ITALY
Fugitive nabbed in Colombia
Italian police yesterday announced the arrest in Medellin of a dangerous fugitive accused of being the intermediary between Colombia’s drug cartels and the Naples mafia. Luigi Belvedere has been sentenced to almost 19 years in jail for international drug trafficking, but has been on the run since December 2020. Belvedere, a broker from Caserta “specialized in the illegal importation of cocaine [and] acted as a intermediary between Colombia cartels and some of the clans of the Casalesi,” police said. The Casalesi are a notorious branch of the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra. Investigators located him in Colombia, in part because of his use of a “well-known messaging system,” police said. Belvedere, believed to be about 32 years old, was tracked down with the support of Colombian investigators and Europol.
INDIA
Endangered bustard hatches
A great Indian bustard chick has hatched thanks to artificial insemination, a significant breakthrough that raises hopes of saving the critically endangered bird. The number of the desert-dwelling, meter-tall birds has plummeted dramatically in the past 25 years, with only about 150 believed to remain in the wild. However, for the first time last week a bustard chick hatched as a result of artificial insemination, aided by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India, the New Indian Express outlet reported on Thursday. The mother bustard, dubbed Tony, laid an egg at a breeding center in Rajasthan on Sept. 24, and a healthy chick emerged on Wednesday last week, the report said. Rajasthan State Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari said the event was a “historic step” in efforts to save the species from the brink of extinction.
BOSNIA
Teen fatally stabs police
A 14-year-old broke into a police station in the town of Bosanska Krupa late on Thursday and stabbed to death one officer and wounded another, Minister of the Interior for the Bosniak-Croat federation said. The wounded officer was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police spokesman Adnan Beganovic told national broadcaster BHRT. The attacker was arrested, he said, adding that prosecutors had launched an investigation. The motives for the attack were not immediately known. “This is very sad. What surprised us is that it concerns a minor aged 14 who dared attack officers in a police station. It’s an alarm bell for our society,” regional police chief Adnan Habibija said. Armin Halitovic, the mayor of the little town of 11,000 residents, said the attack had sent shockwaves, adding: “We are a peaceful and tolerant town.”
UNITED STATES
Over 40 dogs killed in fire
More than 40 dogs were killed on Thursday when a fire swept through a rescue organization’s kennels in northern New York, authorities said. The fire at the No Dogs Left Behind building at the Maple Ridge Kennels in Canton was reported at about 1am by a person who saw the flames while passing by the property, fire officials said. Flames overran the structure and killed the animals before firefighters could save them, the Canton Fire Department said in a Facebook post. No Dogs Left Behind said its members were heartbroken. “Each dog was a member of our family,” the group said in a social media post. “Tragically, they are victims once again. We have no words to express our grief.” The cause of the fire was not immediately clear and was under investigation by St Lawrence County officials. No firefighters or other people were injured, authorities said.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
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