Author: News Desk

A court in France on Friday, December 13, jailed three rugby players formerly with French side Grenoble for 12 to 14 years over the 2017 gang rape of a student. It sentenced Irishman Denis Coulson, 30, and Frenchman Loick Jammes, 30, to 14 years behind bars, and New Zealander Rory Grice, 34, to 12 years in jail. It handed four years in jail, including two suspended, to ex-Ireland international 31-year-old Chris Farrel over failure to prevent the crime. New Zealander Dylan Hayes, 30, received a two-year suspended sentence, also for not intervening to stop it. In the small hours of…

Signage is seen outside the Moody’s Corporation headquarters in Manhattan, New York on November 12, 2021. ANDREW KELLY / REUTERS Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded France’s credit rating Saturday, December 13, to Aa3 with a stable outlook, following months of political crisis and the appointment of centrist Francois Bayrou as prime minister. Moody’s cited France’s “political fragmentation” in its decision, which comes after parliament ousted Michel Barnier’s government in a historic no-confidence vote following a standoff over an austerity budget. “The decision to downgrade France’s ratings to Aa3 reflects our view that France’s public finances will be substantially weakened by the…

Bolaños asks the PP to “put the interests of the citizens first” in the Conference of PresidentsThe Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, has described as “good news at the beginning” that the Conference of Presidents will be held in Santander and has expressed his hope that the Popular Party (PP) “will put the interests of citizens” at the meeting, opening up to agreements on immigration and housing.“I hope that the Popular Party and its presidents put the interests of the citizens first and, therefore, we can reach agreements on immigration and housing, because…

The President of the Government proposes a system that limits the fiscal autonomy of the autonomous communities and challenges Madrid Read Sánchez makes the new financing subject to ending the ‘Ayuso model’

USA.jpg” />What’s that buzz in New Jersey? It’s unclear whether they’re drones or something else, but what’s certain is that the nighttime sightings are generating a lot of conversation, a slew of conspiracy theories, and craned necks.The rumor of the drones spotted over New Jersey reached incredible proportions on local news and social media around Thanksgiving.This week, a new, highly publicized chapter in the saga began: Lawmakers are demanding explanations from federal and state authorities about the background to the drones. Gov. Phil Murphy wrote to President Joe Biden asking for answers. New Jersey Senator Andy Kim spent Thursday night…

The “King of Pop” even allegedly raps in one song: Cassettes with unknown recordings by Michael Jackson have appeared in California. But fans shouldn’t get their hopes too high. Michael Jackson: Ex-policeman owns unreleased songs by the pop star

UK’s economy shrinks unexpectedly by 0.1% in October Britain’s economy shrank by 0.1% in October, underlining the scale of Labour’s challenge to get the economy growing. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the unexpected fall in GDP was driven by declines in construction and production, while the dominant services sector stagnated. Economists, polled by Reuters, had expected the economy to grow by 0.1%. It follows a decline of 0.1% in September and sluggish growth of 0.1% in the third quarter of the year, according to figures last month. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/13/uk-economy-october-gdp

Prince Andrew friend loses appeal on UK ban over national security A Chinese businessman described as a “close confidant” of the Duke of York has lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds. The man, known only as H6, brought a case to the special immigration appeals commission (SIAC) after the then-home secretary, Suella Braverman, said he should be excluded from the UK in March 2023. Judges were told that in a briefing for the home secretary in July 2023, officials claimed H6 had been in a position to generate relationships…

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have discovered their 2026 World Cup qualifying opponents following Friday’s draw in Zurich. Home nations discover World Cup qualifying opponents England, under new manager Thomas Tuchel, will face Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra. Wales will meet familiar foes Belgium, plus North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein. Scotland will play Greece, Belarus and the loser of the Portugal v Denmark Nations League quarter-final. Northern Ireland are up against Slovakia, Luxembourg and the winner of the Germany v Italy Nations League game. The games will be played across five international breaks between March and November 2025. The…

The number of new companies rose 28.8% in October compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching a total of 10,679 companies, this being its highest figure for the month of October since 2006, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). With the year-on-year rebound in October, the creation of commercial companies has seen four consecutive months of increases, although that of the tenth month of the year has been much more pronounced than that of September (+19.3%), July (+17%) and August (+3.9%). For the creation of the 10,679 companies created in October, more…