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French Sentences Couple For Hoarding 160 Cats
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1 year agoon
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A French couple, who shared their apartment with close to 160 cats and seven dogs, on Wednesday received a one-year suspended prison sentence and a permanent ban on keeping pets.
The Nice Criminal Court ruled that the man and woman “were guilty of the offence of abandonment, given the very poor state of health” of the animals.
It also ordered the couple to pay more than 150,000 euros in damages to animal welfare associations.
AFP reported on Wednesday that the couple lived with a total of 159 cats and seven dogs in an 80-square-metre apartment in Nice.
In 2023, police officers responding to a neighbourhood dispute found dozens of dehydrated, malnourished animals covered in parasites and lesions in every room of the couple’s home.
READ ALSO: Peace Pact: Fubara Talks Tough Against Critics
In a bathroom, investigators also found the bodies of at least two cats and two puppies.
At the end of the trial the owner of the animals, a 68-year-old woman, said she had no intention of “giving up”.
“Who wouldn’t appeal against an injustice like this?” she said.
“It’s like telling a woman she won’t have any more children,” she added.
“They were the loves of my life but things have gone off track,” the owner said.
She insisted that the apartment’s state of disrepair and the condition of her animals were temporary.
READ ALSO: Meet Marie Khone And Absa, Senegal President Faye’s Wives [PHOTOS]
She said she was looking for solutions but had found herself helpless because of an infection that affected the cats and the heatwave that had made her ill.
A psychiatric assessment revealed a mental condition known as the “Noah syndrome”, or animal hoarding, characterised by an urge to keep a higher-than-usual number of animals without the ability to properly look after them.
The woman and her 52-year-old partner were facing eviction proceedings and an 8,000-euro ($8,665) rental debt.
In 2014, the couple had already been the subject of an investigation when they lived with 13 cats and a dog in an 18-square-metre studio.
Several years later the woman took in around 30 cats found in an abandoned building, believing that they were at risk of being poisoned. Then the animals reproduced.
AFP
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Crude Sinks As Trump Delays Decision On Iran Strike
Published
2 hours agoon
June 20, 2025By
Editor
Oil prices tumbled Friday and equity traders fought to end a volatile week on a positive note after Donald Trump said he would consider over the next two weeks whether to join Israel’s attacks on Iran.
Speculation had been swirling that Trump would throw his lot in with Israel, but on Thursday, he said he would decide “within the next two weeks” whether to involve the United States, giving diplomacy a shot to end the hostilities.
While tensions are sky high amid fears of an escalation, the US president’s remarks suggested the crisis could be prevented from spiralling into all-out war between the Middle East foes.
Since Israel first hit Iran last Friday, the two have exchanged deadly strikes and apocalyptic warnings, though observers said the conflict has not seen a critical escalation.
European foreign ministers were due to meet their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva.
READ ALSO: Iran, Israel Need ‘To Fight It Out’ To Reach Deal – Trump
In a statement read out by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the president said: “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Leavitt added: “If there’s a chance for diplomacy, the president’s always going to grab it, but he’s not afraid to use strength as well.”
Both main oil contracts were down around two per cent Friday, but uncertainty prevailed, and traders remained nervous.
“Crude still calls the shots, and volatility’s the devil in the room — and every trader on the street knows we’re two headlines away from chaos,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
“Make no mistake: we’re trading a geopolitical powder keg with a lit fuse.
READ ALSO: Trump Orders Deportation Drive Targeting Democratic Cities
“President Trump’s two-week ‘thinking window’ on whether to join Israel’s war against Iran is no cooling-off period — it’s a ticking volatility clock.”
Stocks were mixed following a public holiday in New York, with Hong Kong, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok all up with London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Seoul’s Kospi led the gains, rising more than one per cent to break 3,000 points for the first time in nearly three and a half years.
The index has risen every day except one since the June 4 election of a new president, which ended months of political crisis and fuelled hopes for an economic rebound.
Tokyo fell as Japanese core inflation accelerated, stoked by a doubling in the cost of rice, a hot topic issue that poses a threat to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of elections next month.
READ ALSO:Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump
There were also losses in Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta.
The Middle East crisis continues to absorb most of the news but Trump’s trade war remains a major obstacle for investors as the end of a 90-day pause on his April 2 tariff blitz approaches, with few governments reaching deals to avert them being imposed.
“While the worst of the tariffs have been paused, we suspect it won’t be until those deadlines approach that new agreements may be finalised,” said David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar.
“Until then, as news emerges regarding the progress and substance of trade negotiations, these headlines could have an outsize positive or negative impact on markets.”
Key figures at around 0715 GMT: Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.6 percent at $76.85 per barrel, West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.9 percent at $73.62 per barrel, Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 38,403.23 (close), Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 23,421.80, Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,359.90 (close), London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,819.26 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1517 from $1.1463 on Thursday, Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3467 from $1.3429, Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.38 yen from 145.63 yen Euro/pound: UP at 85.51 pence from 85.36 pence.
AFP
Headline
Italian PM Trumpets Plan To Boost African Economies At EU Summit
Published
3 hours agoon
June 20, 2025By
Editor
Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni on Friday will host European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Rome for a summit aimed at boosting African economies in a bid to curb illegal migration to the bloc.
Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritised cutting irregular immigration, has launched a 5.5-billion-euro ($6.3-billion) plan targeting 14 countries including Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Senegal to support industries from energy to health care.
Irregular border crossings detected into the European Union stood at 239,000 last year, down 38 percent from an almost 10-year peak in 2023, according to European border agency Frontex.
READ ALSO: Israel’s Netanyahu Says Iran Will ‘Pay Heavy Price’ After Hospital Hit
Meloni’s plan aims to strengthen trade relations between Italy and African nations in the energy sector particularly, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced Rome to seek new supplies of oil and gas.
Rome also wants a stake in financing a railway line between Zambia and Angola, and is planning a 65-million-euro investment in biofuel production in Kenya.
Kenyan President William Ruto has praised the plan as “ambitious”, but noted “that investment alone is not enough” and African economies continue to be burdened by debt.
African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat has also warned that the continent “cannot rely solely on promises that are often broken”.
READ ALSO: Italian Town Revokes Mussolini Honorary Citizenship
Experts say that Italy has “promised too much” by implying that these investments could reduce the number of migrants by creating jobs and growth.
”The funding that Italy can provide is not at the right scale,” Giovanni Carbone, head of the University of Milan’s Africa programme, told AFP.
The plan serves to benefit the interests of “large companies in the Italian fossil fuel industry”, said Simone Ogno from the NGO ReCommon.
Major Italian companies are already involved in the plan, including oil giant Eni, electricity carrier Terna and agro-industrial group Bonifiche Ferraresi.
Undocumented migration via the Central Mediterranean route — between North Africa and Italy — saw around 67,000 migrant arrivals in 2024, Frontex said, down 59 percent from the year prior.
AFP
Headline
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, Deserves Not To Live – Israel’s Defence Minister
Published
22 hours agoon
June 19, 2025By
Editor
Israel’s Defence Minister on Thursday issued a direct threat against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accusing him of orchestrating attacks on Israel through proxy forces and calling for his elimination.
The minister’s remarks, reported by Al Jazeera, reflect growing tensions between the two countries following an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba, which reportedly caused damage to the Soroka Medical Center.
The minister stated that Khamenei has consistently sought Israel’s destruction, adding that preventing him from continuing his actions is now considered part of Israel’s broader campaign.
READ ALSO: Hezbollah Involvement In Iran-Israel War Would Be ‘Very Bad Decision’ – US Envoy Warns
According to him, as reported by Al Jazeera, “A man like [Khamenei] has always aimed at destroying Israel through his agents.
“This man, who is willing to attack us, must not stay alive. This matter, the matter of stopping this man, eliminating him, is part of the campaign, and we now understand his role because before, he was talking about the destruction of Israel.”
In recent days, Israel has launched strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran.
READ ALSO: Israel’s Netanyahu Says Iran Will ‘Pay Heavy Price’ After Hospital Hit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently addressed the Iranian people in a video message, expressing hope that military operations would help pave the way for Iranians to achieve freedom.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump also weighed in on Khamenei, stating in a social media post: “We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now… Our patience is wearing thin.”
Earlier, Khamenei warned the US that any strikes on its territory would have “serious irreparable consequences”.
As reported by Al Jazeera, the death toll from Israel’s attacks on Iran has risen to more than 240, including 70 women and children. At least 24 people have been killed in Iranian attacks on Israel.
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