The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, stated this Sunday that “Spain is going from strength to strength” in employment and social and territorial cohesion and has promised a new increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) this year. At the closing of the 15th congress of the PSOE of Extremadura, in which Miguel Ángel Gallardo revalidated his position as general secretary, Sánchez focused his speech on boosting the economy in the face of an…
When more than 3.5 million Syrian students took exams this week, the first since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, they didn’t have to answer questions on “Syrian nationalism” anymore. The transitional education minister, Nazir al-Qadri, annulled the exam subject on short notice. The subject was based in large part on the glorification of Assad and his regime. “For my older son this was good news, but for us, it rang a lot of [alarm] bells. We’ll…
Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Josip Dabro resigned on Saturday after a video surfaced of him firing a gun out of a moving car. The Croatian Deputy was left with no choice after his actions disgraced his party. Dabro was also agriculture minister in the Cabinet of conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. What do we know about the video? The video, seemingly taken at night, showed Dabro laughing while shooting a handgun out of an open…
The vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, assured this Saturday that she has “no concern” about Junts’ announcement that it is breaking sectoral negotiations with the Government and has defended the need to “take care of the legislative block.” No concern about the breakdown of negotiations with Junts In statements to the media before attending the showings of the short films ‘Cafuné’ and ‘Semillas de Kivu’, Díaz insisted on the need to “dialogue…
Why is the Panama flag so popular among shipowners? is it as obvious as you think. Almost at the same time as an operation to secure the Eventin oil tanker stranded off Germany’s coast, another tanker — called Jazz — that had set sail from Russia reported problems in the Baltic Sea near Rügen, Germany’s biggest island. According to agency reports, the crew was able to resolve the problems linked to the engine failure it…
Tens of thousands of Serbians, led by university students, on Friday protested outside Serbia’s state television headquarters in the capital, Belgrade, to call for objective reporting. The students condemned what they called pro-government bias and smear campaigns against them on the public broadcaster Radio Television Serbia and demanded objective coverage of the protests. They say the state television is reporting President Aleksandar Vucic’s claims that the students were funded by foreign secret services to topple his government. What…
The governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, has vindicated this Friday the work of central banks in an increasingly complex world. In a conference with Agustín Carstens, director of the Bank for International Settlements (the central bank of central banks), and Mário Centeno, governor of the Bank of Portugal and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), Escrivá put the focus on how difficult it is to set…
Senior United Nations officials met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss a $3.32 billion humanitarian support package aimed at aiding millions affected by the ongoing war with Russia.
Fifteen months after a Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel triggered the unprecedented Israeli bombardment and ground campaign that has laid waste to Gaza, a way out of the conflict may be in sight. The human cost has been devastating: a Palestinian death toll close to 45,000, according to local authorities; more than 1,000 Israeli fatalities from the October 7, 2023, assault. The EU watched from the sidelines as the US, Egypt and Qatar mediated…
Spain’s real estate market is experiencing a major boom. In the first nine months of the year, property prices rose by an average of 9%, according to the House Price Index from the INE statistics agency. Average prices have doubled over the past decade, marking a much-welcome recovery following the banking and real estate collapse during the 2008/9 financial crisis. That downturn was fueled by years of overbuilding and property speculation, ultimately forcing Spain to seek a…
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…
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