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Australia appoints special envoy to combat anti-Semitism

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Australia appoints special envoy to combat anti-Semitism

Jillian Segal will serve a three-year term and report directly to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Australia has appointed a special envoy to combat anti-Semitism amid concerns that the war in Gaza is fuelling community tensions.

Jillian Segal, a Jewish lawyer and business leader, will engage with Jewish Australians, the wider Australian public, religious discrimination experts and the government on ways to tackle anti-Jewish sentiment, the Australian government said in a statement on Tuesday.

Segal will serve a three-year term and report directly to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles.

Albanese said there is “no place” for violence or hatred in Australia.

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“Australians are deeply concerned about this conflict, and many are hurting. In times like this, Australians must come together, not be torn apart,” Albanese said.

“We have built our nation’s social cohesion together over generations, and this is why we all must work together to uphold, defend and preserve it.”

Albanese said that his government would also soon announce a special envoy for combating Islamophobia.

In one of her first tasks in her new role, Segal will attend the World Jewish Congress in Argentina next week to discuss anti-Semitism with other envoys from around the world.

Segal on Tuesday warned that anti-Semitism has become “normalised,” citing data from Australia’s peak Jewish body that showed a 700 percent rise in reported hate incidents in the months after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.

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“The Jewish community in Australia is experiencing valid feelings of fear in the face of increasing anti-Semitism,” Segal said.

“Jewish Australians want to feel free to live their day-to-day lives, and also want to feel safe to practise and express their religion without fear. They also want to be able to contribute as they have previously to the vibrant multicultural society that we value in Australia.”

Like other countries, Australia has witnessed heated protests over the war in Gaza, and both the Jewish and Muslim communities have reported a sharp uptick in instances of hate.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

More than 1,130 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7 attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

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The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which Segal led until last year, welcomed the appointment of the new envoy to carry out “vital work for the betterment of Australian society”.

However, the Jewish Council of Australia, which has strongly criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza, expressed concern about Segal’s track record “of lobbying for Israel, opposing voices that support Palestinian human rights, and painting all Jews as supportive of Israel’s actions”.

“By appointing a pro-war voice to this position the government risks breeding division, increasing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, and ultimately making Jews less safe,” the council said in a statement.

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‘Citadel: Diana’ Reveals October Premiere Date and Plot Details as Prime Video Unveils Italy Slate

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‘Citadel: Diana’ Reveals October Premiere Date and Plot Details as Prime Video Unveils Italy Slate

Prime Video on Monday unveiled teaser footage, plot details and an Oct. 10 launch date for “Citadel: Diana,” the hotly anticipated spy show starring Matilda De Angelis (“The Undoing”) that is part of the “Citadel” franchise.

Details of “Citadel: Diana” – which marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date – were unveiled during a gala evening presentation of Prime Video’s Italian slate held in the palatial Villa Miani on a hill overlooking the Eternal City.

The six-episode series is set in a near-future Milan, in 2030, where eight years earlier the independent global spy agency Citadel was wiped out by Manticore, the powerful enemy syndicate that manipulates the world from the shadows. Since then, Diana Cavalieri (De Angelis) – who is an undercover Citadel agent – is alone, “trapped behind enemy lines as a mole in Manticore,” as the provided synopsis puts it.

When Diana finally sees a way out and the chance to disappear forever, her only way out is to trust “the most unexpected ally,” Edo Zani, heir of Manticore Italy and son of the head of the evil syndicate’s Italian unit who is vying for Manticore’s leadership against other European families.

Besides De Angelis, other previously announced “Citadel: Diana” cast members comprise Lorenzo Cervasio, Maurizio Lombardi, Julia Piaton, Thekla Reuten, Daniele Paoloni, Bernhard Schütz and Filippo Nigro.

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“Citadel: Diana” is directed by Italy’s Arnaldo Catinari (“Suburra: Blood on Rome”) and developed by Alessandro Fabbri (“1992”), who is also the head writer and wrote the series with Ilaria Bernardini, Laura Colella, Gianluca Bernardini and Giordana Mari.

Courtesy Prime Video

The high-end show is produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Cattleya, the company that is part of ITV Studios known for standout crime shows such as “Gomorrah” and “ZeroZeroZero.” The “Citadel: Diana” showrunner and executive producer is Gina Gardini – who shepherded both of the above series at Cattleya – with Riccardo Tozzi, Marco Chimenz, Giovanni Stabilini and Emanuele Savoini also serving as executive producers. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot and Scott Nemes from AGBO, alongside David Weil (“Hunters”) also executive produced “Citadel: Diana” along with all series within the world of “Citadel.”

Midnight Radio, the producing team of Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, also has executive producer credit on all installments within Prime Video’s global spy franchise.

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“Citadel” originally debuted in April 2023. The series is meant to serve as a launch pad for multiple shows set in different countries that will all be connected via plot and characters. Besides “Citadel: Diana,” which will be this Italian series, an Indian series titled “Citadel: Honey Bunny” is also currently in the works.

The other two, previously announced, standout series in Prime Video’s Italy slate are:

  • Costiera”: set on Italy’s iconic Amalfi Coast, directed by Emmy winner Adam Bernstein (“30 Rock,” “Breaking Bad”) and featuring Jesse Williams (“Take Me Out”) as the lead. The English-language series sees Williams play an Italian American former Marine named Daniel De Luca, who is a “problem solver” in one of the most exclusive hotels in the world in the picturesque Amalfi Coast town of Positano. It’s co-produced by Amazon Studios and Luca Bernabei for Lux Vide, which is Fremantle Group company. Under an innovative split-rights agreement – that has now been modified so that Prime Video has taken more territories than originally announced – “Costiera” will drop exclusively on the streamer in 2025 in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and in all English-speaking countries including Great Britain, Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, while Fremantle will be handling sales in all other global territories.

Courtesy Prime Video

  • “The Bad Guy” The much anticipated second season of Italy’s most innovative mob show will drop on Prime Video in Italy on Dec. 5, while Fifth Season, the TV company previously known as Endeavor Content, is distributing internationally in tandem with RAI Cinema. The dark comedy series is produced by Indigo Film, the shingle behind Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar winner “The Great Beauty.” It revolves around a Sicilian public prosecutor named Nino Scotellaro, played by Luigi Lo Cascio (“Lord of the Ants”), who devoted his whole life to fighting the Mafia and finds himself accused and condemned of being a mafioso himself. After faking his own death, he pulls off a Machiavellian revenge plan, becoming the “bad guy” that he had been unfairly turned into.

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During its Rome presentation, Prime Video also announced several new Italian original movies, including Christmas comedy “When Santa Claus” (“Natale senza Babbo”) directed by young hotshot helmer Stefano Cipani (“My Brother Chases Dinosaurs,” “Fedeltà”). Produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Gaumont Italia, it stars Alessandro Gassmann (“Transporter: Extreme”) as Santa Claus, who is having an existential crisis and decides to take a vacation, leaving his wife, played by Luisa Ranieri (“The Hand of God” to have to roll up her sleeves to save the most special day of the year. Prime Video will release “When Santa Claus” globally on Dec. 25, 2025.

Other new Italian original movies in the Prime Video pipeline include romantic comedy “Non è un paese per single,” which traslates as “It’s not a country for singles.” The movie is based on a book by the same title by a popular Italian author whose pen name is Felicia Kingsley. Her novels are published in 16 countries. Produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Lucisano Media Group, the rom-com is directed by Laura Chiossone, who helmed the Italian Christmas comedy “I Hate Christmas” for Netflix. 

Also coming to Prime Video globally from Italy is young adult romance “Love Me Love Me,” an adaptation of the first novel by Italy’s Stefania S, also a pen name, whose eponymous Wattpad trilogy has over 19 million reads, according to Prime Video. Written by Veronica Galli and Serena Tateo, “Love Me Love Me” will be co-produced by Lotus Production, which is part of Leone Film Group, and Amazon MGM Studios, with the support of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios.

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Suspect arrested after dismembered bodies of 9 women found in quarry in Kenya's capital

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Suspect arrested after dismembered bodies of 9 women found in quarry in Kenya's capital
  • Police in Kenya said they have arrested the main suspect after nine dismembered bodies of women were found in a quarry in the capital, Nairobi.
  • Collins Jumaisi Khalusha confessed to killing 42 women, including his wife, since 2022, according to the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
  • Police said the bodies were discovered after relatives of one of the missing women claimed to have had a dream in which she directed them to search the quarry.

Police in Kenya said Monday they have arrested the main suspect after nine dismembered bodies of women were found in a quarry in the capital, Nairobi.

The head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Mohamed Amin, said Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, had confessed to killing 42 women, including his wife, since 2022. They gave no evidence to support his claim of killing 42.

He was expected to be arraigned in court Tuesday.

KENYAN PRESIDENT DISMISSES CABINET MINISTERS AFTER WEEKS OF PROTESTS

Police said several smartphones and identity cards were found in his house a short walk from the quarry.

Sacks with human remains are seen after being removed from a quarry in Mukuru Kwa Njenga area in Nairobi, Kenya on July 13, 2024. Police in Kenya said Monday they have arrested the main suspect after nine dismembered bodies of women were found in a quarry in the capital, Nairobi. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Police said the bodies were discovered after relatives of one missing woman claimed to have had a dream in which she directed them to search the quarry. The relatives asked a local diver to help, and he discovered the bodies wrapped in sacks.

Acting police inspector general Douglas Kanja said officers in a nearby police station had been transferred to make way for investigations. Locals had accused police of negligence due to the proximity of the quarry and the unresolved missing persons cases filed there.

A statement signed by human rights groups over the weekend urged Kenya’s security agencies to “to expedite investigations into all reports of enforced disappearances.” There were initial concerns that the bodies could be linked to abductions and arrests of young people during recent anti-government protests.

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At least four killed as fighting in DRC continues despite truce: Report

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At least four killed as fighting in DRC continues despite truce: Report

The US had announced a humanitarian truce between Kinshasa and the M23 rebel group on July 5.

Two children and two teenagers have been killed in a bombardment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local sources have told AFP news agency.

The United States announced a humanitarian truce on July 5 between Kinshasa and the M23 rebel group operating in eastern DRC. It was supposed to last until July 19, but fighting erupted on Friday.

A spokesman for one of the armed groups backing the DRC forces said the fighting occurred 70km (43 miles) northwest of the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma.

By Monday, the fighting had reached the town of Bweremana, around 15km (9.3 miles) west of Goma, where the deadly bombardment struck.

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The dead included two children from the same family, according to Innocent Mwitehofu Mumbara, a local civil society leader. The four victims were aged two, three, 16 and 18, Mumbara added.

A mother and her four-year-old child were among the wounded, said Bweremana Police Commissioner Paulin Ilunga, claiming that the shell had “come from the hills where the M23 is”.

Confirming the deaths of four people in the attack, a hospital source told AFP that five more had been admitted with serious injuries.

The DRC has been facing political instability and armed violence since 1996, with an estimated six million people killed since the conflict began.

Since the end of 2021, the M23, supported by units of the Rwandan army, had seized vast swathes of territory in North Kivu, going so far as to almost completely encircle Goma.

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According to a Human Rights Watch report, M23 allegedly executed scores of villagers and militia members between November 2022 and April 2023, burying them in mass graves in the village of Kishishe, North Kivu.

The report says that M23 has committed unlawful killings, rape, and other war crimes since late 2022, exacerbating the dire humanitarian crisis in the country. A total 171 civilians were executed in the last 10 days of November alone, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

At the end of June, the M23 and the Rwandan army seized several towns in Lubero territory, in the north of North Kivu, following the collapse of the Congolese army and its auxiliary militias.

Nearly 50 soldiers were sentenced to death in the following days for “fleeing the enemy”.

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