In brief
King must provide DNA
Brussels: A Belgian appeals court has ruled that King Albert must provide DNA in a court case brought by a woman who claims to be the love child of the former Belgian monarch.
The decision came as a surprise after a lower court ruled Delphine Boel could not rely on such forensic evidence to establish paternity.
The ruling gives Albert three months to provide a DNA sample which would be used to determine if he was Boel’s father.
Albert has never publicly denied being her father. He can appeal against the latest decision or refuse to provide DNA. Albert abdicated in 2013 and his son, Philippe, is the ruling monarch of Belgium. — BPA
Networks pull ‘racist’ ad
Washington: NBC, Fox News and Facebook pulled an ad by President Donald Trump’s campaign that critics had labelled racist as a bitter election fight for control of the US Congress headed for an unpredictable finish.
Today’s elections, widely seen as a referendum on Trump, have been portrayed by both Republicans and Democrats as critical for the direction of the country.
The 30second ad, sponsored by Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, featured courtroom video of an illegal immigrant from Mexico convicted in the 2014 killings of two police officers, juxtaposed with scenes of migrants headed through Mexico. — Reuters
Accused mentally unwell
New York: The mother of the Florida man accused of mailing 15 pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and other critics of US President Donald Trump said her son had long suffered from mental illness, in a letter sent to ABC News, the network said. — Reuters
17 die on way to Spain
Madrid: Spain’s maritime rescue service says at least 17 people have died trying to reach Spain in boats departing from North Africa.
The service yesterday said it rescued 80 people on Monday, including five women, from two boats and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea. — AP
Body found in rubble
Marseille: The body of a man has been found in the wreckage of two buildings that collapsed in the French city of Marseille on Monday, interior minister Christophe Castaner said yesterday.
Emergency crews were searching for as many as eight people feared buried in the debris. — Reuters
Fatal shark attack
Sydney: A man died after he was attacked by a shark in in the Whitsunday Islands’ Cid Harbour off Australia’s northeast coast on Monday, police said yesterday, the third attack in the region in two months. — Reuters