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Taiwan court orders release of ex-Taipei mayor arrested in corruption probe

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Taiwan court orders release of ex-Taipei mayor arrested in corruption probe

Taiwan People’s Party leader Ko Wen-je freed after court finds insufficient evidence to justify his detention.

A court in Taiwan has ordered the release of a former mayor and presidential candidate who was arrested over his alleged role in a corruption scandal, citing insufficient evidence for his detention.

Taipei District Court on Monday ruled that Ko Wen-je, a former mayor of Taipei and the leader of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), should go free after finding that prosecutors had failed to make the case for his detention.

The court said prosecutors had not met the standard of there being a “high possibility” Ko had committed a crime.

“It cannot be concluded that the defendant… knowingly violated the law,” the court said in its ruling.

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Ko was arrested on Saturday as part of a probe into alleged corruption in the redevelopment of the Core Pacific City shopping centre in the Taiwanese capital.

Ko, who came third in January’s presidential election, told reporters outside court that there was “no evidence” of his involvement in the real estate scandal.

A surgeon by training, Ko entered politics in 2014 when he successfully ran for the mayorship of Taipei as an independent candidate.

Re-elected as mayor of Taipei in 2018, he founded the TPP the following year as a third force to challenge the dominance of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and China-leaning Kuomintang (KMT).

Under the TPP banner, Ko received about one-quarter of the vote in the last presidential election, which was won by the DPP’s William Lai Ching-te.

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While the TPP has only eight legislators in Taiwan’s 113-seat parliament, the party has gained outsized influence as both the DPP and KMT lack a ruling majority.

Ko, who draws much of his support from young people, is widely seen as a contender for the next election in 2028, although his popularity has been dented by a separate campaign funds scandal.

On Thursday, Ko said he would take a three-month leave of absence from the TPP leadership to take responsibility for the misreporting of campaign money and the use of election subsidies to set up a personal office space.

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HDFC Bank chairman's sudden exit exposes leadership strains at top Indian lender

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HDFC Bank chairman's sudden exit exposes leadership strains at top Indian lender
The surprise exit of HDFC Bank’s chairman that led to a $16 billion stock rout in India’s biggest private lender has put its CEO in the spotlight ​amid rumbles of acrimony in top management and unease about its underperformance versus peers.
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Father loses legal fight to halt euthanasia of 25-year-old daughter in Spain

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Father loses legal fight to halt euthanasia of 25-year-old daughter in Spain

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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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Spain is grappling with the death of a 25-year-old woman from Barcelona who was euthanized following a series of tragic events despite multiple legal challenges from her father.

Noelia Castillo Ramos’ case galvanized international attention after her father, Gerónimo Castillo, mounted a legal battle against the authorization of various Spanish courts for his daughter to receive euthanasia in 2023. Aided by Abogados Cristianos (Christian Lawyers), a conservative Catholic organization, Mr. Castillo exhausted all appeals to the Spanish courts.

The father argued that his daughter wasn’t fully psychologically able to make a decision regarding euthanasia and that she needed better medical and psychiatric care. His legal battle was ultimately shut down by the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on March 10.

GRIEVING PARENTS DEMAND CHANGES AFTER 26-YEAR-OLD SON EUTHANIZED UNDER CONTROVERSIAL LAW

Noelia Castillo Ramos is featured in Spain’s El País newspaper following her euthanasia last Thursday. (APTV)

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The case of Castillo Ramos is just the latest in euthanasia deaths across Europe, but the Barcelona woman’s choice to die has inflamed passions across the country.

Castillo Ramos’ parents divorced when she was 13 and spent almost four years in public tutelage centers when she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) — a serious psychiatric condition often leading to severe depression, suicide ideation and a tendency to addiction.

By her own account, in an interview she gave before dying to Spanish TV channel Antena 3 she tried to commit suicide at least twice despite being under intensive psychiatric care. In her first suicide attempt, she took several pills and ingested a toxic automotive liquid, but was saved by her mother, who took her to the hospital for a gastric-intestinal cleansing procedure.

Things got worse for her when she left the home and ended up being sexually assaulted multiple times when she was about 20. First, she was sexually abused by a former boyfriend after taking sleeping pills. Soon after, two men attempted to rape her while in a nightclub, leaving her deeply scarred, and as reports indicate, this led her to a care home for worsening psychiatric symptoms.

Several people pray at the entrance of the Sant Camil hospital, on 26 March 2026 in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The magistrate of the 20th Preliminary Section of the Barcelona Court of First Instance has denied for the third time the adoption of the precautionary measures requested by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which asked to suspend the application of euthanasia to Noelia Castillo Ramos from Barcelona. Castillo Ramos died on Thursday. ( Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via Getty Images)

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POPE LEO XIV SAYS HE’S ‘VERY DISAPPOINTED’ AFTER ILLINOIS APPROVES ASSISTED SUICIDE LAW

There, she was gang-raped by three men. With her mental state deteriorating, she attempted suicide by jumping out of the fifth floor of a building.

Multiple reports and social media posts originally indicated that the three rapists who assaulted her were immigrant minors under the care of the state – something the Barcelona-based newspaper El Periódico says is false.

Many Spaniards have reacted angrily the court’s authorization for her to receive euthanasia, accusing the leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of not providing the girl with adequate medical care, opening up the country to mass migration, lack of policing and ultimately handing down euthanasia as a solution to her case.

Several people pray at the entrance of the Sant Camil hospital, on 26 March, 2026 in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The magistrate of the 20th Preliminary Section of the Barcelona Court of First Instance has denied for the third time the adoption of the precautionary measures requested by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which asked to suspend the application of euthanasia to the young woman from Barcelona scheduled for this Thursday afternoon.  (Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via Getty Images)

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After her interview on Spanish TV, several anonymous donors and public figures, including pianist James Rhodes, offered to fund her treatment and to provide her and her family with material assistance if she decided against having the procedure.

The Catalan High Court of Justice confirmed to Fox News Digital that all legal and medical requirements, including a favorable opinion by the Catalan Commission of Guarantee and Evaluation (CGEC), had been met and that there was nothing preventing the young woman from receiving the requested euthanasia.

Noelia died at 6 p.m. local time on Thursday at Hospital Sant Pere de Ribes in Barcelona. She is the youngest person ever to be euthanized in Spain under the country’s assisted dying law passed in 2021.

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French police make two more arrests over foiled attack on Bank of America

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French police make two more arrests over foiled attack on Bank of America

Prosecutors investigating suspected link to Iran war due to similarities with other recent attempted attacks in Europe.

French police have arrested two more people over a foiled attack on Bank of America’s Paris headquarters as authorities probe a suspected link with the Iran war.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said that five suspects are now being held in custody, including three minors arrested after Saturday’s attempted attack with a homemade explosive device, and two adults detained on Monday.

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Police arrested the first suspect after he placed the device, which consisted of an ignition system and five litres of liquid believed to be fuel, outside the US financial institution near the Champs-Elysees in the city’s 8th arrondissement.

Police said the first detainee had told them he was a minor and from Senegal and that they were working to verify his identity. A police source told AFP that he claimed to have been recruited through the Snapchat app to carry out a bombing in exchange for 600 euros ($688).

The suspect who placed the device was accompanied by a second person, who appeared to be taking photos and videos with a mobile phone, but fled when police arrived. It was unclear whether the apparent accomplice was one of the five suspects now in custody.

PNAT is now investigating a number of suspected offences, including attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a “terrorist plot”. The probe ⁠also includes a ⁠charge of participation in a “terrorist” criminal association.

On Monday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said authorities were investigating a suspected link to the Iran war due to similarities with other recent attempted attacks in Europe for which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility.

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The “modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium”, Nunez said on French radio network RTL, alluding to claims of responsibility from a group known on Telegram as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

The group, whose name translates to mean “Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right”, also claimed responsibility for an attack last week in London, where four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire in the neighbourhood of Golders Green.

“Typically, intelligence services of this country [Iran] operate in this way. They use proxies, a series of subcontractors, often common criminals, to carry out highly targeted actions aimed at US interests, the interests of the Jewish community, or Iranian opposition figures,” Nunez said.

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