International
America returns over 40 ‘stolen’ antiquities to Italy
New York authorities on Tuesday returned to Italy several dozen stolen antiquities worth nearly $3.5 million, as the American megapolis strives to shake off the reputation as a key global hub for illicit art trade.
Investigators handed back 42 exceptional pieces – some 2,500 years old – to Italian officials during a ceremony in New York, according to a statement from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg
“We continue to undo the damage wrought by decades of well-organised antiquities smuggling networks throughout Italy,” Bragg said, adding that more than 200 antiquities have been repatriated to Italy since he took office in 2022.
Vincenzo Molinese, commander of the Italian government’s so-called Carabinieri Art Squad, hailed “the great success of the investigation” thanks to a collaboration between the United States and Italy.
Among the works found and returned was a vase from the region of Apulia in southern Italy that dates back to 335 BC. It was stolen from a burial site before being smuggled abroad by Giacomo Medici, a notorious trafficker of Italian antiquities, according to prosecutors.
After passing through London, the bowl, which was used to mix water and wine, was seized in July from a private collection in New York last month.
Since 2017, New York prosecutors have repatriated pieces that were looted from around 20 countries between the 1970s and 1990s.
They have included works from ancient Greece, the Roman and Byzantine empires, Iraq, China, India and Southeast Asia.
AFP
International
US and Iran to sign historic peace deal June 19 in Switzerland
He commended both Washington and Tehran for choosing diplomacy over continued conflict and acknowledged the roles played by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye in facilitating the talks.
•US/IRAN flags
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, revealed that both the United States and Iran have reached a landmark peace agreement to the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
The formal signing ceremony is scheduled to take place on June 19 in Switzerland.
According to Sharif, the agreement is the result of extensive mediation efforts involving several regional and international stakeholders.
He commended both Washington and Tehran for choosing diplomacy over continued conflict and acknowledged the roles played by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye in facilitating the talks.
International
Zimbabwe Wins UN Security Council Seat for 2027-2028
The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.
Zimbabwe has been elected to a non-permanent, two-year term on the United Nations Security Council, the third time the country will be represented on the body mandated to maintain international peace and security.
Voice of Nigeria reports that the other countries that secured seats around the iconic horseshoe table are Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kyrgyzstan.
The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.
Austria and Portugal won the two seats allocated to the Western European and other States (WEOG) Group, while Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe were elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group and the African Group, respectively.
Kyrgyzstan secured the Asia-Pacific seat after defeating the Philippines in four rounds of voting.
International
Finland’s president says EU should expand to 40 states — including Canada
His comments come as the Trump administration’s actions, alongside Russia’s war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
• Finland’s president Alexander Stubb
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has stressed the need for a much larger European Union, saying the 27-nation bloc should increase its membership to 40 states and named the U.K., Canada, Turkey, Norway and Iceland as potential candidates to join.
Stubb made the call at an energy conference in the Finnish capital on Wednesday.
His comments come as the Trump administration’s actions, alongside Russia’s war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
Stubb told the Eurelectric Power Summit that “the window of opportunity” for EU enlargement “is quite short because when the war in Ukraine ends and perhaps when the U.S. administration changes, I don’t know, then people are going to take their foot off the gas pedal and start heckling about unnecessary stuff again.”
Stubb added that “European strategic autonomy or European geopolitical power” is “often based on size and scale and I think the best European policy ever has been European enlargement.”
“In this moment, we need to think big and geographically, we need to enlarge or at least create memberships which are flexible enough to bring in a sum total of 40 European states — or even non-European,” Stubb said.
Finland’s president said the EU should look to its western flank and bring the U.K., which left the bloc in 2020, back into the fold, or at least “as close as possible
.”Canada should be considered as another option, Stubb said. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if Canada was the 28th state of the European Union rather than the 51st state of the United States?”
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