PARIS (AP) — Anti-organized crime specialist investigators probing a wave of attacks on prisons and prison staff in France are looking at the possible involvement of a notorious drug cartel, the Paris prosecutor said Saturday.
The so-called DZ Mafia is suspected of being one of the main narco-trafficking networks working out of the southern French port city of Marseille, which has a long history as a hub for the drug trade and banditry associated with it.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a news conference Saturday that one of the suspected organizers of last month's prison attacks claims to have ties with the DZ Mafia. She said police investigators will examine “the real or supposed influence of the DZ Mafia” in the violence.
Several prisons were targeted by gunfire and arson, including attacks on prison workers' homes and on cars at a prison service school, in the Paris area and elsewhere, the prosecutor said.
The letters “DDPF" were graffitied on some targets, believed to stand for “défense des prisonniers français," which translates as “defense of French prisoners.”
The Paris prosecutor said 21 people detained for suspected involvement in the violence have been handed preliminary charges for attempted murder and other alleged crimes.
French authorities in recent months have stepped up policing against drug trafficking, concerned about growing cocaine use in France and violence associated with the trafficking of that and other drugs.
FILE - A view of Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV baptized 20 babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling, continuing an annual tradition that marks the end of the Christmas holiday period at the Vatican.
Later, speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pontiff offered his blessing to all infants receiving the sacrament of baptism in these days, "in particular those born in difficult conditions of health or external danger.''
In his first baptismal ceremony as pope, Leo celebrated the Lord’s gift of faith to the children, saying that it gives sense to the gift of life.
“When we know something is essential, we immediately seek it for those we love. Who among us, in fact, would leave a newborn without clothing or nourishment, waiting for them to choose when they grow up how to dress and what to eat?'' the pontiff told the families gathered in the Sistine Chapel.
“Dearest ones, if food and clothing are necessary to live, faith is more than necessary, because with God, life finds salvation,’’ he said.
The pontiff personally administered the sacrament of baptism to the infants, who are the children of Vatican employees working at the Holy See. The parents approached the baptismal font placed within a bronze base representing the Tree of Life with the babies’ godparents and any siblings. The ceremony took place without tears and minimal fussing.
The celebration marks the feast day that recalls Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan and was established in 1981 by St. John Paul II. The event is depicted on the Sistine Chapel’s north wall in a fresco by Pietro Perugino.
During the ceremony, each father was given a candle representing the Christian light that “illuminates our path.”
“I wish you to continue with joy during the year that has just begun and for all of your life, certain that the Lord will always accompany your steps.’’
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Faithful listen to Pope Leo XIV's Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The lit Christmas tree is backdropped by the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
