Italian police arrest long-sought Mafia boss


Italian authorities on Monday arrested Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro at a private clinic in Sicily. Denaro, Italy's most wanted fugitive, had been on the run for 30 years, The Washington Post reports.
The arrest marked a "landmark moment" in Italy's decades-long fight against organized crime, the Post said. "A great victory for the state," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni added in a statement. Denaro has been on Italy's most wanted list for three decades. He has been convicted in absentia for dozens of murders and faces multiple life sentences. Denaro is also allegedly the leader of the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate.
Pasquale Angelosanto, commander of Italy's Carabinieri police, said officers captured Denaro as he sought treatment for an unspecified illness at a Palermo clinic.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Israeli NGOs have started referring to Gaza as a 'genocide' — will it matter?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION For the first time since fighting began in 2023, two Israeli rights groups have described their country's actions in the Gaza Strip as 'genocide' as famine threatens the blockaded Palestinian territory
-
6 classic homes built in the 1950s
Feature Featuring a firehouse-turned-home in Indiana and an award-winning house in Maryland
-
Why is the Democratic Party's favorability rating so low?
Talking Points Voters do not like Republican policies. They like Democrats even less.
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murders
speed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bail
Speed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack