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I N F O R M A N T
World Press Freedom Day Jamie Lancaster/ Madrid The roots of World Press Freedom Day began in Namibia’s capital 25 years ago, when the Windhoek Declaration on global press freedom was crafted at a seminar for African journalists organized by Unesco – the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In December 1993, the UN General Assembly declared 3 May.
Two weeks ago in New York, President Geingob – in town to sign a historic climate accord at the United Nations – called on Steytler during a Council on Foreign Relations session. There, and in an interview last week with AllAfrica in Washington DC, Steytler explained why the country where the declaration leading to #WPFD2016 was launched wants to be the global leader in press freedom in the world and in Spain.
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
Aleppo onslaught continues as US demands end to strikes The Syrian government has launched fresh air strikes across Aleppo as part of its ongoing offensive against rebel groups in the historic city.
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he Syrian government has launched fresh air strikes across Aleppo as part of its ongoing offensive against rebel groups in the historic city, as John Kerry, the United States secretary of state, plans to head to Geneva in an attempt to revamp peace talks. Government forces carried out at least six air strikes targeting the residential areas of al-Lairamon and Kafr Hamra on Sunday morning, Zouhir Al Shimale, a local journalist, said. The US on Saturday demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces halt their bombardment of Aleppo and help restore a ceasefire.
RUSSIAN INTERVENCE
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
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INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
Mohammed Ali/ Aleppo
The Informant
Kerry expressed “deep concern” about Aleppo, which has suffered some of the worst fighting in a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions. “The secretary made clear that we urged Russia to take steps to stop government violations in Aleppo,” a state department spokesperson said. A new round of United Nationsbacked peace talks is set to start on May 10 in Geneva.“The situation has become unbearable,” Abu Mohammed, a resident of the battered Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, told AFP as he prepared to flee with his wife and five children. “Everything is paralysed.”
CONFLICT VICTIMS
At least 10 civilians died in rebel-controAleppo was left out of a temporary US- lled areas on Saturday, according to the Russian brokered truce that appeared to civil defence. The violence in Aleppo be holding in the government stronghold has severely tested the February 27 truof Latakia as well as Damascus and the ce between the government and rebels nearby rebel bastion intended to pave the way Late last of Eastern Ghouta. to an end to the five-year The Russian defence night, there conflict. The SANA state ministry said that the news agency on Saturday was shelling said shelling of western temporary “calm” was extended for another on a big base- government-held neigh24 hours, as the Latakilled three ment storing bourhoods kia one was set to stay civilians, including a child, relief aid and and blamed al-Qaeda affiin place for 48 more hours. Terrified resifood, most of liate al-Nusra Front and its dents fled a new wave allies. A pro-government it was burned. newspaper said on Thursof air strikes on rebelheld areas of the dividay that the army was preded city as Russia, a close ally of Damas- paring an offensive to recapture all of cus, said it would not pressure the Assad Aleppo and the surrounding province. government to halt its air strikes. With Anas al-Abdeh, head of the Istanbul. the peace process hanging by a thread, “The secretary made clear that we urged Kerry was to fly to Geneva on Sunday Russia to take steps to stop government for talks with UN envoy Staffan de Mis- violations in Aleppo,” a state department tura and the Saudi and Jordanian foreign spokesperson said.these declarations to ministers.there. the media outlets.
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‘Most Qualified Pediatrician’ Killed in Airstrike on Syria Hospital Rennee Cameron/ Syria
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oaz Wasim Mohammed , a Syrian doctor of 36 years , died last Thursday in the attack on the hospital of Doctors Without Borders since 2014 had the assistance of international NGOs. The doctor, was the last doctor left in the area of Aleppo controlled by the opposition , as explained Rami Abdurahman , head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , an organization linked to the opposition to President Bashar Al Assad , based in London, the BBC . Dr. Wasim was an extremely dedicated pediatrician , who chose to risk his life to continue helping the people of Aleppo. His death is a terrible tragedy that will have a devastating impact on a situation already critical ,”explained Abdurahman .Wasim worked in the mornings at the Children’s Hospital of Aleppo and afternoons attending pediatric emergencies in the center Al Quds , supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres ( MSF) in his hometown . He still had not married , his family had taken refuge in Turkey long ago . “He was always there . He cared about the needs of people. It was honest and very committed . He worked in conditions that could not imagine ,” said the director of the Children’s Hospital of Aleppo , Dr. Hatem through Facebook, who was also friend Mohammed.Finally , Wasim ‘s death shocked thousands of people who shared more than 23,000 times the post Dr. Hatem posted on Facebook . On the other hand , in a letter published by the organization Crisis Action , doctors Aleppo warn about that hospitals are “on the verge of collapse “ and that innocent people are paying “ the price of failure of Russia and the United States leg maintain truce”. So far , the conflict has claimed the lives of about 13 thousand 500 children and 730 doctors, according to the Syrian population in this part of the world, where they have necessities.
Chernobyl wounds still fresh in the 30th anniversary of disaster On Tuesday, Poroshenko stressed the political importance of nuclear power for Ukraine, saying the country would “neither today, nor tomorrow”. Petrovik Kosova/ Kiev
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s Ukrainians solemnly commemorated the 30th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident on Tuesday, President Petro Poroshenko said that Russia’s support for separatists in the country’s east posed the threat of a repetition of the atomic catastrophe. The remarks came at Chernobyl, where an international effort to seal the destroyed remains of the nuclear reactor that exploded in Ukraine 30 years ago is finally close to completion. Remarkably, despite the political revolution and armed conflict that have rocked the country since 2014, it’s close to being on schedule.
On Tuesday, Poroshenko stressed the political importance of nuclear power for Ukraine, saying the country would “neither today, nor tomorrow,” halt nuclear reactors because of the importance of maintaining the country’s energy inde-
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Mr. Sadr demanded that Parliament meet soon and approve a cabinet.
A relative lays flowers at the memorial in commemoration ceremony in Kiev / Gleb Garanich
The article, which appeared in proNetanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom, had the headline “Merkel: Now is not the time for 2-state solution”, which the advisors felt had twisted the Chancellor’s words to suggest she agreed with Mr Netanyahu’s policies. Instead, advisors said Mrs Merkel had actually reiterated her belief that a “peaceful coexistence” was “ultimately built on a two-state solution”. The Chancellor has always maintained the building of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is counterproductive to establishing a peaceful and lasting two-state solution in the region. And senior government officials in Germany are now said to be less inclined to continue the country’s unconditional support
worst nuclear catastrophe for a century, says the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which has led the project. But it will also mark a handover to Ukraine’s fractious and underfunded authorities, who are expected to tackle future waste management at their own expense. For three decades, she has been living with the consequences of the Chernobyl explosion. She can recall that morning in late April 1986, and the small signs that something was wrong in the workers’ town where she lived. The tinny, metallic taste in her mouth. The way her 6-monthold daughter slept so deeply after breastfeeding. But there were no sirens then in Pripyat, no hint of the magnitude of the catastrophe playing out miles away. Soviet authorities did not immediately report the botched experiment at a reactor in Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant, which released a radioactive cloud over Eastern Europe larger was wrong in the workers’ town where she lived. The tinn and they have to replace the enviroment.
Fatema Alsad/ Riace
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s the continuous influx of refugees is seen as a cause for concern for many European nations, which are employing strict border controls to stop the unprecedented flow of people, one community in the southern Italian of Calabria has taken a different perspective of the matter. The village of Riace had seen its population drop from 2,500 to 400 since the 1990s, when people moved to northern Italy for better economic opportunities. Domenico Lucano, Mayor of Riace, saw the flow of refugees in Italy as an opportunity. “We have been welcoming refugees with open arms for the past 15 years. They haved saved our village,” Lucano explained. Illustration of Angela Merkel/ Aberlad Franz
of Israel, according to Der Spiegel. They are increasingly concerned Mr Netanyahu is exploiting Germany’s friendship with Israel for his own political gains and are becoming sceptical of the relationship, the magazine said. A German government official sought to dismiss the report, saying: “The guidelines of German Middle East policy have not changed.”. An Israeli official also responded to the claims, telling Israel Hayom: “The relationship between Israel and Germany is strong and good, and remains
Mary Marshall/ London
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he documents, Greenpeace said, showed that American trade negotiators had pressed their European counterparts to loosen important environmental and consumer protections, along with other provisions. But American and European trade officials, while not denying the validity of the materials, insisted on Monday that the documents merely represented negotiating positions, and that the criticisms were off base. Still, the disclosures and criticisms are unlikely to speed the talks, which already seem to have little chance of making progress until after the United States elects its next president in November — if even then, given how rancorous foreign trade has become in the American political.. The deal, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, would cover a huge range of goods and services between the world’s largest national economy and the world’s largest single market, spanning telecommunications, agricultural products, textiles, intellectual property, financial services and regulatory compatibility.. In one of the negotiating documents — a chapter on “Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures” — American negotiators made repeated references.
Syrian refugees revive fading Italian villages
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WHERE IT COMES FROM
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The completion of the New Safe Confinement, often called the “arch,” could contain the radiation from mankind’s
Fredick Bertlesman/ Berlin
Falih Hassan/Bagdag n a statement issued from the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq, Mr. Sadr directed his followers to leave the Green Zone in an orderly fashion, to chant for Iraq and not a sect, and to help clean the space they had occupied. A day earlier, hundreds of protesters demanding an end to corruption stormed the fortified Green Zone in dramatic scenes that hinted at revolution. But by Sunday evening the episode had become something less: an affirmation of Mr. Sadr’s sway over the street, but one aimed at pressuring the government to enact promised reforms rather than bringing it down. The question in the days ahead is whether Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi,
NUCLEAR CATASTROPHES
Germany considers stopping support for Israel
Iraq Protesters Leave Baghdad Green Zone on Cleric’s Order who is Shiite, and the rest of Iraq’s ruling elite can come together to form a new cabinet of capable ministers, and not loyalists to a party or sect, something that Mr. Sadr has demanded and Mr. Abadi has promised.Since announcing last summer a set of mean Mr. Abadi has been thwarted repeatedly by parties and politicians who have long depended on Iraq’s system of patronage. They include the previous prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the leader of them. The protests, which had been percolating for weeks and culminated on Saturday with the breaching of the Green Zone walls, were organized in different groups and they have to fight because they were soldiers of the country they belonged., its to say Iraq.
of a nuclear catastrophe in our country.” He noted that fighting had taken place.
THE AGRESSIONS
he German government is reconsidering its support for Israel due to growing frustrations over the country’s construction of settlements in occupied territories, it has been reported. Advisors to Chancellor Angela Merkel were furious about an article published in Israel following a meeting in Berlin in February between the German leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the famous German magazine Der Spiegel
Devastated buildings by the bombs in Saif ’s district to the Dawle, of Alepo /Maysun
pendence, implying away from Russian gas. Standing inside a gigantic dome that will soon be installed over the reactor, Poroshenko said that “Russian aggression had undermined the trust of non-nuclear governments in the nonproliferation of these weapons, and threatened the repeat
Greenpeace leaks U.S.-E.U. Trade Deal Documents
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The lines of German Middle East policy have not changed
than accommodating the refugees in reception or refugee camps. A refugee is a person who is outside his or her country of nationality and can’t return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion... The village of Riace had seen its population drop from 2,500 to 400 since the 1990s, when people moved to northern Italy for better economic opportunities. Domenico Lucano, Mayor of Riace, saw the flow of refugees in Italy as an opportunity. “We have been welcoming refugees with open arms for the past 15 years. They haved saved our village,” Lucano explained.
NOT ONLY ABOUT FOOD
The resourceful mayor first acted on this opportunity in 1998, when a boat with 218 Kurdish refugees on their way to Greece got stranded on a beach in Riace. This is when Lucano first proposed that the refugees should stay in the village and take over the homes and apartments that had been left vacant by the migrating former residents of the town. The mayor helped to facilitate the integration by establishing a “refugees welcome” project, which is now spreading through neighbouring towns. Presently, people from 20 different nationsic.sense
Beach of Riace, Italy, advocates for peace. // Thomas Bruckner
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
INTERNATIONAL Venezuela raises minimum wage as inflation bites
Elisabeth Malkin/ Mexico City
Cristine Donald/ Caracas
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Military police officers stood guard in Tegucigalpa, Honduras // Fernando Antonio
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
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POLITICS
Honduras fires over two dozen Commanders ore than two dozen police commanders in Honduras have been fired as part of an effort to clean up a force that has long been infiltrated by organized crime. The civilian commission in charge of reforming the police force announced the firings on Friday, 10 days after five top police generals, including two former police chiefs, were dismissed. The shakeup followed news coverage of police files showing that top police officials ordered the killings of a Honduran antidrug czar, Julián Arístides González Irías, in 2009 and his top adviser two years later. According to the documents, the police in those killings acted under the orders of a drug cartel leader, Winter Blanco. At the center of both plots, according to the files, was a police chief, Ricardo Ramírez del Cid, who was among those fired in April. Accusations of extrajudicial killings and suspicions of drug ties have dogged the national police for decades, but repeated efforts to remake the institution have faltered. The purge complements an effort by President Juan Orlando Hernández to bypass the national police in favor of a militarized force.
The Informant
Donald Trump speaking on Wednesday evening. / Evan Vucci AP.
Donald Trump’s foreign policy in two words: “America First” Marc Bassetts/ Washington
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hould Donald Trump take the Republican Party’s nomination in July, and then go on to win the November elections, US foreign policy would likely take an isolationist turn. Echoing the slogan used in the 1940s by aviation hero Charles Lindburgh, who campaigned against the United States entering World War II, Trump fleshed out what his administration’s priorities might be in a speech on Wednesday evening in Washington, in the process attempting to establish his leadership credentials. Even six months ago, such a scenario would have been unthinkable. Now, somebody best known by the public for his appearances on reality shows and his divorces has a very real chance of occupying the White House and serving as commander in chief of the armed forces – the man with his finger on the nuclear .“Today, our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster,” said Trump, describing the United States as a country that neither its friends nor enemies respect. The Trump camp had suggested ahead
of the speech that Wednesday’s event in the Mayflower Hotel would mark a turning point, reflecting a more presidential candidate. But Trump’s address was made up of his usual mish-mash of populist rhetoric and soundbites. If his intention was to overcome the skepticism of the Washington elite he has so vigorously been a target of his attacks, instead blaming. the USA.
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In short, what might be called
the Trump doctrine seems to come down to militarist
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His foreign policy objectives seemed contradictory: requiring an aggressive approach combined with a strategic withdrawal from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He criticized the United States’ NATO allies for cutting defense spending, and threatening to leave them
unprotected; he then said he was keen to improve relations with China, Russia and Washington’s traditional Arab allies. In short, what might be called the Trump doctrine seems to come down to militarist isolationism. The speech was organized by the Center for the National Interest, a think tank founded by Richard Nixon that describes its role as providing “a voice for strategic realism in US foreign policy.” Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft sit on its board the elections. Trump kicked off his address by dismissing the goal of reforming countries “with no experience or interest in becoming Western democracies.” He also accused Washington of complacency toward its European allies, while complaining that traditional friends such as Israel no longer trust the United States because President Obama has “abandoned” them in favor of Iran. He also promised to overthrow the so-called Islamic State, saying that “its days are numbered.” China, meanwhile, is taking advantage of the United States’ failure to lead by launching an attack of America and the States with the integrity of Donald Trump.
housands of workers in Venezuela will receive a pay rise of 30 percent as the country’s socialist government works towards improving its deteriorating economy. Sunday’s introduction of the minimum wage is aimed at calming tensions caused by runaway inflation and food shortages. Nicolas Maduro’s government has rocked by protests in response to the crisis and demands from the country’s opposition to stand down. The embattled president spoke to Venezuelans in a televised address on Sunday evening. Venezuela’s falling oil price affects fishermen The government, which models itself on the left-wing ideology of its late leader Hugo Chavez, still has significant support among the country’s poor. However, even the most dedicated supporters are feeling the pinch these days. Many have turned to government-sponsored, self-sustaining programmes to deal with the shortages. Naudy Aliendref, a supporter of the government who helps out at a community. run allotment to grow the essentials. is confident Chavez’s ideology can weather the storm.“I don’t get paid to do this. It’s an honour for me to teach”
Nicolás Maduro in a grocery product // Al Jazeera
The current political situation in Spain Spain set to go to the polls again as coalition talks fail, the new election will take place 26 J Juan de la Cruz / Madrid
Mariano Rajoy
Pedro Sánchez
Pablo Iglesias
Albert Rivera
Alberto Garzón
He born 27 March 1955 in Galicia region of northern Spain. He studied law at the University of Santiago de Compostela, receiving a degree in 1978. After briefly working as a land registrar, he embarked on a career in politics, being elected when 26 years old as a regional deputy for what would become the Popular Party. He served in local and regional government through most of the 1980s. who became leader of the People's Party in 2004 and Prime Minister of Spain in 2011 following the People's Party landslide victory in that year's general election. His party lost their majority in the 2015 general election and, although he continued in office as acting prime minister it remains uncertain as to whether Rajoy will remain in power in the Popular Party..
He was born in the Madrid suburb of Tetuán. His father is a socialist entrepreneur. His mother is a social security worker. He graduated from Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu, a college-preparatory school. He played as a basketballer in Club de Baloncesto Estudinates Under-21, a basketball team affiliated with Atlético Madrid In 1990, he went to the Complutense University to study economics and business sciences. He graduated in 1995. In 1993, he joined the PSOE after the victory of Felipe Gonzalez in elections that year. He earned a degree in Politics and Economics in 1998 after graduating from the Free University of Brussels, and a degree of business leadership from IESE Business School in the University of Navarra. i He is the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) since 2014.
He born 17 October 1978 and he is a Spanish politician who has been the Secretary-General of Podemos since 2014. Iglesias positions himself on the left wing. He was a member of the Communist Youth Union of Spain and part of the anti-globalisation movement Since the early-2000s, Iglesias has been involved with the Center for Political and Social Studies Foundation (CEPS) and is currently on the executive board of the organization.During the 2000s, Iglesias was involved in Latin American politics for the CEPS Foundation and monitored elections in Paraguay and Bolivia while acting as a strategic analysis advisor for the government of Venezuela and as a consultant for the government.
He was born 15 November 1979. He is a Spanish lawyer and politician, who has been the leader of Citizens since July 2006. He is a member of the Congress of Deputies and a former member of the Parliament of Catalonia. Rivera was elected as the president of Citizens during their founding conference in July 2006. He was re-elected as president again in 2007 and 2011. Rivera was first elected to the Parliament of Catalonia in the 2006 parliamentary election, and remained a member until he stepped down before the 2015 parliamentary election. Launching the Citizen’s campaign for the Parliament of Catalonia in 2006, Rivera published a number of leaflets where he posed naked alongside the caption of his party, named as Ciudadanos, “Citizens”,
He was born in Logroño , October 9, 1985. He is a politician and economist . Militant of PCE , and Izquierda Unida since 2003 , since the general elections of 2011 is a deputy in Congress for such training. He is also a member of ATTAC ( organization promoting democratic control of financial markets ) .1 Since 2014 he is secretary of the constitutional process of the United Left and in 2015 was elected through primaries, presidential candidate of the Government of Spain for Popular Unity 2015 general elections . Alberto Garzón was affiliated with the Communist Youth Union of Spain in his youth and later, until today, he went on to join the ranks of the Communist Party of Spain
Rajoy warns that Pedro Sánchez can not restating " vetoes " the PP after the 26.J has said that a campaign will star in “positive” and hopes that the other party leahe Prime Minister, Mariano Raders act igual.Ante the fact that Sanchez joy, today warned the leader of is insisting both publicly and in closed the PSOE, Pedro Sanchez, that meetings that no pact with the PP after after the elections of 26 June can not June 26 and maintain the same attitude. happen again what happened in the last Rajoy has said that is not going to get four months and should not pose vetoes into those first consideraciones.Lo he the PP because that’s wants he is “a bad for the democraI, of course , will pact with the cia.Rajoy has made Spanish” and make a positive then they decide this warning to Sanchez told reporters at campaign and I will with their vote the headquarters of they want not get into arguments, how the Community of it is forming the Madrid, where he at- fights and , much less, new parliament. tended the reception “But what has outputs tone. hosted by the presihappened in dent of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, with these four months can not be repeated motivode celebration 2 mayo.La eve of again. Vetoes are bad for democracy, “he the decree calling the elections of 26-J is added in a clear message to Sánchez.Al published in the Official Gazette, Rajoy line with this, recalled that the PP has
Cristina González/ Madrid
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been vetoed by Sanchez because the leader of the PSOE did not want to join a party that had achieved more than seven million votes of the Spanish citizens. “I hope that now comes common sense and everyone acts with some sanity because there is a great opportunity. The economic recovery is there and the only thing that can spoil it is that things that are not the most academic within the normal political life are made, “he añadido.Al ask if you think that the threat that we can overtake the PSOE force Sanchez agree with the Partido Popular. The PP has said that unknown logically the result you can get each party and will also not come to discuss what he says the socialist secretary general. “what I think you have to do is a moderate government and have support in the House to govern. That is stability, security, certainty and consolidate the economic recovery,..
Ilustración: Ricardo Martínez.
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
POLITICS
EC0NOMICS
Spanish king signs decree calling fresh election for June 26
Amazon tops list of the best paying tech firms for graduates products
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An entry level position recruit at Amazon can expect to receive a total pay package of £90,000 Zlata Rodionova/ England.
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The timing of the Elections of June
King Felipe VI signing the decree on Tuesday. CASA DEL REY
The new campaign race will start on June 10, with polls forecasting a similarly fragmented political scenario Fernando Garea/Madrid.
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t had been widely expected for weeks, but now it is official.At 9.37am on Tuesday, King Felipe VI signed a decree calling new elections in Spain. The move comes after more than four months of failed cross-party negotiations to form a new government following the inconclusive election of December 20. It is the first time in Spain’s democratic history that a general election has to be held again on 26 June. Following Spanish legislation, Congressional speaker Patxi López arrived at La Zarzuela, the royal residence, and relayed
the text of the decree to the Official Ga- nario, and will once again force parties to zette for publication.From this moment forge governing alliances of the govern. on, parliament is dissolved and both de- Somebody, in fact, tried a similar move puties and senators have ceased. on Tuesday: Compromís, a regional The new campaign group from Valencia, race will begin on Congress and the put forward a late June 10, and the new proposal for a leftist executive were coalition, but neither parliament will probably be constituted keen on securing that nor the Socialist on July 19. Both ConParty’s counter-offer earlier dates gress and the executiof a government ve were keen on securing earlier dates, but made up of independents managed to existing legislation does not allow it the gain any traction in the govern. process complete. The Constitution establishes that parliaSurveys show that the new election will ment shall be dissolved two months after yield a similarly fragmented political sce- the first investiture vote. On March 2.
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MAY 3-
Published in the Official Gazette and enters the force on the Decree of Dissolution of the Parliament and call for elections 10- Last day for municipalities to communicate to the Electoral Boards. 18- Home Deadline for Submission of Nominations 23- Deadline for applications 25- Publication in the Official Gazette of the applications submitted 30- Proclamation of Candidates for Election Boards 31- Publication in the Official Gazette proclaimed Candidacies
mazon has beaten tech rivals Google, Apple and Microsoft to be named best paying tech firm for junior employees in the UK. An entry level position recruit at Amazon can expect to receive a £75,000 salary
with a £15,000 bonus, according to a research from Emolument.com, a salary benchmarking site. Apple junior employees typically get a salary of £72,000 with a potential £11,000 bonus on top. Google comes third offering young recruits a £59,000 monthly pay and a £14,000 bonus.
Alice Leguay, co-founder and chief operating officer at Emolument.com, said leading technology firms were already attracting potential employees with their playful offices and “glamorous brands”. But now they are also outpacing the financial industry in terms of junior pay.
“Working for a top investment bank no longer epitomises the graduate dream, especially since financial industry remuneration has taken a bashing in the last few years, in line with bankers’ reputations,” Leguay said. “Banks are trying to shake up their corporate cultures and offer more flexibility
and work-life balance but cannot compete with technology giants making their staff feel they are making a social mark on their time,” she added. Microsoft was the best paying employer for senior employees, with an average pay packet of £101,000. Apple and Google remain in second and third place.
JUNE
1- zone Electoral Boards communicate to the parties the places they have available to put up posters, banners and pennants 4- limit of judgments on appeals before the proclamation of candidacies Date 16- Last day to request a vote by mail 19- Last day for the electoral registration office send ballots to those who have requested to vote by mail 20- Last day for publication of election polls 22- Last day to vote by mail 24 - At 24:00 hours to the election campaign 25- Day of Reflection
26- Elections Day
Podemos and IU seek their bases endorse an alliance The study came a day after Amazon reported first quarter profits of $513 million. AFP
Pablo Iglesias y Alberto Garzón, antes de una reunión. Carlos Rosillo Francesco Manetto/ Madrid.
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he address can consult their bases electoral alliance with IU once the two forces close a deal. The leftist federation will between 2 and 4 May, although those dates is not yet initialed the pact between both candidates. With two weeks left formations that Pablo Iglesias and Alberto Garzón, head of list of IU, reach an agreement. Pablo Echenique, Secretary of Organization
can, and Adolfo Barrena, his counterpart from the leftist federation, have already begun negotiations on an electoral coalition at national level. The name and formula must be registered by Friday May 13 at the Central Electoral Board (JEC), but it should be before emerging to allow formation celebrate consulting. IU also ask their members if they want the deal. We turned last summer to an internal referendum to reject a coalition with IU and now uses the same instrument.
These are the 10 hights paid tech firms for junior emmployes. Alina Schnider
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
EC0NOMICS
European Commission will demand more adjustment and start proceedings
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he European Commission does not expect Spain’s public deficit to drop below 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) before 2018. The imbalance will be 3.9% this year, and 3.1% in 2017, according to the spring report that the Commission presented on Tuesday. Spain recently announced recently announced that its 2015 deficit was in the 5% range, amply exceeding its target of 4.2% agreed with the European executive for last year..
EXPECTATIONS
While Brussels’ expectations with regard to economic output are almost identical to the government’s. It has differing views on the deficit. Given the difficulty of bringing this figure down to target levels in time, Brussels will give Spain one
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SOCIETY
Brussels lowers Spain’s public deficit forecast Claudi Perez / Brussels
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
The Informant
extra year to do so. But it will also demand additional adjustment measures and initiate proceedings over Spain’s continued failure to meet its deficit targets in recent years. Even though such a proceeding could theoretically result in a hefty fine of over €2 billion, it will very likely be merely symbolic as long as Madrid formulates a petition explaining the reasons for the target miss.
INESTABILITY
Even if there are ultimately no fines, the Commission will demand further adjustment measures and exert added oversight. The political instability in Spain, which has had an acting government since the inconclusive election of December
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Brussels does not want to look like it is influencing the outcome of elections in a member state
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A Spanish animal association, awarded for his activism on the net Libera! NGOs, Barcelona origin, has won the 2016 Audience Award for the best campaign in Castilian of the awards 'Best of Online Activism' Laura Campo/ Barcelona
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he defense of animal rights carried out in the Spanish association Libera internet! It has not gone unnoticed among users of social networks around the world. This nongovernmental organization has won the Audience Award 2016 for the best campaign in Castilian of the awards Best of Online Activism (Bobs) that, for 12 years, gives the German public international television Deutsche Welle (DW) bloggers, activists and journalists committed to freedom of expression and association rights humanos. Spanish animalistic, more than one million followers on Facebook, was supported by more than 100,000 users around the world, making it one of the winners of the Bobs , prizes to those who, in winners of 2016, although in this case the decision of a jury international integrated by leading Internet activists, actions undertaken in Bangladesh, India, Germany and Iran, in this case an application to detect the position of the Moral Police to esquivarla.
ABOUT THE AWARD
En category “Tech for Good” aimed at technological innovations or web pages focused on data protection, network security and censorship, the jury assessed the implementation of the Iranian group
Libera! NGO Facebook cover photo. / LIBERA! ORGANTATION
Gershad, whose managers dedicated this recognition to all users because “more than an application of crowdsourcing, this is the beginning of a discussion of the arbitrary practices of the Moral Police and on the urgent need to strengthen the rights of citizens in the country “.In the category of citizen journalism, the jury opted for the Bangladeshi documentary” Razor’s Edge “director Nastiker Dhatmakata, artistic name meaning “religious discourse of an atheist”. The film describes the situation facing atheists bloggers
in Bangladesh and accuses politicians of complicity in the killings of activists by Islamic militias. and soldiers. That the award falls on a project of Bangladesh for the second consecutive year confirms that the situation not only has not improved but has worsened dramatically, “said Rafda Bonya Ahmed, a member of jurado. Según their information, in the last month and a half at least four people were killed for defending their ideas,” activists, writers , bloggers, teachers and minorities are no longer safe in
According to a statement from the association, the two volunteers were surrounded by a crowd that insulted, pushed and hit in the head, legs and chest: "The dragged caught by the hair down some stairs, while still beating." In the video of the attack can be seen as the other spectators remain without intervening while they watching the trafic aggression. The attackers were arrested Saturday in S The Catalan police reported that two weeks ago there it only by a group of people from other cities and countries.
Queens Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty Pierre Moscovi in the european Comission in Brussles // Reuters
Rick Rojas/ New York
Fitbit Strives to Escape the Shadow of Apple
police officer went to a home in Queens because a resident had been the victim of a crime. But no one answered and the door was open, the authorities said. Inside, the officer found a home crawling with cats and dogs. Some had patches of fur missing and crusty eyes. The floors were covered in waste and the ceiling was rotting.
Brian X. Chen/ San Francisco The event, held during the International CES in January, was intended to make a splash for the wearable tech company’s new product, the Blaze, a $200 smartwatch that measures a wearer’s steps, heart rate and sleep. The watch got a lot of attention that day — but not all for the better. The term “Fitbit Blaze” became one of the most talked-about topics Facebook in and Twitter, but some people were no dece, unfavorably, to the Apple Watch. Many reviews of the gadget later made the same Apple comparison. Fitbit’s stock more than 12 percent that day. “I was going in one thinking, ‘This is going to be awesome, James Park, Fitbit’s chief executive, said of the Blaze an introduction in an interview last month. “I was definitely pretty surprised when I looked at
The reaction to the Blaze encapsulates the predicament facing Fitbit, the young company that has been a leader in wearable technology: In many people’s eyes, it lives in the shadow of Apple. The Silicon Valley behemoth whose touch-screen smartwatch could potentially stomp its smaller val out of existence. This even though Fitbit has been trying to do everything right — and has lar gely succeeded. Fitbit, which went public last year, has been increasing revenue at a rate of more than 90 percent as sales of its fitness trackers soar. Last year, Fitbit sold 21.3 million devices, almost double the 10.9 million it sold in 2014. Fitbit, scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday, is also the world.The largest maker of wearable devices by market share, according to the research firm. Yet the fact that Fitbit’s products on one thing — tracking your fitness — is not helping the company’s image.
A
THE TRAGEDY
The brick house in the Jackson Heights section had 55 cats, 12 dogs and two turtles, the authorities said. Their caretaker, Elizabeth Grant, 48, was charged on Tuesday with aggravated cruelty to animals and other counts for failing to care for the animals, which prosecutors said were living in “deplorable conditions.” “The smell of ammonia was so overwhelming, animal rescue workers had to wear respirators to breathe, as well as protective clothing when entering the premises,” said Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney.
The officer noticed the home’s condition on Jan. 6 when looking for Ms. Grant’s mother. The police returned on Jan. 28 and retrieved animals with dental diseases, ear mites, respiratory infections and fur matted with feces and urine. One dog, Dorothy, had chronic kidney and liver disease and was euthanized. Another dog, Bond, “was in pain with every movement,” prosecutors said. Only two cats had no serious issues. Richard Bruce Rosenthal, Ms. Grant’s lawyer, said that the animals were not deteriorating, and that the authorities overstated the home’s condition. “This is a situation where the Grants started taking in sick and abandoned thrown-away animals, who were in horrible shape to begin with, and started nursing them back to health,”. The officer noticed the home’s condition on Jan. 6 when looking for Ms. Grant’s mother. The police returned on Jan. 28 and retrieved animals with dental diseases, ear mites, respiratory infections and fur matted with feces and urine. “The smell of ammonia was so overwhelming, animal rescue workers had to wear respirators to breathe,.
The dog victim recovering from its bounds after its lady was charged. / Rick Rojas
“
Animal abuse is getting worse and we need to stop this situation with activism
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
SOCIETY
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
11
SOCIETY
Education considers impart Islamic Religion in institutes of Ceuta and Melilla next year Spain’s interaction with the Muslim says that schools could adapt their exams to Ramadan. Cristina Pérez/ Ceuta
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he Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport will examine with the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE) implementation from next course of Islamic religion class in secondary and high schools in schools of Ceuta and Melilla. Specifically, the Ministry has committed to consider the necessary measures for the development and implementation of agreements with this religious confession in the area of competence (Ceuta and Melilla) in secondary education, implying that Muslim students of ESO and Bachelor living in these cities can receive Islamic religion classes. The president of the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), Riay Tatary, confident that the kind of Religion will become a reality in secondary education from the next academic year 2016-2017, as explained told Europa Press. While recognizing that their implementation
We must normalize coexistence and life of Muslims
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Children in a class of Islamic Religion in College Vazquez Diaz, Valencia / Julián Jaén.
Education in Europe and in the Arabs Countries/ Pepe Fernández.
There is a commitment and I think it was for the sake of normalization of coexistence and life of Muslims”, stressed Tatary, which this week he met with officials from the Ministry of Education to address this and other issues.
According to the cooperation agreements signed in 1992 between the CIE and the Spanish State, the Government should “ensure Muslim pupils, theiparents and school bodies that request, the exercise of the right of the first to receive
Catalonia (80,743), La Rioja (3,276), Madrid (37,150), Murcia (16,406), Valencia (29,781) and Toledo (4,424). But note that their administrations "silent or no offer teaching." In total, nonuniversity stages, there are 281,725.
Overtaking PAU in order to do not mixed ramadan Federica Jiménez/ Melilla
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amadan, one of the great pillars of Islam, this year most likely will begin on June 6 to end on July 5, coinciding fully with the SATs. Fasting is done in daylight hours, so you can only eat, drink water or have sex before sunrise and after sunset. Why the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE) asks adapt the exam schedule for Muslims and Muslim affected. In addition, during 2017 and during 2018 courses will also affect this testing period both in school and in universities. Since CIE ensure that students affected have been very grateful for the initiative. The Ministry of Education has committed to consider the requests of Muslims in order to include in the operating instructions, which each year are sent to educational institutions so that they are suitable to school activities and examina To this end the Islamic community proposes to bring forward or delay the date of examinations or tests to pass the evening to the morning, because at night is the time at which it breakted.
A world of calories
Glonally fast food generates revenue of over $570billion - that is bigger than the economic value of mostcountries. In the USA revenue was a whopping $200 billion
We must support this coexistence and life between cultures
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Fast food hand lettering and doodles elements background / Olga Kostenko.
Mónica Carrillo/ Madrid
O
ne so popular tendency is known by many people as food "Fast Food" (Fast Food) diet. Places like McDonald's or KFC are among the institutions that drive. What is worrying about these two chains is not the type of diet they propose, but are two of the most widespread chain restaurants on the planet. McDonald's has 31,000 restaurants in 120 countries. Along with this diet is the problem of obesity. Approximately 1.6 million are overweight and 400 million are obese. This will increasingly more with increasing populations who earn little money and live in urban environments in the entire world. In addition, a study led by scientists at two Spanish universities has shown a link between diet based on fast food and the risk of depression. The research was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition. This new analysis was conducted with 8,964 participants from the research by the University of Navarra (SUN) ', a project that began in 1999, and now has
more than 20,000 participants. "The participants, none diagnosed with depression without antidepressant at the beginning of the investigation, received a mean of six years. All completed questionnaires every two years about their lifestyles and consumption", recognized scientists. During the follow up period, 493 of them were diagnosed with depression or started to take antidepressants. The study confirms a positive relationship between consumption of fast food and pastries and depressive disorder. Furthermore, according to Dr. Sánchez-Villegas he observed that the more fast food is ingested, the greater the risk.
“
It is necessary to control the consume of fast
”
This relationship, called dose-response was revealed especially for junk food. We did not observed this trend on bakery products. In this case, the increased risk of developing the disease. Other data that the study points out is that participants with the highest intake of burgers, pizzas, hot dogs, donuts they are more likely to be single, less active and have poorer dietary pattern, with lower consumption of fruit, fruit dry, fish, vegetables, meat fruits and olive oil. In addition, they tended to smoke more and to work more than 45 hours per week.According to the first author of the work, “one possible explanation is the high presence of trans in food. These fats can have negative effects on different biological systems increasing, among other things, the risk of cardiovascular disease. Being so, the intake of these fats it has been associated with increased risk of depression. Its mechanism of action is related to an increase in cytokine production and a deterioration in the functioning of the endothelium. “Proinflammatory cytokines” are substances with inflammatory capacity relate
“
The more fast food is consumed, the greater the risk of depression
”
to a decrease in neurotransmitter synthesis (required for nerve transmission and are decreased when given mental illness) and factors related to the proper neural functioning and are called endothelium “is capable to do it.consumed, the greater the risk of depression,” 51 percent higher than those who do not eat this kind of food. alarming facts. The scientific news agency SINC confirms that, “the more fast food is consumed, the greater the risk of depression,”tive linkage. And in fact, according to data handled by scientists,
. When people all over the world are looking for a quick, easy meal to grab on the go, fast food is the common solution. With the efficient service, low prices, and casual atmosphere, fast food seems like the ideal “all-American” choice. In fact, over 25 percent of Americans consume fast food every day. Fast food does not have to be unhealthy, but most of the time it is; consumers often order foods with more fat, calories, sugar, sodium, and less nutrition and vitamins than is necessary. Keep reading to find out some more about what makes fast food so common in America and how to pick healthie. According to this Google map, there are close to 50,000 fast food chains across the United States, with McDonalds being the largest restaurant chain. In the world, there are more than 500,000 fast food places Kids between the ages of 6 and 14 eat fast food 157,000,000 times every month. Ninety-six percent of kids in school could recognize an image of Ronald McDonald, the face of McDonalds. The only recognizable figure that ranked.
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
MADRID
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
MADRID
Improvement works of the tunnel Line 1 Madrid Metro
Exhibitions, theatre and more proposals Ana Rodríguez/Madrid.
A
The last chapter is staging a signature campaign on change.org platform has attracted
lcalá already has a plan in 2016 to celebrate the fourth centenary of the death of Cervantes. The project called Infinite Cervantes has the approval of the central government and includes a cervantino Graffiti, an artistic intervention in the urban environment.
more than 21,000 digital signatures for the ‘Line 1 of Metro Madrid”
Paola Rodríguez/Madrid
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ccording to FRAVM, it has already created a platform of opposition to the project of Line 1 at participating neighborhood associations, unions and PSOE, we, now Madrid, IU and Citizens. In parallel, various groups are spreading the motto of the concentration with the ‘hashtag’ # CifuentazoLínea1 the social network Twitter with several critics with the regional president and the manager of the Popular Party Madrid. Cifuentes memes acknowledged a week ago that the work was “not without controversy”, but stressed that it was “a reasoned and supported by technical reports recommend to perform work that way decision.” He also stressed that he would “treat” such documentation and security of travellers “to any other political consideration”.
COMMUNITIVE IMPROVEMENT
The improvement works of the tunnel of Line 1 of Metro de Madrid, which include the closure of 25 stations during the summer months, is bringing queue from the president of the Community, Cristina Cifuentes, the announced something less than a month ago . The last chapter is staging a signature campaign on change.org platform has attracted more than 21,000 digital signatures. The petition called ‘Line 1 of Metro Madrid must be arranged by sections, not with the closure of 25 stations’ has been launched to Cifuentes, the Community of Madrid and the Popular Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of Madrid by a user named Alvaro Velasco. The goal is to reach 25,000 signatures -1.000 per stop- and is about to get three weeks after his inicio.El Cifuentes project, which will serve to fix the tunnel between Plaza de Castilla and Sierra de
Guadalupe since May 21 until September 30, will have an investment of 70 million euros and will lead, according to the regional government, the modernization of the oldest line of the Madrid underground, built in 1919. the service is replaced by a fleet of buses. But close 25 stations for four months, involves isolating two of the districts with more population of Madrid, and bodes chaos tremendous traffic in the rest city. in addition, alternative transportation “reads the petition of opposition to proyectoUna change.org.Fuerte similar to the vision of the campaign kept the city of the capital, which headed by the mayor.
Manuela Carmena, opposition to ‘popular’ government in the Madrid Assembly -including citizens- and neighborhood associations also advocate that the works are carried out by stages and not all at once, since, according to reports they hurt seriously in the 233,000 commuters who supports the sky blue line every day (the second highest volume of passengers). For these reasons, the Regional Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Madrid. It has joined a scheduled tomorrow at 18.00 in front of the regional parliament concentration. “The event, which aims to demand the closure by sections of the oldest suburban line, which has also requested the Madrid City Council, is particularly important for the neighbourhoods most affected, found in the districts of Puente de Vallecas, Retirement and Tetuan “he said in a statement Enrique Villalobos presiding federation, which argues that it is preferable that the works may be long time before running a complete and simultaneous closing. The president of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, ananounced Thursday that Metro de Madrid will invest nearly 70 million euros in improving
THE PROGRAM
14 Advantages of using public transport
1. Public transportation provides personal mobility and freedom for people from every walk of lifor
2. Access to public transportation gi-
ves people transportation options to get to work, go to school, visit friends, or go to a doctor’s office.
CITY OF HALL
3. Public transportation has a proven record of reducing congestion.
4.
Using public transportation is the quickest way to beat high gas prices.
5.
Public transportation provides an affordable, and for many, necessary, alternative to driving.
6.
Public transportation use in the United States saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually.
7. Households near public transit driSol subway stop station in 1950, Madrid // Johanna Biarnés
the tunnel line 1 from Plaza de Castilla and Sierra de Guadalupe, works that involve the suspension of service between these stations from May 21 to September 30. Pictures 1 Photo Cifuentes was announced this morning after visiting once train service concluded, the oldest section
of Madrid underground, built in 1919, to check the status of the tunnels and the need to undertake improvement works. Metro will make available to users an alternative and free bus service that will do the same route as the suburban and will have the same frequencies.
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El caballero de la mano en el pecho, El Greco
Alcalá already has a plan in 2016 to celebrate the fourth centenary.
Public transportation is a $61 billion industry that employs more than 400,000 people.
Olga Sánchez/ Madrid
8. 9.
Buses, trains, light rail and ferries generally have dedicated travel paths that are quicker than sitting alone in your car, which can cut down travel times.
10.
Obtain timetable and routemaps for your journey to know what to expect in advance.
11.
Many municipal public transport systems now have free online databases than will take your staring point fot a transport travel.
who use public transportation regularly tend to be healthier than people.
Program Creativity Cervantina School, at the crossroads exhibitions, theatrical performances and literary works for children and adolescents or, together with the University of Alcala de Henares, the creation of the Cervantina Film Library, specializing in life and work of Cervantes filmoteca supplementing the bibliographic documentation of the Institute of Medieval Studies and Research of the Golden Miguel de Cervantes. There is also a proposed TV series about the life of Cervantes and various proposals for social and educational about the commemoration. The Executive Committee of the fourth centenary of the death of Cervantes has approved today the preliminary program of activities to commemorate this event in 2016. It aims to help highlight
the figure of Miguel de Cervantes and his contribution to the world of letters and culture universal, for everyone. A total of 59 projects have been included today in the official program of the Memorial, although in the coming months will incorporate more activities. The program which will turn the Centenario has been structured into five main proposals covering performing arts, exhibitions, conferences, publications, digital resources, restorations and so on. It highlights not only the presence of a wide variety of disciplines and institutions, but also the broad geographical, national and international distribution at all.
ACTION PLAN
Plan de actividades culturales; Plan de investigación; Plan de Promoción Nacional e Internacional; Plan de desarrollo del Turismo Cultural y Plan de Patrimonio y legado. The approved projects come from a wide variety of institutions such as the Ministry of Culture and the Spanish National Library, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Spanish Cultural Action the Government of Aragon; the Community of Madrid, City Hall Alcala de Henares, or the Cervantes Institute, among others.
59 Proyectos para recordar a Cervantes
ve an average of 4,400 fewer miles than households with no access to public transit.
We agree 12. It makes available for users an on the need alternative and free bus service that will do the same route as the suburban and to undertake will have the same frequencies. improvement 13. Transportation accounts for more than 30% of carbon dioxide emisworks on line sions in the U.S. By taking public transit, 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide 1 of Metro is saved from going into the air each year. Madrid” 14. Studies have shown that people Subway construction last week in Line 1 in Madrid // José Riviera
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A
lcalá already has a plan in 2016 to celebrate the fourth centenary of the death of Cervantes. The project called Infinite Cervantes has the approval of the central government and includes a cervantino Graffiti, an artistic intervention in the urban environment; Program Creativity Cervantina School, at the crossroads exhibitions, theatrical performances and literary works for children and adolescents or, together with the University of Alcala de Henras de Henares. The creation of the Cervantina Film Library,
specializing in life and work of Cervantes filmoteca supplementing the bibliographic documentation of the Institute of Medieval Studies and Research of the Golden Miguel de Cervantes. There is also a proposed TV series about the life of Cervantes and various proposals for social and educational about the commemoration and memmorial. The Executive Committee of the fourth centenary of the death of Cervantes has approved today the preliminary program of activities to commemorate this event in 2016. It aims to help highlight the figure of Miguel de Cervantes and his contribution to the world of letters and culture A total of 59 projects have been in-
cluded today in the official program of the Memorial, although in the coming months will incorporate more activities included there events on the capital. The program which will turn the Centenario has been structured into five main proposals covering performing arts, exhibitions, conferences, publications, digital resources, restorations and so on. It highlights not only the presence of a wide variety of disciplines and institutions, but also the broad geographical, national and international distribution. These areas are; Plan de actividades culturales; Plan de investigación; Plan de Promoción Nacional . this is very important for the development of the city of Madrid.
Different flags conmemorating the Cervantes anniversary, //Ana Rodríguez
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
MADRID
Benefits of a new trend: eating outdoor, the famous Madrid Gastronomy Madrid is full of places where to enjoy great tapas to accompany a beer or vermouth. The Puerta del Sol, Opera and America make up the “gastronomic” triangle of Madrid. Juan Fernández/ Madrid.
T
hat is one of the most attractive available to our region’s tourism resources: a varied cuisine ranging from traditional cuisine to the most cutting-edge cuisine. You can enjoy rich and cooked roasts, vegetables and fruits and a modern kitchen in miniature. The Community of Madrid, for its privileged location enjoys most ecosystems allowing you to produce a lot of food. It is making a great effort to improve the structures and offer traditional products to market, high quality, have managed to retain the characteristics of their area of origin.
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t present there are a number of traditional Madrilenian productions that have the support and backing of a quality designations established. It is products such as wines, cheeses and aceites- with recognized prestige both nationally and internationally. Tasting gastronomy is another reason to visit our tourist destinations. We want to promote the rich cuisine of Madrid and
through their dishes destinations in our region are known, with the excuse to try a typical dish we Let’s walk through the old quarters of the towns or organize a tour of some of the rural landscapes of which can be enjoyed in Madrid. Madrid’s cuisine has its own culinary traditions of the initial population when Philip II established the capital, and later the people of his own province that were contributing their own cooking viands to Hotels.com guest city.
P
art of the features of the Madrid cuisine is its ability to adapt dishes from other geographical areas of Spain. Some of the dishes and more traditional cooking habits are rooted in the migration of populations from different parts of Spain, which had its existence in the early twentieth century. Today it is not uncommon to observe how other cultures meals are installed in many streets getting richer supply and opening the door to a fusion cuisine.
Administrations and local business organizations are already doing a great effort to promote regional cuisine and locals products developed different projects and actions such as gastronomic tours and wine markets, fairs-market and fairs cover, exhibitions and other events, tastings, gastronomic events and other activities related to gastronomy to bring it closer to citizens and encourage them to enjoy touring the region.. Madrid becomes a great celebration of the senses with the seventh edition of Gastrofestival, the best way to approach the cuisine and enjoy its relationship with different artistic disciplines. This year the program will be full of tempting proposals. Gobble Madrid! Madrid hosts a new edition of its Gastrofestival, one of the most anticipated events each time a new year begins. From late January to early February, restaurants and bars scattered throughout the city participate in any of the already usual sections, as Degustatapas (a cover over a bottle of Mahou) Our Bars Favorites with Rioja (top plus wine are Rioja)
and Dinner with the stars, a proposal that brings great international chefs Madrid to serve as guest teachers in some of the most renowned kitchens of the moment. The last edition was attended by the Italian chef Giuseppe Iannotti El Club Allard, who offered a spectacular dinner for four hands around the nose.
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ll of the program Gastrofestival many other initiatives aimed at the most discerning palates, as Golosa Road, Route Coffee Colombia or even a fun contest calamari sandwiches. There will be numerous special affordable divided into two sections menus restaurants, according to the local specialty, called Spanish and World Kitchens Kitchens. No shortage this year by Elle traditional menus with very suggestive proposals in the trendiest restaurants in town. ome restaurants, gourmet and housewares shops, cocktail bars, clothing stores and accessories, cultural institutions, art galleries, museums and cooking schools also offer all kinds
S
“
...like visiting a friend in Madrid who knows all the great places to eat!
”
SPANISH OMMELLETTE
SERRANO JAM
Eggs are good protein sources and whether they are boiled, fried, or made into an omelet, people will surely get most of their daily protein needs from eggs. Aside from protein, eggs or omelets are also packed with various nutrients like choline
Remember that this is a ham from an extraordinary pig who traces his lineage back to the time of the cavemen. The Cerdo Ibérico has quite a different DNA than the meat of run-of-the mill pink pigs you are
Omelets are also good food choices in the area of weight management. ‘ With its protein content, a meal with omelets will literally feel more satisfying and will also make people feel fuller longer. ‘ This feeling will then translate to lower food intake for any given day.
Jamón Ibérico de Bellota provides many vitamins which nourish the nervous system: B1, B6, B12 and folic acid. It is also rich in vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, and in minerals such as copper, essential for bones and cartilage; calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and finally, selenium, which has been done.
OLIVES
TOMATOES
Dozens of health-protective nutrients have been identified in olives, and recent studies have taken a very close look at olive varieties, olive processing, and changes that take place in olive nutrients. The overall conclusion from these studies is exciting for anyone who loves olives of all
The benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables of all kinds, including tomatoes, are impressive. As the proportion of plant foods in the diet increases, the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer goes down. As an excellent source of vitamin C and other antioxidants, tomatoes can help combat the formation
Hydroxytyrosol, an olive phytonutrient that has long been linked to cancer prevention, is now regarded as having the potential to help us prevent bone loss as well. In traditional herbal medicine practices, preparations from olives and olive leaves have often been used in treatment of inflammatory problems, including allergy-related inflammation. New research may help explain .
Beta-carotene consumption has been shown to have an inverse association with the development of colon cancer in the Japanese population. High fiber intakes from fruits and vegetables are associated. The fiber, potassium, vitamin C and choline content in tomatoes all support heart, because this is very important for the health of the family.
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
OPINION
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
17
OPINION
What It Means When Larry Wilmore Calls Edward Williams/ France
C Lenin Square from the hotel Polissya of the city of Pripyat , near Chernobyl. Photography: Suess (CC)
A hotel in Pripyat. Photography: Timm Suess (CC)
Respirators for children in an abandoned school in Pripyat . Photography : Timm Suess (CC )
One of the barriers to access this exclusion around Chernobyl . Photography : Timm Suess (CC )
Before the next Chernobyl
Thirty years ago, on April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded, contaminating vast swaths of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia as well as several European countries. Debra Decker/ Chernobyl
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adiation deaths are not pretty, and dozens of people died from this catastrophe. More than 100,000 were evacuated and another 230,000 were later relocated. Poor reactor design and a bad safety culture in the Soviet system all contributed to the disaster.
THE IMPORTANT OF SAFETY .
Culture was well acknowledged and accepted within the industry that controls such dangerous materials. Yet, none of these principles or agreements prevented the Fukushima nuclear disaster just five years ago due to safety culture issues. The March 2011 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of northeastern Japan caused a massive tsunami, taking nearly 20,000 lives. It initiated the Fukushima nuclear incident, but it was the lack of institutional safety culture that directly contributed to Fukushima being a catastrophe, according to the report of the National Diet of Japan Independent Investigation Commission. The commission called it “a ‘manmade’ disaster” with both organizational and regulatory failures. It need not have happened. A proactive attitude toward safety at Fukushima could have led to the
plants’ back-up diesel generators being better protected and could have led to a faster overall response. A study of a neighboring Japanese power company’s plant showed it survived the earthquake and tsunami and pointed to the plant’s good safety culture. Somehow the lessons about organizational culture are not getting through to everyone -- or simply not being implemented. At Fukushima, like Chernobyl, the effects have been far reaching. About 88,000 people were evacuated
COUNTRIES REASSESSED THEIR NUCLEAR PLANS
Experts called for additional stress testing, and regulators and others responded with new requirements and recommendations for safety, including a recognition, again, of the importance of an effective safety culture.Despite all this, the message is still not getting through. The director-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency William Magwood recently pointed out that a deficient safety culture, by operator or regulator, largely contributed to all three nuclear disasters -- Fukushima, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island -- and called this the “last great remaining weak link internationally” for he nuclear
If we cannot get safety culture right, may be necessary but is not sufficient. We need a new approach that goes beyond regulatory oversight and peer encouragement. The United States has it right to a large extent, with Institute of Nuclear Power Operations rating plants and the ratings being shared with the industry’s mutual insurer and also driving manager and employee benefits.
THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
The nuclear watchdog, is not empowered to do this. And governments cannot dictate this. At the recent 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, heads of state revealed country “gift baskets” and action plans. These included some committing to help improve nuclear security and security culture in particular. Some plans, like that of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, rightly called for engagement with industry. These plans need to be leveraged so we do not continue to stovepipe concerns and efforts. Financiers and energy ministers at the upcoming Paris conference on nuclear energy financing
should take heed. Kluchinskaya lives in a village in Belarus with her husband, Nikolay, that’s completely cut off from important to fulfilling future energy needs while addressing climate change. But how are we to protect ourselves from emerging security threats, if 30 years after Chernobyl the nuclear industry continues to stumble on critical safety issues? After Chernobyl, the World Association of Nuclear Operators was established to foster better industry practices, including “safety culture.” Even earlier, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations had been established in the United States after the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear incident. One of its essential principles is the critical importance of leadership responsibility for a healthy safety culture. whether they are accidents or attacks. And a business case must be made to incentivize good practices. This can be done with voluntary standards in critical areas.
“ You see, no one is living here anymore but the birds are still singing for us”
omedian Larry Wilmore ended his marquee White House Correspondents Dinner speech on Saturday, the last of Barack Obama’s presidency, with a heartfelt tribute to the first family. “I’ve always joked that I voted for the president because he’s black,” Wilmore said. “Behind that joke is a humble appreciation for the historical implications for what your presidency means. When I was a kid, I lived in a country where people couldn’t accept a black quarterback... And now to live in your time, Mr. President, when a black man can lead the entire free world.... If I’m going to keep it one hundred,” Wilmore concluded as he pounded his chest with a fist bump. “Yo, Barry, you did it my nigga!” That last word seemed to sway uncomfortably over a room mostly filled with white journalists acutely accustomed to staying within the fine lines of political correctness. But it was an important moment in American history, even if it made many people (both black and white) cringe. At its most pure, this was an example of “code-switching” for both Barack Obama and Wilmore, uppermiddle-class African American men who, despite their mainstream success, identify
Obama’s response—pumping his chest in solidarity before rising to hug and thank him—was actually far more significant than Wilmore’s words, and explains, in part, why he and his wife Michelle are so beloved: They are widely seen as a man and woman of their community who have not lost track of their roots. white people were present. The mainstream media and Twitter-verse responses were, of course, visceral and speedy: Had Wilmore gone too far? Was it disrespectful? Or did the comedian’s race offer him a kind of immunity? But for many African American men, it may have been the most natural thing in the world: Reflecting the tacit signs of respect given to one another everywhere from the barbershop to the boardroom. During the 2008 election cycle, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was caught on tape saying that Mr. Obama spoke “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Former President George W. Bush and incumbent Vice President Joe Biden both referred to Senator Obama as being “articulate.” (The latter famously also used the word “clean.”) What their statements reflect is an
i
gnorant but mostly benign prejudice that plagues many white conservatives and liberals alike: They implicitly expect middle- and upper-middle-class black Americans to mirror their own linguistic norms. Yet for a brief moment, what we witnessed Saturday night were two black men who did not care that white people were present. For Wilmore, it may well have been for comedic effect, but even he would acknowledge that it wasn’t all that funny—at least not in a conventional sense. Instead, this was a fiercely political moment. In the Obama era, critics and supporters alike have drawn attention to the idea of code-switching—the phenomenon racial and ethnic groups practice worldwide, where an individual modulates how they speak depending on with whom they are speaking.Notable moments include one scene captured on Youtube, when Obama declined to accept the change.
“ ...for a brief moment, what we witnessed Saturday night were two black men who did not care that white people were present”
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The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
CULTURE
The Informant
19
MANU BRABO CULTURE
“
We’re just normal people trying to work and survive in a weird painful environment
I think this experience has helped me to grow up probably in all the areas a human being needs to grow: spiritually, emotionally, as well as intellectually. I really believe this experience has made me richer and it helps me to empathize with the people I photograph.
”
Fernando González/ París.
M
anu Brabo (Spain, 1981) is a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist whose work is mainly focused on social conflicts around the world. Since 2007 he has worked on political upheavals, uprisings and wars in Haiti, Honduras, Kosovo, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Ukraine, among others. During the last four years, Manu has contributed to several news agencies such as EPA and AP. His stories have been published in the most important magazines & newspapers. In addition to the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for his work covering the Syrian civil war for The Associated Press, he received POYi 2013 and the Bayeux-Calvados for War Correspondents 2012.Manu Brabo is a co founder of MeMo magazine.
Interview of Manu Brabo for Jot Down / Alberto Gamazo
SB. When and why did you decide to put yourself on the front lines? Did you always want to be a photojournalist?
Civil War in Syria / Manu Brabo.
MB. The first time I decide to be in a real front line was Libya. Before that, I did a few other “low intensity” conflicts, like the West Bank, Kosovo and Haiti... mostly stories that helped me to improve my skills as a photojournalist and helped me to grow up as a human being. And yes, I have wanted to be a photojournalist since I was a teenager. I have written and shot in some other areas of journalism and photography and, trust me, there's no other reason for me to be a photographer if I’m not working on social matters. War is one that matters but not the only one.
SB. What do you remember from the first conflict you photographed?
MB. I have plenty of memories from my first conflict: The first days under fire, running back and forth with the Libyan rebels, the fight in Benghazi the day the Gaddafi troops arrive at the outskirts of the city, a day before the first NATO bombing on the loyalist troops. I remember the good friends and mates I found helping me in any imaginable way, my capture alongside my friends Clare Gilles and James Foley, also Anton, who was shot to death during our capture. I remember the time I came back to Libya during the battle for Tripoli to cover the rest of the war, my first day shooting for the AP (A presser for UK and France Civil War in Syria / Manu Brabo.
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
Soldiers shootinng in civil war in Syria / Manu Brabo.
prime ministers on that time: Sarkozy and Cameron), the boring extremely hot days near Bani Walid, then the last rebel offensive against the loyalist stronghold of Sirte. I remember we arrived13 minutes late to the capture of Gaddafi. Well, I think I can remember almost every single day I've spent in that war I was captured in early April that year and freed on May 19 after 45 days in jail.
in a weird painful environment, more or less like any other human being. Of course, there are many differences between the different conflicts. And those particularities change our behaviour, but in essence, I repeat, we try to develop some kind of normal life in any case.
SB. Describe a routine day of a conflict photographer. Was it different in Syria than Libya or Ukraine, the conflicts you recently covered?
MB. That happened because war is tricky. We were caught in an ambush while riding with a rebel group exploring near the port city of Brega. We were trapped and our escape route was cut off. They started to shoot at us because the surviving rebels managed to flee the area. We were lying on the ground with bullets flying over our heads until James Foley (God bless him) stood up bravely and start to shout "sahafi, sahafi,,," (journalist in Arabic). Then they stopped shooting at us. They jumped down from their trucks and they started to beat us hard. Next thing I remember was seeing Anton's body near the road. The rest of the story: 45 days held in different regime jails and finally ( I still wonder how) released.
MB. I think a normal day for us it's like normal day for most of humans: I wake up, I go to work, I go "home", I prepare next day's work and I go to sleep. Of course there are some peculiarities in the environment we work in, but this is a matter of our job we have to accept, like a coal miner accepts a possible gas blast or being trapped for ages underground. We (I have a very nice band of amazing freelancers I normally team up with) have been even cooking Spanish tortilla and Italian pasta in Aleppo… even going to the market. Obviously, now the situation has change a lot there. Anyway, we try our best to make a comfortable place always, somewhere to feel better among all that shit. We're just normal people trying to work and survive
“If people
shout in the streets what they shout on Facebook it would be amazing
”
SB. You were kidnapped by forces loyal to Kaddafi in 2011. How did this happen?
SB. What was it like in the prison? Did you fear for your life? Did you have doubts about whether your job as a photojournalist was worth the suffering?
MB. Prison was boring, basically. The most boring was my first 19 days in isolation. Talking to my self, making exercise and trying not to loose my head (somehow I managed and somehow I did not). I feared for my life every single second. First, because my life did not belong to me any more. Second, because at that time NATO was seriously attacking. I feared I would be punished as retaliation for the attacks on the regime. I am, still alive, healthy and working. I never thought it was not worth it for my job. The thought that kept me strong was that I was there because I was doing my job the best I could.
SB. What was it like returning to your life after you were released from prison? MB. The most difficult thing was to find a balance between that guy I was before and the guy I became in jail. I also remember
“ I feared
for my life every single second
”
that the Spanish media, always delighted with a sensationalist story, were bothering me a lot asking for stupid interviews I was not ready to face, simply because I was not ready yet to understand the many situations, reactions, feelings and thoughts I had just passed through. Sometimes I still need to work on that.
SB. Does your experience in Libya changed the way you see and photograph war?
MB. In many ways it does. I think this experience has helped me to grow up probably in all the areas a human being needs to grow: spiritually, emotionally, as well as intellectually. I really believe this experience has made me richer and it helps me to empathize with the people I photograph. I am not going to say my experience is similar or close to all my subjects’ experiences but, for sure, I can share with them fears, emotions and ideas which most people do not recognise as their own. Many I do.
SB. Why did you go back to Libya to photograph the prisons?
MB. Honestly, I don’t know what the goal behind the idea was. A some kind of therapy, I suppose. I had to face that place again, as simple as that. Then I thought about using my camera, not like a camera but like a shield. A shield against emotions that finally became useless. So, I ended up doing a three-year project about the situation in prisons there. Anyhow, I had a previous idea once came to me during my first day in Jdeida prison in Tripoli. My "room" mates were praying and i was there lying in a mattress and freaking out with the power of the scene. I remember I was thinking a lot about my cameras during the whole stretch prison.
In time, everything came by itself. Tripoli fell into rebel hands and I went to pay a visit to my old prison. After a few hours dealing with the guards, I managed to go in for a fast visit. What i found there was weird. It was kind of shocking to see the two sides of the coin in such a clear, important and solid way.
SB. Do you consider it important to study the culture of a county before you go to photograph there? How do you prepare yourself for going to another conflict zone?
MB. It’s important but most of the time we have no time to prepare ourselves in such a way. What I think is really important is to make several trips to the same area in order to get a better understanding of what's going on there. The better the understanding, the better the pictures get. And I'm not only talking about the aesthetics, but also about the narratives and the emotions we, as photographers, are able to put in a shot.
SB. Most of your work is black and white. Why not color?
MB. The reason why I shoot B/W is, precisely, that most of my work is in colour. I've spent the last four years of my life freelancing for wires, so it's like tons of colour images floating somewhere in the wire universe. In the B/W i feel my self released and I feel i can bring the reader into the story easily, avoiding the color "tricks" (and yeah, there are also B/W tricks, that's not the point) The point is, I feel it closer to me at this stage, maybe in some months I'll be shooting color again...Who knows?
SB. What is the story behind your Pulitzer Prize winning image of a Syrian man mourning the death of his son? MB. It was Oct. 3. Some mates and I came down from our apartment in Saif al Dawla district to Dar El Shifa hospital. I was talking to some doctors and volunteers I knew from before and then I saw this man walking into the hospital carrying the body of this kid, around 13, severely wounded. I followed the man into the surgery room and I started to shoot. I left the room fast and I waited in the hall of the hospital while the doctors were trying to safe the kid's life.
20
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
High-Rise review: The kind of new cinematic madness we need today The film is a pressure cooker, the contents: sex, jealousy, confetti, booz, lawn furniture
Iranian photographer wins Sony World Photography Awards 2016 Jess Denham/ Iran
I
ranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh has been named L’Iris d’Or Photographer of the Year for his harrowing portraits of acid attack victims. This year’s competition attracted a record-breaking 230,103 submissions, with fourteen professional category winners and finalists announced on Thursday ahead of an exhibition at London’s Somerset House. Khamseh’s “Fired of Hatred” series also won the Contemporary Issues category while Japan’s Kei Nomiyama came out on top as Open Photographer of the Year with her stunning photograph, “Enchanted Bamboo Forest”. Kevin Frayer from Canada became the first photographer to win two professional categories in the same year for Environment and People while 18-year-old Sam Delaware from Maine, United States, won Young Photographer of the Year for a beautiful portrait of his sister. Other winners included French photographers Amelie Labourdette and Julien Mauve with triumphs in the Architecture and Conceptual categories respectively, Greece’s Angelos Tzortzinis with his hard-hitting refugee crisis series In Search of the European Dream and Italy’s Marcello Bonfanti for her portraits of ebola survivors.
Tom Hiddleston plaing Dr. Robert Laing
G
iven that just over half a decade ago Ben Wheatley was shooting films with a budget of £20,000 over eight days [2009’s Down Terrace], you could describe his rise in cinema as stratospheric, except it would imply that his work is still remotely of this planet. It’s certainly not the case with HighRise, a brilliantly, riotously surrealist film that makes the human condition look alien and yet scarily familiar.
JG BALLARDS
Based on J.G. Ballard’s 1975 modern classic novel, it centres on a young doctor (played by Tom Hiddleston) who is seduced by the lifestyle of a highrise apartment building in which the residences get more expensive the higher up you go - ranging from the council housing-esque bottom floors to the wild opulence of the penthouse. Maybe it’s the fact that Hiddleston once played F. Scott Fitzgerald [2011’s Midnight in Paris], but for a dystopian British drama set in the 70s, it weirdly (and not displeasingly) reminded me of The Great Gatsby. Innocent young
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
21
SPORTS
CULTURE
Christopher Hooton/ France
The Informant
narrator drawn into mad parties with half-enthusiasm, half skepticism? Check. Mysterious millionaire designing these parties for reasons and befriending our protagonist for reasons that are unclear? Check. Array of characters who fall in and out of love at whim and an overarching theme of the corrosive nature of wealth and the pursuit of it? Also check. It’s clear from the synopsis that the High-Rise is a pressure cooker, and it doesn’t take long for it to explode, to supernova in fact. Wheatley doesn’t waste a single shot here, with the building’s kaleidoscopic downfall being characterised by rampant hallway sex, apocalyptic flat parties and blood in the aisles of the Kubrickian in-building supermarket. One scenes sees a woman dressed in 18th century regal costume waiting to be “fucked in the arse” while someone rides a horse across her shag pile carpet. Another sees a goat wandering lost through a burning hallway, surrounded by overturned trollies, with a balloon tied around its neck. It’s the kind of film in which you find yourself wishing you could mentally take stills from it while sat in the theatre.
You get the sense that Wheatley had an absolute blast making this, that he was finally given a budget deserving of his talents (north of $5 million, quite the leap) and decided to absolutely run riot with it. “I hope you find it boldly funny and invigoratingly shocking,” he said of the film, and it more than delivers on both fronts, my only quibble being the use of a Thatcher quote (the satire was already pretty evident).
OSCARS
I think what makes High-Rise so successful is its willingness not to provide you with all the facts. Had this adaptation been entrusted to a more perfunctorial American director, you can imagine the first act being a slick blow-by-blow account of how the building’s financial system works, but Wheatley shuns exposition, instead throwing you in at the deep end (along with several bottles of champagne and a lawn chair).Coming off the back of the Oscars and its mostly dreary Best Picture nominees (DiCaprio falling over and getting up ad infinitum [The Revenant], sweaty Boston newsroom men standing in meeting rooms.
“ I hope you find it boldly funny and invigorate shocking
”
Leicester CFC: Crowned Premier League Champions
Kasper Schmeichel, goalkeeper of Leicester teamand Greenpeace activist // Christopher Meyer
Riyad Mahrez y Jamie Vardy, celebrating the deisred victory // Pedro Ramírez
As the fans outside the Leicester City stadium continued to shout and cheer and sing, long after the joyous celebrations of Monday night should have been replaced by a Tuesday morning hangover of Premiership-sized proportions, one man stood apart.
The ‘Fired of Hatred’ series from Asghar Khamseh the grand prize of $25,000 Asghar Khamseh
That he was an avid fan was in no doubt: a bag at his side full of Leicester memorabilia - a T-shirt, a hat, even a couple of blue and white umbrellas - was more than ample proof of his loyalty. Leonardo Ulloa, screaming after the last score // Reuters
22
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
SPORTS
SPORTS
Walt Disney wouldn’t script this
triumph is an astounding sporting story. Relegation favourites, led by a new Yes, this 5000/1 shot could actually happen…
I
n July last year Claudio Ranieri was enjoying a break in Italy when he received a phone call from Steve Kutner, his agent, that would end up changing the face of English football in a way no one could have imagined. Kutner had been attempting to convince Jon Rudkin, Leicester City’s director of football, that Ranieri was worth considering as the Premier League club’s new manager and finally there was news of a breakthrough.An obvious place for the fairytale to start is at the end of last season, before Ranieri took over and when Pearson.
GREAT SCAPE
Winning seven of their last nine matches to haul themselves off the bottom of the table and up to 14th place. Described as a “miracle” by Ranieri on the day he was presented to the media, that turnaround hinted at the potential (comfortable mid-table) in a team that Pearson had strengthened by the time he was sacked on 30 June. Robert Huth’s loan deal from Stoke City had been turned into a permanent move, and Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki had joined from Schalke and
Mainz respectively. Steve Walsh, the club’s joint assistant manager and head of recruitment, was busy chasing another target that was far from straightforward but would turn into one of the best Premier League signings of the summer. N’Golo Kanté was the player’s name, and Ranieri – as he would later admit – did not know much about him. Ranieri was far from alone in that respect – plenty of other Premier
“
Anyone in Leicester expected anything of Ranieri players League managers have since questioned how he slipped under their radar – but Walsh is recruitment team had done their homework. David Mills, Leicester’s senior scouting coordinator, had been to see Kanté play for Caen, and clips and statistics were put together to highlight the midfielder’s talent. Ranieri, however,
Naomi Broady: Taking the long way round to the French Open
still needed convincing about the player’s physique. A few months down the line, on the back of some superb performances from the Frenchman, Ranieri recalled how Walsh would constantly badger him during pre-season, saying: “Kanté, Kanté, Kanté!” In the end Ranieri was won over, Leicester handed over £5.6m and the rest is history. High quality on the pitch and low maintenance off it, Kanté drives a Mini and lives a simple life that involves tackling.
THE TIKERMAN
A player Ranieri was keen to sign and rated highly, was not even on the bench against Swansea last Sunday, when the manager dropped Marc Albrighton and was rewarded with an impressive performance from Jeffrey Schlupp. The feeling that Ranieri can do no wrong was confirmed when Albrighton came off the bench and scoredat Leicester, yet one thing that will never change with Ranieri is that warm, infectious personality. He has brought humour and light to Leicester, privately as well as publicly, occasionally mixing up his words with comical consequences and, in true Ranieri fashion, laughing at himself in the process. Self-deprecation comes easily to Ranieri, who called himself “a bell” on
Page Larris/ Madrid. hen Naomi Broady takes her place in the main draw of the French Open later this month she might reflect on her remarkable journey. The 26-year-old Briton, whose only previous appearances at Grand Slam level have been courtesy of Wimbledon wild cards, has spent the last 10 years travelling around some of her sport’s more obscure outposts. At long last, however, her ranking is high enough – she is currently the world No 80 - to secure a place at the most lofty tables.
W
Roland Garros
Naomi Broady competing in Madrid Getty
Will be a very different experience to some others of recent years. As an example, take the tournament she played two years ago at Namangan in Uzbekistan, where her prize money for winning the title was just $3,919 (about £2,700). After the tournament I was playing the next week in Japan and had to take
Friday before realising amid the laughter that he was straying close to inadvertently insulting himself. That comment was made after another rendition of “dilly-ding dilly-dong” – the wake-up call for those not paying attention on the training pitch or in meetings – and a catchphrase that Ranieri’s staff and players have a permanent reminder of at home. At the end of one of the meetings at the training ground just before the visit to Liverpool on Boxing Day, Ranieri handed out a neatly boxed brass bell, engraved with his name, to everybody in the room. The only thing missing was a Father Christmas outfit. Ranieri, however, is no fool. By that stage Leicester were enjoying the view from the top of the table. was keeping a lid on expectations with his expert handling of the media. Press conferences started with a handshake for everybody in the room, invariably finished with laughter and in between there was constant talk of hitting 40 points. He even referenced the US president at one stage when asked about the title. “I’d like to say: ‘Yes we can!’ But I am not Obama,” Ranieri said, smiling. It is not rocket science and, as we know from watching Leicester this season, nor does it need to be. In a game that is often an eight-hour taxi ride across Uzbekistan by myself,” Broady recalled. “In circumstances like that the tournament organises the taxi for you, but you don’t know anything about your driver. “My Dad said: ‘Text me every half an hour so that I know you’re fine.’ However my cellphone signal cut out for about four hours while we were going through the mountains. “Thankfully the driver was a good person and he got me there safely. But you’re up a mountain in the middle of nowhere, completely by yourself, and anything can happen to you. I’m a 6ft 2in blonde so it’s not like I blend in with anywhere I go.” Broady, supported by her family, has had to fend for herself ever since a fall-out with the Lawn Tennis Association nine years ago, when the governing body objected to photographs posted on a social networking website. She has had to pay her own way around the globe in search of the ranking points which finally took her into the world’s top 100 earlier.because is the best way to support this sport.
One of the keys was the feeling that the players had between eachothers
” Are in the bottom three for possession and that only West Bromwich Albion. Have a lower pass completion rate. yet the only table that matters – in the absence of one that quantifies teamwork. Ranieri, however, is no fool. By that stage Leicester were enjoying the view from the top of the table. was keeping a lid on expectations with his expert handling of the media. Press conferences started with a handshake for everybody in the room, invariably finished with laughter and in between there was constant talk of hitting 40 points. He even referenced the US president at one stage when asked about the title. “I’d like to say: ‘Yes we can!’ But I am not Obama,” Ranieri said, smiling. to the public because they celebrates the win.
“ Then when you get used to playing quarters and semis each week, you’ll find your rhythm every now and then
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
After a 1-0 defeat
not back down at recent criticism ahead of
thanks to a Saul goal
Tuesday’s return leg of the Champions Lea-
in the first leg, Bayern
gue semi-final against Atletico Madrid at the
look to overcome the
Allianz Arena.
Rojiblancos at home.
The Catalan Team selection was questioned after the defeat, having left Thomas Muller on the bench.”The problem people have with me is that I’ve won so many titles. An hour before the game you’ll see who will start,” Guardiola said.”We have to interpret each game scenario and play according to our philosophy. In Madrid, we didn’t lose because Muller didn’t start and his presence isn’t the only thing that will determine Tuesday’s outcome.”In terms of contrasting styles of play, the Manchester coach insisted that most important thing is to be able philosophy, which he has done since arriving at the Bavarian club.” You have to adapt to the squad you have. If I wanted to play the exact same way I did in Spain, I would have stayed there,” he added. ”It is a great honour to be in the semi-final, but we have to improve our performance if we are to reach the final in Milan.”
23
Guardiola VS Simeone: style war
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola did
ÁLVARO LEÓN Munich
Leicester City’s 2016 Premier League
Juan Martínez/ Leicester.
The Informant
When Atletico Madrid face Bayern Munich in the second leg of their semi-final tie, Diego Simeone maintains he will not allow his side to settle for a draw.The Rojiblancos will reach the final in Milan if they avoid defeat in Germany, but their coach has disregarded the notion of playing for anything but a win.”All I care about is winning and I prepare for that, not for pleasing others,” Simeone told the press Godin a continuing concern, the former midfielder admits he is worried about the Uruguayan’s availability.” I sleep better when I know I have Godin, Savic,
Gimenez, and Lucas available,” he continued. Their presence is important.”I do not have any shame in saying that I am afraid before every game.” Following on from the latest debate over Altetico’s style of play, and the possible end to Pep Guardiola’s once revolutionary tiki-taka, Simeone was straight-faced when asked about criticism of his tactics. “We are respectful of others’ opinions, we all have reasons for the way we play,”
he added. “The proudest moments I have are empowering the players I have.”We will be faithful to our style because the only way to be comfortable with ourselves is to be ourselves.” Thousands of Atletico Madrid’s fans created an unwavering wall of sound as Atletico Madrid faced Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.The atmosphere was absolutely electric in and around the Estadio Vicente Calderon as the fans chanted and sang in almost perfect unison. Atletico’s followers hoped their chanting would provide the support of a 12th man in their team’s quest to beat the German giants. We can imagine what will happen. We will have to deal with several smaller or bigger provocations and taunts. We know about the special role of the ball-boys at Atletico and the influence of Atletico coach Diego Simeone. A lot of things might happen that are beyond what is permitted,” Muller predicted. Bayern defender Benatia compared Atletico’s arena Vincente Calderon with hell: “It will be like that and very complicated in general.” Juan Bernat is pinning his hopes of a fair game on the shoulders of the English referee Mark Clattenburg: “I hope they will clamp down on Atletico’ s aggressive game.” The German tabloid “Bild” predicted: “The coaching zone will turn into a swearing zone” after Atletico Simeone and Bayern coach Pep Guardiola are regarded to be hot-tempered. At the same time 45-year-old Spaniard Guardiola and his squad are emphasizing that they are prepared for the highly charged atmosphere in Madrid. Therefore their game plan contains solutions like self-control, a strong will to make it into the final and to fight back. In the quarterfinals, 2015 Champions League winners Barcelona were unable to break down the wall, and was eliminated. Now Bayern will have to try to do better in the first leg. After all Bayern’s team has
scored 28 goals in the Champions League so far. “Solid work at the back and good ideas up front will do the job,” Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. In order to be prepared for Atletico’s counter-attacks Bayern coach Guardiola might choose a 4-1-4-1 system with a four-man back line (Philipp Lahm, Joshua Kimmich, Javier Martinez, David Alaba), Xabi Alonso in front of them, a midfield of four Franck Ribery, Arturo Vidal, Thomas Mueller, Douglas Costa and Robert Lewandowski as a spearhead. When they are in possession, the system could change into a 3-2-2-3 with right back Lahm moving to midfield to assist his team when attacking with his precise passing. But Lahm and left back Alaba will not only have to stop Atletico’s counter-attacks led by Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres, but they will have to support their own special forces along
the flanks in person of Ribery and Costa. Perhaps the toughest match this season, it will decide to a great extent how people judge the Pep Guardiola era in Munich. Once the season is over the Spaniard is off to pastures new at Manchester City in the Premier League. After Bayern failed to reach the final in the last two years after being eliminated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, Guardiola’s last chance comes in this year, 2016. “In the last years our squad hasn’t be like to one of today. We have more options in our offense and more tactical options.” Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. It might be an advantage for Bayern to play the first leg away game in Madrid as Atletico is expected to try to score at least one goal. Meaning, they every now and then will have to open up their game which could mean more space for Bayern.
24
The Informant
Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
TAKING A LOOK BACK ON A DAY LIKE TODAY 208 YEARS AGO
MAY 2, 1808
Just poke a few rays of sunshine in the east when a crowd of locals throng in front of the Royal Palace. The crowd suspicion of the intentions of the French soldiers want to kidnap the infant Francisco de Paula, the youngest son of King Carlos IV and Maria Luisa de Parma. Carlos IV had just been forced to abdicate in favor of Ferdinand VII. Both are forced to go to Bayonne to meet with Napoleon, where he produced the historical event known as the abdication of Bayonne, which will leave the throne of Spain in the hands of the emperor’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte. ¡ A locksmith, José Blas Molina decides on a heroic act secretly access in the building. The goal is to know what is happening inside. Where and how is the little infant. A few minutes later, the scream Molina destata the fury of the locals, “Treason! Let us take you! We have taken our king
and want to take all the real people! Death to the French! “. The reaction is immediate: after the assault clamor develops. This tumult is used by Murat , who commanded a detachment of the Imperial Guard at the palace, accompanied by artillery fire on the crowd quehace . The people’s desire to prevent the departure of the infant, binds to avenge the dead and get rid of the French. With these sentiments , the fight spread like wildfire throughout Madrid .
MAY 3, 1808
The French shot , at various points in Madrid, the patriots arrested after rising the previous day against the French troops . Madrileños , with makeshift weapons , tried to stop the departure of the last Palace of infants , Don Francisco de Paula , the youngest son of Carlos IV and Maria Luisa , which was to be driven to Bordeaux to reunite with their parents. The “revolution” of Madrid
determined the outbreak of the war against Napoleon , and repression of the French army , arresting and executing indiscriminately innocent and guilty , revealed immediately in the eyes of all the bloody and cruel confrontation , without quarter , which I had begun that day between Spanish and French . The two scenes chosen by Goya are very significant , representing the beginning of the heroic national resistance and sacrifice of the Spaniards.. The artist had expressed the February 24, 1814 to the regency , which had fallen to the Infante Don Luis de Borbon, “his ardent desire to perpetuate through the brush the most remarkable and heroic or actions scenes of our glorious insurrection against the tyrant of Europe”. There is no relevant documentation to clarify the events happenened during these days in the past of the Spanish history and the life of the citizens. . .
The celebrations of May 2 return to Malasaña Rose Jenner/ Madrid
T
Hundreds of people on Monday in the celebrations of May 2.
he people of Madrid rose up arms to fight for freedom February 1 May 1808. Today, the Malasaña neighborhood has raised its long drinks and cans of beer a year to celebrate traditional festivals emblematic. From April 27 until today the squares San Ildefonso, Dos de Mayo and Juan Pujol were filled with people, activities, workshops and concerts for the public. They are “self-managed” parties for neighborhood residents, also called
MAKING MALASAÑA
A new feature is that the city of Madrid, along with the District Centre, has given organizations the necessary infrastructure to bring the holidays forward. The program began on Thursday 28 at the Dos de Mayo square. Younger enjoyed a morning full of activities as a child Batukada gimkana or in the afternoon. Then, sample products for seniors. On Friday, the dynamic changed when poetry and the book were the point of care. Ana Rossetti and his ‘book of poems’ or
neighbor Pedro Manuel Martínez reading the opening speech of the holidays at 19.00; then, dance classes and dance world as a “collage” was projected on the street Holy Spirit.
THE BIGGEST PARTY
While the morning sun graced the Plaza Juan Pujol with workshops, such as Degust_arte sexology, and a master class in yoga at noon, thousands of people gathered in the mai methodolology of the programm. .