Person killed after getting sucked into plane engine at Italian airport
The Bergamo Milan airport authority said all flights were suspended at the Bergamo-Orio al Serio airport from 10.20am to noon local time 'due to a problem that occurred on the taxiway.' An investigation was underway.
Video footage posted on Corriere della Sera's website showed a body bag on the tarmac next to the aircraft, with fire crews nearby.
Car of the victim being towed away (Source: Reuters)
The newspaper, citing unnamed airport officials, said someone ran onto the tarmac as a plane was taking off, got sucked into the engine and died.
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The plane, an Airbus A319 of the Volotea airline, was flying from Orio to Asturias, Spain.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Australian doctor speaks about first meeting with Erin Patterson, why Donald Trump's swearing about Vladimir Putin, and how science could bring the moa back. (Source: 1News)
LaPresse news agency, quoting unnamed investigators, said suicide was suspected.
The airport's fire station, first aid station and border police refused to comment on the incident.
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RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Trump just made a problematic Ghislaine Maxwell situation look even worse
By Aaron Blake , CNN Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo: AFP / US District Court for the southern district of New York Analysis : Interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell is the Trump administration's first big move to allay concerns about its hugely unpopular handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday (US time) wrapped up two days of interviews with Epstein's convicted associate . But there were already all kinds of reasons to be sceptical of this move and what it could produce, given the motivations of the two sides involved. And President Donald Trump epitomised all of them in a major way on Friday. While taking questions on his way to Scotland, Trump repeatedly held open the possibility of pardoning Maxwell for her crimes. "Well, I don't want to talk about that," Trump said initially. When pressed, he said, "It's something I haven't thought about," while conspicuously adding, "I'm allowed to do it." US President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One upon his arrival at Prestwick Airport, south of Glasgow on July 25, 2025, on the first day of his UK visit. Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski This wouldn't be the first time Trump has appeared to dangle a pardon over someone providing evidence that could impact him personally and politically. (In this case, he has demonstrated past personal ties to Epstein, and his administration is scrambling to clean up its botched handling of the Epstein files after previously promising to release them.) A similar situation played out during the Russia investigation, when Trump repeatedly left open the possibility of pardoning key witnesses like Paul Manafort , Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen. Critics alleged this amounted to obstruction of justice. Special counsel Robert Mueller's report didn't draw conclusions on possible obstruction, but it did cite Trump's pardon comments as "evidence" that Trump's actions "had the potential to influence Manafort's decision whether to cooperate with the government". Manafort indeed wound up being a decidedly uncooperative witness, with a bipartisan Senate report saying his repeated lies hamstrung its own investigation. And Trump later pardoned him in a move that could certainly be understood as a reward for his lack of cooperation. That bit of history looms large here, given the parallels. But Trump is really just exacerbating an already dubious situation. There were already plenty of reasons to be sceptical of this move to interview Maxwell, and nobody involved seems particularly bothered to address those problems or even combat the perception of them. Ghislaine Maxwell pictured in September 2013 in New York City. Photo: AFP / Getty Images The first reason is the state of play in Maxwell's criminal case. It might seem far-fetched that Trump would ever pardon a convicted child sex-trafficker like Maxwell (even though he did "wish her well" after she was charged). But there are other things his administration could do to help her. Among them would be taking actions in her ongoing appeal of her 2021 conviction. The Trump Justice Department has already taken highly suspect actions in another criminal case involving someone Trump wanted something politically from: New York mayor Eric Adams. The administration earlier this year moved to dismiss the charges against Adams while suggestively citing its desire for the New York Democrat to assist in its crackdown on illegal immigration. Multiple prosecutors resigned in protest, with one claiming it was a "quid pro quo" in her resignation letter. And the judge in the case appeared to sympathise. "Everything here smacks of a bargain: Dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions," the judge said. Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, has also been remarkably solicitous of Trump and the administration. Last week he called Trump the "ultimate dealmaker" while claiming that the Justice Department had violated a deal with Maxwell. This week, he praised the Trump administration's "commitment to uncovering the truth in this case" and said he and Maxwell were "grateful that the government is trying to uncover the truth". Markus on Friday also suggested an openness to a pardon. "The president this morning said he had the power to do so," Markus said, "and we hope he exercises that power in a right and just way." Indeed, also relevant here are the lawyers involved. Critics have cried foul that the DOJ official interviewing Maxwell was Blanche, rather than a non-political prosecutor who has been involved in the case who would have much more expertise. Not only is Blanche a top political appointee of Trump's; he's also his formal personal lawyer. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Photo: AFP/ Getty - Kevin Dietsch "The conflict of interest is glaring," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on Thursday on X. "It stinks of high corruption." What's more, Blanche appeared on a podcast last year with Markus and labelled him a "friend." "You are by far the best out there," Blanche said. But one of the biggest reasons to be sceptical is that Maxwell is someone the Trump Justice Department - the first one, at least - labelled a brazen liar. Back in 2020, the DOJ charged Maxwell with two counts of perjury - on top of the more serious charges she faced - while citing a 2016 civil deposition she gave. In the deposition, Maxwell claimed no knowledge of Epstein's "scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages", despite later being convicted of helping in the effort. She also claimed she didn't know about Epstein possessing sex toys, which was contradicted by witnesses at her trial. Maxwell's lawyers at the time said "the questions asked were confusing, ambiguous, and improperly formed". She was never actually tried for perjury. After her conviction on the more serious charges, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the perjury charges if her conviction stood, citing a desire to avoid further emotional trauma for the victims. But the Trump Justice Department in 2020 still called her credibility into question. In a 2020 filing, it said Maxwell's lies "should give the Court serious pause" about trusting her. It also said Maxwell's "willingness to brazenly lie under oath about her conduct … strongly suggests her true motive has been and remains to avoid being held accountable for her crimes". All of that would seem relevant to today, especially given Trump's demonstrated willingness to wield his power to help people who help him - whether using pardons or anything else. Maxwell, who has years left in her 20-year prison sentence, clearly has motivation to say things Trump wants. That doesn't mean the interviews of Maxwell couldn't glean something important. Even witnesses with credibility problems can provide important information, if it's corroborated with other evidence. But right now, Trump and Co aren't trying very hard to make this situation look kosher. And Trump's pardon comments take that to another level. -CNN
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Latest from the U.S
crime world 27 minutes ago A senior justice department official in the US has met with Jeffrey Esptein's long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. She's in prison for sex-trafficking for the disgraced financier. It came as reports emerged this week that US President Donald Trump's name appears in the Epstein Files.
RNZ News
2 days ago
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Top US Justice official meets with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for 2nd day
By Selim Saheb Ettaba , Reuters Ghislaine Maxwell at an event in New York in September 2013. Photo: AFP / Getty Images The US Justice Department's deputy chief met on Friday (US time) for a second day with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose infamous case has dragged President Donald Trump into a political firestorm. Todd Blanche, the DOJ number two who is also Trump's former personal attorney, has declined for now to say what he is discussing with Maxwell in their Tallahassee, Florida meetings. Maxwell's lawyer David Markus has similarly declined to give details on the meetings' content, but said after a first hours-long session on Thursday that his client had answered every question. Trump is looking to quickly move past the saga, which has seen him on a rare unsure footing over claims his administration mishandled a review of the notorious case. On Friday, Trump again sought to put distance between himself and Epstein , the disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. "I have nothing to do with the guy," Trump, whose past friendship with Epstein has received much media attention this week, told reporters ahead of a visit to Scotland. He urged journalists to rather "focus" on Democratic Party figures like former president Bill Clinton and his treasury secretary, former Harvard president Larry Summers, whom the president claimed were "really close friends" of Epstein. Asked whether he was considering a pardon or commutation of Maxwell's 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, Trump said it was something "I haven't thought about" - but stressed he had the power to do so. Epstein's death in his New York prison cell was ruled a suicide, but it fuelled conspiracy theories that he was murdered to stop him testifying against high-profile accomplices. Trump, who had promised his base revelations about the case, has infuriated some of his supporters after his administration announced in early July that it had not discovered any new elements warranting the release of additional documents. The Department of Justice and the FBI said there was no proof that there was a "list" of Epstein's clients, while affirming that he died by suicide. Blanche and his team entered the Tallahassee courthouse where they were meeting Maxwell through a back door, US media reported. Maxwell's lawyer Markus spoke briefly to journalists ahead of his client's renewed questioning by Blanche. "Ghislaine has been treated unfairly for over five years now," he said, describing Maxwell as a "scapegoat." "Everything she says can be corroborated and she's telling the truth. She's got no reason to lie at this point and she's going to keep telling the truth," he added, declining to give any details about the questions being put to Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted in 2022 for grooming underage girls between 1994 and 2004 so that Epstein could sexually exploit them. "The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time," Blanche wrote on X Thursday. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the president's name was among hundreds found during a DOJ review of the so-called "Epstein files," though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing. Trump filed a US$10 billion (NZ$16.6b) defamation suit against the Journal last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson cut short the legislative session this week, sending lawmakers home on summer recess a day early to avoid potentially combustible debate - particularly among Trump's Republicans - on the release of the files. -AFP
