Beyonce, Bollywood, Hillary as India's richest daughter weds

Yahoo – AFP, December 12, 2018

Isha Ambani was set to wed Anand Piramal in the Ambanis' 27-storey home
in Mumbai (AFP Photo)

Topping anything in hit film "Crazy Rich Asians", the only daughter of India's richest man ties the knot Wednesday after days of lavish celebrations that included a Beyonce concert in a lakeside palace.

Isha Ambani, whose father is tycoon Mukesh Ambani, was set to wed Anand Piramal, son of Indian billionaire industrialist Ajay Piramal, in the Ambanis' 27-storey home in Mumbai.

Days of pre-wedding festivities at a sprawling palace in Udaipur in the desert state of Rajasthan included a concert by Beyonce, purportedly the bride's favourite singer.

Attendees included Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and dozens of Bollywood stars including Salman Khan and Aamir Khan as well as cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar.

Joining them was a who's-who of India's super-rich elite, arriving on dozens of specially chartered flights into Udaipur's normally sleepy airport and whisked away in expensive cars.

Attendees at pre-wedding festivities in the desert state of Rajasthan included 

Hillary Clinton (AFP Photo/Handout)

Actress Priyanka Chopra and American singer Nick Jonas, who themselves became husband and wife earlier this month, were also guests at Udaipur's City Palace on the banks of Lake Pichola.

Wednesday evening's actual wedding was set to be a more private affair with around 600 close friends and family, and some politicians, expected to be on the guest list.

There was a high police presence in the south Mumbai area around the Ambanis' home, which is called Antilia and reportedly cost over $1 billion when it was completed in 2010.

Indian newspapers have been abuzz with speculation about the total cost of the wedding. Conservative estimates have put it around $15 million while others insist $100 million is closer to the truth.

Ambani, 27 and Piramal, 33 got engaged at Lake Como in Italy in September and the high-profile wedding brings together two of India's biggest industrialist families.

Mukesh Ambani is the chairman of oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries. He is worth more than $47 billion and recently overtook China's Jack Ma as Asia's wealthiest man.

The respective families will hold several other receptions across India's financial 

capital in the coming days (AFP Photo/Handout)

The respective families will hold several other receptions across India's financial capital in the coming days.

The wedding caps a big month for what social media users have been calling "big fat Indian weddings". The Chopra-Jonas nuptials came shortly after Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh wed.

Not everyone is happy though.

"Isha Ambani's wedding is a perfect example of the wealth inequality in India," wrote one Twitter user.

"Here you have one of the richest families in the nation spending so much while millions still can't even afford food or shelter," she added.

"The new standard for lavish Indian wedding is Beyonce. Imagine," tweeted another.

Ex-lawyer blames Trump 'dirty deeds' as sentenced to three years

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine TRIOMPHE, December 12, 2018

US President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen arrives for
sentencing (AFP Photo/COREY SIPKIN)

New York (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen delivered a blistering attack on his ex-boss as he was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for multiple crimes including making hush payments to silence two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

"I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds," Cohen said as he pleaded for leniency before US District Judge William H. Pauley III in a packed Manhattan courtroom.

An emotional Cohen, Trump's longtime "fixer," told the court he was taking responsibility for his personal crimes and "those implicating the President of the United States of America."

Cohen's lawyers had argued for no jail time after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion, providing false statements to a bank, illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to Congress.

But Judge Pauley said Cohen -- as a lawyer -- "should have known better" and sentenced him to three years in federal prison, ordering him to surrender to custody by March 6.

"Each of these crimes standing alone warrant considerable punishment," Pauley said, adding that Cohen was "motivated by personal greed and ambition."

"A significant term of imprisonment is fully justified in this highly publicized case to send a message," the judge said.

The charges were brought by federal prosecutors in New York and by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether any members of Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow.

Before Pauley passed sentence the 52-year-old Cohen addressed the court, saying it was his devotion to Trump that caused him to choose "a path of darkness over light."

"Today is the day that I am getting my freedom back," he said.

"I have been living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day that I accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen I deeply admired," Cohen said.

"I now realize there was little to admire," he said.

US President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen arrives for 

sentencing (AFP Photo/COREY SIPKIN)

'Dirty deeds'

Cohen referred to a recent tweet from Trump calling him "weak," saying his only weakness was "blind loyalty" to his former boss.

"Time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass," he said.

Among the charges against Cohen was making hush money payments to silence two women threatening to go public during the election campaign with claims they had affairs with Trump.

Cohen told prosecutors the payments totaling $280,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal were made "in coordination with and at the direction" of Trump -- referred to by prosecutors as "Individual-1."

Both women have claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump before he was the Republican candidate for president and prosecutors have characterized the payments as illegal campaign contributions intended to influence the election.

"Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election," prosecutors said.

Trump this week sought to minimize the importance of the payments saying they were a "simple private transaction" and were "wrongly" being called campaign contributions.

"Cohen just trying to get his sentence reduced," Trump tweeted. "WITCH HUNT!"

There was no immediate reaction from Trump to Cohen's sentencing.

Lied to Congress

While federal prosecutors said Cohen's cooperation was limited and selective, the special counsel's office said Cohen had "gone to significant lengths" to assist their investigation.

Last month, Cohen acknowledged that he had lied to Congress about his contacts with Russia during the election campaign about building a Trump Tower in Moscow and the extent of Trump's own involvement in the negotiations.

Cohen, wearing a dark suit with a light blue tie, arrived for the sentencing with his wife, son and daughter, who was walking with a crutch. Other family members were also in the audience including his 83-year-old wheelchair-bound father.

For 12 years, Cohen was vice president of The Trump Organization, the umbrella company for Trump's real estate businesses, and one of the principal confidants of the New York billionaire.

Investigators raided Cohen's offices and New York home in April, seizing stacks of documents and electronic devices.

Trump claims hush payments during 2016 campaign were legal

Yahoo – AFP, December 10, 2018

US President Donald Trump's (R) story on hush payments to women including
Stormy Daniels (L) has changed repeatedly (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller, Olivier Douliery)

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed hush payments to alleged former lovers before the 2016 presidential election were legal, pointing to a "simple private transaction."

Federal prosecutors in New York on Friday urged "substantial" jail time for his former lawyer Michael Cohen who pleaded guilty in August to bank fraud and campaign finance violations as a result of the pay-offs to two women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump.

But Trump denied the payments constituted a violation of US campaign financing laws.

"There was NO COLLUSION," he tweeted. "So now the Dems go to a simple private transaction, wrongly call it a campaign contribution, ... which it was not."

Trump, referred to as "Individual-1," in the court documents, was directly implicated in ordering Cohen to make illegal payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to ensure their silence about the alleged sexual affairs.

Prosecutors argued that the hush payments were intended to influence the outcome of the elections, making them undeclared campaign contributions.

But Trump insisted that even if the payments were illegal, it would be a civil matter.

"It is only a CIVIL CASE, like Obama's - but was done correctly by a lawyer and there would not even be a fine," he claimed.

"Lawyer's liability if (Cohen) made a mistake, not me."

The 2008 Obama campaign paid a $375,000 fine in 2013 to settle violations of a rule that contributions made 20 days before an election had to be reported within 48 hours.

But that case is distinct from the felonies Cohen admitted to as the violations were not alleged to be intended to swing the election outcome.

Trump went on to accuse Cohen, who will be sentenced on Wednesday, of "just trying to get his sentence reduced."

Trump's story on the payments has changed repeatedly.

In August, he accused Cohen of making up "stories" to cut a plea deal.

But he went on to say the payments were financed with his own money -- to which Cohen had access -- and that while he had no knowledge of them at the time, he had since been fully transparent.

Nobel laureates challenge world to end sexual violence

France24 – AFP, 9 Dec 2018

Murad and Mukwege will be jointly presented with the prize in Oslo on Monday for
"their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed
conflict"    Oslo (AFP)

Nobel peace laureates Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege said Sunday they hoped their award would help them push the international community to act to end rape in conflict and deliver justice for victims.

Yazidi activist Murad and Congolese doctor Mukwege will be jointly presented with the prize in Oslo on Monday for "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict".

Murad, 25, who was taken hostage in Iraq by the Islamic State group (IS) in 2014 but escaped, said the prize was an honour for all of her Yazidi community, and "a sign" for the thousands of women still held by jihadists.

"This prize, one prize cannot remove all the violence and all the attacks on pregnant women, on children, on women and give them justice," she told a press conference in Oslo.

But she said she hoped it would "open doors so that we can approach more governments", to bring the perpetrators to court and "so that we can find a solution and actually stop what is happening".

Fellow laureate Mukwege, who has spent two decades treating rape victims at his hospital in conflict-torn eastern DR Congo, said the Nobel spotlight made it harder for the world to ignore sexual violence.

"We cannot say that we didn't act because we didn't know. Now everyone knows. And I think now the international community has a responsibility to act," he said.

He said the prize was not a "victory", but could be seen "as the start of a new struggle, a new struggle against this type of evil".

Murad has spent the years since her escape campaigning for the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking community that follows an ancient religion and was targeted by IS as it swept through her homeland.

More than 6,800 Yazidis were kidnapped, of whom 4,300 either escaped or were bought as slaves, while 2,500 remain missing, according to a recent report from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

The United Nations is due to send a team into Iraq next year to investigate atrocities, following a Security Council resolution in September 2017 to bring those responsible for IS war crimes to justice.

The UN has described the massacre of the Yazidis by IS jihadists as possible genocide.

Murad, now a UN ambassador for victims of human trafficking living in Germany, said the "steps towards justice" had given her hope.

But she stressed that "not a single ISIS terrorist" has appeared in court, adding "this injustice will continue in this world if it is not dealt with now".

Thousands march for climate in Paris despite 'yellow vest' unrest

Digital Journal – AFP, 8 Dec 2018

Up to 25,000 people marched through Paris on Saturday urging greater action on climate change, despite fears that their protest would be scuppered by "yellow vest" demonstrations.

Police estimated the number of green activists heading onto the streets at 17,000 while organisers counted 25,000 urging world governments to better protect the environment.

The numbers were similar to previous climate marches in Paris, despite sporadic violence in the city on Saturday among thousands of "yellow vest" demonstrators who want more help for France's poor.

Organisers had to change the route of the climate march, marching instead from Place de la Nation to Place de la Republique, due to the yellow vest demonstrations, but refused a request by Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to postpone it.

"It was unthinkable to cancel this march. It's important to talk about problems related to the end of the world as well as the end of the month," Elodie Nace, a spokeswoman for green NGO Alternatiba, told the crowds.

Thousands also marched in other French cities, including an estimated 10,000 in Marseille, 3,500 in Montpellier and 3,000 in Lille.

The "yellow vest" movement has been spurred by anger in small-town and rural France at rising car fuel taxes which were aimed at helping the country transition to a greener economy, but which protesters say hurts the poor.

But green activists at the climate marches urged people to find solutions for both environmental problems and the financial struggles of France's poorest.

"Yellow vests, green vests -- same anger," they chanted.

Some "yellow vest" activists, clad in their emblematic high-visibility road jackets, joined the Paris march after breaking off from their own demonstration.

Marches had been organised in more than 120 towns across France to mark the COP24 climate talks in Poland.

Macron's reformist image battered by 'yellow vest' rebellion

France24 – AFP, 6 Dec 2018

The violent street protests in Paris have raised questions abroad if President
Emmanuel Macron (C) is still able to reform France - let alone the European Union AFP

Hailed as a hero in the fight against populism after defeating the far right in elections last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has seen his international reputation take a battering over his failure to quell the "yellow vests" protests.

"In 2017, his election was greeted as a sign of hope by his European neighbours after the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump's election in 2016," Nicolas Baygert, professor of political communications at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, told AFP.

Seen from Berlin or Brussels, the centrist Macron represented a "bulwark against populism" and a determined advocate of deeper European integration at a time of rising divisions within the bloc, Baygert said.

But shocking scenes of rioting and destruction last week in Paris, which forced him into a U-turn on fuel tax hikes, have raised questions abroad over his ability to reform France -- let alone the European Union.

Fears for European elections

Two images from the Champs-Elysees that reverberated around the world encapsulate the stunning fall in Macron's stock.

On November 11, around 70 world leaders including US President Donald Trump gathered under the Arc de Triomphe war memorial at the top of the avenue for a ceremony commemorating the end of World War I.

Leading the ceremony, Macron was widely commended for his statesmanship, including his refusal to be drawn into a war of words with Trump, who later attacked his host on Twitter for castigating nationalists.

But three weeks later, the world watched in shock as rioters swarmed the Arc de Triomphe, spraying it with anti-Macron slogans and smashing sculptures inside during a protest over inequality.

"The contrast between the two images is striking," Baygert noted.

The scenes of mayhem in France have rattled Macron's EU partners in particular.

"Macron is well liked by his European neighbours for his unbending approach in a country that has long been seen as incapable of reforming itself," Vincent Laborderie, a professor of political sciences at the Catholique de Louvain, also in Belgium, told AFP.

The French government has insisted that its reformist zeal remains undented and that it stays committed to cutting the budget deficit.

But with demonstrators continuing to block schools and shopping centres, and radicals gearing up for a third round of violent protests in Paris on Saturday, mainstream European parties are worried that a new populist wave is being unleashed, a few months before European elections.

"If Macron does not act... there is a risk that it will end in a massive nationalist victory in the coming European elections," Spanish daily El Pais wrote in an editorial on Tuesday. "France cannot afford that. Nor can Europe."

With German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the autumn of her rule -- bowing out after electoral setbacks for her party in which the far right made strong gains -- Macron had been expected to lead moderates into May's European Parliament elections.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate in France... Macron will no longer be able to occupy this role," Laborderie said.

Salvini, Trump cheer

In an analysis for The Washington Post, the writer Ishaan Tharoor said the riots had undermined Macron's reputation as one of the few politicians on the world stage who could stand up to the tide of populism.

"Macron likes to present himself to the world as the suave centrist who can hold the line against the anger of the fringes. But at home, he's a politician under siege, at risk of being overwhelmed by a growing rebellion," Tharoor wrote.

Trump was among those who appeared to derive satisfaction from Macron's woes.

On Tuesday, he seized on Macron's climbdown on anti-pollution fuel taxes as a vindication of his decision to pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, which he said imposed too heavy a financial burden.

"I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago," he tweeted.

Macron's chief European adversary, the far-right Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, also appeared cheered by his troubles.

"Macron is no longer a problem for me or for Europe," Salvini said on Monday.

The shine had already begun to come off Macron's presidency in recent months, with Western media that had sung his praises starting to voice concern over stagnant growth in France, the limited effects of his first wave of reforms on job creation in the eurozone's second-biggest economy, and his failure to gain traction with Donald Trump on trade, climate change and Iran.

Commenting on the shift, the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia wrote: "It's a tough blow for Macron. His image will never be the same again."

#EmmanuelMacron was once hailed as a hero in the fight against populism, but the #GiletsJaune protests have raised doubts over his ability to reform France - @CamilleMalplat looks at how the 'yellow vest' rebellion has damaged Macron's reformist image https://t.co/09jBtY9ni4 pic.twitter.com/7t2QG27bRA

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 6, 2018

Police raid Jehovah’s witness buildings in sexual abuse inquiries

DutchNews, December 6, 2018

The police last month raided three locations used by the Jehovah’s Witnesses in connection with a major inquiry into sexual abuse, broadcaster RTL said on Thursday. 

The raids took place on November 19 and included the religious group’s headquarters in Emmen and two church buildings. In addition, four private homes were searched as part of the inquiry. 

The raids were prompted by multiple reports of sexual abuse made by victims against both former and current church members, a public prosecution spokesman told RTL. The department is currently investigating nine cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses, the spokesman said. 

Justice minister Sander Dekker said in August the public prosecution department had begun a criminal investigation into sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses community after at least five people have made a formal complaint. 

And in July, MPs from across the political spectrum called for an investigation after the church said it would not sanction an independent inquiry into dozens of claims of abuse. 

Protection 

The church authorities say that measures have been put in place to protect children and very few victims have come forward. However, a foundation set up by victims of sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses has already registered 276 potential cases of abuse. 

Dekker said last year that the church should look to the example of the Catholic church to dealing with complaints about sexual abuse. In total, 3,712 people have reported being victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic church to a special hotline set up in 2010. 

There are some 30,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Netherlands.

Related Articles:

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Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to hand over evidence in sexual abuse case

Jehovah’s Witnesses reject calls for independent inquiry into sexual abuse

Jehovah’s Witnesses under fire for not talking as sexual abuse claims rise

Dozens come forward to report abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia hid 1,000 cases of child abuse

'We will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead', Francis said in 2015 (AFP
Photo/Andreas SOLARO)

Pope says Church can no longer tolerate silence on abuse

Pope Francis meets with leaders from the US church at the Vatican on Thursday

to discuss claims of sexual abuse by clergy (AFP Photo/Handout)

Pope meets with US church leaders over clergy sex abuse

US cardinals defend themselves over cover-up storm

Pennsylvania report lists more than 300 'predator' priests

US cardinal caught up in abuse scandal resigns

Sex abuse claims rock Dutch Catholic Church

Pope accepts resignation of 3 Chilean bishops in sex abuse scandal

Australian archbishop gets 12 months for concealing child abuse
Germany's Catholic Church 'ashamed' by child sex abuse 

Part of the painting, said to one of the highlights of the Vatican collection

Jesus and Joseph, UK, May 27, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness. …”

Women should play a greater role in the training of priests to fight the child abuse 'crisis' that has engulfed the #CatholicChurch, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet has said https://t.co/UmGvrcnIZI #MarcOuellet

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 16, 2018

A Belgian bishop has called for married men to be allowed into the priesthood, a hot-button topic within the Roman Catholic church as it grapples with falling priest numbers and sexual abuse scandals https://t.co/nKSHNOGfBj

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 10, 2018

Dozens of mafia suspects held in international sting

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, December 5, 2018

Italian media said key organised crime family members were targeted in the
raids, such as this one in Cologne (AFP Photo/Christoph Reichwein)

The Hague (AFP) - Police arrested dozens of suspected mobsters in Europe and South America on Wednesday in a huge international swoop targeting Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia clan, officials said.

Nearly 90 people including high-ranking members of the powerful organised crime syndicate accused of drug trafficking and money laundering were arrested in coordinated raids in six countries, EU justice agency Eurojust said.

The "unprecedented" crackdown on the group based in Calabria, southern Italy, came just a day after Italian police arrested the new boss of the separate Sicilian mafia.

Hundreds of police took part in Wednesday's operation, seizing four tonnes of cocaine, 120 kilos of ecstasy and two million euros (dollars) in cash across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Suriname.

"Today, we send a clear message to organised crime groups across Europe," Filippo Spiezia, vice president of the EU's judicial agency Eurojust, told reporters in The Hague.

"They are not the only ones able to operate across borders; so are Europe's judiciary and law enforcement communities."

He said the "unprecedented and extraordinary result", the fruit of a two-year operation, targeted "dangerous members of the 'Ndrangheta family deeply involved in drug trafficking and money laundering".

Italian restaurants

The 'Ndrangheta -- which derives its meaning from the Greek word for heroism -- is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed "toe" of Italy's boot.

Before Wednesday's Europe-wide raid, Italian police arrested the new boss 

of the Sicilian Mafia, Settimino Mineo (AFP Photo/Alessandro FUCARINI)

Despite intense police attention and frequent arrests, the organisation has continued to extend its reach.

It has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra in influence thanks to control of the cocaine trade and is the sole mafia organisation to operate on all continents, according to anti-mafia prosecutors.

Officials hailed Wednesday's operation -- dubbed "Operation Pollina" -- as a serious blow to the group.

In total 41 people were arrested in Italy, 21 in Germany, 14 in Belgium, five in the Netherlands and two in Luxembourg, with operations still underway, Eurojust said.

Italian police said the sweep targeted the 'Ndrangheta and its "projections across South America".

Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho said the operations would affect the 'Ndrangheta's drug trafficking operations around the world, including Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

But he warned that it was "just a first step", saying the arrests were "nothing for the 'Ndrangheta, there are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions that should be seized".

In Germany, Wednesday's operation focused on restaurants, offices and apartments, mainly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria region.

Dutch prosecutors said the investigation began after they noticed money laundering at two Italian restaurants in the southern Netherlands that showed criminal links with Germany and Calabria, home of the 'Ndrangheta.

Italian media said key organised crime family members were targeted in the

raids, such as this one in Cologne (AFP Photo/Christoph Reichwein)

Using an often family-based network spread out around Europe, drugs would come into the Dutch port of Rotterdam and the Belgian port of Antwerp before being moved around the continent.

Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said they had also probed ice cream parlours, adding that together with restaurants "the suspicion is that the mafia organisation is laundering money through these establishments and they are used as a cover for their criminal organisations".

He also confirmed that there had been raids in Suriname, a small South American country that was once a Dutch colony.

Dutch NOS television said the 'Ndrangheta were mainly active in the Netherlands in drug smuggling through the country's huge flower export market.

'Decisive hit'

The Belgian operations were concentrated on the Limburg area, home to many people of Italian descent who moved there after World War II to work in coal mines, Belgian prosecutors said.

The European police agency Europol said it was a "decisive hit against one of the most powerful Italian criminal networks in the world".

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is Italian, sent "congratulations" to the police forces involved, adding: "Europe fights 'Ndrangheta criminal groups".

On Tuesday, Italian police arrested new Cosa Nostra boss Settimino Mineo and dozens of other suspects in Sicily in a major swoop.

Jeweller Mineo, 80, was detained with at least 45 others just before he was due to be appointed official heir to notorious mafia boss Toto Riina, who died in prison last year.

Washington sets aside divisions for Bush state funeral

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, December 5, 2018

George W. Bush delivers a eulogy beside the flag-draped casket of his father 

George H.W. Bush, during his state funeral at Washington National Cathedral

(AFP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington (AFP) - A divided Washington led by the nation's five living presidents put on a show of unity Wednesday at the poignant state funeral of George H.W. Bush, as America bade farewell to its 41st president.

Donald and Melania Trump shared a front row pew at Washington National Cathedral with past presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and their wives as an honor guard brought Bush's flag-draped casket into the packed prayer hall.

George W. Bush delivered a rousing and deeply personal eulogy -- at times punctuated by laughter -- as he sang the praises of his father and predecessor as commander-in-chief, who died Friday at age 94.

"He was born with just two settings -- full throttle, then sleep," Bush said. "To us, his was the brightest of a thousand points of light," he added in reference to his father's signature call to volunteerism.

George W. Bush (R) and his brother Jeb Bush arrive at the state funeral of their 

father, former president George H. W. Bush, at Washington National Cathedral

(AFP Photo/Alex Edelman)

"When the history books are written, they will say that George H.W. Bush was a great president of the United States."

Bush's eulogy followed an uplifting performance by Irish tenor Ronan Tynan -- a friend of Bush who sang to the president in his dying hours.

Wednesday's state funeral caps a day-long homage that saw Bush lie in state for two days in the US Capitol rotunda.

Since Bush's death, Trump has traded his usual provocative posture for one of respect and solemnity, tweeting before heading to the cathedral about "a day of celebration for a great man."

But while the service allowed Washington to hit pause on the toxic rhetoric that has engulfed the country's politics, Trump and his Democratic predecessors appeared locked in an uneasy truce as it got underway.

Presidential couples Donald and Melania Trump, Barack and Michelle Obama, and 

Bill and Hillary Clinton shared a front row pew at the state funeral for George 

H.W. Bush at Washington National Cathedral (AFP Photo/Brendan SMIALOWSKI)

Trump arrived and promptly shook hands with Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. But his greetings stopped there, as he failed to acknowledge Hillary Clinton, his defeated Democratic rival in 2016.

Clinton sat stone faced, looking straight ahead, and the pair did not make eye contact.

Other dignitaries in the cathedral included Britain's Prince Charles, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Polish president Lech Walesa, former vice presidents Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Joe Biden, and former secretaries of state James Baker, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.

Wednesday was a day of precision, patriotic ritual, and ceremony. George W. Bush and wife Laura stood stoically outside the US Capitol as an honor guard carried his father's flag-draped casket to the hearse.

The flag-draped casket of former US president George H.W. Bush is carried by a 

military honor guard into Washington National Cathedral for his state funeral 

on December 5, 2018 (AFP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

In a show of respect, Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with well-wishers as the cortege proceeded toward the Neo-Gothic cathedral in the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in late 2006.

Earlier, tens of thousands of Americans had quietly filed in to the Capitol to pay their respects to a man who steered the nation through turbulent times including the end of the Cold War -- and in a style dramatically different to the combative current president.

Trump's ascendancy to the head of the Republican Party saw him exchange vitriolic attacks with the Bushes, notably slamming the presidential son's 2003 invasion of Iraq as "one of the worst decisions in the history of our country."

But he has taken pains to demonstrate unity since Bush's death, and made a low-key visit to the Capitol late Monday with First Lady Melania Trump to salute Bush's casket.

Late US President George H. W. Bush's service dog, Sully, sits by the coffin of 

the late president in the US Capitol's rotunda (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

'Civility and good will'

Trump declared Wednesday a national day of mourning. Many federal offices are closed along with Wall Street stock markets.

Congress also suspended votes -- even in the midst of a looming potential shutdown that requires congressional action before midnight Friday.

Bush was a decorated World War II aviator who nearly lost his life when he was shot down on a bombing mission.

He served as a congressman, envoy to China and ambassador to the United Nations, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Profile of George H. W. Bush (AFP Photo/Gillian HANDYSIDE)

At a time of extraordinary and deep political fissures, Bush was looked to this week as a gracious servant of country who aimed to bridge the political divide.

Bush "was America's last great soldier statesman," presidential historian Jon Meacham told the guests.

"His life code, as he said, was tell the truth, don't blame people, be strong, do your best, try hard, forgive, stay the course."

After the Washington service, Bush's casket will be flown back to Houston. The former head of state will lie in repose at St Martin's Episcopal Church, where the Bushes worshipped for decades, until Thursday's funeral.

He will be interred at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station, Texas, next to his wife, who died in April, and their daughter Robin who died of leukemia at age three.

A divided Washington led by the nation's five living presidents put on a show of unity at the poignant state funeral of George H.W. Bush, as America bade farewell to its 41st president https://t.co/YIbN23IHMB pic.twitter.com/IdZAsvQ1vb

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 5, 2018