Naval Air Station Sigonella

Naval Air Station Sigonella (IATA: NSY, ICAO: LICZ), "The Hub of the Med", is a U.S. Navy installation at NATO Base Sigonella and an Italian Air Force base (Italian: Base aerea di Sigonella) in Sicily, Italy. Although a tenant of the Italian Air Force, NAS Sigonella acts as landlord to more than 40 other U.S. commands and activities. It is located 15 km (8 NM) west and 11 km (6 NM) south of the city of Catania, and some 40 km (22 NM) south of Mount Etna. Because of its location near the center of the Mediterranean Sea, NASSIG is well placed to support operations by the U.S. 6th Fleet, other U.S. military units, and U.S. allies and coalition partners.

It also serves as an Italian base for the 41º Stormo Antisom (41st Antisubmarine Warfare Wing).

Among the aircraft that fly from this island base are U.S. Air Force C-130, C-17 and C-5 airlifters, KC-135 and KC-10 tankers and U.S. Navy P-3 Orions, C-2 Greyhounds C-130s, and C-9B Skytrain IIs and C-40A Clippers, and Italian Air Force Breguet Br.1150 Atlantics. It is one of the most frequently used stops for U.S. airlift aircraft bound from the continental United States to Southwest Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Achille Lauro

Achille Lauro (16 June 1887, Piano di Sorrento - 15 November 1982, Naples) was an Italian businessman and politician.

Life

Born the fifth of six children of the shipowner Gioacchino and of Laura Cafiero, he was on his part the shipowner and founder of the Flotta Lauro, one of the most powerful Italian fleets of all time and one of the major fortunes in the south of Italy, in addition to the owner of a true financial empire created by himself. A determining fact in marking the force of his activities was his genial intuition that his workers should participate in the benefits of their activities.

Often found in society news for his frequent romantic encounters, the popular tradition recorded legendary characteristics to his amatory capacities.

As a politician, he maintained a great popularity and was venerated by the majority of the population of the city of Naples, to the point that in the municipal elections of 1952 and 1956 he received almost 300,000 votes, higher than any number of votes received by any candidate in local elections up to that point. In the general elections of 1953, he received 680,000 votes for the Chamber of Deputies, also a number that had never been achieved before.

La Notte

La Notte (English: The Night) is a 1961 Italian drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti (Umberto Eco appeared in a cameo). Filmed on location in Milan, the film is about a day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their deteriorating relationship. In 1961 La Notte received the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, as well as the David di Donatello Award for Best Director. La Notte is considered the central film of a trilogy beginning with L'Avventura (1960) and ending with L'Eclisse (1962).

Plot

Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni), a distinguished writer and his beautiful wife Lidia (Jeanne Moreau), visit their dying friend Tommaso Garani (Bernhard Wicki) in a hospital in Milan. Giovanni's new book, La stagione (The Season), has just been published and Tommaso praises his friend's work. They drink champagne but Tommaso is unable to hide his severe pain. Shaken by the sight of her dying friend, Lidia leaves saying she'll visit tomorrow. Giovanni stays behind and as he leaves his friend's room, a sick and uninhibited young woman attempts to seduce him before being interrupted by the nurses.

History (novel)

History: A Novel (Italian: La Storia) is a novel by Italian author Elsa Morante, generally regarded as her most famous and controversial work. Published in 1974, it narrates the story of a partly Jewish woman, Ida Ramundo, and her two sons Antonio (called "Nino") and Giuseppe ("Useppe") in Rome, during and immediately after the Second World War.

The Italian title "La Storia" can be translated as either "History" or "The Story"; the ambiguity is lost in translation.

La storia, a motion picture based on the novel, directed by Luigi Comencini and starring Claudia Cardinale, was produced in 1986.

References