Tag: italy

Children removed from Australian-British couple living off-grid in Italian forest

The children of an Australian mother living off-grid in an Italian forest have been removed by local authorities, after the family came under scrutiny when they were hospitalised due to eating poisonous mushrooms.

A juvenile court in the Italian city of L’Aquila ruled last week to place the three children of Australian woman Catherine Birmingham and her British husband Nathan Trevallion into protective care.

The court cited poor sanitary conditions at the family’s home in the mountainous Abruzzo region and unauthorised homeschooling of their eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old twin boys, according to AFP.

Ms Birmingham, a life coach and former horse riding teacher from Melbourne, bought the farmhouse in 2021 with Mr Trevallion, a former chef from Bristol.

They were raising the children in the woodlands home without mains electricity, water or gas, relying instead on solar power, well water and homegrown food.

“The members of the Trevallion family have no social interactions, no steady income,” the court said in its written ruling.

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Italy moves to follow European neighbors in banning religious garb like burqas that hide identity

Italy has long been one of Europe’s strongest defenders of religious freedom despite the influence of the Vatican.

But now, the country is poised to outlaw the use of traditional Islamic attire like burqas, a move the government says will strengthen its tradition of religious liberty by requiring all faiths to operate with “full transparency” and within the limits of Italian law.

The proposed law, which is set to be debated in Italy’s parliament before the end of this year, would ban “religiously motivated garments that obscure identity or impose non-transparent forms of [religious] affiliation,” according to a draft of the proposal published in the Italian media.

While the text does not mention Islam or any other faith by name, all indications are that it is primarily aimed at banning the use of headscarves, niqabs, jilbabs, burqas, and other attire that commonly obscure the identity of Muslim women.

The proposal is the latest in a series of steps from the Italian government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to regulate the public expression of religion. Officials insist the plan is part of an effort to modernize the Italian framework on religious practice that has not seen substantial change since the 1980s.

Supporters of the law say that a person’s visible identity – in schools, businesses, or in public – is essential for security and civic cohesion.

“This is not about limiting religious freedom, but about preventing it being used instrumentally in order to justify practices that are incompatible with the principles of our constitution and our society,” Galeazzo Bignami, a member of parliament from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, told reporters last month.

“No community in our country can claim exemptions from the laws of our Republic,” Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said via social media.

Other European countries including France, Belgium, and Austria have issued nationwide restrictions on traditional Islamic garb. And in Italy, local temporary bans on some kinds of Islamic face coverings have appeared on the municipal level, usually on grounds of public order or security. But the new proposal would be the first to be imposed nationally.

Muslim leaders responded with alarm, and some have vowed to appeal the measure if it is enacted.

“This law tells Muslim women they cannot appear in public as themselves,” said Yassine Lafram, head of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy. “It sends a message that we are a problem to be managed rather than citizens with the same rights as other citizens.”

It is unclear whether the proposal will stand up to legal challenges if it becomes a law. Article 19 of the Italian Constitution guarantees the right to “profess one’s faith in any form, individually or collectively.” Critics say that the focus on “transparency” is too vague to merit an exception to that standard.

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Italian Court Orders Google to Restore Banned Catholic Blog

Google has been compelled by the Tribunale di Imperia to restore Messainlatino.it, a major Italian Catholic website that, as you may remember, the company had abruptly taken down from its Blogger platform in July.

The ruling, issued against Google Ireland Limited, the firm’s European branch, also requires payment of approximately €7,000 (about $8,100) in court costs.

The blog’s editor, Luigi Casalini, filed legal action after Google deleted the site without warning, claiming a violation of its “hate speech” rules.

The company’s notification consisted of a short, generic email and provided no explanation or chance to appeal.

For Casalini, whose publication had accumulated over 22,000 articles since 2008 and reached around one million monthly readers, the removal appeared to be less a matter of policy enforcement and more an attempt to silence dissenting religious opinion.

Messainlatino.it was well known for covering issues surrounding traditional Catholic liturgy and had been cited by major outlets.

Following Google’s action, questions were raised in both the European Parliament and Italy’s Chamber of Deputies.

Legislators noted that the deletion “raises serious questions about the respect for freedom of expression, speech and religion” as guaranteed by Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

They also pointed to the Digital Services Act (DSA), which, despite being a censorship law, obliges platforms to apply their moderation policies with “due regard” for fundamental rights.

Casalini’s legal case focused on that provision. He argued that Google’s decision breached Article 14 of the DSA, which calls for a balance between policy enforcement and the user’s right to free expression.

As Casalini stated to LifeSiteNews, “Google acted in this way in violation of the Digital Services Act.”

Google responded through five lawyers based in Milan. The company claimed that an interview with Bishop Joseph Strickland, who opposed the ordination of women as deacons, violated its hate speech policy.

When the defense team countered that the post merely reported the bishop’s words and contained no discriminatory content, Google’s attorneys maintained in court documents that “it does not matter the source, more or less authoritative (bishop, Pontiff) of the post, if it violates the Policy.”

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Tourists ‘paid £70,000 to shoot innocent people in “human safari” hunting trips to Sarajevo – with extra charged to kill children’

Prosecutors in Milan have opened an investigation into Italian tourists who allegedly paid £70,000 to shoot innocent people in ‘human safari’ hunting trips to Sarajevo, with extra charged to kill children.

The wealthy foreign gun enthusiasts are accused of travelling to the city for ‘sniper tourism’ during its four-year siege in the 1990s by Serb-Bosnian militias amid the Bosnian War. 

Between 1992 and 1996, more than 10,000 people were killed in Sarajevo by shelling and sniper fire in the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. 

The tourists, who are understood to have had ties to hard-right circles, allegedly paid members of the Bosnian Serb army for weekend trips to the besieged city where they participated in the massacre of residents for pleasure.

According to the case, they flew from Trieste to Belgrade on the Serbian airline Aviogenex to be ‘weekend snipers’ and join in the bloody siege, reportedly paying between £70,000 and £88,000.

The killing of children cost more, El Pais reported.

The investigation originated from a 17-page legal complaint submitted by Milan-based writer and journalist Ezio Gavazzeni, with the support of former magistrate Guido Salvini and Benjamina Karic, mayor of Sarajevo from 2021 to 2024.

The allegations came to light in the 2022 documentary ‘Sarajevo Safari’ by Slovenian filmmaker Miran Zupanic, who gathered testimonies about the possibility of wealthy Italians and other nationalities paying to travel to Sarajevo to shoot at residents.

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Italy’s anti-Mafia police investigate after a journalist’s car explodes

A car belonging to one of Italy’s leading investigative journalists exploded outside his home overnight, prompting an investigation by Italy’s anti-Mafia authorities and condemnation Friday from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and others. No one was injured.

The explosion late Thursday targeting Sigfrido Ranucci, lead anchor of state-run RAI3’s Report investigative series, occurred on the eighth anniversary of the car bomb slaying of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The investigative program said the explosion was so powerful that it could have killed anyone passing by. Ranucci had just returned home at the time and his daughter had walked by a half-hour before, Report said in a statement. The blast destroyed the car, damaged another family car next to it, as well as the front gate of Ranucci’s home in Pomezia, south of Rome.

Police, firefighters and forensic crews reported to the scene and magistrates from the Rome district of the anti-Mafia police were investigating, Report said. Video shot by Ranucci, who has been under police protection since 2021 because of his hard-hitting investigations, showed the mangled remains of the cars and gate.

Meloni expressed her solidarity with Ranucci and condemned what she called “the serious act of intimidation he has suffered.”

“Freedom and independence of information are essential values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend,” she said in a statement.

In comments to journalists outside the offices of RAI, Ranucci said the explosion was an “escalation” of what he said were two years of threats that he believed were related to Report’s investigations into the links between the Cosa Nostra, ‘ndrangheta and far-right crime groups and notable past Mafia hits.

Asked if the explosion would have a chilling effect on Report’s work, he said his colleagues were used to working under difficult conditions.

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Italian PM Meloni Sends Bill to Parliament Banning Burkas and Niqabs in Public Spaces

Curbing forced marriages is another target of the legislation.

Conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has introduced legislation in Parliament against ‘Islamic separatism’ that, among other things, would institute a ban on the burka and niqab in public places.

The Telegraph reported:

“The prime minister’s ruling Brothers of Italy party put forward a bill imposing fines of between £260 and £2,600 for wearing the face-covering garments in schools, universities, shops and offices.

The party called it a bill against ‘Islamic separatism’ aimed at combating ‘religious radicalization and religiously motivated hatred’.

It introduces criminal penalties for virginity testing, while strengthening punishment for forced marriages by adding religious coercion as grounds for prosecution.”

The bill also lays out transparency rules on the funding of Mosques and other religious organizations.

Muslim organizations must disclose all funding sources, ‘with financing restricted to entities that pose no threat to state security’.

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Rome City Council Seeks Italian Families To Host Migrants Free Of Charge Amid Inclusion Drive

The city of Rome has launched a call for proposals to find families willing to host migrants with valid residence permits in their homes for the next three years.

The tender, valued at €399,000 and open until Sept. 22, seeks an operator to manage the program on behalf of the municipality.

The initiative, announced by the city council, is aimed at “single migrants or single-parent families” who would be welcomed into private homes.

The chosen operator will be responsible for raising awareness, recruiting, and supporting host families, mentors, or social workers, as well as identifying suitable beneficiaries.

The program’s objectives go beyond temporary accommodation.

Over its 36-month duration, it is designed to foster integration, promote independence through employment opportunities, and ultimately guide participants toward securing their own housing.

Officials say the service is intended to provide “a welcoming environment geared toward inclusion and autonomy,” helping young adults in particular to gain independence.

But a key detail in the tender notes that families who host migrants will not receive financial compensation. The city’s Department of Social Policies clarified that “social inclusion expenditures refer exclusively to interventions and measures aimed at service beneficiaries,” meaning migrants themselves. “It follows that reimbursements to families cannot be attributed to this item or to any other type of expenditure and are therefore not eligible,” the department stated.

In practical terms, families who open their doors will have to cover all costs themselves, including food and energy.

While the city insists the program is about solidarity and innovative social inclusion, observers warn that the lack of material support may make it difficult to attract enough host families willing to take part.

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Chinese state-sponsored contract hacker arrested in Italy at US request: DOJ

The US Department of Justice said on July 8 a Chinese state-sponsored contract hacker was arrested last week in Italy at the request of Washington, but the arrested man claimed he is a victim of mistaken identity.

Xu Zewei, 33, was arrested on July 3, the Justice Department said, adding a nine-count indictment was unsealed on July 8 in the Southern District of Texas alleging the involvement of that individual and a co-defendant in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021.

Xu was arrested in Milan, Italy, and will face extradition proceedings, the DOJ said in a statement.

It alleged China’s ministry of state security had directed theft of Covid-19 research and the exploitation of Microsoft email software vulnerabilities.

The Chinese government has denied allegations of being involved. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xu’s lawyer said on July 8 that he is a victim of mistaken identity, that his surname is quite common in China and that his mobile phone had been stolen in 2020.

The 33-year-old IT manager at a Shanghai company appeared on July 8 before an appeals court in Milan, which will decide whether to send him to the United States. The man was arrested last week after he arrived at Milan’s Malpensa airport for a holiday in Italy with his wife.

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Conservative Surrender: Italy and Switzerland Bow to Islamic Pressure, Ban Free Speech Leader Rasmus Paludan

PAY ATTENTION, AMERICA! If you think being in a conservative-led country or a so-called ‘neutral state’ will protect your right to speak out against radical ideologies, think again.

Human rights activist and Islam critic Rasmus Paludan, a Danish-Swedish politician known for his relentless stance on free speech, has once again become the target of government censorship. This time, it happened in Italy, a country supposedly led by conservatives who claim to champion Western values.

Islam – A Subject You Dare Not Speak About

The shocking truth revealed by these incidents is that Islam has become a subject so sensitive that even non-Muslim countries impose blasphemy-like restrictions to appease violent reactions. Rather than confront the problem—an imported crisis fueled by mass Islamic immigration – these countries are instead targeting the critics. It’s safer, they think, to ban the critic rather than face the backlash. This massive problem could have been prevented and even deported, as promised by the supposedly conservative Giorgia Meloni government, which has fallen woefully short of its commitments.

Italy: Conservative-Led, But Not Safe for Islam Critics

Days ago, Rasmus Paludan was stopped at Milan Malpensa Airport and denied entry into Italy. According to Paludan, he was informed by the prefect of Varese that his presence in the country could provoke anger from others. As a result, he was banned from entering Italy for five years.

“I can’t leave the airport. The prefect has decided that since other people will be angry if I’m in Italy, it’s best if I’m not allowed into the country for five years,” Paludan told RAIR Foundation.

This decision raises troubling questions about the state of free speech and the willingness of conservative governments to bow to potential threats instead of upholding the right to criticize any ideology. Instead of deporting the violent threats, Italy finds it easier to block the critic, revealing a cowardly capitulation to potential violence rather than an enforcement of democratic principles.

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Italy Could Be Forced To Grant Citizenship To 2.5 Million Foreigners After June Referendum

Italy will hold a referendum on June 8-9 to decide whether to halve the waiting period for foreigners applying for Italian nationality, the government announced on Thursday.

If approved, the reform would reduce the required residency period to five years, potentially granting citizenship to around 2.5 million foreign nationals.

The referendum was triggered after opposition parties and pro-migrant organizations, including Oxfam Italia, collected more than 500,000 signatures last September, meeting the legal threshold for a public vote.

Despite strong opposition from the ruling Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the government was obligated to set a date for the vote after a ruling from the Constitutional Court in January approved its admissibility.

Currently, foreigners must reside in Italy for at least 10 years before applying for citizenship through naturalization. Children born in Italy to foreign parents are also unable to obtain citizenship until they turn 18.

Proponents of the reform argue that the existing system is restrictive and out of step with other European countries such as Germany, the U.K., Spain, and Portugal, where the naturalization process typically takes five years. 

In France, naturalization is permitted after two to five years, depending on individual circumstances.

The proposal has sparked a heated debate within the Italian government. Prime Minister Meloni, who came to power in 2022 on an anti-migration platform, has consistently opposed changes to the nationality law, calling the 10-year requirement “an appropriate length of time for nationality.”

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the co-governing League Party, shares this stance.

However, the issue has created tensions within the governing coalition. Antonio Tajani, leader of the center-right Forza Italia party and also a deputy prime minister, suggested an alternative proposal last year to grant Italian nationality to children who have completed a continuous 10-year education in the national school system, rather than waiting until they turn 18. However, this idea was never formalized into legislation.

Reviewing the proposal earlier this year, Italy’s top court noted that the change would only affect the required residency period for foreign nationals to apply. Other conditions for naturalization, including a minimum B1 level in Italian, continuous and legal residency in the country, and the absence of a criminal record, will still apply.

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