Police have raided a pizzeria in western Germany which they alleged served customers a side of cocaine when they ordered item number 40 on the menu.

Authorities were tipped off about the scheme in March by food inspectors, and drug squad officers began watching the restaurant, criminal director Michael Graf von Moltke said on Monday.

When police went to detain the pizzeria manager at his apartment, the 36-year-old reportedly threw a bag of drugs out of the window, which “fell right into the arms of the police officers”, Düsseldorf police said.

Police found 1.6kg (3.5lb) of cocaine, 400g (14.1oz) of cannabis and €268,000 (£223,120) in cash in the apartment.

The restaurant manager was released by police a few days later, and he reopened his restaurant and continued to sell the drug and pizza combination.

Investigators used the opportunity to explore the drug supply chain to the pizzeria, leading them to bust a drug ring in western Germany weeks later.

Around 150 officers raided two cannabis plantations – one in Mönchengladbach, to the west of Düsseldorf where 300 plants were found, and another in Solingen, to the east of the city, where 60 plants were found.

The homes and businesses of 12 suspects were also raided, resulting in the arrests of three people, including a 22-year-old suspected of being the head of the drug operation.

Police also found weapons, money and expensive watches during the raids.

The pizzeria manager was rearrested while trying to leave the country and remains in custody.

“The number 40 was one of the best-selling pizzas,” Mr Moltke said.

Police have not released the name of others involved in the drug operation, or the price of the pizza and cocaine combination.

Source: BBC

Festivities have begun for the wedding of Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise and her American partner, self-styled shaman Durek Verrett.

Hundreds of guests are arriving in the town of Alesund, in western Norway, for a “meet and greet” in a historic hotel.

On Friday, they will travel by sea to the scenic town of Geirager, on the shores of a fjord designated a Unesco World Heritage Site. The wedding programme says that guests will enjoy a “light lunch on the boat while witnessing the majestic mountains and waterfalls”.

The couple will then tie the knot at a private event on Saturday.

Members of the Swedish royal family are said to be attending alongside various social media influencers and TV personalities, including US reality star and model Cynthia Bailey.

According to Norwegian media, guests have been asked not to use mobile phones or cameras during the celebrations and not to post anything on social media.

Princess Märtha Louise, 52, and Mr Verrett, 49, announced their engagement in 2022.

The princess – a former equestrian and the eldest of Norwegian King Harald’s two children – was previously married to the late writer and artist Ari Behn, with whom he had three daughters – Maud, Leah and Emma. The two divorced in 2017. Mr Behn, who had discussed suffering from depression, died on Christmas Day 2019.

Märtha Louise has long attracted controversy in Norway for decades for her involvement in alternative treatments. She lost her honorific “Her Royal Highness” title in 2002 so as to be allowed to start her own business. In 2007, she announced she was clairvoyant and, until 2018, ran a school which she said taught students to “create miracles” and talk to angels.

Last year, Märtha Louise told the BBC’s Katty Kay that there had been so much “turmoil” concerning her decision to take a different path than that of a “traditional royal”.

“There’s been a lot of criticism over the years, especially with me being spiritual – and in Norway, that’s taboo,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mr Verrett says on his site that he is a sixth generation shaman, “servant of god and energy activator” who “demystifies spirituality” through his “no-nonsense teachings”.

In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, he claimed to have risen from the dead and said that when he was a child a relative had predicted he would one day marry the princess of Norway.

Source: BBC

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government was looking at more ways to increase the rate of deportations during a visit to the site of a deadly mass stabbing carried out by a suspected Islamic State group member from Syria. Speaking during the visit, Scholz said that deportations had already increased by some two thirds compared to 2021 levels.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to step up deportations on Monday during a visit to Solingen, where a deadly mass stabbing linked to the Islamic State group has emboldened the far-right opposition and stoked criticism of his government’s handling of migration.

“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz told reporters in the western city, where he laid a flower at the scene of the crime.

“This was terrorism, terrorism against us all,” he added.

The attack, in which a 26-year-old suspected Islamic State group member from Syria is accused of killing three people, has fuelled political tensions over asylum and deportation rules ahead of three state elections next month.

The militant Islamist group claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred on Friday evening during a festival celebrating Solingen’s 650-year history. Alongside the three killed, eight were injured, some seriously.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which campaigns for a crackdown on migration, is leading in the polls in Saxony and Thuringia, where state elections are set for Sunday, and in Brandenburg, which has its election on Sept. 22.

The AfD seized on the attack in its election campaign, with Thuringia’s leading candidate for the party, Bjoern Hoecke, pitching to voters the choice of “Hoecke or Solingen”.

Opinion pollsters Stefan Merz of Infratest dimap and Manfred Guellner of Forsa told Reuters the attack would be unlikely to translate into more votes for the far-right party because its supporters had already been mobilised by migration issues.

Infratest dimap’s Merz cited the possibility that the centre-right CDU could benefit at the expense of Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats.

Botched deportation

The attack puts pressure on Scholz as his Social Democrats, alongside their Green and Free Democrat coalition partners, bruised from months of quarrelling, are trailing in the polls.

In a sign of tougher rhetoric, Scholz promised in October 2023 to ramp up deportations “big style” – a promise he repeated after his visit to the Solingen attack scene.

Again in June, Scholz said he would take a tougher stance on deportation after an Afghan man stabbed a police officer, who later died of his injuries, during an attack on a right-wing demonstration in the city of Mannheim.

Scholz said on Monday deportations had increased by some two thirds compared to 2021 levels. “But that is no reason for us to sit back and relax,” he added, saying the government was looking at legal and practical ways to boost the numbers.

Authorities had planned to deport the suspect in Friday’s attack to Bulgaria last year under European Union asylum rules, according to German media. The deportation was unsuccessful because the man had not been at his refugee accommodation when authorities tried to carry out the measure, the reports said.

A government spokesperson said the deportation plan had “failed in practice” rather than on any legal basis.

Source: Reuters

One man has died and six other people are missing after a British yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during bad weather

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, 59, is among those missing – sources say his wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued

Authorities in Sicily tell the BBC Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, is also missing, along with the boat’s chef

There were 22 people on board in total – 15 people were rescued including a one-year-old child

Authorities say the missing could still be in the yacht, which is more than 50 metres underwater: “We should have found something by now”

One English woman says she held her daughter “with all her strength” to stop her drowning.

Source: BBC

The former head of Catalonia, Charles Puigdemont, was back in Spain on Thursday after seven years on the run, despite facing arrest. Puigdemont, who fled the country over his role in a failed bid for Catalonian independence, addressed supporters at a park near the regional parliament, which is set to elect a new leader later in the day.

Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia who fled Spain over his role in a failed 2017 independence bid for the wealthy region, returned to Spain on Thursday after seven years on the run despite a pending arrest warrant.

Puigdemont shouted “Long live a free Catalonia!” as he climbed onto a stage in Barcelona to address thousands gathered near the Catalan regional parliament which is set to elect a new leader later in the day.

“I have come here to remind you that we are still here,” he said as many in the crowd waved red, yellow and blue Catalan independence flags.

After his brief address, Puigdemont appeared to head towards the nearby Catalan parliament but the assembly began an investiture vote to pick a new leader for the region without him being present.

It was not immediately clear where he was.

Nuria Pujol, a woman in her fifties who came to Barcelona from the Alt Penedes region to see Puigdemont, called him “a very noble person”.

“The only one who believes in independence and has not stopped believing,” she added.

A small group of protesters gathered nearby waving Spanish flags and holding signs that read “Catalonia is Spain” in a demonstration organised by far-right party Vox.

Source: AFP

The High Court cases of three asylum seekers who had brought legal action to block their potential removal to Rwanda were resolved on Tuesday after the UK’s incoming Labour government vowed to scrap the controversial deportation policy.

Three asylum seekers who brought court action to block the UK’s attempt to send them to Rwanda had their cases resolved on Tuesday, after the incoming Labour government ditched the policy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Saturday that the migrant deportation plan forged by the ousted Conservative government was “dead and buried”.

There had already been a spate of legal challenges to the scheme, with the UK Supreme Court in November last year ruling that it was illegal under international law as Rwanda could not be considered a safe country for asylum seekers.

Government lawyer James Eadie told the High Court in London on Tuesday: “In relation to the three named claimants, these claimants’ cases will be fully disposed of and withdrawn subject to the (interior ministry) paying their costs.”

The Labour Party said before last Thursday’s general election that it would ditch the scheme, which the Tories said would deter huge numbers of migrants trying to get across the Channel to the UK on small boats from northern France.

Sixty-five people were brought ashore Monday – the first under the new government – taking the total number of arrivals so far this year to 13,639, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

‘No obligation’ to return the money

Rwanda, home to 13 million people in Africa’s Great Lakes region, claims to be one of the most stable countries on the continent and has drawn praise for its modern infrastructure.

But rights groups accuse veteran President Paul Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and free speech.

A spokesman for his government said Monday that “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement”.

As part of the deal, the UK has already paid some £240 million ($307 million) to Rwanda, with a further £50 million scheduled to be sent at a later date.

In January, Kagame said the money was “only going to be used if those people will come. If they don’t come, we can return the money”.

However, he later specified there was “no obligation” to do so.

Source: AFP

If you’ve ever longed to live in Germany, now might be the perfect time to try. The country recently announced a new work visa, the Chancenkarte, or “Opportunity Card”, which offers non-EU nationals a new opportunity to immigrate to Germany.

The Chancenkarte, which opened for applications on 1 June, offers a new points-based system that rates applicants by specific criteria, including academic qualifications, language skills and past professional experience.

“[The Opportunity Card] will make it easier and quicker for people with experience and potential to find a suitable job and get started,” Nancy Faeser, Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, said in a statement to the BBC.         

Those granted the Opportunity Card can live in Germany for up to one year while looking for work, rather than requiring an employer to sponsor them beforehand. The card also allows people to legally work part-time while searching for something more permanent. It represents a major shift in the way the country is addressing its growing labour shortage and is intended to help increase the number of professional workers in fields like medicine, education, manufacturing and engineering. Much more than just a digital nomad visa, the new card offers non-EU citizens the opportunity to streamline the German immigration process and search for work on the ground in the country, a move that has been hotly debated by conservatives, who argue that it could allow for already-rejected asylum seekers to find work in Germany.

Successful applicants will either have a professional qualification or academic degree that is fully recognised in Germany, or a combination of criteria such as years of professional experience, a certain age and language skills, each of which are worth a certain number of points. Applicants must have a rating of six or more points to qualify for the visa. They must also show proof of ability to cover living expenses during their job search, at least €1,027 per month.

Because EU citizens can already live and work in Germany, the new opportunity visa is geared towards those currently living outside the EU and in Switzerland, as Swiss citizens also do not require a visa for entry or a permit to work in Germany. The Chancenkarte is set up to favour non-EU citizens with connections to the country, as extra points are available for those who have German language skills or have studied in a German school.

Alex Masurovsky, a former Master’s student at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, who now lives in New York, is intrigued by the opportunity the new visa affords to return to live and work in Berlin.

“For me, [Germany] had just enough of those European sensibilities, like sitting down for coffee and staying out late, to enjoy without it feeling pretentious,” he reflected. “It also has a great appreciation for music, mostly electronic, but small and sincere pockets of jazz, blues and punk rock, too. I’d recommend it to anyone.”

Though it’s true that the country’s culture and nightlife can be a draw, ultimately the new visa aims to provide a long term solution to address the nation’s labour shortages, which is one of the major factors contributing to Germany’s ongoing financial issues. “We are making sure that we can attract the skilled workers our economy has urgently needed for years,” Fraser said. “This is vital for our country’s future.”

Those interested in learning more can visit the Make It In Germany website for more information. The site has a “self-check” that allows visitors to check their eligibility status for the Chancenkarte. Official applications for the visa should be made in person at your local German Diplomatic Mission.

Source: BBC

Gunmen in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan have killed six police officers in a series of attacks, security officials say.

Twelve other officers were wounded in the attacks, which targeted a synagogue and churches in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala.

A Russian Orthodox priest has also been killed and two attackers shot dead, state media report, quoting the local Interior Ministry. Footage on social media shows buildings on fire.

The assailants have not been identified, but Dagestan has in the past been the scene of Islamist attacks.

An unofficial channel on the Telegram messaging app, Mash, said gunmen were barricaded in a building in Derbent.

Source: BBC

The presidents of Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Somalia will join many Western heads of state and government and other leaders at a conference this weekend aimed to plot out first steps toward peace in Ukraine – with Russia notably absent.

Swiss officials hosting the conference say more than 50 heads of state and government, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will join the gathering at the Bürgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne. Some 100 delegations including European bodies and the United Nations will be on hand.

Who will show up – and who will not – has become one of the key stakes of a meeting that critics say will be useless without the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and is pushing ahead with the war.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to attend while Turkey and Saudi Arabia have dispatched their foreign ministers. Key developing countries like Brazil, an observer at the event, India and South Africa will be represented at lower levels.

China, which backs Russia, is joining scores of countries that are sitting out the conference, many of whom have more pressing issues than the bloodiest conflict in far-away Europe since World War II. Beijing says any peace process needs to have the participation of both Russia and Ukraine, and has floated its own ideas for peace.

Russian troops who now control nearly a quarter of Ukrainian land in the east and south have made some territorial gains in recent months. When talk of a Swiss-hosted peace initiative began last summer, Ukrainian forces had recently regained large swaths of territory, notably near the cities of southern Kherson and northern Kharkiv.

Against the battlefield backdrop and diplomatic strategizing, summit organizers have presented three agenda items: nuclear safety, such as at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia power plant; humanitarian assistance and exchange of prisoners of war; and global food security – which has been disrupted at times due to impeded shipments through the Black Sea.

That to-do list, encapsulating some of the least controversial issues, is well short of proposals and hopes laid out by Zelenskyy in a 10-point peace formula in late 2022.

Putin’s government, meanwhile, wants any peace deal to be built around a draft agreement negotiated in the early phases of the war that included provisions for Ukraine’s neutral status and limits on its armed forces, while delaying talks about Russia-occupied areas. Ukraine’s push over the years to join the NATO military alliance has rankled Moscow.

With much of the world’s focus recently on the war in Gaza and national elections in 2024, Ukraine’s backers want to return focus to Russia’s breach of international law and a restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

The International Crisis Group, an advisory firm that works to end conflict, wrote this week that “absent a major surprise on the Bürgenstock,” the event is “unlikely to deliver much of consequence.”

“Nonetheless, the Swiss summit is a chance for Ukraine and its allies to underline what the U.N. General Assembly recognised in 2022 and repeated in its February 2023 resolution on a just peace in Ukraine: Russia’s all-out aggression is a blatant violation of international law,” it said.

Source: AP