Police officers outside the school in Lisbon, Portugal. PHOTO: AP
LISBON (AP) – Portugal was shaken when a 12-year-old boy stabbed and injured six other children in a rare episode of violence inside a school.
Portuguese national police said that the victims were from 11 to 14 years old in the attack at the school in Azambuja near Lisbon.
One boy was seriously injured with a chest wound but his life is not in danger, Azambuja Mayor Silvino Lúcio said. The boy had been taken to a hospital in Lisbon.
The mayor said five girls suffered light wounds to their arms.
The attacker was in custody, the police said. No motive was immediately given for the attack.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro condemned the attack and wished for the quick recovery of the injured children in a message posted on social media platform X.
He called it an “isolated attack” that was extremely rare in his country.
“It was an isolated act and a strange occurrence in Portuguese society, but one that should make everyone who works in public space reflect with a sense of responsibility,” said Montenegro.
Police officers outside the school in Lisbon, Portugal. PHOTO: AP
Floodwater in the main square of Krnov, Czech Republic. PHOTO: AFP
PRAGUE (AFP) – The toll from the extreme weather unleashed by Storm Boris in central and eastern Europe rose to at least 23 people, as Czech police said yesterday they had found a fourth victim.
Since last week the storm has brought widespread flooding and torrential rain, with victims also in Austria, Poland and Romania.
Czech police spokesman Jakub Vincalek told AFP yesterday that eight people were still missing after the deluge.
The fourth Czech victim, a woman from the northeastern village of Kobyla nad Vidnavkou, had been missing since Sunday morning.
Floodwater in the main square of Krnov, Czech Republic. PHOTO: AFP
A pipeline with a giant plume of fire burns in La Porte, Texas. PHOTO: AP
AP – A pipeline fire that erupted in a suburban Houston neighbourhood in Texas, United States burned throughout a second day and into the night on Tuesday with still no definitive word on when the blaze would finally go out, when nearby residents may be able to return home or why a car drove through a fence and hit a valve before the destructive explosion.
Although the fire was getting smaller, the disruptions caused by the Monday morning explosion in a grassy corridor between a Walmart and a residential neighbourhood left some locals increasingly weary. On Tuesday, people could be seen returning to their homes to get clothes and other items before quickly leaving again.
“We literally walked out with the clothes on our backs, the pets, and just left the neighbourhood with no idea where we were going,” Kristina Reff said. “That was frustrating.”
Over 36 hours after the blast – which shot towering flames like a blowtorch above the suburbs of Deer Park and La Porte – authorities have provided few details about the circumstances leading up to the explosion. Investigators said it happened after the driver of a sport utility vehicle went through a fence near the Walmart and struck an above-ground valve. As of Tuesday evening, authorities had not still not identified the driver or said what happened to them.
Deer Park officials have said police and FBI agents found no preliminary evidence to suggest the explosion of the pipeline, which carried natural gas liquids, was a coordinated or terrorist attack. In a statement on Monday night, the city said it “appears to be an isolated incident” but officials have not provided details on how they came to that conclusion.
A pipeline with a giant plume of fire burns in La Porte, Texas. PHOTO: AP
Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, United States. PHOTO: AP
AP – Harvey Weinstein was arraigned yesterday in Manhattan on a new indictment charging him with up to three additional sex offenses, his lawyer said.
Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala said the jailed ex-movie mogul appeared in court in person to face his latest legal hurdle after he was excused from a hearing last week while recovering from emergency heart surgery.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office disclosed at the September 12 hearing last week that a grand jury had returned a new indictment charging Weinstein with previously uncharged offenses.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults: in the mid-2000s at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, now known as the Roxy Hotel, and a Lower Manhattan residential building, and, in May 2016, at a Tribeca hotel.
At the same time, Weinstein is awaiting retrial in his landmark #MeToo case after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year.
Weinstein’s retrial is scheduled to begin on November 12. Prosecutors have said they’ll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein’s lawyers oppose that, saying it should be a separate case. Aidala noted last week that because the indictment remains under seal, it’s not clear whether the new charges involve some or all of the additional allegations heard by the grand jury.
“We don’t know anything,” he said outside court last week. “We don’t know what the exact accusations are, the exact locations are, what the timing is.”
Weinstein has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, United States. PHOTO: AP
A police officer walks by the home of Ryan Routh, the man accused of an apparent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, while FBI agents conduct a search inside in Kaaawa, Hawaii. PHOTO: AP
AP – Florida law enforcement officials will launch their own criminal investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that will run parallel to the federal probe, Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday.
The governor said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder, in the state-level investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged on Monday with federal firearms offenses. “We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable,” DeSantis told reporters.
It’s not uncommon for state and federal law enforcement agencies to run simultaneous investigations into crimes, as states may be able to bring charges that are unavailable at the federal level – and vice versa.
Routh is charged at the federal level so far only with gun crimes, but additional charges are possible as Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.
Prosecutors will often quickly bring the first charges they can and then add more serious charges later as the investigation unfolds.
“We will spare no resource in this investigation,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Tuesday during an event at the Justice Department.
Markenzy Lapointe, the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, declined to comment on the state probe.
A police officer walks by the home of Ryan Routh, the man accused of an apparent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, while FBI agents conduct a search inside in Kaaawa, Hawaii. PHOTO: AP
A voter casts her ballot at a secure ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona. PHOTO: AP
PHOENIX (AP) – Nearly 100,000 voters who haven’t submitted citizenship documents might be prevented from participating in Arizona’s state in the United States (US) and local elections, a significant number for the battleground state where races have been tight.
The announcement on Tuesday of an error in state-run databases that reclassified voters comes just four days before county election officials are required to mail ballots to uniformed and overseas voters.
Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the error was resolved on Tuesday morning, but the voter status of those caught up in it hasn’t. Fontes and Stephen Richer, the Republican recorder for Maricopa County, disagree over whether the voters should have access to the full ballot or the ability to vote only in federal races. Richer filed a special action on Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to settle the question.
“It is my position that these registrants have not satisfied Arizona’s documented proof of citizenship law, and therefore can only vote a ‘FED ONLY’ ballot,” Richer wrote on the social platform X.
Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Those who haven’t but have sworn to it under the penalty of law are allowed to participate only in federal elections.
A voter casts her ballot at a secure ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona. PHOTO: AP
Residents wade through a flooded street in the town of Navotas in suburban Manila, Philippines. PHOTO: AFP
MANILA (XINHUA) – At least 20 people have died, and 14 others are missing due to the combined effects of the southwest monsoon as well as two recent tropical cyclones Ferdie and Gener, the Philippine authorities said yesterday.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it received reports that 20 people died in five regions across the country, and that the numbers are still being verified.
Since last week, some parts of the Philippines, including Palawan province, have continued to experience flooding due to foul weather.
The NDRRMC said the inclement weather affected almost 600,000 people in 12 regions across the country, and that the storms have damaged 930 houses and infrastructure.
An average of 20 typhoons lashes the Philippines every year.
The archipelago is prone to tropical cyclones which trigger heavy rains, flooding, and strong winds, resulting in casualties and destruction of crops and properties.
Residents wade through a flooded street in the town of Navotas in suburban Manila, Philippines. PHOTO: AFP
Police officers escort Mohd Hafidz Eshak at the Malaysian Sessions Court. PHOTO: BERNAMA
SEREMBAN (BERNAMA) – The chairman of a private religious study centre pleaded not guilty at the Malaysian Sessions Court yesterday to three counts of committing physical sexual assault against a teenage girl between March and August this year.
Mohd Hafidz Eshak, 44, entered his plea after the charges were read out separately before Judge Mohamad Kamil Nizam.
According to the charges, he was accused of committing physical sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl at a house in Bandar Dataran Segar and a private religious centre in Port Dickson between 3pm and 11pm from early March to August 28.
He was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and caning, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Balkis Zunaidi proposed bail at MYR50,000 for each charge with additional conditions of not tampering with the victim and witnesses, and reporting to the nearest police station every month.
Police officers escort Mohd Hafidz Eshak at the Malaysian Sessions Court. PHOTO: BERNAMA
However, Mohd Hafidz’s lawyers Datuk Hanif Hassan and Nur Haifa Husna Zuhaimi, requested a lower amount, arguing that the accused is the chairman of a private school that operates on funds from the public and Baitulmal assistance.
“This means it is not a profit-making institution but relies on the goodwill of the community and state religious authorities. The accused will also be bailed by his staff. Additionally, he is a resident of Port Dickson, and is married and settled there, so there is no risk of him absconding.
“I would also like to correct the perception about this case. It has nothing to do with the operations or charges against any party of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holding (GISBH),” he said.
Mohamad Kamil then set bail at MYR12,000 for all the charges with one surety, ordered the accused to surrender his passport, refrain from interfering with the victim and witnesses, as well as report to the police station every month.
He then scheduled October 29 for the submission of documents and a medical report.
A man walks past Google’s offices in London’s Kings Cross area, England. PHOTO: AP
AFP – An European Union (EU) court yesterday scrapped a EUR1.49-billion (USD1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google for an abuse of dominance over online advertising.
“The General Court annuls the (European) Commission’s decision in its entirety,” the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement, adding that the “institution committed errors in its assessment”.
Brussels “failed to take into consideration all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contract clauses that the commission had deemed abusive”, the court said.
The commission, the EU’s influential competition regulator, said it “takes note” and would “carefully study the judgement and reflect on possible next steps” – which could include an appeal.
The ruling will be a relief for Google after the EU’s highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth EUR2.42 billion for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
As part of a major push to target big tech abuses, the EU slapped Google with fines worth a total of EUR8.2 billion between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations. The EUR1.49-billion fine is the third of those penalties, focused on Google’s AdSense service.
But the long-running legal battles between Google and the EU do not end there. Google is also challenging a EUR4.3-billion penalty Brussels levied on it for putting restrictions on Android smartphones to boost its internet search business.
The 2018 fine remains the EU’s largest-ever antitrust penalty.
The General Court in 2022 slightly reduced the fine to EUR4.1 billion, but mainly supported the commission’s argument that Google had imposed illegal restrictions. The legal saga continues in that case after Google appealed the latest decision before the higher European Court of Justice.
The EU has since armed itself with a more powerful legal weapon known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to rein in tech giants including Google. Rather than regulators discovering egregious antitrust violations after probes lasting many years, the DMA gives businesses a list of what they can and cannot do online.
The aim is that tech titans change their ways before the need for deterrent fines.
A man walks past Google’s offices in London’s Kings Cross area, England. PHOTO: AP
ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London. PHOTO: AFP
LONDON (AP) – Daniel Dubois didn’t have to dethrone anyone to become a world heavyweight champion. So he has something to prove when he makes his first title defence before one of the biggest crowds in British boxing history.
If he successfully defends his IBF belt on Saturday by beating fellow Briton Anthony Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, Dubois might just transform himself into boxing’s next big thing.
“I’m getting used to the idea that I’m the world champion but I think I need to legitimize it by beating AJ,” Dubois told The Associated Press in an interview. “That’s the way I do it and cement my name, cement my legacy in the sport of boxing.”
The 27-year-old Dubois was awarded the belt in late June after then-undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine relinquished it.
He knows that most boxing fans – the British ones in particular – want to see Joshua become a three-time champion to set up a long-anticipated showdown with Tyson Fury.
But the hard-punching Dubois – a south London native who has been boxing since the age of seven – has plans of his own.
“Make him quit, break him down, unleash hell on him,” Dubois said of his strategy for fight night.
ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London. PHOTO: AFPPHOTO: AFP
Nicknamed “Dynamite”, the six-foot-five Dubois has had obstacles to overcome on his path to Wembley.
He hopes to make the 34-year-old Joshua quit but Dubois himself had to answer questions about quitting after he took a knee and was counted out in the 10th round against Joe Joyce on November 2020. That was his first professional loss.
Dubois’ left eye had been swollen shut – there was an orbital bone fracture and nerve damage.
He bounced back by winning four straight bouts to earn a title shot at Usyk last summer in Ukraine. Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round.
Boxing is never far from controversy and this fight had its share: Dubois had dropped the champion in the fifth round but the referee ruled it a low blow and allowed Usyk several minutes to recover.
Since then, Dubois responded with two knockout victories. Despite being comfortably ahead of 333-pound Jarrell Miller, Dubois piled on the pressure in the final round, getting the stoppage in the final seconds of the bout. Dubois bloodied Filip Hrgovic early and stopped the Croatian in the eighth round.
The impressive win over Hrgovic in early June gave Dubois the “interim” title weeks before Usyk relinquished the belt. It also means 20 of his 21 wins have come via knockouts. The only time he went to points was six years ago in his eighth professional fight.
Back in 2017, it was then 27-year-old Joshua who spectacularly knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in a title fight at Wembley in front of 90,000 fans.
Dubois said it’s his turn. “This is my time now, and I’m ready to take it with both hands, show the world what I’m all about,” he said, pointing to a Usyk rematch as his next goal even though the Ukrainian has talked about returning to cruiserweight after his December 21 rematch with Tyson Fury.
He also wants to make his family proud. His father, Dave Dubois, raised 11 children in a household where sports and music dominated. Dubois said he doesn’t play any instruments or sing though. His younger sister Caroline Dubois is also a successful pro boxer.
Officially, it’s the first time they’ll square off but Dubois and Joshua had a much-debated sparring session about a decade ago.
It seems clear that Dubois caught Joshua – who two years earlier had won gold for Britain at the London Olympics – with a good punch, but beyond that it’s just rumours. Promoter Frank Warren has said that sparring session led him to sign Dubois.
“Sparring is sparring, this is a fight. It bears no relevance to today,” Dubois said. “It was good for me at the time, but I’m a new man, a new fighter now. I’ve put that behind me. I’m the man of the future.”
He suspects most of the crowd – and perhaps many of those watching on DAZN’s streaming service – will be on AJ’s side.
