Tavia was just two weeks off her second birthday when she was found dead in bed on October 13 last year. Her mother’s partner Januaria Sarmento Ximenes (29) is charged with her murder. The mother Suzi Augusta Jacinta Da Costa (21) is charged with manslaughter and along with her sister Suzana Da Costa Ximenes (24) jointly accused of causing the death of the child and knowing she died by an unlawful act. All three, who resided at Windmill Court, Dungannon are accused of wilful ill-treatment. A postmortem found Tavia died from brain injury caused by blunt force trauma. She was covered in bruises including to her head and face, grip marks to her arms and a burn on her ear. All three accused were refused bail, although Ms Ximenes has since been released. Da Costa was later granted High Court bail on condition she obtained an appropriate address and refrain from entering Dungannon. In January, her lawyers sought compassionate bail for her release to attend with the Housing Executive to register as homeless in order to obtain accommodation. However District Judge Francis Rafferty refused. At the most recent sitting a further application was made with the defence stating Da Costa has been unable to secure alternative accommodation by Housing Executive transfer of her tenancy as the PSNI had not provided any evidence of risk should she return to the Dungannon area. They requested the exclusion zone is removed and Da Costa be permitted to reside at her former address at Windmill Court, Dungannon. Judge Rafferty cut matters short, refusing the application. Da Costa remains in custody and the case of all three accused will be mentioned again on April 9. Facebook pageTwitter feedRSS feed@2025 The Irish News Ltd Three people have been charged in connection with the death of Tavia Da Costa Picture: PSNI/PA Tavia Da Costa is believed to have died on Sunday just weeks before her second birthday Strabane Magistrates’ Court on Thursday heard the child’s body was covered in bruises and a post-mortem examination concluded the cause of death was brain injury due to blunt force trauma appeared before the court charged with her murder on October 13 causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person and child cruelty was also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person and child cruelty All three appeared via videolink from Musgrave police station in Belfast A detective sergeant told the court he believes he can connect the accused to the charges A Tetun interpreter was involved in proceedings All three indicated they understood the charges Police objected to bail for all three on a number of factors including potential risk of flight and interference with witnesses as well as community tensions within the East Timorese community in Dungannon and recent anti-immigration protests in Northern Ireland The prosecution said Tavia was born on October 27 2022 and lived with her mother and aunt in a small two-bedroom house in Dungannon and evidence suggests she was “well looked after” by her mother They outlined that Suzi met Ximenes in June started a relationship and he moved into her home in August The child’s grandmother was said to have told police that she had been “isolated” from Suzi and Tavia since June She said she received a phone call from her daughter Suzi on Sunday saying there was “something wrong with Tavia” but her daughter asked her to come to the house and “appeared to have been dead for some time” Her brother later came to the house and called 999 The grandmother also told police that Ximenes was “calm and emotionless” and suggested: “Let’s resolve this as a family.” The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service arrived at the property at 9.21am and notified police who started an investigation and arrested the three defendants The court heard the post-mortem examination showed Tavia’s body was covered in bruises The cause of death was found to be a brain injury caused by blunt force trauma The court heard there was evidence that Tavia had been shaken and that the pathologist said they believed the injuries were not accidental including grip marks on her arm and a scald burn on her ear The prosecution went on to outline evidence to police by a witness that they heard two women in the address where Tavia lived “hysterically screaming” for around ten minutes between 2.30am and 3am on Sunday Police evidence suggests Ximenes had been out at a nightclub in Dungannon on Saturday night and was seen by local police appearing angry and aggressive They contend he left the nightclub at around 2am and would have got home by 2.30am the prosecution said initially Suzi said Tavia had fallen and that Ximenes was a “great guy” but later changed her account to say he was “violent and abusive” to both Tavia and to her with the violence increasing from last Wednesday Suzana said in interview that she had not seen Tavia since Tuesday and spent her time almost completely in her room She said she went to a party all night on Friday and slept all day on Saturday but later said the party had been all day on Friday and she returned home on 10pm on Friday and stayed in her room for 21 hours The court heard she said she did not see anything but also that she did not like Ximenes and stayed out of his way adding she “heard nothing and saw nothing” and could not explain the screaming heard by the witness Ximenes said he denied all wrongdoing toward Suzi and Tavia and that the child had fallen and they put hot water on her injury He also said he had not returned home until between 4am and 6am on Sunday after his night-out His legal defence said the only direct evidence against his client is Suzi’s evidence and insisted he is entitled to presumption of innocence A legal representative for Suzi alleged she had been a victim of domestic violence and coercion and had been “completely under the control” of her partner Suzana’s defence questioned her connection to the child cruelty charge and argued she did not have responsibility for the child at the relevant times in this case Judge Mullen described a “very sad situation where we have a very young child who has lost their life” adding: “We need to be mindful and respectful of that.” expressing a particular concern around a risk of flight and potential interference with witnesses The three defendants are to appear before Dungannon Magistrates’ Court on November 13 From as little as €1 a week with our digital introductory offer Already a subscriber? Sign in Follow and share the latest news and stories The court heard that the defendant found himself on trial for rape 16 years after the disputed incident and that he was seriously disadvantaged by the delay in bringing the complaint. File picture: Larry Cummins © Examiner Echo Group Limited, Linn Dubh, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork. Registered in Ireland: 523712. A court has heard a toddler found dead in a house in Dungannon died from a brain injury caused by a blunt force trauma.Police were called to a property in Windmill Court on October 13 following a report of the sudden death of a child.Today the boyfriend of Tavia da Costa's mother 29-year-old Januaria Sarmento Ximenes of Windmill Court appeared via video link from Musgrave police station charged with the murder and a further charge of cruelty to children he spoke only to confirm he understood the charges against him causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child under 16 and Suzana Da Costa Ximenes faces a charge of causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child under 16 A Detective Sergeant told the court he believed he could connect all three to the charges During a bail application details of what allegedly happened were read out The Prosecution told the court the results of a post-mortem examination showed the toddler's body was "covered in bruises" a brain injury caused by blunt force trauma The court heard there was evidence Tavia had been shaken There were grip marks on her arm and a scald mark to her ear The court heard the grandmother told police when she arrived at the house on Sunday morning: "Tavia was dead with a blanket over her face and appeared to have been dead for sometime." A family member phoned the police but it's claimed the murder accused said: "Let's resolve this as a family." Police believe Januaria Sarmento Ximenes wanted to cover up the alleged murder of the child Januaria Ximenes claims the child fell and denies any wrong doing The court was told the defendant was at a nightclub in Dungannon on Saturday and returned home at 2.30am He says he was out much later but a witness told police two women were heard screaming hysterically around 2.30am and prosecution claim the intense screaming was significant and corresponds with the time frame of Ximenes leaving the nightclub Januaria Ximenes' solicitor told the court "the only direct evidence against my client is from his partner Suzi She has a self serving interest in blaming my client" A solicitor for Suzi da Costa said her client is the victim of domestic abuse and coercive control and she is heartbroken the Judge said this is a "very sad situation a very young child lost their life and we must be mindful and respectful of that when dealing with the case" They were remanded in custody to appear again via video link in Dungannon on November 13 Catch up with the latest UTV Live on ITVX Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know Janelão Cave in Peruaçu Caves National Park Geologists affiliated with the University of São Paulo are researching 1,000 years of climate variability in the caves (photo: Ataliba Coelho) Chemical analysis of stalagmites in the Peruaçu Caves National Park showed that global warming has disrupted the hydrological cycle in Brazil’s central region making a significant proportion of any rain that falls evaporate before it can penetrate the soil By Maria Fernanda Ziegler  |  Agência FAPESP – A study conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil and reported in an article published in Nature Communications shows that the Cerrado is experiencing the worst drought for at least 700 years The effects of global warming have been particularly intense in the central region of the country where the rise in temperatures is about 1 °C higher than the 1.5 °C global average This has produced hydrological disruptions because the temperature near the surface is so high that a significant proportion of any rain that falls evaporates before it can penetrate the soil leading to changes in the pattern of rainfall with fewer but extremely heavy rainstorms and less aquifer recharging The drought could dry up the tributaries of the São Francisco the largest river in the basin of the same name that spans seven Brazilian states The study was part of a Thematic Project supported by FAPESP in partnership with the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) The researchers analyzed records of temperature streamflow and hydrological balance from the Januária weather station one of the oldest in the state of Minas Gerais and correlated them with variations in the chemical composition of stalagmites in a cave in the nearby Peruaçu Caves National Park a professor at the Institute of Geosciences (IGC-USP) “The message is that there is no parallel with the drought that’s occurring now It’s important to note that our study identified a rise in temperatures starting in the 1970s The phenomenon is expected to become even worse,” Cruz added a jaguar’s hideout where stalagmite chemical composition data was collected differs from other caves studied by the group in that it has a wide-open entrance and is influenced by variations in external temperature even though it lies at the bottom of a 200 m canyon “Studies of open caves like this one are few and far between We usually study caves in a closed environment where very little air circulates and the temperature is stable throughout the year,” Cruz explained “Onça Cave’s connection to the outside climate enabled us to determine that the drought also alters the chemistry of the speleothems [mineral deposits formed from groundwater within underground caves The increase in evaporation due to warming decreases the groundwater recharge that feeds the drip water in the cave showed us that the ongoing drought is unprecedented.” The study was part of a larger research project designed to reconstruct climate variability and change during the millennium 850 CE-1850 CE using speleothem and tree-ring records from central-eastern South America “The new methodology and validation of the data analyzed in our study pave the way for more research in other caves This kind of approach can be used to reconstitute the climate in Brazil more precisely,” Cruz said Geological studies that serve as a basis for global warming scenarios typically use ice cores collected from glaciers at the poles Bubbles of air in the cores provide samples of the atmosphere from the remote past from which scientists can estimate levels of greenhouse gases “Our study innovates by using speleothem chemical data to detect hydrological cycle variations and associate these with the changes induced by warming in the tropics,” Cruz said The group has also analyzed fossil trees from the Peruaçu Caves National Park for paleoclimate studies conducted in partnership with biologists who are also involved with the Thematic Project “Fossils of Amburana cearensis are found in the caves They’ve been protected from sunlight for over 500 years By combining the results of our study with the research that’s being done on these fossil trees we’ve obtained independent data relating to this same phenomenon,” Cruz said The article “Modern anthropogenic drought in Central Brazil unprecedented during last 700 years” is at: www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45469-8 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Cloudina and Corumbella fossils found in northern Minas Gerais indicate that a shallow sea covered parts of South America and Africa some 550 million years ago in northern Minas Gerais: fossils of tiny marine animals have been found in the Sete Lagoas Formation part of the geological unit known as the Bambuí GroupPEDRO STRIKIS owes its virtues to the climate and the natural moisture in the local soil which are favorable for growing the sugarcane that is used to make it The area’s strategic geographic location on the left bank of what becomes the huge São Francisco River called opará (sea river) in ancient times by the local Indians made Januária a major port and commercial hub during the colonial era nearly forgotten but marked by an intimate connection to the water have just come to light in still-active stone quarries on the outskirts of the city A team of geologists and paleontologists from the University of São Paulo (USP) and the São Paulo State University (Unesp) has found a special type of fossil there: tiny fragments of marine animals of the genus Cloudina tubular creatures consisting of a series of calcareous cones nested within one another which lived on Earth around 550 million years ago were embedded in a steep wall and in other outcrops of rocks of the Sete Lagoas Formation A sedimentary unit of the São Francisco watershed the Bambuí stretches over approximately 300,000 square kilometers and includes vast portions of the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia extending as well into the states of Goiás PEDRO STRIKISOutcrop in a stone quarry in the Januária regionPEDRO STRIKIS ILLUSTRATION SANDRO CASTELLIIn the new study the researchers support the hypothesis that this shallow seaway covered not just the part of Brazilian territory having rocks of the Bambuí Group but vast portions of eastern South America western Africa and southern Antarctica (see map) “This sea linked the three continents and connected to the ocean,” says biologist Pedro Strikis of the Geosciences Institute at USP (IGc-USP) the shape of the reasonably stable rocky blocks that form the continental crust—which geologists call cratons—differed from their present-day configuration Africa and Antarctica were interconnected and formed part of Gondwana the southern supercontinent that held most of the landmasses now situated in the Southern Hemisphere Although there is still intense debate among Brazilian researchers as to precisely how and when all the pieces of Gondwana came together—whether it occurred 520 million or 620 million years ago—there is consensus on the view that most of South America was already connected to Africa and Antarctica around 550 million years ago The idea that there was a shallow sea that flooded large sections of Gondwana is principally based on the geographic distribution of the Cloudinas found in various parts of the world Fossil specimens have been obtained in places such as Namibia prior to the discovery of the specimens in northern Minas Gerais traces of these marine creatures had been recovered in Corumbá Measuring up to three centimeters in length Cloudinas are one of the first macroscopic marine animals to have a calcium carbonate-based exoskeleton they were initially thought to be annelids are usually classified as members of the Cnidaria Their habitat was the carbon dioxide-rich floor of shallow seas at a depth where light can pass through the water which are fine layers of cyanobacteria that derive their energy from photosynthesis In some cases these mats are associated with the formation of calcareous rocks that can produce formations called stromatolites (if their layers are visible) or thrombolites (when the layers have a clotted appearance) LUCAS WARRENFossil fragments of Cloudinas: vestiges of marine life from 550 million years ago in Januária LUCAS WARREN The fragments of Cloudina specimens are considered guide fossils this means that they are a type of record found in several places on Earth but whose occurrence is limited to a well-defined period of time guide fossils are used throughout the world to correlate and date geological layers and the depositional environment associated with them Cloudinas occur only in sedimentary rocks of marine origin that were deposited onto the Earth’s crust between 550 million and 542 million years ago at the end of the geological period known as the Ediacaran immediately prior to the beginning of the Cambrian when marine invertebrates with biomineralized carapaces diversified over a short period of time Cloudinas have a fragile carapace that contains a small amount of calcium carbonate and wouldn’t be able to “survive” vigorous transport or the continuous action of running water,” says paleontologist Marcello Guimarães Simões of the Botucatu Biosciences Institute (IB) at Unesp they were autochthonous or parautocthonous.” For this reason the fossils of these animals are thought to have originated at the sites where they were found That particular feature reinforces the idea that a shallow sea did indeed once cover the places where these fossils were found Since the Cloudina sites were part of cratons roughly contiguous with what is believed to be Gondwana some 550 million years ago it is reasonable to assume that this ancient shallow sea connected South America and Africa LUCAS WARRENTraces of a soft-bodied animalLUCAS WARREN “Finding animal fossils in Januária was a pleasant surprise and it virtually ends the debate about the age of the Bambuí Group,” Pimentel says Geologist Claudio Riccomini of IGc-USP thinks along the same lines “The discovery of Cloudinas as well as fragments of Corumbellas definitively answers the question of the age of the Bambuí Group at least with the current state of knowledge,” says Riccomini another co-author of the article on the new marine fossils it is important to confirm whether the Bambuí Group shows the same age in different parts of its watershed and to ascertain the relationships between the rocks of the Sete Lagoas Formation and the glacial deposits that lie beneath them.” PEDRO STRIKISCalcareous formations in a cave in the Januária regionPEDRO STRIKIS Experts generally agree on the importance of the Januária fossils for establishing a more precise chronology of the Bambuí Group and developing the hypothesis that significant portions of South America Africa and Antarctica were covered by a shallow sea about 550 million years ago But discovery of the Cloudinas in northern Minas Gerais intensifies the debate around a fundamental question: a little over half a billion years ago had the southern supercontinent Gondwana already been completely formed have aligned into two groups with different views Each current of thought is based on different types of data such as rock dating and information on paleomagnetism which help determine where the cratons of Gondwana must have been during a given period and how they moved and interacted on the earthly globe over time The authors of the paper on the Januária fossils support the hypothesis that Gondwana particularly its western section (which today includes South America) was not yet fully formed at the time when Cloudinas and Corumbellas lived that formed the supercontinent were already joined but one of them—the large Amazonia craton—was already separate from the others around 550 million years ago given the name Clymene in 2006 by geologist Ricardo Trindade of the Institute of Astronomy Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences of USP (IAG-USP) is thought to have separated most of Gondwana from the Amazonia craton the Clymene was likely the source of the saltwater that created the shallow sea over a significant portion of the land masses of the nascent Gondwana in the time of the Cloudinas Only around 520 million years ago did the ocean close completing the assembly of the jigsaw puzzle of the southern supercontinent “The formation of western Gondwana is more complex and it happened later than was thought,” Trindade says LUCAS WARRENMarks from small waves: evidence of an ancient shallow sea in northern Minas GeraisLUCAS WARREN In the opinion of geologist Umberto Cordani of IGc-USP the waters of the shallow sea that probably covered part of South America and Africa in the late Ediacaran cannot have come from the Clymene Márcio Pimentel of UnB and other researchers hold the more classic view on the establishment of Gondwana came together around 620 million years ago through the closing of a large ocean that separated the Congo and Saara cratons from the continental blocks of Amazonia and western Africa South America and Africa had no internal oceans The small marine animals that have now been found in Minas Gerais and in other Gondwana sites are thought to have populated a vast shallow interior sea that stretched over a continental lithosphere (crust) “There is no geological evidence of an oceanic lithosphere in central Brazil during the Ediacaran or Cambrian period that could be associated with the possible existence of the Clymene,” Cordani says The two groups with differing views on the formation of Gondwana have amicably published articles and comments questioning data and interpretations of colleagues who do not share their position The discovery of the marine fossils in northern Minas Gerais—which for some serves as evidence that the Clymene Ocean covered South America and Africa—is one more ingredient to fuel the debate Scientific article WARREN, L.V et al. The puzzle assembled: Ediacaran guide fossil Cloudina reveals an old proto-Gondwana seaway © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved Por um futuro em que as pessoas vivam em harmonia com a natureza Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. 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Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience The page which you are looking for does not exist galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book If you have any queries about this error, try emailing feedback@mirror.co.uk and we'll do what we can to help you Novelas / André Dias interpreta Groa em Segundo Sol: gringo descobrirá que vilã é capaz de matar Groa (André Dias) já sabe que Laureta (Adriana Esteves) é uma vilã da pior espécie que armou para destruir a vida de Luzia (Giovanna Antonelli) Mas o gringo ainda descobrirá que a cafetina é capaz até de matar em Segundo Sol Ele irá até Boiporã para se encontrar com Januária (Zeca de Abreu) que decidirá abrir o jogo sobre o roubo de bebê e por pouco não flagrará a agenciadora de garotos de programa aplicando uma injeção letal na parteira que resolvi abrir agora porque estou sendo ameaçada" Groa recomendará à parteira que vá para a casa de uma amiga Madalena (nome da atriz não foi informado) e dirá que está indo imediatamente para a ilha onde viveu no passado Ela encontrará o esconderijo de Januária ao reconhecer os cachorros da ex-cúmplice atriz que faz Sofia vira protagonista de Dona de Mim no 1º teste Samuel se irrita ao descobrir o que Davi quer com Leo em Dona de Mim: 'Assédio' A cafetina fará Januária desmaiar ao colocar um lenço com clorofórmio na boca dela que pegará uma seringa em sua bolsa e a aplicará sob a unha de um dedo da parteira A senhora daqui a pouco vai encontrar com Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo" e Laureta fugirá desesperada pelos fundos ao ouvir o barulho do veículo e a cúmplice de Karola escapará com liberdade que informará que Januária teve um ataque cardíaco "Ela se escondeu na minha casa porque tava com medo de uma dona aí Groa deduzirá que se trata de Laureta e logo ligará os pontos Laureta tem um jeito de matar que não deixa vestígios" "Oxi, Groa. Será que vão vir atrás de mim?", questionará Madalena, preocupada. "Fique tranquila, Dona Madalena, a senhora não sabe de nada, não tem o que temer", a acalmará Groa, que voltará a Salvador para contar o que descobriu a Luzia A ex-marisqueira ficará em choque com a notícia. "Meu Deus! Essa diaba tem um jeito de matar que não deixa pistas. Que será que essa mulher ia te dizer sobre meu passado em Boiporã? Ela é que estava comigo quando eu perdi o bebê. Que segredo é esse que Laureta e Karola não querem que venha à tona Groa falará que pode ser outra coisa. "O bebê não morreu. Viveu! Está vivo! Meu Deus do céu, será que esse bebê tá vivo? Que elas venderam essa criança, deram pra alguém criar...", refletirá Luzia. 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