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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018769

Sabine Coll Boghici, 48, was arrested on Wednesday on allegations she was part of a bizarre scheme to defraud her 82-year-old mother, Genevieve Boghici, the wife of the late art collector Jean Boghici, out of money, artwork, and jewellery totalling some 724 million reais ($142.42 million).

Her arrest has exposed a disturbing web of fraud that police say lasted years and involved alleged psychics to swindle artwork by some of Brazil’s most emblematic painters. Four other people were also arrested, and two others, Diana Rosa Aparecida Stanesco Vuletic and Slavko Vuletic, are on the run.

The scam began in 2020 when Genevieve was approached by a supposed psychic with prophecies of her daughter’s imminent death.

The victim was then taken to several more psychics who police say used personal information provided by her daughter to scam her distraught mother into transferring money to pay for “spiritual treatment.”

In the months that followed, police allege the suspects physically threatened Genevieve and that she was kept at home for months by her daughter.

Sabine and an accomplice posing as a psychic “began to take the artwork from the (mother’s) house, claiming that the painting was cursed with something negative, with negative energy that needed to be prayed over,” said Rio de Janeiro police officer Gilberto Ribeiro.

After almost a year of being mistreated by Sabine and her accomplices, the victim decided to go to the police.

Police say 16 paintings were stolen, including works by renowned Brazilian artists like Cicero Dias, Rubens Gerchman and Alberto Guignard.

Three pieces from iconic modernist painter Tarsila do Amaral – O Sono, Sol Poente and Pont Neuf – were also stolen, which together police appraised at a value of 700 million reais ($137.69 million).

Amaral’s Sol Poente was among 11 paintings recovered Wednesday in a Rio de Janeiro police raid on one of the psychic’s homes.

Authorities have also recovered three paintings in Sao Paulo. Two were sold to a museum in Buenos Aires but have not yet been recovered.

Police say seven people are suspected of involvement in the years-long crime, facing charges of embezzlement, robbery, extortion, false imprisonment and criminal association.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018768

The night economy across China is seeing a resurgence as epidemic prevention control measures ease and people venture out to enjoy warm summer evenings. Data from iiMedia Research shows that the nighttime economy will bring in revenues of more than 40 trillion yuan by the end of the year.

According to the China Tourism Academy, more than 200 cities across the country have launched special nighttime tourism programs. Cities in east China’s Zhejiang Province are offering activities to tourists at nighttime covering food fairs, light shows, performances and exhibitions.

Shenjiamen seafood night stall is a landmark of Zhoushan City’s tourism industry. At night, endless streams of customers flood the stalls to enjoy fresh seafood delicacies.

“With these two stalls, our customers have already taken more than 10 tables, which is better than we expected. I guess the customers for tomorrow will be just as many as today,” said a vendor at Shenjiamen seafood night stall.

In addition to traditional night fairs and stalls, new night businesses are also emerging.

In Fuyang District of Hangzhou City, with hanging signs and decorated with lamps and paintings, a car boot sale has started, where young people can start their own business selling handicrafts or other items from the boots of their cars.

In Shaoxing City’s Shengzhou County, elaborate light shows are attracting more tourists, In the show Fireflies Under the Moon, the lighting effects, together with the real fireflies in the performance, create a unique and fascinating night scene.

In Mantangli Natural Village of Huzhou City’s Anji County, lighting, camping, barbecue, hot-air balloons, and other activities make the village come to life under the stars.

“It is no problem if the weather permits. The total revenue is about more than one million yuan,” said Zhu Shaojie, project manager of Anji’s Light of Land Art Commune.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018765

Volunteers have started filling up nearly 8,000 backpacks with scissors, pencils, glue sticks and other school essentials to help prepare New York City public school students for the upcoming school year.

About 160 of them will be working for the next two days at the Salvation Army’s Harlem Community Center, starting on Wednesday.

“Well, as a mom and a New Yorker, I think that doing my part is important,” said Keyonie Hart, a volunteer who also runs her own non-profit. “We got hit pretty hard with the pandemic, and I think that if you have the time, you should come out and help out. I was off today, and I saw it on Instagram, and I was like, ‘I’m signing up right away.'”

TK Lee came with a team of coworkers from PricewaterhouseCoopers to help.

“I think it’s important to come together in this time of a trial and the challenging time for everyone,” said TK Lee. “And to show everyone that they’re not alone, and we can show them love and humanity, and that this world is still… it’s a good place to live.”

The initiative came from a nonprofit New York Cares that teamed up with the Salvation Army Greater New York Division.

The backpacks will be delivered to 30 schools and community partners in need across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, according to Sapreet K. Saluja, executive director at nonprofit New York Cares.

“We’re focused on communities that have been exponentially impacted by food insecurity, economic challenges, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Saluja. “There’ll be over 8,000 students who receive these backpacks full of these important supplies that they’ll need to start off the school year right.”

The initiative comes as the National Retail Federation estimates that parents will spend about $864 on average for clothes, shoes, school supplies and electronics for their K-through-12 students, totalling around $37 billion in 2022, on par with last year’s record number.

Many parents can’t afford such an expense and are cutting back on supplies, according to Katherine Cullen, senior director at the National Retail Federation.

“We know that lower-income families, in particular, maybe hit a little bit harder by higher prices and inflation,” said Cullen. “There are a lot of programs out there that families can look to, whether that’s donating school supplies, which can ease the burden of those items for families, buying secondhand for your student, or participating in things like clothing swaps or supply swaps with other families in the neighbourhood. All of those tactics can certainly help relieve some of the pressure put on those who are being hit the hardest right now.”

The New York Cares backpack event at the Salvation Army’s Harlem Community Center starts New York Cares’ third annual Stand with Students campaign, a donation-supported initiative that includes academic tutoring, school revitalization projects, and book distributions in areas affected by food insecurity and financial hardship, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the in neighbourhoods such as Central Queens, East Brooklyn, and the South Bronx.

This year’s campaign goal is $700,000.

New York Cares manages hundreds of year-round projects in elementary schools, assisting students with homework, math, reading and fitness goals.

In 2021, New York Cares served 45,000 children through in-person and virtual programs, distributed 10,000 coats to NYC Community Schools and 15,000 backpacks to students.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018763

The midwestern part of the United States of America has a severe problem with invasive carp threatening the ecosystem. The state of Illinois hopes to have the answer that’ll solve this decades-old issue; a rebranding.

“We’ve launched a new name, “copi”, to help people consume this delicious fish and help us do our work in keeping them out of the waterways,” said Kevin Irons, assistant chief of fisheries for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, or DNR.

Irons and the Illinois DNR want everyone to start calling the fish formerly known as Asian carp, “copi”, in hopes it will entice more Americans to eat the abundant fish.

“Names mean something,” said Irons. “Back in the 70s, there was a fish called “slimehead”, under-utilized, but when you go to a restaurant and get orange ruffi, everybody’s like, ‘oh, it’s awesome.’ So, a name means something and it’s the same fish. So, copi’s going to help us transition from something that’s maybe negatively perceived and give it a positive space.”

The state of Illinois even launched a new website, choosecopi.com, where facts, nutritional information and recipes for the fish are provided.

“Anything you do with ground meat you can do with copi,” said Dirk Fucik, owner of Dirk’s Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago, Illinois. “So, burgers are most popular for us here, but we bolognese, meatballs, we’ve done sausage, tacos, all that kind of stuff. Everything we’ve made people like.”

Fucik says he’s been selling Asian carp, or copi, in his store since 2010.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em,” said Fucik. “There’s like, 20 million pounds of copi in Illinois rivers. It’s one of the reasons the name is copious, there are copious amounts of copi out there — so we should all eat it.”

Since 2004, over $600 million in state and federal funds have been fed into the fixing invasive carp issue.

“This fish is delicious, it compares well with any fish we currently consume,” said Irons. “Actually, silver carp are top water feeders, they eat plankton. They have the best micronutrients out there.”

Irons says the state of Illinois also intends to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to formally change the name and is planning to register “copi” as a trademark.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018761

The Czech Republic’s pipeline company MERO said on Wednesday it had sufficient reserves of oil crude for the next weeks in case of no further fuel coming into the country.

Speaking at Mero’s central oil tank farm in Nelahozeves, the company’s executive technical director Zdenek Dudr said about one million tonnes of oil was stored in steel tanks.

The farm is used for the storage of strategic emergency oil reserves, as well as the short-term intermediate storage for oil transported by the Druzhba and IKL oil pipelines.

On Tuesday, Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft said pipeline flows had been suspended to parts of central Europe because Western sanctions prevented the payment of transit fees from Moscow to Ukraine.

Hungarian group MOL said on Wednesday oil was again flowing through the southern branch of the Druzhba, or Friendship, pipeline, that it had reached Slovakia and should reach Hungary on Thursday. Oil flows, however, are not expected to resume to the Czech Republic.

“We still don’t have any signal that the flow will be renewed,” Dudr said.

The Druzhba suspension drove up oil prices, which have already surged along with those for other forms of energy, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised concerns of shortages, especially in Europe, which largely depends on Russian fuel.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters