Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was cleared of paying witnesses to fabricate stories about his infamous “bunga-bunga” parties.
The 86-year-old multibillionaire media tycoon was charged with paying young showgirls and other witnesses to provide false testimony on the allegedly pornographic gatherings.
The remaining 28 defendants were all found not guilty, including Moroccan dancer Karima El Mahroug, also known as Ruby, who was involved in a previous Berlusconi case. Berlusconi has had numerous legal battles.
Right-wing senator Ruby successfully appealed his conviction for paying for sex with a minor prostitute in the Ruby case. He denied having had intercourse with Ruby, and she denied ever having worked as a prostitute.
He has asserted innocence throughout his legal proceedings and charged that the prosecution is out for revenge on account of his political views. He argued that the gatherings, which some people had referred to as “orgies,” were actually formal dinners.
In 2013, Berlusconi was sentenced for tax fraud, which was the sole trial that resulted in a conviction. Italian justice was sympathetic with him because of his advanced age; he completed a year of volunteer work at a nursing home close to Milan. Between 1994 and 2011, Berlusconi served as prime minister three times. In the “bunga-bunga” trial, he was accused of paying witnesses millions of euros in hush money, but he insisted that the money was offered as compensation for persons connected to the notorious parties who had their reputations damaged.
He was temporarily barred from political office over his conviction for tax fraud, but won a seat in the Senate in 2022 elections.
His Forza Italia party plays a key role in Italy’s ruling right-wing coalition, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She hailed his acquittal as “excellent news that puts an end to a long legal case that also had important repercussions on Italian political and institutional life”.
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In an effort to streamline operations as it deals with economic headwinds and rising competition for electric cars, Ford announced on Tuesday that it will eliminate 3,800 jobs in Europe over the next three years.
According to the carmaker, 2,300 jobs would be lost in Germany, 1,300 in the U.K., and 200 in other parts of Europe. It claimed that its plan to have an all-electric fleet available in Europe by 2035 remained the same and that it would soon begin producing its first electric vehicle with European components.
The American carmaker will retain around 3,400 engineers in the region who will build on core technology provided by their U.S. counterparts and adapt it to European customers, European passenger electric vehicle (EV) chief and head of Ford Germany Martin Sander said on a press call. “There is significantly less work to be done on drivetrains moving out of combustion engines. We are moving into a world with less global platforms where less engineering work is necessary. This is why we have to make the adjustments,” Sander said.
According to Sander, the automaker’s electrification plan hasn’t changed, and its objective to provide an all-electric fleet in Europe by 2035 remains the same. Later this year in Cologne, Ford will introduce its first electric vehicle in Europe built on Volkswagen’s MEB platform. Sander said Ford is also thinking about introducing a Ford platform to Europe, perhaps to its Valencia facility.
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Dr Sumitha Nandan, the newly-appointed Executive Director of Manappuram Finance, brings to the table oodles of energy and a fresh worldview – By Sujit Chandra Kumar
Dr Sumitha Nandan’s earliest memories about her growing-up years in Valapad revolve around her grandfather, the late Mr V.C. Padmanabhan. Says Dr Sumitha, the newly-appointed Executive Director of Manappuram Finance, which has its headquarters in Valapad: “I was his favourite grandchild, perhaps because I was the eldest. Whenever I took a fancy for something, I would run to him rather than my dad.” The most poignant and painful of all the memories surrounds the passing away of her granddad who founded the Manappuram group of companies. “It was all so sudden. None of us among kids could figure out what was happening. We saw the ambulance arrive and all our favourite people in mourning. Then, I had to take leave from school for the ceremonies,” she reminisces.
The year was 1986 and Sumitha was then in the third standard. It was the same year when her dad Mr V.P. Nandakumar took over his father’s single-room business at Valapad. The rest, as they say, is corporate history. Says Dr Sumitha: “Manappuram has always been dad’s first child. He eats, drinks and breathes Manappuram.”
In those days, life was a lot different in the sleepy hamlet tucked away in Thrissur, she observes. “On Sundays, we would go to the beach and have a running race for which dad would join too. We would then run from one part of the beach to another where a stream joins the ocean. On our way back on late evenings, we would meet all the members of our extended family. Dad is very emotionally connected to his extended family and our neighbours and so he would make us interact with all of them.”
After her seventh standard, she moved to Bangalore to join the Bishop Cotton Girl’s School. “Every time I returned, I would be struck by the greenery, the pristine village environs and the close connectivity of the people, as opposed to the city’s hustle and bustle,” she says. Today, Valapad has blossomed into a self-contained township thanks to the ‘Manappuram effect’, a far cry from the days when Dr Sumitha, her brothers and cousins would play in the open fields, pluck cashew fruits and have their mouth full of almonds.
After Bangalore, she moved to Kodaikanal for her Plus Two and then made the biggest career choice of her life when she joined the Sidhartha Medical College in Tumkur. “This may come as a surprise to many but medicine was not at all in my list of choices. I grew up watching my dad lead Manappuram from strength to strength and did not want to pursue any career other than business. But then, the prevailing trend was for parents to push their kids to do either medicine or engineering after the twelfth. My parents were no different and I had to go by their wish,” she says. “In fact, it was during my house surgency at the Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute in Thrissur that I really became interested in the medical field and woke up to its myriad possibilities.” Subsequently, she worked at the Vijaya Hospital in Chennai for a year before enrolling for her postgraduation in gynecology at the Ramachandra Medical College in Chennai.
Meanwhile, she got married and moved to Kochi where she had stints with leading hospitals such as the Thrikkakkara Cooperative Hospital, the Indira Gandhi Cooperative Hospital and KIMS. But the desire to be an entrepreneur pulled her back and made her join Manappuram Finance as Senior Vice President first and then as Executive Assistant to MD & CEO. During her three-and-a-half-year stint, she handled many key assignments including the one as the CEO of Online Gold Loan division. “It was a new concept then and I had a young team and we were able to make a lot of headway,” she recalls.
In 2018, she felt that she hadn’t done full justice to her training and talent as a medical professional. “I did miss my profession and I am someone who likes to listen to people’s problems and solve them,” says Dr Sumitha, who went back to being a doctor. Initially, she taught at the Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi but was determined to do something unique and specialised in Cosmetic Gynecology, a new sub branch that was little-known in Kerala. “I practised it at the CIMAR hospital in Kochi and I am still the only one to handle this discipline in the state,” she says. “To give an example, for a problem like stress urinary incontinence, there was only the option of invasive surgery where you put a sling or a mesh. But if detected early, you can now tackle it with a couple of sittings of laser and I have over 95 per cent rate of success in this line of treatment. There are also solutions to many other conditions which women hesitate to open up about.”
Life came full circle for Dr Sumitha when she rejoined Manappuram Finance as Executive Director in January this year. She has her task cut out as the head honcho of an NBFC with a network of 5,200 branches that crisscross the country and a workforce of 45,000 employees. She realises that the challenge is to take the company to the next level and she has no doubt that her exposure to other fields would be a distinct advantage. “Whether you are in the healthcare sector or finance sector, business is all about people management. When you are a doctor, you tend to be a little more compassionate and this would be a plus when it comes to managing people and managing change,” she says. “There is already a well-established system in place at Manappuram. The task is to bring a certain cohesion so that it runs like a well-oiled machine. One cannot achieve anything all by oneself but only through team building and the right kind of leadership. In my view, success comes to those companies that manage to do things a little better than their competitors.”
She goes on to add that without innovation and readiness to change, no business or industry can hope to succeed. “Going digital is no longer an innovation but an absolute necessity. Post Covid, everything has become digital because people have tasted convenience. Shopping is the best example. Even in the medical field, people turned to online consultation in an industry that always believed in one-on-one consultation. But Covid has proved to be the biggest disruptor. Even people who were resistant to change were forced to embrace the online mode,” she says.
She cites the example of how in her previous stint at Manappuram, a lot of time and effort was spent on making the office go paperless. “We even hired a senior official to facilitate the process but it did not help much. But Covid ensured what humans couldn’t and the office is now paperless. Unless there is an adversity, people are not willing to imbibe change because change is always painful,” she explains. Even as she maintains a hectic schedule at work, Dr Sumitha takes care to spend quality time with her two daughters, Anushka and Aashirya, whenever she can. “Ours is the only generation that had to listen to our parents as well as our kids,” jokes Dr Sumitha, who radiates an effervescent nature.
“Today’s generation will not simply accept whatever you tell them but will have a million questions. But I am fortunate to have kids who are very adjusting, perhaps because I have always been a working woman. My Sundays are mostly devoted to them. I feel it is important to have open conversations with your children. You need to be a friend and inspire confidence in them so that they share their joys as well as disappointments with you,” she says. “Yes, you have to monitor them but at the same time give them the space that they require. You have to allow them to have their privacy, the freedom to take their own decisions and the chance to fail and learn from mistakes.”
A trained Bharatnatyam dancer, Dr Sumitha unwinds by listening to melodies, enjoying classical art forms and watching videos on self-improvement. Her day starts with an hour of chanting and meditation. “It is important to differentiate between religion and spirituality. While religion is restrictive, spirituality is liberating,” she signs off.
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Jakub Jankto of the Czech Republic says he “no longer wants to hide” as he comes out as gay in public, becoming the first active international player in men’s football.
The 27-year-old midfielder, on loan from Getafe of Spain, announced it on Twitter on Monday. In 45 appearances since making his senior debut for the Czech Republic in 2017, Jankto has four goals to his credit.
Like everybody else, I have my strengths, I have my weaknesses, I have a family, I have my friends,” he said.
“I have a job that I have been doing as best as I can for years with seriousness, with professionalism and passion.”
He added: “Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom without fears, without prejudice, without violence but with love.
“I am homosexual and I no longer want to hide myself.”
In the men’s game in the UK last year, Jake Daniels of Blackpool made history by becoming the first professional athlete to come out while still competing in more than 30 years.
Justin Fashanu, who played for clubs in England and Scotland after coming out as gay in October 1990, was the last active men’s professional football player in the UK to do so before Daniels.
Josh Cavallo, an Adelaide United player who came out in October, was the only active out homosexual top-flight male professional footballer in the world prior to Jankto’s public coming out.
Sparta Prague announced in a statement that Jankto had “some time ago” spoken openly about his sexual orientation with the club’s management, coach, and teammates.
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According to Turkish authorities, 113 arrest warrants have been issued in relation to the building of the structures that were destroyed by the earthquake on Monday. There have already been at least 12 people detained by Turkish police, including construction workers.
Rescue operations have been hampered in some areas due to protests in southern Turkey. More than 28,000 individuals have now been officially declared dead in Turkey and Syria.
More arrests are anticipated, but many will interpret the move as an effort to shift responsibility for the catastrophe in general.
Since many new buildings in Turkey are unsafe because of widespread corruption and government practises, experts have been warning about this for years.
In order to promote a construction boom, including in earthquake-prone areas, those rules permitted so-called amnesties for contractors who flouted building regulations.
The earthquake caused the collapse of thousands of buildings, prompting concerns about whether human error contributed to the severity of the natural disaster. After 20 years in office, the president’s future is in jeopardy as elections approach.
The United Nations’ top humanitarian official, who was in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras on Saturday, called the earthquake the “worst occurrence in this region in 100 years.”
For the first time in 35 years, the Turkish-Armenian border crossing reopened on Saturday to permit the passage of aid.
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In the past few months, more than 5,000 pregnant Russian women have entered Argentina, including 33 on one aircraft on Thursday, according to officials. According to the national migration office, all of the most recent entrants were in their final stages of pregnancy.
It’s claimed that the ladies want their children to be born in Argentina so they can become citizens of that country. Local media thinks that the war in Ukraine is to blame for the current rise in visitors.
According to Florencia Carignano, the head of the migration agency, three of the 33 women who arrived in the Argentinian capital on one aircraft on Thursday were detained due to “issues with their documentation,” joining three other women who arrived the day before.
The three women who were arrested on Thursday claim that they are being “falsely imprisoned” since they are being held on the grounds that they are “false tourists,” according to their attorney. According to Christian Rubilar, this phrase “does not exist in our statute.” He said, “These women are being illegally detained; they did not break any laws governing migration or commit any crimes.”
Since then, the women have been freed.
La Nacion attributed the sharp increase in Russian immigration to the conflict in Ukraine, noting that “[Russian women] are attracted by their [right to] visa-free entry to Argentina, as well as by the high-quality medicine and variety of hospitals, [as well as] fleeing war and their country’s health service.”
“Birth tourism” by Russian citizens to Argentina appears to be a lucrative and well-established practice.
Pregnant women who want to give birth in Argentina can choose from a variety of packages on a Russian-language website, according to the BBC. The website offers discounts on the price of stays at “the top hospitals in the Argentinian capital,” as well as services like customised birth plans, airport pickups, Spanish lessons, and other services.
The packages range from “first class,” which starts at $15,000 (£12,433), to “economy class,” which starts at $5,000 (£4,144).
According to the company’s website, its founder has been promoting birth tourism and providing migration support since 2015. The business also claims to be “100% Argentinian.”
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According to a zoo, a critically endangered monkey known as the dancing lemur was successfully bred for the first time in Europe.
The birth of the infant Coquerel’s sifaka was a “landmark moment for the species,” according to Chester Zoo. A spokesman claimed that 18 months after Beatrice and Elliot were relocated from the US, their “wonderful small child” was delivered to them.
Mark Brayshaw, curator of mammals, reported that mother and foetus were “doing excellent.”
The species had had an 80% reduction in the previous 30 years due to massive deforestation, and it is only found in the wild in the treetops of north-west Madagascar.
Because they retain an upright stance while moving and spring side to side along the floor on their back legs, they can be distinguished from other lemurs.
The Coquerel’s sifaka family trio in Chester made up over half of the seven of these extremely endangered monkeys being cared for in Europe, according to the zoo official.
They estimated that the newborn, who weighed 4 oz (119 g), would initially cling to its mother’s abdomen for “a few weeks, before riding on her back like a backpack until about six months old.”
Director of animals and plants at the zoo Mike Jordan called the birth “a true landmark moment for conservation.”
He claimed that it had “kickstarted” a breeding programme for the species in Europe, which could be “the lifeboat that keeps them from being completely wiped out.”
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Following Monday’s earthquakes, rescuers in Turkey are looking for a group of school volleyball players inside a collapsed hotel when they discover three bodies. Officials in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus reported that the bodies of two teachers and a student were found in the Isias Hotel in Adiyaman.
39 individuals, including teams for both boys and girls, are alleged to have been present when the structure collapsed. The location, where the relatives of the players have gathered, is still under search.
In southern Turkey and northern Syria, the earthquakes have claimed thousands of lives. Along with their coaches and parents, the players had travelled to Adiyaman from Famagusta Turkish Maarif College.
Four members of the group are known to have survived the collapse of the seven-story building, having apparently made their own way out of the rubble.
Officials were quoted by Turkish-Cypriot media as claiming that an eighth-grade student was recovered after the bodies of two instructors were discovered on Wednesday, bringing the total number of fatalities to three.
Around 170 people, including family members and rescuers, have travelled to the wreckage from the portion of Northern Cyprus that is under Turkish control. They would stay there until the remaining pupils were located, according to an island education official.
One of the mothers at the scene questioned the structures’ construction and inquired as to whether they had undergone sufficient inspection.
It is known that deaths occurred in the two countries for close to 16,000 people. The World Health Organization has cautioned that without food, water, shelter, fuel, or electricity, many more people risk dying.
More than 72 hours after the disaster happened, expectations are dwindling for the numerous people left under wrecked structures as freezing weather creeps in.
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After thousands of people killed in two devastating earthquakes on Monday, anger in Turkey is building over what many see as the government’s lack of preparation. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the official death toll in Turkey has increased to 9,057 while visiting one of the worst-affected areas.
He is to blame for the extent of the destruction, according to the main opposition leader. Mr. Erdogan retaliated, claiming it was “impossible” to be ready for such a significant tragedy.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority’s (AFAD) response was criticised by many in the worst-affected districts as being too delayed. Others claim that the government wasn’t adequately ready in advance.
“If there is one person responsible for this, it is Erdogan,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party.
The president disagreed with this. Additionally, he called “provocateurs” individuals who claimed that security officers had not been present at all in certain locations.
“This is a time for cooperation and support. I can’t stand it when people run smear campaigns for political gain during this time “He told the Hatay reporters.
He recognised some initial issues, but said the situation was now “under control” during another stop on his tour of sites in the disaster zone earlier today.
Tuesday, Arzu Dedeoglu said that two of her nieces were buried beneath the debris in the port city of Iskenderun in the southern region of Turkey. She claimed that although her family had arranged a digger using their own funds to remove the rubble, officials did not permit them to utilise it.
A “tax” imposed by the Turkish government in the wake of a devastating earthquake that claimed more than 17,000 lives in 1999 is also causing increasing outrage.
The estimated 88 billion lira ($4.6 billion; £3.8 billion) was intended for spending on emergency services improvement and disaster prevention.
Every time Turkey experiences an earthquake, questions concerning the “special communication tax,” as the authorities refer to it, are raised. However, the government has never made the money’s use public.
And Mr. Kilicdaroglu claimed that the government of Mr. Erdogan “had not made an earthquake preparation in 20 years.”
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In 10 of the regions most severely impacted by the earthquake that has killed thousands of people, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency.
3,549 people have now died in Turkey, according to Mr. Erdogan. There have reportedly been 1,600 fatalities in Syria. In a televised speech, Mr. Erdogan stated that the purpose of declaring a state of emergency is to allow for “expeditiously carried out” rescue operations in the nation’s southeast.
Without providing more information, he said the steps will get aid personnel and money into the impacted areas. Just prior to the elections on May 14, when Mr. Erdogan will try to retain his position as president after 20 years, the state of emergency will end.
The last time a state of emergency was enacted in Turkey was in 2016 following a failed coup. Two years later, it was repealed. In a race against time to locate survivors of the earthquake that occurred early on Monday, rescuers in Turkey are facing heavy rain and snow.
The World Health Organization has issued a warning that the death toll may sharply increase as rescuers discover additional fatalities.
In scenes that were repeated around southern Turkey, heavy equipment worked through the night in the city of Adana, with lights lighting the collapsed buildings and enormous slabs of concrete.
Occasionally, when a survivor was discovered or when the dead were collected, the labour would stop and a cry of “Allahu Akbar” would be heard.
People who lost their homes as well as others who are afraid of aftershocks are all homeless in Adana. Some people departed without their shoes, coats, or phone chargers. Later this week, temperatures are predicted to fall below freezing.
According to the US Geological Survey, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on Monday at 04:17 (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9 km (11 miles) close to the city of Gaziantep.
Later, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake with its epicentre in the Elbistan region of the Kahramanmaras province occurred. The main road leading to the Turkish city of Maras, which is close to the epicentre of the earthquake, was completely stopped in traffic on Tuesday morning.
Cars periodically plodded forward, their red brake lights illuminating the slick road. Only a few rescuers have so far arrived in this region of southern Turkey.
One search and rescue crew, on their way to the city with their van stocked with specialised tools and supplies, told the BBC that while they were excited to start searching for survivors, they were unaware of the extent of the destruction.
According to the most recent announcement from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), 8,000 people have been saved nationwide from more than 4,700 demolished buildings.
Rescuers in some regions have been sifting through the debris with their bare hands as the aftershocks continue. But the cold is making it difficult to conduct searches.
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