Author: News Desk

Guardian and Observer charity appeal raises more than £250,000 Readers reach donation milestone before Saturday telethon, securing money to help families in Gaza and Ukraine• Donate to our charity appeal hereMore than £250,000 for charities supporting families hit by war and violence in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere has been raised by Guardian and Observer readers less than a week after the appeal launched.The milestone was achieved before the annual fundraising telethon on Saturday 14 December. Journalists who will be on hand to take donations over the phone include Polly Toynbee, John Crace, Marina Hyde and Zoe Williams. Continue reading… Guardian…

The Stupor mundi, the one “who shone on the people” – as his son Conrad IV remembered him – died forever on 13 December 1250. Many have seen Frederick II of Swabia as the first modern sovereign, who endowed the South with a efficient administration and a coherent body of laws. Highly cultured (he spoke six languages) and refined, among other things he built Castel del Monte, in Puglia, and transformed the court of Palermo into a center of culture and art that had no equal in Europe at the time. He always had to fight against his bitter enemy,…

Protests initially broke out against a contested parliamentary election in October which the opposition accused the Georgian Dream of rigging but they took on a new dimension after the decision last Thursday to put EU accession talks on hold until 2028. ADVERTISEMENTA delegation from the European Parliament has visited Georgia and marched with pro-EU protesters with demonstrations against the government’s decision to suspend accession talks now in a second week.The six MEPs also met with Georgia’s pro-Western president Salome Zourabichvili, as well as representatives of the opposition, civil society groups and the media. The six members of the delegation were…

An investigation will take place after reports a member of Buckingham Palace staff was arrested after a Christmas party, according to a Palace spokesperson. The spokesperson said “appropriate action” would be taken after the Palace was made aware of the incident. The Sun reported a female member of staff was arrested at a bar in Victoria on Tuesday. A Palace spokesperson told the BBC: “We are aware of an incident outside the workplace involving a number of Household staff who had previously attended an early evening reception at the Palace. “While this was an informal social gathering, not an official…

University College Cork (UCC) looks set to record a €7m surplus less than a year after it posted an €8m deficit.Details of the remarkable financial turnaround were outlined to university staff at a town-hall style briefing by UCC president Professor John O’Halloran on Thursday.A cost cutting plan, an unexpected increase in income, and the government’s budget announcement of multi-annual funding for universities all contributed to the turnaround.In a statement, UCC confirmed that staff were informed of draft financial results “which indicate that the university has returned to a surplus” for the financial year to September 2024. Staff were told the draft…

José Luis Ábalos worked hard this Thursday in the Supreme Court to disassociate himself from the possible irregularities committed by his former advisor in the Ministry of Transportation, Koldo García, and the businessman Víctor de Aldama. The former socialist leader, currently a deputy for the Mixed Group, denied before the judge that he had collected cash or any type of compensation from companies supposedly favored by public contracts, accusations that Aldama has borne as proof of his commitment to collaborate with justice. The businessman’s legal strategy will be put to the test next Monday, when he is summoned to testify…

The leak of the reproach to Felipe VI for not going to Notre Dame when he had already begun his state visit to Giorgia Meloni’s Italy, a way of telling him that here no one jumps over the wall. Read The Kings in Italy and the ‘vendetta’ of Paiporta

Today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Ankara to discuss the situation in Syria with his Turkish counterpart. The G-7 states also discuss. See this and other news on WELT TV.© Axel Springer Germany GmbH. All rights reserved. Now live: Change of power in Syria – Flashing to talks in Ankara – All developments – Video

CSU boss Markus Söder plays Franz-Josef Strauss. Donald Trump plans pardons for the Capitol stormers. And: Europe is in the doldrums. This is the situation on Friday morning. News: Markus Söder, Donald Trump, ECB

Homes plan at ex-private school site in Bangor given green light The ‘impressive’ Grade II listed building will now house nine residential units https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/homes-plan-ex-private-school-30572458