World
Thieves Make Off With US$1.65 Million in Celtic Gold Coins
Officials said Wednesday that thieves who broke into a German museum and stole hundreds of ancient gold coins worth US$1.65 million got in and out in 9 minutes without raising the alarm, indicating that the heist was the work of organized criminals.
Police have launched an international search for the gold thieves and their loot, which included over 480 Celtic coins and a lump of Celtic gold discovered in 1999 during an archeological dig near the modern-day town of Manching.
The deputy head of Bavaria’s Police, Guido Limmer, said communication cables were severed at a telecommunications hub about a kilometre from the Museum in Manching on Tuesday at 1:17 a.m. (0017 GMT), knocking out communications networks in the region.
According to Limmer, the museum’s security systems recorded a door opening at 1:26 a.m., and the thieves fled at 1:35 a.m. The thieves smashed open the display cabinet and scooped out the treasure during those nine minutes.
Limmer said there were “similarities” between the Manching gold heist, the recent thefts of priceless jewels in Dresden, Germany, and a large gold coin in Berlin. Both have been linked to a Berlin-based crime syndicate.
“We can’t say whether there’s a link,” he added. “We are in contact with colleagues to investigate all possible angles.”
Gold Heist Professionals
Markus Blume, Bavaria’s minister of science and arts, stated that evidence pointed to professional work.
“You can’t just march into the museum and take a treasure with you,” he told AP. “It’s highly secured, and as a result, there’s a suspicion that we’re dealing with organized crime.”
However, officials admitted that there were no guards at the museum overnight.
Rupert Gebhard, director of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich, deemed an alarm system adequate security.
Gebhard stated that the hoard was extremely valuable to the Manching community and European archaeologists.
The bowl-shaped coins, which date back to around 100 B.C., were made from Bohemian river gold and demonstrate how the Celtic settlement at Manching had connections throughout Europe, he said.
Gebhard estimated the treasure’s value to be US $1.65 million.
The archaeologists hope the gold coins will remain in their original condition and reappear again. He said that they are well-documented and would be difficult to sell.
The worst option, melting down the Celtic gold, would be a total loss for us,” he said, noting that gold value would only be around 250,000 euros.
According to Gebhard, the trove’s size suggested it could have been “a tribal chief’s war chest.” It was discovered inside a sack buried beneath building foundations, and it was the largest find made during an archaeological excavation in Germany in the twentieth century.
Limmer, the deputy police chief, stated that Interpol and Europol have been notified of the coin theft and that a special investigations unit, codenamed ‘Oppidum’, has been formed to find the perpetrators.
News
Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote
Vladimir Putin won a historic fifth term as Russia’s president on Monday, as the electoral commission announced the results of a referendum in which he faced no serious challenges and took place amid the toughest crackdown on dissent and free speech since Soviet times.
Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote
Putin claimed that the landslide majority demonstrated Russians’ “trust” and “hopes” in him, while lawmakers throughout Europe blasted the vote as a hoax and Russia’s efforts to conduct elections in seized portions of Ukraine that it claims as its territory.
Here’s what Putin, European leaders, and others say:
“Of course, we have a lot of work ahead. But I’d like to clarify one thing: no one has ever been able to intimidate or stifle our will or self-conscience since our consolidation. They have failed in the past and will fail in the future. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
“The elections took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights, and precluded many candidates from running, including all those opposed to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.” – Statement from the European Union.
“These Russian elections highlight the intensity of repression under President Putin’s administration, which tries to stifle all dissent to his illegal war. Putin eliminates his political opponents, controls the media, and declares himself the winner. “This is not a democracy.” — David Cameron, UK Foreign Secretary.
Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote
“Searches at voting stations’ entrances, attempts to examine ballots before voters place them in ballot boxes, and detentions of voters who arrived at noon. According to reports, at one voting location in Moscow, police asked that the chairman of a commission (of poll workers) unlock a ballot box and hand them a ballot with anything inscribed on it. This is the first time in my life that I have witnessed such ridiculousness.” — Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of Golos, the independent election watchdog, on Telegram.
Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote
“The Russian election was one without a choice. Holding so-called elections in portions of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia violates international law. It is all the more amazing that so many Russians made it known over the weekend that they do not agree with this Russian president. That you go to a polling station even if you’re surrounded by military earns me the highest respect.” — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
SOURCE – (AP)
News
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
NEW DELHI – India declared on Saturday that its six-week general election will begin on April 19, with most polls projecting a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Voting in the world’s largest democracy will occur in seven phases, with different states voting at different times, and the results will be published on June 4. Over 970 million people, or more than 10% of the world’s population, will elect 543 members of the lower house of Parliament for five-year terms.
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
Modi, who is running for a third term, has little opposition since the main opposition alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, appears to be fraying due to rivalries, political defections, and ideological disagreements.
According to analysts, the elections will likely confirm Modi’s status as one of India’s most enduring and influential leaders, having pushed to turn the country from a secular democracy to an avowedly Hindu nation.
Each election phase will span one day, with votes cast in many constituencies distributed across multiple states, strongly populated cities, and remote villages. The staggered polling method enables the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to avoid riots and transport electoral workers and voting machines.
India uses a first-past-the-post multiparty electoral system, meaning the candidate with the most votes wins.
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
Ahead of the election, Modi has been touring the country, inaugurating new projects, giving speeches, and connecting with people. Support for the leader skyrocketed after he opened a Hindu temple in northern Ayodhya in January, which many considered the unofficial start of his election campaign because it fulfilled his party’s long-standing Hindu nationalist commitment.
The 73-year-old Modi first rose to power in 2014 on promises of economic progress, portraying himself as an outsider cracking down on the political class. Since then, he has grown in popularity and combined religion and politics in a combination that has resonated strongly with the country’s majority Hindu population, even if it weakens India’s secular roots.
The elections come as India’s global power has grown under Modi, owing to its vast economy and, in part, to its position as a counterweight to a rising China.
India Announces 6-Week General Elections Starting April 19 With Modi’s BJP Topping Surveys
Critics claim that over a decade of Modi’s administration has seen increased unemployment even as the country’s economy has expanded, attacks by Hindu nationalists on the country’s minorities, particularly Muslims, and a narrowing space for dissent and free press. The opposition claims that a victory for Modi’s party could jeopardize India’s status as a secular, democratic country.
A victory for Modi’s BJP would build on its 2019 electoral triumph when it won an absolute majority with 303 parliamentary seats to the Congress party’s 52.
SOURce – (AP)
News
Iceland Volcano Erupts Prompting Evacuation Of Blue Lagoon
RÚV, Iceland’s official radio, reported that the world-famous Blue Lagoon and the surrounding town of Grindavik were evacuated on Saturday due to a volcanic explosion on the country’s Reykjanes Peninsula.
According to RÚV and the Icelandic Met Office, lava flows swiftly north of Grindavík, similar to the eruption on February 8. Later, RUV reported that lava was also flowing toward the Grindavíkurvegur road, which leads to Grindavik.
Iceland Volcano Erupts Prompting Evacuation Of Blue Lagoon
According to the report, “the fissure is about three kilometers long [about 1.9 miles] and runs from Stóra-Skógfell towards Hagafell.”
According to Iceland’s civil protection service spokesman Hjördís Guðmundsdóttir, anti-lava barriers outside Grindavik are holding, and essential infrastructure has not been damaged by the eruption.
She said that because the barriers diverted the lava, there was no immediate threat to the town, and other sections of Iceland remained unharmed.
RUV reported that Iceland’s largest international airport, Keflavik Airport, and smaller minor airports are still fully operating. However, RUV said volcanic gas will be observable in the town near the airport on Sunday.
Geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, who recently returned from a helicopter fly over the location, stated that the present eruption is the most violent in recent seismic activity.
According to Guðmundsson, the currently active fissure extends from the northern edge of Hagafell to Stóra-Skógfell. He guessed that it was around 3.5 kilometres broad.
Iceland Volcano Erupts Prompting Evacuation Of Blue Lagoon
Guðmundsson predicts that the lava flow will soon reach the Grindavíkurvegur road, based on its current speed.
Geophysicist Páll Einarsson told RÚV that the earthquakes near Grindavík follow the same pattern since October, with recurring magma flows that occasionally reach the surface. The previous eruptions “were strong, lasted a short time, but were powerful while they lasted,” Einarsson explained.
The Blue Lagoon, located less than an hour’s drive from the capital and largest city, Reykjavik, is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions.
The location is in southwest Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, a broad finger of land extending west into the North Atlantic Ocean from Reykjavik. In addition to the Blue Lagoon, the peninsula is home to the principal airport, Keflavik International.
Iceland Volcano Erupts Prompting Evacuation Of Blue Lagoon
Iceland has some of the world’s most active volcanoes. Rather than a core volcano, the Reykjanes Peninsula is dominated by a rift valley filled with lava fields and cones.
The lagoon had been evacuated earlier in March due to earthquake activity. It was shut down for a week in November after 1,400 tremors were recorded in 24 hours.
SOURCE – (CNN)
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