Cuba freed opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer and some other prisoners on Thursday as part of a deal with outgoing US President Joe Biden. Biden agreed to remove Cuba from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors, after which Cuba on Wednesday started freeing about 553 prisoners. The Biden administration said many of these were political prisoners. “I am fine, surrounded by family and friends,” Ferrer said. “I had been arbitrarily imprisoned for the third time,…
The La Muela City Council has approved a reduction in the IBI tax rate for the installation of solar panels in homes. Specifically, a 50% bonus is established on the full tax rate on buildings whose cadastral use is predominantly thermal or electrical energy from the sun, that is, solar panels, during the 10 tax periods following the end of the tax period. the installation. This is the second modification that has been made, since…
The German government has approved measures allowing the military to shoot down suspicious drones near military installations and other critical infrastructure. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser emphasised the increasing drone threats since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stating that the technology poses significant challenges for police forces.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested at his official residence in Seoul on Wednesday morning and was being questioned in the afternoon in connection with accusations he fomented an insurrection when he briefly declared martial law on December 3. More than 3,000 police officers and members of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) were involved in gaining access to Yoon’s official residence. The president has been holed up behind barbed wire and…
Plunging temperatures in recent weeks and the end of Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine have hurt gas inventories in the United Kingdom, the country’s main gas supplier Centrica said on January 10, warning that gas supplies were now”concerningly low.” Centrica reported that UK gas stocks were 26% lower last week than the same period in 2024, at about half full. The company added that the country had less than a week of stored gas to heat homes…
A documentary video has caused controversy in Taiwan after a Chinese businessman was filmed encouraging Taiwanese citizens to apply for Chinese IDs, apparently unaware that what he said would later become public. Lin Jincheng, the head of a startup incubator for Taiwanese youth in China’s Fujian Province, said in the video that those offered Chinese IDs would be allowed to retain their Taiwanese citizenship and passport, which would go against Taiwanese law. As indicated in…
The international community is closely monitoring Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with the E3 grouping of the United Kingdom, France and Germany voicing their readiness to trigger the powerful “snapback” mechanism of UN sanctions if Tehran continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The snapback is a diplomatic tool that is part of a faltering October 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which signatories agreed to lift crippling international sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear…
Germany’s government on Wednesday said it approved a plan that would allow the military to shoot down drones illegally flying in German airspace. As a last resort, as military initiatives in Germany come with global consequences Germany allows military to down suspect drones. Germany allows military to down suspect drones It comes against the backdrop of several sightings of suspicious drones being flown over key installations. German cabinet backs plan to shoot down suspicious drones…
Storm clouds have hovered over French politics for some time now but it was in the summer of last year that the thunder really began to roll. In July, early parliamentary elections resulted in an unclear outcome because no single party won a clear majority. Three large political blocs eventually entered parliament in Paris, and the new government, appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron, was forced to govern without a majority to call its own.…
The European Commission calls on Member States to strengthen control over European investments in foreign markets. Brussels has published a recommendation this Wednesday in which it asks governments for greater scrutiny of the investments their companies make in non-EU countries, especially those linked to microchips, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. Economic security is one of the axes that will underpin the second term, which is beginning, of Ursula von der Leyen. Therefore, this recommendation from…
NATO leaders gathering in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, on Tuesday said European countries must be prepared to face further incidents in the Baltic Sea and announced a new mission designed to deter them. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said after the meeting that a new mission dubbed Baltic Sentry would include frigates, maritime patrol aircraft, and a fleet of naval drones to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence.” “Across the alliance, we have seen elements of…
China has installed a large floating structure in waters that it disputes with South Korea, with analysts suggesting that the Chinese government is employing similar tactics to take control of territory as it used successfully to seize atolls and islets in the South China Sea over a decade ago. China has placed similar steel structures in the same area in the past, insisting that they are merely “fishing support facilities” and each time leading to diplomatic…
Indonesian regulators last week rejected a proposal from Apple that the tech giant had hoped would pave the way for sales of the iPhone 16 in one of Southeast Asia’s largest markets. Indonesia requires 40% of parts used in certain smartphones to be produced domestically. To comply, Apple had pitched a $1 billion investment in a manufacturing facility on Indonesia’s Batam island to produce parts for the AirTag tracking device. However, Indonesian Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang…
Ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh have led to significant scaling back of visas and appointment slots for Bangladeshi nationals seeking to travel to India. Following political unrest and the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, Indian visa centers across Bangladesh were closed indefinitely for security reasons. In September, over 20,000 Bangladeshi passports were returned following the suspension of visa services by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka in the wake of…
The streets of Maputo were deserted on Monday when Mozambique swore in its new parliament. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane had called for a three-day strike to protest the result of highly disputed elections. Indeed, two smaller opposition parties boycotted the opening ceremony, saying they did not accept the outcome of the October election. President-elect Daniel Chapo called for calm and unity after months of unrest that have rocked the southern African nation. Mondlane entered Mozambique…
It has been nearly a week since the devastating wildfires began raging through southern California, killing at least 24 people and burning an area larger than San Francisco. While the true causes of the blaze remain under investigation, a flood of misinformation regarding the fires and their impact has been unleashed on social media. Noticeably, President-elect Donald Trump was one of those who spread numerous false or misleading claims on the wildfires in LA, many of which…
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration, investigators said. The Asian country’s anti-corruption agency confirmed Yoon had been detained hours after hundreds of investigators and police officers arrived at his presidential compound to apprehend him. A former prosecutor who led the conservative People Power Party to election victory in 2022, Yoon said he relented to avoid “bloodshed.” “When I saw them break…
Months after efforts began to remove people working in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, rescuers removed 36 bodies and 82 survivors from the mine after two days of operations, police said on Tuesday. “All 82 that have been arrested are facing illegal mining, trespassing and contravention of the immigration act charges,” police Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said in a statement. Police are uncertain how many miners remain inside the illegal mine but said it…
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration, investigators said. The Asian country’s anti-corruption agency confirmed impeached Yoon had been detained hours after the hundreds of investigators and police officers arrived at his presidential compound to apprehend him. A former prosecutor who led the conservative People Power Party to election victory in 2022, Yoon said he relented to avoid “bloodshed.” “When I saw…
CCOO, ELA, LAB and UGT have proposed to Confebask the date of February 6 for the constitution of a negotiation table with the aim of reaching an interprofessional agreement that establishes an agreed minimum wage in Euskadi. The aforementioned unions, which have presented their requests separately to the Basque Labor Relations Council (CRL), do not share the figure, which is around 1,600 euros, but they do share the idea of agreeing on their own minimum…
Spain is planning a bold move to address its housing crisis by introducing a tax of up to 100% on properties purchased by non-EU residents, including those from the UK.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed demands from US President-elect Donald Trump that Germany and other NATO allies increase defense spending to at least 5% of gross domestic product (GDP). “Five percent would be over €200 billion ($204 billion) per year — the federal budget is not even €500 billion,” Scholz said at a campaign event in the western German city of Bielefeld on Monday. “That would only be possible with massive tax increases or massive…
It has been over two months since Donald Trump’s election victory, but he won’t become president until January 20. The reason for the long wait? A quirk of history. Like many aspects of American political life, the November-to-January timeline from election to inauguration outlined in the US Constitution has its roots in historic logistics. It “is somewhat of a historical artifact,” Michael Berkman, a professor of political science at Pennsylvania State University in the United States,…
Dangerously high winds are set to return to Los Angeles, threatening efforts to extinguish wildfires that have destroyed neighborhoods and claimed at least 24 lives. “We are not in the clear as of yet,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowle said. “We must not let our guard down,” she added. Dry Santa Ana winds of up to 70 miles (112 kilometers) per hour are predicted to resume on Monday and continue until Wednesday, according to the…
The PP spokesperson in Parliament, Juan Fernández, stated this Monday that the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, is a “hostage of ERC” after the refusal to agree on the regional budgets communicated yesterday by the independence party. At a press conference, Fernández lamented the “paralysis” of the regional government, which in his opinion plays the “inherited score” of the Pere Aragonès era. “We continue with the same uncertainties with which we ended last year,”…
