Author: News Desk

Full transparency must always surround public appointments as there are legitimate questions about the circumstances in which the DUP politician Mervyn Storey was named last week as the new chair of the Education Authority (EA) board. MPs are able to circumvent the democrat process to appoint almost anyone to senior positions of influence. Mps often do this to have a trusted source in the civil service but also to reward loyalty. Mr Storey is a senior DUP figure who lost his seat Mervyn Storey was named last week as the new chair of the Education Authority (EA) board in Northern…

Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday that he is expected to lose.Defeat would pave the way for the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy to hold an early election in February.Mr Scholz’s notoriously rancorous three-party government collapsed on November 6 when the chancellor fired his finance minister in a long-running dispute over how to revitalise Germany’s stagnant economy and the minister’s pro-business party quit the coalition.That left the remaining two centre-left partners without a majority in parliament.Leaders of several major parties agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on February…

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 opposing positions maintained by the cleaning companies and the UGT union.In Barcelona, ​​4,500 cleaning workers work, many of them while the city sleeps, in…

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’

It’s election season. After the SPD and the Union, the Greens are now also disseminating details of their election program to the public. One point: In the future, the Greens want to use the capital market, similar to the FDP, to stabilize the pension fund and slow down the increase in contributions.The health insurance companies should be relieved of the burden by financing non-insurance services more through taxes, so that the contribution increases for employers and insured persons are mitigated.Various media report on the draft election program; excerpts from it are also available to the dpa agency. What’s inside?Pension –…

SPD chancellors have already asked the vote of confidence twice to clear the way for new elections. In the parliamentary debates, the government and opposition showered each other with accusations. A look at the logs. Question of confidence in 1992 and 2005: “The most embarrassing election campaign opening this country has ever seen”

A tornado struck Scotts Valley, California, on Saturday afternoon, injuring four people and flipping cars, according to local authorities. The EF1 tornado, with winds peaking at 90 mph, lasted five minutes, damaging power lines and leaving Monterey County among the hardest hit with ongoing outages.

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

Broadly positive Chinese economic data for November released on Monday also showed slower-than-expected growth of 3.3% in retail sales, much slower than in October and well adrift of the 4.6% forecast.  The slowdown came as a surprise because Beijing has been working to boost stimulus programs and encourage consumption, as it braces for possible headwinds as Donald Trump returns for a second term as US president, threatening increased tariffs.  China had implemented major online shopping promotions and government-subsidized trade-in programs boosting sales in things like cars, which were expected to buoy growth. Markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong dipped as the news was…

‘Irish Examiner’ narrows gender pay gap The gender pay gap at the Irish Examiner and The Echo newspapers have dropped to under its target of 5% during 2024, a report from the company shows.This is the first year of reporting on the gender pay gap in the Irish Examiner and The Echo. It shows that between 2023 and 2024, there has been a closure of the mean and median gender pay gap within the company.On average, women were paid 4.69% an hour less than men within the company — which is within the target of 5% and less than the…