According to an ex Italian mobster an estimated 35 sunken ships containing large amounts of toxic waste have been illegally exposed of by the Italian mafia, claims Francesco Foti, now a criminal informant for the Italian government.
Foti confessed that the Italian Calabria Mafia has been sinking ships packed with the poisonous stuff in the Mediterranean Sea for the last 20 years. Foti says he sank three of the ships himself; the whereabouts of the other 32 are unknown.
According to CNN, Foti’s tip was confirmed when Italy’s environmental agency sailed to the alleged dump site 18 miles off the country’s southwest coast and found a ship about 1,600 feet below the ocean surface, flanked by yellow garbage drums marked “toxic.” Foti says the drums contain nuclear waste from Norway—due to increasingly strict waste disposal regulations by the European Union, it was cheaper to pay the mob to load the waste onto a ship and sink rather than dispose of legally.
Thirty-four other sunken ships are suspected to also contain nuclear waste as well as toxic medical supplies, according to World Health Organization.
So far, no one is speculating about whether the offshore toxic dumping is a significant threat to marine life–or to fish-eating humans–but let’s be realistic; nuclear waste dumping news is never good news.
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Monday, 21 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Festival highlights Italian traditions
Three bands and traditional Italian cooking will be featured in this year's riverside festival on Sunday.
More than 300 years ago, Quakers first settled in Bristol. But now it's the Italians holding down the fort and they will be celebrating their heritage Sunday in Lions Park.
Italians made their ways into Bristol mostly for industrial work, many settling their families in the 1.7-square-mile borough and starting up Italian community groups.
The Italian Presbyterian Mission was founded in 1905. It was housed at the old Presbyterian Church on Radcliffe Street until a chapel was built in 1910 on the corner of Wood Street and Lincoln Avenue, according to the Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation Web site.
St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, an Italian parish, was also founded in 1905. A new church was built in 1908 on the corner of Pond and Washington streets. A new rectory was built next to it, reads the Web site.
Years later, some Italian traditions still survive in Bristol. The annual Bristol Lions Italian Festival is one of them. This year's festivities will be held in Lions Park on the Delaware River. Like every year, attendees can enjoy a day full of traditional Italian music and food.
Food booths will be set up around the park throughout the celebration. The Bristol Lions Club usually cooks up sausage and peppers, Italian hot dogs and roast pork sandwiches.
Nice.
More than 300 years ago, Quakers first settled in Bristol. But now it's the Italians holding down the fort and they will be celebrating their heritage Sunday in Lions Park.
Italians made their ways into Bristol mostly for industrial work, many settling their families in the 1.7-square-mile borough and starting up Italian community groups.
The Italian Presbyterian Mission was founded in 1905. It was housed at the old Presbyterian Church on Radcliffe Street until a chapel was built in 1910 on the corner of Wood Street and Lincoln Avenue, according to the Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation Web site.
St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, an Italian parish, was also founded in 1905. A new church was built in 1908 on the corner of Pond and Washington streets. A new rectory was built next to it, reads the Web site.
Years later, some Italian traditions still survive in Bristol. The annual Bristol Lions Italian Festival is one of them. This year's festivities will be held in Lions Park on the Delaware River. Like every year, attendees can enjoy a day full of traditional Italian music and food.
Food booths will be set up around the park throughout the celebration. The Bristol Lions Club usually cooks up sausage and peppers, Italian hot dogs and roast pork sandwiches.
Nice.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Italian skier to miss start of World Cup season
Italian skier Peter Fill will miss the first three months of the World Cup season with a groin injury, putting his participation in the Vancouver Olympics at risk.
Fill was injured in a fall during training in Argentina last month and was evaluated by Dr. Sakari Orawa in Finland on Wednesday, the Italian Winter Sports Federation said.
Fill will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn tendon and the federation said it will take four months for him to return to racing, placing his comeback in either late December or early January. The World Cup season begins in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 24-25.
The 27-year-old Italian won the silver medal in super-G at the world championships in Val d'Isere, France, last season. He also won a downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., for his first World Cup victory, and finished 10th in the overall World Cup standings.
Fill was injured in a fall during training in Argentina last month and was evaluated by Dr. Sakari Orawa in Finland on Wednesday, the Italian Winter Sports Federation said.
Fill will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn tendon and the federation said it will take four months for him to return to racing, placing his comeback in either late December or early January. The World Cup season begins in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 24-25.
The 27-year-old Italian won the silver medal in super-G at the world championships in Val d'Isere, France, last season. He also won a downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., for his first World Cup victory, and finished 10th in the overall World Cup standings.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Italian mafia boss fails to make great escape
Italian police have arrested an alleged mafia boss who lived in an underground bunker equipped with an unusual means of escape – a skateboard to propel himself down a 200 yard secret tunnel.
Italian, Giuseppe Bastone's hideout was a 10ft by 10ft space underneath a house near Naples that was accessed through a hidden trapdoor underneath a stairway.
The bunker was connected to a 200 yard long tunnel which was only waist high – hence the need for the skateboard.
Bastone, 28, was however captured by anti-mafia investigators in a lightning raid on his subterranean hideout.
At the end of the tunnel, a shaft with a metal staircase emerged in a field. Italian police said Bastone had been hiding in the bunker, which had solid steel walls, for nearly a year. He was reportedly unarmed and did not resist arrest when he was captured on Monday.
The bunker was equipped with a fridge, a plasma screen television and a DVD player. It took firemen more than an hour to shift the steel door which led from the house to the steel-walled refuge.
Police suspected the hideout was linked to a tunnel but had no idea where the hidden exit might emerge, so deployed 50 officers and a helicopter during the raid in case Bastone tried to flee.
Bastone was among Italy's 100 most wanted fugitives and is alleged to be a leading member of the Camorra mafia. A copy of the film was among the DVDs that police found, along with "The Godfather" starring Marlon Brando.
Italian, Giuseppe Bastone's hideout was a 10ft by 10ft space underneath a house near Naples that was accessed through a hidden trapdoor underneath a stairway.
The bunker was connected to a 200 yard long tunnel which was only waist high – hence the need for the skateboard.
Bastone, 28, was however captured by anti-mafia investigators in a lightning raid on his subterranean hideout.
At the end of the tunnel, a shaft with a metal staircase emerged in a field. Italian police said Bastone had been hiding in the bunker, which had solid steel walls, for nearly a year. He was reportedly unarmed and did not resist arrest when he was captured on Monday.
The bunker was equipped with a fridge, a plasma screen television and a DVD player. It took firemen more than an hour to shift the steel door which led from the house to the steel-walled refuge.
Police suspected the hideout was linked to a tunnel but had no idea where the hidden exit might emerge, so deployed 50 officers and a helicopter during the raid in case Bastone tried to flee.
Bastone was among Italy's 100 most wanted fugitives and is alleged to be a leading member of the Camorra mafia. A copy of the film was among the DVDs that police found, along with "The Godfather" starring Marlon Brando.
Monday, 10 August 2009
Pirate says $4 million ransom paid for Italian tugboat
Somali pirates received a $4 million ransom to free an Italian cargo ship that was seized four months ago with a crew of 16, a member of the gang that held it captive said on Monday.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday the Buccaneer was freed after "exceptional work" on the part of Somali authorities and the Italian intelligence service.
The owners of the Buccaneer, Ravenna-based Micoperi Marine Contractors, said on Sunday the ship was not freed as a result of military action or ransom payment.
The pirates however claim to be already in posession of the $4 million ransom and freed the Italian tugboat.
The Buccaneer was hijacked on April 11 in the Gulf of Aden along with two barges. It is now on its way to the port of Djibouti escorted by naval vessels. It was crewed by 10 Italians, five Romanians and a Croatian.
A flotilla of foreign naval vessels off Somalia has failed to quell the rampant piracy, which has affected one of the world's busiest shipping lanes that links Europe to Asia.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday the Buccaneer was freed after "exceptional work" on the part of Somali authorities and the Italian intelligence service.
The owners of the Buccaneer, Ravenna-based Micoperi Marine Contractors, said on Sunday the ship was not freed as a result of military action or ransom payment.
The pirates however claim to be already in posession of the $4 million ransom and freed the Italian tugboat.
The Buccaneer was hijacked on April 11 in the Gulf of Aden along with two barges. It is now on its way to the port of Djibouti escorted by naval vessels. It was crewed by 10 Italians, five Romanians and a Croatian.
A flotilla of foreign naval vessels off Somalia has failed to quell the rampant piracy, which has affected one of the world's busiest shipping lanes that links Europe to Asia.
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