Le Journal

Official figures better than expected after stronger receipts than a year earlierBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK government borrowed less than expected in December, official figures show, after stronger receipts than a year earlier.Public sector net borrowing – the difference between spending and income – was £11.6bn last month, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with £18.7bn in the same month a year earlier. Continue reading...

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?Thursday comes around again, and thanks to the whimsical illustrations of Anaïs Mims, it is time to find out whether you are the shiny red apple of knowledge or the awkward little question mark worm wriggling inside and ruining it. Fifteen questions on the week’s headlines, pop culture and general knowledge await. There are no prizes, but at least you can use the comments to let us know which side of the fruit bowl you fell on. Allons-y!The Thursday news quiz, No 231 Continue reading...

Reporters Without Borders said the ruling against the 26-year-old journalist showed a ‘blatant disregard for press freedom’ in the Southeast Asian nationA young Filipino journalist who spent nearly six years in a crowded provincial prison was found guilty of terror financing on Thursday, in a case rights groups and a UN rapporteur labelled a “travesty of justice”.Community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio, 26, and former roommate Marielle Domequil broke down in tears and hugged each other as the guilty verdict was read and they were sentenced to 12-18 years in prison by judge Georgina Uy Perez of the Tacloban regional court. Continue reading...

Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to TexasUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy on Tuesday as he returned home from school and transported him and his father to a Texas detention center, according to school officials.Liam Ramos, a preschooler, and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway, the superintendent of the school district in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, said at a press conference on Wednesday. Liam, who had recently turned five, is one of four children in the school district who have been detained by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in the region over the last two weeks, the district said. Continue reading...

Trump told Davos attendees the US won’t use military force to take Greenland but demanded ‘immediate negotiations’ – key US politics stories from Wednesday 21 January at a glanceIt was quite a day in Davos.Donald Trump began his time at the World Economic Forum Wednesday with a rambling, racism-drenched speech in which he attacked European leaders and reasserted his demand to acquire Greenland. But hours later, the US president backed down and eased off his threats to impose tariffs on several allied nations, claiming he had reached “the framework of a future deal” concerning the US’s involvement in the Danish territory. Continue reading...