Executives Get 141 Years in Prison for Italy PFAS Contamination
Eleven former executives of companies linked to Miteni SpA were sentenced to a combined 141 years in prison by an Italian court for one of the largest groundwater contaminations of forever chemicals in Europe.
Parent company Mitsubishi Corp., Japan's biggest trading house, and Luxembourg-based International Chemical Investors Group were found to be liable along with the individuals for damage caused by pollution with per- and polyfluorinated chemicals, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals.
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Yahoo
13 minutes ago
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Irish rappers Kneecap perform controversial Glastonbury set
Irish rap trio Kneecap took aim at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a defiant performance Saturday at Britain's Glastonbury festival, which also saw Britpop legends Pulp wow fans with a surprise show. Kneecap has made headlines in recent months with their pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance. One of their members has been charged with a "terror" offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah, leading Starmer and other politicians to say they should not be performing at Glastonbury. In front of thousands of fans, many waving Palestinian flags, Kneecap led the capacity crowd in chanting abuse about Starmer. "Glastonbury, I'm a free man", said member Liam O'Hanna, who appeared in court earlier this month accused of having displayed a Hezbollah flag while saying "Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah" after a video resurfaced of a London concert last year. The Iran-backed Lebanese force Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are banned in the UK, and it is an offence to express support for them. O'Hanna, known by his stage name Mo Chara, has denied the charge. "This situation can be quite stressful but it's minimal compared to what the Palestinian people are (facing)," said O'Hanna, wearing his trademark keffiyah. O'Hanna also gave "a shout out" to Palestine Action Group, which interior minister Yvette Cooper announced last week would become a banned group under the Terrorism Act of 2000. - 'Playing characters' - Fellow band member DJ Provai wore a t-shirt dedicated to the campaign group, whose prohibition comes after its activists broke into a British Royal Air Force base and vandalised two planes. Before Kneecap took to the stage, rap punk duo Bob Vylan led the crowd in chants of "Death, death to the IDF", a reference to the Israeli Defence Forces. Local police said they were assessing videos of comments made by both groups to decide whether any offences may have been committed, UK media reported. Formed in 2017, Kneecap is no stranger to controversy. To their fans they are daring provocateurs who stand up to the establishment; to their detractors they are dangerous extremists. Their Irish and English lyrics are filled with references to drugs, they repeatedly clashed with the UK's previous Conservative government and have vocally opposed British rule in Northern Ireland. The group apologised this year after a 2023 video emerged appearing to show one singer calling for the death of British Conservative MPs. Two MPs have been murdered in Britain in the past nine years and many of them worry about their safety. But Kneecap deny the terrorism charge and say the video featuring the Hezbollah flag has been taken out of context. Asked whether he regretted waving it, and other comments caught on camera, Chara told the Guardian in an interview published Friday: "Why should I regret it? It was a joke -- we're playing characters." Chris Jeffries, a 32-year-old analyst at a bank, told AFP that Kneecap's performance at Glastonbury made him proud to be a fan. "They're one of the only bands here that are actually preaching about Palestine," said Jeffries, wearing an Irish tricolour balaclava. - Glastonbury rejects criticism - Since O'Hanna was charged, the group has been pulled from a slew of summer gigs, including a Scottish festival appearance and various performances in Germany. But Glastonbury organisers defied Starmer who had said it was not "appropriate" for Kneecap to perform at Glastonbury, one of the country's biggest and most famous music festivals. "People that don't like the politics of the event can go somewhere else," Michael Eavis, co-founder of the festival said in an article published in a free newspaper for festival-goers. Public broadcaster the BBC faced pressure not to air the concert. In a statement Saturday, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said the performance would not be shown live but would likely be available on-demand afterwards. Pulp, led by Jarvis Cocker, had fans bouncing to '90s anthem "Common People" after being listed on the lineup as "Patchwork". "Sorry to the people who were expecting Patchwork," the frontman joked. Headline acts at the festival which finishes Sunday include Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo, with other highlights including Charli XCX and Rod Stewart. vid-pdh/gv
Bloomberg
28 minutes ago
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Powell and Lagarde Count Cost of Trump's Turbulence
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Associated Press
an hour ago
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A hard-liner follows a fellow right-winger as head of Greece's migration and asylum ministry
Athens, Greece (AP) — A hard-right lawmaker has replaced a fellow right-winger and political heavyweight accused of fraud as migration and asylum minister in Greece's government, a government spokesman announced Saturday. Thanos Plevris, 48, is succeeding Makis Voridis, 60, who resigned Friday to defend himself against allegations that he was possibly involved in an organized fraud scheme to provide farm subsidies to undeserving recipients. The European Public Prosecutor's Office, which has investigated the case, passed on a hefty file to the Greek Parliament that includes allegations of possible involvement of government ministers. Members of Parliament enjoy immunity from prosecution in Greece that can only be lifted by parliamentary vote. In his resignation letter, Voridis denied acting illegally and said he is resigning to clear his name. He noted that during his tenure as agricultural development and foods minister from July 2019 and January 2021, he capped individual subsidies and launched a record number of investigations. His detractors say those very actions are proof that he was aware of the corrupt subsidies system and did nothing to reform it. On Friday, four other lawmakers, three of whom had formerly served as deputy ministers in the Agricultural Policy Ministry, as well as a current deputy minister, also resigned. Their replacements were also announced Saturday by government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, who added they will be sworn in Monday. No changes are expected to be seen in Greece's tough migration policy under Plevris who, like Voridis and current health minister Adonis Georgiadis, joined the conservative New Democracy in 2012, leaving the right-populist Popular Orthodox Rally, or LAOS. Before LAOS, Voridis had been the leader of the youth wing of the far-right National Political Union, appointed to the post by jailed former dictator George Papadopoulos. He had replaced Nikos Michaloliakos, who went on to found the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party and who is currently serving a prison term for leading what courts termed a 'criminal gang.' Voridis founded his own far-right party, Hellenic Front, and took part in several municipal and national elections between 1994 and 2004. In 2000, he allied himself with Plevris' father Konstantinos, a lawyer, far-right activist and self-styled 'proud fascist.' Voridis joined LAOS in 2006 and has been a lawmaker since 2007. Voridis is considered a political heavyweight and, if not for his far-right and sometimes violent past, he would have been considered a possible conservative leader, politicians and pundits agree. He now describes himself as an economic liberal and a 'non-extreme' nationalist.
