Greek police are conducting an investigation into the death of an Australian model onboard a superyacht off the Ionian island of Kefalonia. Three days after the body of Sinead McNamara was discovered at the back of the luxury vessel, local police said they had broadened an inquiry into her death.

“The yacht left our waters last night but we are still gathering evidence,” Kefalonia’s police port official, Stamatis Limneos, told the Guardian. “The inquiry is ongoing.”

Local media reported that the 20-year-old had killed herself, with news outlets saying she was found in a comatose state in a cabin. The model, originally from Port Macquarie, had been employed as a crew member on the 93.25-metre Mayan Queen IV, owned by the Mexican mining magnate Alberto Baillères.The billionaire businessman is believed to have left the yacht last Tuesday and only crew members were onboard at the time of McNamara’s death. A father of seven, Baillères is listed as the world’s 143rd wealthiest individual with a net worth of $9.6bn (£8.26bn), according to Forbes magazine.(theguardian)…[+]

The Italian far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini will meet former British prime minister Tony Blair in Rome to discuss controversial plans to extend a gas pipeline that will run from Azerbaijan to Puglia in Southern Italy.

Blair has worked as a consultant on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline since 2014, which is the pet project of Azerbaijan’s strongman president, Ilham Aliyev. Blair’s office did not offer any direct comment on the reason for the meeting, but Salvini said he was willing to hear from Blair on the pipeline, and other issues.

Blair’s strong views on the dangers of populism make him an unlikely choice to persuade Salvini of the value of the pipeline. Blair has toned down his commercial lobbying since heading up his new Institute for Global Change, a movement dedicated to combatting populism and its causes. He said in a recent speech that the simplistic solutions provided by rampant nationalism of the kind advocated by Salvini’s League could lead to a return to 1930s fascism. The governing Italian coalition between the Five Star Movement (M5S) and Salvini’s League is divided on the gas pipeline issue. In July, Salvini said he would support the pipeline project claiming it would help to drive down gas prices in Italy, where there was little competition in the energy market. “The south of Italy needs infrastructure,’’ he said, “we need to move forward.’’(theguardian)…[+]

Nepal has ordered a review of the way summit helicopter rescues are conducted after uncovering a multimillion-dollar scam in which climbers were pressured, sometimes by having their food spiked, to take costly flights down mountains.

Insurance industry figures said the scam, which had been operating for more than five years, had caused at least one unnecessary death and involved dozens of helicopter companies, tour operators, hotels and hospitals. Thousands of climbers had been forced to abandon their ascents at the first sign of illness and take expensive helicopter rides to private hospitals, according to an investigation by the Nepalese government.

Their bills were allegedly charged to insurance companies, with kickbacks given to the trekking guides, hotels and sometimes the climbers themselves. One investigation on behalf of insurers estimated there had been more than 1,600 helicopter rescues so far this year, of which about 35% had been fraudulent, costing the companies more than $4m (£3.1m). Several international insurers warned that they would pull out of Nepal by 1 September if the government did not act.(theguardian)…[+]