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Italy

Social Security Scam: "Blind" Italian Woman Caught Driving

IL MATTINO (Italy)

Worldcrunch

ROME - With some quick thinking, she might have found a good response when the Carabinieri officers pulled her over.

Here's my seeing-eye dog's license...

It's a Google expand=1] car...

Oh, am I in the car? I thought this was the elevator...

Apparently the 66-year-old woman from the central Italian town of Ariccia wasn't quite as quick on her feet as she'd been sly with the state. Busted! Authorities caught it all on videotape (see below): the woman who'd been claiming blindness since 2005 in order to collect a monthly 800-euro check was merrily driving her car around town, the daily Il Mattino reports.

It's certainly not the first time someone in Italy thought that faking a disability was a short cut to easy money. Legendary Italian comic actor Roberto Benigni puts on his best moves in the film Johnny Stecchino when an insurance company auditor comes to check on his unusual (invented) malady.

In real life, it's no joke. Police, who had first videotaped her crossing the street alone and signing paperwork, estimate that the woman had accumulated some 65,000 euros over the years. She was arrested on fraud charges.

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FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

Israel's Choice Right Now: Halt "Collective Punishment" Or Lose U.S. Support

As fighting has resumed and intensified in the southern area of the Palestinian territory, more and more criticism builds from around the world. How much longer can Israel fight this war for if it loses the support of even its most steadfast allies?

Photograph of Palestinians carry an injured man following the Israeli bombing on Khan Yunis. They are surrounded by people and photographers.

December 1, 2023, Khan Yunis, Gaza: Palestinians carry an injured man following the Israeli bombing on Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza

Saher Alghorra/ZUMA
Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — Can Israel wage its war in Gaza without caring about the opinion of its allies?

Since fighting resumed in the Palestinian territory on Friday, serious disagreements have emerged with the United States and, to a lesser extent, with France. It is the disagreements with the U.S. that carry significant consequences: Washington plays a vital role in this conflict by supplying weapons and deploying a considerable military apparatus to deter the regional expansion of the confrontation.

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This weekend, both Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Vice President Kamala Harris expressed serious reservations about how Israel is conducting its operations. The issue at hand is the massive aerial strikes on densely populated areas, resulting in a considerable number of civilian casualties.

These criticisms came after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel last week on the eve of the resumption of hostilities, urging Benjamin Netanyahu to change to a strategy that better protects civilians. Israel chose not to heed this advice, resulting in the current diplomatic tensions.

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