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Luis Rubiales has refused to directly apologise to Jenni Hermoso over the kiss that ultimately forced his resignation as Spanish football federation president. In an interview with Piers Morgan on Talk TV, Rubiales instead continued to maintain the kiss was “consensual” and went on to suggest that the negative publicity over the affair had been “created by spurious arguments and people”. Rubiales announced his resignation in a statement posted on his unverified X account – formerly Twitter – on Sunday evening, having already been suspended by FIFA pending an investigation into his behaviour. Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips during the trophy presentation after Spain’s victory over England in last month’s World Cup final. Hermoso said the kiss was not consensual and has submitted a complaint to the national prosecutor’s office. “What happened is bad for everyone,” Rubiales responded when asked by Morgan if he would apologise directly to Hermoso. “We had Jenni lifting me. We had the fleeting kiss, two tenths of a second, but what was created from that is crazy. So what’s left for me is to defend my dignity. So it’s not about that (the apology) Piers, it’s about humility.” So what we had is a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was driven by the emotion of the moment, the happiness, so I maintain that that is the truth of what happened Luis Rubiales Asked again if he wished to apologise, Rubiales continued: “So what we had is a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was driven by the emotion of the moment, the happiness, so I maintain that that is the truth of what happened. “This has turned out to be a snowball created by spurious arguments and people. My intentions were noble, enthusiastic, 100 per cent non-sexual. “There was no harm, no sexual content, no aggression, nothing like that. As president, once again, I will say… the significance of the kiss to Jenni would have been exactly the same as a kiss to one of my daughters. Between friends and family, that’s very, very common.” Rubiales has been widely condemned for his behaviour following the final, when as well as kissing Hermoso he also grabbed his crotch in celebration while standing alongside Spain’s Queen Letizia and 16-year-old Princess Infanta Sofia in the VIP box. Despite issuing a general apology for his actions in a video statement issued the next day, Rubiales persistently refused to resign in the wake of a mounting revolt which saw 81 players, including every member of the World Cup-winning squad, indicating their unavailability for the national team squad while he remained in his post. On August 26 he was banned by FIFA from all football-related activities for an initial period of 90 days, while Spain manager Jorge Vilda – about whom concerns over his coaching methods had been expressed – was sacked. Despite continuing to stress that his kiss with Hermoso was “mutual”, Rubiales did acknowledge that it was a “mistake” that was not befitting of his role as Spanish FA president. “Of course, I have said it from the beginning, I made a mistake and I apologised in a sincere manner,” added Rubiales. “I was very happy, I felt like another player. I have apologised unreservedly, that is not the actions of the president of the association. “Because a president can’t behave that way towards the executives at the game on the podium, yes, a president can give a hug, but needs to act in a more diplomatic and colder way.” :: Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored, Monday to Thursday on TalkTV at 8pm. Available on Sky 522, Sky Glass 508, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217 as well as on DAB, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV Plus, YouTube, the Talk.TV website and TalkTV iOS and Android apps.

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There is no evidence to suggest using Facebook is detrimental to wellbeing, Oxford scientists have said, challenging the view that the social media platform is linked to psychological harm. Researchers from the University’s Oxford Internet Institute analysed data from nearly a million people across 72 countries over 12 years – in the largest study of its kind – to understand more about the impact of Facebook on wellbeing. Professor Andrew Przybylski, who co-led the research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, said: “We examined the best available data carefully – and found they did not support the idea that Facebook membership is related to harm – quite the opposite. “In fact, our analysis indicates Facebook is possibly related to positive well-being.” The research looked at Facebook data from 2008 to 2019, going back to when the platform was in its early stages. “We examined 72 countries’ per capita active Facebook users in males and females in two age brackets, 13-34 years and 35+ years,” the researchers said. The results also showed the association between using Facebook and wellbeing was slightly more positive for males as well as for younger people. Writing in the research paper, the authors said: “Although reports of negative psychological outcomes associated with social media are common in academic and popular writing, evidence for harms is, on balance, more speculative than conclusive.” Professor Matti Vuorre, also of the Oxford Internet Institute, who co-led the study, said: “Our findings should help guide the debate surrounding social media towards more empirical research foundations. “We need more transparent collaborative research between independent scientists and the technology industry to better determine how, when and why modern online platforms might be affecting their users.” Commenting on the study, Peter Etchells, professor of psychology and science communication at Bath Spa University, said: “This is a fascinating study that attempts to link Facebook uptake with measures of mental wellbeing in a broad-strokes manner, using data from over 70 countries. “Contrary to popular sentiment, the researchers didn’t find a negative association between the two; instead, it was generally the case that there were positive associations between country-level Facebook uptake and mental wellbeing. “To my mind, the value in this study lies in proof of principle – it demonstrates that it’s possible to leverage industry data to address meaningful questions about how digital technology interacts with our mental health.” But Prof Etchells said there were some caveats associated with the findings – which the study authors have addressed. He said: “This is a descriptive study, and as such cannot tell us anything about causation – that is, we don’t know how, if, or to what extent, changes in Facebook adoption drive changes in mental wellbeing. “Wellbeing is a complex phenomenon, and even in the context of social media use, we need to be careful drawing any firm conclusions by looking at how people use a single platform such as Facebook.” Read More Move fast and beat Musk: The inside story of how Meta built Threads Japan's tech investor SoftBank trims losses and promises offensive turnaround Chatbots sometimes make things up. Not everyone thinks AI's hallucination problem is fixable Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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By Josh Ye HONG KONG (Reuters) -China will require all mobile app providers in the country to file business details