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Belgian Daily Highlights Brussels' 'Jihadist Hub' After Paris Attacks

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Le Soir, Nov. 16, 2015

"Brussels, Jihadist Hub," writes Belgian daily Le Soir on its Monday front page, as details about a Belgian connection to the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris are starting to emerge.

The suspected mastermind of the attacks that left at least 129 killed and 352 wounded is a 27-year-old Belgian citizen Abdelhamid Abaaoud, described as one of the "most active ISIS executioners in Syria."

His name is connected to a series of recently foiled attacks in Belgium, and he's also linked to the attack on a Thalys train in August, according to AP. His current location is unknown, though he's believed to be in Syria.

As part of a manhunt in Belgium this morning for Salah Abdeslam, the brother of one of the perpetrators who is also believed to be connected to Friday's massacres, a gunfight broke out in Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb and jihadist hub.

Abdeslam was arrested alive afterward, according to RTL Belgium. He's a 26-year-old Belgian-born French citizen who was stopped at the French-Belgian border Saturday morning as he returned from Paris. Shockingly, the authorities knew he had rented a car that carried some of the perpetrators, but he was allowed to drive on.

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food / travel

Pasta v. Fascists: How Italy's Staple Dish Became A Symbol Of Resistance

Pasta may not be considered controversial today, but it played an important role during Italy's fascist years, particularly in one family's celebration of community and liberation.

Photo of the Cervi family.

Photo of the Cervi family, whose seven children were shot by the Fascists on December 28, 1943, at the Reggio Emilia shooting range.

@comunisti_alla_ribalta via Instagram
Jacopo Fontaneto

ROME — Eighty years ago — on July 25, 1943 — the vote of no confidence by the Grand Council of Fascism, leading to Benito Mussolini's arrest, set off widespread celebrations. In Campegine, a small village in the Emilian province, the Cervi family celebrated in their own way: they brought 380 kilograms of pasta in milk cans to the town square and offered it to all the inhabitants of the village.

The pasta was strictly plain: macaroni dressed with butter and cheese, seen as more of a "festive dish" in that period of deprivation. As soon as the Cervi brothers learned about the arrest of Mussolini, they procured flour, borrowed butter and cheese from the dairy, and prepared kilos and kilos of pasta. They then loaded it onto a cart to distribute it to their fellow villagers. Pastasciutta (dry pasta) specifically regards dishes with noodles that are plated "dry", not in broth. That would disqualify soup, risotto, ravioli...

Even though pastasciutta is the most stereotypical type of pasta today, it had a complicated relationship with the government during Italy's fascist years.

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