Issue No. 1901 9 - 15 December 2021
Starting young CUEVAS DEL ALMANZORA commemorated Constitu‐ tion Day with a plenary meeting of the Children’s Council. Cancelled last year owing to the pandemic, this year’s meeting was prepared with “excitement and commit‐ ment” by all participants, said Cuevas mayor Antonio Fernandez Lirio. Welcoming the council members ‐ all pupils at all the municipality’s primary schools and the Jaroso high school ‐ Fernandez Lirio stressed the importance of understanding the “deci‐ sion‐making mechanisms” that were used at a town hall.
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SEW GOOD, ALEXIS!
Photo credit: Alexis Shillinglaw
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GRAND OPENING: Alexis and husband David at the launch of her Sewing School.
FREE • GRATIS
Getting results CLEARING the banks and bed of the River Aguas is 33 per cent complete, six months after work began. Visiting the zone, Carmen Crespo who heads the Junta’s Environment department, said the €6 million project was once of the largest‐ranging yet carried out in any Andalucia river basin. Work focuses on a 21.4‐kilometre section between the Giles district and the Mojacar river‐mouth. The benefits were already plain to see, Crespo declared, pointing to the absence of incidents during the storms and torrential rain of last October and November. “The project was announced in March and today we can already see the results,” she said.
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Help from above SIERRA DE LOS FILABRES is closer to becoming a national park. The proposal, which be‐ gan with pupils from the Alto Almanzora high school, now has support from Andalucia’s regional government follow‐ ing their recent meeting with
Maribel Sanchez, the Junta’s delegate to Almeria, and Raquel Espin, the province’s Sustainable Development del‐ egate. The pupils representing ‘all the children and young people in Sierra de los Filabres’ were
able to state their case to both politicians, who congratulated them on their hard work. They also gave advice on how to proceed with the initia‐ tive, pointing out that each municipality ‘could and should’ decide which part of the town
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Laura does it again Photo credit: IES Alto Almanzora
DELEGATION VISIT: Alto Almanzora pupils with Maribel Sanchez and Raquel Espin.
should be included in the fu‐ ture national park. “Once agreement has been reached with all the municipal‐ ities involved the park can be‐ come a reality, because the Junta de Andalucia will hurry through the necessary formali‐ ties,” Sanchez and Espin ex‐ plained.
LAURA DIEPSTRATEN GAR‐ CIA, a 14‐year‐old from Pulpi, has reached the final of the Telecinco pro‐ gramme, Got Talent Es‐ paña. This follows on from Lau‐ ra’s recent Young Newcom‐ er award in the 25th edi‐ tion of the regional government’s Premios Joven Andalucia. Blind from birth, Laura is currently studying profes‐
sional piano in Lorca (Mur‐ cia). She began winning prizes for her singing and playing at the age of eight and took place in the Inter‐ national Low Vision Song Contest earlier this year. Laura’s performance in last week’s Got Talent Es‐ paña won her a Golden Pass from the jury, which means she now goes straight through to the fi‐ nal.
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Learn to sew in Turre TURRE resident Alexis Shillinglaw, an ex‐ pert needlewoman, has raised more than €3,000 for charity. “When the pandemic started, I began making free handmade masks,” Alexis told the Euro Weekly News. “I even sent them to the UK to help, as masks were so hard to get hold of then.” Shortly afterwards Alexis began to use mask‐making to raise much‐needed funds for needy families in Turre. “I would not accept payment,” she ex‐ plained, “but asked that anyone want‐ ing to buy a mask paid €5 and put the money into a jar at Total Entertain‐ ment.” All of the monies benefit local chari‐ ties and help also goes to Ellen, the Turre vet, to help abandoned cats and dogs. Alexis and husband David arrived in Spain four years ago from Galashiels in Scotland, where she had a sewing al‐ terations shop, living first in Los Gallar‐ dos before moving to Turre on the day
the State of Alarm was announced. Alexis has been so successful, teaching sewing at all levels in Turre and the ad‐ joining towns, that she has now launched the Alexis Sewing School. Martin Morales, Turre’s mayor, ac‐ companied by Angela Morales Soler and Marisa Freeman, attended the recent in‐ auguration. “We wish you every success and many happy students,” Morales said. “You deserve the best since you have always supported our community, even in the worst moments of the pandemic,” he declared. Thanking the mayor for his support, Alexis pointed out that he did amazing work himself: “Thank you for keeping us safe,” she said. “It’s a real pleasure to have been able to help others less fortunate than our‐ selves and I will be making Christmas charity masks to help buy presents for the children of Turre.”
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NIBS EXTRA Happy ending A DOCILE black cat found in central Almeria City was ini‐ tially believed lost or aban‐ doned by rescue association Adopta un Amigo, who dis‐ covered the microchipped cat was 12. After locating her owners, they learnt that Señorita disappeared 11 years earlier and they had given her up for dead.
Power abused ALMERIA’S provincial high court has found Rioja’s mayor Maria Isabel Sanchez guilty of abusing her posi‐ tion by giving employment ‘almost clandestinely’ to the then‐partner of the town clerk’s son. Sanchez, who represented the Izquierda Unida party, may not hold public office for 12 years, the court ruled.
Dangerous dog A 29‐YEAR‐OLD woman lodged an official complaint after a pitbull bit her while trying to protect her own dog near Roquetas port. The dog was off the leash and its owner, a girl aged between 15 or 16, fled with‐ out approaching her or leaving details after the at‐ tack.
Hot and cold ON December 2, El Ejido was the warmest place in Andalucia with tempera‐ tures reaching 19.6 degrees, according to Spain’s meteo‐ rological office Aemet. Meanwhile, Calar Alto in Sierra de los Filabres and the area between El Prado and the La Lechera peak both awoke to a sprinkling of snow.
Be warned BETWEEN December 6 and 12, Vicar is joining the Gen‐ eral Directorate of Traffic’s campaign to raise aware‐ ness of the importance of respecting speed limits and not driving under the influ‐ ence of drugs or drink. The Local Police will carry out random checks throughout Vicar, the town hall warned.
9 - 15 December 2021
A uniform solution
OUTWORN uniforms no longer needed by Cuevas del Almanzora’s Local Police officers can now be recycled. Thanks to an agreement with Insigna Uniformes, the firm which manufactures the officers’ uniforms, the material can now be reused, eliminating the prob‐ lems normally involved in disposing of garments, town hall sources explained. Owing to their characteristics and functions, uniforms cannot be discarded or donated like other clothing to prevent them from reaching the street where they could be put to inappropriate use. Instead, the Re‐Uniforma programme collects and classifies the castoffs for pro‐ fessional recycling that separates their
Photo credit: Cuevas del Almanzora town hall
NO WASTE: Recycling bins for discarded Local Police uniforms.
polyester content for re‐use. Using this innovative technology Insigna Uniformes is able to process a large volume of discarded clothing, con‐
Ubuntu project VERA is one of four Andalu‐ cia municipalities taking part in Andalucia’s Global Citizen‐ ship Education department’s Ubuntu Andaluz project. Fi‐ nanced by Andalucia’s Agen‐ cy for International Develop‐ ment Cooperation (AACID), the initiative was launched by the non‐profitmaking Soli‐ daridad Internacional An‐ dalucia (SIA) association. Ubuntu means ‘mutual backing and an open, inter‐ related and empathatic community’ in Zulu and Zhosa, an African philosophy which Ubunto Andaluz is practising via eco‐social ini‐ tiatives and communities. Vera Town Hall, together with those of Armilla (Grana‐ da), Moguer (Huelva) and Camas (Sevilla), is supporting this project via workshops in
local schools and various ac‐ tivities. These include the Mi‐ crorrelatos y Dibujos en Tiempos de Crisis (Short sto‐ ries and drawings in times of crisis) competition. “Agostinho Antonio Masal and Laura Martinez are spreading the word amongst the local popula‐ tion,” explained Vera’s So‐ cial Affairs councillor, Ana Lourdez Ramirez. “They are creating oppor‐ tunities to reflect upon, and discuss, present‐day issues and face the complexities that we must cope with as a society.” More information about the competition is available on the https://www.soli daridadandalucia.org/con curso‐ubuntu‐andaluz web‐ site.
verting them into a new raw material. Eventually, Insigna said, the firm intends to produce top‐quality police uniforms using textiles that are 100 per cent re‐ covered. Cuevas mayor Antonio Fernandez Liria and Public Safety councillor Isabel Maria Haro Salas, accompanied by Local Police chief, Juan Javier Castro Alonso, and David Velasco from Insigna Uniformes recently gave details of the scheme, which collabo‐ rates with the UN’s Sustainable Develop‐ ment Goal 15 set out in 2015. “We are aware of our planet’s emer‐ gency situation and this programme takes us a step nearer to a zero‐waste fu‐ ture,” the mayor said.
Taking cautious approach NIJAR Town Hall has post‐ poned planned Christmas events with the municipal‐ ity’s senior citizens. Esperanza Perez Felices, Nijar’s mayor advised resi‐ dents’ organisations and social groups that the tra‐ ditional meetings and Christmas meals for the municipality’s older resi‐ dents would be delayed until the health situation produced by the new Covid variant was clearer. “There is no reason to be alarmed, because vacci‐ nation levels are excep‐ tional,” Perez Felices insist‐ ed. “But right now, we must be scrupulous with per‐ sonal protection measures and this does not sit well with the kind of Christmas meals we are used to.” The mayor stressed that
Christmas Fayre in Arboleas AGE SUPPORT ALMANZO‐ RA and Walk for Life Ar‐ boleas host a Christmas Fayre on Saturday, Decem‐ ber 11. This will be held from 4pm to 8pm at the Arboleas Social Centre, opposite the medical centre. “Come along to enjoy mulled wine and mince pies
and meet Santa,” said Age Support Almanzora’s Judi Bedford‐Keogh. There will be more than 40 craft stalls selling jew‐ ellery, soap, candles, craft beer and Christmas gifts as well as hot food, a bar, raf‐ fles, tombola, a cake stall and also a bottle stall. The Fusion Charity Band
and Breeze FM will be pro‐ viding music throughout the afternoon and evening. “There is a Kiddies Fancy Dress Parade for children under 12, so get your little ones to come along and join in the fun,” Judi said. Entrance to the Fayre is just €1 and is free to chil‐ dren under 12.
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the town hall was not can‐ celling the social gather‐ ings, but was postponing them until they could be held without any health risks. The lunch for Nijar’s se‐ nior citizens, scheduled for December 10, and other gatherings would return to the town hall’s official agenda once the health authorities confirmed that the new Omicron variant was under control, Perez Felices said. The mayor announced that sports events and oth‐ er open‐air activities would continue as pro‐ grammed unless the health authorities were to advise otherwise. Events in enclosed envi‐ ronments would be closely watched although these could, in any case, only go ahead in installations where social distancing and all health and safety measures could be strictly complied with.
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Ten role models THE central government’s sub‐delegation to Almeria celebrated the Spanish Constitution’s 43rd an‐ niversary on December 3 instead of December 6. The event, which was brought forward to avoid clashing with other nation‐ al celebrations, was dedi‐ cated to the feminist struggle and recognised 10 Almeria women who have made significant con‐ tributions to equality. They included a Constitu‐ tional Tribunal judge, a Mercedarian Sister of Charity, a fighter pilot in Spain’s Air Force, a provin‐ cial trade union leader and the assistant director of a provincial radio station and newspaper. “You exemplify civic virtues,” Fernando Mar‐ tinez, junior minister for Democratic Memory told them. “Each one of you is a mirror where many other women, for whom you are role models, can see themselves,” added the Almeria sub‐delegate, Manuel de la Fuente Arias. De la Fuente also drew attention to the “feminist perspective” in the 2022 Budget and the central government’s three female vice‐presi‐ dents and 11 women min‐ isters. “This is a good start‐ ing point, but there is still a great deal of room for im‐ provement and there are multiple reasons for in‐ cluding women in the con‐ struction and leadership of the future,” De la Fuente declared.
and finally...
THE regional government will spend more than €11 million on improving Huercal‐Overa’s waste treatment installa‐ tions. Carmen Crespo, who heads the Junta’s Sustainable De‐ velopment department, declared on a recent visit to Huer‐ cal‐Overa that the municipality had been too long with “in‐ adequately‐answered needs.” The Junta project involves a €4.7 million makeover for the Huercal‐Overa sewage plant as well as four more pro‐ jects in the zone, Crespo revealed. “Our aim is a municipality with zero discharge and 100 per cent waste treatment,” she said.
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A NEW food alert has been issued by the Span‐ ish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AE‐ SAN). They have warned that a ‘chicken shawar‐ ma’ spice mix has been discovered to contain undeclared mustard. The ingredient could be a dangerous ingredient for allergy sufferers. The agency was notified of the issue by the health authorities of the Community of Madrid through the Coordinated Rapid Information Ex‐ change System (SCIRI). The ‘chicken shawarma’ spice mix is often used to prepare Turkish food
Food alert in Spain
including durums. Mustard allergies can be seri‐ ous, but the product poses no risk to anyone who does not have a mustard allergy. The affect‐ ed product is Shawarma Pollo Halal Madrid in 100‐gram packs. The affected batch is batch number 4. The product has a best before date of 12/2024.
La Diabla arrested
SPAIN’S National Police force, in collaboration with the German police, have arrested Leudis Isaac Corro Camacho in Hamburg, nicknamed ‘La Diabla’, on charges of pimping. Along with Anto‐ nio Angles, and the drug trafficker Norbert Kohler, Camacho was on Interpol’s list of the most wanted criminal offenders and was wanted by Spain. Police sources have confirmed the de‐ tainee was on Interpol’s list for belonging to a Eu‐ ropean criminal organisation that captured and then sexually exploited victims. Specifically, the
detainee, who is also known as Donatella, had the main function of recruiting her victims by ‘tak‐ ing advantage of their economic precariousness.’ According to the sources, she would organise their transport, either via Germany, or directly to the final destination, which was normally Madrid or Barcelona. Once in Spain, the detainee accom‐ modated her victims in her home and told them that they owed her a great debt for the trip, which they subsequently had to pay through the practice of forced prostitution.
AESAN has said that the product has been dis‐ tributed in Valencia, Andalucia, and Castilla La Mancha. The product has also been distributed to Portugal and France. The food agency commented: “The aim is to verify the withdrawal of the affected products from the marketing channels.”
Paddleboarder scare A Y O U N G man was rescued in Alicante after being dragged out to sea while paddleboard‐ ing. The Salvamento Marítimo boat Salvamar Mirfak swung into action to make the rescue off the coast of El Campello. The man was caught up in intense winds of 35 knots that dragged him out to sea on his board. He required medical assistance after he was rescued. He had not been wearing a wet‐ suit which was dangerous in the conditions and allowed his body temperature to drop dramatically. The man was taken to hospital to be treated.
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Residents shaken ON Friday December 3 at 6:47am, residents in Torrevie‐ ja were woken up by an earth‐ quake. According to the Na‐ tional Geographic Institute (Instituto Geográfico Na‐ cional), the tremor registered at 1.6 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the quake was only a few kilometres from the coast. The quake hit to the south‐ east of Torrevieja, with the epi‐ centre between Torrevieja and Punta Prima. The last earth‐ quake recorded in the Alicante Province was on November 16. The latest quake hit in the municipality of Famorca and is reportedly the fifth official quake to hit the area so far this year. Unofficial reports claim that three more tremors have hit Torrevieja in the space of a week. None of these has been recorded by the National Geo‐ graphic Institute.
Carboneras decarbonised ENERGY company Endesa has now received the official doc‐ ument confirming the closure of the Carboneras’ power sta‐ tion.
This means that stripping down the installation can be‐ gin, a project that will be car‐ ried out by specialised person‐ nel working to circular‐
economy guidelines to waste as little material as possible. The dismantling process will nevertheless involve demolish‐ ing the iconic chimney, only kilometres away from the road, to pave the way for the plant’s new role. “This is a landmark docu‐ ment,” declared the power station’s director Juan Luis Re‐ dondo. “We now have everything prepared to abandon coal and embark on a new future for this area, which we aren’t abandoning. We are simply changing our activities,” he said. “Decarbonisation is now a reality and we are working on dismantling the plant and choosing the projects that will shape this zone.” Redondo explained that by closing the Carboneras plant, Endesa was instead embarking on a new phase in constructing a project for the future.
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THE Spanish government has let almost a million vaccines go to waste, al‐ lowing them to expire rather than donating them to other countries. The rapid spread of the new Omicron variant has the whole world on the alert. While in the first world vulnerable people and the elderly are al‐ ready receiving the third dosis of the vaccine, in Africa only 7 per cent of the population is vacci‐ nated. This is evidence that the Covax mecha‐ nism, an alliance of 190 countries with the aim of making sure the antidote reaches the whole world,
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Vaccine waste
Vaccine date is expiring.
is not functioning as it should. This December, the Spanish Ministry of Health will have to throw away hundreds of thou‐ sands of doses that have
expired in storage when they could have been do‐ nated to countries in the third world. Specifically, there are 343,000 doses of As‐ traZeneca and around half a million doses of Janssen that have not been used. The exact number of Janssen vac‐ cines to go to waste will not be revealed until the end of December, when all the batches that have been returned by the Au‐ tonomous Communities and are currently in stor‐ age expire.
Fines for wrapping up! WITH winter upon us, we are all wearing warmer clothes when we go outside. But we must be aware that, as with warm weather, there are still regulations relating to what you can wear behind the wheel. Driving with flip‐flops in summertime comes to mind, something many traffic cops have issued fines for. The Directorate‐ General for Traffic (DGT) recommends wearing suitable clothing for driving, with which we can
comfortably operate the vehicle’s controls. They do not specify what clothing is considered un‐ comfortable. However, this is always at the dis‐ cretion of the traffic officer. A coat or jacket that is too thick, or winter gloves or shoes can reduce mobility in the arms and hands, or interfere with the correct operation of the seat belt, so wearing them while behind the wheel may fall within the reckless driving interpretation of an officer.
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Smallest church in world ACCORDING to the Guinness Book of Records, the smallest church in the world is the Santa Isabel de Hungria, which is just 1.96m² in size. It is in the Malaga Province, in the municipality of Benalmadena. Constructed by Esteban Martin, be‐ tween 1987 and 1994, this tiny place of worship can be found inside the
Castillo de Colomares. It is a monu‐ ment featuring many different archi‐ tectural styles. Mr Martin reportedly built it as a tribute to the cultural ex‐ change unleashed after the discovery of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. The church is dedicated to Saint Eliz‐ abeth of Hungary, who dedicated her
Delivery discrimination LINGUISTIC tensions continue to rise in Catalo‐ nia. The latest incident involves a GLS delivery driver who refused to hand a parcel over to a man who did not wish to speak Spanish and re‐ sponded in Catalan when asked for his details. The video was recorded by the front‐door cam‐ era of a house in Palafrugell, Girona, and upload‐ ed to Twitter by the man’s son. The images show how the Catalan‐speaking client gives his ID num‐ ber to the delivery man, who then asks him to re‐ peat it in Spanish. The man refuses to do so, which causes the deliveryman to get back into his van with the parcel and leave. The man’s son complained about the incident to his followers on Twitter and asked for advice on how to file a complaint. The story provoked comments from people on either side of the ar‐ gument.
life to helping the most disadvantaged people. It has everything necessary to carry out services, being also conse‐ crated by the Prior of the Monastery of La Rabida. Benalmadena is a popular holiday destination among tourists thanks to its high‐quality beaches. But this mu‐ nicipality has many more tourist at‐
Benalmadena’s Castillo de Colomares.
tractions that should not be missed in‐ cluding the Castle of Colomares, Jar‐ dines del Muro, and the cobbled streets of its charming old town.
Brexit’s role in Amazon ban AMAZON has made the con‐ troversial decision to ban UK is‐ sued Visa credit cards from next year. The decision is said to be due to increasing transac‐ tion fees. Brexit has been par‐ tially blamed for this as fees have risen since the UK left the EU. A spokesperson for Ama‐ zon commented: “The cost of accepting card payments con‐ tinues to be an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for cus‐ tomers.” Amazon customers were noti‐ fied that the changes will come into force from January 19, 2022. High transaction
fees mean that Amazon: “will no longer accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK.” Ama‐ zon customers with Visa cards that were issued outside of the UK will be okay though as will customers using Visa debit cards, MasterCard, and Ameri‐ can Express credit cards. Since Brexit, the cap on transaction
fees between the UK and the European Economic Area has been ditched, which has meant that fees have increased. When customers purchase products on Amazon UK, the company still processes the payments in the EU. This means high ‘cross‐border’ fees are applied.
Volcano erupts A VOLCANIC eruption in In‐ donesia on December 4 has resulted in a significant loss of life. The event at Mount Se‐ meru in East Java sent a boil‐ ing plume of ash 50,000 feet into the air and residents were forced to flee as the deadly ash cloud engulfed everything in its path. This is the second eruption this year. By December 7, the death toll was at 34 and more than 2,000 people had been evac‐ uated according to the head
of the task force for the man‐ agement of the eruption, In‐ fantry Col Irwan Surbekti. An Australian organisation which monitors volcanic ash said that the column became disconnected from the sum‐ mit and moved west at a speed of over 70km per hour at heights of up to 50,000 ft. Semeru, also known as ‘The Great Mountain,’ is the tallest peak on the island and is renowned for its volcanic activity. However, this latest eruption is on a scale not seen in recent times.
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EWN is coming to Baza THERE’S good news for residents in the Baza area as the Euro Weekly News will be avail‐ able in the town from next week. The Almeria edi‐ tion of the best ex‐ pat newspaper in Spain will be avail‐ able in Cafetería Bar Alcazaba on Corredera 21, from next Thursday. Many people who live in the area cur‐ rently travel to Al‐ box for their copy of the Euro Weekly News, but they will now be able to grab it closer to home. Any remaining copies will be avail‐ able from Lisa Lang‐ ton (owner of Bar Alcazaba) at the Sunday car boot sale at the Hotel Abadi, off Junction 342 of the A‐92. If demand is high, even more copies will be provided in the future. We know there is a large expat com‐ munity in the re‐ gion with little ac‐ cess to English language newspa‐ pers and would like to keep them up to date with the news in the local area, in Spain and back home. We pride our‐ selves of doing all we can to support and inspire the indi‐ viduals, neighbour‐ hoods, and commu‐ nities we serve, by delivering news with a social con‐ science. That now extends to the peo‐ ple of Baza and the surrounding areas. That’s why the Euro Weekly News is known as the People’s Paper.
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NEWS
Deep fake call
DEEP fake porn and nude images are becoming more common with improve‐ ments in technology making it easier for those in the busi‐ ness to create lifelike images. Maria Miller, MP for Bas‐ ingstoke, believes that wom‐ en are mainly the target and that these images should be made a sex crime with com‐ mensurate penalties. Including the making and sharing of these images in the ‘sexual abuse’ section of the online safety bill, would allow those affected to seek proper redress by allowing police to take appropriate action.
MILLER: Women are mainly the targets.
Miller took an adjourn‐ ment debate to the Com‐ mons on December 2 in which she outlined the ‘dev‐ astating’ impact such images have on the victims. Deep fake images make use of ordi‐
nary photos that are taken with or without the person’s consent and literally ‘un‐ dressed’ by the software be‐ fore being shared publicly. Such images can also be used for videos depicting vio‐ lent or illegal acts including rape. Miller said that “Women in the UK have faced a growing problem of image‐based sex‐ ual abuse over the past decade, but the scale of the problem is increasing.” Offi‐ cial figures show the number of image‐based abuse reports have increased by 87 per cent in the last year alone.
Covid drug breakthrough THE first drug authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for preventing Covid‐ 19 infection is to become available in Spain in the next few months. Although vaccination against Covid infection has been proven to be highly effective, newly developed drugs could also be useful for stop‐ ping the spread of the virus. In mid‐November, the EMA authorised the first two drugs with monoclonal antibodies: Ronapreve, devel‐ oped by the companies Regeneron and Roche, and Regkirona, from the South Korean phar‐ maceutical company Celltrion.
Clinical trials of both drugs have shown that they are effective at reducing the serious ef‐ fects of Covid and can therefore greatly reduce hospitalisations and deaths. However, Ron‐ apreve can also be used to prevent infection, and could be used in immunosuppressed pa‐ tients who require extra protection or who do not respond well to vaccination, such as cancer patients or those who have had transplants. It could also be used to protect family mem‐ bers of Covid patients, those who live in places where vaccination is less readily available, or even people who refuse to get the vaccine.
Vegan leather to save planet THE scientists behind the latest must‐have trend in fashion, the ‘mushroom leather’ handbag, believe that the material they are using for accessories has the power to save more than just animals. Mycelium is a material grown from fungi that can be engineered to look and feel like calfskin or sheep‐ skin, and the researchers think it can save the plan‐ et. Dr Matt Scullin, CEO of biomaterials company My‐ coWorks, forecast that mushroom leather could be a sustainability gamechanger “unlocking a future of design which be‐ gins with the material, not with the object.” The material made its high‐end debut as an ex‐ clusive Hermes handbag, which has become a much
sought‐after item. The material can be grown from fungi in a mat‐ ter of weeks and replicates the feel and look of leather while being stronger and more durable. “It can give the same emotional response as animal leather. It has that hand‐feel of rarity,” said
Scullin. On a planet of finite nat‐ ural resources, Scullin be‐ lieves both the technology and the mindset of carbon‐ neutral, grown‐to‐order mushroom leather could be “revolutionary” ‐ and have implications for inno‐ vation in manufacture be‐ yond fashion.
and finally... GOVERNMENT ministers have thrown Christmas messaging into confusion by offering different advice around socialising this Christmas. In an effort to clarify the situation No 10 has told people to carry on partying. On Thursday December 2, the prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted that this year’s celebrations are down to “individual judgement.” This after it became clear that Science Minister George Freeman let it be known that he had cancelled his work party in light of latest coronavirus developments and instead would be mark‐ ing the festive season via Zoom.
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NEWS
Fake arm vaccine attempt Alec Baldwin’s bombshell
A 50-YEAR-OLD Italian man faces criminal charges after trying to get vaccinated with a fake arm to obtain the Covid passport. A 50‐year‐old man from Biella, a city of 44,000 inhabitants in the region of Piedmont, in the north of Italy, came up with a unique strat‐ egy for obtaining the Covid passport. He made a fake arm out of silicone. When he arrived at the clinic in Biella, he thought he could success‐ fully deceive the medical staff. However, his bizarre plan failed. The man waited for his turn in the queue, and when it
arrived, he signed the consent form for the vac‐ cine, sat down and rolled up his sleeve to ex‐ pose his upper arm and shoulder. Although sili‐ cone can look very similar to real skin, the colour and texture of the arm made the nurse suspect that something was wrong. She asked him to remove his shirt so that she could see his entire arm. Once the nurse had discovered the truth, the man did not give up. He tried to convince her to turn a blind eye, but she re‐ fused and alerted her colleagues. The clinic re‐ ported the man to the authorities for fraud.
Cabinet office fined
THE Cabinet Office has been fined half a million pounds af‐ ter mistakenly publishing the names and full postal address‐ es of New Year Honours recipi‐ ents, including Sir Elton John and senior members of the po‐ lice force. The incident happened at the end of 2019 when a file containing information relating to over 1,000 people due to re‐ ceive an award was uploaded to an official website. They included the addresses of Sir Elton John, cricketer Ben
Stokes, senior Tory Iain Dun‐ can Smith, TV chefs Nadiya Hussain and Ainsley Harriot, broadcaster Gabby Logan, Grease actress Olivia Newton‐ John and former director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders. The file was downloadable and appeared on the govern‐ ment’s website at 10.30pm on Friday December 27. It took two hours and 21 minutes for it to be removed. The report into the incident that saw the Cabinet Office fined showed
that the file was accessed 3,872 times from 2,798 unique IP addresses, mostly within the first half an hour from when it was published. The Information Commis‐ sioner’s Office (ICO) was then told of the leak while the gov‐ ernment contacted and apolo‐ gised to all those affected. The staff of the Cabinet Office then had to work 12‐hour days for a fortnight just to answer the questions they received from the people who had their in‐ formation compromised.
IN an emotional inter‐ view aired on US TV on Thursday December 2, Alec Baldwin said that he was not aware that he had shot the director of photogra‐ phy Halyna Hutchins until several minutes after the accident. “I thought to myself, ‘Did she pass out?’ The notion that there was a real bullet in that pis‐ tol did not occur to me until probably 45 min‐ utes or an hour passed,” the actor ex‐ plained during an in‐ terview with George Stephanopoulos. According to Bald‐ win, the confusion on set was evident since no one could under‐ stand what happened in the seconds immedi‐ ately after the shot, to the point that he came to think that his part‐ ner had suffered a
ALEC BALDWIN: Was visibly upset on US TV.
heart attack. “The mere idea that someone had put a re‐ al bullet in was not even possible,” he said, visibly moved. Baldwin insisted that he “never pulled the trigger” but that, fol‐ lowing the directions of the cinematogra‐ pher herself, he cocked the gun into firing po‐ sition during a re‐ hearsal of camera posi‐ tions for the film. “I let
go of the hammer on the pistol and the pis‐ tol went off,” he con‐ t i n u e d . “ Ev e r y b o d y was horrified,” he said. Ev e n w h e n m o r e than a month has passed since the event, Baldwin still does not know the origin of that bullet. “Someone put live ammunition in that gun, a bullet that was‐ n’t even supposed to be in the building,” he said.
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A break for Santana CARLOS SANTANA: Will return when back to full health.
IN a video posted by Car‐ los Santana on December 2 on his Facebook page, the guitar maestro said he will be taking a break from music, recording and touring. Santana, who is still re‐ garded as one of the best musicians in the world today, said that “he re‐ cently had to make a lit‐ tle visit to the hospital af‐ ter experiencing some discomfort in his chest.” The musician did not elaborate further other than to say that on the advice of the doctors he would be taking a break from music, to get his health back. Apologising to fans, Santana ex‐ plained that no one would want to see him play when he is not at his best, so it seemed right that he should take a break and return when he is back to full health.
NEWS
24-hour helplines SPAIN has tabled a draft law to force banks and utility companies to offer a free 24‐hour customer helpline open 365 days of the year. The service phone lines will be staffed with trained workers able to assist the elderly and disabled, rather than the automated messages that are common currently. The new proposal looks to ban banks and utility companies from charging their cus‐ tomers to get in touch with them via phone, as well as forcing the use of staff instead of an‐
swering machines. The idea is being pushed forward by Spain’s Minister of Economic Af‐ fairs, Nadia Calvino, and the Minister of Con‐ sumer Affairs, Alberto Garzon. The two minis‐ ters have started to work together to put customer service at the forefront of any future improvements to essential services in Spain. Bank branches have been closing in the hun‐ dreds across Spain in the last few years and these closures have highlighted the need for more personal and flexible service in the sector.
Anti-vax campaigner dies MARCUS LAMB, the co‐ founder of the leading Chris‐ tian television network, Daystar, that pushed alterna‐ tive therapies to Covid‐19 and dismissed the vaccine, has died of the virus at 64 years old. Lamb was the chief executive of the conservative church network that reaches an estimated two billion peo‐ ple worldwide. He passed away on Tues‐ day 30 November. “It’s with a heavy heart we announce that Marcus Lamb, president
and founder of Daystar Tele‐ vision Network, went home to be with the Lord this morning,” the network an‐ nounced in a tweet on Tues‐ day. “The family asks that their privacy be respected as they grieve this difficult loss. Please continue to lift them up in prayer.” Evangelical Christians have
been getting the vaccine at a much slower rate than the rest of the US population, and over the last few months, several prominent Christian broadcasters have died of the virus. In Novem‐ ber, Lamb’s son Jonathan was recorded saying his fa‐ ther’s illness was due to sinis‐ ter outside forces.
STATS
25
An average person will spend 25 years asleep.
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British teen croc attack ACCORDING to reports, a British teenager was attacked by a crocodile while travelling with friends in Zambia. Amelie Osborn‐Smith, 18, from Hampshire was travelling with friends on a gap‐year and was white‐water rafting on the Zambezi River near the fa‐ mous Victoria Falls. Amelie was said to have been resting her leg over the side of the boat when the crocodile bit her and dragged her into the water.
ON Friday December 3, the Congress of Deputies defini‐ tively approved the reform of the Civil Code that changes the legal status of animals so that, in the eyes of the law, they are considered ‘sentient beings.’ Therefore, animals are now considered to have certain rights and are not considered mere objects, as they have been up to now. The change of considera‐ tion of the character of com‐ panion animals in the Civil Code will have concrete ef‐
A friend reportedly saved her by punching the croc on the nose, and other rafters and guides reportedly also got into the water to fight off the huge 10ft animal. Amelie was then airlifted to hospital in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, which is about 240 miles away. She is being treated for leg injuries. Amelei’s father, a former army officer said: “She’s a very sensible girl, but on this occa‐ sion, she was being guided by the rafting company and it was
Amelie bitten on the leg.
on their advice. “Obviously with a crocodile bite there’s a huge risk of infec‐ tion and she’s got a very severely damaged leg.” The Zambezi River is popular for water sports, however, it is also home to various potential‐ ly dangerous animals, includ‐ ing crocs.
Pets are sentient fects on many aspects. The judges, for example, will have to take animals into account when sentencing inheritances or divorces as the reform es‐ tablishes that the magistrates must specify the “regime of coexistence and care” of ani‐
mals when a marriage is legal‐ ly broken, and the spouses are not in agreement. The law establishes criteria on which the courts must make the decision of whom to deliver the animal’s care to, prioritising its welfare.
STATS
1908
The tea bag was invented in 1908.
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Sky-high World Cup Johnson branded clown ONE of the private VIP suites for the Qatar World Cup has gone up for sale at £1,800,000 as wealthy spec‐ tators start to book their seats for the competition in 2022. Some hospitality packages have already sold out as huge firms, million‐ aires and executives make sure they have the best views for the games next year. The box being offered is themed with gold and has
44 seats available inside ac‐ cording to MATCH Hospitali‐ ty, FIFA’s sales agent for the cup. Suite number 3079 is available at the Lusail Stadi‐ um for a ‘venue series’, which includes six group games, the round of 16, quarter final and final. At‐ tendees can look forward to a ‘curated five‐course sam‐ pling menu’ and HD TVs in‐ side the suite, and direct ac‐ cess to seats outside in the stadium proper.
The 80,000‐capacity stadi‐ um, the biggest in Qatar, is due to host the final, sched‐ uled for December 18, 2022. The VIP suites for the Qatar World Cup have been gen‐ erating lots of interest de‐ spite the concerns about hu‐ man rights in the country, including treatment of the workers that built the stadi‐ ums themselves. More than 6,500 are said to have died since the World Cup was awarded a decade ago.
Home Alone AirBnB THE huge original Home Alone house from the 1990 film is to be made available to rent on AirBnB during the festive season. The rental platform has announced peo‐ ple can book the McCallister’s home for one night only on December 12. Up to four peo‐ ple will be able to stay overnight in the im‐ posing house for $25 (£19) each, with the address in the Chicago area being handed over once the booking is completed. The AirBnB listing on the website shows the stay as hosted by Buzz McCallister, with the de‐ scription reading: ‘You may not remember
me as particularly accommodating but I’ve grown up, and I’d be happy to share my family home ‐ my pizza, even ‐ with you this holiday season. Just try not to let my taran‐ tula, Axl, loose this time.’ During the stay, there will be activities that capture the spirit of the Home Alone house, like a chance to set booby traps and have a candlelit dinner of microwave maca‐ roni and cheese. There will also be a real‐life tarantula and a screening of the film fran‐ chise’s latest release Home Sweet Home Alone.
ACCORDING to the reports in France, President Macron called Boris Johnson a ‘clown’ in a private conversation while on a recent trip to Croatia. The comment followed a phone conversation between the two political leaders in which they discussed the current migrant crisis. As they were speaking, Johnson posted a letter to Macron on Twitter in which he made requests regarding France’s handling of the migrant situation. Macron was quoted as saying: “BoJo talks to me at full speed, everything is going well, we have adult discussions, and then suddenly, he attacks us in an inelegant way.” He went on to say, “it’s always the same circus. It’s very sad to see that a great
Johnson criticised.
country that we could do so many things with is run by a clown.” Just hours after saying those words, Macron made a public statement
of a similar nature in Rome. He criticised Johnson’s choice of methods for communicating with neighbouring governments, such as Twitter and public comments, calling them “not serious.” He stated that France would be willing to negotiate “when the English government behaves more seriously.”
and finally... T H E Scottish Government has extended its su‐ perfast broadband voucher scheme until the end of March 2022. Homes and businesses will be able to apply for funding to the tune of £400. The funding comes as part of the Reaching 100% (R100) programme. People in hard‐to‐reach areas could also gain an extra £250 in funding. A reliable broadband connection is a neces‐ sity for many people, especially amid the on‐ going Coronavirus pandemic.
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TRANSPARENT face masks have been introduced to NHS Scotland. The transpar‐ ent masks will help people communicate and lip read. The masks, also made in Scotland, have been ap‐ proved to use in health and social care settings. The masks feature a transparent panel to help people commu‐ nicate. Health boards started receiving the masks in November and they will come in to use from early De‐ cember.
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Transparent masks According to the govern‐ ment: “The product has been designed and made by Scot‐ tish PPE supplier, Alpha Sol‐ way, based in Dumfries and Galloway, and is the result of close collaboration with NHS National Services Scotland.” Cabinet Secretary for Health, Humza Yousaf com‐ mented on the innovative transparent masks. He said: “Although face masks are es‐ sential to reduce the spread
of coronavirus, it can cause difficulties for people who re‐ ly on lip reading or have other communication needs.” “Patients and staff have rightly been calling for an al‐ ternative to the usual surgical face masks in clinical settings, so I am pleased NHS Scotland is rolling out these new, inno‐ vative transparent masks. These masks mean staff and patients can communicate clearly while staying safe.”
Brexit shipping impact
EXPORTERS are moving away from tradition‐ al Dublin to Britain transport routes to avoid the mountains of new red tape that has come into effect since Brexit. The volume of goods going through Ireland to EU shipping ferry routes has soared by 50 per cent in the last six months according to official data. The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) has published figures that show a significant move away from the routes that service Dublin to Britain, and an increase in traffic to some of the 32 new ferry services that travel directly to places such as Le Havre, Cherbourg and Dunkirk in France, and Zeebrugge in Belgium. The report shows freight volumes from
Dublin port to Liverpool and Holyhead in An‐ glesey down 19 per cent in the first three‐ quarters of 2021 compared with 2020, and down by 30 per cent on the two routes from Rosslare in south‐east Ireland to the Welsh ports of Pembroke and Fishguard. “It is clear the new trading arrangements between Ireland and the UK have had a signifi‐ cant and negative effect upon ro‐ro (roll‐on roll‐off lorry haulage) freight traffic between the two countries,” the IMDO report said. “Underpinning all of these trends are the new customs and trading arrangements between Ireland and the UK that came into force on January 1, 2021,” it added.
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Immigration boost AMONGST some recent negativity, not many people realise just how much immi‐ gration is helping Spain’s population to recover. Im‐ migration has been part and parcel of Spain’s history for years. However, between 2010‐2014, there was a mass exodus of the popula‐ tion which hurt the growth and development of the country. But data shows immigra‐ tion is helping Spain’s popu‐ lation to increase again after several years of negative or stagnant growth. Results re‐ leased by the National Statistics Institute shows that Spain’s population had reached 47.1 million inhabi‐ tants on July 1, 2019, of which 10.7 per cent were foreign nationals. The country experienced an influx of 330,000 people in 2018. In 2019, it is believed that those figures reached half a million immigrants. The statistics show that in 2017, only 1 per cent of the
POPULATION: Immigration is helping Spain’s to grow.
immigrants that arrived in Spain were for humanitarian reasons and 4,400 of those recorded were Spaniards re‐ turning to Spain from work‐ ing overseas. The figures show that im‐ migration is helping Spain’s population to grow and sug‐ gests that it will continue to be needed as it provides bal‐ ance to the ageing popula‐ tion. Young migrants are not only repopulating the coun‐
try, but they are also con‐ tributing to the economy, health care system and pen‐ sions. Many are highly quali‐ fied professionals who cre‐ ate business opportunities offering employment. They are also the hard‐working backbone of the country. The workers that we don’t see. The ones that get up at 4am to work in the fields and factories to ensure we have a smooth production of produce.
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Airport queues ‘new normal’ B R I T I S H tourists head‐ ing out to catch some winter sun, have been told to expect long Span‐ ish airport queues. Many passengers have waited upwards of 45 minutes to get through controls at popular holiday desti‐ nations. Travel agency associations have said the long queues are now ‘normal’ when landing in the country. The associations have made multiple com‐ plaints to the Spanish Government but claim that their concerns have fallen on deaf ears. Air‐ ports popular with Brits
UK TOURISTS: Now need to get their passports stamped on entering Spain.
are feeling the brunt with UK passengers mov‐ ing to the non‐EU pass‐ port control queues, which were already load‐ ed with non‐Schengen tourists looking for some winter warmth. Alicante‐Elche, Malaga, the Canary Islands, and the Balearics are said to be some of the worst‐hit by the move. Twitter us‐ er, Sudifoodie, tweeted “So thrilled to be back in Andalucia though it has been quite a journey with epic passport
queues at Malaga Air‐ port.” Tourist associations are begging for more staff and police officers to help things run smoother for their cus‐ tomers at border control. This comes after Spain placed a ban on all un‐ vaccinated visitors from the UK. As the UK is no longer in the Schengen Zone, tourists need to get their passports stamped, lead‐ ing to long airport queues.
LUCY BATTLE, 20, was mortified when she accidentally listed her seven‐month‐old ba‐ by Oscar for sale on Facebook. She had in‐ tended to put a sofa up for sale but did not notice when the wrong photo was upload‐ ed. Lucy uploaded a photo of Oscar along with the caption: ‘Need gone today’. Lucy com‐ mented: “I just somehow managed to upload the wrong photo when I was choosing them from my camera roll and unfortunately it was for Oscar! I realised when everyone started commenting and messaging me and then I couldn’t delete it either.” She went on to add: “It worked out because one of the messages was someone actually enquiring about the
NEWS
School bullies face jail A NEW law voted in by French parliament will see school bullies face jail time of up to three years as their MPs said society needs “a wake‐up call” to the serious‐ ness of child‐on‐child harass‐ ment. The proposed law was supported by Em‐ manuel Macron’s education minister Jean‐Michel Blan‐ quer. Blanquer said that the sup‐ port for the law sent a mes‐ sage to the country that “we will never accept the lives of our children being shat‐ tered,” and added that the law was “a way of enforcing the values of the republic.” One in 10 French children have reportedly been the vic‐ tim of bullying and the edu‐ cation minister fears that so‐ cial media is increasing the potential for public taunting and humiliation. The draft measure was approved in the Lower House on Wednesday, December 1 and if it passes through the Senate will give France some of the harshest penalties for bullying in the world.
Baby for sale sofa! But most of them were people making jokes about me giving away my son. I didn’t expect it to go so far!” Facebook users were amused by her blun‐ der and many quickly commented. “What’s he like with other babies?” “Can I swap for a teenager?” “How’s he at washing up?” were among the questions asked by users. Lucy went on to thank people for being kind and clarified her mistake. She posted: “Thanks all for being nice though and under‐ standing, this was a genuine mistake, I don’t want to give away my child.”
New dinosaur species A NEW dinosaur species characterised by its strange weapon‐like tail has been discovered in Chile. With a size of approximate‐ ly two metres in length, the small, armoured dinosaur of the Ankylosaurus genus dates from the late Cretaceous Pe‐ riod, from between 71.7 and 74.9 million years ago. Its fos‐ silised skeleton, practically complete, was found in the
province of Magallanes, in the southernmost region of Chile, Patagonia. The dinosaur, named Ste‐ gourus elengassen, had de‐ veloped a large weapon‐like tail unlike anything previously seen on other types of ar‐ moured dinosaurs, such as the pairs of spikes on the Stegosaurus. The strange tail had seven pairs of flattened bone de‐
posits at the end of the tail in a fern‐like structure, forming a singular weapon. “The tail is extremely strange, as it is short for a di‐ nosaur and the end is cov‐ ered with dermal bones (bones that grow on the skin), forming a singular weapon,” said Sergio Soto Acuña, au‐ thor of the study and doctor‐ al student at the University of Chile.
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Gigi Hadid in Palma after split SUPERMODEL Gigi Hadid has been in Mal‐ lorca for a getaway after allegedly splitting with Zayn Malik over claims he assaulted her mother in a heated argument. She opted for a casual look as she left Palma airport on De‐ cember 1 after disembarking from a private jet with her entourage and hopping into a waiting car. Gigi has been steering clear of the public eye after reports came to light that Zayn had hit her mother, Yolanda, during a fight in their luxury Pennsylvania home earlier this year. She looked in good spirits as she was driven away from the airport wearing a face covering and shades. Earlier this month, it was reported Gigi was ‘meeting with lawyers to discuss cus‐ tody issues’ of their one‐year‐old daughter Khai. The same source added that Gigi feels
Gigi has kept a low profile.
Zayn ‘will always be part of her life’ but she is ‘distressed’ by the issues and fighting between him and her mother. Zayn had pleaded no contest to four counts of harassment after allegedly pushing Yolanda into a dresser and swearing repeatedly at her at the home he shared with Gigi. Court docu‐ ments showed that he must complete 360 days probation in addition to completing an anger management class.
UK families worse off
FAMILIES across the UK are being hit by rising prices due to several factors including the lack of lorry drivers, the coronavirus pandemic, ship‐ ping delays and Brexit. Infla‐ tion is currently over 4 per cent and in the next few months, it is predicted to reach a staggering 5 per cent. Many households are al‐ ready being hit hard by the increasing costs and Christ‐ mas is set to make this worse. Average Christmas costs are expected to rise by more than £100 this year.
Age waiver suggested for older drivers ACCORDING to UK experts funded by the Department for Transport, drivers who are aged 70 and over should be al‐ lowed to avoid prosecution or fines for running red lights or driving unneces‐ sarily slowly and should instead have their skills assessed. The Older Drivers Task Force has rec‐ ommended various ‘lifesaving’ ideas to the government to keep elderly people
on the roads for longer. One of the rec‐ ommendations is a mandatory sight test for people who are over 70 and applying to renew their licence. Another recom‐ mendation is fitness‐to‐drive checks in England. These are currently only avail‐ able in a few police forces, such as Hampshire Constabulary. When a person is believed to be an unsafe driver, a report is sent to the Driv‐
NEWS
er and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which decides on the action. In some cases, the driver is referred for lessons and offered a reassessment within three months. Drivers who are sent for an assessment will avoid the usual £100 fine and penal‐ ty points for careless driving. Chairman of the Older Drivers Task Force John Plowman has insisted that drivers that are older are not a major risk.
HIT HARD: Household costs are increasing.
Families with two adults and two children are said to be spending more than £30 a week extra just to cover the cost of essentials in Decem‐ ber, according to the Centre for Economic and Business
Research (CEBR). Now, other cost increases are still being taken on board by companies. It is expected that these costs could also be passed onto customers soon.
and finally...
AIRLINE helps out: easyJet holidays are helping families caught out by the new coronavirus rules put in place by Spain since De‐ cember 1. The company is allowing free cancellations to Span‐ ish destinations up until the end of December for families who cannot meet the new rules. Spain now requires anyone enter‐ ing Spain from the UK to prove that they are fully vaccinated. A vaccine certificate is needed and both doses must have been given a minimum of 14 days before departure.
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Cancer cases missed URGENT referrals for sus‐ pected cancer have been ‘missed’ by GPs in Eng‐ land during the pandemic according to new analysis published this week. The number of potential can‐ cer cases missed is up to 740,000 and counting, say the National Audit Office (NAO). The report has also warned that the NHS backlog could swell to 12 million, or one in five people in the UK, by March 2025. It is current‐ ly at a record‐breaking
There is an NHS backlog.
5.83 million, up from 4.43 million in February 2020. Medics have said that the findings of the report show that the UK is amid the “biggest cancer catas‐ trophe ever to hit the NHS.” The impact on patients has been “devastating”
say charities, amid state‐ ments from MPs that claim, “things will get worse before they get better.” Millions of pa‐ tients who had avoided seeing or were unable to see their GP during the pandemic are now ‘miss‐ ing’ from waiting lists. Estimates by the NAO say that in England there were between 240,000 and 740,000 potential cancer cases missed dur‐ ing the period of the pan‐ demic up to September 2021.
Body on conveyor belt O F F I C E R S from the Guardia Civil are investi‐ gating after a body was discovered at a waste plant in Granada’s Al‐ hendín on Wednesday December 1. Initial in‐ spection of the body showed no signs of a vio‐ lent death.
The lifeless body was found with no documen‐ tation. The deceased man is thought to be about 40 years old. Workers at the waste plant made the shocking discovery at around 5pm. The body was found on a conveyor belt
that is used to filter plas‐ tic containers. Workers raised the alarm. Investigators do not believe that the man died a violent death. However, a post‐mortem will be carried out to de‐ termine the cause of death.
NEWS
All fans welcome NASSAR AL-KHATER, president of the organ‐ ising committee for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has confirmed that “homosexuality is not allowed” in the emirate, but promises that LGBTQ+ football fans will have the right to travel to the country and attend the games. He added that “public displays of affection are frowned upon and this applies to everyone.” The Qatari leader explained: “Qatar and neighbouring countries are much more conser‐ vative and we ask the fans to respect it. We are sure that they will, just as we respect different cultures, we hope that ours is [respected] too.” Al‐Khater assured all LGBTQ+ football fans
attending the World Cup would be safe. “They will come to Qatar as fans and attendees of a football tournament and they will be able to do what any other human being would do,” he stated. Josh Cavallo, the Australian who is currently the only out and active male pro footballer, has recently acknowledged his fear about going to Qatar and was the person to ask the question of Al‐Khater. The president of the committee insisted he would be welcome if he went. “On the contrary, we welcome you and in‐ vite you to come to see the country before the World Cup.”
Half-price travel THANKS to the Junta de Andalucia's new Youth Transport Card, the under‐30s will benefit from discounts of between 50 and 100 per cent on the price of Metro, bus, tram, and catamaran tickets (in the case of Cadiz). This was previously spoken about by Presi‐ dent Juanma Moreno, during the State of the Community Debate in October. This action brings all the metropolitan areas of Andalucia together under one umbrella. Around three million Andalucians can benefit from this
card in January. In most cases, it will offer a 50 per cent dis‐ count, but large families can get up to 75 per cent. A family with five siblings aged under 30 can benefit from the special category which offers a 100 per cent discount. A spokesperson for the Board announced on December 1, that they are "working to adapt the software, to incorporate these new discounts to the machines and in the de‐ sign of the card."
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ETA announcement T H E Basque separatist group ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) have an‐ nounced their prisoners’ collective (EPPK) intends to end public receptions for released ETA prison‐ ers and is committed to holding ‘discreet’ recep‐ tions in a ‘private sphere.’ In a communication, the organisation stated that they ‘understand’ that the victims of ETA may feel ‘hurt’ by the public receptions which is why ETA have decided to end them. From now on, they will only take place behind closed doors. The EPPK affirms that the prisoners have the right to ‘receive the em‐ brace of their loved ones’ after ‘long years and harsh prison conditions’ but accepts that these public acts of reception cause pain to victims. “We say clearly that our desire is to alleviate all suffering and open up
new options, to heal wounds and strengthen coexistence among
Basque citizens,” argues the group of ETA prison‐ ers.
Wonder-drug approved THE UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have approved a new wonder‐drug for peo‐ ple at high risk of developing severe Covid. The drug is made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and is known as Xevudy. The drug stops the coronavirus from replicating in the body. The MHRA has approved it for use for people with risk factors such as age, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. GlaxoSmithKline explained: “In a clinical trial, a single dose of the monoclonal antibody was found to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death by 79 per cent in high‐risk adults with symptomatic Covid‐19 infection. “Based on the clinical trial data, sotrovimab is most effec‐ tive when taken during the early stages of infection and so the MHRA recommends its use as soon as possible and with‐ in five days of symptom onset.” MHRA Chief Executive Dr June Raine commented on the new treatment option: “I am pleased to say that we now have another safe and effective Covid‐19 treatment, Xevudy (sotrovimab), for those at risk of developing severe illness.”
STATS
22
There are 22 stars in the Paramount studios’ logo.
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THE Community of Madrid is planning for Christmas and has announced its Covid 19 prevention strategy. The strategy focuses on vaccination, early detection and raising awareness of the virus along with ensuring sufficient health personnel are available. From December 3 people in the 60 ‐ 69 age group are able to have their booster jabs. Vac‐ cinations will also be rolled out to children aged between five and 11 years old from De‐ cember 15. It is expected up to 400,000 chil‐
Covid strategy dren could be immunised in the community. Health professionals will see their contracts extended so they can continue fighting the pandemic. President Isabel Díaz Ayuso an‐ nounced on December 1, that a free antigen test will be available for all Madrid residents. Residents will be able to get their hands on the tests easily as they will just need to head to a pharmacy and show their health card.
NEWS
Part-time Tiger T I G E R W O O D S has an‐ nounced the end of his full‐time golf career. The star claims the car crash that almost cost him his leg has forced him into
semi‐retirement. The golfing great said he accepts his time competing among golf’s elite is proba‐ bly a thing of the past: “I can still participate in the
Solar eclipse ON December 4 the only total solar eclipse of 2021 took place. It was not visible from Spain or Europe but attracted the interest of astronomers worldwide. A solar eclipse happens when the light of the sun is totally or partially hidden by an object coming between the sun and the observer. They are classified into three types: total, annular, and partial. A total eclipse is when the moon completely covers the disk of the sun. A partial eclipse is when the Moon covers only a part of the sun. Finally, the annular eclipse occurs when the disk of the Moon does not cov‐ er the full disk of the Sun, even if their centres are well aligned. The latest eclipse began at 7am UT (Universal Time), at a point in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of the Falk‐ lands Islands and ended in the Antarctic Ocean.
STATS
32
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
His career now looks bleak.
game of golf. I can still, if my leg gets OK, I can still click off a tournament here or there,” he said. But the future of Tiger Woods’ ca‐ reer in golf looks bleak. The American has had a tumultuous few years hav‐ ing been in trouble with the police a couple of times over traffic incidents. Four years prior to the accident in February, Woods was found asleep at the wheel of his Merc with the engine running. He failed a drunk driving test and pleaded guilty to the charges. The damage to his leg and the after‐effect of five back surgeries has had a major impact on his elite golf career. “I think some‐ thing that is realistic is play‐ ing the one‐day tour events, never full‐time, ev‐ er again ‐ but pick and choose, just like Ben Hogan did,” he explained.
CAMERAS: Caught the vandal gluing the locks.
Vaccine vandal sentenced A GREAT YARMOUTH man has pleaded guilty after his ac‐ tions prevented 504 vulnera‐ ble people from receiving their Covid‐19 booster shots. Hayden Brown superglued the lock of a vaccination cen‐ tre to stop vaccines from be‐ ing administered in his Nor‐ folk town. The 53‐year‐old has been handed a three‐month prison sentence after admitting the damage to the pharmacy door on Lowestoft Road in Gorleston. Brown admitted to criminal damage and causing
a public nuisance at Norwich Magistrate’s court and was subsequently sentenced to his prison stint on December 1. Brown was arrested after being identified by covert cameras that had been put in place following two previous incidents on November 12 and November 20. A total of 504 vulnerable people who had been called up to receive their Covid‐19 booster jabs at the pharmacy were prevent‐ ed from doing so by the dam‐ age.
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EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK
Bumper bonus
Clock silenced
THE world’s largest toymaker, Lego, is rewarding all 20,000 employees with a special bonus and an extra three days holiday after a bumper 2022. Growing demand in China and the pandemic are given as reasons for the high six month sales revenues of €847 million.
DENMARK’S talking clock ‘Frøken Klokken’ (Miss Clock) was switched off at the end of November by communication company TDC after 82 years. The company said the number of callers had fallen dramatically since the 11.6 million calls registered in the first year back in 1939.
THE NETHERLANDS Pig whisperer
Donate a tree
FORMER vet Kees Scheepens, the 19th generation in a long line of farmers, is changing the shape of pig farming. Scheepens is putting the animals’ welfare and their sustainability first by changing how they are raised and fed, resulting in ‘happier meat’, less barn smell and emissions.
THE charity Senay Boztas, is asking for donations of ready to plant saplings. These can be dropped off at 200 locations around the country and will be replanted on farms, in cities and on private land. The plan is for their 3,000 volunteers to plant one million trees.
BELGIUM Famous fries
Cafe reopens
A STATUE, De Frieteters (The Fry Eater), has been unveiled in Bruges market square as part of the week long celebrations of the country’s famous fries. The statue, unveiled by Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Food pays homage to the golden fry.
ONE of the oldest in the world and the oldest in Bruges, Café Vlissinghe has reopened following its closure due to the pandemic. The cafe, which originally opened in 1515, has hardly changed in its 500 years, having survived world wars, revolutions and hordes of tourists.
GERMANY Surprising choice
Test cancelled
THE outgoing chancellor surprised everyone with her choice of music for the elaborate military ceremony. Leaving the post after 16 years, Angela Merkel chose just one song (the norm is three) for the military marching band to play, a song by punk legend Nina Hagen.
A DRIVING test examiner got a surprise when the person he was due to test arrived behind the wheel. The examiner, who cancelled the test, called the police and now the driver faces an investigation for driving without a licence. He told police he didn’t want to be late.
FRANCE Flying taxis?
Paris second
PARIS is testing large scale drones that they intend using during the 2024 summer Olympics. With around six million people expected to attend the games, the hope is that by establishing two ‘flying taxi’ routes that travel times will be shortened and congestion relieved.
TEL AVIV has overtaken Paris as the most expensive city in the world, after jumping five places in the ranking in the annual survey by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Paris now occupies joint second spot with Singapore followed by Zurich and Hong Kong.
NORWAY Doctors rule
Electric ship
THE year 2021 is expected to be another record one for the number of doctorates issued by Norwegian universities, and the fourth in a row. Foreign nationals accounted for 43 per cent of those issued in the first half of the year specifically in mathematics, science and technology.
FERTILISER producer Yara has acquired the world’s first fully electric, self-steering container ship, the Yara Birkeland. The 80metre-long feeder will replace road haulage between Yara’s Porsgrunn plant in southern Norway and its export port Brevik, about 14 kilometres away from next year.
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EUROPEAN PRESS
EUROPEAN PRESS FINLAND
Early shopping
Improved behaviour
IF the number of parcels delivered by post is anything to go by, then Christmas shopping has started early. During the Thursday and Friday of Black Friday Week, Posti delivered more than 1.5 million parcels - that’s 100,000 more than the same period last year.
RESTAURATEURS and club owners report that since the introduction of the Covid pass, there has been a noticeable reduction in disruptive behaviour. Although no direct link can be drawn until research has been done, establishment owners report fewer incidences of crime and bad behaviour.
IRELAND ‘Open City’
Food market
DUBLIN Gardaí have commenced Operation 'Open City', which will run until Christmas Eve. The plan to improve the movement of public transport and to minimise traffic disruption was developed in consultation between An Garda Síochána and external stakeholders including local authorities.
THE Harley StrEAT Food Market, located next to the Metropole in Cork city, is open from 12pm to 8pm throughout December. The market consisting of food trucks is offering all the usual Christmas fare and a full range of traditional hot drinks.
ITALY Restoration complete
Designer decorated
THREE years after work began, the restoration of the Aquilonare Sacristy of the Milan Cathedral is complete despite restrictions and the economic impact of the pandemic. The 14th century sacristy is of special importance and was built on the site of the Baptistery of Santo Stefano alle Fonti.
THE world-renowned fashion designer, Giorgio Armani, was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on Friday November 26. Armani received the title of ‘Cavaliere’, the highest rank in the country for his contribution to the nation in arts and business.
PORTUGAL Foreign students
Property prices
INFORMATION released by the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation, shows that the number of foreign students in Portuguese higher education has more than doubled during the past decade. In 2020 there were nearly 50,000 foreign students of which roughly three quarters came from Portuguese language countries.
BANK valuations increased by 13.7 per cent and the average valuation rose by 10.7 per cent yearon-year in October to €1,251 per square metre. That’s an increase of 1.2 per cent over September according to the Institute of National Statistics. The autonomous region of Madeira experienced similar growth whilst values in the Azores fell.
RUSSIA Rock robot
Kittens welcomed
RUSSIAN cadets have developed a spy robot disguised as a rock. Operating by motionsensor, the robot has a 24-hour passive battery life with the ability to collect, process and transmit information for 15 hours. The robot will be used in trench warfare and where snipers are operating.
TWO eastern Siberian Manul kittens, weighing just under 200 grams each, have found a new home at the Moscow Zoo. The kittens of the endangered species, which has been the zoo's symbol and mascot for over 30 years, were found and cared for by local villagers.
SWEDEN Smallest increase
Hoarding masks
LAST year saw the smallest increase in Sweden’s population since 2005 and now stands at 10.3 million. According to Statistics Sweden, people are now moving from Stockholm and Gothenburg rather than to these centres. The six-month increase of 28,000 was roughly half of the previous year’s 50,000.
A SURVEY conducted by Swedish TV seems to suggest that people are hoarding masks with sales having increased sharply at the end of summer. It is thought the reasons for this are the change in Swedish Public Health Agency's recommendations and the return to schools and businesses.
FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA Salary rises FOR the first time in history, the average monthly salary in Spain exceeded €2,000 in 2020 according to the the National Institute of Statistics. The average of €2,038 is a rise of 2.8 per cent over 2019 and is the fourth consecutive year in which salaries have risen.
TSB closures THE high street bank has announced further closures to its network in 2022. The closures will leave the bank’s network around a third of the size of when the brand returned to the high street eight years ago. The cut is on top of their 164 closures in 2020.
Oil down OPEC and its allies announced on Thursday December 2, they will increase production from January alleviating the shortage that is pushing prices up. The organisation said it may revisit this decision once the impact of the latest outbreak is known. The price per barrel fell on news of the announcement.
Unemployment drops SPAIN recorded a 74,381 drop in unemployment to record the lowest unemployment levels for November since 2008. During the month, 282,981 people were recruited pushing overall employment as at the end of November to 19,752,358.
Bitcoin City EL SALVADOR plans to build the world’s first Bitcoin City and have it powered by ‐ a volcano. El Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele plans to make the city fully ecological and have its residents pay no tax (except for VAT). His long‐ term goal is to attract investment to this new financial system and use Bitcoin to make ‘El Salvador the financial centre of the world.’
30
www.euroweeklynews.com • 9 - 15 December 2021
STAT OF WEEK
€1,336
In 2020, four out of 10 woman earned less than €1,336 compared to one in five men and six out of 10 young people.
Daughter takes the Zara chair INDITEX, the Spanish high street fashion giant, has appointed Marta Ortega as chair replacing her father and founder Pablo Is‐ la. Otega has worked for the group for 15 years, having joined high street brand Bershka, as a shop floor assistant in London. Pablo Isla, chairman of Inditex since 2011, has overseen the company’s growth to where it is now one of the world’s largest fashion retailers with more than 6,600 stores globally. Isla, who is well‐known in Spain for his altru‐ ism, is one of the world’s richest
men with an estimated net worth of €68 billion. Initial reaction to Ortega’s ap‐ pointment is mixed, however the 37‐year‐old has been instrumen‐ tal in the growth of Zara having been credited with strengthening the brand and leading several major campaigns. Accepting the appointment she said “I have always said I would dedicate my life to build‐ ing upon my parents’ legacy. I have lived and breathed this company since my childhood, and I have learned from all the
LEGALLY SPEAKING
Will land law change?
great professionals I have worked with over the last 15 years.” Inditex was founded by Aman‐ cio Ortega with his ex‐wife Ros‐ alia in 1975 in Galicia. Today the company owns many well‐ known high street brands includ‐ ing Zara, Pull and Bear, and Stradivarius. Most of its clothing is made in Spain and nearby countries in‐ cluding Portugal, Morocco and Turkey, helping the firm to achieve its famously fast reaction times to new fashion trends.
Creating your Will with Golden Leaves
I have seen reports that Andalucia has a new land law that offers a possibility to legalise all those houses built on land classified as non‐building land. Has the new law actually been approved? What are the terms?
DAVID SEARL Yes, the new land law has YOU AND THE LAW been voted by the IN SPAIN Andalucian Parlia‐ ment. However it faces a number of steps before it goes into full effect. Let’s take it by parts. The law is named LISTA, Ley de Impulso y Sostenibilad del Territorio de An‐ dalucía. But the law itself requires the further enactment of a Reglamento, a set of regulations that specify in detail just how the terms of the law are to be carried out. This can take months. The new law will speed up town planning requirements, change land classification and even allow for the building of new properties in formerly prohibited areas. It will not, however, allow full legalisa‐ tion of those properties which now hold the strange clas‐ sification of AFO, Asimilada Fuera de Ordenaciòn, which prevents them from being demolished and will allow new works to be carried out on them. The law is a step forward but it remains a long way from full legalisation of these properties. Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
THE OUIGO company, started just six months ago by French train op‐ erator SNCF, has managed to achieve an occupancy rate of 97 per cent on its service between Madrid and Barcelona. During the same period the company has car‐ ried more than one million passen‐ gers, a little more than its main competitor Renfe owned Avlo. Ouigo said that it has achieved
Telefonica dividends TUESDAY November 30 was the last day investors could buy shares in Telefonica that would qualify for a 2020 year end dividend. The first pay‐ ment amounts to €0.15 per share and is paid this month while the second payment, also for €0.15 will be paid in June 2022. The shareholder remuner‐ ation policy for 2021 was ap‐ proved at the Telefónica Gen‐ eral Shareholders’ Meeting held on April 23, 2021 and contemplates a remunera‐ tion of €0.30 through a flexi‐ ble dividend. Each shareholder has three options, the first to receive the cash, receiving new shares is the second option and the last option is to sell the rights on the market.
Home rental prices jump A Will is essential.
MANY expats who have moved to Spain from the UK will have a British Will, but having a Will in Spain is also essential to ensure that your valuables go where you want them to. At Golden Leaves their expert partners can help you cre‐ ate your Will, to make sure that your valuables go where you want them to. To begin creating your Will, Golden Leaves suggests considering a number of important planning issues, including long‐term care fees and managing your care options. They also say that you should consider what will happen to your assets if your partner remarries after your death and making sure that your children still receive what you intended. Finally, a Will should also set out if you were unable to manage your financial affairs or personal welfare due to some form of incapacity, who you would like to act on your behalf. To begin creating your Will to ensure your assets go where you want them to, contact Golden Leaves who will put you in touch with their expert partners.
www.goldenleavesinternational.com enquiries@goldenleaves.com Facebook: goldenleavesspain
Ouigo running high the excellent numbers by changing the profile of the train traveller. The service is based on providing a fast but inexpensive service with children between the ages of four and 13 paying a flat fee of €5, and those under four travelling for free.
As a result Ouigo has served over 160,000 families travelling with 70,000 children and babies. The general director of Ouigo in Spain, Helene Valenzuela, high‐ lighted the milestone that “an un‐ known company in Spain a year
INFLATION rates not seen since 1992 are pushing housing rental prices higher, with the 5.6 per cent year‐ on‐year percentage apply‐ ing to many rental con‐ tracts. Idealist the online property portal said that prices have risen to €892 in Madrid and €886 in Barcelona for a 55 square metre apartment. Increases are less in the less expen‐ sive cities with only Zamora experiencing a reduction. Landlords do have the right to increase rentals in accordance with inflation (CPI), however contracts signed prior to March 31, 2015 can only increase if specifically built into the contract. In all cases landlords have to give adequate notice of any rise to tenants. ago reached one million travellers in a matter of months.” From this point of view, it is clear that “we have brought that sustainable and digital mobility that the country longed for.” Achieving the numbers and the reduction in prices is partly down to their trains, double deckers which are unique to Spain, but which can carry up to 509 people.
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9 - 15 December 2021
LONDON - FTSE 100
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MONEY WITH US See our advert on previous page
C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 7
COMPANY PRICE(P) 3I Group 1.444,00 Abrdn 241,65 Admiral Group 3.030,0 Anglo American 2.959,5 Antofagasta 1.408,50 Ashtead Group 6.432,0 Associated British Foods 1.966,5 AstraZeneca 8.256,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 740,20 Avast 607,00 Aveva 3.325,0 Aviva 398,47 B&M European Value Retail 629,80 BAE Systems 559,60 Bank VTB DRC 1,236 Barclays 186,04 Barratt Developments 725,40 Berkeley 4.565,0 BHP Group 2.129,00 BP 349,05 British American Tobacco 2.678,0 British Land Company 531,90 BT Group 174,00 Bunzl 2.934,0 Burberry Group 1.871,5 Carnival 1.310,2 Centrica 67,65 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.468,0 Compass 1.563,50 CRH 3.844,0 Croda Intl 9.976,0 DCC 5.854,0 Diageo 3.995,1 DS Smith 380,07 EasyJet 560,80 Experian 3.578,3 Ferguson 12.115,0 Flutter Entertainment 10.935,0 Fresnillo 893,00 GlaxoSmithKline 1.561,80 Glencore 367,80 Halma 3.092,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.306,50 Hikma Pharma 2.262,00 HSBC 442,20 IAG 143,34 Imperial Brands 1.585,47 Informa 509,40 InterContinental 4.717,0 Intermediate Capital 2.228,00
CHANGE(P) 1.447,00 242,40 3.040,0 2.971,0 1.411,50 6.498,0 1.983,0 8.320,0 741,20 610,00 3.329,0 404,00 644,80 561,40 1,252 187,64 732,80 4.600,0 2.131,50 351,70 2.694,0 533,80 175,00 2.935,0 1.877,5 1.324,4 67,90 2.475,0 1.582,50 3.860,0 10.005,0 5.878,0 3.999,5 382,20 571,00 3.587,0 12.155,0 11.060,0 898,40 1.595,00 369,25 3.094,0 1.310,00 2.294,00 445,80 145,78 1.590,00 513,00 4.782,0 2.236,00
% CHG. 1.402,50 238,10 2.997,0 2.859,0 1.372,00 6.200,0 1.952,0 8.188,0 731,20 604,20 3.250,0 398,10 627,60 556,60 1,234 185,46 720,60 4.547,0 2.094,00 347,75 2.640,5 528,62 172,30 2.903,0 1.820,0 1.304,0 67,14 2.451,0 1.555,00 3.788,0 9.838,0 5.792,0 3.960,0 379,00 550,00 3.535,0 11.880,0 10.590,0 889,60 1.552,40 362,50 3.027,0 1.291,50 2.260,00 440,65 141,10 1.569,00 480,80 4.699,0 2.187,00
NET VOL 1,51M 986,84K 71,42K 1,49M 240,04K 279,16K 139,89K 632,19K 3,70M 258,72K 103,67K 813,35K 1,87M 622,42K 424,39K 12,33M 1,98M 36,15K 2,19M 1,56M 2,47M 66,46K 6,26M 233,85K 283,14K 407,73K 2,91M 146,98K 565,04K 151,62K 201,85K 61,97K 1,82M 969,84K 1,68M 155,73K 128,86K 223,56K 70,04K 1,79M 11,24M 98,83K 308,49K 115,12K 5,27M 16,92M 347,17K 4,32M 158,86K 778,18K
COMPANY
PRICE(P)
Intertek ITV J Sainsbury Johnson Matthey Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Banking London Stock Exchange Meggitt Melrose Industries Mondi National Grid NatWest Group Next Norilskiy Nikel ADR Ocado Persimmon Phoenix Prudential Reckitt Benckiser Relx Rentokil Rightmove Rio Tinto PLC Rolls-Royce Holdings Rosneft DRC Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell B Sage Samsung Electronics DRC Sberbank Schroders Scottish Mortgage Segro Severn Trent Smith & Nephew Smiths Group Spirax-Sarco Engineering SSE St. James’s Place Standard Chartered Taylor Wimpey Tesco Tui Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Group PLC Whitbread WPP
5.732,0 114,55 281,79 2.078,0 755,00 292,00 47,33 6.658,0 740,80 152,10 1.858,00 1.026,40 219,40 8.396,0 29,43 1.617,50 2.797,0 654,10 1.318,00 6.116,0 2.411,41 625,00 771,02 4.758,0 130,91 7,79 1.686,2 1.686,61 1.684,0 797,00 1.662,50 16,35 3.502,0 1.424,75 1.411,50 2.877,0 1.275,00 1.536,11 16.065,0 1.634,00 1.576,00 438,95 165,75 282,82 216,30 3.943,0 1.102,50 112,58 2.986,0 1.102,50
CHANGE(P)
% CHG.
NET VOL
5.758,0 115,35 283,70 2.094,0 761,40 294,00 47,38 6.726,0 742,00 153,50 1.859,00 1.027,20 221,30 8.398,0 29,63 1.630,50 2.817,0 656,60 1.330,00 6.237,0 2.411,00 628,00 771,60 4.797,5 132,96 7,82 1.707,2 1.707,11 1.703,6 798,40 1.665,00 16,56 3.517,0 1.439,00 1.415,00 2.888,0 1.279,50 1.539,00 16.065,0 1.639,00 1.591,50 442,80 168,20 283,90 217,10 3.968,5 1.104,00 113,78 3.035,0 1.104,00
5.682,0 113,35 280,70 2.058,0 749,80 291,00 46,59 6.636,0 737,80 150,90 1.829,50 1.016,20 218,60 8.254,0 29,35 1.570,50 2.763,0 653,00 1.317,50 6.109,0 2.374,00 623,80 761,80 4.690,0 129,48 7,65 1.684,6 1.684,25 1.682,0 783,80 1.645,00 16,22 3.494,0 1.399,50 1.380,50 2.847,0 1.257,00 1.515,50 15.750,0 1.616,50 1.568,00 435,90 165,00 280,86 212,40 3.926,0 1.092,50 112,36 2.968,0 1.079,50
105,85K 2,49M 559,06K 117,52K 480,39K 1,66M 50,56M 133,73K 1,49M 1,91M 150,79K 1,14M 5,13M 29,55K 19,60K 333,95K 183,22K 154,27K 4,08M 249,50K 1,28M 1,54M 475,46K 1,11M 10,46M 554,38K 1,31M 1,31M 2,62M 830,10K 8,82K 2,42M 174,10K 1,40M 535,90K 52,84K 676,98K 164,68K 15,90K 3,42M 419,60K 1,27M 4,46M 774,80K 1,62M 828,28K 200,88K 20,74M 98,97K 909,58K
1.17683
0.84958
Units per €
US dollar (USD) ........................................1.1254 Japan yen (JPY)........................................127.71 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0411 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4362 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.181
currenciesdirect.com/mojacar • Tel: +34 950 478 914 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER
DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 7
COMPANY 3M Alphabet C Amazon.com Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Meta Platforms Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com Tesla UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walmart Walt Disney
PRICE 177,22 2.875,9 3.427,37 208,79 165,32 205,88 201,32 116,23 56,96 54,90 389,47 415,98 206,25 119,89 50,99 162,92 160,24 255,88 73,43 317,87 326,19 168,94 152,17 258,95 1.009,01 459,96 51,06 202,74 138,99 150,40
CHANGE 178,28 2.887,0 3.473,91 211,79 167,88 206,42 203,25 117,45 57,17 55,25 393,60 420,54 208,09 121,15 51,21 163,52 162,60 256,93 73,85 320,10 327,42 171,21 152,38 259,21 1.021,64 461,70 51,93 204,22 139,35 150,74
CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 174,00 2,24M 2.812,9 1,09M 3.338,69 3,35M 205,97 3,90M 164,28 102,59M 199,20 11,52M 198,34 2,72M 115,09 8,72M 56,47 22,52M 54,14 24,26M 383,49 1,77M 411,22 4,53M 204,88 4,30M 119,40 4,69M 49,18 38,28M 159,90 8,41M 159,52 10,69M 252,37 3,39M 72,80 12,00M 306,35 21,24M 319,23 28,69M 168,08 5,41M 150,27 8,20M 250,77 7,03M 950,51 26,91M 452,15 4,60M 50,96 21,91M 197,78 10,47M 137,10 9,13M 146,67 12,65M M - MILLION DOLLARS
NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES D ECEMBER 7
COMPANY
CHANGE NET / %
VOLUME
Most Advanced Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Cl A NVR Inc. Texas Pacific Land Corp. Markel Corp. Boston Beer Co. Cl A Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. RH Graham Holdings Co. White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. Shopify Inc. Cl A Fair Isaac Corp.
1.80% 2.65% 4.82% 2.82% 6.92% 1.97% 4.73% 4.13% 2.10% 1.29% 4.66%
1.66K 16.04K 37.91K 48.08K 419.86K 243.48K 588.9K 20.67K 19.07K 1.21M 575.73K
HubSpot Inc. -4.38% Ubiquiti Inc. -10.40% Danaher Corp. 5% Mand. Pfd. Series B -1.60% EPAM Systems Inc. -4.00% Generac Holdings Inc. -4.90% Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. -2.18% Wayfair Inc. Cl A -5.59% Biglari Holdings Inc. Cl A -1.78% Cloudflare Inc. Cl A -7.51% West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. -2.43% Bank of America Corp. 7.25% Non-Cum. Perp -0.72%
1.18M 272.75K 1.91K 532.02K 1.5M 2.32M 2.28M 170 7.48M 516.68K 13.86K
Most Declined
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
www.euroweeklynews.com
‘Account Blocked’
BANK ACCOUNTS: Ensure the information held by your bank is up-to-date at all times.
MANY of you may have experienced the ‘account blocked’ or ‘will be blocked’ message when trying to draw money at the cash machine or when accessing your account on‐ line. So when has this hap‐ pened and how do you un‐ block it? There are many reasons why your account might be blocked, usually it’s the need to comply with Pre‐ vention of Money Launder‐ ing and Terrorist Financing laws. These require the banks to maintain up‐to‐ date information on their clients. Normally all it takes is for you to keep these up‐ to‐date. Solution ‐ ensure that the information held by your bank is up‐to‐date at all times. Another possible reason are the anti‐fraud measures in the act that require banks to ‘know their cus‐ tomer’. The law is not unique to Spain and is de‐
signed to stop the financing of terrorism and the laun‐ dering of money. Banks will usually react if the move‐ ment seems unusual or has come from an unknown source. Solution ‐ keep your bank informed if you are receiv‐ ing funds that are not with‐ in the normal operation of your bank account. Accounts will also be blocked where the bank has reasonable reason to believe that the account should be blocked, reasons like the death of the ac‐ count holder, disputes be‐ tween joint account holders and post holders in the case of owner associations. Solution ‐ make sure sup‐ porting documentation is up‐to‐date and the bank is well aware of any changes. In the case of credit, the bank is required to allow sufficient time to meet the outstanding debt before it can block the account. Importantly, Banco de Es‐
Novo Banco sells to Abanca PORTUGUESE bank, Novo Banco, has agreed to sell its Spanish subsidiary to A Coruña based Abanca. The deal sees the end of Novo Banco’s retail, private banking and small business opera‐ tions in Spain. The deal, which is subject to the usual regulato‐ ry approval, is unlikely to have any major impact on Novo Banco’s results. It is expected to strengthen the bank’s capital position and to have a positive impact on its liquidity, part of its strategy to focus on core assets. All the bank’s operations in Spain including its private banking, small business operations and its 10 retail branches and staff are being trans‐ ferred to Abanca.
paña requires proportional‐ ity to be applied in all cases and at all times.
BUSINESS EXTRA Giphy to be sold THE UK Competition and Markets Authority, has fol‐ lowing an investigation, told Facebook’s owner Meta, that they must sell the GIF library Giphy. Fol‐ lowing concerns about the deal in April, investigators found the takeover ‘could harm social media users and advertisers’.
Fuel profits unreasonable THE RAC has said that fuel retailers are overcharging by as much as 12p per litre for petrol and 10p for diesel with the reduction in wholesale prices not being passed on. The organisa‐ tion has called on the gov‐ ernment to investigate, oil prices having fallen around $10 a barrel at the end of November.
ASDA charters ship BRITAIN’S third largest su‐ permarket ASDA, has char‐ tered a ship in an effort to overcome the logistics issues being experienced across the UK. The ship it is be‐ lieved is being used to bring in stocks required for Christ‐ mas including clothes, toys and festive decorations.
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LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT ONE of the lessons I have learned in life is that it is generally more advantageous to prepare for the worst. With this somewhat pessimistic agenda, all the good occurrences then become a bonus and you are also (hopefully) fully prepared as possible for events that don’t quite pan out as you envisaged. Blindly trusting everything will be coming up roses, is a sure recipe for head in the sand disaster. In my younger days, I was an avid flower child. I truly believed that love and peace was the answer to all our human shortcomings (and still do). Unfortunately, I was rudely awakened by the fact that not everyone followed the same ideals. As reality slowly set in and my rose‐coloured glasses subsequently misted up, I began to realise that metaphorically, if I attempted to offer a bunch of flowers to an adversary bearing a Kalashnikov rifle the one who walked away from the encounter would not be me! Survival in the real world meant reluctantly discarding the floral specs and facing up to a future full of uncertainties. Failing to recognise, or endeavour to change any calamitous events our future
www.euroweeklynews.com
The worst
may hold is almost criminal naivety. If the German public had only envisioned the ambitions of Hitler, they may just have averted the Second World War! Twenty years ago, I wrote that if the West didn’t curb the unchecked immigration from the Middle East, a few years hence it would be too late because the terrorists would be entrenched everywhere. Since then, radical Islamists have murdered hundreds of innocent UK citizens. You should have heard the ridicule I received for that prediction! If you want to see what the BLM organisation is truly about just cast an eye over their current website. Diversity it most emphatically ain’t! Emblazoned over their ‘flag,’ big bold letters blatantly announce BLACK XMAS. Parts of the diatribe that follows proclaim, and I quote. “Black Lives Matter has been encouraging people to ‘dream of a black Xmas’ and intentionally use our economic sources to disrupt white supremacist capitalism. “Black Friday sales were rolled out weeks in advance and at every turn white supremacist capitalism is telling us to spend our money on things that we don’t
need to reap profits for their organisations.” The piece then goes on to encourage people to ‘Build Black, Buy Black and Bank Black.’ Their website also has the audacity to condemn the Rittenhouse trial verdict, (where no black people were involved at all!) describing it as “wholly expected, when white supremacy lives and breathes within our institutions and is a reminder of how legal systems are deeply rooted in white supremacy.” There is naturally no mention of the trial taking place simultaneously in another courtroom, where three white men received life sentences for shooting a black man they suspected of stealing. Ironically a reader’s letter published last week accused me of trying to introduce racism into the Rittenhouse’s trial ‐ purely because I stated there were no riots after the verdict. Ha! Keep the faith Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
FEATURE
Film Review by Laura Kemp
Streaming now: King Richard WILL SMITH turns from The Prince of Bel‐Air into the King of Tennis in this story of how the Williams’ sisters came to dominate the sport, streaming on HBO Max now. Legendary actor, film pro‐ ducer and rapper Will Smith (Men in Black) plays Richard Williams in this biographical drama about how Venus and Serena Williams became two of the most well‐known tennis players in the world. A story of true grit and de‐ termination, when it seems like all the odds are against this family from Compton, USA, King Richard gives viewers a look into how the father of Venus, played by Saniyya Sid‐ ney (Hidden Figures), and Sere‐ na, played by Demi Singleton (Goldie), coached them to the top of the tennis world. The story intertwines race, family, and poverty issues as the Williams family band to‐ gether to help the sisters live
A story of true grit.
out their sporting dreams. Richard will tell anyone who will listen, and even those who don’t want to listen, that his daughters are born to be stars and that he has an 84‐page plan to achieve it. This is a feel‐good film with great acting (it’s Will Smith ‐ need I say more?). However, its authenticity is questionable. Richard’s estranged family have since hit back at the film, claiming it is not a real portray‐ al of their father and only tells half of the story. Despite this, King Richard is an entertaining, motivational, and humorous movie about never giving up. It’s also worth watching the end credits for a nice surprise.
THURSDAY 09/12
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WEDNESDAY 15/12
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The Real Marigold Hotel Flog It! Richard Osman's House of Games Strictly: It Takes Two Celebrity Antiques Road Trip Mary Berry - Love to Cook Nadiya's Fast Flavours Surgeons: At the Edge of Life Mock the Week
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University Challenge Sounds of the 70s - New Wave Top of the Pops: Christmas 1988 Nick Cave: Idiot Prayer BBC Four Sessions The Old Grey Whistle Test Southern Rock at the BBC Top of the Pops: Christmas 1988
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Fred Dibnah's Industrial Age Wartime Farm Christmas The Modern Age of the Coach Stieg Larsson's Millennium Stieg Larsson's Millennium Crime & Punishment The Story of Capital Punishment
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The Chronicles of Erne Tracey Emin: This Cultural Life Les Mis at 25: Matt Lucas Dreams the Dream Evita: The Making of a Superstar The Sky at Night Animated Shorts: BBC Introducing Arts A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
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University Challenge The Joy of Painting: Winter Specials Britain's Lost Masterpieces Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey Stigma What We Were Watching Timeshift: Hotel Deluxe Britain's Lost Masterpieces
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Keeping Up Appearances One Foot in the Grave Dinnerladies Comedy Playhouse: Where It All Began Comedy Playhouse: Impasse Comedy Playhouse: No Strings Gagging for It - TV's Hunger for Radio Comedy
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The Joy of Painting: Winter Specials University Challenge Thailand: Earth's Tropical Paradise Write Around the World with Richard E Grant Write Around the World with Richard E Grant Mark Kermode's Christmas Cinema Secrets
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Tipping Point The Chase ITV News London ITV Evening News Emmerdale Coronation Street Griff's Great New Zealand Adventure Coronation Street I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! ITV News
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Tipping Point: Best Ever Finals ITV News and Weather ITV News London Moneyball Celebrity Catchphrase The Chase Celebrity Special I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! The Jonathan Ross Show ITV News and Weather
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The Great Christmas Bake Off 2020 Channel 4 News A Very Royal Christmas: Secrets from Sandringham Christmas at Chatsworth House Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Qualifying Highlights 48 Hours to Final Victory The Equalizer
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The Man Who Invented Christmas Channel 4 News Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Highlights Escape to the Chateau Close to Me Gogglebox The Shape of Water Heineken Champions Cup Rugby: The Big Tackle
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Chateau DIY Countdown Moneybags A Place in the Sun Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Jamie: Together at Christmas Guy's Garage
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A Place in the Sun Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country 24 Hours in A&E Hot Christmas Have We Got Nudes for You
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Countdown Moneybags A Place in the Sun Kirstie's Handmade Christmas The Simpsons Hollyoaks Channel 4 News Kirstie and Phil's Love it or List it Christmas at Castle Howard
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The Christmas Swap 5 News at 5 Neighbours Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty Parking Fines: Are They A Con? Live: Winter on the Farm The New Stonehenge with Rob Bell Unforgiven
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On the 12th Date of Christmas 5 News at 5 Neighbours Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty Secrets of the Imperial War Museum The Thames at Night with Tony Robinson 1977: Britain's Biggest 70s Hits
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5 News Update Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen 5 News Weekend The Wonderful World of Gold Gregg Wallace's Grand Christmas Adventure Louis and Edwina: An Unconventional Marriage
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Surviving Christmas with the Relatives 5 News Update Surviving Christmas with the Relatives Christmas with the Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun Britain's Favourite 80s Toys Cliff Richard's Christmas Story
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A Nostalgic Christmas 5 News at 5 Top Jobs for Dogs Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty World's Strongest Man 2021 Traffic Cops Casualty 24/7 Ambulance: Code Red Car Pound Cops: Give Me My Car Back!
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5 News at 5 Top Jobs for Dogs Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty Help My Pet Hates Me The Yorkshire Vet at Christmas: It's a Wonderful Life Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens Casualty 24/7 At Christmas
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A Chestnut Family Christmas 5 News at 5 Top Jobs for Dogs Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty The Gadget Show Our Yorkshire Farm Murder in Suburbia Christmas with the Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun
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9 - 15 December 2021
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FEATURE
Did you survive Covid but now suffer from HOGO? NORA JOHNSON BREAKING VIEWS
Nora is the author of popular psychological suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist. To comment on any of the issues raised in her column, go to www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/nora-johnson
AMID reports in the UK that people aren’t turning up to restaurants or even events for which they’ve al‐ ready bought tickets, are you affect‐ ed by HOGO (hassle of going out) too? After spending lockdown at home and used to ditching plans and skip‐ ping social events, some are bound to be feeling a bit weary ‐ and wary. Whilst there’s no excuse for no‐shows in the era of mobile communications, I suspect people book venues to lift their mood currently and then feel that they just can’t face it as the hour draws near. For some, going out has certainly become less fun. Everything has to be pre‐planned. You can’t get a table at a restaurant, and when you do it’s full of excuses why the service is lacking, Nora Johnson’s opinions
SOCIALISING: However, attitudes have definitely changed, especially in the winter.
dees can make the experiences work. No matter how fantastic the food, ex‐ citing the film or entertaining the play, these events need to be experienced as a collective event to get the right energy levels and succeed. Small businesses need our help more than ever this Christmas! There’s absolutely no excuse for no‐ shows at restaurants etc. in the UK or anywhere else. It’s just selfish be‐ haviour. But seemingly part of a gen‐ eral, ‘It’s all about me’ attitude that unfortunately seems prevalent these days... Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘The Sentinel’, ‘No Safe Place’, ‘Betrayal’, ‘The Girl in the Woods’, ‘The Girl in the Red Dress’, ‘No Way Back’, ‘Landscape of Lies’, ‘Retribu‐ tion’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Cleram‐ bault Code’ (www.nora‐johnson.net) available online as eBook (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, paperback and audiobook. All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity.
the menus are ‘reduced’ for lack of Attitudes have definitely changed ‐ staff or ingredients, and ‘can we have and why not? People, especially in the your table back at 8:30, please?’ ‘And winter, can stay home and watch please be considerate to our staff as movies in HD, get food and drink deliv‐ we have zero tolerance for abusive be‐ ered at reasonable cost in total safety. haviour.’ For these customers, it feels But the retail and hospitality sectors like prices have been hiked to pay for are at risk of dying a slow death be‐ To read more articles from our columnists the extra checks and regulations that cause that’s where we meet other and to have your say in the comments go make going out more of a hassle than people and mingle. That all takes ef‐ to www.euroweeklynews.com it’s worth. fort and only a critical mass of atten‐ are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
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FEATURE
www.euroweeklynews.com
TONI C. EASTWOOD OBE, MBA
#TheWomanBeyond I DO like a great sporting analogy to give us insight and tips for life’s trials and tribulations. So here’s one that I really love. Are you sitting comfort‐ ably? (Sorry I just couldn’t help myself ) Once upon a time (1938 to be pre‐ cise) there was a pistol shooter. He was incredibly good, in fact, he hoped to be the very best. However he met with a terrible acci‐ dent during combat training and unfor‐ tunately, our Hero has his right hand blown off by a faulty grenade. (OMG ) His right hand was his shooting hand. (Jeeeze!!!.) All his hopes are lost. Or are they? After a depressing month in the hos‐ pital, our Hero decides that he will sim‐ ply learn how to shoot just as well with his left hand. So he started his training, secretly, he didn’t tell a soul. He trains and trains and trains. And guess what he becomes very good. So
9 - 15 December 2021
EWN 43
KEEP SHOOTING he shows up at the 1939 World Champi‐ onships. Everyone’s shocked to see him there. And they’re even more shocked when he wins. His Olympic dreams are back on track. Then enter: The Second World War, and to his dismay the 1940 and 1944 Olympics are cancelled. So he waits, and continues to train and put the work in. And finally, he shows up at the next Olympics. He’s now 38. The world champion asks him what he’s doing there. Our Hero tells him “I’m here to learn.” He wins. What’s his name? Well it’s Takács Károly. Takács was the first shooter to win two Olympic gold medals in the 25‐me‐ tre rapid fire pistol event, and both with his left hand. He was the third known physically disabled athlete to have com‐
peted in the main stream Olympic Games after George Eyser in 1904 and Olivér Halassy in 1928, followed by Liz Hartel in 1952, Neroli Fairhall in 1984 and Oscar Pistorius (shame that’s not what he’ll be remembered for!!) in 2012. The moral of the story? It’s simple… Keep shooting… Keep trying…Grab your goals by the horn and keep after them. Are you stuck trying to achieve a tar‐ get, a Big Audacious Goal? This is a time of year when we typically start to think about what could be, that perhaps WE WANT MORE OUT OF LIFE!!! What targets are you aiming for? Do you need to re‐aim and get into train‐ ing? Stay Focused, Keep Positive and Choose to +1 in Every Moment. Fulfil Your Dreams and Awaken Your Great‐ ness! Love, Hugs, High Fives and Fist Bumps
Toni x Toni Eastwood OBE, MBA #TheWomanBeyond PS. If you want more out of life. Sign up for our January Visionary Women Programme and in just four, three‐ hour online sessions you could Reach Beyond Your Limits, Soar Beyond Your Barriers and Live Beyond Your Dreams and make 2022 your Best Year Yet. 25 per cent off for Euro Weekly News Readers ‐ Just Quote Offer Code EWN25 ‐ for more info and to book head on over to https://quantumvan tage.co.uk/visionarywomenpro gramme Don’t hold back another moment. You could be just one step away… To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Please do get in touch if you have any questions. Follow me, chat and share your thoughts and network with other fabulous women in my Visionary Women Facebook Group.
@tonieastwood
@SixSecretsToSuccess @VisionaryWomen
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EW YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com Views expressed and opinions given are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements.
THANKING YOU
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THANK YOU: From the Lux Mundi Centres on the Costa del Sol.
Dear Sir or Madam, Both Lux Mundi, Torre del Mar and Fuengirola would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to you and all your staff for the excellent coverage you have been kind enough to give both centres throughout the year in your weekly publication. Kind regards, Patricia Rothwell, Press Officer
he wrote out a chit to collect at the post office if he changed his mind. I went to the post office and asked why two pieces of cardboard and envelopes warranted €5 each, she duly shrugged her shoulders, so I refused. A week ago my daughter phoned and told me one of the cards had been returned to her, how ridiculous, they just want money, that’s all. Maureen Hayes
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At the beginning of October my daughter sent two birthday cards to my husband, they had the correct postage, £1.70 each. The postman came and rang the bell and wanted €5 each card duty, my husband refused and
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A LITTLE THOUGHT IN our social media debate last week, we asked if people should still be having Christmas parties in the wake of the new Covid variant. It is a topic that divides opinion with many understandably keen to get back to normality, while others still prefer to remain on the side of caution. A survey released on December 8 by consumer experts Mintel found that more than
CORRECTIONS
XMAS PARTIES: Most people think that life should just go on.
Stephen Chatt Milne Life must must go on in some form, we just have to take good precautions... without forms of release and traditions being carried on etc etc... then there would be no point to a life... this situation is going to be with us for years to come, so we must get out and have some fun... cheers and Ho Ho Ho x
Deborah Johnson Yes enough is enough.
Kenneth Faktor Carslund Best way to keep Christmas alive is to stop interaction with many different people. Stop going to pubs if you will spend Christmas with anyone who is vulnerable.
Helen Blair Moffat Mason
OUR VIEW
four in 10 British workers say the Covid risk makes them feel uncomfortable about work Christmas parties. Other key stats showed 58 per cent of Brits feel it is important that people wear masks in bars and restaurants, while 61 per cent plan to limit their time in crowded areas before seeing family for Christmas. And 24 per cent of consumers are uncomfortable or extremely un-
comfortable about going to a bar/restaurant indoors. While we all would love to get back to normal, it is clear there are those who don’t feel ready to throw caution to the wind just yet. For that reason, in this season of goodwill to all, we should all take time to remember that not everyone feels safe and that a little consideration for others can go a very long way.
We need to be careful but get on with living. we need to see family and friends not just at Christmas but all year round, it’s all part of life.
Mark Borrow YES we should party hard, life is too short anyway!
Paul Kelly It’s only Christmas, most don’t celebrate the religious side of it anyway. So really all that is being asked, is slow down on stupid parties.
Sue Quye Wear masks, use gel and don’t hug and kiss, just elbow bump. Life has to get back to some normality for people’s mental health.
At the EWN, we pride ourselves that reports are accurate and fair. If we do slip up, we promise to set the record straight in a clear, no-nonsense manner. To ask for an inaccuracy to be corrected. Email: editorial@euroweeklynews.com
46 EWN
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9 - 15 December 2021
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Get the glow NO longer just good for our bodies, vitamin C is now one of the hottest products offering to give us glowing, firm skin. While we all know vitamin C is good for us on the in‐ side by improving our im‐ mune systems, a new host of vitamin C‐enriched skin care products promise an array of benefits, helping us to look healthy on the out‐ side too. This natural ingredient contains a chemical, L‐ Ascorbic Acid (LAA), thought to contain high levels of an‐ tioxidants which can protect us from free‐radical dam‐ age, including UV rays, smoke, and pollution. This in turn may help to slow down some of the age‐ ing we experience caused by environmental factors, and could be particularly benefi‐ cial for those living in sun‐ nier countries, including Spain. The benefits don’t stop
there, however, as there is some evidence to suggest products using vitamin C can actually reverse some signs of ageing. Experts claim the chemical can help lighten dark spots, such as those left over after sun damage, as well as in‐ hibiting melanin production ‐ the chemical responsible for hyperpigmentation ‐ pre‐ venting further dark spots from forming. S c i e n t i s t s a l s o b e l i e v e v i‐ tamin C may help to boost collagen levels in the skin, creating a plumper, firmer effect, and helping to re‐ verse the look of fine lines and wrinkles. It is thought vitamin C achieves this by increasing cell turnover en‐ suring newer cells are al‐ ways at the surface of the skin and sloughing away old ones, which may even help to fade scars. There is a large variety of vitamin C skin care products available, and before choos‐
VITAMIN C: Products may help to reverse some ageing.
ing one, it is important to take some factors into con‐ sideration. The active chemical in most of these formulas, L‐ Ascorbic Acid, is unstable when exposed to sunlight,
meaning your product may cease to be effective after several weeks if not stored properly. This means choosing a product ideally packaged in brown or blue glass, which
helps to keep out UV rays and protect your product. Next, it is impor‐ tant to think about what concentration of LAA you would like to use. Higher concentrations of around 15 to 20 per cent are most ef‐ fective but can cause sensi‐ tivity in some people, so it may be best to start off with a lower concentration, around 10 per cent. Finally, as ever, don’t for‐ get to protect your skin by using a daily SPF of at least factor 30 to protect your skin from further damage.
HEALTH & BEAUTY
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Sensitive skin
WHILE many of us may nor‐ mally have oily, normal, or dry skin, even the least skin‐sensi‐ tive can suffer from red, easily‐ irritated skin during winter. Cold weather and central heating force can simultane‐ ously over‐stimulate and dry out our skin, which in turn can act up. While it may not be necessary to buy a whole range of specialist products to deal with your newly‐sensitive face and body, there are some sim‐ ple substitutes you can make to help deal with the problem. First, it’s important to diag‐ nose that sensitive skin is in fact what you are dealing with. This can present itself in the form of redness ‐ or even rosacea ‐ flak‐ ing, irritation, or bumps under the skin. Skin types which feel a burning or tingling sensation when using gentle products may also suffer from sensitivity. Next, you need to discount whether your sensitivity is caused by an allergic reaction. This could be the case if your skin changed suddenly, and
WINTER SKIN: Colder weather can leave skin sensitive. could be caused by eczema, psoriasis, or another allergy, and you should speak to a pharmacist or doctor who should be able to help. If your redness and irritation is something you normally deal with however, or suffer from every winter, you can lessen the symptoms and calm red‐ ness by taking extra care with your skin this season. Firstly, cut out any products which contain harsh chemicals. While your skin may be able to handle them at other points in the year, it will respond better to simpler, gentler formulas
now. This includes your cleanser and toner, which should not contain alcohol or any foaming agents which will strip your skin’s natural protec‐ tive layer. Instead, stick to a cold cream or balm formula which will soothe and protect your face, while also removing dirt and oil. Depending on the severity of your sensitivity you may also choose to cut out your normal exfoliator com‐ pletely. Certainly it is wise to stick to a gentler chemical ex‐ folitant containing fruit acids, rather than using a harsher physical scrub. Alternatively, simply using a clean, damp towel to remove your cleanser which will gently slough off dead cells. Next, hydrate, hy‐ drate, hydrate. Try to stick to a natural or gentle formula, and temporarily steer clear of any harsher retinols, peels, or ce‐ ramides you may be using. Finally, if you do introduce new products, take care of your skin by using them slowly or first carrying out a patch test.
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FEATURE
GO LOCAL THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS has urged its readers to support lo‐ cal businesses in the community by shop‐ ping locally in recent times. Now things are heading back to nor‐ mal, we challenge you to maintain that habit by supporting local high streets, markets, butchers, greengrocers and all of the wonder‐ fully quirky inde‐ pendent businesses in your area. Local businesses make our villages, towns and cities what they are. They add unique character. They are convenient. And they offer excellent produce from known suppliers. The joy of shopping locally means that independent busi‐ nesses can support the local community. You may find something a euro or two cheaper online but have you considered where your money is actually go‐ ing? By shopping locally you’re putting food on a local family’s table
BUY LOCAL: By shopping locally, independent businesses can help support the local community.
and there is nothing better than giving back to the communities that have given us so much. Local stores sup‐ port charities and they sponsor local sports teams. In many cases, they are much more than just a business, they’re a legacy. They may have supported generations of the same family. Like‐ wise, brand new local stores and bars may help the genera‐ tions of the
future fulfil their dreams and ambitions. Remember, your local store is going up against multi‐ nationals and chains. They can’t win that battle on their own. So give
them your support. Spending your mon‐ ey locally will make a real differ‐ ence to the local econo‐ my. Local businesses recirculate a g r e a t e r share of ev‐ ery euro they receive at lo‐ cal level. They create locally owned supply chains and they invest in their employees. So remember. When you go shopping ‐ go local!
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FEATURE
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9 - 15 December 2021
EWN 49
In a manner of speaking...
DAVID WORBOYS SOME decades ago, written and spoken English were generally simi‐ lar. Oxford or BBC English was spo‐ ken as it was written, but those of us with regional or less convention‐ al accents normally spoke very dif‐ ferently from the way we wrote, ie, with much less care and clarity. There is more recently an increas‐ ing tendency for all of us to write as we speak. We British tend to follow Ameri‐ can trends like lapdogs. We adopt all American habits, fashion and cul‐ ture. And we even surrender our En‐ glish language so that it would more appropriately be called the Ameri‐ can language. Some obvious capitu‐ lations include the spelling of words like programme (program), honour (honor), manoeuvre, (maneuver), civilise (civilize), to practise (to prac‐ tice) and racquet (racket). They don’t recognise the word ‘fortnight’ and we don’t often use their word ‘of‐ tentimes’. Maybe schoolchildren can’t han‐
Many of us lack the confidence to speak as we used to write.
dle the admittedly unphonetic spelling of ‘through’ when it is pro‐ nounced ‘thru’, and so the word be‐ comes Americanised and spelt as pronounced, first in advertisements and text‐messaging and increasingly in general written usage. Spelling is one thing, but what about pronunci‐ ation? For the English ‘lever’ rhymes with ‘beaver’; for Americans with ‘never’. Most English have now surrendered
to the American pronunciation of ‘schedule’ as ‘skedule’ (the way that we pro‐ nounce ‘school’). Confusing? Nowadays I receive one‐word text‐message responses saying ‘yeah’ (yes). In various publications I have come across ‘yuh know’ and ‘how’s yer family?’. This is literally writing the way we commonly speak. So, how confused are our
children going to be when learning how to write ‐ and to speak? ‘O’right?’ Until recently, this was widely used as a greeting, meaning ‘Are you alright?’ or ‘How are you?’ The response should be ‘I’m well’, not ‘I’m good’, which means something quite different. We write ‘I should have gone’ but I have heard English and Americans say ‘I should of went.’ When we can’t find the right word, it is becoming increasingly common to invent one. ‘Mischievous’ is thus substituted by ‘mischievious’, while, ‘heinous’ becomes ‘henious’. ‘Phenomena’, ‘criteria’ and ‘media’, all plural words, are frequently used with a singular verb. Just as most Japanese cannot pro‐ nounce the ‘r’ or the ‘l’ in English,
cockneys can’t handle the letters ‘th’ either in ‘with’ or ‘thirty’. They write ‘with thirty‐three’, but they say ‘wiv firty‐free’. The written word ‘nothing’ rings out as ‘nuffink’. Likewise, most folk I know from Yorkshire can’t say the word ‘but’. They use it frequently but make it rhyme with ‘put’. But then, surely, ‘put’ should be pro‐ nounced to rhyme with ‘but’ ‐ like a golfer’s ‘putt’. Confusing? To say or to text ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m going to sneeze’ requires too much effort. Much easier: ‘I dunno’ and ‘I’m gonna sneeze’. English spelling and pronunciation have always been very odd. Maybe we should speak as we used to write in the good old 50s. Cool! Innit? To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
David Worboys’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
Volcano update, migrants landing and Covid LETTER FROM
CANARIES DEAR reader, December’s missive will try to cover other Canarian news than La Palma’s volcano. Reporting for USA and Eire radio and EWN from there, it’s been difficult to forget how dreadful it is. Feeling earth tremors here when at home, 167 kms away on La Gomera, doesn’t help either. A TV newsflash gets forgotten: an‐ other disaster, amongst the many. Being there, senses affected, talk‐ ing to stressed and depleted is‐ landers, going inside devasted exclu‐ sion zones and witnessing this natural disaster, has longer term ef‐ fects than the sore eyes and sketchy breathing I’ve come back with each time and I don’t live there, have lost nothing. Some 20 psychologists from the Grupo de Intervención Psicológica en Emergencias y Catástrofes are there. More arrive soon. Their brief is pro‐
Volcano continues to cause damage.
viding ‘emotional ventilation’ for a tough community, whose jokes and apparent insouciance mask increas‐ ing stress. Over 7,000 people are evacuated. Lots have lost everything. Recent predictions that, far from stopping, this eruption will be the longest on record since Tehuya lasted for 84 days in 1585, provide little comfort. As I write, new volcanic mouths and lava flows cause further damage and evacuation. Sailing into this, incredibly, are in‐
creasing numbers of mostly sub‐Saharan Africans, flee‐ ing their own disaster. Use of the so‐ called Canarian Route to Europe brought 9,255 migrants to our coasts between January and August, some 135 per cent more than last year. Politics exacerbates the situation. Relations between Spain and Moroc‐ co are still precarious, although both Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jose Albares, and his Moroccan counter‐
part, Nasser Bourita, are supposedly ‘working towards a new spirit of un‐ derstanding’. Bourita’s failure to at‐ tend a Barcelona meeting with Al‐ bares on 29/11 indicates otherwise. Meanwhile, the unchecked role of Moroccans continues in organising and charging €3,000‐€6,000 a head for the privilege of boarding small boats to come here. Last year 1,851 migrants paid, on‐ ly to die in the attempt. Many of them were children and babies. Deaths will be higher this year. As for Covid, well... everything was good on the islands for a few months, with few cases and no deaths. Covid‐free and with restric‐ tions lifted, we nevertheless exer‐ cised caution. It’s all different now. Record num‐ bers of foreign tourists arrived to en‐ joy October and November here, many of them German. Germany’s dramatic rise in cases, with more vaccinations, has pro‐
duced a 67 per cent vaccinated pop‐ ulation. According to German Im‐ munology Society President, Dr Christine Falk: “This is insufficient and, together with lack of contact restric‐ tions, allows the virus to spread al‐ most exclusively among the unvacci‐ nated.” Are stories of false test and vaccination certificates available there true? Cruise ship Vasco de Gama’s 1,000 passengers strolled unmasked into local bars and shops recently, causing concern, despite ‘all passengers are vaccinated’ assurances. Surprise! An ill, unvaccinated pas‐ senger had Covid. Passengers were quarantined, too late for all of us who live here of course. It seems that Tourism = Covid. So, what do you think? Do we sell our safety or get serious? Merry Christmas everyone. Barbara Belt. barbarabelt@gmail.com
Barbara Belt’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
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9 - 15 December 2021
Visibility and caution
CLAIRE GORDON FINDING BALANCE IN AN UNEVEN WORLD THIS week the Stonewall LGBTQ+ charity started their annual Rainbow Laces campaign, partnering with various sports across the UK to draw visibility to the inequalities that remain within active spaces. As soon as any kind of directive is made that brings the existence of LGBTQ+ people to the forefront, there is an immediate backlash from certain members of society and much clutching of pearls ensues. “I don’t mind them, but do they have to push it in our faces? Can’t they keep it to themselves? Why do they need campaigns to talk about these things, just get on with it if you must!” The irony of people making these sorts of ignorant statements at a campaign aimed at making spaces more welcoming for people is completely lost of course. To many, the fact they don’'t actively seek out LGBTQ+ people to physically harm seems to be the pinnacle of tolerance and acceptance, when this sort of separatism and lack of actu-
al positive action directly feeds a system that leads to people doing just that. T he reporting of hate crimes against LG BT Q + people rose sharply at the end of the pandemic. As restrictions were loosened, it seems that whatever had been holding some people back from attacking members of the community had come loose too. M any may think that has nothing to do with them as they tolerate the existence of people who aren’t like them, but a lot of this violence happens because of a society that allows the ‘othering’ of any characteristic that deviates from the norm. This absolutely begins with the language, jokes and ‘banter’ that too many people participate in. T he S tonewall campaign this year has a slogan of ‘lace up and speak up’, asking everyone to engage in honest conversation with the people around them about LG BT Q + issues. I am relatively lucky in the sense that for my close circle of friends and family, I am mostly able to do that. While out
and about, however, I am still incredibly cautious. Whether in my small town in Spain (which is better) or back in mainstream spaces in a big city in the UK, my partner and I don’t tend to hold hands. We must be careful about what we say to whom when meeting new people. We have moments when our stomachs drop during conversations when homophobic jokes are made, and we know we cannot feel safe around those people any longer if we did in the first place. When I bring these things up to people, there tends to be disbelief that this is how people are made to feel in a world where it seems that so much ‘progress’ is being made. I must remind them that if there must be campaigns to generate even the mere conversation around an LGBTQ+ person being allowed into a space, we are very far off feeling safe and welcome. To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Claire Gordon’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
FEATURE
Travel
Toledo: A trip through time T O L E D O is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. It impresses from every angle with its dra‐ matic raised presence on the banks of the Riv‐ er Tagus. Strolling around its streets, you’ll soon discover why it’s called the ‘Im‐ perial City.’ Every twist and turn is like a jour‐ ney through time. The city satisfies broad tastes from art and architecture to mu‐ sic and gastronomy. It is also known for its warm hospitality, living up to its centuries old reputa‐ tion as a favourite stop off for traders and trav‐ ellers. It’s easy to forget you are just 30 minutes from Madrid in this city that also feels like a fortress. It once marked a strategic defensive site; and that fact just adds to the history. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by U N ES C O t h a n k s t o i t s
An impressive city.
blend of different cul‐ tures and religions. The styles change from one street to the next with each building telling a different chapter in the city’s rich history. The era of harmony can be observed in the church‐ es, synagogues, and mosques that decorate the streets. The historic centre is a walled enclosure and there you’ll see shops full of fabulous swords. Toledo steel is famous the world over and weapons have been fashioned there for over 2,500 years. It is no surprise tourists come from all over the world.
It’s never too late to change
ROBERT SHALLIS I WAS inspired to write this month’s article after talking to an old friend who has recently made some brave and incredible changes to their life, resulting in becoming a better, more fulfilled and successful version of themself. J F Kennedy once said “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” Many of us focus too much on the past which tends to mould our present day as opposed to actually really living in the present moment and appreciating a brand‐new day, a fresh start, a new page, a new story which you can compose yourself. By allowing past influences, defeats and traumas to hold us back will only keep us there and always be an excuse to justify why we haven’t achieved what we really want to in life. So, how do we change for the better, how do we become who we really want to be? The way to change
is to first ‘welcome’ the future and not be fearful of it. Remember that you are the author of ‘your’ book of life. You can write a new story or you can continue living in your old story book that has become all too familiar and being uncomfortably comfortable. You can fill your day with new challenges, a new way of being or you can let it be filled very quickly with unwanted challenges and problems. It’s never too late to change and become the person you dream about being. Success is anything you decide it to be as long as it is what you want, especially if it’s for the greater good of yourself and others. If you can be proud of your achievements and how you’re living your life, then that is the measure of success. Many people do not actually find their true success or calling in life until after the age of 40 or 50, for
some even 60 and beyond, so it’s never too late. It is all too easy to say ‘I’m too old to change, I’m too set in my ways.’ However, the reality is actually the opposite. It’s only what we tell ourselves on a regular basis that causes us to believe such untrue statements. Once we break that habitual way
of thinking and replace it with more empowering statements such as ‘I am capable of doing amazing things, I’m ready to succeed.’ The quicker things will start to change and so will you. Being aware of your thoughts and dismissing the seeds of doubt before they take hold is important. The weeds that grow in the
garden of your mind that have been holding you back will start to dissipate and be replaced with new life full of colour, beauty and clarity once you start thinking differently. Decide what it is in life you really want, write down what you’ve always dreamed of doing or being, however small it may be. Writing it down is a great step to helping you achieve your goals and dreams. Everything is possible and you are more than capable of becoming a better version of yourself. You have a choice, to accept your life as it is or change it for the better. Have a clear intention, a full expectation as to what you really want, expect the best and believe you’ll get it. It’s never too late to change! Rob Shallis www.robshallis.com
FIND SUCCESS: Replace your thinking with empowering statements.
To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Robert Shallis’ opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
PETS IF you are planning a trip later this year you still need to plan early for pet and house‐sitters. Per‐ haps you are already making plans for a stay‐ cation get away. Even if you are planning just a short trip, you’ll know that you simply can’t
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www.euroweeklynews.com • 9 - 15 December 2021
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Need a dog sitter? travel with some pets. Young pets in particular may benefit from staying behind so they can follow their routines at home.
So, plan ahead. Take a moment to plan ahead for pet and house‐ sitters, if you have trips planned later this year. Now is the time to get ready. We will help you as much as we can. Our phi‐ losophy is that we are all in this together. These are the steps to take: 1. Register as a home‐ owner on HouseSit Match.com 2. Choose a Premium account (£89 per year) to ensure you can help on‐ line when needed 3. Create a profile with photos of your pet and the house 4. Post a house‐sit ad‐ vert stating your plans for your next holiday, Covid
permitting Do you need a pet‐sitter in 2021? Then get started right now. How does it work? HouseSitMatch can help you find suitable sitters. Join our network for a small annual fee. You get ID checked for safety and then build your advert saying when you are go‐ ing on holiday. House‐sit‐ ters see your advert, they respond and you choose the sitter who’ll care for your pets. Trustpilot Testimonials ‐ 4.8 / 5 Excellent rating (New Trustpilot rating scale) Here’s what members have said about us ‐ HouseSitMatch found
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For further information, please go to The Anglican Chaplaincy of Costa Almeria and Costa Calida web page. Or contact Tony Noble 950 069 103. (10002) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Why not make this year the year you volunteer? Call and see how you can help either as a caseworker (with full training) or as a Telephone Buddy. We also visit beneficiaries who are housebound or in hospital. If you feel you could support us here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyhhvisits@gmail.com. If you or your partner served or are serving, and you feel you need help or support then contact us using the details on the card, we are here for the small things as well as the big, sometimes talking to someone is the first step to feeling more in control. It can be a personal need or some help with your home or information on what or who to speak to on a medical issue, we help with signposting if we cannot help directly, just call and have a chat with Pam who will try to guide you to where you need to be. If you would like to go to a branch meeting then find your nearest one at, www.britishle gion.org.uk/counties/spainnorth ZURGENA Branch meeting on the first Thursday, Coffee Morning on the third Thursday and Buffet & Quiz Night on the last Tuesday of the month all at The Heathers La Alfoquia, for further details please email zurgenarblsecre tary@yahoo.co.uk - (253989)
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Modern and distinctive ROAD TEST by Mark Slack FOR those who remember Toyota’s Yaris as a small eco‐ nomical hatchback, it may come as somewhat of a shock at the number of variants now bearing the Yaris name. How‐ ever, it certainly hasn’t lost its appeal as an economical hatchback of choice. It has just got significantly trendier, and in the case of Yaris GR consid‐ erably more sporting. In addition to the standard, lead‐in Yaris model with five doors, 1.5‐litre petrol engine and prices starting from €23,800/ £20,210, there’s the Yaris Cross which offers a crossover style from €26,513/£22,515 and then the barnstorming 257bhp Yaris GR from €35,351/ £30,020. How‐ ever, it’s the Yaris Cross that’s the focus of our attention in this review. One friend described the Yaris Cross as looking like a friendly chipmunk from the front! Whatever your particular view, styling is very subjective,
the Yaris Cross looks sharp and modern and more distinctive than many of its competitors. Power in all models is via a 1.5‐ litre, three‐cylinder petrol en‐ gine mated to an automatic transmission. It also benefits from a 59kwh electric motor to boost power and reduce emis‐ sions. You have an all‐wheel‐ drive option on one trim level and although not for true mud‐ plugging snowy roads and the local village fete, it should prove no problem thanks to higher ground clearance and that all‐ wheel‐drive. Standard fare across the line‐ up includes keyless entry and start, adaptive cruise control, reversing camera, automatic air conditioning and a multi‐media system with Apple Car Play and Android Auto with Bluetooth. There’s a good range of paint choices available as options, various optional packs as well as individual items like a rather splendid panoramic roof at a not unreasonable €388/£330. Inside, the Yaris Cross has a smart and functional look with what seems to be a very good build quality throughout. There
are also still physical knobs for the climate control and buttons for major controls. Hurrah! A decent on road ride allows for pretty good handling and while the CVT gearbox does occasion‐ ally get gruff, it’s a lot better than many I have tried and is for the most part quite refined.
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SPORT Johanna Konta retires
9 - 15 December 2021
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TENNIS legend and former British No 1 Johanna Konta has retired from the sport. Konta, 30, has struggled with a knee problem over the past couple of years, causing her to drop down to 113 in the rankings. She made an announcement on Twitter saying that she is “Grateful”. The post read: “This is the word that I’ve probably been used to the most during my career, and is the word that I feel explains it best at the end.” Konta, born in Australia, moved to Europe to pursue a career in tennis as MICHAEL CARRICK guided Manchester United to an important 3‐2 win over Ar‐ senal on Thursday, Decem‐ ber 2, to keep them among the top teams in the table. The sensational news though is that only minutes after the final whistle blew, 40‐year‐old Carrick an‐ nounced that he is quitting Old Trafford after 15 years at the club.
KONTA: A hugely impressive career.
a teen, becoming a British citizen in 2012.
She took the British No 1 spot and stayed there for nearly six years. Scott Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, said: “On behalf of the LTA and everyone in‐ volved in British Tennis, I want to ex‐ press my appreciation to Johanna for her hugely impressive career. “To reach the semi‐finals of three slams and spend more time as British number one than any other woman since the WTA rankings began shows the level of her achievements. We wish her well in the future, and hope that she will continue to play a role in British tennis in the years to come.”
Carrick quits The former United and England midfielder has been running things temporarily since the sacking of Ole Gun‐ nar Solskjaer. Carrick had been assistant to the Nor‐ wegian, but it would seem he preferred to now exit the club than to continue in a
lesser role under incoming interim manager Ralf Rang‐ nick. Joining United in 2006, in his 12 seasons Carrick won five Premier League titles, plus he was a Champions League winner. In 2018, he took on a coaching position
at the Theatre of Dreams. Carrick said: “My time at this great club will always rank as the best years of my career. When I first signed over 15 years ago, I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined winning so many trophies, and I will certainly never forget the fantastic memories both as a player and as a member of the coaching team.”
Hamilton wins action-packed GP LEWIS HAMILTON won the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix around the high‐speed street circuit in Jeddah on Sunday December 5. In one of the most spectacular races ever witnessed in F1, the Brit prevailed to move dead level on points with his title rival, Max Verstappen. The night‐time showdown had so many thrills and in‐ cidents, including two red flags. With only one race to go, at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, a better script for the season finale could not have been written. The seven‐times world champion led early on, with his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas doing a brilliant job in holding off the challenge from Verstappen in the Red Bull. Hamilton recorded several fastest laps in the pro‐ cess. However, a catalogue of crashes, race suspensions and restarts ensured there were plenty of twists and turns before the chequered flag. Hamilton had to fight back to claim top spot on the podium ahead of Verstappen with Bottas in third. This was the first appearance of F1 in Saudi Arabia, which lived up to its claim of being ‘the fastest street cir‐ cuit in the world.’
JEDDAH: One of the most spectacular races ever.