Word: magis
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Twenty-two CIA agents who were convicted by a Milan court on Wednesday of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric are unlikely to spend any time in prison. The verdict, announced by Milan judge Oscar Magi, is only the first step in the labyrnthine Italian legal system, and the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has shown no desire to pursue the case...
According to the Associated Press, Magi convicted 23 Americans, one of whom is an Air Force officer, for the February 2003 kidnapping of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, under the CIA's controversial "extraordinary rendition" program. Three other Americans were acquitted because they have diplomatic immunity. Two Italian secret agents were also convicted. Five other Italians were acquitted, including the head of the country's military intelligence, who resigned when the kidnapping became public. (See a pictorial history...
...says it will not publicly react to the verdict. "The CIA has not commented on any of the allegations surrounding Abu Omar," says spokesman George Little. But lawyers familiar with the Italian legal system say the 23 Americans need not fear incarceration. Magi's verdict "is worthless; it's only a judgment on paper," says New York criminal defense attorney Joseph DiBenedetto, who has defended clients who were indicted in Italy. "There's a lengthy appellate process, and between the legal and the political wrangling, [the verdict] will probably be whittled down and maybe even tossed...
...this grand movie-and-vaudeville house unveiled its first Christmas extravaganza, staged between showings of a film. At first there were just two scenes: the March of the Wooden Soldiers, featuring the dancing corps of Rockettes, and an elaborate retelling of the Nativity story and the journey of the Magi. (The numbers were designed by Vincente Minnelli and directed by Russell Markert, who imported the Rockettes from Missouri.) The Music Hall shut down as a movie house in the 70s, but the Christmas Spectacular has endured. As a stand-alone attraction it still lures more than a million customers during...
Rich grappled with Scripture and script decisions. Should he stick with one Gospel? The Magi are only in Matthew, the shepherds only in Luke, but both Magi and shepherds appear in the film. Rich's first draft did not include The Magnificat, the verses Mary sings when her cousin Elizabeth feels a child stirring in her own womb, because it didn't match Mary's character arc. When a nun advising the film weighed in on the importance of the passage to Catholics, Hardwicke incorporated some of the verses in a voice-over later in the story...