Huge crime network forging Banksy, Warhol and Picasso uncovered in Italy

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Art police and Pisa prosecutor say 38 people being investigated, with about 2,100 fake artworks seized

Italian police have dismantled a Europe-wide forgery network suspected of producing sophisticated replicas of works by some of the world’s most famous artists, including Banksy, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Gustav Klimt.

Thirty-eight people had been placed under investigation in Italy, Spain, France and Belgium on suspicion of conspiracy to handle stolen goods, forgery and illegal sale of artworks, Italy’s art police and Pisa’s prosecutor’s office said in a joint statement on Monday.

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Case of doctor’s brutal rape and murder opens in India as suspect claims he was framed – CBS News

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  1. Case of doctor's brutal rape and murder opens in India as suspect claims he was framed  CBS News
  2. Trial over rape and murder of doctor in India begins  Al Jazeera English
  3. Trial in R.G. Kar rape-murder case begins at Kolkata court  The Hindu
  4. Accused in Kolkata doctor rape, murder case says he was framed by former top cop  Deccan Herald
  5. As trial begins, RG Kar victim’s father deposes  The Times of India
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Man who allegedly disguised killing as bear attack captured in South Carolina

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Nicholas Wayne Hamlett arrested almost one month after police found body of Steven Lloyd of Tennessee

Authorities in South Carolina have captured a man who allegedly murdered a hiker in woodlands in Tennessee then attempted to disguise the killing as a bear attack.

Nicholas Wayne Hamlett was arrested in Columbia on Sunday night almost one month after police found the body of the hiker, Steven Lloyd of Knoxville, Tennessee, close to the Cherahola Skyway in Monroe county, 80 miles north-east of Chattanooga.

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LED lights on underside of surfboards may deter great white shark attacks

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An Australian-led study using seal-shaped decoys found underside lighting disrupted ability of great whites to see silhouettes against sunlight above

Using LED lighting on the underside of surfboards or kayaks could deter great white shark attacks, new research suggests.

In an Australian-led study using seal-shaped decoys, underside lighting disrupted the ability of great whites to see silhouettes against the sunlight above, reducing the rates at which the sharks followed and attacked the artificial prey. The brighter the lights, the more effective the deterrent was.

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War update: Ukrainian forces repel 8 attacks in Kurakhove sector, 13 battles still ongoing – Ukrinform

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  1. War update: Ukrainian forces repel 8 attacks in Kurakhove sector, 13 battles still ongoing  Ukrinform
  2. Russia Says Street Battles Start in Strategic East Ukraine City  Bloomberg
  3. As Russian forces close in on Kurakhove, hundreds of residents remain in the front-line city  The Associated Press
  4. Frontline update: 185 combat engagements, Russians intensifying activity in Vremivka sector  Ukrinform
  5. Ukraine commander says challenges increase in war with Russia  Reuters
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Haiti appoints new prime minister as security crisis mounts

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Entrepreneur Alix Didier Fils-Aimé replaces Garry Conille as country rocked by worsening gang violence

Haiti’s transitional presidential council has appointed the entrepreneur and former senate candidate Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new prime minister, according to the official gazette in the country.

The businessman replaces Garry Conille, who was named prime minister in May. The shake-up is the latest blow to political stability amid soaring levels of gang violence.

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Aid to Gaza falls to lowest level in 11 months despite US ultimatum to Israel

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US government wrote to Israel a month ago threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies

The amount of aid reaching Gaza has dropped to the lowest level since December, official Israeli figures show, despite the US having issued a 30-day ultimatum last month threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies reaching the territory.

The ultimatum was delivered on 13 October, so will expire on Tuesday or Wednesday. It is unclear what measures Israel’s apparent failure to fulfil US demands will trigger, but they may include a temporary halt to the supply of some munitions or other military assistance.

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Mauritius election: Pravind Jugnauth accepts ‘huge defeat’ – BBC.com

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  1. Mauritius election: Pravind Jugnauth accepts 'huge defeat'  BBC.com
  2. Mauritius opposition wins country’s election by a landslide  The Hill
  3. Mauritian Leader Concedes Defeat as Election Results Flow In  Bloomberg
  4. Mauritius election 2024: Amid wiretapping scandal, what’s at stake?  Al Jazeera English
  5. Mauritius holds election, with cost of living on everyone's minds  Reuters
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Netanyahu’s office confirms Israel was behind devastating pager attacks on Hezbollah – The Times of Israel

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  1. Netanyahu’s office confirms Israel was behind devastating pager attacks on Hezbollah  The Times of Israel
  2. Israel’s Netanyahu acknowledges pager attack, says he sees ‘eye-to-eye’ with Trump on Iran  CNN
  3. Netanyahu acknowledges Israel was behind Hezbollah pager, walkie-talkie attack  USA TODAY
  4. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu confirms he was behind deadly pager attacks against Hezbollah, faced ‘opposition’  New York Post
  5. Netanyahu Confirms He Okayed Pager Attacks That Killed Nearly 40 In Lebanon  NDTV
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Russia masses troops for Kursk offensive; Putin-Trump call denied by Kremlin – NBC News

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  1. Russia masses troops for Kursk offensive; Putin-Trump call denied by Kremlin  NBC News
  2. Ukraine rushes to reinforce east as pressure mounts in south and Russia's Kursk  Reuters
  3. Russia amassing tens of thousands of troops for Kursk offensive, Ukraine military chief says  The Hill
  4. Kursk Is A Graveyard For Russian BTR-82 Fighting Vehicles—And Their Passengers  Forbes
  5. Big Kremlin Offensive to Kick Ukraine’s Army Out of Russia Is Off to Rocky Start  Kyiv Post
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Israel Calls for New Lebanon Evacuations as Cease-Fire Talks Ramp Up – The New York Times

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  1. Israel Calls for New Lebanon Evacuations as Cease-Fire Talks Ramp Up  The New York Times
  2. Israeli attack on town in Lebanon’s far north kills 14 people: Mayor  Al Jazeera English
  3. Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza while Netanyahu and Trump speak  The Associated Press
  4. Lebanon, Gaza and Syria hit by deadly Israeli strikes, reports say  CNN
  5. Terror in Nabatieh: On the front line of Israel’s war on Lebanon  Middle East Eye
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German paper industry denies claims paper shortage could hinder election

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Head of electoral commission had said timing of early election could be affected by shortage of paper to print ballots

Paper industry bosses in Germany have hit back at claims by the national electoral commission that a lack of paper might hinder the timing of the country’s early elections.

“We have paper,” the seemingly exasperated head of the trade association for the German paper industry, Alexander von Reibnitz, told the state broadcaster ZDF, adding: “The German paper industry is very productive … we can deliver as long as the order is submitted in a timely manner.”

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