Latest news with #Fascist
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- General
- Sky News AU
Australia is ‘sleepwalking' through ‘lotus land'
Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Australia is 'sleepwalking through lotus land'. 'We do have to spend a lot more on defence, we are, as I've said before, we are sleepwalking through lotus land to disaster,' Mr Abbott told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'We've got to appreciate that the world is getting much more dangerous. 'Communist China, Fascist Russia, and Islamist Iran are in an alliance of convenience, united only by hatred of the West.'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Holyrood's elite has created conditions for rise of great Reform con
Among those who rushed to condemn her for belonging to a church that believes marriage is a sacrament reserved for a man and a woman was John Swinney, her SNP colleague of long standing. Yet Mr Swinney is happy to bring up his children in the Catholic tradition, having had his first marriage annulled so that he could marry again in the Catholic Church. I have questions. Doesn't Mr Swinney know that the Catholic Church also teaches that marriage is reserved for the union of a man and a woman? Feminists who, in the course of many decades, had fought for women's rights, found that they too were branded Fascists and bigots because they opposed biological men gaining access to their private spaces. The five Supreme Court judges who have now clarified this position in law are also bigots, according to Holyrood's Deputy Convenor of its Equalities committee, as is the European Human Rights Commission who endorsed the judges' ruling. She remains in her post. Read more It's not enough now merely to disagree or criticise: only Fascism will do. For, once you've been so labelled it becomes easier to remove you from your post if you work in Scotland's public omni-sector. For the record, I don't believe anyone in Scottish public life is a Fascist. I don't see people who believe in a one-party state or who are in favour of establishing a quasi-military police force reinforced by extra-judicial powers. What I have seen in the devolved era is a civic belief system that's been established by stealth and carefully nurtured by special interest groups which work against the interests and traditions of a majority of Scottish people, especially those belonging to working-class communities. I believe also that the SNP, Scotland's eternal party of government, has been gate-crashed by groups and individuals who care little for independence, except as providing cover for their own illiberal agendas. These range from the policy of placing violent men in women's prisons and imposing pronouns in the workplace to backing the NATO military alliance whose ruinous diplomacy has brought us to the brink of war with Russia. It includes indulging the Scottish Greens, whose clumsy attempts to impose climatism on the population has cost us many millions of pounds and speak of an underlying loathing for working class people who insist on clinging to their old, unsustainable ways. What's much more worrying is what has emerged in the course of devolved era. This is the emergence of a sprawling, a-political class who proceed on a gaseous and shape-shifting suite of values and ethics. They swirl and churn endlessly in a vortex of slogans, mission statements and labels, but never land. Kate Forbes received criticism for her deeply-held religious views (Image: Jeff J Mitchell) They don't believe in anything substantial beyond a collective credo of no-belief and no-value. The Scottish National Party no longer believes in independence; the Scottish Greens have subordinated stewardship of the natural environment to identity politics; the Labour Party are softening up the populace to prepare for global war by spending billions on more weapons of mass destruction and the Liberal Democrats have a leader who was last seen getting heated about Holyrood's toilet arrangements. Devolution has delivered a class of politicians who, quite literally, stand for nothing more than getting elected again. For an all-consuming void like this to have settled on the highest offices in the land, two major mechanisms are required. One is the establishment of a system of patronage so vast that its machinery reaches in to every public office in the land. It's why a country with a population of 5.5m is governed by an administration employing almost 30 ministers with a portfolio of 32 local authorities. We have become a panjandrum nation. These are reinforced by a vast lobbying sector that didn't exist before 1999. Their task has been to create a civic/entrepreneurial organism kept alive by fat public contracts. Experience, skill and cost-effectiveness count for little in this sector unless you agree to sign up to Holyrood's cultural agenda. Even so, this in itself wouldn't be sufficient for such a metastasis to have occurred. For that, you require slowly to eliminate dissenting voices and monitor the smart people and their smart thoughts. For 20 years or so, this was easily concealed and public trust was maintained. In the Sturgeon/Swinney era though, there's been a quickening, so that cabinet posts are now occupied by a cohort of barely-literate fools promoted well beyond their paltry abilities on the proviso that they keep their mouths and their minds shut. Read more The great Holyrood toilet debate was one of those rare occasions when we got to glimpse the full reality. This is what happens when you pursue an internal policy of forcibly removing talent and replacing them with mediocrity. It's the political equivalent of consanguinity. Most recently it's been evident in a multi-million-pound recovery mega-structure formed by a handful of superannuated public agencies. Their task has been to sell the lie that the political elites give a single flying toss about poor people dying in their thousands, not of addiction, but raw, grinding poverty. For the first time, I sense that this is cutting through to the Scottish public, a development that the political elite have worked hard to prevent. When this happens it's inevitable that a party proclaiming fake everyman values such as Reform would come to exploit the situation. No matter what happens at the Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall by-election on Thursday, Scotland will be the losers. Kevin McKenna is a Herald writer and columnist and Scottish Feature Writer of the Year.
Local Italy
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Italy
Republic Day: What to expect in Italy on June 2nd 2025
June 2nd will be Italy's Republic Day – a national public holiday commemorating the birth of the Italian Republic as we know it today. Italy's Festa della Repubblica marks the date in 1946 when Italians voted in a referendum to abolish the then 85-year-old monarchy, which had fallen out of favour due to its close alignment with Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime, and establish a democratic republic. Conveniently, this year's Republic Day falls on a Monday, meaning that people in Italy will enjoy a three-day weekend. But, while many around the country will use the Republic Day holiday to get their first taste of summer, beach picnics and idle hours spent under the ombrellone will not be the only thing going on on June 2nd. Here's a quick look at what you should expect on that date. A military parade and trails of tricolore smoke in Rome As is tradition, the bulk of official Republic Day celebrations will take place in the capital. At around 9am on Monday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella will pay homage to service members killed in action by laying a laurel wreath at the foot of the Altare della Patria war memorial, in the central Piazza Venezia square. This will be followed by the traditional Republic Day military parade, with hundreds of members of Italy's armed forces marching down Via dei Fori Imperiali. Unfortunately, this year's parade is already sold out, according to Italy's defence ministry. If you didn't manage to get your ticket or live elsewhere in the country, you can still watch the event for free on Rai1 (channel one on Italian TV) or Rai's online streaming platform RaiPlay at this link. Celebrations in the capital will end with a spectacular display from Italy's Frecce Tricolori air force unit, with ten fighter jets set to fly over the city, leaving trails of green, white and red smoke (the colours of Italy's tricolore flag) in the sky. Celebrations in other cities Besides Rome, other major cities around the country will hold Republic Day celebrations on Monday. Just to name a few, Milan will hold a flag-hoisting ceremony in the central Piazza del Duomo square at 10am on Monday morning. This will be followed by a number of cultural events in the afternoon, including a free concert in the courtyard of Palazzo Marino, the seat of Milan's city hall. Palazzo Marino will open to visitors for free from 10am to 8pm on Monday. A military parade and a flag-hoisting ceremony will take place in Venice's Piazza San Marco on Monday morning. As part of local Republic Day celebrations, the city's famed La Fenice Opera House will hold a free concert at 5pm. In Turin, an official ceremony will be held in Piazza Castello on Monday morning, followed by live music performances from the Municipal Police Band. Free museum openings For the third year in a row, people around the country will be able to visit state-run museums and archaeological sites for free on Republic Day. This will apply to hundreds of sites, including world-famous attractions like Rome's Colosseum, Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, the Pompeii ruins, and the Reggia di Caserta. A full list of the museums, palaces and archaeological parks you can visit free of charge on Monday is available on the Italian Culture Ministry's website. Please note that, though admission will be free, some venues may still require advance booking, so it's advisable to check the relevant site's own website beforehand. Closed shops and reduced public transport Schools and public offices including post offices, town hall desks and CAF tax assistance centres will be closed on Monday. Most businesses around the country will also be closed, though some supermarkets and shops in major cities may open for at least part of the day (usually morning- or afternoon-only). Shops in smaller cities and towns are likely to remain closed all day. As for local public transport, most operators around the country will run on a reduced holiday timetable (also known as orari festivi) on Monday. The overall quality and frequency of available services will vary significantly between rural and urban areas, as well as between cities. Areas that are usually served by the occasional bus may see very limited services on Monday. On the contrary, parts of the country with robust public transport networks, including major cities and tourist destinations, are likely to keep them fairly active. Regional and local rail services will be significantly reduced on Monday, whereas most interregional and long-distance operators will run according to standard weekend timetables, meaning you'll still find dozens of high-speed trains connecting major Italian cities around the country. Heavy traffic Italy's motorways (or autostrade) rarely see much in the way of heavy traffic on regular weekdays or weekends. But that all changes around national public holidays and long weekends. According to the latest Italian media reports, motorways and state roads (strade statali) connecting big cities to popular coastal or countryside locations are likely to be affected by heavy traffic this weekend. Congestion on Italy's roads is expected to be particularly intense in the evening of Friday, May 30th, and in the late afternoon/evening of Monday, June 2nd. It's also worth noting that traffic in major cities around the country may undergo major changes on Monday to allow for the safe unfolding of Republic Day celebrations. These changes can usually be found on the relevant city hall's website or social media channels. For instance, Rome authorities' road mobility plan for Monday can be found here (in Italian). If you're planning on travelling over the long weekend, there are a number of resources that you can use to keep up to date with the latest developments on the road. This online map from Italy's motorway construction and maintenance company ANAS features live updates on road closures, maintenance work, traffic levels and weather conditions. The service is also available through their mobile app, 'VAI'. Motorway company Autostrade per l'Italia offers a similar live map, which also shows the locations of the nearest petrol stations and service areas. If you'd like to speak directly with an operator while you're on the road, you can contact ANAS's customer service at 800 841 148 or the Transport Ministry's info centre (CCISS) at 1518. What will the weather be like? According to the latest weather forecasts, the centre and south of the country will experience sunny conditions and summer-like temperatures over the long weekend, with the mercury set to exceed 30C in cities including Rome, Bari, Cagliari and Palermo. Daytime temperatures are expected to stop short of the 30C mark in the north of the country, with overcast skies and localised showers forecast to interrupt a spell of sunny weather on Monday afternoon.
Straits Times
20-05-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Italy, US bolster cooperation for recovery of missing WW2 soldiers' remains
ROME - Italy and the U.S. signed a memorandum to improve recovery operations for American military personnel who went missing in action in World War Two and were never accounted for, a statement said on Tuesday. The conflict saw intense fighting across the Italian peninsula from 1943 to 1945, following the Allied invasion of Sicily and the subsequent campaign to liberate Italy from Fascist and Nazi forces. Under the deal signed by Italy's culture ministry and the U.S. defence agency for the research of missing military personnel, recovery operations would be improved by steps to ensure the protection of archaeological sites involved in some of the search efforts. "The right to research and remember those dead during the war is now combined with the protection of the archaeological heritage for which the ministry of culture is responsible," Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said. He added that the agreement was a further step in "our decade-long cooperation with the U.S. agency for prisoners of war and missing in action, as a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to contribute to our freedom". Almost 72,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from World War Two globally, according to the defence accounting agency's official website. Since the renewal of recovery efforts in the 1970s, the remains of nearly 1,000 Americans who died in the war have been identified and returned to the families, it added. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Italy, US bolster cooperation for recovery of missing WW2 soldiers
ROME (Reuters) -Italy and the U.S. signed a memorandum to improve recovery operations for American military personnel who went missing in action in World War Two and were never accounted for, a statement said on Tuesday. The conflict saw intense fighting across the Italian peninsula from 1943 to 1945, following the Allied invasion of Sicily and the subsequent campaign to liberate Italy from Fascist and Nazi forces. Under the deal signed by Italy's culture ministry and the U.S. defence agency for the research of missing military personnel, recovery operations would be improved by steps to ensure the protection of archaeological sites involved in some of the search efforts. "The right to research and remember those dead during the war is now combined with the protection of the archaeological heritage for which the ministry of culture is responsible," Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said. He added that the agreement was a further step in "our decade-long cooperation with the U.S. agency for prisoners of war and missing in action, as a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to contribute to our freedom". Almost 72,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from World War Two globally, according to the defence accounting agency's official website. Since the renewal of recovery efforts in the 1970s, the remains of nearly 1,000 Americans who died in the war have been identified and returned to the families, it added.
