Australia has reversed a decision made four years ago to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Canberra’s decision in 2018 had undermined peace and put Australia out of step with other nations, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. She stressed that Australia remained a “steadfast friend” to Israel. Its embassy will stay in Tel Aviv. The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contested issues between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: “In light of the way in which this decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to an incorrect report in the media, we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally. “Jerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel and nothing will ever change that.”

A court in New York has sentenced an infamous Colombian paramilitary leader and drug kingpin to 35 years in jail. Daniel Rendón Herrera, better known as Don Mario, led the right-wing paramilitary group United Self-Defence Forces (AUC). The group, originally formed to combat left-wing guerrillas, engaged in kidnappings, killings, and extortion. Don Mario, 57, was captured in a rural hideaway in 2009. At the time, he was the most wanted kingpin in Colombia. He was extradited to the United States in 2018 and last year pleaded guilty to trafficking more than 80 tonnes of cocaine to the US. Daniel Rendón Herrera and his brother Freddy, known as El Alemán (The German) for his love of imposing strict discipline on his men, were key players in the AUC. As part of that paramilitary group, they led thousands of fighters who attacked and killed anyone they deemed a sympathiser of Colombia’s left-wing rebel groups. In order to finance itself, the AUC imposed taxes on cocaine smuggled through territories it controlled and also engaged in drug trafficking. AUC members were behind some of Colombia’s most gruesome massacres. Tens of thousands of Colombians were displaced by the group’s violence. Many of the group’s members, including Freddy Rendón Herrera, demobilised under a 2003 peace deal. But unlike his brother, Don Mario refused to lay down arms and instead co-founded the Gulf Clan criminal gang. Under his leadership, the Gulf Clan became the most feared gang in Colombia, trafficking tonnes of cocaine to the US and killing anyone who stood in its way.(BBC)…[+]

Parisians have been stunned by the shocking murder of a 12-year-old schoolgirl whose body was found on Friday in a container in the courtyard of her apartment building. The girl, named Lola, had spent the day normally at school. Her father raised the alert when she failed to return home in the afternoon. Later in the evening, a transparent plastic packing box containing her body was found at the foot of the building in the 19th arrondissement. Lola’s father is employed as a concierge in the residential block. Her body was found squashed inside the container, hidden by a covering of material. Her hands and feet were tied and she was reported to have a gash on her neck, though the autopsy this weekend found she had died of asphyxiation. Two Post-it notes were also on her feet, one saying “0” and the other “1”.(BBC)…[+]