The nun is alleged to have been the conduit between the gang and its associates in prison
A nun was among 25 people arrested in Italy on suspicion of being part of a criminal gang with links to the country’s most powerful mafia network, the ’Ndrangheta.
The nun is alleged to have been the conduit between the gang and its associates in prison, prosecutors in Brescia, northern Italy, said on Thursday.
Continue reading...As president prepares to appoint his next prime minister, we take a look at how the complex parliamentary arithmetic may shape his choice
As French president Emmanuel Macron attempts to find a new prime minister to replace Michel Barnier, who lost a vote of no confidence on Wednesday, his choices will be guided by whether he can secure approval for his choice from the national assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.
The incoming prime minister would need the support of 288 deputies to survive another no-confidence vote, but could govern on simple majorities for individual bills.
Continue reading...‘Tight correlation’ between premium rises and counties deemed most at risk from climate crisis, experts say
Concern over the climate crisis may evaporate in the White House from January, but its financial costs are now starkly apparent to Americans in the form of soaring home insurance premiums – with those in the riskiest areas for floods, storms and wildfires suffering the steepest rises of all.
A mounting toll of severe hurricanes, floods, fires and other extreme events has caused average premiums to leap since 2020, with parts of the US most prone to disasters bearing the brunt. A climate crisis is starting to stir an insurance crisis.
Continue reading...Rice wine enshrined as part of ‘cultural heritage of humanity’
Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It’s brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savoured in the country’s pub-like izakayas, poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts.
Now, the smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan’s culinary traditions - and is a favoured tipple of celebrities such as Cate Blanchett – has been enshrined by Unesco, which has put it on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity”.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock declaration – and subsequent reversal – has sent South Korea into political chaos, and left their president facing impeachment
Good morning. South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, is facing impeachment after he sent heavily armed forces into Seoul’s streets with his baffling and sudden declaration of martial law on Tuesday. The move stirred memories of past dictatorships in the country, moving thousands to come out on to the streets and protest, with the military powerless, or unwilling, to do anything about it.
Opposition parties submitted an impeachment motion hours after parliament unanimously voted to cancel Yoon’s declaration, forcing him to lift martial law just six hours after it began. Impeaching Yoon requires the support of two-thirds of the national assembly and at least six of the nine constitutional court justices. The liberal opposition Democratic party holds a majority in the 300-seat parliament and has called for Yoon’s resignation. A vote on his impeachment could come as early as tomorrow. Today we’ll look at what happened and why.
Continue reading...Gangs charging €8,000 for illegal travel packages that avoid crossing Channel on small boats
Hundreds of people have been detained in Northern Ireland trying to get into Great Britain by crossing the border from Ireland in an operation aimed at cracking down on people smugglers.
Criminal gangs are charging up to €8,000 for the illegal travel package they present as a safer route to crossing the Channel on small boats , say immigration officials.
Continue reading...People Power party says it will vote against impeachment bill brought by opposition amid outrage over Yoon’s attempt to declare martial law
South Korea’s ruling party says it will block a move by the opposition to impeach the beleaguered president, Yoon Suk Yeol, as police said they were investigating Yoon for alleged insurrection over his botched attempt to impose martial law.
The floor leader of the People Power party vowed on Thursday that its lawmakers would “unite” to defeat the opposition-led motion to impeach the deeply unpopular leader.
Continue reading...Allegations of violence against Hindus prompt mass protests in India and attack on Bangladeshi consulate
Growing tensions between India and Bangladesh have erupted amid accusations of attacks on Bangladesh’s Hindu minority, which have prompted mass protests and assault on a Bangladeshi consulate in India.
The relationship between the two countries has soured since August, when a popular uprising – now widely termed the “monsoon revolution” – toppled Bangladesh’s authoritarian prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Continue reading...Cyber-espionage group ‘Salt Typhoon’ targeting ‘at least’ eight US telecom and telecom infrastructure firms
A large number of Americans’ metadata has been stolen in the sweeping cyber-espionage campaign carried out by a Chinese hacking group dubbed “Salt Typhoon”, a senior US official told journalists on Wednesday.
The official declined to provide specific figures but noted that China’s access to America’s telecommunications infrastructure was broad and that the hacking was ongoing.
Continue reading...Human rights group says Israel ‘brazenly, continuously and with total impunity … unleashed hell’ on strip’s 2.3m population
A report from Amnesty International alleges that Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip constitutes the crime of genocide under international law, the first such determination by a major human rights organisation in the 14-month-old conflict.
The 32-page report examining events in Gaza between October 2023 to July 2024, published on Thursday, found that Israel had “brazenly, continuously and with total impunity … unleashed hell” on the strip’s 2.3 million population, noting that the “atrocity crimes” against Israelis by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war, “do not justify genocide”.
The unprecedented scale and magnitude of the military offensive, which has caused death and destruction at a speed and level unmatched in any other 21st-century conflict;
Intent to destroy, after considering and discounting arguments such as Israeli recklessness and callous disregard for civilian life in the pursuit of Hamas;
Killing and causing serious bodily or mental harm in repeated direct attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, or deliberately indiscriminate attacks; and
Inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, such as destroying medical infrastructure, the obstruction of aid, and repeated use of arbitrary and sweeping “evacuation orders” for 90% of the population to unsuitable areas.
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A driver who witnessed the incident, described the gun as a “silent” and “black gun.”
In an interview with ABC News, driver Amar Abdelmula said that he heard “the shot” adding: “It was silent gun, black gun.”
Continue reading...Police look for suspect who shot and killed Brian Thompson, 50, outside Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, one of the US’s largest health insurers, was shot dead on Wednesday in midtown Manhattan, police confirmed in a press conference.
Brian Thompson, 50, was shot outside the Hilton hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas just after 6.45am after arriving early for the company’s annual investor conference. A man wearing a mask approached him and fired at him repeatedly, police said.
Continue reading...Soldiers and marines discover drugs in Sinaloa, while separately authorities arrest more than 5,200 migrants
Mexican security forces have impounded more than a ton of fentanyl pills in what officials have called the biggest seizure of the synthetic opioid in the country’s history.
Soldiers and marines found the fentanyl at two properties in the northern state of Sinaloa, late on Tuesday – exactly a week after Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico unless the two neighbouring countries cracked down on the flow of immigrants and drugs across their borders with the US.
Continue reading...Three-month-old government felled by combined vote from parties of left and far right over controversial budget
Boris Vallaud, the head of the centre-left Socialist party (PS) tells the prime minister that the no confidence motion is “first and foremost your failure: the failure of Michel Barnier”.
MPs elected thanks to the ‘republican front’ against the far right “were bound by only one promise, one loyalty, one commitment - not to give in to the far right,” Vallaud says, adding that Barnier “clearly found it more appropriate to speak to the far right than to the left. And we cannot resign ourselves to this.”
Continue reading...Minority coalition of PM Michel Barnier falls after three months, the shortest of any administration of France’s Fifth Republic
France has been plunged into political crisis after a no-confidence vote brought down the government, ending the beleaguered minority coalition of the rightwing prime minister Michel Barnier after only three months.
The no-confidence motion brought by an alliance of left-wing parties was supported by MPs from Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, far-right, National Rally. A total of 331 lawmakers — a clear majority — voted on Wednesday night to bring down the government.
Continue reading...Leaders cast the other as ill-prepared after Trump threatens to apply 25% taxes on goods from both countries
Mexico’s president has said Canadians “could only wish they had the cultural riches” of her country as tensions mount between the two nations, caught in a feud over tariffs and trade exacerbated by Donald Trump.
The US president-elect threatened in a social media post last week to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both countries, and to keep them in place until “such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”
Continue reading...Automaker is restructuring in China after losing about $350m in the region in the first three quarters of this year
General Motors told shareholders on Wednesday that it would write down the value of its China business by more than $5bn.
The company’s board of directors determined that the non-cash charges were necessary “in light of the finalization of a new business forecast and certain restructuring actions” with the joint venture, according to a company filing.
Continue reading...Statement comes as Ukrainian intelligence says Russia will send mercenaries to support flagging troops allied to Damascus
Moscow has condemned “external forces” seeking to escalate violence in Syria, despite reports from Ukrainian military intelligence that Russia is to send mercenaries to support flagging troops allied to Damascus.
The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova blamed outside actors for instigating a recent sweeping insurgent offensive, after Islamist militants spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of the city of Aleppo at the weekend in a shock advance.
Continue reading...Blackouts reported across country as government grapples with economic crisis, fuel shortages and hurricanes
Cuba’s national electrical system collapsed early on Wednesday morning after the country’s largest power plant failed, the government said, the latest of several such failures as the island’s grid falls into disarray amid fuel shortages, natural disaster and economic crisis.
The country’s energy and mines ministry said the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, the island’s top electricity producer, had shut down at about 2am, prompting the grid collapse.
Continue reading...Temporary release is inadequate, activist’s family and supporters say, urging her unconditional release
Iran has released the Nobel peace laureate Narges Mohammadi, jailed since November 2021, for three weeks on medical grounds, her lawyer posted on social media.
“Based on the advice of the examining doctor, the public prosecutor suspended the jail sentence against Narges Mohammadi for three weeks and she was released from prison,” Mostafa Nili said on X.
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