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☆ China-made military drones similar to the MQ-9 Reaper were disguised as wind turbines in shipments to Libya: Italian officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewItaly has seized parts for two combat drones disguised as wind turbines in containers en route from China to Libya, customs and maritime authorities said on Tuesday. AdvertisementFootage of Italian authorities intercepting components of two Chinese Wing Loong II UAVs disguised as wind turbines that were heading to Libya. AdvertisementItalian officials stand next to drone parts disguised as wind turbines. Guardia di FinanzaAs a long-endurance and remotely controlled weapons platform, the Wing Loong-2 is often compared to the US-made MQ-9 Reaper, though its maximum speed and altitude are inferior to the latter. AdvertisementThe UN report and a BBC investigation found that Wing Loong-2 drones were likely supplied by the United Arab Emirates, which has long been accused of backing Haftar.

Persons: —, Gioia Tauro, Loong, ALY7IBwRaA, WeKoW0i7Rs, Khalifa Haftar, Haftar's, Muammar, he's Organizations: Service, Financial Police, Business, Investigators, MSC Arina, MSC Apolline, Libyan, Financial Guard, Guardia, Times, Guard, United Nations, Libyan National Army, UN, United Arab Emirates Locations: Italy, China, Libya, London, Benghazi, Beijing, Muammar Gaddafi's, Russia, Moscow, Tripoli, Canada

☆ European police seize Lamborghinis and Rolexes over alleged $650M Covid-19 fraud
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Christian Edwards | Sharon Braithwaite | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Police have arrested 22 people and seized assets worth more than €600 million ($650 million) in connection with alleged fraud linked to the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund. The alleged fraud is likely to renew concerns about the misuse of the EU’s €800-billion recovery fund to help revive the bloc’s economy. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said a criminal organization is suspected of running a fraud scheme between 2021 and 2023 to swindle Italy’s recovery packages. The prosecutor’s office claimed the group used cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and offshore cloud servers to carry out and conceal the fraud. The United States has also attempted to crack down on alleged fraud involving Covid-19 relief resources.

Persons: Lamborghinis, Cartier Organizations: CNN — Police, Prosecutor’s, Police, Public, ”, United, Small Business Administration Locations: Italy, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, United States

☆ More than 200 mobsters jailed in one of Italy’s biggest mafia trials
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Rome CNN —An Italian court has sentenced more than 200 crime gang members to a total of 2,200 years in prison, following the country’s largest mafia trial in three decades. It took the court one hour and 40 minutes to hand down its rulings, Italian news outlet Ansa reported. Among those tried were 42 women – a record for a mafia trial – of whom 39 were convicted. The trial took place in a specially-built bunker in Lamezia Temre, southern Italy, amid safety concerns. Valeria Ferraro/APThe mobsters were affiliated with Italy’s notorious ’Nrangheta crime group and were convicted of mafia association, extortion, bribery and five murders.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN —, –, ” “, Giancarlo Pittelli, Giorgio Naselli, Michele Marinaro, Gianluca Callipo, Luigi Incarnato, Pietro Giamborino, Valeria Ferraro, Scott, Scott W, Sieben Organizations: Rome CNN, onetime Forza Italia, CNN, Italy’s, United, Italian DIA, Mafia Locations: Lamezia Terme, Temre, Italy, United States, Italian, Calabria

☆ Gabon military coup: What to know about the overthrow of the Bongo dynasty
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

International leaders have expressed concern and condemnation of the coup, some warning their citizens in Gabon to shelter in place. The military’s power grab began Wednesday, shortly after Gabon’s election authority said Bongo had been re-elected president following last weekend’s election. People celebrate following a military coup in Libreville, Gabon, on August 30. Coups in Africa were rampant in the early postcolonial decades, with coup leaders offering similar reasons for toppling governments: corruption, mismanagement and poverty, according to political analyst Remi Adekoya. The Gabon coup has been widely criticized by other African nations and in the West.

Persons: –, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Ali Bongo, Bongo, ”, president’s, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, Brice Oligui Nguema –, Bongo’s, Oligui, Gerauds Wilfried Obangome, “, Brice Oligui Nguema, there’s, Omar Bongo, Gabon's, Omar Bongo Ondimba, Nicolas Sarkozy, Frederic SOULOY, Ali Bongo’s, Remi Adekoya, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Ali, General Antonio Guterres, Guterres, Matthew Miller Organizations: CNN, Agence France, Presse, ” Residents, Bongo PDG, Reuters, Gabonese, Gabon Wednesday, African Union, ” United Nations, US State Department Locations: African, Gabon, Libreville, Ayong, Gabonese, Dakar, Senegal, Span, France, United States, Paris, Africa’s, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Tunisia, Africa, West, United Kingdom, Spain

☆ Italy's Meta tax review gets underway in potential test case for tech sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Emilio Parodi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That has prompted a dialogue between Meta and the Italian tax agency -- the assessment phase -- which will end this year either with the company's acceptance of payment or with the start of tax litigation. The assessment, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, involves the highest ranking Italian tax officials because of the sensitivity of the issue. Meta said it takes its tax obligations seriously, pays all tax required in the countries where it operates and will fully cooperate with the Italian authorities. Italy's tax police and revenue agency calculated a model under which Meta would have had to pay around 220 million euros of sales tax in the country in 2021. The EPPO is awaiting the outcome of the Italian case before it decides whether to pursue similar action in other European Union states, a source with knowledge of the matter had said.

Persons: Italy's Guardia, Meta, Sergio Sirabella, Emilio Parodi, Keith Weir, Devika Organizations: MILAN, Facebook, Meta, Italy's, European Public Prosecutor's, Reuters, Economic Financial Police School, Union, Thomson Locations: Italy, U.S, Milan

☆ French police raid Paris 2024 organizing committee office, spokesman says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Joseph Ataman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Paris CNN —French police raided the offices of the Paris 2024 organizing committee in France’s capital Tuesday morning, a committee spokesperson confirmed to CNN. Paris 2024 spokersperson Jonathan Firpo told CNN that a “police search is currently underway at the headquarters of the Organising Committee.”“Paris 2024 is cooperating fully with the investigators to facilitate their investigations,” Firpo said. According to an internal email sent to committee employees seen by CNN affiliate BFMTV, French financial police are leading the search. “Several” sites were raided by police, including the Paris 2024 offices and the headquarters of SOLIDEO, the public body responsible for much of the construction and infrastructure around the Paris 2024 games, the financial prosecutor’s office said. This followed an inspection by the French anti-corruption agency, the financial prosecutor’s office said.

Persons: spokersperson Jonathan Firpo, ”, ” Firpo Organizations: Paris CNN —, CNN, Paris, BFMTV, French, Financial Prosecutor’s, Paralympic Games Locations: Paris, France’s, SOLIDEO, French

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