Barcelona
Twenty-four people were injured and six detained on Saturday during a rally — and counter demonstration — in Barcelona by police paying tribute to colleagues deployed to prevent the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.
Separatists outraged at the police rally also turned out, with city authorities estimating that around 3,000 people took part in the police demo and 6,000 in the counter rally.
Skirmishes took place between the two sets of demonstrators while police also charged at separatists several times after they tried to cross a security cordon and threw paint and other objects.
Six people were arrested, Catalan police said, while 24 demonstrators were injured, according to medical services.
ETA
France’s Prime Minister is due to travel to Madrid today to arrange the formal handover of thousands of items seized from the Basque nationalist terror group the ETA.
Edouard Phillippe is set to make the journey to speak with Spanish officials about some 7,000 documents, arms and other material.
French government sources said it is hoped the transfer will allow Spanish authorities to continue investigating the group and open up new lines of inquiry.
The items are due to be handed over at a formal ceremony.
The Auqarius
Fifty-eight migrants rescued by the Aquarius charity ship disembarked in Malta yesterday after nearly a week at sea fearing the authorities would impound the vessel.
The migrants, mostly Libyans, boarded two buses at Valletta after being transferred off-shore from the Aquarius to a Libyan coastguard vessel to avoid trouble with the Maltese authorities.
Panama pulled its flag from the ship a week ago, meaning the unregistered Aquarius would not be able to leave any port, while other rescue vessels that have already been impounded in Valletta fight a protracted legal battle.
The migrants — including 18 minors and 17 women — were to be sent on to various European host countries.
MW
Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has saved 466 migrants attempting to cross the Med over the weekend.
The service says its rescue craft pulled the migrants from 10 different boats intercepted in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar on Saturday and Sunday morning.
Renaldo Allegations
Cristiano Ronaldo has dismissed as “fake news” accusations by a US woman who alleges she was raped by the Portuguese footballer in 2009.
In an Instagram video, Ronaldo said: “They want to promote [themselves] by [using] my name. It’s normal.”
Ronaldo’s lawyers say they will sue Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, which originally reported the allegations.
The magazine wrote that Kathryn Mayorga had claimed Ronaldo raped her in a hotel room in Las Vegas.
Ms Mayorga, 34, is reported to have filed a rape report with Las Vegas police shortly after the alleged incident.
In 2010, she reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo involving a $375,000 payment for agreeing never to go public with the allegations.