
Mass shooting in gang-plagued Mexican state leaves 12 dead and more injured
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -At least 12 people were killed, including a teenager, and more wounded in a Tuesday night shooting in the central Mexican city of Irapuato, authorities said on Wednesday.
The attorney general's office in Guanajuato, the violence-plagued state where Irapuato is located, said some 20 others were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said earlier on Wednesday that the victims included children, although the attorney general's office later confirmed only one casualty was a minor, aged 17.
"It is very unfortunate what happened. An investigation is under way," Sheinbaum said.
Local media reported the shooting happened during an evening party celebrating a Catholic holiday, the Nativity of John the Baptist.
A video circulating on social media showed people dancing in the patio of a housing complex while a band played in the background, before gunfire erupted. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the video.
Guanajuato has been for many years one of the most violent regions in the country. On Tuesday, five other people were killed in other parts of the state, according to the attorney general's office.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Sandra Maler)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
30 minutes ago
- The Star
Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai's lawyer defends basic rights in trial's final stretch
The trial is widely seen as a test for judicial independence in the financial hub. - Photo: Reuters HONG KONG: The lawyer for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai argued on Wednesday (Aug 20) that supporting individual rights is not a crime in the final stretch of a closely watched and years-long national security trial. Lai, 77, who founded the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He faces a maximum life sentence. The trial is widely seen as a test for judicial independence in the financial hub under national security laws that were imposed by China in 2020 in response to mass pro-democracy demonstrations. Lai, a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party, is one of the most high-profile figures to face prosecution under the law. His trial has been condemned by some countries like the United States as politically motivated. Hong Kong and Chinese authorities say Lai is being given a fair trial. Lai's lawyer Robert Pang, who began his final legal submission on Aug 20, said Lai had been defending and exercising basic rights. 'It is not wrong to support freedom of expression. It is not wrong to support human rights,' Pang told the three-judge panel that is expected to deliver a verdict later this year once this current round of final legal submissions is concluded after around one week. 'Not wrong not to love the government' 'It is not wrong to try to persuade the government to change its policy. Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration or even the country, because... you can't force someone to think in one way or another,' Pang added. One of the judges, Esther Toh, said that this was not what the prosecution argued. "It's not wrong not to love the government, but if you do that by certain nefarious means, then it's wrong," she said. Pang also disputed the prosecution's citing of 161 articles published by the Apple Daily between April 1, 2019 and June 4, 2021 as seditious, saying they were 'insufficient to draw any inference' of a conspiracy. The prosecution alleges that Lai colluded with overseas officials including those in the first Trump administration to impose sanctions or conduct hostile activities against Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, including trade embargoes. Earlier on Aug 20, the prosecution wrapped up its final submission, saying there was 'overwhelming evidence' to show Lai was the 'mastermind' of the alleged conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. It added that Lai had done nothing to stop illegal activities engaged in by other co-conspirators and through advocacy groups critical of China, such as 'Stand With Hong Kong' and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). Lai, whose health is fragile according to his family, was provided with a heart monitor and medication after the court was told that he had suffered heart 'palpitations'. Over 320 people have been arrested under the national security laws so far, including prominent activist Joshua Wong who is serving a 4-year, 8-month prison term for subversion, and now faces a fresh security charge. - Reuters

Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
Defence begins closing arguments in Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai trial
HONG KONG, Aug 20 — A lawyer representing Jimmy Lai said Wednesday it was 'not wrong to support freedom of expression' as the defence began closing arguments in the jailed Hong Kong media mogul's national security trial. The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper has contested two counts of foreign collusion, with authorities accusing him of using various platforms to lobby Western nations to sanction China and Hong Kong. The charges are brought under the city's national security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 after the finance hub saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. Defence lawyer Robert Pang told the court it was 'not wrong' to support freedom of expression and human rights. 'It is not wrong to try to persuade the government to change its policy... Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration, or even the country,' he added. Aside from the collusion offence — which could land him in prison for life — Lai is also charged with 'seditious publication' related to 161 articles, including op-eds carrying his byline. Pang began his closing arguments by pointing to three Apple Daily news articles that prosecutors deemed seditious. 'It's factual reporting,' he said, adding that the 161 items made up a tiny fraction of the newspaper's output. But judge Esther Toh countered that it was 'pointless' to play a numbers game, adding that the judges had already gone through the articles carefully. 'Not credible' testimony Earlier in the day, prosecutor Anthony Chau challenged Lai's courtroom testimony — which spanned more than 50 days — as 'not credible'. The portrayal of Apple Daily as a 'neutral defender of Hong Kong's core values' was 'utterly misleading', Chau told judges. '(Lai) and Apple Daily were anti-communist for many years,' he said, adding that the tycoon 'glorified violence, mutual destruction and martyrdom against the (Chinese Communist Party) regime'. The prosecutor also pointed to a trove of communications, some on WhatsApp, that allegedly tied Lai to political figures in the United States and a plan to lobby for Western sanctions against China and Hong Kong around the time of the 2019 protests. '(Lai) was clearly a betrayer of national interests,' he said, wrapping up his case after two and half days. Lai was attentive during Wednesday's hearing, waving and gesturing to family and supporters in the public gallery when he entered the courtroom. The septuagenarian was outfitted with a heart rate monitor and prescribed medication after the defence said last week that Lai was experiencing heart palpitations. Concerns have been raised previously over Lai's health by his family and rights groups. The media tycoon has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, and has lost weight during that time. The Hong Kong government has said Lai was receiving 'adequate and comprehensive' medical care, with a senior medical officer earlier declaring him 'physically and mentally fit for court'. — AFP


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
France probes death of man on live video stream after violence and humiliations
PARIS (Reuters) -French authorities are investigating the death of a man during a live video stream on the Kick live streaming platform, where he had regularly been shown enduring violence and humiliations. Prosecutors ordered an autopsy and opened an investigation into the death of the 46-year-old man in the village of Contes, north of Nice, on Monday. Clara Chappaz, junior minister for AI and digital technology, said Raphael Graven, known online as Jean Pormanove, had regularly featured in videos on Kick, where he was physically assaulted or humiliated by co-streamers as viewers watched live. "The death of Jean Pormanove and the violence he suffered are absolutely horrific," she said on X. Kick Francais said on X it would cooperate with authorities and was undertaking a review of its French content. "Our priority is to protect creators and ensure a safer environment on Kick," it said, adding that "all co-streamers who participated in this live broadcast have been banned pending the ongoing investigation". Kick is an Australia-registered live streaming platform that shares revenue with its content creators. Chappaz said a judicial investigation is underway, that she had referred the matter to digital and audiovisual communication regulator Arcom and that she had filed a report to Pharos, France's internet portal for reporting illicit internet content. She said she asked Kick for explanations, adding: "the responsibility of online platforms for dissemination of illegal content is not optional: it is the law". Yassin Sadouni, a lawyer for one of two co-streamers seen abusing Pormanove, said on BFM television that Pormanove had cardiovascular problems and that the violence in the videos was not real but acted. "All those scenes are just staged, they follow a script," he said. French media have shown excerpts of hours-long videos during which Pormanove is seen suffering blows, insults, strangulation, dousing with paint and oil and being shot at with a paintball gun. It was not clear from the video excerpts if Pormanove voluntarily subjected himself to the violence or was forced to endure it, nor whether the action was real or staged. (Reporting by Geert De ClercqEditing by Frances Kerry)