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A Spanish court ruled that former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves could be released from prison on a €1 million bail and must surrender his passports while awaiting the appeal of his rape conviction in Barcelona.
Alves was convicted of raping a woman in a nightclub in 2022 and received a prison sentence of four years and six months. He maintained his innocence throughout the three-day trial.
He has been behind bars since being arrested in January 2023. Previous appeals for bail release were rejected as the court considered him a flight risk, noting that Brazil does not extradite its nationals who face convictions abroad.
To now go free, in addition to the bail money, the 40-year-old Alves is also required to hand over his Brazilian and Spanish passports and is prohibited from leaving the country. He also cannot come within 1,000 metres of the victim or try to communicate with her and he must report to the courthouse weekly. He still has a residence near the city.
The decision came a day after a hearing where Alves told the court via video conference from prison that he had no intention of fleeing the country, according to his lawyer, Inés Guardiola.
Guardiola and the state prosecutor have appealed the conviction. His defence is seeking his acquittal while the prosecutor wants his prison sentence increased to nine years. The victim's lawyer wants him put away for 12 years. No date has been scheduled for the new trial at a higher court in Barcelona. Following that, the case can be escalated to the Supreme Court in Madrid.
As part of his conviction, the court ordered Alves to pay €150,000 in compensation to the victim, banned him from approaching the victim’s home or place of work, and from communicating with her by any means for nine years.
He was with the Mexican club Pumas when he was arrested. Pumas terminated his contract immediately.
Alves won dozens of titles with elite clubs including Barcelona. He helped Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal. He played for Barcelona from 2008-16, helping to win three Champions Leagues, and briefly rejoined the club in 2022.
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Vaughan Gething was elected first minister of Wales on Wednesday, becoming the first black leader of a government in the UK.
Gething won the leadership in the Welsh parliament by securing 27 out of 51 votes, just four days after becoming the leader of Wales' governing Labour Party. Labour holds the majority in the Senedd, the Welsh legislature.
Gething, the son of a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, said Wales is now “the first nation anywhere in Europe to be led by a Black person.”
“It is a matter of pride for a modern Wales but also a daunting responsibility for me - and one that I do not take lightly," he added.
Gething will be sworn in once his appointment is approved by King Charles III.
Three of the UK’s four governments now have nonwhite leaders. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has Indian heritage, while Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf was born to a Pakistani family in Britain.
Gething was Wales’ health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic. As economy minister since 2021, he had to deal with fallout from Tata Steel’s plan to close both blast furnaces at its plant in Port Talbot, eliminating 2,800 jobs at one of Wales’ biggest employers.
He’ll take over a government that is often at odds with Sunak’s Conservative administration in London. Wales has also seen a wave of protests over environmental rules by farmers, similar to those that have roiled France and other European countries.
His leadership bid faced scrutiny over a ￡200,000 donation from a recycling company convicted of environmental and health and safety violations, though Gething stated that the donations were properly declared according to electoral rules.
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The Czech authorities reported that there were 28 registered cases of whooping cough in the first week of January. That figure now stands at 3,084 – a number not seen since 1963.
The highest rate of the illness is among 15 to 19-year-olds, who account for about one-third of the patients.
According to Czech Health Minister Vlastimil Válek, the surge is likely attributable to a mix of a resurgence in respiratory diseases as society shifts away from stringent Covid measures, and incomplete immunization among children.
Whooping cough is a highly infectious bacterial disease that affects the lungs and airways. It is caused by bacteria in an infected person's mouth, nose and throat.
Cases of '100-day cough' are rising in the UK. Here's what you should know about whooping cough
Before the whooping cough vaccine in 1958, it was one of the most common and dangerous childhood diseases.
Complications predominantly impact young children, particularly those who are unvaccinated or whose mothers did not receive vaccination. These children are at risk of developing severe complications, including seizures, pneumonia, and brain disease.