- Acquittal comes days earlier than presidential election
- Current polls confirmed Babis shedding a potential run-off
World
Czech presidential candidate Babis cleared in fraud case
PRAGUE, Jan 9 (Reuters) – A Czech courtroom on Monday acquitted former prime minister Andrej Babis of alleged fraud in securing EU subsidies, bettering the billionaire’s prospects in a presidential election this week during which he’s among the many favourites.
The prosecution had sought a suspended jail time period and a positive, accusing Babis of hiding his possession of 1 agency 15 years in the past to illegally faucet 2 million euros ($2.1 million) of European Union funds to construct a leisure and convention centre close to the capital Prague.
Prague Municipal Court docket decide Jan Sott mentioned it had not been confirmed that what Babis and one in all his managers did was a criminal offense. The state legal professional can enchantment the choice.
Babis, who denied any wrongdoing, welcomed the decision.
“INNOCENT! I’m very completely satisfied that now we have impartial justice and the courtroom confirmed what I had acknowledged because the starting. That I’m harmless and did nothing unlawful,” he wrote on Twitter.
Babis, 68, constructed the Agrofert Group enterprise empire with pursuits in farming, chemical substances, meals processing and media. He positioned his enterprise pursuits right into a belief in 2017 amid accusations of conflicts of curiosity together with his authorities roles.
His companies obtain hundreds of thousands of euros in EU subsidies yearly beneath the bloc’s agricultural coverage along with subsidies for funding initiatives.
Babis was finance minister in 2014-2017 and prime minister in 2017-2021. A centre-right coalition unseated him in 2021 regardless of his centrist ANO get together successful extra seats in parliament than any of its rivals.
THREE-WAY RACE
Babis is in a race with impartial rivals Petr Pavel and Danuse Nerudova for the presidency, opinion polls have proven.
No candidate is predicted to win outright within the first spherical, which takes place on Friday and Saturday, which means a run-off spherical between the 2 prime candidates would comply with on Jan 27-28.
Polls have projected Babis shedding within the second spherical to both of the opposite two main candidates.
Czech presidents don’t wield a lot every day govt energy, which lies with the federal government of the NATO and EU member.
However they assist form public opinion, signify the nation overseas and appoint prime ministers, central financial institution board members and constitutional courtroom judges.
Babis additionally faces a French investigation over a monetary fraud allegedly involving his buy of property in France, in response to French media. He has denied wrongdoing in that case as properly.
($1 = 0.9353 euros)
Reporting by Robert Muller and Jan Lopatka; Enhancing by Hugh Lawson and Conor Humphries
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.
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World
Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant
Italian state railways Ferrovie dello Stato plans to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic plant with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity that would cover 19% of its energy needs by 2029, the CEO said in a newspaper interview.
World
Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more
Christmas, Navidad in Puerto Rico, extends far beyond Dec. 25.
The island proudly proclaims itself as having the “longest holiday season in the world,” according to the website Discover Puerto Rico.
On average, the holiday festivities in Puerto Rico last about 45 days, per the source, commencing right after Thanksgiving, and stretching all the way through mid-January.
HOW TO SAY ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ IN 10 LANGUAGES TO FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD
The holiday season in Puerto Rico is full of rich traditions beloved by families.
One tradition those who visit Puerto Rico will immediately notice during the holiday season is decorations.
In Puerto Rico, decorations are typically put up by Thanksgiving, and kept up until the season concludes in mid-January, with opportune picture moments at every corner.
Parrandas, Christmas caroling, is a holiday staple.
17 SECRET TRAVEL TIPS FOR FALL AND WINTER THAT AREN’T SO SECRET AFTER ALL
Carolers choose houses of family and friends to visit, typically starting around 10 p.m., performing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs), with not only their voices, but often with instruments as well, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
The group you begin caroling with is likely not the same group you end with.
In Puerto Rico, when carolers visit a house, they’ll often stop inside for conversation, food and drink before moving to the next residence.
Usually, the residences of the house visited will join the group for the next house, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
CHRISTMAS TREES IN GERMANY WERE DECORATED WITH APPLES INSTEAD OF ORNAMENTS IN THE 1600S FOR ‘ADAM AND EVE DAY’
A night of serenading loved ones can last quite a while, often stretching into the early morning hours of the following day, according to the source.
The biggest day of the holiday season in Puerto Rico actually isn’t Christmas, but instead, the night before.
In Puerto Rico, Dec. 24 is Nochebuena. On that day, loved ones gather for the exchange of gifts, caroling and a large feast.
Many families will also attend a midnight Mass on the day, known as Misa de Gallo.
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS REVEAL THE SURPRISING DAY TO TRAVEL AHEAD OF THE CHRISTMAS RUSH
After Christmas passes, the festivities go on in Puerto Rico.
Another big event in the holiday lineup is Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, a holiday that “commemorates the visit that the Three Wise Men paid to Jesus after his birth,” according to Discover Puerto Rico.
On the eve of the day, children fill up a shoebox with grass to be left for camels to munch on while the Three Kings leave behind gifts for them, according to PuertoRico.com.
For a particularly festive Three Kings Day, Juana Díaz is the place to go, as it hosts the largest celebration in Puerto Rico for the holiday. In Juana Díaz, there is an annual festival and parade in honor of Three Kings Day that brings together over 25,000 people every year, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
Then, eight days later is Octavitas, a post-holiday celebration where families get together and celebrate one last time for the season.
The end of the holiday season is marked with the San Sebastián Street Festival.
This festival, spanning over multiple days, takes place in Old San Juan, and is filled with live music, dancing, shopping and parades.
World
Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10
Twin-engine plane crashed in largely residential neighborhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff, authorities say.
A small plane has crashed into a tourist hotspot in southern Brazil, killing all 10 people on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, officials have said.
The twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 hit the chimney of a home and the second floor of a different house before crashing into a shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff from Canela, Brazil’s Civil Defense agency said on Sunday.
Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that the aircraft’s owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, was killed along with nine members of his family.
Leite said that 17 people on the ground were injured, 12 of whom were still receiving treatment in hospital.
Galeazzi’s company, Galeazzi & Associados, confirmed that its CEO and Galeazzi’s wife and three daughters had died in the crash.
“Luiz Galeazzi will be forever remembered for his dedication to his family and for his remarkable career as a leader of Galeazzi & Associados,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn.
“In this moment of immense pain, Galeazzi & Associados is deeply grateful for the expressions of solidarity and affection received from friends, colleagues and the community. We also sympathize with all those affected by the accident in the region.”
Gramado, located in the Serra Gaucha mountains, is a popular destination for vacationers, especially during the Christmas season.
The crash comes a little more than a year after Brazil suffered its worst air disaster in nearly two decades when a twin-engine plane crashed in the southeastern city of Vinhedo, killing all 62 people on board.
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