Guilty verdicts for all. A court in southern France sentencing Dominique Pelicot along with the fifty co-defendants he invited over the Internet into the family home to rape his drugged wife. The seventy two-year old pensioner got the maximum twenty years. Source link
With just days to go before Christmas, thousands of Amazon workers across the US walked off the job. European stocks fell on the Fed’s inflation outlook, while US stocks rebounded after being rattled on Wednesday. Meanwhile the US is once again facing the prospect of a government shutdown. Plus, you can now call ChatGPT on … Read more
Dozens of defendants in the Pelicot trial — the men who visited the Pelicot family home to rape Gisele Pelicot who was unconscious after being drugged by her husband — were handed terms of between three and fifteen years. Women’s rights groups and the three Pelicot children, expressed disappointment, arguing the sentences were too lenient. … Read more
France’s new Prime Minister François Bayrou said on Thursday he hopes to have a budget ready by mid-February, and would consider using special constitutional powers to get the budget through parliament, if opposition parties tried to block it. Source link
Germany’s political parties have started submitting their draft election manifestos ahead of an upcoming snap election in February 2025. This is earlier than originally planned (explained here), and election campaigns of major parties have also started on social media. A survey spread by supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) received more than 370,000 … Read more
Ukraine’s Zelensky urged both the European Union and the United States for unity on Thursday ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, stressing that “European guarantees won’t be sufficient for Ukraine” and the importance to secure a lasting peace. Source link
Nicaragua is expected to ratify changes to its constitution in January that would alter presidential power and increase state control over the media. If ratified, the change would mandate that the state have the power to ensure that media outlets and platforms “are not subordinated to foreign interests and do not spread false news.” Analysts … Read more
Residents in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli took to the streets on Thursday in a demonstration supporting the resistance of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the recent attacks by pro-Turkey fighters in the region. Source link
China PLA navy news: China has the largest navy in the world in terms of numbers. By 2049, it is moving rapidly to become the world’s largest military power. The ghost of sovereignty over the sea is haunting China. A flurry of new warships and submarines have been launched one after the other. One such … Read more
