AFP – Thousands of protesters marched through Barcelona demanding lower rents in Spain’s second city. Barcelona, which has already taken action to stop the spread of holiday rental apartments, is the latest Spanish city to see protests for cheaper housing. Backed by left-wing parties and unions, the demonstrators gathered in central Barcelona behind a giant banner declaring ‘Lower the rents’. “Today a new political cycle starts concerning housing,” spokesperson Carme Arcarazo for the Catalan Tenants Union, the main organiser, told reporters. “Investors must not be allowed to come to our cities and play with the apartments like a game of Monopoly,” she added. The union would target “profiteers” who are taking “half of our salaries”, Arcarazo said. The demonstrators demanded a 50-per-cent cut in rents, leases with an unlimited term and a ban on “speculative” sales of buildings. They threatened to start a rent strike. An estimated 22,000 people took part in a similar demonstration in Madrid on October 13. Campaigns have been launched in other cities. According to the Idealista specialised website, rental prices per square metre have risen 82 per cent across Spain over the past decade. The average salary has gone up by 17 per cent in that time, according to the national statistics institute. Facing pressure over a housing crisis, the government in 2023 passed legislation calling for more social housing, greater restrictions on rents in high demand areas and penalties for owners who do not occupy properties. But rents have continued to rise while the government has battled city and regional authorities to get some parts of the law applied.
Shopping on Temu can feel like playing an arcade game. Instead of using a joystick-controlled claw to grab a toy, visitors to the online marketplace maneuver their computer mouses or cellphone screens to browse colorful gadgets, accessories and trinkets with prices that look too good to refuse. A pop-up spinning wheel offers the chance to win a coupon. Rotating captions warn that a less than $2 camouflage print balaclava and a $1.23 skeleton hand back scratcher are “Almost sold out.” A flame symbol indicates a $9.69 plush cat print hoodie is selling fast. A timed-down selection of discounted items adds to the sense of urgency. Pages from the Shein website, left, and from the Temu site, right. Welcome to the new online world of impulse buying, a place of guilty pleasures where the selection is vast, every day is Cyber Monday, and an instant dopamine hit is always just a click away. By all accounts, we’re living in an accelerating age for consumerism, one that Temu, which is owned by the Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, and Shein, its fierce rival , supercharged with social media savvy and an interminable assortment of cheap goods, most shipped directly from merchants in China based on real-time demand. The business models of the two platforms, coupled with avalanches of digital or influencer advertising, have enabled them to give Western retailers a run for their money this holiday shopping season. A Christmas tree ornament purchased on Temu. Software company Salesforce said it expects roughly one in five online purchases in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada to be made through four online marketplaces based or founded in Asia: Shein, Temu, TikTok Shop — the e-commerce arm of video-sharing platform TikTok — and AliExpress. Analysts with Salesforce said they are expected to pull in roughly $160 billion in global sales outside of China. Most of the sales will go to Temu and Shein, a privately held company which is thought to lead the worldwide fast fashion market in revenue. Lisa Xiaoli Neville, a nonprofit manager who lives in Los Angeles, is sold on Shein. The bedroom of her home is stocked with jeans, shoes, press-on nails and other items from the ultra-fast fashion retailer, all of which she amassed after getting on the platform to buy a $2 pair of earrings she saw in a Facebook ad. Neville, 46, estimates she spends at least $75 a month on products from Shein. A $2 eggshell opener, a portable apple peeler and an apple corer, both costing less than $5, are among the quirky, single-use kitchen tools taking up drawer space. She acknowledges she doesn’t need them because she “doesn’t even cook like that.” Plus, she’s allergic to apples. “I won’t eat apples. It will kill me,” Neville said, laughing. “But I still want the coring thing.” Shein, now based in Singapore, uses some of the same web design features as Temu’s, such as pop-up coupons and ads, to persuade shoppers to keep clicking, but it appears a bit more restrained in its approach. Shein primarily targets young women through partnerships with social media influencers. Searching the company's name on video platforms turns up creators promoting Shein's Black Friday sales event and displaying the dozens of of trendy clothes and accessories they got for comparatively little money. But the Shein-focused content also includes videos of TikTokers saying they're embarrassed to admit they shopped there and critics lashing out at fans for not taking into account the environmental harms or potential labor abuses associated with products that are churned out and shipped worldwide at a speedy pace. Neville has already picked out holiday gifts for family and friends from the site. Most of the products in her online cart cost under $10, including graphic T-shirts she intends to buy for her son and jeans and loafers for her daughter. All told, she plans to spend about $200 on gifts, significantly less than $500 she used to shell out at other stores in prior years. “The visuals just make you want to spend more money,” she said, referring to the clothes on Shein's site. “They're very cheap and everything is just so cute.” Unlike Shein, Temu's appeal cuts across age groups and gender. The platform is the world’s second most-visited online shopping site, software company Similarweb reported in September. Customers go there looking for practical items like doormats and silly products like a whiskey flask shaped like a vintage cellphone from the 1990s. Temu advertised Black Friday bargains for some items at upwards of 70% off the recommended retail price. Making a purchase can quickly result in receiving dozens of emails offering free giveaways. The caveat: customers have to buy more products. Despite their rise, Temu and Shein have proven particularly ripe for pushback. Last year, a coalition of unnamed brands and organizations launched a campaign to oppose Shein in Washington. U.S. lawmakers also have raised the possibility that Temu is allowing goods made with forced labor to enter the country. More recently, the Biden administration put forward rules that would crack down on a trade rule known as the de minimis exception, which has allowed a lot of cheap products to come into the U.S. duty-free. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to slap high tariffs on goods from China, a move that would likely raise prices across the retail world. Both Shein and Temu have set up warehouses in the U.S. to speed up delivery times and help them better compete with Amazon, which is trying to erode their price advantage through a new storefront that also ships products directly from China. 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Shopping on Shein and Temu for holiday gifts? You're not the only one
To wrap up what has already been a wild and crazy Week 16 slate of games, the Green Bay Packers play host to the New Orleans Saints on "Monday Night Football." The Packers got back in the win column last week and have now taken four of their last five. They're too far behind to swoop in and take first place in the NFC North, but they can still try to vault themselves higher in the wild card standings by going 3-0 to finish the regular season. The Saints are playing out the string on a lost season, but they do have a chance to ruin some opponents' seasons down the stretch of this year. Maybe not next week against the Raiders , but Monday night against the Packers and in Week 18 against the Buccaneers , they can really throw a wrench into somebody's plans. Can Green Bay pick up a much-needed victory, or will New Orleans play spoiler? We'll find out soon enough. Before we break down the matchup, here's a look at how you can watch the game. Packers vs. Saints where to watch Date: Monday, Dec. 16 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET Location: Lambeau Field (Green Bay) Channel: ABC | Stream: fubo (try for free) Follow: CBS Sports App Betting odds: Packers -14, O/U 42.5 (via Caesars Sportsbook) When the Saints have the ball New Orleans enters this game without Derek Carr , Alvin Kamara , Chris Olave , Rashid Shaheed and Taysom Hill , not to mention Ryan Ramczyk , who has been out all season. Spencer Rattler will get the start under center. In his previous three-plus games worth of action, he completed just 57.5% of his passes at an average of 5.9 yards per attempt, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He took sacks on over 10% of his dropbacks and had a passing success rate of a pitiful 32%, according to Pro-Football-Reference. Kendre Miller will get all the work he can handle, but he'll be running into stacked boxes behind a line that has not exactly distinguished itself this year. It is highly likely that this offense is totally non-viable against a Packers defense that is fourth in the NFL of opponent turnover rate and that has yielded a score on the eighth-lowest share of opponent drives. When the Packers have the ball Honestly, the Packers should be able to find offensive success however they want it on Monday night. Few teams are running the ball more effectively at the moment. Josh Jacobs is mowing down opposing defensive lines to the tune of a 50.6% rushing success rate. He's got 1,147 yards and 12 touchdowns. The offensive line is playing well and clearing more than enough space for him ands Chris Brooks and Emanuel Wilson to make their way to the second level against a Saints defense yielding 4.9 yards per carry -- the second-worst mark in the NFL. Jordan Love is apparently hitting his stride: He's completed 68.7% of his passes at an average of 9.9 yards per attempt, with eight touchdowns and just one interception across Green Bay's last five games. Seemingly every week, it's a different pass-catcher stepping up. Sometimes it might be Tucker Kraft , sometimes it might be Jayden Reed , sometimes it might be Romeo Doubs . Who knows, one of these weeks it might actually be Dontayvion Wicks . And New Orleans has allowed more passing yards than all but four other teams, despite having played one fewer game than everyone else except for Green Bay. In other words, it's wheels up on this Packers offense. Prediction New Orleans is just not in any kind of shape to compete with this Packers team at the moment. Look at the teams Green Bay has lost to this year: Detroit twice, Minnesota and Philadelphia. Those are the three top teams in the NFC. The Saints ... are not that. Pick: Packers 30, Saints 6
NEW YORK -- As Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Monday to state murder and terrorism charges in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson , supporters of the suspect continued to donate tens of thousands of dollars for a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Several online defense funds have been created for Mangione by anonymous people, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that as of Monday morning had raised over $187,000. The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself "The December 4th Legal Committee," apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly ambushed and gunned down Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the executive walked to his company's shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel. "We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation," the anonymous group said in a statement. The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from thousands of anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves "A frustrated citizen" and thanked Mangione for "sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation." In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for GiveSendGo said the company "operates with a principle of not preemptively determining guilt or innocence." "Our platform does not adjudicate legal matters or the validity of causes. Instead, we allow campaigns to remain live unless they violate the specific terms outlined in our Terms of Use. Importantly, we do allow campaigns for legal defense funds, as we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to access due process," the GiveSendGo spokesperson said. The spokesperson added, "We understand the concerns raised by such campaigns and take these matters seriously. When campaigns are reported, our team conducts a thorough review to ensure they comply with our policies. While other platforms may choose a different approach, GiveSendGo's core value is to provide a space where all individuals, no matter their situation, can seek and receive support, with donors making their own informed decisions." Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione's defense. "GoFundMe's Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes," the crowdfunding website said in a statement. "The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded." Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading "Free Luigi" and the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson's homicide. "Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It's deeply disturbing," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview last week. "And what I would say to members of the public, people who, as you described, are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready." When Mangione appeared in court Monday for his arrangement, more than two dozen young women, who had waited in the frigid cold outside the courthouse, said they were there to support the defendant. Most of the women wore face masks and a few appeared visibly emotional as Mangione entered the courtroom. "This is a grave injustice, and that's why people are here," one of the women, who said she arrived at the courthouse at 5 a.m., told ABC News. Other supporters outside the courthouse chanted, "Free, free Luigi" and "Eat the rich," and held signs reading, "People over profits" and "Health over wealth." Manhattan grand jury indicted Mangione last week on 11 charges, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism. Mangione is also facing federal charges that could get him the death penalty if convicted. Mangione's attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, raised concerns in court Monday that her client is being used by police and New York City Mayor Eric Adams as "political fodder." Angifilo also slammed last week's extradition of Mangione back to Manhattan to face charges, calling Adams' presence amid the massive display of force used in the transfer "the biggest staged perp walk I have seen in my career." "What was the New York City mayor doing at this press conference -- that is utterly political," she said, before referencing the mayor's own criminal case. "The New York City mayor should know more than anyone the presumption of innocence." Retired FBI special agent Richard Frankel said suspects have received unsolicited support in previous politically charged violent crimes. "We saw it with the Unabomber," said Frankel, an ABC News contributor, referring to Ted Kaczynski, the mathematician-turn-domestic terrorist who blamed technology for a decline of individual freedom and mailed handcrafted explosives to targeted individuals between 1978 and 1995. Frankel said Eric Rudolph, who detonated a bomb in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Olympic Games and carried out three additional bombings as he eluded capture for five years, also attracted supporters. "In my opinion, they're supporting individuals who have committed potentially terrorist acts, but it's a politically charged act," Frankel said. Referring to the Thompson killing, Frankel added, "You can be up in arms about the health care industry, but you can't threaten or actually hurt members of the health care industry." Most recently, Marine veteran Daniel Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was acting erratically on a New York City subway, after supporters donated more than $3 million to his legal defense fund. Law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Someone this week pasted "wanted posters" outside the New York Stock Exchange naming other executives. A recent bulletin released by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency law enforcement intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass reading, "Deny, Defend, Depose," which are the same words etched on shell casings police said were recovered from the Thompson homicide scene. "Many social media users have outright advocated for the continued killings of CEOs with some aiming to spread fear by posting 'hit lists,'" the bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reads.Nagpur: Around 75 individuals with political crimes registered against them are now under surveillance by rural police to ensure there are no untoward incidents in the post-assembly election phase. Nagpur rural SP Harssh A Poddar informed that his teams identified names, modus operandi, and the areas where the criminals operated, especially those associated with political activities in the past, for strict vigilance. IPL 2025 mega auction IPL Auction 2025: Who got whom IPL 2025 Auction: Updated Full Team Squads Apart from the police stations, the local crime branch under senior inspector Omprakash Kokate is also engaged in undertaking a stringent drive against hardened goons and flushing out arms and weapons. Sources stated that the rural police leadership, anticipating retaliatory crimes in the district in the backdrop of the electoral outcomes of the recently concluded state assembly election, decided to crack down on the goons affiliated with different political parties and leaders to ensure they do not target each other. In the run-up to the election, Poddar had conducted a similar drive against the goons as per the Election Commission guidelines. He instructed the force to repeat the anti-criminal drive in the district once again.
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US President Joe Biden on Sunday said deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad should be "held accountable" but called the nation's political upheaval a "historic opportunity" for Syrians to rebuild their country. In the first full US reaction to Assad's overthrow by an Islamist-led coalition of rebel factions, Biden also warned that Washington will "remain vigilant" against the emergence of terrorist groups, announcing that US forces had just conducted fresh strikes against militants from the Islamic State organization.
Should you buy the WH-1000XM5 or WF-1000XM5 deal for Black Friday?