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☆ Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, son of Italy's last king, dies aged 86
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, the only son of Italy's last king, who lived in exile in neighbouring Switzerland for most of his life, has died aged 86 at his home in Geneva, a note by the Royal House of Savoy said. Vittorio Emanuele was eventually acquitted of the killing in a French court in 1991 and given a suspended sentence for illegal possession of a rifle. Vittorio Emanuele disputed the authenticity of the video. His grandfather, King Victor Emanuel III, abdicated in favour of his son Umberto just before the 1946 referendum in a final, futile attempt to save the monarchy. Vittorio Emanuele is survived by his wife and his son, Emanuele Filiberto, who said in 2023 that he would renounce his claim to the Italian throne in favour of his daughter, Vittoria, when he felt she was ready for the challenge.

Persons: Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Italy's, of Savoy, Umberto II, King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele, Pope John Paul, Benito Mussolini, Dirk Hamer, Hamer, Vittorio Emanuele's, Shah, Marina Doria, King Victor Emanuel III, Umberto, Maria Jose, Emanuele Filiberto, Vittoria Organizations: Royal, Fascist, Netflix, Italian Agusta Locations: Switzerland, Geneva, Italian, Naples, Rome, Corsican, Potenza, Swiss, Lake Geneva, Iran, Tehran, Italy

☆ An Italian Holocaust Survivor Asks if She Has ‘Lived in Vain’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, Liliana Segre visited Italian classrooms to recount her expulsion from school under Benito Mussolini’s anti-Semitic racial laws, her doomed attempt to flee Nazi-controlled Italy, her deportation from Milan’s train station to the death camps of Auschwitz. Her plain-spoken testimony about gas chambers, tattooed arms, casual atrocities and the murders of her father, grandparents and thousands of other Italian Jews made her the conscience and living memory of a country that often prefers not to remember. Now she is wondering if it was all wasted breath. “Why did I suffer for 30 years to share intimate things of my family, of my pain, of my desperation? Why?” Ms. Segre, 93, with cotton-white hair, a steel-cage memory and an official status as a Senator for Life said last week in her handsome Milan apartment, where she sat next to a police escort.

Persons: Liliana Segre, Benito Mussolini’s, Ms, Segre, “ I’ve, Vladimir V, Putin, Hitler, ” Organizations: Life, Hamas Locations: Nazi, Italy, Milan’s, Auschwitz, Milan, Israel, Gaza, Europe, Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany

☆ Politically motivated 'swatting' incidents reveal how common anti-government terrorism is becoming, expert warns
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

She told Business Insider that the increasing spate of swatting attempts is an intensification of anti-government extremism plaguing the country. An FBI report reviewed by CBS indicated there may be more than 500 recorded swatting calls nationwide since May of 2023. "These are tactics that terrorists have used in the past to disseminate chaos and fear with fake bomb threats — they're not new tactics," Ben-Ghiat told BI. "The thing about these threats is, whatever form they're taking, they normalize the idea of threatening public officials," Ben-Ghiat told BI. Advertisement"That's what Trump does 24/7, hammering the idea 'We're coming for you, don't resist, we're coming for you,'" referring to his administration and supporters, Ben-Ghiat told BI.

Persons: —, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Sen, Rick Scott of, Michelle Wu, Arthur Engoron —, Donald Trump —, Ruth Ben, Ghiat, Strongmen, Mussolini, they're, Ben, Trump, they'll, isn't, Andrew Thomas Finch, Casey Viner, Shane Gaskill, Gaskill, Viner, Tyler Barriss, Brian, he'd, Finch, Barriss, Donald Trump's, he's, Utah Sen, Mitt Romney, who've, autocrats, swatting, aren't, Liz Cheney, they've, that's Organizations: Service, Business, Georgia, Boston, New York University, FBI, CBS, Wichita, Gaskill, Republicans, Fifth, MSNBC, Trump, Ben, Wyoming, Republican Party, GOP Locations: Rick Scott of Florida, York, Utah, Ben

☆ Ambiguous Italian Court Ruling on Fascist Salute Delights Extreme Right
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Crispian BalmerROME (Reuters) - Performing a stiff-armed fascist salute is not a crime in Italy unless it risks sparking violence or is aimed at reviving the fascist party, the Supreme Court has ruled in a verdict that delighted extreme-right groups. The Supreme Court was called to review the issue following a 2016 event in Milan where eight militants were arrested for making fascist salutes. However, the Supreme Court left open the door to future prosecutions given Italy's inconclusive legal framework. "The only sure thing is that you cannot create a fascist party. 'ETERNAL COMPROMISE'Italy's main piece of legislation against promoting fascist propaganda is the so-called Scelba Law of 1952 which prohibits any "movement or group of people ... pursuing anti-democratic ends associated with the fascist party".

Persons: Crispian Balmer ROME, Benito Mussolini, Thursday's, Francesco Filippi, Mussolini, Alessandro Sallusti, Crispian Balmer, Alison Williams Organizations: Court Locations: Italy, Rome, Milan

☆ Opinion | What Trump Voters Understand About the Economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Roger Lowenstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Why is Donald Trump continuing to poll so strongly with voters? As unpalatable as a second Trump term would be, many pundits who tackle this question have ignored a striking fact: The typical household’s living standard improved during the three Trump years before the pandemic. The old saw that Mussolini got the trains to run on time should not be understood as an endorsement. But it is one thing to loathe Mr. Trump and hope for his defeat. The leitmotif in such arguments is that blue voters are rational political actors voting on merit while Trump is appealing primarily, if not exclusively, to irrational semi-citizens devoid of even self-interested calculation.

Persons: Donald Trump, Biden, Mussolini, Mr, Trump, ” Organizations: Trump, Survey, Consumer Finances

☆ Video of crowd’s fascist salute in heart of Rome rattles Italy – but not its prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The MSI party grew from the ashes of Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party after it was dismantled at the end of World War II when the dictator was deposed and killed. Gotor and Rocca laid a wreath at a monument to the fallen activists, but left before the fascist salute was carried out, their offices told CNN. Nor are fascist memorabilia or gestures like the fascist salute illegal, something that critics say must change. A witness who lives on the street where the commemoration took place told CNN that it happens every year, including with the fascist salute. Berizzi said that “in this moment neo-fascist groups feel protected by Meloni’s silence, her ambiguity.

Persons: Rome, Giorgia Meloni, Franco Bigonzetti, Francesco Ciavatta, Stefano Recchioni, “, ”, Benito Mussolini’s, Meloni, Francesco Rocca, Miguel Gotor, Gotor, Rocca, Elly Schlein, ” Schlein, Noemi Di Segna, Antonio Tajani –, Silvio Berlusconi –, Meloni wasn’t, ” Maria Calderone, ” Paolo Berizzi, Berizzi, Ewan MacPhee, ” MacPhee Organizations: Rome CNN, Italian, Acca, Italian Social Movement, MSI, Fascist Party, Democratic Party, CNN, ”, Union of Italian, Forza Italia, Facebook, La Repubblica, Italy’s, Operations, Social Democrats Locations: Rome, Italy, Lazio, “, Italian, Germany, Europe, Ukraine, Strasbourg

☆ Vatican fleet is going all-electric with VW supplying the cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The first two vehicles, both VW ID.3 compact electric cars, have already been delivered to the Vatican, VW said. In a separate announcement, the Holy See also pledged to build a charging network within Vatican City and in other areas it controls. The Vatican referred to VW as its first strategic partner in the process to make its fleet carbon neutral. The electrification of its fleet is among a number of projects Vatican City is undertaking to reduce its overall carbon emissions. Contained within the Italian city of Rome, it gained its independence in 1929 through a treaty signed with the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

Persons: VW, Pope, Benito Mussolini Organizations: CNN, Vatican, VW, Volkswagen, Catholic Church Locations: Vatican City, Vatican, Italian, Rome

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the White House initiative on climate change, at the White House in Washington, November 14, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Brenner Acquire Licensing RightsSAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday attacked former President Donald Trump for using the word "vermin" to refer to his political enemies, saying it echoed the language of Nazi Germany. Biden said Trump's comments echoed language heard in Nazi Germany in the 1930's. "Trump also recently talked about quote, 'the blood of America is being poisoned'... Again, echoes the same phrases used in Nazi Germany." Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, has previously rejected the comparisons to Nazis, Hitler and Italy's Mussolini.

Persons: Joe Biden, Tom Brenner, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden, Trump's, he's, autocrats, Steven Cheung, Hitler, Italy's Mussolini, Cheung, Trevor Hunnicutt, Nandita Bose, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: White, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Tuesday, Republican, Trump, Thomson Locations: Washington, Nazi Germany, New Hampshire, America, San Francisco

☆ Trump’s extreme rhetoric conjures the prospect of a presidency like no other
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Donald Trump is promising a second presidency that would be an aberration in American history. And Trump’s ambitions should be taken seriously because one year from the election, President Joe Biden’s reelection hopes are far from secure. He dehumanizes his political enemies, has discredited the legal, political and electoral system, has demonized the press and has targeted vulnerable members of society, minorities and immigrants, as scapegoats. With questionable historic comparisons, Trump’s critics only fuel his bid to provoke the outrage that is essential to his political appeal. Nikki Haley have only criticized Trump obliquely, understanding there’s no market in the modern Republican Party for confronting Trump’s lawlessness.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden’s, “, ” Trump, ”, “ Donald Trump parroted, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Ammar Moussa, he’s, he’ll, else’s, Biden, —, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, there’s, Bob Dole, Mitt Romney, institutionalists, Republican Party isn’t reining, Trump’s, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, …, Mark Milley, who’s, Jack Smith’s, –, Abraham Lincoln’s, George Washington’s, ” Smith Organizations: CNN, White, Veterans, Trump, New York Times, Republican, Democratic, Capitol, Republican Party, GOP, Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, Justice Department, Conservative Political, Conference, Univision, Joint Chiefs, Staff, NBC News, MSNBC, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Locations: New Hampshire, Gaza, Ukraine, China, Russia, Europe, America, South Carolina

☆ Biden campaign says Trump echoed Hitler with use of word 'vermin'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Claremont, New Hampshire, U.S., November 11, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's 2024 re-election team on Monday said former President Donald Trump had embraced the language of Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler by using the word "vermin" to refer to his political enemies. "Donald Trump thinks he can win by dividing our country. Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, rejected the comparisons to Hitler and Italy's Mussolini. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates also said Trump's use of the word "vermin" echoed Hitler and Mussolini.

Persons: Donald Trump, Brian Snyder, Joe Biden's, Adolf Hitler, Trump, autocrats, Donald Trump parroted, Benito Mussolini –, Biden, Ammar Moussa, he’ll, Steven Cheung, Hitler, Italy's Mussolini, Cheung, Andrew Bates, Mussolini, Bates, Tim Naftali, Naftali, Nathan Layne, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, Veterans, Trump, White, Republican, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, Thomson Locations: Claremont , New Hampshire, U.S, Nazi German, New Hampshire, Wilton , Connecticut

☆ Italy drafts plan for direct election of prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Italy suffers from chronic political instabilityCabinet seen discussing proposed reform on FridayBroad majority needed to avoid referendumROME, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and top ministers on Monday backed a constitutional reform proposal introducing the direct election of the prime minister, in an effort to end the country's chronic political instability. Meloni made constitutional reform a key policy plank of her right-wing coalition after winning power in September last year. Italy has had almost 70 governments since World War Two, more than twice the number in Britain and Germany. Matteo Renzi, who stepped down as premier after his failed reform in 2016, said his small centrist Italia Viva party would be ready to back the direct election of the prime minister. The prime minister need not necessarily be an elected politician.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, Benito Mussolini's, Matteo Renzi, Angelo Amante, Gavin Jones, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Italian, Monday, Star Movement, Democratic Party, Italia Viva, Thomson Locations: Italy, ROME, Britain, Germany

☆ Opinion: Oxi Day: The true story of how Greece helped defeat the Nazis
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Opinion Christopher Cosmos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

To fully understand the quote, though, it’s necessary to start further back, in the hours before the invasion and fighting began. Adolf Hitler himself, as Chancellor of Germany and leader of the Axis Powers, had no intention of invading Greece. The German invasionEven though Greece had defied the odds and beaten the Italians when no one thought they could, they wouldn’t be able to defeat the combined Italian and German forces. Join us on Twitter and FacebookOxi Day celebrates the path of bravery, unity, and freedom over the path of fascism, tyranny, and lies. Most of all, Oxi Day is a day that celebrates sacrifice of the highest order by the Greek people during WWII, and all those who fought in Greece alongside them.

Persons: Christopher Cosmos, Winston Churchill, Christopher Cosmos Christopher Cosmos, Ioannis Metaxas, Emanuele Grazzi, Grazzi, Metaxas, “, c’est, oxi, Benito Mussolini’s, Adolf Hitler, he’d, Mussolini, Count Galeazzo Ciano, “ Hitler, Zeus, Alexandros Papagos, Mark Mazower, Hitler, Napoleon, Basileus Leonidas, –, it’s, Wilhelm Keitel, ”, hasn’t, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, that’s what’s Organizations: Facebook, CNN, British, Italian, German, Allies, America, Nuremberg, Russia, Twitter Locations: Grand Rapids , Michigan, Greece, Italian, French, Albania, North Africa, Britain, London, United Kingdom, Italy, America, Athens, Germany, Russia, Thermopylae, Crete, Soviet Union, It’s

It was seen on taking power as the country's most right-wing since wartime dictator Benito Mussolini, as Meloni's Brothers of Italy party traces its roots to the post-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). At home she pleased her rightist grassroots through measures to defend the traditional family, protect Italy's cultural heritage and try to stem migrant arrivals. That makes it harder for Meloni to keep her tax-cutting promises and makes Italy's debt, equal to 140% of national output, vulnerable to market sell-offs. Last week Meloni weathered the first of several reviews on Italy's debt when S&P Global Ratings confirmed the country's BBB rating with a stable outlook. COMMANDING POSITIONAt home Meloni has so far avoided the domestic political chaos that dogged so many of her predecessors.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Juan Medina, Meloni's, Meloni, Benito Mussolini, Valentina Meliciani, Andrea Giambruno, Meliciani, Italy's, Ukraine Meloni, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, Giovanni Orsina, Angelo Amante, Giselda, Gavin Jones, Alex Richardson Organizations: Italy's, REUTERS, Western, Coalition, Italian Social Movement, EU, Ukraine, Democratic Party, Star Movement, League, Forza Italia, Analysts, Thomson Locations: Granada, Spain, ROME, EU, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Rome, Brussels, Africa

Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesThe first woman to be Italy's premier, Meloni "won out against Salvini and Berlusconi. Fears for Italy's democracy have proved to be “exaggerated,’’ said Franco, who noted that Italy's president serves as a guarantor of the republic's post-war constitution. Meloni contends the rulings support a long-held belief on the political right that Italy’s magistrates sympathize with the left. Since becoming premier, Meloni has topped surveys of eligible voters, hovering near 30% — compared to the 26% of votes her party garnered in the 2022 election. Currently, Italy's president asks someone likely able to command a parliamentary majority the task of forming a government.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, —, Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin, Meloni, Salvini, Berlusconi, Massimo Franco, ”, Tommaso Grossi, Ursula von der Leyen —, Joe Biden, ’ ’, Franco, it’s, ” Meloni, Von der Leyen, ″, Roberto Calderoli, Antonio Tajani, Tajani, Meloni’s, “, ″ Grossi, nostalgists, Benito Mussolini, Di Segni, Mussolini, Raf Casert Organizations: ROME, Union, European Commission, EU, Kyiv, Russia’s, Forza Italia, European Policy, White, Italian Rai, European Union, “, Union of Italian, Nazi, Associated Locations: Italy’s, Europe, Italy, Brussels, Rome, Hungary, Poland, Meloni, Ukraine, Lampedusa, Libyan, Tunisia, Italian, Israel, Nazi

☆ ‘Roman Stories’ Review: Eternal, Uncertain City
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Liesl Schillinger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Photo: Matteo Nardone/Pacific Press/AlamyWhat does it mean to be “a Roman” in the 21st century? But the narrator of the last story in Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection “Roman Stories” has a personal stake in this question. She is an American professor in her 50s who was pulled to Rome as a young woman by a fascination with the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (whose name provides the story’s title). After marrying a Roman, she ended up staying in the city for decades. At her mother-in-law’s funeral, she wonders: Had her long residence made her a Roman?

Persons: Matteo Nardone, Virgil, Aeneas, Caesar, Mussolini, Fellini, Sophia Loren, ”, Dante Alighieri, she’d, “ Organizations: Pacific Press Locations: American, Rome, Italian, America

☆ Meloni’s Italian job is a lesson for EU’s right
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

This is particularly true of Meloni’s surprise decision in August to tax what she called “unjust profits” by domestic banks. Ill-fated tax credits for building renovations introduced by a previous executive are expected to balloon to up to 150 billion euros, UniCredit analysts reckon. That’s 30 billion euros higher than what the current government predicted in April, or around 1.5% of GDP. That’s Meloni’s biggest Italian lesson for parties like Vox and AfD. CONTEXT NEWSThe Italian Treasury will present new economic targets on Sept. 28, which will be the framework for the country’s 2024 budget.

Persons: Spain’s, Benito Mussolini’s “, Rome ”, Ursula von der Leyen, Meloni, Vladimir Putin, –, Silvio Berlusconi, Matteo Salvini – Meloni, ”, Mario Draghi’s, it’s, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Liz Truss, Meloni’s, Vox, Giorgia Meloni, Francesco Guerrera, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, NATO, European Union, EU, Commission, Economy, Italian Treasury, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, Ukraine, Kyiv, China, Greece, Brussels, British, Italian

☆ Her son was an accused cult leader. She says he was a victim, too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

The man talking on the tape was her son, Michael Protzman. Michael Protzman got swept up in this alternate reality. We spoke to dozens of Americans whose lives and families have been affected by conspiracy theories, including Protzman’s own family. After Michael Protzman died this summer, some of his followers refused to believe he had passed. Vigrass never imagined that the conspiracy theories her brother was airing at the kitchen table could lead to him to join what she views as a cult.

Persons: CNN’s, O’Sullivan, Anderson Cooper, CNN —, “ John John, … Trump, Joe Kennedy, George Patton, Mussolini … ” Colleen Protzman, Michael Protzman, ”, “, John F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Junior —, “ He’ll, Trump, Jesus Christ, reemerge, opportunists, Protzman, Michael Brian Protzman, Michael “, Colleen Protzman, Michael, it’s, Sandy, ” Colleen Protzman, —, QAnon, Barack Obama, Rachel Maddow, Donie O'Sullivan, Michal Protzman, didn’t, JFK, Erica Vigrass, Jason, Erica, ‘ I’m, ’ ” Protzman’s, – Protzman, Erica Vigrass ’, Vigrass, ” Protzman, Jason –, They’re, Jesselyn Cook, It’s, Diane Benscoter, General, ” Benscoter Organizations: JFK, CNN, Dealey, Junior, Junior — JFK, WFAA, JFK Jr, Trump, Kennedys, Democratic Party, Michael Protzman CNN, Dallas CNN, Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Capitol, Facebook, Twitter, Hollywood, Unification Church, US Locations: United States, Dallas, JFK, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, Dealey, –

☆ Opinion: Rupert Murdoch helped wreck media — and politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Opinion David Zurawik | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Few media figures in the last 27 years have had a larger and more profound effect on American political and media life than Rupert Murdoch. Ailes, who helped Richard Nixon get elected president in 1968, specialized in the political use of media. Again, Murdoch is not the only reason for the lack of trust in the media and the flood of disinformation and misinformation. I have been writing about Murdoch and Fox since the 1980s, and have observed that Murdoch was more concerned about money than ideology. In a commercial sense, Murdoch is an incredibly successful media figure.

Persons: David Zurawik, Rupert Murdoch, David Zurawik Mich Rouse, Murdoch, Lachlan, Murdoch’s, Roger Ailes, Richard Nixon, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Mark Zuckerberg, James Organizations: Goucher College, Baltimore Sun, CNN, Fox and News Corporation, Murdoch’s Fox News, Democrats, Fox News, Murdoch, Capitol, Fox, Facebook, Media, Sport Committee Locations: Australia, America, Europe, Germany, Italy, American, Elon Musk’s

☆ New Vatican letter suggests Pope Pius XII knew about the Holocaust as early as 1942
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A newly-uncovered Vatican 1942 letter suggests that then-Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi genocide. Pope Pius XII had already been scrutinized for his negotiations with Nazi Germany. Pope Pius XII was afraid Hitler would winGalerie Bilderwelt/Getty ImagesThe relationship between Pope Pius XII and Nazi leadership, especially Adolf Hitler, has long been uncovered and brought Pius under scrutiny, suggesting the pontiff was probably aware of Leiber's correspondence with König. "Pius XII was afraid of, certainly in the first years of the war, that the Nazis were going to win. The beatification process for Pius XII, which started in 1967, has been delayed because of his controversial choices during World War II.

Persons: Pope Pius XII, Sera, Pope, Pius, David Kertzer's, Giovanni Coco, Corriere, Robert Leiber, Lothar König, Hitler, Adolf Hitler, Pius XII, Mussolini, David Kertzer Organizations: Nazi, Service, The Guardian, Nazi Jesuit, Galerie, PBS Locations: Nazi Germany, Wall, Silicon, Germany, German, Polish, Rava, Ukraine, Belzec, Nazi, Poland, Auschwitz, Dachau, There's, Europe

☆ At Venice Film Festival, Trapped Women and Controlling Men
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Jessica Kiang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The press room at the Venice Film Festival has to be the most beautiful film festival press room in the world. On a clear day — which it almost always is — you imagine that, were it not for the curvature of the earth, you could see forever. Or at least to Croatia. Some of these men were towering real-life figures. In both these cases — and arguably to the detriment of both well-made but strangely evanescent films — the portrayal of genius pales in comparison to the portrait of a woman who supported and nurtured that genius, even when it threatened to engulf her.

Persons: hunched, Eugenio Miozzi, Penélope Cruz, Michael Mann’s “ Ferrari ”, Adam Driver, Carey Mulligan, Leonard Bernstein’s, Felicia, “ Maestro, ”, Bradley Cooper Locations: Venice, Croatia

☆ Far-right Italian prime minister sues the lead singer of Placebo for calling her a 'fascist' and a 'racist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Italy's far-right prime minister is suing the lead singer of Placebo for calling her a "fascist." At a concert last month, Brian Molko also described Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a "racist." Meloni was a youth activist in a group founded by a member of dictator Benito Mussolini's government. Now, according to press reports, Meloni herself is suing Molko for defamation, the latest in a string of lawsuits against critics. But as a youth activist, Meloni herself praised the country's former fascist dictator saying that, "everything he did, he did for Italy."

Persons: Brian Molko, Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, Benito Mussolini's, Benito Mussolini, Molko, David Broder, Elly Schlein Organizations: Service, BBC Locations: Wall, Silicon, Turin, Italy

☆ Is There a Right Way to Talk About Black Culture?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Ismail Muhammad | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

At its best “Dark Days” is the record of an intellectual life sustained by the Black vernacular. In the essay “Reading Fire, Reading the Stars,” Reeves recounts learning how to be a critic in the Pentecostal church. “Profligacy” is the key word here: With a nod to Hartman’s explorations of “wayward” lives and the presumed promiscuity of Black urban culture, Reeves reframes promiscuity as an aesthetic and intellectual virtue. In Reeves’s hands profligacy becomes an ethical necessity: Everything must be thought of in relation to what it shares space with. Recounting a trip to speak with students at a Native school, he feels his status as a stranger among strangers.

Persons: ” Reeves, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Louis Till, Emmett Till’s, Ezra Pound, Mussolini, Hitler, Virgil, Dante, Reeves, Michael K, Williams, Solmaz, profligacy, ” Locations: ”

☆ Once Wary, Biden to Host Italy’s Meloni at the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Peter Baker | More About Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In forming a coalition government after last September’s elections, Ms. Meloni became the first far-right nationalist to lead Italy since Benito Mussolini. Like the former president, Ms. Meloni came to office with a long record of skepticism of Western alliances. But Ms. Meloni has shown that she is in charge when it comes to Ukraine. To Washington’s delight, Ms. Meloni has been drawing away from China. Valbona Zeneli, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, said Western leaders misjudged Ms. Meloni after her election.

Persons: Brothers, Meloni, Benito Mussolini, Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, “, Viktor Orban, Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi, ” Mr, Berlusconi, Vladimir V, Putin, Valbona Organizations: Conservative Political, Conference, Council’s Locations: Italy, Italian, United States, Germany, France, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, China, Beijing

☆ The ex-intel officer who testified the US has proof of aliens previously made the wild claim that the Vatican was part of a UFO cover-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An ex-intelligence officer told Congress this week that the US has evidence of "non-human" life. The whistleblower previously made a shocking claim that the Vatican was part of a 90-year cover-up. The Department of Defense has denied that a top-secret program with evidence of alien life exists. Then, shockingly, Grusch said Pope Pius XII "backchanneled that" and the Vatican "told the Americans what the Italians had and we ended up scooping it." He told NewsNation that he's coming forward now because the American people have a right to know that they are being lied to.

Persons: David Grusch, Grusch, that's, NewsNation, Benito Mussolini, Pope Pius XII, Ross Coulthart Organizations: Department of Defense, Service, Air Force, Department of, UAP, Force, Associated Press, NewsNation, Catholic Church, Vatican Locations: Wall, Silicon, Italy

☆ Why are far-right parties on the march across Europe?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Far-right parties are propping up coalitions in Finland and Sweden. Afraid of losing voters to UKIP (and other far-right parties), the governing Conservatives ended up adopting many of its positions. Chesnot/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesConversely, far-right parties have attempted to sanitize some of their rhetoric, hoping to appear a more credible electoral prospect. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesA different type of populismAnd so the recent successes of far-right parties cannot be explained by dramatic shifts in public opinion. A lot depends on the ability of mainstream parties – particularly on the left – to build tents big enough to accommodate their differences, rather than compromising with far-right parties to prop up their coalitions.

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