All posts by Luis Moreno

Moreno Luis - is a business and economics reporter based in Barcelona. Prior to joining the BNE24 he was economics editor of the BBC Spaine and worked as an economics and political reporter for Murcia Tuday.

The United States says that Spain will continue to be an "indispensable" ally despite the spy case

The United States ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynoso, guaranteed this Monday that Spain is “an indispensable ally” and that “it will continue to be that way” despite the crisis that arose from the arrest of two CNI agents accused of leaking information. confidential to the US intelligence services.

“The relationship between the United States and Spain is more intense than ever and this is not going to change,” Reynoso remarked at an informative breakfast organized by the Dialogues for Democracy Club in Madrid, as reported by this entity in a statement.

According to the ambassador, the US has “a great relationship with the Spanish Government” that will not be altered by the espionage case known last week, although the events date back to the end of September. One of the CNI agents is in prison, while the second is free with precautionary measures.

The Spanish Executive, through the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, conveyed to the United States their complaint about the case, which led to the expulsion of three American spies for their involvement in the capture of the two Spanish agents.

According to Reynoso, bilateral collaboration is especially “diverse and intense” in the field of defense thanks to Spain's willingness to cooperate with the Administration chaired by Joe Biden, the note adds.

Regarding the war between Hamas and Israel, the ambassador stressed that the position of Spain and the US is “very similar” and does not see “any conflict”, after the Israeli Government accused the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, of “support terrorism” of the Palestinian group.

“We maintain our support for Israel and its right to defend itself, at the same time that we send the clear message that too many civilians, too many Palestinians, have died,” Reynoso said.

The prosecutor investigating Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 elections asks the Supreme Court to decide on his immunity

The special prosecutor investigating former US president Donald Trump's attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 elections has asked the Supreme Court on Monday to decide on his presidential immunity.

This is what this prosecutor, Jack Smith, has indicated in a document in which he asks the magistrates to intervene “as soon as possible” to decide whether a former president is “completely immune” from being charged with federal charges or not.. According to Smith, due to the “public interest” that exists in this process, he has decided to go directly to the Supreme Court to have some decision-making power.

This is a case in which all the procedures are being studied by the Washington court. At the moment, the trial is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024 in the federal capital, a date that coincides with the Republican Party's presidential primary process, in which Trump is the favorite.

On December 7, Trump's legal team filed an appeal to have all these processes automatically suspended.. In addition, Judge Tanya Chutkan already denied his protection by presidential immunity, allowing the case to continue.. “Former presidents do not enjoy special conditions in their federal criminal responsibility,” he wrote in an order.

In this case Trump is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

Another court session was also scheduled for this Monday in New York against the former president.. A case in which he is also facing fraud crimes to obtain favorable conditions with banks and insurance companies and which has had to be canceled because he has not appeared at this hearing.

The IMF releases 900 million dollars for Ukraine after a second review of its pact

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved this Monday the second review of the agreement signed with Ukraine, a decision that frees up a transfer of 900 million dollars (836 million euros at today's exchange rate) for kyiv.

The decision comes the same day that the president of the Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, received the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the organization's headquarters in Washington for a meeting in which she reaffirmed her commitment to kyiv.

In March, the IMF and the Ukrainian authorities reached a four-year agreement at the technical staff level to access a fund of 15.6 billion dollars (about 14.5 billion euros), the organization reported this Tuesday. “The agreement reflects the IMF's commitment to supporting Ukraine and is expected to help mobilize large-scale concessional financing from the country's donors and allies for the duration of the program,” the agency's head of mission for Kiev, Gavin, said at the time. Grey.

(More information soon…).

A woman goes to the doctor with stomach pains and discovers that she is 23 weeks pregnant

What seemed like simple stomach pains have ended up becoming a pregnancy. This is what happened to a 37-year-old French woman from the island of Reunion, located east of Madagascar.

As revealed by the scientific journal New England Journal of Medicine, the woman went to the doctor stating that she was suffering from “extreme swelling.”. She had been suffering from stomach pains for several days, but it was on the tenth day when she decided that she couldn't take it anymore and that she needed to be treated.

Once the corresponding tests were performed, the x-rays revealed that the pain was caused because the woman had a fetus growing inside her abdominal cavity. Specifically, the baby had already been in her womb for 23 weeks, forming outside the womb.

According to doctors, this is a very rare, but possible, type of pregnancy in which the child grows in the peritoneal cavity with the placenta attached to the upper part of the pelvis.. It is also a type of pregnancy in which the risk of mortality is very high, 90%.

The specialists asked the woman to wait until week 29 to have the child. To do this, they made an incision in the abdomen and then transferred the newborn to the neonatal intensive care unit.

After giving birth, both the woman and the baby are in good health, although they had to be admitted to the hospital for almost three months.. Furthermore, twelve days after giving birth, the woman had to undergo another operation to remove the rest of her placenta from her body.

Sarkozy praises Ayuso and Aznar at the presentation of his book in Madrid: "I like people who don't bow their heads"

In the Royal Room of the Ritz Hotel in Madrid, an incessant parade of suits awaited the arrival of Nicolas Sarkozy this Monday.. The former French president presented his second book of memoirs, The Years of Struggles, in which he reviews in depth his mandate in France (2007-2012), in addition to current war conflicts such as the war between Israel and Hamas, current politics or his relationship with the famous singer Carla Bruni.

Minutes before his arrival, a fleet of cars from the Community of Madrid and a cast of security guards awaited the star appearance of the French politician, who had to face dozens of photographers on his journey to publicize his new volume, presented by journalist Ana Blanco.

Under the attention of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, José Luis Martínez Almeida and José María Aznar, whom he describes as a “great friend”, the former French leader praised the figure of the former president of the Government and, above all, the president of the Community of Madrid. “I like fighters and politics is not where you have to fight, but in life,” he began his speech looking at Ayuso intently.. “I like people who don't bow their heads, many of those who believe they are involved in politics have not understood that the secret is verticality: a boss, a program and a team.”

The former president of the French Republic Nicolas Sarkozy, at the presentation of his book in Madrid. Europa Press

In this sense and always speaking about politics, Sarkozy did not hesitate to point out that “Spain is strong when it is united, a divided Spain will be weak.”. “The great project that is needed is to federate. The policy will be effective if things are seen from a higher perspective,” he added.. Furthermore, between taglines and jokes about the French socialists, Sarkozy has reiterated that “what legitimizes a great dream is being willing to pay a great price.”

The former French president also criticized the labor measures of the coalition government. “We have experienced 35-hour days and we have not yet recovered. Teleworking is television, it is not work,” he said.. “We forget in Europe that if we work less than others, we earn less, if we do not fight for our security no one will do it for us. We look a lot at the past and we have forgotten to work for the future, we have to wake up now,” he continued.

“The Nazis were not Arabs”

The former French leader, grandson of a Jew who converted to Catholicism and ex-husband of a Sephardic Jew, also reviewed the current conflicts and did not hesitate to give his opinion on the war between Israel and Hamas.. “Auschwitz is not in the Middle East, it is in Europe. The Jewish genocide occurred in the 20th century, in Europe and carried out by Europeans. The Nazis were not Arabs,” he acknowledged.. “This situation creates a moral obligation for Europeans. We cannot accept that Israel could disappear. There are no political reasons, they are simply moral reasons.. I will never accept that whoever questions the existence of Israel,” he stressed.. “Just because I defend the existence of Israel does not mean I defend [Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he stressed.

Sarkozy hinted that the UN “no longer exists”, that it is outdated and that “when he created the Security Council with the permanent members there were half as many inhabitants as there are now”. In that sense, he made it clear that “Jerusalem is the capital of three religions” and that a new Security Council must be created in the United Nations to address these conflicts.. “Europe has to be the bearer of a new multilateral architecture project.”

The Frenchman also spoke about the war between Russia and Ukraine. Sarkozy said that to talk about the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, you have to know him. “When you know him you can talk to him,” he stated, while recounting when in 2008 Russia decided to send battle tanks to Georgia.. “Putin was wrong about Georgia and he was wrong about Ukraine, but you cannot fix a problem without talking to your adversary,” he said.. “You cannot find a solution by playing smart on TV,” he added, referring to the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky.. “This war is useless and has to stop and Ukraine should not join NATO,” he said.

“I was born for politics”

The former French politician also told of his experiences in the last three years of politics with fascination, like someone who falls into a place by chance without intending to.. “I didn't choose politics, I was born for it,” he acknowledged before the packed room.. “The first political meeting in which I wanted to participate, they did not let me enter, I stayed on the sidewalk, they did me a very big favor, I was so angry that I promised myself that one day I would be on stage,” he noted.

And yes it arrived. For five years, Sarkozy met with leaders from around the world as president of his country. The boy who came from a humble family, a single mother and who had no godparents, presided over France, with what that entails.. “When I was born I understood that I was born in a very small river, with a very small fishing rod, there were only small fish and I dreamed of big sharks. How am I going to get out of this, how am I going to get rid of the boredom…. There is not an inch of my skin that does not have scars, but the fight allows you everything,” he said in reference to whether his years as a politician were complicated.

“My name is Sarkozy, a rare surname in my country, and I rose to the top. He had no relationships, no money.. was different from the others. The only way to live is to fight. Happiness is never in the adversities we avoid, but in the ones we overcome. Whoever we are, we have to fight,” he said.. “We must be reborn until the end, as if we were eternal,” he added.

Sarkozy also shared moments of his symbiotic relationship with former Chancellor Angela Merkel and gave his opinion on former US President Barack Obama.. “He was so cold and so worried about his image that I was disappointed,” he said.. “I don't believe in image, I believe in the strength of convictions.”

The former president, during several moments of his speech, did not hesitate to make a great plea for culture and confessed that every day he reads 50 pages of a book. Furthermore, he wanted to unite Spain and France through art. “Between Spain and France there is a community, a relationship with art, painting, music, we are countries that need our culture to exist and breathe. I see it when I go to the Prado Museum or walk through Madrid. We have a relationship with al art that is the same”.

Netanyahu highlights the surrender of "dozens" of militiamen, "beginning of the end of Hamas"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted this Sunday the importance of the surrender of “dozens” of Gazan militiamen in recent days, a sign of the “beginning of the end of Hamas.”

“In recent days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces. They hand over their weapons and they hand themselves over to our brave warriors,” Netanyahu highlighted in a message broadcast on social networks.

“It will take longer. The war continues in full force, but this is the beginning of the end for Hamas. To the Hamas terrorists I say: do not die for (Yahya) Sinwar. Surrender. Now,” he added, referring to the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu has thus referred to the images of dozens of men tied up and in underwear that have been spread, some of them handing over rifles.

These are unofficial images, since the Israeli Armed Forces have not published any video or photograph of militiamen surrendering.. Hamas has denied this information.

Conservative sectors plan to reinstate Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister to tackle their crisis

The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom is in an unprecedented crisis and polls continue to show a huge gap between this party and Keir Starmer's Labor Party, which is the favorite for elections with just over a year left.

Such is the fear of some conservative sectors of the electoral failure that they are moving to recover the figure of Boris Johnson, leader of the party and former prime minister between 2019 and 2022.

As reported by the Daily Mail in its edition this Sunday, the idea is to bring down the current government, led by Rishi Sunak, so that Johnson takes charge of the reins of the country again.

MPs are panicking over poll figures showing support for the Conservatives is sinking, with many voters turning to the Reform Party, the successor to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.

This sector of the Tories argues that Johnson is the only Conservative with the power of attraction to neutralize Farage's impact, particularly in the so-called 'Red Wall' seats in the Midlands and the North, which he took from Labor in the elections. 2019 general. They even talk about a Johnson and Farage alliance.

The Mail quoted a spokesman for Johnson, who declined to discuss his political ambitions and denied the existence of any plans: “Boris Johnson is currently writing a book and supports the Government.”

The Conservative Party's crisis has worsened in recent weeks following the dismissal of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and the resignation of Robert Jenrick as Immigration Secretary due to his disagreements with the Government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. enter the United Kingdom illegally.

Neither Johnson nor Farage are currently in Parliament, but the former's supporters believe that if an MP were to give up a safe seat before the election to make way for Johnson, the Conservative high command would not be able to block him.

A leadership contest would then be triggered if at least 53 letters of no confidence were sent against Sunak.

Another suggestion is that a Johnson ally, such as former home secretary Priti Patel, could be installed as acting prime minister, with Johnson running for a safe seat in the election and then returning to 10 Downing Street.

Surprisingly, Johnson's supporters include MPs who helped oust him from Downing Street last year following a revolt over scandals such as Partygate.

Israel prepares a trial like the one in Nuremberg for the Hamas terrorists it has detained

Israel is already preparing trials against the Hamas terrorists it has apprehended in its operation in the Gaza Strip and according to some experts, they could replicate trials such as those carried out in Nuremberg at the end of the Second World War, between 1945 and 1946.

That is the opinion of Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, who in statements reported by The Sun assures that “a trial like the one in Nuremberg is definitely necessary.”

Richard Pater, head of the Israel Research and Communications Center in Britain, thinks the same: “The extreme brutality involved in the attacks could lend itself to Nuremberg-type trials or something similar to the Eichmann trial, to give full public exposure to the war crimes.” of Hamas”.

View of the dock of the Nuremberg trials. WIKIPEDIA

Precisely, although the death penalty is in force in Israel, the last execution dates back to 1962, and was precisely that of Adolf Eichmann, one of the Nazi architects of the Holocaust.

Israeli prosecutors have not sought the death penalty since the 1990s. Currently, the only crimes that are capital in Israel are crimes against humanity and treason, and the former could include those perpetrated by Hamas.

In recent weeks, Israel has announced the surrender of dozens of Hamas terrorists, after Tel Aviv has intensified the military operation in the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for the coordinated attack on October 7, which caused 1,300 deaths in Israel and in which hundreds of Israelis and foreigners were kidnapped.

The 'fathers' of covid vaccines star at the Nobel Prize ceremony

At the beginning of 2020, the covid pandemic broke out. This Sunday, almost four years later, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, the scientists who laid the foundations for the rapid development of vaccines based on messenger RNA that saved millions of lives, received the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Both researchers, along with the rest of the winners, took the medal that accredits them as new Nobel Prize winners from the hands of King Carl Gustav of Sweden, in a ceremony held this Sunday at the Stockholm Concert Hall, the same day that the death is commemorated. by Alfred Nobel.

During the ceremony, the winners do not speak and when receiving the award they only bow three times: to the monarch, to the members of the academies and to the public, at which time the Hungarian biochemist Karikó and the American immunologist Weissman received the longest applause and closed.

On this occasion, seven men and three women occupied the place of honor.. The fourth was Narges Mohammadi, imprisoned in Iran and who this Sunday began a new hunger strike, for whom the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded, which was awarded a few hours earlier in Oslo.

The president of the Nobel Foundation, Astrid Söderbergh, opened the event by remembering the activist against the oppression of women in Iran, imprisoned “along with many other prisoners of conscience”, in the Evin prison in Tehran, and reiterated her message: ” Victory is not easy, but it is certain.”

And of the ten new Nobel Prize winners present in Stockholm, he assured that they testify, “each of them in a unique way”, to the power of science and literature. “They show us that, individually and together, we have within us the ability to change the world.”

The ceremony had begun minutes before, with the attendance of Kings Carl Gustav and Silvia, along with Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel, as well as some 1,560 guests.

Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Aleksey Yekimov, and Nobel Prize winners in Medicine, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, during the 2023 Nobel Prize award ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall. EFE

Karikó and Weissman deserved the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries about messenger RNA which, 15 years later, “made it possible to develop vaccines that helped control a devastating pandemic and save millions of lives,” said Gunilla Karlsson, of the Nobel Assembly. when presenting the award.

The pandemic caused citizens' trust in science to increase, as did their awareness and knowledge “about infectious threats”. The basic research carried out by the new Nobel Prize winners “without a doubt contributed to this,” said Karlsson.

In Chemistry, the Frenchman Moungi Bawendi, the American Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov (former Soviet Union) discovered and synthesized quantum dots, which have contributed “decisively” to the field of nanoscience and are already used to improve screens or to mark tissue tumor during surgery.

The Nobel Prize in Physics went to the French Anne L'Huillier and Pierre Agostini and the Hungarian Ferenc Krausz, for their work to generate light pulses lasting attoseconds with lasers and thus investigate the dynamics of electrons within atoms.

L'Huillier is the fifth woman in the history of these awards to win in Physics. Resident in Sweden, where she carries out her university work, the king greeted her at length when presenting her with the medal and diploma.

The American Claudia Goldin is the third woman to achieve it in Economics and the first to do it alone in this category. Her research has “radically changed what we know about women in the labor market and how we understand what we know,” said Kerstin Englo of the Nobel Committee.

The Norwegian playwright and novelist Jon Fosse has received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his ability to “give voice to what cannot be said,” highlighted Anders Olsson, of the Nobel Committee.

The author of Septology uses the simplest words and writes about experiences with which we all identify: separation, death, the vulnerability of love, but he is also – he highlighted – “the master of ambivalence and the unresolved.”. In their world, uncertainty pulses with a secret light.”

A group of several dozen people gathered around the Concert Hall who, with photos and banners, recalled that the Nobel Peace Prize winner is in prison and asked for her release.

Almost next to them, a second group, gathered by the Scientist Rebellion organization, drew attention to climate change and warned that COP28 in Dubai could be “another failure.”

Milei signs in the book of honor of the Chamber of Deputies after being sworn in as president of Argentina: "Long live freedom, damn it"

Javier Milei swore this Sunday “for God and for the country on these holy Gospels” as the new president of Argentina in a ceremony held at the Congress headquarters in Buenos Aires.

Subsequently, Milei received the presidential sash and baton from the outgoing president, Alberto Fernández. After Milei's oath, the elected vice president, Victoria Villarruel, did the same, at which time Cristina Fernández left the Legislative Assembly in the hands of her successor.

Between cries of “Argentina, Argentina!”, Milei and her brand new vice president, Victoria Villarruel, have proclaimed their loyalty to the Argentine State in the presence of their predecessors, Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner.

Previously, both had to sign in the book of honor of the Chamber of Deputies. The striking thing has been that, in addition to each one's signature, Milei wrote his famous motto, “Long live freedom, damn it,” and Villarruel added: “Everything for Argentina.”

“It is a moment that will remain forever in our hearts and I want to thank you for this gesture of accompanying us from other countries in the world and from the provinces,” the vice president said.

Immediately afterwards, Milei went out to the steps of the National Congress, from where he gave his first speech as president. “Argentines, in a forceful manner, have expressed a will for change that has no return,” declared the president, before blaming his predecessors for the difficult situation the country is going through.

“No government has received a worse inheritance than what we are receiving,” Milei stated.. “Today inflation is already traveling at a rate that ranges between 20 and 40 percent monthly. The outgoing government has left us with hyperinflation. “It is our top priority to make every possible effort to avoid such a catastrophe,” he said.