ROME: The captain of a superyacht that sank during a storm off Sicily last week, killing seven people, decided not to respond to prosecutors’ questions on Tuesday, his lawyer said.
James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, is under investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck charges and was questioned for the third time by the Termini Imerese prosecutors on Tuesday.
“He just exercised his right to remain silent, probably prosecutors were expecting that,” lawyer Aldo Mordiglia told The Associated Press, adding that the captain’s legal team has just been named and needs time to work on his defensive strategy.
Cutfield was among 15 survivors of the Aug. 19 sinking that killed British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah and five others.
Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who’s heading the investigation, has said his team would consider each possible element of responsibility including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision and the yacht’s manufacturer.
The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged luxury yacht, went down near the Mediterranean island in southern Italy. Investigators are focusing on how a sailing vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Prosecutors said the event was “extremely rapid” and could have been a “downburst” — a localized, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground.
The crew was saved, except for the chef, while six passengers were trapped in the hull.
Captain of superyacht that sank off Sicily doesn’t respond to prosecutors’ questions, lawyer says
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Captain of superyacht that sank off Sicily doesn’t respond to prosecutors’ questions, lawyer says
- James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, is under investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck charges
Jihadists in Nigeria turn to TikTok to spread propaganda
At least 100 people were killed in the new wave of jihadist attacks in April alone, as the governor of Borno, the epicentre of the violence which has raged since 2009, said the state is losing ground to armed groups.
At the same time, apparent jihadists and their boosters on TikTok were flaunting rifles, grenades and stacks of cash, according to easily accessible videos reviewed by AFP that same month.
They broadcast live in joint videos with accounts run by men preaching anti-Western ideologies in a style reminiscent of the videos released by deceased Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the early days of the 15-year-old insurgency.
Criminal gangs that carry out raids on villages and kidnap for ransom in the northwest of the country have used TikTok in the past.
"It started with bandits," Bulama Bukarti, a vice president at Texas-based Bridgeway Foundation wrote on X. "Now, Boko Haram members are hosting live TikTok shows -- spreading propaganda, justifying their violence and threatening anyone who dares speak against them."
A Boko Haram fighter threatened Bukarti himself in a now-deleted TikTok video for speaking against the group, he said.
While many of the accounts on the video sharing app have been flagged and taken down, the capability of broadcasting live streams on the platform adds another layer of difficulty to monitoring the content they put out.
A TikTok spokesperson said it was difficult to quantify the number of accounts linked to terrorist organisations that have been taken down.
While some of these accounts have been deleted, several others remain active, according to accounts viewed by AFP at the time of publication.
"Terrorist groups and content related to these groups have no place on TikTok, and we take an uncompromising stance against enabling violent extremism on or off our platform," a spokesperson for the company told AFP in an emailed statement.
Among the 19 accounts reviewed by AFP were men dressed as clerics, their faces revealed to the camera even as they called for violence against the government and teamed up with accounts that showed off weapons hauls.
Accounts also post old footage of the original Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, and those of Isah Garo Assalafy, who was banned from preaching in public places in Niger state for using violent rhetoric against democracy and Western civilisation.
These accounts frequently go live, interacting with followers, answering questions and receiving digital gifts that can be converted into cash.
Nigeria's jihadist conflict, which over the years has expanded to include a rival Islamic State group, has killed more than 40,000 and displaced some two million people in Africa's most populous country.
Saddiku Muhammad, a former jihadist who has since defected, told AFP that armed groups are turning to TikTok in part because security forces cracked down on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
They also know TikTok is popular with young people.
"Jihadists realised that to capture the minds of young people, they need to speak to them in the language they understand -- instead of the traditional didactic and demagogic styles that are boring and unattractive to them," Muhammad said.
"From all indications, it is paying off. They are reaching out to young potential recruits."
Analysts told AFP that the use of TikTok by members of armed groups is a direct challenge to the government.
Malik Samuel, a security analyst at Abuja-based think tank Good Governance Africa, said it is a common Boko Haram tactic to use the group's young members to spread propaganda.
"I believe showing their faces is strategic -- to show that they aren't afraid and to let their target know that they are engaging with real people," Samuel said.
Islamic State West Africa Province, however, still appears to follow a more polished, top-down communication strategy than the apparent Boko Haram jihadists posting on TikTok, he said.
TikTok said it has partnered with UN-backed Tech Against Terrorism to improve the detection and removal of violent extremist content.
"Our community guidelines clearly state that we do not allow the presence of violent and hateful organisations or individuals on our platform," it said.
"We will always take action on content found to violate these policies."
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Israeli strikes kill at least 20 people in Gaza as Trump wraps up his Middle East visit
GAZA: Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Friday morning, as U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East visit.
An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where they were brought. Survivors said many people were still under the rubble.
The widespread attacks across northern Gaza come as Trump finishes his visit to Gulf states but not Israel.
There had been widespread hope that Trump’s regional visit could usher in a ceasefire deal or renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. An Israeli blockade of the territory is now in its third month.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.
'Want change': in Spain, far right finds support with Romanians far from home
COSLADA: Romania's far-right presidential candidate George Simion has found strong support in a faraway place as he heads for a tense run-off election Sunday: Coslada, a shabby dormitory town outside Madrid with a large Romanian community.
The Spanish town of 80,000 people -- more than 20 percent of them Romanian -- shows the backing Simion has gotten from compatriots abroad, who are poised to help the 38-year-old win against his pro-European rival, Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest.
At a cafe terrace near Coslada's so-called "Romanians' Square" -- once a meeting place for day labourers looking to be hired by contractors -- several immigrants from the Eastern European country said they had voted for Simion in the first round on May 4.
Simion, a fan of US President Donald Trump and head of the nationalist AUR party, stormed to first place in that vote with his anti-establishment message, taking 40.9 percent.
His margin of victory among the diaspora was even wider: he scored the backing of more than 60 percent of Romanians abroad.
In Spain, he won 74 percent of the vote.
"I want change. And so does everyone back home," said Mioara Mohora as she wrapped salami slices for a customer at the "Economic Market Discount" mini-mart, which was stacked with Romanian products such as pickled vegetables and beer.
Mohora, who is in her 40s and has lived in Spain for eight years, said she decided to cast her absentee ballot for Simion after Romania's constitutional court cancelled the country's initial presidential election last year over claims of Russian interference.
The decision, which came after dark-horse far-right candidate Calin Georgescu unexpectedly topped the first round in November, sparked sometimes violent demonstrations.
Georgescu has been barred from running again.
"It was a protest vote," Mohora said of her backing for Simion.
"They took away our right to vote for the person we actually wanted."
As she weighed minced meat at a nearby Romanian butcher shop, Mihaela Ionescu, 48, said Romanian authorities had "overturned the people's will" with the cancellation of the elections.
Ionescu, who has lived in Spain for two decades, said she did not vote last year or earlier this month, and has no plans to cast a ballot this weekend.
"Romanians are desperate. They are looking for a hero," she said when asked about Simion.
Romania's economy has rallied significantly since the collapse of communism in 1989, but the nation of around 19 million people still grapples with widespread corruption and lower living standards compared to wealthier western and northern European countries.
This has led many Romanians to move abroad. Some 600,000 of them live in Spain, making them one of the largest foreign communities in the country.
Coslada is home to around 17,500 Romanians. Local buses advertise flights to Bucharest, and many shop signs feature both Spanish and Romanian.
The Romanian diaspora is broadly split into two groups, according to the president of the Federation of Romanian Associations in Europe, Daniel Tecu.
"There are those who want to remain anchored in the European Union, who have witnessed Romania's development within the EU and want nothing more to do with Russia," he said.
Simion won votes mainly from the other group: people who are disappointed with the current political class and are "tired of corruption, angry, who don't return to Romania because it's not the country they want", he added.
Florin Padurariu, the owner of Botosani, a Romanian restaurant facing Coslada's train station -- which Simion visited during a tour of Europe ahead of the election -- said "the diaspora used to vote for pro-Europeans, but that's over now".
"I have always voted, but I have always been disappointed," added Padurariu, 55, who said he remained pro-EU and voted for Dan in the first round.
"After 20 years here, you still haven't learned anything? Europe allows you to support your mother, your father and your children, thanks to the money you earn here," he said.
Russia deliberately hit journalists’ hotels in Ukraine: NGOs
- The hotels hit were mostly located near the front lines, the organizations said
- At least 15 of the strikes were carried out with high-precision Iskander 9K720 missiles
PARIS: Russia has deliberately targeted hotels used by journalists covering its war on Ukraine, the NGOs Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Truth Hounds said on Friday, calling the strikes “war crimes.”
At least 31 Russian strikes hit 25 hotels from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 to mid-March 2025, the two organizations said in a report.
One attack in August 2024 in the eastern city of Kramatorsk killed a safety adviser working with international news agency Reuters, Ryan Evans.
The hotels hit were mostly located near the front lines, the organizations said.
Just one was being used for military purposes.
“The others housed civilians, including journalists,” said RSF and Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian organization founded to document war crimes in the country.
“In total, 25 journalists and media professionals have found themselves under these hotel bombings, and at least seven have been injured,” they said.
At least 15 of the strikes were carried out with high-precision Iskander 9K720 missiles, they said, condemning “methodical and coordinated targeting.”
“The Russian strikes against hotels hosting journalists in Ukraine are neither accidental nor random,” Pauline Maufrais, RSF regional officer for Ukraine, said in a statement.
“These attacks are part of a larger strategy to sow terror and seek to reduce coverage of the war. By targeting civilian infrastructure, they violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.”
RSF says 13 journalists have been killed covering Russia’s invasion, 12 of them on Ukrainian territory.
That includes AFP video journalist Arman Soldin, who was killed in a rocket attack near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakmut on May 9, 2023. He was 32.
Taiwan meets with US for tariff talks in South Korea
TAIPEI: The main Taiwan and U.S. trade representatives met in South Korea for trade negotiations, yielding optimism that further talks would lead to reduced U.S. tariffs on Taiwan exports, the island's Vice-Premier Cheng Li-chiun said on Friday.
At a news conference marking Premier Cho Jung-tai's first year in office, Cheng said chief Taiwan negotiator Jenni Yang reported "good bilateral talks" in which both sides shared expectations of future Taiwan-U.S. economic cooperation and continued talks ahead.
The Taiwan government confirmed in a statement that Yang met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's trade meeting on Jeju Island.
"Taiwan is confident it can reach trade balance by increasing purchases from the U.S.," Cheng said, adding that the U.S. is now the top overseas investment destination for Taiwan.
Taiwan was facing U.S. import tariffs of 32% on its products under U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff policies, before Trump paused the plan last month for 90 days.
Taiwan has since begun tariff talks with Washington, promising to purchase more U.S. goods and invest more in America to achieve more balanced trade.
