Europe Pub

Italian police raided two Amazon sites on Monday as part of a growing investigation into alleged customs and tax fraud involving Chinese imports, three sources with direct knowledge of the case said.

Prosecutors suspect the e-commerce giant acted like a "Trojan horse", bringing Chinese goods into Italy without paying sales taxes or customs duties, according to a court document.

...

The scheme could have cost the state hundreds of millions of euros and may extend across the European Union, sources said.

Dozens of officers from the Guardia di Finanza and the customs agency seized around 5,000 products at a logistics hub operated by the e-commerce giant in Cividate al Piano, in the northern province of Bergamo, the sources said.

At Amazon’s Italian headquarters in central Milan, police seized IT equipment and identified the manager responsible for the movement of goods within Italy.

...

Hey there Lemmerds,

After years of hard work, today we released a big expansion to our game which mainly includes Nord faction and sea battles. If you're looking for some good action, good sandbox and awesome ship fights, you might want to check it.

Alongside, we're releasing 1.3 patch after a long while, which brings a giant deal of changes.

Hope you enjoy it!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/58385047

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_McCrear

Although the United States banned the importation of slaves in 1808, the practice was still carried out illegally. The last known slave ship was the Clotilda, which smuggled roughly 110 Yoruba captives from Dahomey to Alabama in 1860.

The first commercial flight from the US to Britain took place in 1939. By that point, there were already regular flights from Britain to various parts of Africa, including Lagos (which is predominantly Yoruba). The last Yoruba survivor of the Clotilda, Matilda McCrear, passed away in 1940.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42515141

Italian police raided two Amazon sites on Monday as part of a growing investigation into alleged customs and tax fraud involving Chinese imports, three sources with direct knowledge of the case said.

Prosecutors suspect the e-commerce giant acted like a "Trojan horse", bringing Chinese goods into Italy without paying sales taxes or customs duties, according to a court document.

...

The scheme could have cost the state hundreds of millions of euros and may extend across the European Union, sources said.

Dozens of officers from the Guardia di Finanza and the customs agency seized around 5,000 products at a logistics hub operated by the e-commerce giant in Cividate al Piano, in the northern province of Bergamo, the sources said.

At Amazon’s Italian headquarters in central Milan, police seized IT equipment and identified the manager responsible for the movement of goods within Italy.

...

Peter Ettedgui said Farage, now aged 61, had repeatedly told him "Hitler was right" and "gas them" when they were teenagers at Dulwich College, in London.

"One of the most vivid memories of my school life is Farage repeatedly coming up to me and, knowing that I was Jewish, saying Hitler was right and 'gas 'em', and that was frequently followed by a 'sssss', you know, kind of imitating the sound of escaping gas."

The BBC has spoken to two former pupils who say they remember Farage personally targeting Peter Ettedgui.

Jean-Pierre Lihou said: "I remember him specifically talking about 'do go home, Hitler was right', singing 'Gas Them All' and all of these absolutely antisemitic comments directed straight at Peter."

Another former pupil, Martin Rosell, who is now chair of the Liberal Democrats in Salisbury, also corroborated the antisemitism claims, claiming Farage used to "mutter something like 'Jew' under his breath" when Mr Ettedgui answered a question in class.

Even the people defending him acknowledge the stories are at least partly true:

Some former Dulwich College pupils say they do not recognise the picture that has been painted of Farage or the allegations of racism against him [...] Patrick Neylan, who was in the year below Farage at Dulwich College, told the BBC there was some singing of songs that he would not be proud of now.

Always the ones you least suspect, eh?

EDIT: Missed the original source for this, which is in the Guardian.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42515141

Italian police raided two Amazon sites on Monday as part of a growing investigation into alleged customs and tax fraud involving Chinese imports, three sources with direct knowledge of the case said.

Prosecutors suspect the e-commerce giant acted like a "Trojan horse", bringing Chinese goods into Italy without paying sales taxes or customs duties, according to a court document.

...

The scheme could have cost the state hundreds of millions of euros and may extend across the European Union, sources said.

Dozens of officers from the Guardia di Finanza and the customs agency seized around 5,000 products at a logistics hub operated by the e-commerce giant in Cividate al Piano, in the northern province of Bergamo, the sources said.

At Amazon’s Italian headquarters in central Milan, police seized IT equipment and identified the manager responsible for the movement of goods within Italy.

...

Archived

French authorities have arrested three people on suspicion of spying for Russia and acting to promote its war propaganda, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The arrests, which are part of a probe into the French-Russian association SOS Donbass, come as fears of Russian interference across Europe run high due to tensions over Moscow's war on Ukraine.

One of the detainees, a 40-year-old Russian man, was seen hanging up pro-Russian posters on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on video surveillance footage in September, the city prosecutors' office said.

The man then reported by telephone to the head of SOS Donbass, a 40-year-old woman who was suspected by French counter-espionage officials of trying to obtain financial information from French business executives.

The Russia-born woman had been on the radar of France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), since at least the beginning of the year.

...

Archived version

Spain’s top prosecutor has been banned from his post for two years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information about a tax case involving a businessman who is the boyfriend of a prominent rightwing politician.

Álvaro García Ortiz, who has served as attorney general since 2022, was also fined €7,300 (£6,428), and ordered to pay €10,000 in damages to the businessman, Alberto González Amador.

The verdict, announced by the supreme court on Thursday, will come as a blow to Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who had insisted on García Ortiz’s innocence, and who is under increasing pressure because of a series of corruption allegations facing his family and his allies.

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The case has reignited the debate over the politicisation of the judiciary and comes as investigations continue into allegations of corruption involving Sánchez’s wife and his brother. While the prime minister has dismissed those allegations as politically motivated smears, in June he ordered his right-hand man, Santos Cerdán, to resign as the socialist party’s organisational secretary after a supreme court judge found “firm evidence” of his possible involvement in taking kickbacks on public construction contracts.

The corruption investigations, which also involve the former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and one of his aides, are particularly damaging as Sánchez came to power promising to crack down on graft. The prime minister has previously cast doubt on the independence of some members of the Spanish judiciary, claiming in an interview in September “there’s no doubt that there are judges doing politics and there are politicians trying to do justice”.

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Bet you never thought you'd read that combination of words anywhere other than on the back of a Dan Brown book, did you.

(article is paywalled, unfortunately, but there's enough there to get the gist)

She admitted to the Daily Mail that the constant upheaval has made her emotionally guarded, sharing that canceled plans — including three separate summer mini-vacations — have left her with “PTSD” about setting up experiences with her husband and her son.

Honestly, I have PTSD about making plans, so I just don’t,” Leavitt said. ‘We just roll with it. If there’s a night where I happen to become free, then we take full advantage of that as a family.”

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/41364587

I'm getting errors and I want to pick better indexers.

Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – The popemobile used by the late pope Francis on his 2014 visit to Bethlehem re-emerged on Tuesday as a mobile children's clinic to be deployed in Gaza.

The vehicle is still unmistakeable as a popemobile: pristine white inside and out, and with the familiar raised canopy.

But instead of transporting the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, the re-branded "Vehicle of Hope" is now set to serve in the war-battered Gaza Strip, in accordance with the late pope's wishes.

It was unveiled in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, around the corner from the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square, where preparations are well underway for Christmas.

"The Vehicle of Hope is ready for its new mission," Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the Bishop of Stockholm, told a press conference, after blessing the vehicle.

"We want every child we reach to feel seen, heard and protected. The rights and well-being of the child come first.

"This vehicle stands as a testament: the world has not forgotten the children of Gaza.

"This is not just a vehicle: it's a message of compassion, dignity and hope."

Staffed by medics, the popemobile is intended for performing triage and is equipped for examination, diagnosis and treatment, including vaccines, stitches and tests for infections.

The clinic should be able to perform up to 200 consultations a day. The children will sit in the pontiff's chair while being attended to.

In May 2014, Francis visited Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, on his second international visit as pontiff. The popemobile was used as he toured Bethlehem, greeting the crowds gathered in Manger Square.

A gift from the Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the converted Mitsubishi was later given to Franciscan friars.

Pope Francis died on April 21 aged 88, and his final wish for Gaza's children was that the popemobile should become a mobile health unit, the official Vatican News portal said in May.

The vehicle was transformed by Caritas, the Catholic humanitarian aid organisation. Costing $15,000, it has been repurposed and spruced up by Palestinian mechanics. The open sides have been screened off.

"The children of Gaza were very close to the heart of pope Francis," said Peter Brune, secretary general of the Caritas Sweden branch.

"They will sit on the seat of the pope, and be treated like the most valuable person on Earth."

However, there is no date yet as to when it might receive Israeli authorisation to enter Gaza, where a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10 after two years of war that devastated healthcare in the Palestinian territory.

"As with all humanitarian assistance, we urgently need access to Gaza," Caritas secretary general Alistair Dutton told AFP.

"We're working through the official channels to get this in as quickly as possible."

In Frankfurt und Baden-Württemberg haben Ermittler Sprachschulen und Wohnungen durchsucht. Der Verdacht: manipulierte Deutschtests, die für Tausende Euro an Zugewanderte verkauft wurden. Über 100 Fälle stehen im Raum.

Nederland zou meer werkkrachten moeten halen uit landen met een grote beroepsbevolking, zoals India, Indonesië en Afrikaanse landen. Dat stelt de Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid. Ook zouden we meer handelsakkoorden met deze landen moeten sluiten. Anders dreigen tekorten aan personeel, producten en afzetmarkten.

Taipei (AFP) – Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday his government will propose $40 billion in additional defence spending over eight years, as the democratic island seeks to deter a potential Chinese invasion.

Taiwan has ramped up defence spending in the past decade as Chinese military pressure intensified, but US President Donald Trump's administration has pushed the island to do more to protect itself.

Lai said Wednesday the military aimed to have a "high level" of joint combat readiness against China by 2027 -- which US officials have previously cited as a possible timeline for a Chinese attack on the island.

"The ultimate goal is to establish defence capabilities that can permanently safeguard democratic Taiwan," Lai said at a news conference in Taipei after announcing the $40 billion spending plan in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

"Beijing authorities have recently intensified efforts aimed at turning democratic Taiwan into China's Taiwan, posing a serious threat to our national security and to Taiwan's freedom and democracy."

Communist China has never ruled Taiwan, but Beijing claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it.

Lai's announcement came as Tokyo and Beijing were locked in a weeks-long diplomatic spat that followed remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting Japan could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.

The United States' top envoy in Taiwan said he "welcomes" the government's spending plan and urged the island's rival political parties to "find common ground" on boosting its defences.

Lai said the extra spending would go towards new arms purchases from the United States as well enhancing Taiwan's ability to wage asymmetrical warfare.

But he said the spending was not tied to Taiwan's ongoing tariff negotiations with the United States, insisting the main goal was to "demonstrate Taiwan's determination to defend" itself.

"We aim to bolster deterrence by inserting greater costs and uncertainties into Beijing's decision-making on the use of force," Lai said in the Washington Post.

His comments also follow US approval earlier this month for $330 million-worth of parts and components in Washington's first military sale to Taiwan since Trump's return to the White House.

Lai, who leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), previously laid out plans to boost annual defence spending to more than three percent of GDP next year and five percent by 2030.

The government has proposed NT$949.5 billion ($30 billion), or 3.32 percent of GDP, for defence spending next year.

The additional spending plan announced Wednesday would be spread out over eight years and exceeds the $32 billion previously revealed to AFP by a senior DPP lawmaker.

Lai said the funds would be used to develop the so-called "T-Dome" -- a multi-layered air defence system -- aimed at protecting Taiwanese combat forces, critical infrastructure and people's lives and property from Chinese missiles, as well as boosting Taiwan's own defence industry.

Long-range precision strike missiles, counter-drone systems and anti-ballistic missiles are among the list of items for purchase, the defence ministry said.

Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at Taipei's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said Lai's spending plan is "what Taiwan requires".

"Freedom is not a free lunch," Su told AFP.

"The devil will be in the details and the execution," said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

The government may struggle to get the proposed spending approved by parliament, where the main opposition Kuomintang party, which advocates closer ties with China, controls the purse strings with the help of the Taiwan People's Party.

Recently elected Kuomintang chairperson Cheng Li-wun has previously opposed Lai's defence spending plans, saying Taiwan "doesn't have that much money".

"Strengthening national defence is not about shouting slogans or simply buying more weapons,"said KMT lawmaker Ma Wen-chun.

Recruiting and retaining more troops was a "far more urgent and important issue" for the military, Ma said.

"In the future we may face a situation where there are no personnel left to operate these weapons."