After escaping capture for 30 years, the mafia leader was arrested in Italy.
Authorities linked him to dozens of murders in the 1990s, kidnapping and strangling the 12-year-old son of a mafia traitor, whose body was dissolved with acid; He has also strangled pregnant women, participated in the murder of two anti-mafia prosecutors in Italy, and the deadly bombings in Milan, Rome and Florence...
Now, Italy's most wanted criminal has finally been arrested after 30 years on the run.
Source: The New York Times
De Naro
Italy's "number one fugitive"
The protagonist of the story is named Matteo Messina Denaro, 60 years old, the leader of the mafia organization and one of the ten most wanted criminals in the world. At the time of his arrest, he was being treated in a private clinic in the city of Palermo. After the arrest, he was transferred to an undisclosed location by the police.
Born in 1962 to a mafia family in Trapani, Sicily, Italy, De Naro succeeded as the "godfather" around 2007. He was sentenced by the courts to several life sentences and has been on the run since 1993. Police only have a photograph of him when he was younger, and they have not been able to trace him until now. Public opinion regarded him as Italy's "number one fugitive".
"This is a fundamental victory battle," Italian Prime Minister Ms Meloni told reporters outside a Palermo courthouse, "which is a heavy blow to organized crime." ”
Denarro was rampant. In 1980, Pirsanti Mattarella, brother of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who was killed by the mafia while serving as governor of Sicily, called the police and prosecutors to congratulate him. For decades, the police have carried out ruthless actions against the Sicilian mafia - imprisoning its leader for life without parole, confiscating its assets, disrupting its business, etc.
Over the years, the police had few clues and could not track him down. His appearance has also been questioned for a long time. Italian news media have published video footage of an elderly man allegedly De Naro traveling through the Sicilian countryside in a jeep, as well as reports of sightings across Europe. At one point, the outside world even speculated that he underwent transfiguration in order to conceal his identity.
Experts believe that this arrest is an important breakthrough for local authorities. "His arrest has undoubtedly weakened the Sicilian mafia, but it is not a fatal blow," said Lirio Abette, a Sicilian journalist who wrote a book about De Naro.
Source: The Guardian
The hottest days have not yet passed,
Temperatures in 2024 may hit a record high
After the scorching heat of last summer, I thought that this was the limit of the body's tolerance, but the suffering did not seem to be over.
On January 16, local time, according to the British "Guardian", the British Met Office forecast indicates that El Niño will occur again later in 2023, increasing the risk of extreme weather phenomena in the world, and the global temperature in 2023 will be higher than in 2022, and 2024 may continue to set new high temperature records.
Adam Skeff, head of long-term climate forecasting at the Met Office, said: "The next large-scale El Niño event is likely to push the global climate up by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, and we may experience an unprecedented heat wave. ”
However, while El Niño will exacerbate extreme weather, the extent of climate deterioration remains controversial. To date, greenhouse gases emitted by human activities have risen by about 1.2 degrees Celsius in average global temperatures. From the heat waves faced by Europe and the United States to the devastating floods in Pakistan and Nigeria, extreme weather has had a catastrophic impact on millions of people around the world.
Bill McGuire, of University College London, said: "When [El Niño] arrives, the extreme weather that ravaged the globe in 2021 and 2022 will become insignificant. ”
Former University of Kentucky swimmer released speech,
Initiative "Stop discrimination against female athletes".
Source: Associated Press
EN: Consider banning transgender athletes
Participation in women's competitions,
Open events can be set up separately
On January 16, local time, the Daily Mail reported that British authorities are planning to ban transgender women from participating in women's competitive sports events out of "fairness" considerations.
In fact, as early as last April, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicly stated, "I don't think biologically male people should participate in women's sporting events." Maybe this will bring controversy, but in my opinion it is sensible. ”
This group has long been criticized for competing in women's competitions because of the unfair advantage that physical changes in adolescence in transgender women bring. Double gold Olympic legend Kelly Holmes has also posted that authorities can set up separate open category events for transgender athletes if needed.
An insider at the country's main sports body said she would insist that elite women's sports "must be reserved for those born as women". Earlier this month, British Triathlon announced a ban on transgender women competing in women's events, even without experiencing male puberty. The English Volleyball and Rugby League have introduced similar policies on the grounds of "fair competition and safety". International bodies such as World Athletics and FIFA have also vowed to change their transgender policies.
Back last March, American transgender swimmer Leah Thomas won the women's 500-meter freestyle, fueling the controversy over the fairness of transgender athletes' participation. As a result, FINA announced in June last year that transgender athletes would ban women's competitions.
Source: The Insider
"I saw people who defected
hit by a sledgehammer",
Commander Wagner fled to Norway
According to Norwegian police and a Russian activist, a former commander of the Russian Wagner private military group fled to Norway and sought refuge after crossing the country's Arctic border.
The former commander, Andrei Medvedev, explained that he went to Norway mainly after refusing to renew his contract with the Wagner Group, and he was a little worried about his personal safety. He was afraid that his fate would be the same as Yevgeny Nuzhin, and he was smashed to death by a sledgehammer in front of the camera after defecting.
Usually, Wagner would take away those who had the intention of leaving and deal with them, either publicly or privately. Last November, a telegram channel affiliated with Wagner PMC published a video of the execution of prisoner Yevgeny Nuzhin, who had been sent to fight in Ukraine two months earlier.
Nuzhen in the video is said to have woken up in a basement where he was told "they will be tried," he said, and later in the video, Nuzhen was hit in the head with a sledgehammer.
Andrei also recounted his experience on the way to escape, "I told a local lady in broken English about my situation and asked for help, border guards and police approached me. They told me I had crossed the border illegally. I explained everything to them and told them why I did it. ”
At present, the Wagner mercenary corps has become an important player in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Since its inception in 2014, it has expanded its global footprint and has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.
Source: The New York Times
Because of the energy crisis,
The oldest Christmas market in France
Even the colored lights are gone
Due to soaring oil prices and the war in Ukraine, the Christkindelsmärik market in Strasbourg, France, like holiday fairs across Europe, has lost some of its luster.
In an interview with the media, local citizens pointed to the nearby plane trees and said that these branches were once full of lights, like fairy tales, and now there are no Christmas lights.
Source: The New York Times
The Christmas market in Strasbourg is the oldest and largest in France. It has grown from a few herbalists and gingerbread vendors near the cathedral in the 16th century to a citywide event selling everything from roasted chestnuts to jewelry, and the city claims to be the "Christmas Capital."
Every December, more than a dozen squares in the heart of the city of nearly 300,000 residents are occupied by more than 300 stalls, and the pungent smell of sauerkraut blends with the vanilla aroma of baked waffles. But now, everything has changed. To survive the winter without gas, lighting costs were cut, seasonal ice rinks were canceled, and outdoor heaters were banned.
2023/01/17