Latest news

The struggle for independence in Catalonia
Police admit several mistakes when Puigdemont managed to escape

Catalonia's regional police admit to several mistakes made when they failed to arrest former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, Spanish media write.

"That Puigdemont would return to Spain and then flee was not considered as a possibility," says a new report requested by the country's supreme court, according to El Confidencial.

A police drone that was keeping an eye on Puigdemont lost sight of him when he got into the car in which he fled, writes La Vanguardia. Only one officer understood what was happening and sped after the car, but failed to report it to his co-workers.

It was on August 8 that Puigdemont met thousands of his supporters in a park in central Barcelona before fleeing the scene and making his way back to Belgium. He has been in exile since he organized an illegal referendum on Catalan independence seven years ago.

********************

Explosion outside synagogue in France – police injured

A police officer has been injured after an explosion outside a synagogue in La Motte in southern France, writes AFP.

The explosion occurred after two cars were set on fire outside the synagogue. No one was in the synagogue when the explosion occurred.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin calls the incident "an obvious crime".

********************

Poland's abortion legislation
Tusk abandons election promise: Lacks support for new abortion law

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk admits that he will not be able to get through one of his election promises: legal right to abortion up to week 12, AP writes.

Tusk, who took power in December, leads a very broad coalition of politicians on the left who want to legalize abortion and conservatives who strongly oppose it.

- There will be no majority in this parliament to legalize abortion (...). Let's not fool ourselves, he says.

The previous government with the national conservative right-wing Law and Justice party introduced an almost complete ban on abortion in Poland. The country has one of the EU's toughest laws against abortion.

******************

The violence in Nigeria
Kidnapped students free in Nigeria: "They are safe"

After over a week in captivity, 20 Nigerian students have been released, writes AFP.

- We have spoken to them on the phone. They are safe, says Fortune Olaye, who works at the student organization NIMSA.

There are no further details on how the release, or exoneration, took place. The students study medicine and were kidnapped on their way to a conference in central Nigeria on August 15. The perpetrators later demanded a ransom.

********************

Delist the luxury yacht
The investigators: The passengers were asleep - that's why they didn't escape

Italian investigators believe the passengers who died in the sinking of the luxury yacht Bayesian off Sicily were asleep in their cabins. That is why they failed to save themselves, say the prosecutors at a press conference.

Five of the dead were found in the first cabin on the port side, in the highest part of the ship, said Bentivoglio Fiandra of the local rescue service. The last body was found in the third cabin on the port side.

22 people were on board. Five passengers and one crew member died when the boat capsized earlier this week.

********************

Greta Thunberg blocks Norwegian oil terminal

Greta Thunberg and activists from Extinction rebellion are blocking the oil terminal at Kårstø in western Norway, several Norwegian media reports.

- It is crystal clear that the oil companies' behavior leads to death and suffering, says Greta Thunberg according to the NTB news agency.

Eight kayaks and three motorboats entered the terminal's security zone to prevent ships from passing.

The facility at Kårstø is the largest of its kind in Europe and receives gas from the Norwegian Sea.