Dollar up and renewable energy stocks down, while shares in president-elect’s media business rise by more than a third
Wall Street and bitcoin rallied to fresh record highs and the dollar soared after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, while renewable energy stocks fell.
Trump was declared the winner on Wednesday morning after securing the 270 electoral votes needed to take the presidency.
Continue reading...With contradictory proposals unlikely to mesh, leaders to decide whether there is scope for alliance to continue
When, in 2021, Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats went into a “traffic light” coalition with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats, the new government was riding high on an enthusiastic spirit of cooperation.
There were promises to modernise, reinvigorate and green-proof Europe’s largest economy. Germany, the coalition partners said, had sleep-walked into a complacent state during 16 years of rule under Angela Merkel. The new trio in power would jolt the country out of its hubris, and deliver it into a new era of vigour and creative transformation. That, at least, was the idea.
Continue reading...Valencia authorities say search efforts continue as prime minister announces €10.6bn fund to help victims of disaster
At least 89 people remain missing after deadly floods in eastern Spain, regional judicial authorities in Valencia have confirmed, as the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he was earmarking €10.6bn (£8.9bn) to help victims.
The number includes only those who have been reported missing by family members who have also provided personal information and biological samples to allow for their identification, the superior court of justice of the Valencia region said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that there could be more cases of people who have disappeared whose details have not yet been registered.
Continue reading...Top Iranian officials previously referred to an execution when reacting to Jamshid Sharmahd’s death on 28 October
Iran has claimed that an Iranian-German duel national who had been sentenced to death died last week before his execution could be carried out.
“Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his execution was imminent, but he died before it could be carried out,” the judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters without elaborating. It is understood Tehran claims he suffered a stroke.
Continue reading...Experiment for a term prompted by research showing that sharing every result put added pressure on students
A secondary school in the Netherlands is blocking parental access to children’s grades for a term in an attempt to reduce the pressure on pupils to perform.
Like many countries, the Netherlands has a system under which students need a certain grade average to progress to the next year, but Jordan – Montessori Lyceum Utrecht found that a widely used app that shares every mark with parents was increasing stress among children.
Continue reading...Emilia Peréz and The Room Next Door are both up for honours in prizes regarded as Oscars bellwethers
A genre-bending musical about a trans cartel boss and a Spanish veteran director’s English-language debut lead the nominations for this year’s European Film Awards, with Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Peréz and Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door both up for honours in four categories.
The French and Spanish auteurs gained nominations for best film, best director and best screenwriter, the European Film Academy announced on Tuesday ahead of this year’s ceremony in the Swiss lakeside city of Lucerne on 7 December.
Continue reading...Three-month ‘educational phase’ begins for scheme it is hoped will reduce through-traffic and improve air quality
Paris authorities have begun limiting traffic in a large zone of the city centre, with police alerting drivers that they are now banned from driving through the French capital’s central four arrondissements and risk a fine if they do so after next spring.
The so-called “limited traffic zone” (ZTL), home to about 100,000 people and 11,000 businesses, is part of a broader push by the socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, to restrict traffic and encourage cycling and public transport use across the car-clogged city.
Continue reading...Danish politician Rasmus Paludan sentenced to four months for incitement against ethnic group
A far-right Danish-Swedish politician has been sentenced to prison on charges of incitement against an ethnic group for burning copies of the Qur’an and making offensive statements about Muslims.
Rasmus Paludan was the first person to go on trial in Sweden – and is now the first to be sentenced – for burning the Qur’an during an organised demonstration.
Continue reading...Publisher ‘profoundly sorry’ for hurt caused by Spirou and the Blue Gorgon as it recalls 30,000 copies from shops
A comic book has been withdrawn from sale by its Belgian publisher after an outcry over racist depictions of black people and “hyper-sexualised” images of women.
The publisher Dupuis announced that its graphic novel, Spirou and the Blue Gorgon, would be removed from shops after the book caused a storm on social media.
Continue reading...Election watchers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere will be tuning in – and some have a particular interest in the result
From Brazil to Ireland and Germany to the Caribbean, this year’s knife-edge – and more than usually momentous – US presidential vote will be watched at a multitude of election-night events, some with a particular interest in the outcome.
In St Ann Parish, Jamaica – and most particularly in Browns Town, where Harris’s father Donald was born and the Democratic candidate spent many happy childhood holidays – her supporters plan watch parties, drink-ups and other social gatherings.
Continue reading...Large majorities in seven countries condemn 7 October attacks – but most common view is Israel’s response in Gaza is also unjustified
Full-scale war in the Middle East involving Israel and Iran is now likely, most western Europeans responding in a poll believe, with many criticising Israel’s conduct thus far and saying that if such a war did occur, the US and Europe should not provide it with military aid.
A YouGov Eurotrack survey in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and the UK found that strong majorities in all seven countries, ranging from 65% in France to 82% in Spain, felt the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 were not justified.
Continue reading...Suspect DHL package bound for Britain that started fire in Leipzig possibly part of Russian plan to cause ‘mayhem’
An incendiary device hidden in a DHL package that caught fire in Germany in July was due to be sent by air to the UK as part of a suspected Russian sabotage plot that may also have been a dry run for a similar attack on the US and Canada.
The device, reported to have been secreted in shipments of massage pillows and erotic gadgets, started a fire on the ground in Leipzig that was feared to be capable of downing a plane – similar to a package that ignited at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham on 22 July.
Continue reading...Veen Bosch & Keuning, the largest publisher in the Netherlands, has confirmed plans to trial the use of artificial intelligence to assist in translation of commercial fiction
A major Dutch publisher plans to trial translating books into English using artificial intelligence.
Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) – the largest publisher in the Netherlands, acquired by Simon & Schuster earlier this year – is “using AI to assist in the translation of a limited number of books”, Vanessa van Hofwegen, commercial director at VBK said.
Continue reading...Decision comes after military concludes projects would complicate defending Nato’s newest member against attack
Sweden has vetoed plans for 13 offshore windfarms in the Baltic Sea, citing unacceptable security risks.
The country’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, said on Monday that the government had rejected plans for all but one of 14 windfarms planned along the east coast.
Continue reading...Populist groups capitalising on costly environmental policies that affect farmers by offering them support
The painful impacts of the climate crisis and globalisation have left farmers in Europe marginalised and vulnerable to populist politicians, warn anti-racism campaigners and academics.
They argue that if the transition to a low-carbon economy is not properly funded, planned and equitable, it risks fuelling a resurgence of the far right across the continent.
Continue reading...Sibling of murder victim says it is ‘difficult to understand’ purpose of eight-part series co-produced by Knox
Meredith Kercher “will always be remembered for her own fight for life”, the sister of the murdered British student has said as filming began in Italy on a controversial TV series co-produced by Amanda Knox about the case.
Filming of the eight-episode series, Blue Moon, has coincided with the 17th anniversary of the murder, for which Knox was twice convicted before being definitively acquitted in 2015.
Continue reading...Daughter confirms death of Don and Terry Turner, aged in their seventies, in eastern Spain
A British couple missing in Valencia after floods hit the region have been found dead in their car, their daughter has told the BBC.
Don Turner, 78, and his wife Terry, 74, had not been seen since torrential downpours caused flash floods in eastern Spain.
Continue reading...History teacher stabbed and decapitated near his school in a Paris suburb in 2020 in case that shocked France
Eight people have gone on trial in Paris for their alleged role in events leading to the beheading of the history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, a case that horrified France and heightened fears of terrorist attacks on schools.
Paty, 47, was stabbed and then decapitated near his secondary school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, by Abdoullakh Anzorov, a radicalised 18-year-old who arrived in France aged six with his Chechen parents and had been granted asylum.
Continue reading...Lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders
Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said.
The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster Franceinfo on Monday.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Maia Sandu’s victory amid claims of Russian interference boosts EU hopes and deals setback to Kremlin
Europe’s most powerful leaders have congratulated Moldova’s pro-western president, Maia Sandu, after she won a second term, cementing the country’s EU aspirations and dealing a setback to the Kremlin.
With nearly 98% of the vote counted in the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday, Sandu had 54% of the vote, ahead of Alexandr Stoianoglo, a Kremlin-friendly political newcomer, backed by the pro-Russia party of Socialists.
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