French mass rape trial adjourns ahead of verdict set for Thursday The trial of a French man and dozens of strangers who he enlisted to rape his heavily-sedated wife adjourned, on Monday, December 16, for deliberations, ahead of a verdict later this week, the presiding judge said. “We will head to the deliberation chamber and will not leave until we have made our decision,” Roger Arata told the court, saying the delivery of the verdict…
Pelicot rape trial: Time for humility There were just a few more words left. The last ones from the 50 defendants – the 51st is on the run – who were due to take the microphone one after the other on Monday, December 16. Then there will be silence and waiting. The five judges of the criminal courtin Avignon have given themselves until Thursday or Friday at the latest to deliberate and deliver their…
The organic battle of the PSOE of Aragón intensifies as we wait for Pilar Alegría to fulfill the predictions and formally apply to succeed Javier Lambán and become the first general secretary of the federation. The Government spokesperson and Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, who is finalizing her candidacy, does not have the support of the former regional president (2015-2023) and territorial leader of the socialists since 2012. Lambán’s argument, which will not…
After nine thirty in the morning, businessman Víctor de Aldama arrived at the Supreme Court this Monday with a black folder under his arm. He entered the judicial headquarters without making statements, prepared for three hours of exhaustive interrogation where he once again shot at the former all-powerful minister within the Government and the PSOE: the investigated José Luis Ábalos.But Aldama not only incriminated Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo Garc Become Premium from €1…
A devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu’s main island, Efate, severely damaging Port Vila and crushing the ground floor of a building containing US and French embassies. Casualties and extensive destruction were reported, including visible bodies in the streets, as per the US Geological Survey and eyewitness accounts. Powerful earthquake hits Pacific island of Vanuatu, bodies seen in street
French prosecutors on Monday, December 16, sought jail terms of between one and 16 years for eight people on trial over the 2020 beheading of a school teacher by an Islamist radical that shocked France. The harshest sentence was reserved for a defendant accused of joining a terrorist enterprise helping to prepare the murder of Samuel Paty, after the teacher showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in class. Charges of “complicity in terrorist murder” against…
The Cinémathèque française, Paris, February 15, 2013. JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP There was no screening as planned of Last Tango in Paris (1972), by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci (1941-2018), on Sunday, December 15, at La Cinémathèque Française. The cinema establishment in Paris, which had scheduled it as part of a retrospective devoted to American actor Marlon Brando (1924-2004), canceled the screening the night before. The lack of mediation around the film, which shows a rape scene shot…
The solidity of the majority that has supported Pedro Sánchez in the last year will undergo a new test this Tuesday. The left’s proposal to limit temporary rentals of homes and rooms returns to the plenary session of Congress this Tuesday, after having caused an uncomfortable episode for the Government last September, when Junts decided at the last minute to vote against it and force its rejection. The text has been retouched to attract the…
The businessman in the plot expands the names of members of the Sánchez Government and politicians who, according to his testimony, contacted the corrupt network. Read Reyes Maroto joins the "influence peddling": five designated ministers and Ábalos "spoke with Armengol directly"
TikTok petitioned the US Supreme Court to halt a law mandating its Chinese parent, ByteDance, to divest or close the app by January 19. This appeal coincided with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s meeting with President-elect Trump, who expressed interest in reviewing the app despite the law signed by President Biden. TikTok asks US Supreme Court to temporarily block law that could ban popular app
Teenager kills at least two people at Wisconsin school as another school shooting shook American society on Monday evening. According to initial reports, the shooter killed two people at a school in Madison, the capital of the Midwestern state of Wisconsin. Then he turned his weapon on himself. The number of victims was initially stated to be at least four, though later reduced to two, leaving six injured. Motive remains unknown at this time. Teenager…
The Comoros, on Monday, December 16, declared a national week of mourning after Cyclone Chido devastated the neighbouring French overseas department of Mayotte, where the authorities fear “several hundred” deaths, especially in shantytowns populated by many Comoran nationals. President Azali Assoumani said the mourning period would last until Sunday on the Indian Ocean islands, where a number of people have lost their lives and infrastructure has suffered “enormous” damage. Mayotte, a sister island in the…
The Perrier bottling plant in Vergèze, the site of the Bouillens spring LODI FRANCK/SIPA The most famous of sparkling water brands is under threat of losing its natural mineral water label, which it has held for more than a century. A confidential report from the Occitanie regional health agency (ARS), obtained by The World and Radio France’s investigative unit, leaves little room for any other outcome for Perrier. Completed in August, following an inspection carried…
No Madrid politician is fooled: this year, the many Christmas dinners and drinks organized by the parties throughout the region have strategic importance. For the PSOE, opened wide by the resignation of Juan Lobato, the holidays are the opportunity for his replacement as regional general secretary, Minister Óscar López, to heal wounds and make himself known: he will visit more than a dozen groups. For the PP, they are once again the ideal setting to…
Faced with an unforeseen surplus of medical supplies, Víctor de Aldama demanded that the advisor increase the amount of the order and the then minister endorsed the increase. Read "I’m left hanging with 4 million masks": the first explanation of how Ábalos doubled the order in 38 minutes
Syria’s rebel factions will be “disbanded,” the head of the group that led the ouster of Bashar al-Assad has pledged, as the former president denounced the country’s new rulers as “terrorists”. Syria’s Jolani says rebel factions will be ‘disbanded’ Syria’s rebel factions will be “disbanded,” the head of the group that led the ouster of Bashar al-Assad has pledged, as the former president denounced the country’s new rulers as “terrorists”. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani,…
Mass rape trial: 50 defendants make their final statements One last word each. After three and a half months, on the 64th day of the hearing, the defendants in the Pelicot rape trial had the floor one last time on Monday, December 16. These 50 men – a 51st defendant is currently on the run – answered a final question from the judge presiding the criminal court in Avignon, Roger Arata: “Do you have anything…
France’s central bank on Monday, December 16, downgraded its 2025 growth forecast to 0.9% from 1.2%, citing “increased uncertainty” for the economic outlook both at home and abroad. The bank also reduced its forecast for 2026 by 0.2 percentage points to 1.3% – a figure it also expects for 2027. The latest forecasts come two days after Moody’s downgraded France’s credit rating to Aa3 on the back of months of political crisis and a budget…
The leadership of the Madrid PP met this Monday at a wedding palace, Negralejo, on the Mejorada road, to celebrate their traditional Christmas dinner and remind themselves that they are “a big family”, an expression that they repeated no less than a dozen times. The first member to whom they gave a plaque of “recognition” for her work was, curiously, called Casado, but there is no evidence that she is related to the former leader…
Updated Tuesday, December 17, 2024 – 03:29The commission agent Victor de Aldama placed a dozen Spanish construction companies and a technological advisor for Correos in the murky field of commission payment, during his statement in the Supreme Court.The most relevant one that made a splash is the Acciona groupwhich is listed on the Ibex 35 and which, according to Aldama, “has a series of agreements for the Basque Country” related to the PSOE to obtain…
King Charles, 76, was all smiles today as he attended a church service in Wiltshire, wearing a 70-year-old overcoat that once belonged to his late father, Prince Philip. The outing comes amidst controversy surrounding Prince Andrew, who is at the center of a Chinese spy scandal. Watch the video on WTX News News Channel – King Charles brushes off Prince Andrew ’s Chinese spy scandal King Charles brushes off Prince Andrew ’s Chinese spy scandal…
The workers of Barcelona’s cleaning and garbage collection services have called a strike that will begin at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday the 22nd and will end at 10:00 p.m. on December 25th. Jaume Collboni’s government team has been mediating for days with the four companies that have subcontracted the city’s cleaning to prevent the image of these festivities from being that of an unhealthy Barcelona full of garbage. The threat is getting closer due to…
The PSOE spokesperson in Congress, Patxi López, accused the judges this week of acting with “political activism” Read The filing of a dozen complaints against Pedro Sánchez and his ministers in the Supreme Court dismantles the accusations of ‘lawfare’
Russia mounted a rescue effort Sunday after two oil tankers were wrecked in rough seas off Moscow-annexed Crimea and one broke apart, killing at least one sailor and causing an oil spill. Two criminal cases have been opened by Russian investigators. Oil spill near Black Sea after two Russian tankers seriously damaged in storm
This undated photo provided by NGO Medecins du Monde on Sunday, December 15, 2024, shows a devastated hill on the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after Cyclone Chido caused extensive damage with reports of several fatalities. AP There are fears of a heavy death toll in the French overseas territory of Mayotte after Cyclone Chido caused severe damage over the weekend. The French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said at least 11 people…
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