BUENOS AIRES (May 22): A diplomatic crisis has erupted between Argentina and Spain with the European nation withdrawing its Ambassador — a move President Javier Milei described as "absurd".
It follows a weekend speech in Spain by Mr Milei during which he described the wife of Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez as corrupt at a meeting of the far-right party, Vox.
Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares said the Ambassador would remain in Madrid indefinitely.
"We did not provoke this situation. We have no desire or interest in any escalation, but it is the Government's obligation to defend the dignity and sovereignty of Spanish institutions," Mr Albares (pictured) said.
"There is no precedent for a Head of State coming to the capital of another country to insult its institutions and blatantly interfere in its internal affairs.”
Mr Milei said the move “stains the international image of Spain and [shows] how arrogant they are, like believing that they are the State and that no-one can tell them anything".
Mr Milei’s arrival in Spain caused immediate diplomatic friction as no meetings with Mr Sánchez or King Felipe VI had been organised during his stay.
Instead he appeared at Vox's Europa Viva 24 summit and launched an attack on “satanic" socialism.
"The global elites don't realise how destructive it can be to implement the ideas of socialism," Mr Milei said.
"They don't know the type of society and country that it can produce, the type of people clinging to power and the level of abuse that generates."
Referring to Mr Sánchez he said: "When you have a corrupt wife, let's say, it gets dirty, and you take five days to think about it."
Mr Sánchez, a Socialist, recently considered resigning after Spanish prosecutors opened a preliminary corruption investigation against his wife, Bergoña Gómez, which was quickly closed.
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Rebel leader killed in foiled DRC coup
KINSHASA (May 20): Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have foiled a coup attempt in which armed men targeted the homes of top officials and briefly occupied the office of the Presidency in the capital, Kinshasa.
Authorities said about 50 men in camouflage fatigues attacked the residences of the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and a senior politician tipped to become Speaker of the Parliament.
The assailants also smashed the glass doors of the Palais de la Nation that houses the office of President Felix Tshisekedi before security forces moved in, killing the group's leader, Christian Malanga, and three others.
On his website, Malanga (41) had referred to himself as the "President of New Zaire" and the head of a Government in exile.
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Swiss court jails former Gambian Minister
GENEVA (May 18): Former Gambian Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Swiss court sitting in Geneva.
The court heard Mr Sonko had been responsible for murders, tortures and other repressive acts committed by the West African country’s security forces.
Legal rights groups hailed what they called a landmark decision involving a former Government official for crimes against humanity, saying it could set a precedent for international justice.
Mr Sonko fled Gambia in 2016, applying for asylum in Switzerland in November of that year, and was arrested two months later. Because he has been in custody since then, he would have fewer than 13 years more behind bars if the verdict is upheld.
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Rail unions step up Olympic demands
PARIS (May 22): France’s State-owned rail company, SNCF is under pressure from unions who are demanding bonuses for working through the Olympic Games period in July and August.
Workers backed their demands with a one-day strike that left just one in five suburban commuter trains running on some lines in Paris
Their counterparts at transport operator, RATP, which runs metro and bus services in Paris, have already secured an average €1,000 ($A1,600) bonus, reaching up to €2,500 ($A4,056) for the most in-demand train and bus drivers.
A spokesperson for the rail unions, Fabien Villedieu said talks with the SNCF had been dragging on too long "so we wanted to provoke something…because of the Olympics a whole range of our colleagues won't be able to go on holiday".
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Officials’ pandemic responsive ‘reactive’
BELFAST (May 18): A former Minister in the Northern Ireland Government says the Province’s Civil Service was "reactive rather than proactive" when faced with COVID-19 pandemic.
Sue Gray was giving evidence at the United Kingdom’s COVID inquiry sitting in Belfast.
She said at that time the Province’s power-sharing Executive had been restored after a three-year hiatus when Civil Servants had, in effect, been running the Government.
“The Executive had just reformed; Ministers were walking in the door; relationships were still being formed between Ministers and the Civil Service. I think it was a reactive nature,” Ms Gray said.
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Immigrants praised for knowledge of Norway
OSLO (May 21): Norway’s Directorate of Higher Education has announced that in 2023 more than 90 per cent of immigrants eligible for citizenship in Norway passed the country’s test that measures their knowledge of Norwegian life and society.
A spokesperson for the Directorate, Sveinung Skule said the results were a positive trend.
“It shows how many have built up competence in the Norwegian language and knowledge of Norwegian society,” Mr Skule said.
The test became a requirement in 2017, when the generally anti-immigration Progress Party wanted to make it more difficult to obtain Norwegian citizenship.
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Record release of Bangladesh exam results
DHAKA (May 20): The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) has published the results of the 46th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) preliminary examination, just 13 days after the test was held.
Chair of the BPSC, Sohrab Hossain said it was the fastest turnaround time in the history of BCS results.
“We had nine working days to process the results and managed to complete the job in time due to sincerity and integrity of the Commission members and officials,” Mr Hossain said.
“Along with designated Commission members and cadre section chiefs, I set a target for publishing results. We exerted significant efforts to achieve the target.”
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Dutch homeless can rest easy on benches
THE HAGUE (May 22): Amsterdam City Council is to remove central armrests from its park benches so that homeless people can stretch out on them.
Alderman Melanie Van der Horst said the centre armrests were not deliberately hostile to homeless people, but intended to help seniors in the city who could use the extra support sitting down and standing up.
“A team of expert Civil Servants have re-examined the resilience of the city’s elderly and determined that they’ll manage well without the centre armrest,” Alderman Van der Horst said.
The move follows similar decisions by the city authorities of Utrecht and Leiden in an effort to make their cities more accommodating to their homeless residents.
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Stamp buyers get a whiff of French cuisine
PARIS (May 21): The French Postal Service has issued almost 600,000 postage stamps that release the scent of a freshly-baked baguette when rubbed.
Costing €1.96 ($A3.18) the stamp depicts a baguette decorated with a red, white and blue ribbon. Ink used on the stamps contains microcapsules which provide the fragrance.
In a statement, La Poste said the baguette was the bread of French people’s daily lives, “the symbol of our gastronomy, the jewel of our culture”.
The French baguette was given UNESCO heritage status in 2022.
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