PARIS: Anti-organized crime specialist investigators probing a wave of attacks on prisons and prison staff in France are looking at the possible involvement of a notorious drug cartel, the Paris prosecutor said Saturday.
The so-called DZ Mafia is suspected of being one of the main narco-trafficking networks working out of the southern French port city of Marseille, which has a long history as a hub for the drug trade and banditry associated with it.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a news conference Saturday that one of the suspected organizers of last month’s prison attacks claims to have ties with the DZ Mafia. She said police investigators will examine “the real or supposed influence of the DZ Mafia” in the violence.
Several prisons were targeted by gunfire and arson, including attacks on prison workers’ homes and on cars at a prison service school, in the Paris area and elsewhere, the prosecutor said.
The letters “DDPF” were graffitied on some targets, believed to stand for “défense des prisonniers français,” which translates as “defense of French prisoners.”
The Paris prosecutor said 21 people detained for suspected involvement in the violence have been handed preliminary charges for attempted murder and other alleged crimes.
French authorities in recent months have stepped up policing against drug trafficking, concerned about growing cocaine use in France and violence associated with the trafficking of that and other drugs.
A notorious drug gang is in the crosshairs of a French police investigation of prison attacks
https://arab.news/c8tcn
A notorious drug gang is in the crosshairs of a French police investigation of prison attacks
- Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said one of the suspected organizers of last month’s prison attacks claims to have ties with the DZ Mafia
- The Paris prosecutor said 21 people detained for suspected involvement
Car rams Los Angeles crowd, injuring 28: fire department
An earlier report from officials had listed four to five people in “at least critical condition“
LOS ANGELES: An “unknown vehicle” drove into a crowd in Hollywood in the early hours of Saturday, injuring 28 people, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, without providing information on the cause of the incident.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene in East Hollywood assisting three patients in critical condition, six in serious condition and 19 listed as fair, the Fire Department said.
An earlier report from officials had listed four to five people in “at least critical condition.”
ABC News quoted a Fire Department official saying that preliminary investigations pointed to a driver losing consciousness and ramming a large crowd outside a nightclub. However, this could not be immediately verified.
The area where the incident occurred is near Hollywood landmarks including Sunset Boulevard and the Walk of Fame — a sidewalk emblazoned with stars commemorating movie industry figures.
DR Congo, M23 armed group sign ceasefire deal
- The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in Doha
- A separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal was signed in Washington last month
DOHA: The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed armed group M23 signed a ceasefire deal on Saturday to end fighting that has devastated the country’s mineral-rich but conflict-torn east.
The truce was agreed in a Declaration of Principles signed by the two sides after three months of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, which follows a separate Congolese-Rwandan peace deal signed in Washington last month.
“The Parties commit to uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire,” including refraining from “hate propaganda” and “any attempt to seize by force new positions,” said the agreement.
The M23, which seized vast swathes of territory in eastern DRC in a lightning offensive in January and February, had insisted on seeking its own ceasefire deal with Kinshasa, saying the Washington deal left out various “problems” that still needed to be addressed.
The African Union hailed the new deal as a “significant development,” saying: “This... marks a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace, security, and stability in eastern DRC and the wider Great Lakes region.”
Under the deal, the warring parties agreed to open negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement.
The deal, which the two sides said aligns with the Washington agreement, also includes a roadmap for restoring state authority in eastern DRC.
Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the deal took account of the DRC’s “red lines,” including “the non-negotiable withdrawal of the M23 from occupied areas followed by the deployment of our institutions,” including the national armed forces.
He said a comprehensive peace agreement would follow “in the coming days.”
The deal said the two sides had agreed to implement its terms by July 29 at the latest, and to start direct negotiations toward a permanent agreement by August 8.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to meet in the coming months to solidify the Washington peace deal, whose terms have not yet been implemented.
Previous ceasefire agreements for eastern DRC have collapsed in the past.
Neighboring Rwanda denies providing military backing to the M23, but UN experts say that the Rwandan army played a “critical” role in the group’s offensive, including combat operations.
Rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, eastern DRC has been racked by conflict for more than three decades, creating a humanitarian crisis and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Thousands were killed in the M23 offensive earlier this year, which saw the group capture the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.
The front line has stabilized since February, but fighting was still breaking out regularly between the M23 and multiple pro-government militias.
Slightly radioactive Fukushima soil is used at Japanese prime minister’s office to prove safety
- Officials say the soil meets safety standards set by the Environment Ministry and the International Atomic Energy Agency
- The government hopes this move will reassure the public of its safety as it seeks to reduce the massive volume of contaminated soil stored near the nuclear plant
TOKYO: Decontaminated but slightly radioactive soil from Fukushima was delivered Saturday to the Japanese prime minister’s office to be reused in an effort to showcase its safety.
This is the first soil to be used, aside from experiments, since the 2011 nuclear disaster when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a cataclysmic meltdown following an earthquake and tsunami that left large amounts of radioactive materials spewing out from the facility, polluting surrounding areas.
The government is desperate to set people’s minds at ease about recycling the 14 million cubic meters of decontaminated soil, enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums, collected after massive clean-ups and stored at a sprawling outdoor facility near the Fukushima plant. Officials have pledged to find final disposal sites by 2045.
The Environment Ministry said the 2 cubic meters, now at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office complex in Tokyo, will be used as foundation material in one section of the lawn garden, based on the ministry’s safety guidelines endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The soil does not include any from inside the plant.
Despite assurances, there has been much public unease. The government has already been forced to scrap a plan to experiment using some of the soil in flower beds at several public parks in and around Tokyo following protests.
One dead, three missing after South Korea landslide
- Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to ‘evacuate immediately to a safe area’
- South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared
SEOUL: A landslide triggered by torrential rain killed at least one person in South Korea, the national fire agency said Saturday.
Three people were also missing after the landslide buried two houses in a village in southern Sancheong county, officials said, as heavy rain continued to pound the country.
“At least three people have been reported missing and we have recovered one body,” an official at Sancheong county fire station said.
The official said that one person in their twenties, and a couple in their seventies were reported missing.
Sancheong county told all residents Saturday to “evacuate immediately to a safe area.”
The county has a population of some 34,000 people.
South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July, but the country’s southern regions saw some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record this week, official weather data showed.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Saturday at least four people have been killed in rain-related accidents and more than 7,000 forced to evacuate their homes.
South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared and the death toll usually relatively low.
Scientists say climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and frequent.
The country endured record-breaking rains and flooding in 2022 which killed at least 11 people.
Former South Korea president Yoon indicted again as martial law investigation continues
- The new charges include obstruction of the exercise of others’ rights by abuse of authority, ordering the deletion of records and blocking the execution of arrest warrants
- The impeached and deposed former leader has been jailed at Seoul Detention Center since earlier this month
SEOUL: South Korea’s jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on additional charges on Saturday as a special prosecutor continues investigating him for his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.
The new charges include obstruction of the exercise of others’ rights by abuse of authority, ordering the deletion of records and blocking the execution of arrest warrants, the prosecutor’s office said in a briefing.
Yoon has been on trial on charges of insurrection, which is punishable by death or life imprisonment, facing additional charges since the special prosecutor was appointed in June to take over the cases against him.
Yoon has denied all wrongdoing. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges.
The impeached and deposed former leader has been jailed at Seoul Detention Center since earlier this month, and a court earlier this week rejected his request to be freed from detention.
