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Irish President’s Sister Intercepted by Israel on Gaza Boat, Say Organizers

A Palestinian flag is pictured against a background of smoke grenades during a gathering against the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla by the Israeli Navy off the coast of Cyprus outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian flag is pictured against a background of smoke grenades during a gathering against the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla by the Israeli Navy off the coast of Cyprus outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
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Irish President’s Sister Intercepted by Israel on Gaza Boat, Say Organizers

A Palestinian flag is pictured against a background of smoke grenades during a gathering against the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla by the Israeli Navy off the coast of Cyprus outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens on May 18, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian flag is pictured against a background of smoke grenades during a gathering against the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla by the Israeli Navy off the coast of Cyprus outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens on May 18, 2026. (AFP)

The sister of Ireland's President Catherine Connolly is among eight Irish citizens intercepted by Israel on Gaza-bound aid flotilla ships, organizers said Monday.

Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla on Monday after it sailed from Türkiye last week, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denouncing the mission as a "malicious scheme" intended to support Hamas.

The Global Sumud Flotilla vessels are the latest in a string of attempts by activists to breach Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Around 50 ships had departed from southwestern Türkiye on Thursday.

"Global Sumud Flotilla is under attack!" the group wrote on X.

"The Israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers."

Margaret Connolly, an Irish doctor and President Connolly's sister, was among those "illegally kidnapped" by Israel, organizers said in a statement sent to AFP.

"Eight Irish people have been illegally detained in this operation," it said.

President Connolly, on a planned trip to the UK, told reporters after talks in London with King Charles III that the news was "upsetting".

"I'm very worried about her, and I'm also very concerned about her colleagues on board," she said, adding she did not have any details.

Videos posted by the organizers on social media showed Connolly and five others which appear to have been recorded in advance of their detention.

In her video, Connolly said: "If you are watching this video, it means I have been kidnapped from my boat in the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces".

"Her participation in this flotilla was her own decision and not related to President Connolly," organizers said.

Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel's bombardment of Gaza, and recognized the Palestinian state in 2024.

Soon after, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of its Dublin embassy, blaming Ireland's "extreme anti-Israel policies".

Last year Saar said "Dublin has become the capital of antisemitism in the world" while blasting a Dublin City Council proposal to rename a park named after Ireland-born Chaim Herzog, Israel's sixth president.

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World

Colombia President-elect to Open Israel Embassy in Jerusalem

Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, left, waves to supporters next to his wife Ana Lucia Pineda in Chiquinquira, Colombia, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, left, waves to supporters next to his wife Ana Lucia Pineda in Chiquinquira, Colombia, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
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Colombia President-elect to Open Israel Embassy in Jerusalem

Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, left, waves to supporters next to his wife Ana Lucia Pineda in Chiquinquira, Colombia, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, left, waves to supporters next to his wife Ana Lucia Pineda in Chiquinquira, Colombia, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Colombia's hard-right president-elect plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem as he seeks to restore and strengthen ties with Israel, his office said Thursday.

Abelardo de la Espriella won last month's presidential runoff by less than a percentage point and has promised to clamp down on Colombia's myriad armed groups -- partly by forging a military alliance with the United States and Israel.

In 2024, leftist President Gustavo Petro severed ties with Israel, one of Colombia's key security partners, over its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

De la Espriella, backed by US President Donald Trump, will take office on August 7 and has pledged to restore ties with Israel.

The incoming government is moving forward with "the opening of the Colombian Embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel," his office stated Thursday.

Israel regards Jerusalem, including the occupied eastern part, as its capital, although this is not recognized internationally and most countries conduct their diplomatic missions from Tel Aviv.

The United States in 2018 moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during Trump's first term.

Colombia is also set to withdraw its support for South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Incoming foreign minister Omar Bula on Wednesday met with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar in Washington, where the pair agreed on a roadmap to restore diplomatic relations and eliminate travel visas.

"The historical relationship that the Petro administration unilaterally severed will be strengthened once again," AFP quoted the statement as reading.

Petro had backed the ICJ case, while also halting coal exports to and arms imports from Israel.

He also once said he intended to open a diplomatic mission in Ramallah, the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel, but the project never materialized.

World

Italy Court Finds 32 People Guilty Over Deadly Genoa Bridge Collapse

(FILES) This general view taken on August 15, 2018, shows abandoned vehicles on the Morandi motorway bridge the day after a section collapsed in the north-western Italian city of Genoa. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
(FILES) This general view taken on August 15, 2018, shows abandoned vehicles on the Morandi motorway bridge the day after a section collapsed in the north-western Italian city of Genoa. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
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Italy Court Finds 32 People Guilty Over Deadly Genoa Bridge Collapse

(FILES) This general view taken on August 15, 2018, shows abandoned vehicles on the Morandi motorway bridge the day after a section collapsed in the north-western Italian city of Genoa. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
(FILES) This general view taken on August 15, 2018, shows abandoned vehicles on the Morandi motorway bridge the day after a section collapsed in the north-western Italian city of Genoa. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)

An Italian court sentenced 32 defendants on Thursday, including the former head of motorway operator Autostrade, for their role in a deadly bridge disaster eight years ago that killed 43 people.

Autostrade's former chief executive, Giovanni Castellucci, was found guilty of vehicular homicide and negligence related to the collapse of the bridge in Genoa -- one of the country's worst infrastructure disasters.

The crowded courtroom was packed with relatives of those who plunged to their deaths when the Morandi Bridge -- part of a key highway connecting France and Italy -- gave way in torrential rain on August 14, 2018.

Castellucci, who was accused of postponing key maintenance work, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars.

The former executive is already serving time for his responsibility in a 2013 accident in which a bus crashed through the barriers of a viaduct, killing 40 people.

"Today we can say there are those guilty of the murder of our relatives," said Michele Matti Altadonna, whose brother was one of the victims.

"We are here for our loved ones, in their memory," he told AFP.

Legal teams for some of the defendants, including Castellucci, said they would appeal the ruling.

But Altadonna said "for the four children my brother left behind... we will not give up, we will not give up until the Supreme Court".

Under Italian law, judges will have to publish the reasoning for their decision within six months.

The findings of the investigation were damning: "Between the inauguration in 1967 and the collapse, i.e. 51 years later, not even minimal maintenance work was carried out to reinforce the stays of pillar number nine".

Work had been carried out on two other pillars, numbers 10 and 11, and was planned for number nine, which came crashing down in morning traffic.

Raffaele Caruso, a lawyer for the victims, said the Morandi bridge had not collapsed "by chance."

"This collapse, as we have always said and as the prosecutor's office, above all, has always said, could have been avoided."

Most of the defendants were executives and technicians from Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), which runs almost half of the country's motorway network, and engineering company Spea, in charge of maintenance.

Besides Castellucci, they included the former head of Spea, Antonino Galata, as well as officials from the infrastructure ministry.

ASPI's executive in charge of maintenance, Michele Mitelli, was sentenced to 11 years, while the group's number two, Paolo Berti, received five years and six months.

Italy's deputy transport secretary, Edoardo Rixi, wrote that Thursday's ruling marked an "important step on the path of truth and justice".

"The collapse was not a stroke of fate, but the result of serious errors and omissions by those who had a duty to ensure safety. It is right that responsibility has finally been established," wrote Rixi on social media.

The defence's main argument was that the bridge had a hidden construction defect, namely corrosion of its cables, and it was this that caused its collapse, not a lack of maintenance.

Lawyers for Castellucci wrote in a note following the verdict that the court had erroneously relied on a theory that "equates liability with hierarchical position", noting that the ex-CEO had taken "every initiative deemed necessary for the safety of the infrastructure".

"Today it is considered appropriate to assign personal criminal liability to the CEO of a company who did nothing other than rely on the best engineering specialists in the field," they wrote.

Autostrade and Spea reached an out-of-court settlement with the public prosecutor's office, which provides for a payment of 29 million euros ($30 million) to the state.

At the time of the tragedy, Autostrade belonged to the Atlantia group, controlled by the wealthy Benetton family, but faced with popular indignation the family subsequently gave up its stake to the state.

World

Vance Says Some in Israeli Government Sought to Sway US on Iran Deal

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at This is the Turning Point Tour at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, US, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo
US Vice President JD Vance speaks at This is the Turning Point Tour at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, US, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo
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Vance Says Some in Israeli Government Sought to Sway US on Iran Deal

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at This is the Turning Point Tour at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, US, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo
US Vice President JD Vance speaks at This is the Turning Point Tour at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, US, April 14, 2026. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo

US Vice President JD Vance said some members of the Israeli government had tried to influence US public opinion to oppose a deal by the US to end the war with Iran, in a podcast episode with host Joe Rogan posted on Wednesday.

The comments echoed earlier criticism of Israeli government policy by Vance, whom many view as a potential future presidential candidate, in a widening public rift between the two countries, Reuters reported.

Vance defended a deal reached last month to end the war with Iran, which critics in the US and Israel have slammed for failing to curb Iran's missile program and providing no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities, while constraining Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Reuters reported.

"I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are trying to, like, actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign," Vance said.

The vice president said that, while he has "good relationships" with some members of the Israeli government, "there are some people within their system that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely".

Vance said that many countries, allies and adversaries try to influence American policy and that "it doesn't bother me that Israel tries to do this, it frankly doesn't even bother me that Russia or some of these other countries do it". He said it was "just the nature of being a political leader in 2026".

"What does bother me is when those operations, those influence campaigns, actually affect American political judgment," said the vice president.

Vance lashed out at Israeli critics of the Iran deal in June, saying President Donald Trump is Israel's only ally, in a sharp rebuke that referenced the billions in US defense aid the country receives.

Israeli senior officials, speaking anonymously, have said the deal's terms were bad for Israel because they failed to address concerns over Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program, a view they say is shared across Israel's leadership.

When asked if he thought the US would have engaged in the most recent war with Iran were it not for Israeli influence, Vance said, "yes, yes I do."

"I think the president, separate from any influence from Israel, believes very strongly, and again I agree with this, that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon," Vance said.