The troops will guard sensitive sites and targets, including in Rome where around 500 members of the military will be deployed.
In the Italian capital the soldiers will help guard Jewish schools, the city's synagogue and diplomatic residences.
The measures, announced after a meeting of military and security officials, will be implemented until at least June.
Authorities consider Rome particularly sensitive because it is home to the Vatican.
The daughter, 20-year-old Nosheen Butt, was admitted to hospital with a cranial traumatism and a broken arm after her 19-year-old brother beat her with a stick in the courtyard of their building in Novi, near the north Italy city of Modena.
According to Modena prosecutors' initial findings, the father Ahmad Khan Butt, a 53-year-old construction worker, threw his wife to the ground and beat her with a brick while the brother Umair attacked his sister.According to Italian portal ADNKronos, the father didn't like his daughter's Western ways and that she had rebelled against his wishes. Among other reactions:
"The victim did not want her daughter to have an unhappy relationship like the one that had been forced on her," said deputy Modena prosecutor Lucia Musti, who is in charge of the investigation.
"The mother and the daughter were on the same side and this could be called a 'cultural' homicide because in addition to domestic violence there is the issue of the traditions that may have motivated the crime," Ms Musti said.
The family's three other children have been taken in by Italian social services.
The Italian political class reacted with indignation at the incident which was highly similar to the cases of a girl of Pakistani origin in 2006 and a Moroccan girl in 2009 who wanted to lead Western lives with Italian boyfriends.
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Muslims praying outside Milan's Catholic Cathedral, il Doumo. |
By now, every MSM will know about the new electoral lists to be presented at the next local elections 2011 Milan. The party will be called "The new Milan", Esar, in short, wnd it will be a party composed of immigrant Muslims, fellow citizens in Milan.
Though the leader of the Islamic center in Milan (and responsible party of the unborn -yet- party) Abdel Hamid Shaari (who was rejected from Egypt as "persona non grata", and who organised communal prayers on Friday in Milan, Piazza Duomo, Cardinal Tettamanzi is compliant and complacent with the idea, because he is sure it wouln't be an Islamic party (ie, religiously motivated). But there is however, a risk that can't be denied: that of electing someone who would ask at Palazzo Marino for the application of the Qu'ranic law, the Sharia.
Emirati couple and the other nationalities pass by a giant Christmas tree at a shopping mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. Vatican's top cleric in the Persian Gulf is facing a different problem than the Pope's envoys in Europe and America, who complain of empty churches. Christian places of worship across Arabia are packed as Asian migrants test the limits of religious tolerance, asking from Muslim hosts to practice their faith more openly. (Caption commentary above and photo courtesy of Daylife)
Berlusconi allied Mayor bans Burquinis: Women wearing the garment, made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings, face a fine of €500 (£430) if they are spotted at swimming pools or rivers, the ANSA news agency reported.
The anti-immigration mayor of the northern Piedmont town said: "The sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene.
"We don't have to be tolerant all the time," Gianluca Buonanno said.
Justifying the move, Mr Buonanno added: "Imagine a western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini."
Last week a swimming pool in Paris refused entry to a burqini-clad woman on similar grounds, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France.
The incident came as French lawmakers conducted hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was "not welcome" in France, which is home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.
Mr Buonanno belongs to the Northern League, a party allied with the centre-Right People of Freedom party led by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister.
Rome, 28 July (AKI) - Italy's 3,250 troops will remain in Afghanistan, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi stated on Tuesday. "There is no change of policy," he told journalists in Rome, reaffirming earlier statements made by defence minister Ignazio La Russa and foreign minister Franco Frattini.Photo courtesy of Daylife-Getty Images
Berlusconi dismissed as "hot air" reports of a rift over the issue with the conservative government's junior coalition partner, the Northern League.
"I understand that newspapers need to fill pages in the summer season, but this supposed rift is hot air," he stated.
La Russa and Frattini on Monday rejected calls by minister without portfolio and Northern League politician Roberto Calderoli to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
"In Afghanistan, we are working for Italy's security including that of Calderoli... we are staying," Frattini said in Brussels, during a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
"We cannot give up the mission in Afghanistan. What our lads are doing out there is crucial," said La Russa.
The Northern League's leader, Umberto Bossi, also urged the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan following a recent spate of attacks against Italian soldiers.
But in an apparent climb-down late on Monday, the party's chief parliamentary whips issued a joint statement saying: "The Northern League has always maintained the commitments it has made to the government and will also do so in this case."
The Italian parliament last week voted to extend the financing of all of Italy's 35 missions overseas.
A roadside bomb attack earlier this month killed a 25-year-old Italian soldier Alessandro Di Lisio while on patrol near the western Afghan city of Farah. Two attacks in Afghanistan at the weekend wounded three Italian soldiers and three Italian paratroopers were also injured in the bombing that killed Di Lisio.
Twelve Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2004.
Via ANSA.it: (ANSA) - Brussels, July 27 - Italy on Monday said it would stick to its international peace-keeping commitments in Afghanistan despite mutterings from a junior government partner that it was ''time to bring everyone home''.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said peace missions were ''Italy's calling card to the world'' and that he intended to reiterate the country's commitment in Afghanistan when he meets the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, at a private dinner in Brussels on Monday. ''I will confirm Italy's desire to always be a protagonist in the stabilisation of Afghanistan, to work for credible elections there and to contribute to the security strategy for the country,'' Frattini said.
The foreign minister said a review of Italy's mission in Afghanistan would be possible only after the August 20 presidential elections. Until then, Frattini explained, it was ''absolutely necessary'' for Italian forces to remain to combat ''the escalation of violence by the enemies of democracy''. ''We want these elections to be credible and to represent the will of the Afghan people, which can only happen if they go to the polls,'' he added.
Frattini's remarks came after several members of a government coalition party, the devolutionist Northern League, said Italy should pull its troops out of Afghanistan, the Balkans and Lebanon. Among them was Northern League leader and Reform Minister Umberto Bossi, who later recognised that the presence of Italian troops abroad was a decision which would have to be made by the government as a whole and that he would respect this decision.
However, another Northern League minister, Roberto Calderoli who has a portfolio to simplify and streamline Italian laws, said in a newspaper interview on Monday that it was time ''to bring everyone home''. Calderoli told Rome's La Repubblica that ''the vast majority of Italians agree with Bossi'' and that ''sooner or later the West is going to have to admit that you can't export or impose democracy''.
''I used to be an interventionist myself but I've repented. We need to ask ourselves whether our intervention has made things better. Europe and the West need to rethink their strategy because I don't think we're going to get the results we wanted,'' Calderoli said. Nevertheless, the Northern League House and Senate whips, Roberto Cota and Federico Bricolo, stressed that there was ''no disagreement within the majority'' and that the League would continue to support the commitments made by the government.
Asked to comment on Calderoli's observations, Frattini said ''we are working in Afghanistan also for Italy's security and thus Calderoli's as well''. ''Public opinion should be helped and directed, not excited by saying that since being there is dangerous we need to go away. Of course it's dangerous, but it's necessary to defend Italy's security,'' he said.
Italy has 2,795 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, most in the western area of Herat and in the capital Kabul. An additional contingent of 500 men was recently sent to Afghanistan to help bolster security for the August elections, bringing the total to some 3,200. This meant that Italy now has the fourth-largest contingent there after the United States (28,850 men), Britain (8,300) and Germany (3,380). Fourteen Italian soldiers have been killed since Italy's mission in Afghanistan began in 2004, the most recent victim a 25-year-old paratrooper who died in a roadside bomb two weeks ago.
The ISAF mission is made up of over 61,000 men from 42 countries. It is divided into five theatres of action: Kabul, operated by France; Kandahar in the south, the command of which is rotated between Canada, the Netherlands and Britain; Herat in the west, which Italy commands; Mazari-Sharif in the north, the responsibility of Germany; and Bagram in the east, run by the US.
Diplomacy beckons: Faced with the thorny problem of having no "First Lady" to look after the G8 leaders' spouses on their three day trip to Italy, Silvio Berlusconi has come up with a solution in keeping with his reputation.
The Italian prime minister has asked a former topless model turned government minister to stand in for his estranged wife.
The 72-year-old premier has chosen Mara Carfagna – now Italy's equal opportunities minister – to take care of the likes of Michelle Obama and Sarah Brown.
Miss Carfagna, 33, is an ex-glamour girl whose sultry looks and portfolio of lingerie calendars earned her the title of the world's sexiest government minister from men's magazine Maxim.
The one-time Miss Italy contestant will be supported in the role by another attractive young member of the cabinet, education minister Maria Stella Gelmini.
Mr Berlusconi is said to have chosen Miss Carfagna and Miss Gelmini to reward them for being "staunch champions" as he has battled allegations that he slept with a high-class call-girl at his mansion in Rome last November. Together they will guide the G8 wives around Rome and the mountain town of L'Aquila 65 miles away, where the summit is being held from Wednesday to Friday.
But the appointment of the pair has reportedly sparked a "cold war" with two of Mr Berlusconi's other favourites, youth minister Giorgia Meloni and environment minister Stefania Prestigiacomo.
Miss Meloni has been forced to deny she felt snubbed, saying she had other G8 duties to attend to: "I can't see what all the fuss is about."
There had been intense speculation over how Mr Berlusconi would solve the problem of no longer having a First Lady of his own when it came to hosting the G8. (Read entire article)
Pictures courtesy of Panorama Magazine 
Obviously the Euro's continuous carping about our loss of values is something that would shield them from the murderers since they would have been upholding our values when we were not, right? I mean them complaining about Gitmo, secret prisons in eastern europe, rendition, water boarding, pushing killers into foam rubber whiplash protected walls being evidence of an america much akin to nazi germany means THEY were more in line with ObamaReidPelosiMoveOnSorosRomero values, right?If we vote to elect people we want, and we vote to make up our own laws, WE ARE THE ENEMY to these people who are willing to act on the basis of the Quran - since making up our own laws will always be usurping god's, and his authority.LONDON -- Al Qaida was said to have planned a series of mass-casualty strikes in the European Union.
Al Qaida cell in southern Italy was planning mass casualty strike
Officials said Al Qaida has organized an operational cell ordered to carry out major attacks in Britain and France. They said the cell was based in Italy and included Arabs and Europeans, including those who fought in Afghanistan.
"This was to have been the kind of attack that would have exceeded that in Spain," an official said.
An Italian police officer shows pictures of suspected Al Qaida members Bassam Ayachi, left and French Raphael GeIfndron who were arrested in Bari. AFP/Giovanni Marino The official was referring to the bombings of the commuter train system in Madrid in 2004. At the time, nearly 200 people were killed by a cell of North Africans linked to Al Qaida.
So far, two members of the Al Qaida cell were arrested in the southern Italian city of Bari in December 2008. One of them was a Syrian national identified as Bassam Ayachi, 62, who also carries a French passport.
Officials said cell members, including French nationals, planned to attack Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris. They did not elaborate.
The two suspected Al Qaida members have been arraigned in front of an Italian judge. Ayachi was said to have been the spiritual leader of the Belgian Assabil Islamic Center and helped establish a training center for suicide bombers. Officials said Ayachi was also under investigation in Belgium.
"Bassam Ayachi appears to be one of the spiritual guides at the European level while Raphael Gendron, a computer expert, had an important role in media propaganda," Italian police said in a statement.
Men identified as Bassam Ayachi, left, and Raphael Gendron in an undated photo released by Italian police in Bari on May 12. Reuters/Polizia di Stato On May 12, Italy brought charges against Ayachi and Gendron in connection with the alleged Al Qaida plot. The two suspects were also charged with membership in and operating recruitment cells for Al Qaida.
France has not confirmed the purported Al Qaida plot against its international airport in Paris. Officials said Italy shared the results of the six-month investigation with Paris.
"We do not have any facts leading us to seriously believe that there was a threat to attack Roissy," French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said.
