General News Hop

  De cara al mundo hace un repaso semanal de la actualidad internacional. Javier Fernández Arribas analiza los principales sucesos en el panorama internacional con entrevistas a expertos y un panel completo de analistas. Las claves del mundo en tus manos.

 Former Stanford student Elise Clougherty has dropped a high-profile lawsuit against venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, a former paramour who Clougherty later accused of sexual assault. Lonsdale, who had strongly denied Clougherty’s allegations and filed a countersuit against her, including for defamation, has dropped his lawsuit, too. Clougherty’s suit received national attention in the months after she filed it in January, even garnering a lengthy New York Times Magazine piece. The allegations also resulted in a 10-year ban from Stanford for Lonsdale, who dated Clougherty while her mentor for an undergraduate course called Technology Entrepreneurship, Engineering 145. At the time, the school cited its Title IX policy , which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. But Stanford Review reported earlier today a university investigator had considered “new evidence that came to light during litigat...

 In May, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein was caught red-handed by Prime Minister of UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when he suddenly visited their London home and found Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein and her lover-cum-bodyguard. The Dubai ruler also found strips of used condoms beside Haya Bint Al Hussein’s bed as well as two glasses, proving the romantic couple were having sex in the bedroom while their children were in the next room. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was already suspecting his wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein had inappropriate relations and the suspicion was proved as the couple were found to having sex. The Dubai ruler unexpectedly returned to London from attending a joint wedding of three sons in Dubai in May. According to sources, he was shocked seeing the 45-year-old Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein with the bodyguard at the lavish residence and demanded her immediate return to Dubai with him. But the Princess refused and abruptly left the house...

 Women from across British politics called Monday for action to tackle misogyny after a newspaper ran a story accusing the deputy opposition leader of trying to “distract” the prime minister during debates by crossing and uncrossing her legs. LONDON (AP) — Women from across British politics called Monday for action to tackle misogyny after a newspaper ran a story accusing the deputy opposition leader of trying to “distract” the prime minister during debates by crossing and uncrossing her legs. The Mail on Sunday quoted an anonymous Conservative lawmaker as saying Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner tried to throw Prime Minister Boris Johnson “off his stride” as she sat across from him in the House of Commons. The article likened it to a scene in the 1992 thriller “Basic Instinct” in which Sharon Stone is interrogated by police. Rayner accused “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders” of using “desperate, perverted smears.” “I stand accused of a ‘ploy’ to “distract” the helpless PM — by b...

 Gustavo de Arístegui, diplomat and international analyst, recently spoke about the letter that Pedro Sánchez sent to the King of Morocco Mohamed VI, while attending the latest episode of ‘Facing the world’, on Onda Madrid. The letter reflects the details about change in Spain’s position regarding Western Sahara. Gustavo de Arístegui assured that “the security of the Maghreb is the security of Spain”. Reflecting on the years long conflict, Gustavo de Arístegui said, it cannot be believed that persevering with a situation that has not brought anything positive for the last forty-seven years, was the most logical thing to do. After forty-seven years of perfect ineffectiveness, we analyse the situation and see that there has also been an obvious geopolitical evolution, since policies and measures had to be adopted that revolve around the new circumstances. Besides Gustavo also identifies that the war in Ukraine has served as a catalyst for the global geopolitical situation, accentuat...

  Traders are bracing for the possibility of more aggressive policy tightening by the United States Federal Reserve. U.S. stocks slid as the selloff in Treasuries resumed, with traders bracing for the possibility of more aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve. The dollar gained. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5% in a dramatic reversal of a more than 1% rally in early trading Thursday on the back of upbeat earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell about 2%, underperforming than main benchmarks, as the jump in yields weighed on growth-related stocks. Treasury yields rose across the curve, with the policy-sensitive two-year rate climbing as much as 15 basis points 2.73% as traders priced in 50 basis-point rate hikes at each of the next three meetings. The dollar gained against all of its major peers following the surge in yields. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he saw merit in the argument for front-loading interest-rate increases and that a half-point hike “will be on the table f...

  Pledging not to seek revenge for the US assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Soleimani is ‘a fantasy’, the elite force says. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it will not stop attempts to avenge its top general killed in a United States attack as a condition to end sanctions — a key sticking point to reviving an important nuclear deal. General Qassem Soleimani , who headed the elite Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the IRGC, was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq’s capital Baghdad in January 2020. “Enemies have asked us several times to give up avenging the blood of Qasem Soleimani, for the lifting of some sanctions. But this is a fantasy,” navy commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri was quoted as saying by the IRGC’s Sepah News website. Former US President Donald Trump ordered Soleimani killed, saying he was planning an “imminent” attack on American personnel in the Iraqi capital. Iran responded to his assassination by firin...

  Here is how Russia’s chain of command would work in the event of a nuclear weapon launch. President Vladimir Putin has once again promoted Russia’s nuclear might against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict, saying on Wednesday that a new ballistic missile system should make Moscow’s enemies stop and think. Announcing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine eight weeks ago, Putin warned the West that any attempt to get in its way “will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history”. Days later, he ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be put on high alert . United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last month that “the prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility.” Here is how Russia’s chain of command would work in the event of a nuclear weapon launch. A 2020 document called “ Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence ” says the Russian president takes the decisio...

  US company says mass grave site in Manhush village has expanded in recent weeks to contain more than 200 new graves. Satellite imagery from near the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol shows a mass grave site that has expanded in recent weeks to contain more than 200 new graves, a private US company has said. Maxar Technologies, which collects and publishes satellite imagery of Ukraine, said on Thursday that a review of images from mid-March through to mid-April indicates that expansion of the mass grave began between March 23 and 26. The site lies adjacent to an existing cemetery in the village of Manhush, 20km (12 miles) west of Mariupol, the company said. Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, said in a Telegram post that as many as 9,000 civilians could be buried in the mass grave. “The greatest war crime of the 21st century has been committed in Mariupol,” he said. “This is the new Babi Yar,” the mayor said, referring to the site of multiple Nazi massacres of Ukrainian Jews...

 WASHINGTON — The United States will send another $800 million security package and an additional $500 million in direct economic assistance to Ukraine as its military fights off a renewed Russian assault , President Joe Biden said Thursday. “This is money the government can help use to stabilize their economy, to support communities that have been devastated by the Russian onslaught and pay the brave workers that continue to provide essential services to the people of Ukraine,” Biden said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. “With this latest disbursement, I’ve almost exhausted the draw-down authority I have that Congress authorized for Ukraine and a bipartisan spending bill last month,” Biden said, adding that he would send lawmakers a supplemental budget request next week. Biden said he discussed the new assistance package in person with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at the White House. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Biden for the additional aid...

Spain’s new position on the Moroccan Sahara issue and the support of the government on Morocco’s proposal to give autonomy to Sahara has generated a new conflict between PSOE and Podemos, the government partners and with the Government and its parliamentary partners. The reconstruction of relations between Spain and Morocco and the way in which the Spanish Government has handled this situation has created a wave of criticism among the opposition parties.                        Gustavo de Arístegui is a Spanish diplomat and politician Gustavo de Arístegui also points out the two sides to that criticism. The risks in consulting the opposition and other partners would have been very high and there is more serious chance of destability in Europe and the Mediterranean in the Maghreb than in the 1970s. There are forces with extraordinary destabilization capacity like the terrorist groups in the Sahel and the Boko Haram who are increa...

  Social media company confirmed it has been working on an editing feature since last year after the Tesla chief executive runs a poll asking followers if they would like it added to the site  Twitter has appointed Elon Musk to its board after the billionaire co-founder and chief executive of electric vehicle maker Tesla bought a 9.2 per cent passive stake in the social media company to become its single largest shareholder. Mr Musk will “serve as a Class II director with a term expiring at the company’s 2024 annual meeting of stockholders,” Twitter said, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing before markets opening on Tuesday in the US. “For so long as Mr Musk is serving on the Board and for 90 days thereafter, Mr Musk will not, either alone or as a member of a group, become the beneficial owner of more than 14.9 per cent of the company’s common stock outstanding at such time, including for these purposes economic exposure through derivative securities, swaps, o...

  Move is effective from April 11 and follows the introduction of next-generation Emirates IDs Residency visa stickers are to be replaced with the Emirates ID in the UAE from April 11, authorities have said. The Emirates ID — the country’s identification card system — will contain details of a residents’ visa status, once a medical test is passed. It means residents will no longer have a page in their passport taken up with a visa sticker. The move was confirmed by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security on Tuesday which said it was a UAE Cabinet decision. A circular was sent by the authority to departments and airlines who can now verify the residency status through the passport number and Emirates ID. The move comes after a “ new generation ” of Emirates IDs was revealed last August. The enhanced card has a string of new features such as non-visible data and increased service life of more than 10 years. It includes a 3D picture using lase...

 AS VIOLENCE ESCALATED in Israel-Palestine during the spring of 2021, Hazem Nasser did what he was called to do: He began filming. At the time, Nasser was working as a journalist for the Palestinian television network Falastin Al-Ghad, and his footage captured the rising tensions amid Jewish nationalist marches , Palestinian demonstrations, and Israeli police brutality in Jerusalem. On May 10, Nasser set out to film a clash between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army in the northern occupied West Bank. The day sticks out in Nasser’s memory — not for the clash itself, nor for the military strikes that began later that evening between Hamas and Israel, but for what happened to him afterward. Nasser was on his way home when he was stopped by Israeli soldiers at the Huwara checkpoint and taken away for interrogations. Nasser languished in detention for more than a month while the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, repeatedly interrogated him. “All the questions were ...

 Liverpool took a firm grip of their Champions League tie with Benfica as goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz earned them a 3–1 victory in Lisbon in their quarter-final first leg on Tuesday. Konate opened the scoring with a close-range header from a corner and Mane extended Liverpool’s lead 30 minutes into what was a one-sided first half, with Mohamed Salah, Diaz and Naby Keita all passing up great scoring chances. Yet five minutes after the break, 22-year-old French defender Konate completely missed a cross and allowed in-form striker Darwin Nunez to score and put Benfica, roared on by a sold-out Estadio da Luz, back into the game. Benfica gained in confidence and briefly took charge but former Porto winger Diaz, who never lost a match against their bitter rivals Benfica, scored on the counter-attack after a Keita through ball. Assessing the performances in Lisbon, Tony Evans has provided his player ratings in the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo...

 Russia’s war in Ukraine is taking on a new dimension with growing evidence of human rights atrocities by Vladimir Putin’s troops, accused of killing civilians in cold blood as they retreated from the Kyiv region. Moves are afoot to investigate war crimes but there are fears that similar massacres could occur, given Russia’s failure to gain control of the country or even any key cities following its invasion on February 24. Moscow is now concentrating its offensive on eastern and southern Ukraine. Thousands have been killed so far and Russian bombardments have caused widespread devastation. Millions have fled their homes, creating Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.  Readmore: https://www.euronews.com/2022/04/05/ukraine-war-satellite-photos-appear-to-contradict-russian-denials-over-bucha-atrocities

 Spain’s government has unveiled a €1 billion plan to reduce fuel prices amid an unprecedented strike by lorry drivers. Self-employed truckers said on Friday they would continue a 12-day strike despite reaching an agreement on financial support. Dozens of tractors drove slowly towards the Spanish capital, Madrid, to protest against the “brutal increase” in fuel prices, as well as the low revenue of farm produce. The Madrid region farmers also complained that the price of fertiliser — much of which has previously arrived from Ukraine — has climbed around 300%. After 12 hours of negotiations, Spain’s Socialist-led government announced that it would discount €0.20 per litre of gas for lorries as part of the package of measures. Spanish Transport Minister Raquel Sánchez said the “historic” agreement would save around €700 a month per vehicle. The government said it would also provide €450 million euros in direct financial aid to road haulage businesses, as well as special credit terms....

 Spain has become one of the first EU countries to scrap the need for symptomatic people to test and self-isolate, in another winding down of its Covid restrictions. Those with mild signs of the virus can now move around freely, though public health officials ask that they be mindful about socialising and wearing a mask outside. It follows the re-entry of unvaccinated teenagers from outside the EU last month, and will be further encouragement for those planning a Spanish Easter break. With its sunny beaches, rich architectural heritage and delicious food, there’s plenty of reasons why the Mediterranean nation was the world’s second-most visited country pre-pandemic. And, of course, the long-running favourite of British holidaymakers. As the world adjusts to international travel in the continuing age of COVID, the Spanish tourism sector is expected to reach nearly 90 per cent of its 2019 size. Readmore: https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/03/31/spain-travel-restrictions-covid-test...

  Oil output jumped 9.3% in the last three months of 2021, CBUAE data shows The UAE’s non-oil economy expanded 7.8 per cent on annual basis, driven by easing of pandemic-related restriction and travel curbs that boosted local and global demand, latest data from the Central Bank of the UAE showed. While the overall real gross domestic product grew at an estimated 2.3 per cent during 2021, the central bank expects the economic momentum to pick up pace this year, maintaining its 4.2 per cent growth projection for 2022, the CBUAE said in its Quarterly Economic Review. The non-oil economy is estimated to have expanded 3.8 per cent in 2021 and is projected to grow 3.9 per cent this year. The oil economy, which contracted 1.4 per cent in 2021 on the back of production curbs agreed with the Opec+, is expected to grow 5 per cent in 2022, as the 23-member alliance of producers brings additional crude to the market. The UAE oil production in the last three months of the 2021 rose 9.3 per...

  Spaniard would be perfect fit at Old Trafford but the timing is not ideal with Qatar 2022 finals starting in November Luis Enrique takes his Spain side to Barcelona on Friday for a friendly against Albania. Despite hosting their games all over the country, Spain seldom play in the country’s second city and this will be their first friendly in Barcelona since 2004. The issue of Catalan independence has calmed and the game will be at Espanyol’s 41,000-seater home on the outskirts of Barcelona, where many residents are internal immigrants who would identify with Spain anyway. Enrique, 51, knows the country better than most. Born and raised in the northern city of Gijon, Asturias, he started out at local club Sporting, which he still supports. He stood on the terraces near the ultra fans, once hiding a copy of the local newspaper from his parents when he was pictured near them. He was still a teenager when he broke into the first team and roomed with veteran Irish defender Kevin...

  The United States says Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, owns the mega-yacht Tango. The United States government has seized a mega-yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president, the first in the government’s sanctions enforcement initiative to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites. Spain’s Civil Guard and US federal agents descended on the yacht Monday at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The United States government has seized a mega-yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president, the first in the government’s sanctions enforcement initiative to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites. Spain’s Civil Guard and US federal agents descended on the yacht Monday at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital...