ROME — The mafia has moved in on one of Italy’s few growth industries: caring for migrants.

Italian authorities on Monday arrested 68 people, including a priest and the head of the Catholic volunteer group “Mercy,” and accused them of being in cahoots with a mafia clan that allegedly skimmed millions in public funds destined for asylum-seekers at a welcome center in southern Italy.

Announcing the arrests, Carabinieri Gen. Giuseppe Governale summarized the scam: “The welcome center and ‘Mercy’ were the ATMs of the mafia.”

Investigators said the Arena clan of the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta mob had secured a lock on servicing the Isola di Capo Rizzuto migrant center for the past decade, thanks to its links to “Mercy” and its regional head, Leonardo Sacco.

Sacco is a well-connected Italian, and his arrest took on broader implications given the number of politicians linked to him. Even Pope Francis has been photographed with him.

The Calabrian holding center is one of Italy’s largest. “Mercy” is a national organization that runs migrant centers and provides other volunteer services around the country.

Investigators said “Mercy” subcontracted catering services to companies run by the Arena clan, which allegedly skimmed some $39.5 million in public funds destined for migrant care at the center between 2006-2015.

Part of the scam involved putting in for more meals than were actually provided, and then pocketing the money, said Catanzaro prosecutor Nicola Gratteri.

Police said the Rev. Edoardo Scordio, who is affiliated with “Mercy,” was the “organizer of a true system of exploitation of public funds destined for the migrant emergency.”

Busy day for French president: Names PM, meets with Merkel

BERLIN — French President Emmanuel Macron hit the ground running Monday on his first full day in office by naming a prime minister from the center-right and then flying to Germany, where he and Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work together to undertake European reforms.

At home, Macron started to shape his government by appointing relatively little-known lawmaker Edouard Philippe, 46, as his prime minister. That made good on a promise to repopulate French politics with new faces and reinforced the generational shift under Macron, who at 39 is France's youngest president.

Germany and France have traditionally been the motor of European integration, but the relationship has become increasingly lopsided in recent years as France struggled economically.

Okla. officer says she recalled training as she shot man

TULSA, Okla. — A white Oklahoma police officer charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man testified Monday that a training video ran through her mind as she pulled the trigger.

Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby, 43, shot and killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher when, she testified, she thought he reached into his SUV where it had stalled.

“I'm told in my training that you don't let them pull their arm back out; they can pull out guns and kill you,” Shelby said under questioning by her attorneys, according to the Tulsa World.

Crutcher didn't have a gun on him or in his vehicle, and his family says the window was closed. Police video shows Crutcher walking away from Shelby with hands above his head.

Speaker Ryan urges Georgia Republicans to resist upset bid

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday implored Georgia voters to vote Republican in next month's special election, linking the Democratic candidate in the surprisingly competitive House race to the California liberal who leads the rival party in the House.

“The left and Nancy Pelosi are trying to hit you with an avalanche of television,” Ryan said, to drum up support “for a guy who does not share your values.”

Ryan delivered the message alongside Republican Karen Handel. Ryan's visit came as polls show a tight race in Georgia's 6th Congressional District, where Jon Ossoff has become a national face for opposition to President Donald Trump.

A Republican has held the Georgia seat since 1979.

Flint kids to get food aid to limit lead exposure

FLINT, Mich. — Thousands of children in Flint are set to receive additional money for nutritional foods that can limit the effects of lead exposure, though families who recently left the Michigan city because of the lead-tainted water crisis won't be eligible.

About $7 million in aid is going to about 15,000 children who qualify for food assistance, meaning qualifying families will receive a one-time payment of $420 per child to be used throughout the year. The funding is in addition to some funding that families got in March, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The city switched to untreated Flint River water as its drinking-water source in a money-saving effort in 2014, while under state management. But the move resulted in lead being leached from pipes into the water supply. Flint returned to Detroit's water system in 2015.

Israel-U.S. spat erupts ahead of Trump’s visit to region

JERUSALEM — The Israeli prime minister's office says it is seeking clarifications from President Donald Trump after an American official said the Western Wall is part of the West Bank.

The spat reportedly erupted during preparations for Trump's visit to the region next week. Trump is planning on visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, the holiest Jewish prayer site.

Israel's Channel 2 TV says the U.S. rebuffed a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join Trump and told him the site is part of the West Bank and not Israeli territory.

An official in Netanyahu's office expressed “astonishment” over the comment and said that Israel has contacted the Trump administration to discuss the matter.

Skydive record: A 101-year-old D-Day veteran of the British army has become the oldest person in the world to skydive.

Bryson William Verdun Hayes completed a tandem skydive from 15,000 feet with members of his extended family on Sunday at an airfield in Honiton in southwestern England.

Jet crash: A jet struck a building and crashed while attempting to land at an airport near New York City on Monday, killing two crew members and sparking a fire, authorities said. Police said no passengers were aboard the Learjet 35 when it crashed a quarter-mile from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.