Latest News
- France identifies woman murdered over 20 years ago, arrest made in case
- Italy files as civil party in Swiss fire case that killed 41 people
- Europa League — Thursday’s 30th Apr fixtures
- Over 1.2 Million in Lebanon Face Acute Hunger Amid Ongoing Conflict
- Loud music from parade floats damages antiques at Chaiyaphum museum in Thailand
- Socialists’ turmoil disrupts coalition with Sumar and regional parties
- Indian billionaire’s son offers to adopt Pablo Escobar’s invasive hippos in Colombia
- Beijing urges EU nations to reject European Commission’s proposed law
LIVE German 2025 Election Results as they come in and analysi on who will be the next German Chancellor.
Knowledge Hub
Global Reaction to DE Elections
France identifies woman murdered over 20 years ago, arrest made in case
3:00 am
Get you up to speed: France identifies woman murdered over 20 years ago, arrest made in case
Hakima Boukerouis was identified as a murder victim after her body was discovered tied up and wrapped in bin bags in a rainwater barrel in Saint-Quirin, France, on January 7, 2005. A suspect, reported to be her ex-husband, was arrested in June 2025 on suspicion of ordering her killing.
Hakima Boukerouis was identified as a murder victim after her body was discovered in France in 2005, and a suspect described as her “ex-husband” was arrested on suspicion of ordering her killing, according to her family lawyer, Alexandre Bouthier. Interpol’s secretary general Valdecy Urquiza stated that this identification highlights the importance of continuing investigations into unresolved cold cases.
Hakima Boukerouis, identified through familial DNA searching, was found dead in a rainwater barrel in Saint-Quirin, France, over 20 years ago. Her ex-husband has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of ordering her killing, although he was released under judicial supervision three months later.
Woman killed in France finally identified after 20 years and murder suspect arrested | News World
Hakima Boukerouis was a mum of four, long assumed to have abandoned her family (Picture: Interpol)
A woman whose body was discovered in France more than 20 years ago has been identified – and a suspect in her murder arrested.
Hakima Boukerouis is the fifth woman to be named through an international police campaign called Operation Identify Me.
Her body, tied up and wrapped in bin bags, was discovered in a rainwater barrel in Saint-Quirin, a village in northeastern France, on January 7, 2005.
The barrel was seen in October 2004, floating in the Red Saar, a river about two miles north of the village, according to an Interpol ‘black notice’.
But the breakthrough came when the victim was identified using familial DNA searching, Interpol said yesterday.
Interpol said Boukerouis was aged between 35 and 47, though French news outlet TF1 says she was a 34-year-old from Algeria.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Suspect is victim’s ‘ex-husband’, French media says
Boukerouis’s four children had long assumed that their mother had abandoned them, their family lawyer, Alexandre Bouthier, said.
They were minors at the time of her disappearance, Bouthier told Radio France.
He said: ‘More than 20 years later, they come knocking on their door to tell them, “Listen, now we have the explanation: your mother is dead. She was found in a barrel and hadn’t been identified.
‘”In other words, we were aware of a body, but we couldn’t identify it at the time.”‘
Boukerouis’s husband was reportedly arrested in June 2025 on suspicion of ordering her killing.
Bouthier continued: ‘”Today, we’ve been able to do so through DNA, and it is indeed your mother and your father appears to be involved in this murder.”‘
He was released under judicial supervision three months later due to his age and health. Prosecutors declined to give an update.
Interpol reissued a black notice yesterday to say she had been named (Picture: Interpol)
With police unable to ID her, Boukerouis became known as ‘The woman with the Richmond dental crown’ because of her expensive dental work.
Detectives had long suspected she was from Eastern Europe or Russia, ‘due to the many young Russian women who were present in the area at the time’, the Interpol notice said.
Operation Identity Me seeks to find the names of women who have been murdered or died in suspicious or unexplained circumstances.
Interpol secretary general Valdecy Urquiza said: ‘This identification underscores how important it is to keep investigating unresolved cold cases.
‘As part of the Identify Me campaign, the efforts of the French authorities have helped identify a murder victim whose case had remained open for many years.’
Comment now
Comments
Add WTX as a Preferred Source on Google
Breaking News
Never miss the biggest stories with breaking news alerts in your inbox.
Italy files as civil party in Swiss fire case that killed 41 people
2:00 am
Italy files as civil party in Swiss fire case that killed 41 people
Legal Action
Italy’s government has filed to be a civil party in the Swiss criminal proceedings concerning a fire at Le Constellation bar that killed 41 people, including six Italians.
Italy’s government has filed to be a civil party in the Swiss criminal proceedings concerning a fire at Le Constellation bar that killed 41 people, including six Italians.
Resource Allocation
Italy’s civil claim arises from substantial resources expended for medical and psychological assistance to its nationals, reflecting a significant financial and logistical commitment following the tragedy.
Italy’s civil claim arises from substantial resources expended for medical and psychological assistance to its nationals, reflecting a significant financial and logistical commitment following the tragedy.
Government Statement
Italy’s government confirmed it has filed to be a civil party in the proceedings, citing “the substantial resources used for medical, psychological and logistical assistance” to the Italian victims.
Italy’s government confirmed it has filed to be a civil party in the proceedings, citing “the substantial resources used for medical, psychological and logistical assistance” to the Italian victims.
Key developments
Italy’s government has filed to be a civil party in the Swiss criminal proceedings regarding a fire at Le Constellation bar, which resulted in 41 deaths, including six Italians.
The Italian government cites substantial resources used for assistance to families affected by the tragedy and claims possible involvement of local authorities in the incident.
Italy says it has filed to be civil party in probe into Swiss bar fire that killed 41
Published on
Italy’s government said on Wednesday that it had filed to be a civil party in the criminal proceedings surrounding a devastating fire at a bar in Switzerland which killed 41 people, including six Italians.
The civil claim was prompted by “the substantial resources” used for “medical, psychological and logistical assistance to the Italian nationals involved,” the government said in a statement.
The blaze at Le Constellation, a bar in the upmarket Alpine resort, broke out in the early hours of 1 January as people celebrated the New Year.
Prosecutors believe the New Year’s Eve fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the ceiling in the bar’s basement level, igniting the sound-insulation foam.
A total of 41 people, most of them teenagers, were killed and another 115 were injured in the disaster.
The bar’s owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, face charges in Switzerland of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson.
They have twice been questioned at length by public prosecutors and lawyers for the civil parties.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed justice for Italian victims while Italy has opened its own investigation into the fire even as the Swiss probe continues.
The Swiss investigation has revealed that no annual safety check had been carried out at the bar since 2019.
In its statement, the Italian government said that “the involvement of local authorities in the genesis of the event is considered highly probable.”
That, it said, justified “the firm demand for compensation against all parties held civilly liable.”
It said Italy would continue to monitor the Swiss legal proceedings, while confirming the government’s “full and uninterrupted support” for the victims’ families.
Earlier in April, Meloni issued a sharp rebuke of a Swiss hospital for allegedly billing the families of some of the victims.
“I spoke with our ambassador: the Swiss authorities have assured us that it was a mistake, and that the families will not have to pay anything,” Meloni wrote in a post on X.
“But I asked the ambassador to maintain the highest level of attention to this issue, because it would be abhorrent for costs like these to fall on the victims or on Italy.”
Meloni also said that one hospital in Sion had demanded €70,000 for patients hospitalised for only a few hours, which she called “an insult on top of a mockery.”
Additional sources • AFP
Europa League — Thursday’s 30th Apr fixtures
1:00 am
Tonight features exciting matches in the Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Saudi Arabian Premier League, and CONMEBOL Libertadores.
Europa League |
UEFA Conference League |
Saudi Arabian Premier League |
CONMEBOL Libertadores
Europa League
Matchday
Nottingham Forest 20:00 Aston Villa
SC Braga 20:00 SC Freiburg
UEFA Conference League
Matchday
Rayo Vallecano 20:00 RC Strasbourg Alsace
Shakhtar Donetsk 20:00 Crystal Palace
Saudi Arabian Premier League
Matchday 30
Al Akhdoud 17:00 Al Ettifaq
Al Kholood 19:00 Al Fayha
CONMEBOL Libertadores
Matchday 3
Barcelona SC 02 Universidad Católica
Cerro Porteño 00 Palmeiras
Estudiantes 00 Flamengo
Universitario 03 Nacional
Bolívar 23:00 Fluminense
Independiente Rivadavia 23:00 Deportivo La Guaira
Over 1.2 Million in Lebanon Face Acute Hunger Amid Ongoing Conflict
10:11 pm
Get you up to speed: Over 1.2m in Lebanese expected to face acute hunger
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture report that 1.24 million people in Lebanon are expected to face food insecurity at crisis levels or worse between April and August 2026.
This is attributed to “conflict, displacement and economic pressures” amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.
It is reported that 1.24 million people are at crisis levels or worse between April and August, marking a significant increase from the 874,000 people affected prior to the conflict. According to Allison Oman Lawi, the WFP’s country director in Lebanon, escalating violence is pushing families back into crisis as food becomes increasingly unaffordable.
The report predicts that without sustained humanitarian and livelihood support. Nora Ourabah Haddad, the FAO representative in Lebanon, emphasised the urgent need for emergency agricultural assistance to support farmers.
Over 1.2 Million in Lebanon Face Acute Hunger Amid Ongoing Conflict
FAO, WFP and Lebanon’s government say 1.24 million people are ‘expected to face food insecurity’ at crisis levels or worse.
Displaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit outside shelter tents in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 24, 2026 [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo]
More than 1.2 million people in Lebanon are expected to face acute hunger this year due to “conflict, displacement and economic pressures” amid the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a United Nations-backed report.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture issued a joint statement on Wednesday, saying that 1.24 million people were “expected to face food insecurity” at crisis levels or worse between April and August.
Over 20% of the population will face acute hunger
The figure, contained in a report conducted by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed group that monitors hunger and malnutrition, marks a “significant deterioration” compared with the outlook before the war erupted on March 2, said the statement.
Prior to March, “an estimated 874,000 people, roughly 17 percent of the population, were experiencing acute food insecurity“, it said. But a “sharp escalation in violence” had “reversed recent food security gains in Lebanon and pushed the country back into crisis”.
“Families who were just managing to cope are now being pushed back into crisis as conflict, displacement and rising costs collide, making food increasingly unaffordable,” said Allison Oman Lawi, the WFP’s country director in Lebanon.
Nora Ourabah Haddad, the FAO representative in Lebanon, said, “Compounded shocks are undermining agricultural livelihoods and impacting food security, highlighting the urgent need for emergency agricultural assistance to support farmers and prevent further deterioration.”
A ceasefire that took effect on April 17 has reduced the intensity of the fighting between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,500 people in Lebanon and displaced more than one million, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israeli forces are operating in south Lebanon near the border, where residents have been warned not to return, and both sides have been trading fire despite the truce.
“Acute food insecurity is likely to deepen without sustained and timely humanitarian and livelihood support,” the statement said.
Loud music from parade floats damages antiques at Chaiyaphum museum in Thailand
10:00 pm
Get you up to speed: Loud music from parade floats damages antiques at Chaiyaphum museum in Thailand
Music from the Bai Sri Boon parade led to ‘severe damage’ to exhibitions at the Chaiyaphum Ancient Textile Museum on April 22, according to owner Dr Komkrich Ritkhachorn. Display cases were shaken and several antiques were shattered due to the loud noise from approximately 100 parade trucks equipped with giant loudspeakers.
Dr Komkrich Ritkhachorn, owner of the Chaiyaphum Ancient Textile Museum, reported that the Bai Sri Boon parade on April 22 caused ‘severe damage’ to exhibits due to music from approximately 100 parade trucks with loudspeakers. Local and provincial judges inspected the museum to assess the damage on April 24, as researchers from the National Museum Cardiff noted that day-to-day noise can adversely affect museum displays.
Local and provincial judges visited the Chaiyaphum Ancient Textile Museum on April 24 to inspect the damage caused by the parade. Dr Komkrich Ritkhachorn expressed concerns that continued loud celebrations could undermine the meaning of the religious ceremony.
Music blasted from parade trucks so loud it shatters ancient museum artefacts | News World
Music blasted from parade floats shattered several antiques in a museum in Chaiyaphum, northeastern Thailand.
Chaiyaphum Ancient Textile Museum owner Dr Komkrich Ritkhachorn said Bai Sri Boon caused ‘severe damage’ to the exhibitions on April 22.
Dr Ritkhachorn said in a since-deleted Facebook post that as parade-goers passed Chai Prasit Road, the music was so loud it shook display cases.
The cultural researcher blamed the some 100 parade trucks equipped with giant loudspeakers, locally known as rod hae, for the damage.
Photographs showed shattered pottery scattered on the museum floor, with some display pedestals nearly empty.
Dr Ritkhachorn said: ‘Was it worth it to turn this place into the city of rod hae when it causes trouble for people?
Sign up for all of the latest stories
The music, blasted from parade floats and trucks, rattled the museum (Picture: Facebook)
Several artefacts shattered after falling off their pedestals and stands (Picture: Facebook)
Some of the objects were teetering off the edge by the time the floats drove past (Picture: Facebook)
‘I have no objection to the parade. But can organisers reduce the noise level so that it will not cause any damage?’
The 10km-long procession featured more than 150 floats, some more than two metres tall, according to local news outlet Matichon.
The days-long celebration in the Muang district honours Chao Pho Phaya Lae, a Lao immigrant who died fighting in the late 19th century.
Dr Ritkhachorn told the Tourism and Environment News Agency that he has no issue with the Bai Sri Boon parade.
‘If the competition continues based on who is louder and who creates the most impact, ultimately, it’s not just the artefacts in the museum that will be destroyed, but the meaning of the religious ceremony itself,’ he said.
‘What started as an event of faith will gradually become something that local people become weary of and apprehensive about.’
The museum founder said the annual parade should not be banned (Picture: Facebook)
Local and provincial judges visited the museum on April 24 to inspect the damage, Dr Ritkhachorn added.
As many museums have prepared for the worst, like earthquakes and heavy construction, day-to-day noise isn’t one of them, researchers say.
The study by the National Museum Cardiff found that the museum’s own displays were being slowly rattled around by visitors shuffling around or gigs down the road.
Objects may slowly ‘wander’ around because vibrations slowly erode them – an ancient Egyptian statue was caught in 2013 spinning around in its case for several days in Manchester Museum in New Hampshire.
Comment now
Comments
Add WTX as a Preferred Source on Google
Socialists’ turmoil disrupts coalition with Sumar and regional parties
9:00 pm
Socialists’ turmoil disrupts coalition with Sumar and regional parties
Political Turmoil
The Socialists’ turmoil has strained relations with their far-left junior coalition partner Sumar and various fringe and regional separatist parties critical for passing legislation.
The Socialists’ turmoil has strained relations with their far-left junior coalition partner Sumar and various fringe and regional separatist parties critical for passing legislation.
Coalition Stability
Relations between the Socialists and their far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, as well as with several fringe and regional separatist parties, are critical for legislative success.
Relations between the Socialists and their far-left junior coalition partner Sumar, as well as with several fringe and regional separatist parties, are critical for legislative success.
Political Turmoil
“The turmoil within the Socialists has put our coalition at risk and jeopardised the support we rely on from various parties,” stated a Sumar representative.
“The turmoil within the Socialists has put our coalition at risk and jeopardised the support we rely on from various parties,” stated a Sumar representative.
Key developments
The Socialists’ internal turmoil has strained their coalition with the far-left junior partner Sumar, complicating legislative negotiations vital for governance.
This unrest has also unsettled relations with several fringe and regional separatist parties, whose backing is crucial for the passage of key bills.
Spain's PM 'was at level one' in scheme to rig public contracts, defendant in graft case says
The Socialists’ turmoil has rocked relations with their far-left junior coalition partner Sumar and an array of fringe and regional separatist parties whose support is essential to pass legislation.
Local insights
Related Election News
© 2026 WTX News.