Now its okay to challenge election results, when Joe Biden doesn’t like the results

2 Peter 3:3-4 says, “In the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’”

Important Takeaways:

  • Joe Biden Trashes Italy’s Giorgia Meloni in Massive Self-Awareness Fail
  • He attacked Giorgia Meloni’s rise, insinuating that what “happened in Italy” illustrated the destruction of “democracy” around the globe.
  • “You just saw what’s happened in Italy in that election. You’re seeing what’s happening around the world. The reason I bother to say that is you can’t be sanguine about what’s happening here either”… “ it is the reason why I’m so concerned about and so interested in and committed to seeing…democratic Governors elected”
  • For those keeping score at home, we are now at the point where Democrats will quite literally claim that a democratic election, voted on by the people, is actually a threat to democracy if the “wrong” people win. In this case, Meloni’s right-wing coalition won an overwhelming victory after Italy’s left ran the country into the ground.
  • Whatever the reason, what Biden is promoting is not “democracy.” It’s authoritarianism wrapped in meaningless fluff disguised as respect for freedom

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Italy’s Risotto is being threatened by lack of rainfall

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Extreme drought threatens Italy’s rice crops—and its beloved risotto
  • Prized rice varieties used for risotto are grown in northern Italy’s normally flooded paddies, but record heat and drought are causing devastation and consternation.
  • Northern Italy is suffering from spiking temperatures and its worst drought in more than 70 years
  • Broad stretches of the Po, Italy’s longest river, have turned to sandy beaches. Its famed lakes, including Maggiore and Como, are also receding. Many canals that branch out of freshwater sources and feed agricultural fields like Saronni’s are now stagnant and drying up.

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Rome Italy: Tiber River water level has fallen extremely low during drought

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Extreme drought brings out underwater ruins of an ancient bridge in Rome!
  • The bridge was built by Roman emperor Nero, during his reign between AD 54 and AD 68. The river had swallowed the iconic bridge long back but then, miracles can happen anytime. The bridge has reappeared now and can be seen right under another iconic bridge in Rome, the Vittorio Emmanuele II.
  • Rome, Italy, is suffering from a severe drought situation.
  • Tiber River has fallen extremely low due to continuous heat waves and no rain.

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Italy consider banning the Unvaccinated

Rev 6:7, 8 NCV When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

Important Takeaways:

  • Italy Considering Completely Banning Unvaccinated From Workplaces
  • The Italian Undersecretary of Health, Andrea Costa “This initiative could create tensions, but the Government’s priority is to return to normalcy and not to close the activities,” Costa said. “We cannot allow the positions of a minority to jeopardize the results achieved to date.”
  • According to Il Giornale, Costa went on to voice support for forcing schools to discriminate between vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
  • “I fully agree with the proposal of the regions which guarantees the presence at school for those who are vaccinated.”
  • Green Pass as a requirement to take part in church services is also to become a battleground for debate.

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Italy gives safe port to 558 migrants rescued at sea

CATANIA, Italy (Reuters) – Italy on Tuesday allowed a charity boat carrying hundreds of migrants rescued at sea to dock in the Sicilian port of Augusta, with another vessel waiting offshore for permission to bring 440 more to land.

The Geo Barents ship, run by charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), took onboard 558 people, mainly Africans, in eight separate operations off the coast of Libya in the last 11 days, the charity said.

They include 174 minors and a woman who is eight months pregnant.

The German charity boat Sea Watch 3 is also seeking a port to disembark 440 migrants it rescued in recent days in the Mediterranean, including women and young children.

“The weather deteriorates … Everyone has the right to disembark, now,” Sea Watch wrote on Twitter.

Italy has seen a sharp increase in boat migrants in recent months with the government struggling to secure an agreement with European Union partners over how to deal with the influx.

As of Dec. 28, 66,482 migrants have reached Italy so far this year against 34,134 in the same period of 2020, interior ministry data show.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Nick Macfie)

San Marino abortion debate heats up ahead of historic referendum

By Angelo Amante and Emily Roe

SAN MARINO (Reuters) – One of Europe’s staunchest opponents to legal abortion could fall on Sunday when San Marino, a tiny and deeply Catholic republic landlocked in Italy, holds a referendum to overturn a law dating back to 1865.

A “Yes” vote will bring some relief for pro-choice supporters further afield who have been dismayed as authorities in countries like Poland and in the U.S. state of Texas have tightened laws.

In the mountainous enclave of 33,000 people, women who end their pregnancies risk three years’ imprisonment. The term is twice as long for anyone who carries out their abortion.

As the campaign enters its final week emotions are running high between traditionalists and the referendum’s promoters, with hard-hitting posters on the medieval streets.

Vanessa Muratori, a member of the San Marino Women’s Union, believes the Sept. 26 plebiscite will crown a personal 18-year battle to give San Marino women the same rights as in Italy, where abortion has been legal since 1978.

“I care about my country and I want it to be civilized,” she says. “I feel like a link in a chain of women’s emancipation that goes beyond San Marino.”

Elsewhere in Europe, the Mediterranean island of Malta, and the micro-states of Andorra and the Vatican City, another Italian enclave, still ban abortion altogether.

Muratori set up a feminist association in 1994 and presented a bill to legalize abortion to San Marino’s legislative council in 2003. It received just two votes in favor and 16 against.

The experience brought home to her the extent of the religion-based resistance to change, and convinced her that a well prepared campaign was needed to win over her compatriots’ hearts and minds.

Success on Sunday will allow abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and thereafter only in the case of the mother’s life being in danger or of grave malformation of the fetus.

SLOW PROGRESS

In Europe’s last referendum on abortion, the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar voted in June to ease what remain extremely strict curbs.

Ireland legalized abortion in a far higher-profile referendum in 2018, while this month the state of Texas went in the other direction, introducing a law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Social progress has always been slow in San Marino.

Women did not get the right to vote until 1960, 14 years after surrounding Italy, and have only been allowed to hold political office since 1974. Divorce was legalized in 1986, some 16 years after Italy.

Nonetheless, Muratori’s Women’s Union, campaigning from a gazebo in a children’s playground near the Italian border, has made inroads into the conservative mentality, and gathered 3,000 signatures to launch the vote, three times more than required.

“From my point of view this referendum shouldn’t even be necessary, choosing whether to have a baby or not should be part of a woman’s human freedom,” said Anita Alvarez, a 20-year-old student.

The ‘No’ campaign is equally determined. Using the slogan “one of us,” its core message is that the unborn child should have the same rights as all San Marino citizens.

Marina Corsi, a pharmacist active with the ‘NO’ committee, said this principle should not be compromised even in cases of rape or the certainty of severe disability for the unborn baby.

“It is not the baby who is guilty in rape cases, it is the rapist who should be punished, not the child,” she said.

As things stand, San Marino women wanting an abortion normally go to Italy, where they can only get one privately, at a cost of around 1,500 euros ($1,766).

“Women are forced to seek healthcare …as criminals because they are rejected by their own state,” said Karen Pruccoli, a businesswoman who is a member of the ‘YES’ committee backing the referendum.

(Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Italy makes COVID health pass mandatory for all workers

By Crispian Balmer and Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) -The Italian government approved on Thursday some of the strictest anti-COVID measures in the world, making it obligatory for all workers either to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection.

The new rules will come into force on Oct. 15 in the latest effort by Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s broad coalition to persuade people to get inoculated and blunt contagion in one of the countries worst-hit by the virus.

Any worker who fails to present a valid health certificate will be suspended on no pay, but cannot be sacked, according to a draft of the decree seen by Reuters. The full details are due to be published later in the day.

People who ignore the decree and go to work regardless will face a fine of between 600 to 1,500 euros ($705-$1,175).

While some European Union states have ordered their health workers to get vaccines, none have made the Green Pass mandatory for all employees, making Italy a test case for the continent.

The pass was originally conceived to ease travel around Europe, but Italy was among a group of countries that swiftly also made it a requirement for those wanting to access venues such as museums, gyms and indoor dining in restaurants.

There have been sporadic protests in Italy in recent weeks against the growing pressure to get a jab, but most political parties as well as the main employers’ federation have backed the move, hoping it will prevent further economic lockdowns.

Union leaders have been more lukewarm, saying tests should be given freely to workers who refuse to be vaccinated, enabling them to remain on the job.

Officials say that would encourage people to continue shunning vaccines. However, a government source said the cabinet would keep a firm lid on prices for tests, imposing a maximum fee of 15 euros for adults.

VACCINES WORK

Italy has the second-highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe after Britain, with more than 130,000 people dying of the disease since the pandemic surfaced in early 2020.

Around 74% of its 60-million-strong population have had at least one COVID-19 shot and 68% are fully vaccinated, figures broadly in line with most other EU countries.

Underscoring the importance of jabs, Italy’s health foundation Gimbe said in a report on Thursday that almost all COVID-19 sufferers currently in hospital were unvaccinated.

The report said vaccines had helped reduce deaths in Italy by 96.3%, hospitalizations by 93.4% and intensive care admissions by 95.7%.

Italy in March ordered health workers to get vaccinated or face suspension. As of today, 728 doctors have been suspended, the doctors’ federation said on Thursday. It was not immediately clear how many nurses or carers had refused to comply.

A similar measure in France came into force on Wednesday. Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday that around 3,000 health workers had been suspended for their failure to get vaccinated.

(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Gavin Jones)

Wildfire breaks out east of Rome, locals evacuated

ROME (Reuters) – Locals were evacuated from small communities around 40 km (25 miles) east of Rome on Friday when a wildfire broke out as the Italian capital faced temperatures of around 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).

Swathes of southern Italy have been plagued by wildfires in recent weeks, with flames ravaging woodland in Calabria, in the toe of the Italian boot, and on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.

Wednesday saw the temperature reach almost 49 Celsius in south-eastern Sicily, reported as the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe.

The heatwave is now moving north and overnight 25 families were evacuated from their homes as fires spread through the nature reserve of Monte Catillo, near the Rome suburb of Tivoli, firefighters said in a tweet.

Around 30 residents of a home for poor children and orphans were also evacuated to escape the flames.

Wildfires also broke out overnight near the town of Otranto, in Italy’s southern heel, firefighters said. A nearby seaside resort was evacuated due to the choking smoke and the coastal road heading south from Otranto was closed to traffic.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday promised financial help for communities hit by the fires, and a plan of action to replant forest areas and make the Italian countryside more resilient to natural disasters.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Angelo Amante and David Holmes)

Italy makes COVID-19 health pass mandatory for teachers

By Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government ruled on Thursday that teachers must have proof of immunity from COVID-19 before entering the classroom, and also made the so-called Green Pass mandatory for travelers on trains, planes, ships and inter-city coaches.

The Green Pass is a digital or paper certificate that shows if someone has received at least one jab, has tested negative or has recently recovered from the coronavirus.

Looking to speed up vaccinations to counter the highly contagious Delta variant, the government had already decreed that from Aug. 6 the pass would be required to eat indoors in restaurants and use an array of services and leisure activities.

On Thursday, despite misgivings in the ruling coalition and small street protests, Mario Draghi’s cabinet widened the Green Pass requirement to all teachers, university students and long-distance transport from Sept. 1.

“The choice of the government is to invest as much as possible in the Green Pass to avoid closures and to safeguard freedom,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told reporters.

Teachers will not be able to work without the certificate and after five days of absence they will no longer be paid.

Italy is following in the footsteps of France, which was the first European country to say it was making proof of immunity mandatory to access a range of services and venues.

The move by President Emmanuel Macron triggered larger protests than those that have been seen in Italy. Opponents of the measures say they trample on freedoms, discriminate against the unvaccinated, and flout European Union rules.

On Thursday France’s top court ruled that the health pass did not contravene the constitution.

Italy reported 27 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday against 21 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 7,230 from 6,596.

The country has registered 128,163 COVID deaths since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. It has seen 4.38 million cases to date.

In March, just a month after taking office, Draghi made it obligatory for health workers to be vaccinated.

A growing number of countries are seeking ways to convince reluctant sections of their populations to get COVID-19 jabs.

U.S. President Joe Biden said last week it will be compulsory for federal workers to get vaccinated or face regular testing, mask mandates and travel restrictions.

While France saw a surge in vaccinations following Macron’s announcement of the health pass requirement, the picture in Italy has been less clear.

The pace of inoculations actually slowed in the two weeks following Draghi’s July 22 announcement of the first Green Pass restrictions, but this may be due to the time lag between booking a jab and actually getting one, and to summer holidays.

“The vaccination hesitation among the over 50s persists,” Nino Cartabellotta, head of Italian public health think-tank GIMBE, told Reuters.

As of Aug. 4 some 65% of Italians had received at least one shot against COVID-19, of whom 54% were fully vaccinated. The figures are broadly in line with those of most European countries.

(Additional reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Nearly 600 rescued migrants disembark from charity boat in Italy

ROME (Reuters) – Hundreds of migrants rescued in the central Mediterranean disembarked on Friday in the southern Italian town of Augusta, in Sicily, after Rome-based maritime authorities agreed to give their ship a port.

The Ocean Viking vessel, operated by SOS Mediterranee, carried 572 people, including around 180 minors, after picking them up in six separate operations in Maltese and Libyan search and rescue areas, the European NGO said.

After asking the European Union to find a safe port for the migrants, the group said the situation onboard was deteriorating due to tension and exhaustion among those rescued.

“This news brings us relief and gives these people irrepressible joy,” said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, referring to the Ocean Viking being able to dock.

SOS Mediterranee said all migrants would be tested for COVID-19 after disembarking the boat.

Migrant boat departures from North Africa towards Europe have picked up in 2021 after a decline in the previous few years and scores of people have died in recent weeks following shipwrecks as they tried to reach Italy.

Some 22,900 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year – many of them fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East – compared with almost 7,700 in the same period last year, Interior Ministry data shows.

Several charity boats have been impounded in Italy in recent months after officials reported irregularities onboard.

Charity group MSF complained Italian authorities were using such inspections to prevent ships from returning to sea where many migrants die.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome; Editing by Matthew Lewis)