Page 10 - 23 di augustus 2019

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WORLD NEWS Friday 23 august 2019

Tourist hotspot Barcelona sees a spike in muggings

By JOSEPH WILSON It appears that thieves have
Associated Press begun to work in groups
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) and use force to extract
— Robberies involving vio- the property of victims.
lence or intimidation have Police did not say what
spiked sharply in Barce- they believe the rise in vio-
lona, one of Europe’s most lent crime is due to.
attractive summer vaca- But some locals point to the
tion destinations, Spanish several thousand under-
police officials said. age migrants, mostly from
Officials from the regional Morocco and Algeria, who
police force for Catalonia have arrived to Spain with-
said muggings or street out their parents in recent
robberies that include the years and their fears have
threat of violence have been a focus of right-wing
increased 30% since the parties. Police statistics in-
beginning of the year com- dicate that 12% of those
pared to the same period minors have committed a
in 2018 in the popular Medi- crime that employed vio-
terranean city that draws lence or the threat of vio-
nearly 16 million visitors a lence since arriving to the
year. Those attacks, often region of Catalonia.
targeting tourists, have In this Oct. 4, 2010 file photo, people walk along Ramblas Street in Barcelona, Spain. Albert Batlle, the head of
sometimes hit foreign offi- Associated Press security for Barcelona’s
cials. This week the Afghan knocked to the ground ists to “petty theft schemes Spain. Barcelona has long town hall, has said that
ambassador to Spain was when a thief riding a mo- that have included acts been considered a safe these minors should be re-
knocked to the ground torbike tried to snatch her of violence, such as ag- city, except for a persistent turned to their families.
by a group of thieves who purse. Police director An- gressive thefts of jewelry, problem of pickpockets But the regional chief for
took his watch, injuring his dreu Martínez said Wednes- watches, and purses.” who target the large num- social affairs, Chakir el
leg. Also this month a FBI day that police were work- With its beaches, cuisine ber of foreigners flooding Homrani, has maintained it
agent on vacation had his ing to halt the crime wave and architectural delights, the city each summer. is more of a social problem
watch stolen in the center that had “generated a Barcelona, a city with a But what was once a silent and that “we have dehu-
of Barcelona. heightened perception of population of 1.6 million hand reaching into the manized the collective of
In June, a South Korean insecurity.” residents, draws 12 million pocket or purse of an un- unaccompanied minors”
official died from injuries The U.S. Embassy issued an foreign tourists a year and suspecting victim has now by associating them with
received when she was advisory to warn alert tour- another 4 million from within turned aggressive. criminality.q

Australian prison chaplain nervous about cardinal inmate

By ROD McGUIRK transferred from a high- Hayes said he was nervous “So it’ll be a handshake 13-year-old boys in St. Pat-
Associated Press security Melbourne prison about meeting Pope Fran- and an: ‘OK George, what rick’s Cathedral in the late
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) for first-time inmates to a cis’ former finance minister do we need to do to help 1990s.
— A chaplain at an Austra- medium-security prison in the Ararat prison. Pell is you through this.’ It’s a dif- Pell’s lawyers are consider-
lian prison for pedophiles for pedophiles in nearby the most senior Catholic ficult time for anyone go- ing a final appeal to the
on Thursday described Ararat after he lost a court to be convicted of child ing to jail, so yeah, I’ll be High Court. Hayes said he
the prospect of minister- appeal on Wednesday of sex abuse. “It will be nerve nervous,” Hayes added. expected Pell to be de-
ing to a cardinal who until convictions on charges of racking for me to have the Pell was archbishop of frocked if he loses that ap-
recently was regarded as molesting two choirboys. No. 3 in the world sitting Melbourne when he was peal, and would no longer
the third highest-ranking Pedophiles are detested in there and I’m the person accused of molesting the outrank the chaplain in
Catholic in the Vatican as the general prison popula- there to look after him,”
“nerve racking.” Cardinal tion and need special pro- Hayes told Ten Network Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Supreme Court in Melbourne,
George Pell is likely to be tection. Chaplain Andrew television. q Australia, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019.
Associated Press