One of Italy’s most wanted men has finally been captured after 14 years on the run. Antonio Iovine, a boss of the Camorra, the Naples version of the Sicilian mafia, was convicted in absentia in January and sentenced to life for directing the clan’s criminal operations.
He was reportedly discovered hiding in a wall cavity and is said to have tried to jump off a balcony to escape arrest.
Italy’s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni described it as a “great day in the fight against the mafia,” but denied the operation was mounted to detract from problems facing the prime minister.
Iovine’s capture is the latest in a string of high-profile mafia arrests by Italian authorities in recent months. His arrest was also welcomed by Roberto Saviano, author of the best selling book, Gomorrah, a study about the gangster underworld.
Electric car completes epic trip
It might be a long way off mass production but travel by an electric
sportscar that can top nearly 200 kilometres per hour is no longer a
distant dream.
In what can only be described as an epic trip, engineers from London’s Imperial College travelled from Alaska to Argentina.
The twin battery powered SRZero, sometimes peaked at 400 brake horsepower during the 26,000 kilometre journey.
Finally arriving into the city of Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego, the car’s crew received a heroes welcome.
The team’s Project Manager Alexander Shey said:’‘Anyone who said
that electric cars cannot stand up to the normal rigours of driving, or
the normal distances that petrol cars have to do, you are just wrong.’‘
Finding places to plug in was a major challenge, but the vehicle
also remarkably recovered kinetic energy from its brakes, extending its
capacity by as much six hours in a single charge.
Greek anniversary rally marred by violence
Violence has flared in Greece during a rally in Athens to mark the anniversary of a 1973 student uprising.
The hotspot was outside the US embassy in the capital. Although in
the minority, a group of hooded youths, away from the main the march,
hurled rocks and flares in a brief but ugly battle with riot police.
The response was swift but brutal. Using stun grenades and tear gas,
authorities made dozens of arrests. One protester was taken to hospital
with burns.
The annual parade is usually dogged by trouble, but this year
Greece’s current economic difficulties were also a focus for the
thousands of marchers.
One protestor said he hoped the rally would act as a springboard for
others. “We need to send a powerful message to the EU, the IMF and the Greek government, so that we can rescind the austerity measures” he added.
The event commemorates the revolt by students against Greece’s
dictatorship 37 years ago. It heralded the end of the junta, but dozens
were killed in the uprising when tanks smashed through the gates of
Athens Polytechnic University.
Guantanamo terror suspect cleared of major charges
A US jury has cleared Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani of all but one of over 270 charges linked to the 1998 African embassy bombings.
He is the first Guantanamo suspect to face a civilian court.
Two-hundred and twenty-four people died in the al Qaeda attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The New York jury deliberated for five days but found him guilty of
only one relatively minor charge of conspiracy to damage or destroy US
property with explosives. It was a rare defeat for the US Attorney’s office. However, Ghailani still faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison.
The trial has been seen as a test case. President Obama wants a
mixture of civilian and military courts to try the 174 Guantanamo prison
terror suspects. Most Republicans are calling for military tribunals.
From: Euronews
No comments:
Post a Comment