Top Italian ‘Ndrangheta boss arrested in Colombia
The alleged leader of Italy’s ’Ndrangheta mafia in Latin America has been arrested in Colombia under an international arrest warrant, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday.
Giuseppe ‘Peppe’ Palermo, 47, was captured in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, on Friday, July 11th during a coordinated operation involving Colombian, Italian and British authorities, as well as European law enforcement agency Europol, according to the report.
Palermo is believed to be the “supreme leader” of Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia in Latin America, the head of the Colombian police, Carlos Fernando Triana, said.
The suspect “not only led the purchase of large shipments of cocaine in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador but also controlled the maritime and land routes used to transport the drugs to European markets,” Triana added.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi hailed Palermo’s arrest as "an extraordinary result," commending Italian police for their “excellent work” in capturing “a prominent figure in drug trafficking”.
Based in the southern Italian region of Calabria, the 'Ndrangheta is Italy’s wealthiest and most powerful mafia.
It is believed to have a near monopoly on cocaine trafficking in Europe and has a presence in some 40 countries around the world.
Ferrari Chairman John Elkann settles inheritance tax dispute in Italy
Ferrari Chairman John Elkann and his siblings Lapo and Ginevra have settled a tax dispute over the inheritance of their grandmother, Marella Caracciolo, Italian media reported on Sunday.
The Public Prosecutor's Office in Turin opened an investigation into alleged tax fraud in early 2024, claiming that the three siblings had failed to pay taxes on assets they inherited after Caracciolo’s death in 2019.
Prosecutors argued at the time that Caracciolo – the wife of late Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli – was a resident of Italy, not Switzerland, and that her inheritance should have been taxed in Italy.
Claims that she was a Swiss resident were part of "a criminal plan to hide her substantial assets and related income from Italian inheritance and tax laws," they added.
In September last year, Italian courts seized €75 million worth of assets in connection with the case.
A spokesperson for the Elkann family said in a statement on Sunday that John, Lapo and Ginevra had reached a "comprehensive settlement" with Italy’s Revenue Agency to “rapidly and definitively clos[e] a painful personal and family vicissitude".
The settlement was “concluded without any admission, not even tacit or partial, of the grounds initially alleged," they added.
Though the settlement figure wasn’t disclosed, Italian media reports said the Elkanns would pay at least €175 million to resolve the tax dispute.
EU delays retaliatory tariffs on US goods in hopes of striking last-minute deal
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that Brussels would suspend retaliatory tariffs on US goods in the hope of reaching a trade deal with Donald Trump’s administration by the end of the month.
“This is now the time for negotiations,” von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels after Trump said he would hit the 27-nation bloc with sweeping 30-percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1st.
The EU had been scheduled to impose “countermeasures” against US levies on steel and aluminium goods starting on Monday, July 14th.
Von der Leyen said the countermeasures would be delayed until August 1st to allow for further trade negotiations with the US.
"The United States has sent us a letter with measures that would come into effect unless there is a negotiated solution, so we will also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until early August," von der Leyen said.
"At the same time, we will continue to prepare for countermeasures" in the event of a no-deal scenario, she added.
The EU is Washington’s biggest trading partner.
The value of EU-US trade in goods and services stood at €1.7 trillion in 2024, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.
Europe’s biggest exports to the US were pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, wine and spirits.
Gaza-bound aid boat leaves Sicily as activist hope to ‘break humanitarian blockade’
A Gaza-bound boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid left Sicily on Sunday, over a month after Israel detained and deported people on board a previous vessel.
The Handala – a former Norwegian trawler operated by an international grassroots group, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition – left the port of Syracuse shortly after midday, carrying fifteen activists.
The boat, which carries medical supplies, food and childcare essentials, will sail for about a week in the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Gaza's coast.
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid an impasse in truce negotiations. The restrictions were only partially eased in late May.
The Handala’s departure came six weeks after another aid boat, the Madleen, left Italy for Gaza, carrying aid and activists including Greta Thunberg and MEP Rima Hassan.
The Madleen was intercepted and seized by Israeli authorities on June 12th, when it was about 185 kilometres away from Gaza's coast.
Its crew was detained and later deported in what human rights groups condemned as a violation of international law.
Gabrielle Cathala, a member of the left-wing France Unbowed party, said the Handala’s mission was “to break the humanitarian blockade".
"I hope we will reach Gaza but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law," she added.
With reporting from AFP.
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