The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, reported this Tuesday that his department has registered 164 people of Spanish nationality missing in Colombia after the earthquake that the country suffered this Monday, but that it has no record of injured or deceased nationals.
The British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is in talks to merge with its American rival Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), in a deal that would create one of the largest pharmaceutical groups in the world, valued at nearly $400 billion (around €347 billion). According to the Financial Times on Monday, these two companies have been in contact about a possible merger over the past few months. These negotiations could culminate in an agreement in the near future, but they could also be delayed or fail, sources cited by the British newspaper indicate.
The political dust stirred up by the dossier prepared by the Communication Office of the Ministry of the Interior is dealing a significant blow to the Executive in terms of institutional credit. The scope of the maneuver – a catalog in which dozens of journalists and political analysts are rated and identified by their ideological orientation – has proven to be of such a caliber that it has completely disabled any attempt at justification. Faced with the impossibility of presenting a reasonable argument to support the existence of such an inventory, within the coalition and in the affected department itself, nothing has been heard but apologies and an explicit admission that an indefensible mistake has been made.
An outbreak of the parasite Cyclospora, whose most common symptom is very severe or “explosive” diarrhea, has already caused nearly 5,000 cases in the United States. For the moment, it is unknown which foods may have caused this outbreak, although authorities are investigating the relationship of the Taco Bell franchise with it.
The advertising and public relations company Whathefav, owned by Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, the daughters of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, received more than one million euros in the payment scheme linked to the former Prime Minister following the bailout of the airline Plus Ultra, according to the court order in the case.
FC Barcelona is a walking paradox when it comes to the state of its economy. The signals it sends are those of a club with a tight budget when it comes to increasing resources for certain areas (women’s football, basketball, and other sections), but at the same time, it has not only just signed a forward like Anthony Gordon for 70 million euros plus 10 million in variables for its men’s football team, but it also does not rule out acquiring the services of Julián Álvarez, another offensive player for whom Atlético is asking 150 million. Everything has an explanation, although not without risks.
The Government takes control of Madrid due to the advance of a huge fire (the two fronts, that of Villa del Prado and that of San Martín de Valdeiglesias, joined forces at noon) that threatens the lives of the numerous population living in the western mountains of this region.
Shakira has won her latest battle against the Tax Agency after eight years of litigation. The National Court has ruled in her favor in the case opened regarding the 2011 fiscal year and orders the Tax Agency to return 60 million euros to her. The Tax Agency considered that the Colombian artist had spent the legally required time in Spain —183 days—, which obligated her to pay taxes on her earnings in the country.
No time left. Firefighting professionals (UME, firefighters, and forest rangers) are giving it their all. They know they have barely 48 hours to stop the fire that is ravaging the center of the peninsula, in the provinces of Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo, affecting about 70,000 hectares, of which around 50,000 are in the natural jewel that is Gredos, sadly making this Ávila area the largest fire in the history of Spain. And this race against time is explained by the new heat wave, the fourth, arriving on Wednesday and which will again push temperatures to between 35 and 40 degrees.
The impact of the DANA of October 29 is not only measured in mud, but in an unprecedented economic paralysis. According to reports from the Valencia Chamber of Commerce and the Generalitat, the catastrophe affected more than 54.000 companies and jeopardized the livelihood of more than 190.000 workers affected by ERTEs, reduced working hours, and layoffs. With nearly 10.000 local shops and businesses devastated, the reconstruction of the ground zero requires a specialized workforce that the current market cannot cover.