Journalists Seized
The Spanish government this morning demanded the immediate release of journalists working for the Spanish news agency EFE who were arrested in Venezuela.
Madrid “strongly condemns” the detention in Caracas the Foreign Ministry said. Spain demands that “the competent authorities release them immediately,” it said, adding that Madrid “again asks the Venezuelan authorities to respect the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Economy
Italy’s economy tipped into recession at the end of last year, according to latest figures.
In the final three months of 2018, the economy shrank by 0.2%, following a 0.1% decline in the third quarter.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the contraction was likely to continue into 2019.
Meanwhile, figures from the EU showed economic growth in the 19-country eurozone still languishing.
Growth in the euro area remained at 0.2% in the final quarter of 2018, the same as the previous quarter and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Spain’s economy expanded at its slowest rate last year since 2014 while, on a quarterly basis, output in the October-December period grew at its fastest pace in a year, preliminary National Statistic Institute figures showed this morning.
Spanish 2018 gross domestic product rose by 2.5 percent last year, while economic output grew by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, the strongest quarterly growth in a year.
That was above a Reuters’ forecast for quarter-on-quarter GDP growth of 0.6 percent.
Spain grew by 2.4 percent in the October to December period from a year earlier, also slightly above a Reuters forecast of 2.3 percent.
Ride Hailing Service
International ride-hailing service Uber said it was suspending its taxi service in the Barcelona after local authorities passed regulation which would limit how they operate in the city.
Uber has operated in Barcelona via its UberX service which uses professional, licensed drivers, since March of last year.
The local Catalan government has decreed that ride-hailing services can only pick up passengers after a delay of at least 15 minutes from the time of being booked.
The new regulation came after pressure from taxi drivers, which have held many strikes in Barcelona and remain on strike in capital Madrid.
British Man in Hospital
A British businessman is said to be critically injured in hospital after a fall from a Majorca apartment after police were called over a suspected domestic row.
The unnamed Brit has been described locally as ‘very well known and friends with international actors and celebs.’
He was admitted to Majorca’s Son Espases Hospital late on Tuesday night after an incident at a flat in Palma’s old town.
Police had been called to the property by worried neighbors moments before the businessman, believed to be aged 40, fell from the first floor.
Local reports said he fell and hit his head after ‘trying to flee’ officers as they reached the scene.
He was stabilised at the scene after being diagnosed with a severe head injury before being rushed to Son Espases where he remained in intensive care this morning.
A local paper published a picture of the injured man with Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone.