Author: News Desk

On Wednesday, December 18, the Cour de Cassation, France’s highest court of appeals, upheld the sentence to which former president Nicolas Sarkozy had been condemned – a three-year jail term, two of which would be suspended and one that would take the form of home detention with an electronic tag allowing his movements to be monitored – in the “Paul Bismuth” corruption case. He was found guilty of having tried to obtain secret information about another case concerning him from a magistrate at the Cour de Cassation. This decision comes as part of a long litany of judicial cases implicating…

French President Emmanuel Macron extended his visit to cyclone-devastated Mayotte on Friday, December 19, after angry residents vented exasperation and despair over the scale of the disaster. Locals jeered and shouted their grievances Thursday during Macron’s visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, five days after Cyclone Chido left a trail of destruction in its wake. “I decided to sleep here because I considered that given what the population is going through,” leaving the same day could have “installed the idea that we come, we look, we leave,” he told reporters late Thursday. “It is a mark of respect, of consideration.”…

García Ortiz allowed key WhatsApp messages to be deleted about the data leak of Ayuso’s partner, who had already announced actions, which would recommend having kept them if they were exculpatory Read The deletion of the mobile phone reinforces the evidence against the attorney general

In Brussels, Olaf Scholz complains about Austria’s refugee policy in the Syria crisis. The Chancellor is warning America’s future president against going it alone. But it is not an EU summit that will decide on the Ukraine war, but rather Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – soon.It was 10:06 p.m. in the German press room 20.4 in the Justus Lipsius building in the middle of Brussels’ European Quarter when Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed Austria’s Prime Minister Karl Nehammer – without even mentioning his name. The demands for Syrian refugees to return to their home country at this point in time…

A European arrest warrant is being sought for a Polish former minister on suspicion of corruption. Hungary would also have to implement this – but the man received asylum there. Warsaw sees this as a “hostile act.” Former deputy minister Marcin Romanowski, wanted by Poland, receives asylum in Hungary

The United Arab Emirates promised the US it will not arm Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, said US lawmakers on Thursday, as the civil war in the country continues to foster one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, placing millions on the verge of famine. UAE tells US it is 'not now' transferring arms to Sudan paramilitaries

  As the moon rises over Avignon’s city walls, the night before the verdicts are announced, it is just high enough to illuminate the banner a small group of feminist activists has put up in a cloak-and-dagger operation. The banner reads: “Thank you, Gisele.” The next morning, it is the first thing the lawyers, journalists, family members, and the 51 men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot see as they enter the court building. It is still dark at 07 a.m., but already there is a long line of people waiting outside. Over the past four months, France and the whole world…

In a decisive move to enhance transparency and accountability within the European Union, the European Parliament has elected Teresa Anjinho as the new European Ombudsman for the 2025-2029 term. Anjinho, a distinguished Portuguese lawyer and former Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal, succeeds Emily O’Reilly, who has held the position since 2013. A Competitive Selection Process The election, held during the December plenary session in Strasbourg, followed a rigorous selection process. The Committee on Petitions (PETI) conducted public hearings on December 3, 2024, where six candidates presented their visions for the Ombudsman‘s role. The candidates included: Teresa Anjinho (Portugal): Former Deputy Portuguese…

A raft of new peers are set to be announced, with numbers expected to be boosted on Labour’s benches in the House of Lords.Partygate investigator and Sir Keir’s ex-chief of staff Sue Gray is reportedly among the Labour figures set to be elevated to the Lords this week.The Sun newspaper reported that Ms Gray could be among 30 new Labour peers appointed.She came to prominence in 2022 with the report into Downing Street parties, and then became Sir Keir’s chief of staff in opposition before following him into Number 10.She quit the role in October after a series of internal…

The Wisconsin 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow pupil was in her first term at the school but seemed to be settling in, a school official said.Abundant Life Christian School (ACLS) student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison, and teacher Erin West, 42, of DeForest, were killed on Monday.Two other pupils who were shot remained in hospital on Thursday in a critical condition.Families of the victims remembered them as people of faith who had deep connections within the Christian school.Barbara Wiers, the school’s director for elementary and communications, said the attack lasted eight minutes and the…