rival team&#8217;s jersey, with anti-Semitic banners. Last Sunday, stickers showing Anne Frank and reading &#8220;Roma fans are Jews&#8221; along with more anti-Semitic content were found in Rome&#8217;s Olympic Stadium.
Earlier this year, a judge <a href="http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/17_febbraio_02/calcio-lazio-sentenza-tifosi-lazio-giallorosso-ebreo-gip-razzismo-aa6c7d1a-e975-11e6-9abf-27281e0d6da4.shtml">refused to convict</a> Lazio fans who called rivals &#8220;Jewish&#8221; in order to disparage them; other anti-Semitic slogans connected to the Lazio soccer club were displayed here:
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Non c&#8217;è solo lo scempio degli adesivi di Anna Frank. In una città così piena di romani il calcio dovrebbe esser sospeso, lo diciamo da mo&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/WbyxBTQwcq">pic.twitter.com/WbyxBTQwcq</a>
&#8212; Roma fa schifo (@romafaschifo) <a href="https://twitter.com/romafaschifo/status/922731577507008512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Meanwhile, Lazio&#8217;s ultras fan club encouraged its supporters to boycott Wednesday&#8217;s match; the club defended the anti-Semitic stickers, asserting that it was just &#8220;a few lads joking around,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20171025/lazio-fans-anne-frank-stickers-identified">the Local</a>.

Some Anti-Semitic Italian Soccer Fans Mock Tribute To Anne Frank

Anti-Semitism

Soccer

In language that would make President Donald Trump blush, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has promised to shoot dead anyone who so much as shouts &#8220;Allahu Akbar.&#8221;
Taking a hard line against radical Islamic terrorism in the wake of the <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/19863/terrorist-attack-barcelona-van-rams-crowd-least-2-hank-berrien">fatal Barcelona attack</a> earlier this month, Mayor Brugnaro proclaimed that those who wish to kill innocents in the name of Islam will be sent &#8220;straight to Allah before they can do any damage.&#8221;
&#8220;In contrast with Barcelona, where they had not set up protection, we keep our guard up,&#8221; Burgnaro <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shout-allahu-akbar-and-you-will-be-shot-warns-luigi-brugnaro-mayor-of-venice-z7p79z8gr">told</a> reporters, according to The Times. &#8220;If anyone runs into St Mark&#8217;s Square shouting &#8216;Allahu Akhbar&#8217;, we will take him down. A year ago I said after four steps, now after three. I will say it in Venetian: &#8216;Ghe Sparemo&#8217; (We will shoot him).&#8221;
Though Brugnaro has been mocked by other Italian officials for his blunt message, the mayor seems unfazed, touting his record of keeping his citizens safe.
&#8220;In Venice, we arrested four terrorists who wanted to blow up the Rialto bridge, saying they wanted to go to Allah,&#8221; said Brugnaro, speaking of the arrests that took place in March. &#8220;But we&#8217;ll send them straight to Allah before they can do any damage.&#8221;
As <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/24/we-will-shoot-anyone-who-shouts-allahu-akbar-says-venice-mayor/">noted</a> by The Daily Caller, &#8220;Mayor Dario Nardella of Florence mocked Brugnaro immediately after the speech and ran up to him shouting &#8216;Allahu Akbar,&#8217; while [Mayor Andrea Gnassi of Rimini] took to Facebook to suggest that he could not understand Brugnaro&#8217;s remarks because of his Venetian dialect.&#8221;
Brugnaro remained undeterred. &#8220;I have never been politically correct, I am incorrect,&#8221; he replied. &#8220;I would shoot, we would shoot &#8230; if you want to kill me, maybe I will defend myself.&#8221;

Italian Mayor: We&#8217;ll Shoot Anyone Who Screams ‘Allahu Akbar&#8217;

Radical Islamic Terror

Twenty-year-old U.K. supermodel Chloe Ayling says she was lured to a set-up photo shoot in Milan, Italy, where she was drugged and kidnapped. The model was allegedly held captive for six days and was set to be auctioned-off as a sex slave on the dark web before her captors released her on July 17.
While many of the details surrounding the case remain unclear to police officials, it is suspected that Ayling was freed when her captors realized the young model was a mother.
At least one man has been arrested in connection to the incident.
&#8220;Italian police have confirmed they are looking for at least one other man following the arrest of British-resident Pole Lukasz Pawel Herba, 30, on charges of abduction and illegal imprisonment,&#8221; <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/hunt-accomplices-british-model-italy-kidnap-200153915.html">reports</a> AFP. Per Italian media, Ayling saw at least one other man aside from Herba, and heard three others, though she never saw their faces.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/Gidi_Traffic">@Gidi_Traffic</a> British model Chloe Ayling,20,who was kidnapped in Milan. A suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba,30, arrested <a href="https://t.co/ZPzo9GFYed">pic.twitter.com/ZPzo9GFYed</a>
&#8212; AustynZOGS (@Austynzogs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Austynzogs/status/894213424762277889">August 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Somebody wearing black gloves came up from behind me and put one hand on my neck and the other over my mouth, while a second person wearing a balaclava injected me in my right arm,&#8221; recalled Ayling to police authorities.
&#8220;I think I passed out because when I woke up I only had on my pink chenille body and socks and I realised I was in the boot of a car, bound at the ankle and wrists with my mouth taped up. I was in a luggage bag with only a small gap to breathe through,&#8221; she explained.
Ayling was transferred to a location in a secluded mountain village where she was held for six days, &#8220;spending most of her time handcuffed to furniture while her abductors considered their options,&#8221; notes AFP.
It has been confirmed by police officials that the supermodel &#8220;was injected with the tranquiliser ketamine and said they believe Herba may have been capable of causing her serious physical harm.&#8221;
But police are still unable to confirm the specifics surrounding the case. &#8220;Detectives are unclear as to whether Herba was involved in a credible attempt to auction his victim or if it was an elaborately staged threat intended to extort a ransom from the model&#8217;s agent and family,&#8221; notes AFP. Additionally, it was reported that no one participated in the auction, suggesting Herba might have been incapable of pulling off such an operation.
&#8220;Fantasist or not, what is clear is that he is a very dangerous man who drugged his victim as soon as she was kidnapped and put her inside a large travel bag in the boot of a car,&#8221; Milan deputy prosecutor Paolo Storari told reporters on Saturday.
&#8220;His version of events is barely credible but clearly he does not deny that he was with her for the time she was missing,&#8221; added Storari.
Furthermore, Herba told Ayling he was connected to the &#8220;Black Death&#8221; group, a dark internet group which has previously been suspected to be phony:
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Who are the supposed &#8216;Black Death Group&#8217; linked to the kidnap of British model Chloe Ayling? <a href="https://t.co/4uk4dbfCOX">pic.twitter.com/4uk4dbfCOX</a>
&#8212; Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) <a href="https://twitter.com/VictoriaLIVE/status/894481020694675456">August 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Herba told the model it was against the Black Death&#8217;s code to sell a mother before he released her.
Ayling was set free near the British Consulate on July 17 and Herba was arrested.
The supermodel returned home to London on Sunday and spoke to reporters about the &#8220;terrifying experience.&#8221;
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Chloe Ayling, the British model who was allegedly kidnapped in Italy, has spoken of the &#8216;terrifying&#8217; experience <a href="https://t.co/ZTgVrWTGqZ">https://t.co/ZTgVrWTGqZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/bzTWx6f643">pic.twitter.com/bzTWx6f643</a>
&#8212; ITV News (@itvnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/itvnews/status/894577837990182912">August 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Freed Supermodel Says She Was Drugged, Kidnapped, And Set To Be Sold As Sex Slave

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump journeyed to the Vatican to visit the head of the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis. When the Pope and President Trump stopped for a photo-op, the Bishop of Rome looked rather, well, miserable. 
<img alt height="371" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/one-5.jpg" width="353" />
First, let&#8217;s state the obvious: the photo is hilarious, no matter which side of the aisle you sit on politically. But, in true leftist fashion, anti-Trumpers used the photo to suggest Pope Francis absolutely hates Trump and simply could not contain his disgust for the cameras; <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/05/24/pope_francis_doesn_t_seem_to_like_president_trump_very_much.html">Slate</a>, <a href="http://www.gq.com/story/pope-francis-donald-trump">GQ</a>, and <a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/05/trump-and-miserable-pope-francis-photo-inspires-memes.html">New York Magazine</a>, among others, all ran stories with such a suggestion, focused on selective photos of the Pope not smiling. 
This just isn&#8217;t the case. 
Here&#8217;s are photos of Trump with a smiling Pope, which some have purposefully chosen not to highlight.
<img alt height="467" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/melania_trump_donald_trump_pope_francis_gi_4_0.jpg" width="780" />
<img alt="Pope Francis meets United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican. " height="468" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/melania_trump_donald_trump_pope_francis_gi_3.jpg" width="780" />

And here&#8217;s the Pope with President Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry with the same non-smiling face he has in the now-viral photo with Trump, what I&#8217;ve dubbed &#8220;Resting Pope Face.&#8221; Clever, I know. 
<img alt height="314" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/obama_kerry.jpg" width="506" />
<img alt height="287" src="https://dw-wp-dev.imgix.net/2019/09/obama_pope.jpg" width="508" />
Of course, President Trump and the Pope <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/08/pope-francis-walls-bridges-donald-trump">had words</a> about walls and borders during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the Pope clearly holds a strongly progressive stance on man-made Climate Change, but the &#8220;Trump is so evil, even the Pope hates him&#8221; is silly.
And let&#8217;s also note, while Pope Francis <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/24/pope-francis-presents-trump-with-a-politically-loaded-gift-his-encyclical-on-climate-change/?utm_term=.7c6ea0c0e28d">gave</a> the POTUS a signed copy of his work addressing man-made Climate Change at his Wednesday meeting, His Holiness <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/barbara-boland/obama-gives-pope-vegetable-seeds-francis-gives-obama-writings-morality">gave</a> then-President Obama a copy of Evangelii Gaudium, a book on morality, covering the horror of abortion, when they met back in 2014. 
In other words, this is just the Pope being the Pope, not hating on no-good, terrible Trump.

FAKE NEWS: The Left Says The Pope Won&#8217;t Smile With Trump. Nope.

Barack Obama

Donald Trump

Pope Francis

Quick guessing game. Who said this: &#8220;The shift to a cleaner energy economy won&#8217;t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children&#8217;s children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did.&#8221;
Did you say Barack Obama in his <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/28/president-barack-obamas-state-union-address">State of the Union address</a> in 2014?
Good for you!
Okay, who said this: &#8220;If there&#8217;s one thing I would like to see, it&#8217;d be for us to be able to price the cost of carbon emissions.&#8221;
Did you say Barack Obama in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/opinion/sunday/friedman-obama-on-obama-on-climate.html?_r=0">June, 2014</a>?
Clever you.
How about this: &#8220;There&#8217;s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.&#8221;
Obama, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/23/remarks-president-un-climate-change-summit">September, 2014</a>, you say.
Why, there&#8217;s no stumping you!
Well, then here&#8217;s a tough one: who flew this week on a private jet into Tuscany, Italy, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4524300/The-Obamas-arrive-Tuscany-five-days-villa.html">surrounded by six additional military jets</a> as he and his wife took a vacation?
You must be getting tired of the same answer.
But Obama&#8217;s not tired of his astonishing hypocrisy; not yet at least; as <a href="https://heatst.com/politics/obama-speaks-on-global-warming-then-spews-co2-with-private-jet-13-car-motorcade/">Heat Street </a>points out, &#8220;In just his trip back and forth to Italy, for his presentation and his vacation, Barack Obama has emitted more than 16 metric tons of carbon &#8211; just <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428120658.htm">shy of what an average American emits in a </a><a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428120658.htm">year</a>. Add to that the motorcade, the internal travel in Italy, and, of course, the villa, and Obama and his wife have easily emitted more carbon in one single week than most Americans will in 2017.&#8221;
Well, we&#8217;ll just have to take him at his word that he cares, as when he asserted last week at his IIPS keynote, &#8220;When it comes to climate change, the hour is almost upon us. I do not believe that this planet is condemned to ever-rising temperatures. I believe these are problems that were caused by man and can be solved by man.&#8221;
Just don&#8217;t ask him to personally contribute to the solution.

Obama Hates Global Warming. So Why Is He Contributing To It?

Climate Change

Global Warming

Last Wednesday night, an Italian television reporter and her cameraman were allegedly assaulted by refugees as she walked through the central train terminal in Rome.
A video of the incident that has now gone viral shows Francesca Parisella, a reporter for the Italian TV network Matrix, speaking to Matrix news anchor Nicola Porro about the refugees from Africa sleeping outside the terminal.
Parisella was in the midst of explaining that the refugees were waiting to travel to Milan, where they could then migrate to other European countries, when the camera dropped as she said, &#8220;We&#8217;ve been assaulted.&#8221;
Pirro immediately asked, &#8220;What&#8217;s happening, Francesca?&#8221;
Parisella: &#8220;They assaulted us.&#8221;
Pirro: &#8220;Get out of there! Don&#8217;t worry!&#8221;
Then Parisella screamed at the refugees assaulting her, &#8220;What do you want? What do you want? You&#8217;re crazy!&#8221;
Pirro warned, &#8220;Oh, God. Francesca, get out of there,&#8221; before instructing his producers to call the police.
When the live feed resumed, Parisella was talking from inside a cab.
Video <a href="https://www.facebook.com/matrixcanale5/videos/432355660466922/">posted to the official Matrix news network Facebook page</a> corroborated the events in the YouTube video.
The <a href="https://vladtepesblog.com/2017/05/05/matrix-correspondant-assaulted-on-air-at-station-terminal/">Vlad Tepes blog</a> transcribed the report in il Giornale:
<blockquote>
As soon as Nicola Porro connected with his correspondent around 11:30 pm at the Station Terminal of Rome to document the situation of the campers who congregate there at night, Francesca Parisella had just enough time to begin the connection before announcing, &#8220;They have assaulted us.&#8221; With the camera weaving, it was understood that the journalist and her cameraman were fleeing and the voice of the reporter changed in tone into an actual cry of fear. A few minutes later, Porro, from the studio, explained that, &#8220;Francesca is upset but well. They have destroyed the camera and beaten the cameraman. A situation such as this evening&#8217;s should not be a report from a war zone. Thanks to a taxi driver, a much worse outcome was avoided.&#8221; The version was confirmed by Parisella herself, by telephone shortly thereafter. &#8220;We were at a distance to report on the type of welcome we can give; they were disturbed and they assaulted us. They chased me and grabbed me by the jacket,&#8221; explains the journalist.
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Here&#8217;s the cab driver who saved her:
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Tra poco a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Matrix?src=hash">#Matrix</a> ospite Roberto, il tassista eroe che ha soccorso la nostra <a href="https://twitter.com/FParisella">@FParisella</a> durante l&#8217;aggressione alla stazione <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Termini?src=hash">#Termini</a> <a href="https://t.co/p6XokT5Klg">pic.twitter.com/p6XokT5Klg</a>
&#8212; Matrix (@MatrixCanale5) <a href="https://twitter.com/MatrixCanale5/status/861348557542109188">May 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Video of the incident below:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2lhq0cT42RU" width="560"></iframe></div>
H/T <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/05/08/horrifying-video-shows-refugees-attacking-female-italian-reporter-live-on-air/">The Blaze</a>

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