MADRID: Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain’s King Felipe VI, will be the first member of the royal family ever to appear in the dock after a judge yesterday ordered her to be tried for tax fraud.
A court on the island of Majorca ordered Cristina, 49, to stand trial on two counts of being an accessory to tax fraud in connection with her husband’s business affairs. It ordered her to pay a court bond of €2.7m while a date is set for the trial. Cristina had already paid a deposit of €587,000 to cover her possible liability in the case.
She is accused of taking part in tax evasion by her husband, the former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin. He is accused of embezzling and laundering millions of euros in public funds.
Italy foils neo-fascist plot, 14 held
ROME: Italian police arrested 14 neo-fascists and placed 44 others under investigation yesterday after uncovering a plot to kill politicians and attack police stations over the Christmas period.
Police swooped after wiretaps revealed the gang, an offshoot of the banned far right organisation Ordine Nuovo, had begun stockpiling arms and planned to carry out attacks over the holiday period.
Italy’s Repubblica daily said the suspects had discussed killing politicians, “10, 11 at a time...”, as well as blowing up the Equitalia tax collection agency and launching attacks on police stations.
Mugabe fires more ministers
HARARE: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has fired two cabinet ministers and five deputy ministers, the presidency announced late on Sunday, in an apparent purge targeting allies of his former deputy Joice Mujuru, who was dismissed two weeks ago.
Mugabe, who is holidaying in Asia, dismissed Flora Buka, minister of state for presidential affairs and Sylvester Nguni, minister of state in the office of the vice president, saying “their conduct and performance were below expected standards”, according to a presidency statement.
Five deputy ministers were also dismissed on Sunday.
Work begins on Panama canal rival
MANAGUA: Nicaragua yesterday broke ground on its Chinese-led $50bn shipping canal, a massive infrastructure project that aims to rival Panama’s waterway and revitalise the economy of the second-poorest country in the Americas.
Nicaragua’s government says the proposed 278km canal, due to be operational by around 2020, would raise annual growth to over 10 percent and help end poverty in the country of six million people. Construction of the new waterway will be run by Hong Kong-based HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd.
Catalan leader under investigation
BARCELONA: Catalonia’s president Artur Mas was placed under investigation yesterday for holding a banned vote on whether his region should be independent from Spain.
The Catalonia High Court said that Mas was under judicial investigation for flouting a injunction against holding the symbolic vote on November 9.
Prosecutors have accused him of civil disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement of public funds for pressing ahead with the vote.
If charges were brought against him, Mas could risk a jail sentence of several years and a ban from public office. AGENCIES
