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Spain’s diplomatic corps and foreign affairs journalists have raised alarm over what they describe as a sharp institutional decline at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the arrival of José Manuel Albares, citing growing restrictions on press access and increasingly centralised decision-making.

On Monday, Madrid’s Press Association condemned what it described as “pressure” from senior foreign ministry officials – including journalist “vetoes” and the informal labelling of media outlets as “friendly” or “hostile”.

The controversy flared last week when a journalist noted at a press conference that Albares had not held a standalone presser for eight months. Days later, El Confidencial Digital reported that the minister had sought to bar her from the ministry – a move later conveyed to her employer by his spokesperson.

The episode sparked outrage among Spain’s foreign affairs press corps, which accuses Albares of undermining press freedom since taking office in 2021.

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Concerns extend beyond the media. Alberto Virella, president of the Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) and a former ambassador to Senegal, told Euractiv that the opacity mirrors deeper problems within the ministry itself.

“The ministry’s communication policy is anomalous,” Virella said, noting that ambassadors – and diplomats more broadly – are discouraged from speaking to the press for fear of reprimand.

He added that appointment procedures have also become less transparent, with postings no longer clearly based on seniority but on criteria “known only to the minister”.

“These conditions favour arbitrariness and cronyism,” Virella said, warning that they weaken Spain’s diplomatic effectiveness.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42965410

by Ed Augustin
1/23/26

Major media outlets have long joined in these doomsday forecasts, but in the weeks leading up to and after the U.S. attack on Venezuela, the familiar storyline returned with renewed intensity. The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and The Guardian have all used the exact same phrase: “Cuba is on the brink.”

These outlets rarely report with any depth on the primary cause behind Cuba’s devastating economic crisis: U.S. sanctions. Such is the case with a November article in The Economist: "Cuba is heading for disaster, unless its regime changes drastically."

Also:

• Cuba to Enter “State of War”
• House Approves Bill Funding Cuba “Democracy Promotion”
• More Than Half the US Wants Cuba to Be Sovereign
• Solidarity Activists Organize “Call-in Day” for Cuba
• Cubans in the US Now Treated Like Other Immigrants
• Cuban Man’s Death in ICE Custody Likely a Homicide
• China to Send Cuba New Aid

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/34017704

Fruit from Moquilea tomentosa

I can barely finish a couple of these and I already feel satiated. At least for me, this is not the kind of fruit that I can eat a pound in the blink of an eye

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/26447

Another correspondence from the files released by the DOJ shows the Emirati businessman describing sexual experiences to Epstein

From thecradle.co via This RSS Feed.

This is how "divide and conquer" works in Europe right now, in practice. If the Greeks stick with Europe, they risk their security by leaving Erdogan as the only interlocutor of Trump in the East Mediterannean.

One of Spain's most respected memory associations on Monday accused the leftist government of flouting its own much-vaunted policy to remove public symbols inherited from Francisco Franco's brutal dictatorship.

The European Commission today (Feb 9) adopted new measures under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) to prevent the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear.

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A South Korean official was expelled from his political party for suggesting the country “import” Vietnamese and Sri Lankan women to boost the declining birth rate.

Kim Hee Soo, the governor of the southern Jindo county in South Jeolla province, was facing an uproar after his televised remarks last week triggered a diplomatic protest from Vietnam. Mr Kim was addressing a town hall meeting when he spoke about measures to address the country’s declining birth rate.

He said South Korea could “import young unmarried women” from places like Sri Lanka or Vietnam to be married off to “young men in rural areas".

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French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to assert itself on the world stage, saying it is time to start acting like a "power".

In the face of growing threats from China, Russia and now the US, he told a group of European newspapers that the continent faced a "wake-up call".

"Are we ready to become a power? This is the question in the field of economy and finance, in defence and security, and in our democratic systems.

"In another era we might have said it is the moment to 'assume our majority'," he said ahead of an EU summit in Brussels later this week.

A Norwegian ambassador who was involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the 1990s and most recently served in Jordan has resigned as she faces scrutiny over her contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, the country's Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry announced Mona Juul's resignation on Sunday evening, days after she was suspended as Norway's ambassador to Jordan. That followed reports that Epstein left the children of Juul and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, $10 million in a will drawn up shortly before his death by suicide in a New York prison in 2019.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Juul's decision was “correct and necessary.” Her contact with the convicted sex offender showed a “serious lapse in judgment,” he said, adding that “the case makes it difficult to restore the trust that the role requires.”

Fruit from Moquilea tomentosa

I can barely finish a couple of these and I already feel satiated. At least for me, this is not the kind of fruit that I can eat a pound in the blink of an eye

Vladimir Putin has no desire to halt Russia’s almost 4-year-old invasion of neighboring Ukraine and thinks he can “outsmart” the United States during talks with Washington about how to end the war, a senior European intelligence official told The Associated Press.

Kaupo Rosin, the head of Estonia’s foreign intelligence service, said Moscow is playing for time in the talks with Washington and “there is absolutely no discussion about how to really cooperate with the U.S. in a meaningful way.”

Rosin, who spoke at an online briefing with reporters ahead of the publication of Estonia’s annual security report on Tuesday, said the findings were based on intelligence his country gathered from “Russian internal discussions.” He did not elaborate on how the information was obtained but said the discussions showed that Russian officials believe that Washington remains Moscow’s “main enemy.”