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.

Hezbollah calls for a day of "unprecedented anger" after Gaza hospital massacre

The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah called for this Wednesday to be a day of “unprecedented anger” against Israel and called on the population to take to the streets considering that “the complaints are no longer enough,” after the bombing that took place against a hospital in Gaza.

“Let tomorrow, Wednesday, be a day of unprecedented anger against the enemy and its crimes, and against the visit of (US President Joe) Biden to the Zionist entity to cover and protect it,” urged the political and armed movement in a statement after the death of more than 500 people in the bombing.

“All the statements of condemnation and denunciations are no longer enough, and we call on the people of our Arab and Islamic nation to take immediate action in the streets and squares to express their intense anger and put pressure on governments,” adds the note.

The Shiite group considered that the attack on the Gaza hospital is a “continuation of the massacres” committed by Israel since its founding and accused Washington of being “directly and fully” responsible for the bombing, as well as the rest of the “crimes” of the Jewish state.

A bombing on a hospital in central Gaza caused at least 500 deaths this Tuesday, while air attacks on the Strip continue and many civilians take refuge in health centers to protect themselves from the bombs, denounced the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli military said the explosion at the hospital was due to a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants into Israel.

This is the attack with the highest number of fatalities committed since the war broke out on October 7 between the Palestinian militias of Gaza and Israel, within which Hezbollah is engaged in cross attacks with the Jewish State from its side of the border with the Libano.

Jordan cancels summit with Biden after Gaza hospital massacre for which Israel and Hamas blame each other

The Foreign Minister of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, has announced that the Arab country is canceling the summit scheduled this Wednesday with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, in Amman after the bombing reported by the Gazan authorities against a hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, in which hundreds of people have died so far.

The king of Jordan, Abdullah II, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattá al Sisi, and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, were going to attend the summit, in addition to the aforementioned Biden, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

The authorities of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), reported this Tuesday the death of at least 500 people in a bombing of the Al Ahli hospital, located in the north of the enclave.

For its part, the Israeli Army has assured that the missile that hit the hospital was launched by mistake by Islamic Jihad.. Likewise, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the “barbaric Gaza terrorists” of the event.

The plane carrying German Chancellor Scholz is evacuated amid an attack alert

The plane in which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was traveling was evacuated this Tuesday amid a threat of attack upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv (Israel).

Scholz, visiting Israel, was forced to take refuge in an air raid shelter when the sirens announcing a missile attack sounded in Tel Aviv.

According to witnesses to the events, Scholz remained in the shelter for a few minutes.

The Russian network RT reported that the German delegation led by Scholz was getting ready to leave for Egypt when the sirens sounded at Ben Gurion airport.

In the center of the city, several explosions were heard caused by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system in response to launches made by the Islamist group Hamas.

The TVE News Council investigates whether there was 'malpractice' in the images of Álvaro Prieto in 'Mañaneros'

The TVE News Council announced this Tuesday the opening of an investigation to try to clarify whether there was 'malpractice' in the images broadcast live on the program 'Mañaneros' on TVE's La 1, within the framework of the investigation into the disappearance of the young man from Córdoba Álvaro Prieto.

In a statement, the internal body of the public corporation's workers has explained the decision to initiate the investigation “given the seriousness of what happened”, pointing out at the same time that it will be analyzed whether in the preparation and broadcast of this information in the morning of La 1 failed to comply with the deontological principles included in the Information Statute and in the RTVE style manual.

“We consider that these images should never have been broadcast,” said the News Council, which has rejected the live broadcast of the images of the young man from Córdoba.. “We greatly regret the pain caused to his family and friends, and also for the impact caused on viewers by such harsh images,” the statement added.

RTVE “deeply regretted” the images broadcast live this Monday on 'Mañaneros'. “Images that should never have been broadcast,” the public corporation said in a statement, in which it highlighted that the program, after apologizing live, has already made all the audiovisual material in its possession available to the Police and has ordered the immediate withdrawal of its digital broadcast. Likewise, RTVE has reported that it has opened an internal investigation.

The presenter of 'Mañaneros' on Spanish Television (TVE), Jaime Cantizano, also apologized for the live broadcast of the images of the corpse. “At this point in our program, before continuing, on behalf of this group we want to apologize,” he said during the broadcast of La 1's morning program.

Netanyahu blames "barbaric Gaza terrorists" for hospital attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the “barbaric terrorists from Gaza” on Tuesday for the attack on a hospital in the Strip in which at least 500 Palestinians died this Tuesday.. “Let the whole world know: the barbaric terrorists of Gaza are the only ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza, not the Army,” the prime minister said in a statement.

Thus, Prime Minister Netanyahu recalled the brutal Hamas offensive on October 7 against southern Israel, where they killed hundreds of people, and pointed out that those responsible for that event are also the authors of the bombing. about the Gaza hospital. “Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their children,” the Israeli president stressed.

In this sense, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) assured this Tuesday that the explosion at the Al Ahli hospital was caused by a failed missile launched by Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization that supported the Hamas offensive against Israel in the past. October 7. “According to the analysis of the IDF operational systems, a barrage of enemy rockets was launched towards Israel, which passed through the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit,” the Israeli Army reported in a statement in which it ensures that “several “Intelligence sources” attribute the authorship to Islamic Jihad.

The authorities of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), have reported hours before the death of at least 500 people after an Israeli attack on the aforementioned Al Ahli hospital.. The WHO has reported that the center was still operational and wounded, health personnel and internally displaced people were taking refuge there.

On October 7, Hamas launched an attack by air and land against Israel that left at least 1,400 dead and took the opportunity to take some 200 people hostage.. Islamic Jihad supported the offensive of the Palestinian militia. Israel shortly later announced an operation in response to what happened.

The Government expects growth in 2024 to create 700,000 jobs and salaries to rise by 4%

Spain will have to pull itself together to be able to grow next year. The slowdown in the eurozone economy caused by the war in Ukraine and high interest rates will leave the country's internal demand as the only engine of growth in 2024. This is how the Government sees it and this is how it has been reflected in the Budget Plan sent to Brussels on Sunday, but which was disclosed on Monday. But for the Executive's plans to work, employment would have to continue growing very strongly next year as well, as would salaries, something that seems difficult in the midst of a global slowdown.. Specifically, the Government is confident that between 2023 and 2024 more than 700,000 full-time jobs will be created and that salaries will rise by 3.7%.

Those 700,000 jobs that the Executive promises for this biennium are the same ones that were created in 2022, a year in which the Spanish economy added 690,500 full-time equivalent jobs (the employment metric used to calculate GDP).. It is important to highlight that 2022 was a year of strong growth in which the national economy advanced 5.8%, almost three times more than what the Executive expects for the indicated period.

Labor market indicators so far this year suggest that the Government's objective could be viable. Between the second quarter of 2023 and its equivalent in 2022, around half a million jobs have been created, so 200,000 more jobs in 2023 would be enough. If the rate of growth from employment to job creation observed between 2014 and 2019 – the last expansionary period of the Spanish economy before the pandemic – were met, it would be enough. The question is whether an economy in the midst of a slowdown will be able to reach these figures.

The Government justifies the viability of its forecasts in that the structural reforms that have been applied during the previous legislature “have improved the performance of the Spanish labor market”, which serves as an incentive “to increase the size of the national and foreign workforce.”. An argument similar to that used to support the pension reform.

The salary growth forecast for 2024 moves more in line with what the latest indicators indicate. The Executive expects that salaries – always measured in terms of GDP – will improve by 3.7% in 2024. A forecast that, if fulfilled, would allow employees to recover some of their lost purchasing power, especially starting in the second half of the year when inflation is expected to be lower.

The statistics on collective labor agreements reflect that the agreements signed in 2023 already include a salary increase until September of 4.3% on average. Along the same lines, the national accounting itself indicates that the remuneration of employees grew by 5.4% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year.. In addition, the salary agreement between employers and unions to negotiate the agreements foresees an increase of 3% for 2024, although this reference is indicative.

Economic growth will be within the borders

Everything suggests that, with the eurozone economy frozen, economic growth in 2024 will be settled within Spanish borders.. The Executive expects GDP to grow by 2% in 2024, an increase that would be due exclusively to national demand. That is, the consumption and investment of Spanish households and companies would be the only support for the economy next year.. Exports, which last year contributed half of the growth, would be left out of the equation and would even subtract from GDP.

The Budget Plan foresees that consumption and investment will accelerate thanks to the dynamism of the labor market, the role of the recovery and resilience plan and the financial solvency of companies and households. Specifically, private consumption would advance 2.5% next year, compared to the 1.5% expected this year. While investment, measured as gross fixed capital formation, would accelerate from 3% in 2023 to 4% in 2024.

However, the Airef does not see it so clearly. The independent fiscal authority believes that this acceleration of private consumption next year “may be optimistic in a context of declining consumer confidence and tightening household financing conditions.”

This has been made known to the Government after endorsing its macroeconomic scenario. The fiscal watchdog is also skeptical about the investment figures. In this section, it warns of the adverse impact that increasingly tough financing conditions may have on business investment and the residential housing market.

Brussels studies offering bonuses or discounts to users so that they send 700 million unused cell phones in the EU to be recycled

The European Commission estimates that in the EU there are millions of mobile phones, laptops and tablets whose owners no longer use them and store them at home.. Specifically, it estimates that only 5% of cell phones are reused and that there are about 700 million unused and in citizens' homes.. Aware that the recycling of these devices would be a good circular economy exercise, with benefits on employment and the recovery of critical materials, it studies how to make users hand them over, with voluntary but also perhaps mandatory measures, instead of taking it into account. home and to that end consider the possibility of offering them “bonuses” or “discounts”.

This is one of the options that the Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, presented this Monday to the European Environment Ministers, in a discussion in the Council in which this initiative has not only received any objection from the EU governments, but has been met with France's request that it later be extended to other devices, such as vacuum cleaners.

As explained by Sinkevicius, the rate of delivery of mobile phones and tablets to be reused “remains low” in the EU, where the collection of mobile phones only reaches 5% of existing ones and “there are 700 million mobile phones stored in homes “.

Delivery and reuse

The Commission wants to make the reuse of these devices an element of the Circular Economy, convinced that “it can create an enormous number of jobs for each ton of material” recovered and is studying different types of incentives to get citizens to get rid of them. .

“Vouchers, discounts,” the commissioner pointed out to the ministers. Also, the postal services of each country can be responsible for this collection, “to facilitate the task for users” and give greater visibility to these or other collection points.. It also analyzes the possibility that users can estimate the value of devices that they no longer use and that they could resell to the company from which they bought them.

In addition to facilities to encourage voluntary surrender, Sinkevicius reminded ministers that the Commission can enter into consumer policy to introduce “new requirements” so that phones and tablets can have a longer useful life.

Urban water treatment

Also at the Environment Council this Monday in Luxembourg, ministers have reached an agreement to extend to smaller cities than those now required by law to have water treatment systems and for pharmaceutical or cosmetic companies that contribute to their microcontamination contribute to a greater extent to this purification. In this way, the principle that “the polluter pays” has been imposed in a norm that will now undertake the final stretch, the negotiation with the European Parliament, for its update.

The Twenty-seven have closed their position regarding the reform of the Urban Water Treatment Directive in the Environment Council to extend the obligation to treat water to cities with an equivalent population of 1,250 inhabitants – the magnitude for calculate the potential for water pollution – elimination of biodegradable substances – by one person per day – the obligation to carry out secondary water treatment, which was now only mandatory in localities with a population equivalent of 2,000 or more.

By 2045, treatment plants in places with more than 150,000 estimated population must carry out tertiary treatment (removal of nitrogen and phosphorus), which will also be mandatory in smaller towns at risk of eutrophication (one of the main causes of contamination of lakes and reservoirs). ) but urban water that is reused for agricultural irrigation and that does not pose risks to health or the environment are exempt.. A fourth level of treatment, to eliminate micropollutants, will be mandatory in cities with an estimated population of more than 200,000 in 2045, with intermediate objectives for 2035 and 2040.

The Twenty-seven have also agreed that pharmaceutical and cosmetic producers, responsible for the micropollutants that reach urban waters, contribute to their cleaning through a system of “extended producer responsibility” to contribute to this cost.. It should apply to “any product that is marketed on the market, in any country and by any means.”

The Twenty-seven have lowered the Commission's proposal regarding the deadline for them to do so – from 2030 to 2035 – and have introduced some derogations for smaller populations and for all countries that joined the EU after 2004 – all of the East -, who will have between eight and 12 more years to comply with a law that, according to the consulting firm iWater, will particularly affect countries like Spain and Italy, with a greater number of treatment plants that, for this reason, will have to make more investments to adapt to the new law, which also provides that by 2045 all urban water treatment plants must produce the energy they themselves consume from renewable sources.

France's Versailles Palace evacuated due to new bomb threat

The Palace of Versailles in France has had to be evacuated again due to a bomb threat, so it will remain closed throughout the day. In this way, visitors have had to be evicted from the premises for the second time in just four days.

“For security reasons, the Palace of Versailles is evacuating visitors today and closing its doors,” the establishment announced on its X social network account (formerly known as Twitter).

Last Saturday, the castle had to be evacuated, as well as the Louvre Museum, after receiving a written message warning of a bomb threat.

Belgium, France, China, Spain… there are already four attacks under the cry of "Allah is great" after Hamas called for global jihad

As Israel's bombs fell on Gaza, its buildings and inhabitants, Hamas called for global jihad. The response has not been massive but it has been immediate: in recent days several attacks have taken place shouting “Allah is great”. Belgium, France, China and Spain (Mataró) have been the scenarios.

It was last Wednesday when the founder of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, the political leader of its fighters, called on Muslims around the world to take to the streets on Friday and turn the day “into a day of anger” against Israel in response to the bombings in the Gaza Strip.

The message from Meshal, who led the terrorist group between 2014 and 2017, led several capitals around the world to strengthen their security measures.. It was about preventing possible actions by individuals known as “lone wolves.”. Despite this, violent attacks, of greater or lesser magnitude, have taken place in Brussels, Arras, Beijing and Mataró.

Belgium, two Swedish citizens

At least two people have died and several more have been injured by firearms in an incident that occurred shortly after 7:00 p.m. near Saintelette Square in Brussels.
Moment of the attack in Brussels.

At least two people have died and several more were injured by firearms in an incident late Monday afternoon near Sainctelette Square in Brussels, a busy area, close to the Grand Place.. A man, dressed in a bright orange jacket, opened fire “indiscriminately” and killed two Swedish citizens.

This Tuesday, the Belgian police “neutralized” the perpetrator of the attack with a shot to the chest. The Federal Prosecutor's Office has confirmed that the individual was found having a coffee in the center of Brussels. After a shooting, the individual was admitted to a hospital in critical condition and died hours later.

The deceased were two Swedish fans who had come to Brussels for the soccer match between the Belgian and Swedish national teams, corresponding to the qualifying phase of the Euro 2024 Championship.. The match did not resume after the end of the first half for security reasons when the attack became known.

It's not coincidental. Islamists have accused Sweden of disrespecting the Koran and authorizing public burnings of its holy book.. Since mid-July, there have been strong protests in the Islamic world, the most virulent being in Baghdad, when hundreds of protesters attacked and burned down the Swedish embassy in protest of the summons of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee welcomed by Sweden since 2019, who announced a burning of the Koran in Stockholm.

A Tunisian who requested asylum in Belgium

According to the explanations of the Belgian Minister of Justice, Van Quickenborne, the alleged murderer was identified as Abdesalem L., a 45-year-old Tunisian who requested asylum in Belgium in November 2019.. He was known to police for “suspicious actions” such as human trafficking and illegal residence.

“In July 2016, through a foreign police service, we were sent unconfirmed information that the man had become radicalized and wanted to go to a jihadist conflict zone,” Quickenborne said.. However, there were never concrete signs of radicalization, according to the Belgian investigation services.

Abdesalem Lassoued. Social networks

In October 2020 he received a negative decision on his asylum application and shortly after disappeared from the radar. In June 2022 he was seen in a mosque in Brussels, but did not raise suspicions. In early 2023, a resident of an asylum center was allegedly threatened by this man via social media. Abdesalem L. She had been convicted in Tunisia, but not for terrorism but for criminal offenses.

France, a teacher again

This Friday there was a stabbing at a high school in the French city of Arras (in the north of the country) that left a teacher dead and two others injured.
Stabbing in a high school in the French city of Arras (in the north of the country) that left a teacher dead and two others injured. (EP)

Last Friday, a stabbing took place at a Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras (northern France) that left a teacher dead and three others injured.. The deceased was Dominique Bernard, a teacher at that center.

The alleged perpetrator, identified as Mohamed M. and booked by the authorities for his possible danger, he was immediately detained, within an investigation that has also led to eight other arrests.. This former student would have entered the school and slit the teacher's throat shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest). He was immediately detained, as part of an investigation that led to eight other arrests.

A former student of Chechen origin

Mohamed M. He is 20 years old, is of Chechen origin and was booked by the authorities for his possible danger.. An older brother of the attacker was also arrested.. The murder, in any case, is considered a terrorist attack.

Arras Institute where a teacher was murdered last Friday. Europa Press

The following Monday, the Gambetta-Carnot institute in Arras had to be evacuated due to a bomb alert. Everything happened after France raised the anti-terrorist alert. During the weekend there were other evacuations in emblematic places such as the Palace of Versailles or the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Arras attack took place three days after the third anniversary of the death of Samuel Paty, a French teacher who was beheaded by the father of one of his high school students for showing a caricature of Muhammad.

China, an employee of the Israeli embassy

An employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing (China) was stabbed on Friday in the middle of the street. The 50-year-old man was assaulted on a street in the Chaoyang district by another 53-year-old man who was immediately arrested.

Israeli diplomat stabbed. Social networks

It happened in the middle of the street, outside a supermarket.. In a video that recorded the attack, a police officer is heard identifying himself as an agent and the embassy employee crawls a few meters leaving a trail of blood after being stabbed.

The attacked person, a worker at the Israeli Embassy in China, was admitted to a hospital in Beijing in serious condition.. Hours later, the Israeli Foreign Ministry indicated that he was stable.. The man is recovering from his injuries.

Spain, a man with psychological problems

This Sunday, the Mossos d'Esquadra arrested a man in Mataró (Barcelona) for attacking two people with a machete while shouting “Allah Akbar” (Allah is great). He did it after damaging several vehicles. None of those attacked suffered serious injuries: one was able to flee and the other was injured in the arm while trying to protect himself.

The events occurred around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday on the Mata de Mataró highway, when a man was walking down the street with a machete, chasing several people and causing damage to some vehicles.

Some witnesses claim that the man, who suffers from psychological problems, was shouting “Allah Akbar”, although Mossos sources consulted by EFE have ruled out that he had a terrorist motivation.

What is happening in Gaza: these are the keys to the war between Israel and Hamas and the situation of the Palestinians

Tension increases at the gates of the Gaza Strip as Israel prepares a large-scale offensive against the terrorist organization Hamas in response to the terrorist attacks on October 7 in Israeli territory.. Israeli troops will try with their ground offensive to free the hostages captured by Hamas and end their presence in Gaza. Meanwhile, more than two million Palestinians suffer the consequences of a conflict that the West views with concern about a possible escalation of violence in the Middle East.

This war, the first that Israel has fought since Yom Kippur in 1973, writes a new chapter in the long Arab-Israeli conflict and threatens to provoke an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, while the world holds its breath in the face of the confrontation. between Hamas and Israel and the possible consequences at the international level.

Hamas attack on Israeli territory

On October 7, Hamas launched a major attack from Gaza, dubbed by the terrorist organization as the “Al-Aqsa Flood”, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. As around 2,200 rockets fired from Gaza reached Israeli territory, Hamas militants attacked the border with vehicles and troops, killing hundreds of Israeli civilians at the kibbutzim and at a music festival near the Gaza border.

In addition to the killings, Hamas took approximately 150 civilians hostage, including the elderly, children and babies.. Approximately 1,300 civilians and soldiers were killed by Hamas during the attack, according to the BBC.

Israel declares a state of war

The Hamas attacks prompted an immediate response from Israel, which declared a state of war and began Operation 'Iron Sword'.. The Israeli army mobilized to reinforce the borders, surround the Gaza Strip and search for Hamas terrorists who had remained in Israeli territory.

After regaining control throughout its territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began bombing targets in Gaza, including residential buildings, communication towers, hospitals and military compounds, in addition to cutting off the supply of water, electricity and food to the Gaza Strip. Gazan territory, one of the most densely populated in the world with more than two million inhabitants.

On October 13, the Israeli army issued an evacuation notice for Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip (more than a million inhabitants including Gaza City) to the south of the territory while the Israelis prepare a major ground offensive. to rescue hostages and “dismantle” Hamas. The airstrikes and siege on Gaza have not ceased while the ground invasion of the strip appears imminent.

Aerial before and after view of the destroyed Al Gharbi mosque in Gaza. ©2023 Maxar Technologies

Humanitarian catastrophe for two million Palestinians

The war against Hamas and the Israeli offensive on Gaza has raised concern in the international community about the consequences it will have for the more than two million Palestinians who reside in the strip.. The population density and the infiltration of Hamas and its structures in urban areas explain the consequences of the Israeli bombings, which have resulted in the death of more than 2,800 Gazans, according to the BBC.

The blockade of supplies to Gaza, as well as the evacuation notice from the north of the region, have turned the strip into a “total catastrophe”, according to Doctors Without Borders and CNN.. The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees has assured that the situation has turned Gaza “into a hellhole on the verge of collapse”. The millions of Palestinians called to evacuate northern Gaza have nowhere to go while the Rafah border crossing (Egypt) remains closed and the lack of supplies turns the situation into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region.

The West condemns Hamas and calls on Israel to respect human rights in Gaza

Faced with the war between Hamas and Israel and the situation of the Palestinians in Gaza, Western governments have shown their support for Israel, although recently they have clarified that their response against Hamas must occur “within international law and humanitarian law.” , as stated in the Council of Europe statement that urges Hamas to “immediately release” the hostages and highlights the importance of protecting humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. The EU also states its commitment to “a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution.”

For its part, the United States has reaffirmed its support for Israel and has sent military personnel, such as the largest aircraft carrier in the world, to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent to other actors such as Iran or the Lebanese militia Hezbollah from intervening in the conflict.. While the White House expressed its support for the Jewish State, President Biden clarified that Hamas “does not represent all of the Palestinian people” and called a possible Israeli invasion of Gaza “a big mistake.”

Israel prepares for ground offensive in Gaza

The efforts of the international community to achieve a ceasefire that would allow humanitarian aid to be provided in Gaza have not been fruitful, according to Reuters, while Israel keeps the strip under siege waiting to begin the ground offensive to end Hamas.. According to the agency, Israel has also evacuated its northern border with Lebanon due to an escalation of violence between its army and Hezbollah.

With Gaza under siege and without resources, it seems a matter of time before the start of an operation that will be long and threatens to unleash a larger scale conflict in the Middle East. For now, the consequences for the two million Palestinians due to the evacuation and the cut of supplies will be “devastating”, according to the United Nations.