World News
Qatar suspected of corruption in European Parliament: Vice President among 5 arrested in Belgium
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Steph Deschamps / December 10, 2022
Five arrests and 16 searches were carried out on Friday in Brussels as part of a vast anti-corruption investigation by the federal prosecutor’s office. A former MEP and the head of the International Trade Union Confederation were deprived of their freedom. One of the fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament was also arrested for questioning, the federal prosecutor’s office said Saturday evening, confirming information from the newspaper Le Soir and the weekly Knack. According to the two media, it is the Greek MEP Eva Kaili (S&D, Social Democrats) but the Federal Prosecutor’s Office did not comment on the names of the persons incriminated.
Eva Kaili is vice-president of the European Parliament since this year and is responsible, among other things, for relations with the Middle East. Her companion F.G. – a parliamentary assistant to the S&D – has already been questioned by investigators during the day Friday, adds the two media. The interested party has worked in the past for the Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and is also active in his association Fight Impunity, where a search would also have taken place Friday morning, as well as at the home of the former Italian MEP where nearly 500,000 euros in cash were also seized.
The last two people arrested were a lobbyist and the trade unionist Luca Visentini. The latter was elected General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in November, which has 200 million members worldwide.
Sixteen searches were conducted Friday as part of this investigation and four people were arrested. “For several months, investigators of the PJF (Federal Judicial Police, editor’s note) suspect a Gulf country to influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament, that by paying large sums of money or offering significant gifts to third parties with a significant political or strategic position in the European Parliament, “said earlier today the Federal Prosecutor. According to Knack and Le Soir, the Gulf state in question is Qatar, where the World Cup is currently taking place.
A judicial investigation was therefore opened for alleged criminal organization, corruption and money laundering. Sixteen searches were conducted in Ixelles, Schaerbeek, Crainhem, Forest and Brussels. “This operation targeted in particular parliamentary assistants working in the European Parliament. Among those arrested was a former member of the European Parliament,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.
These searches allowed officers led by Judge Michel Claise, who specializes in financial matters, to get their hands on over half a million euros in cash. “These searches were aimed mainly at computer and telephone equipment. Material that is already in operation. Relatively large sums of money were also found, since at one of the addresses, 600,000 euros in cash were found, which raises questions,” said Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
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Eva Deschamps / October 31, 2023
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 63 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have already lost their lives in the Gaza Strip. Ten aid workers have been killed in the last 72 hours, according to this new toll released by the agency on its website on Monday.
At least 22 UNRWA staff were also injured. Since October 7, 44 UNRWA facilities have also been destroyed. Of its 22 health centers, only nine are still operational, the UN agency said, warning that the provision of health care is made even more difficult by the very low fuel supply.
The UN agency had previously reported that several of its warehouses had been looted. “Due to the very limited aid available and overcrowded shelters, growing tensions are being reported within the displaced communities,” it stressed. Some 672,000 refugees are living in 149 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip, “in increasingly difficult conditions”. “The ability to provide vital assistance was further hampered by the 36-hour communications blackout between October 27 and 29”, UNRWA added.
In all, an estimated 1.4 million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip. Over 120,000 of them have taken refuge in public buildings such as hospitals and schools.
“The aid currently available is insufficient to meet the most basic needs of displaced people and the communities hosting them”, warns the UN agency.
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Sylvie Claire / October 31, 2023
This research into mammal reproduction in space could prove crucial for future solar system exploration missions.
Mouse embryos were grown on board the International Space Station (ISS) and developed normally, according to a Japanese study published in the scientific journal “iScience” on Saturday, October 28.
This is “the very first study to show that mammals might be able to thrive in space”, claim Yamanashi University and the Riken National Research Institute.
The researchers, including Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at Yamanashi University’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology, and a team from the Japanese space agency Jaxa, sent frozen mouse embryos aboard a rocket to the ISS in August 2021. The astronauts thawed the embryos at an early stage, using a specially designed device, and cultured them on board the station for four days.
The experiment “clearly demonstrated that gravity had no significant effect”, noted the researchers. After analyzing the blastocysts (cells that develop into fetuses and placentas) that were returned to their laboratories on Earth, they observed no particular changes in the state of DNA and genes.
“In the future, it will be necessary to transplant blastocysts grown in microgravity on the ISS into mice to see if the mice can give birth,” in order to confirm that the blastocysts are normal, say Yamanashi University and the Riken Institute.
This research could prove crucial for future space exploration and colonization missions. As part of its Artemis program, NASA plans to send humans back to the Moon to learn how to live there in the long term, and to prepare for a trip to Mars in the late 2030s.
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Steph Deschamps / October 25, 2023
The world’s oldest dog died last weekend in Portugal. Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro de l’Alentejo, was 31 years and 165 days old, reports the British public broadcaster BBC on Monday.
Last February, Bobi entered the Guinness Book of Records as not only the oldest living dog, but also the oldest dog of all time.
The old record had been held for almost 100 years by Bluey from Australia. He died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.
Bobi has spent his entire life with the Costa family in the village of Conqueiros, near the west coast of Portugal.
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