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The Kansas hunter, who was found dead Saturday after being accidentally killed when a dog stepped on the trigger of his rifle, has been identified and will be remembered as a musician, plumber and family man.

Joseph Smith, 32, of Wichita was found near the hamlet of Geuda Springs, 50 miles south of Wichita and home to 194 people north of the Oklahoma border, after the dog — thought to be Smith’s — accidentally shot him. Sheriffs believe he died around 9:40 a.m.

“A dog belonging to the owner of the pickup truck stepped on the gun, triggering the gun,” the sheriff’s office said. The round that was fired hit the passenger, who died at the scene from his injuries.

Chris Brown, owner of Brown’s Plumbing Services and Smith’s boss, recalled Smith earlier this week. “Joe is absolutely the most unique person I have ever had the privilege of meeting,” he wrote. “He was loved by all of us from all walks of life and loved the same thing.”

Joseph Smith (pictured), 32, of Wichita was found near the hamlet of Geuda Springs, 50 miles south of Wichita and home to 194 people north of the Oklahoma border. Sheriffs believe he died around 9:40 a.m

Brown has started a GoFundMe on behalf of the family to help with funeral and memorial costs.

“No matter how bad or stressful my or our day was, Joe always had something to lift our spirits,” he added. “I’ve been a plumber for a long time and I’ve met many, many different guys, but I’ve never met another Joe and I’m confident there may not be another.”

Smith’s sister Jen added her own reminiscence: “Joseph Smith was a truly amazing man. He was kind, funny, smart and very loving. He made someone smile every time he walked through the door. Either because he’s a dumbass or just his natural presence that makes everything better.

“It wasn’t hard to love Joe because he always made you feel special and never left a conversation without telling you he loves you. Joe will be greatly missed by so many. He was a great friend, employee, cousin, brother, son and dog owner. We loved and lost one of the best. Rest in Peace Joseph.’

Photos show Smith not only as a plumber and avid dog lover, but also as a musician.

As of Tuesday, over $9,000 of the $20,000 goal had been raised to “enable Joe’s family to grieve without the burden of financial stress,” Brown said.

Her feelings echo a friend who took to social media to defend Smith after many poked fun at the unfortunate, accidental shooting before he was identified.

The Kansas hunter, who was found dead Saturday after being accidentally killed when a dog stepped on the trigger of his rifle, has been identified and remembered as a musician, plumber and family man

Chris Brown, owner of Brown’s Plumbing Services and Smith’s boss, wrote: “Joe is absolutely the most unique person I have ever had the privilege of meeting. He was loved by all of us from all walks of life and loved the same.

Brown has started a GoFundMe on behalf of the family to help with funeral and memorial costs

“To all the comedians and gun experts here, this boy was my friend, his father’s best friend for over 20 years,” he wrote. “These comments are hateful.

“I know this family very well and I can’t tell you how much their heart aches right now. Shame on you.’

Pet shootings are rare but not uncommon.

In November, a 32-year-old man was reportedly shot dead by his own dog in Turkey after the dog stepped on the trigger of a shotgun and fired at him.

Ozgur Gevrekoglu was killed while hunting with his friend on the Kizlan Plateau in Turkey’s Samsun province, Turkiye newspaper reported, according to Newsweek.

Smith’s sister Jen added her own reminiscence: “Joseph Smith was a truly amazing man. He was kind, funny, smart and very loving. He made someone smile every time he walked through the door. Either because he’s a dumbass or just his natural presence that makes everything better.

Photos show Smith not only as a plumber and avid dog lover, but also as a musician

Smith was feted by the owner of Brown’s Plumbing Services, where Smith worked

As he put his dog in his car, the animal’s paw touched the loaded gun and the rifle fired at Gevrekoglu at close range.

He was taken to the hospital after the incident and was later pronounced dead.

And in 2015, an Indiana woman was shot in the foot by her dog, Trigger.

Allie Carter, 25, put her 12-gauge shotgun on the ground without a safety during a waterfowl hunt in the Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area, Indiana Conservation Commissioner Jonathon Boyd said.

Boyd said Trigger, a Chocolate Labrador Retriever, mounted the shotgun and pulled the trigger.

He said Carter was shot in the left foot at point-blank range and sustained injuries to her foot and toes.

She was treated in two hospitals and discharged.

As part of an ongoing exercise between the Israel Air Force and the United States Central Command, American B-52 strategic bombers will drop live ammunition on targets in southern Israel on Wednesday.

Channel 12 news Tuesday night, without citing a source, said the targets in the Negev desert were simulating Iranian nuclear facilities. The network said the bombers would drop 100 tons of bunker-busting explosives, also without citing a source.

However, a US official told American media that there would be no replicas of Iranian targets during the exercises and that the exercises were not aimed at any specific adversary, but rather were intended to send a message to Iran and China.

The Israel Defense Forces did not brief reporters at all on the exercise, save for a brief statement announcing the start of the war games with some additional details shortly after CENTCOM.

The IDF does not plan to issue any statements or media about the exercise until it is complete and only after CENTCOM has officially completed it.

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A hyped video released by CENTCOM on Tuesday showed a wide range of military activity as part of the exercise dubbed Juniper Oak 2023.

Juniper Oak 23.2 has just started… pic.twitter.com/DN8tVsGT3D

— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 24, 2023

The US-led drills, involving over 140 aircraft, 12 naval vessels and artillery systems from both nations, will end later this week, both the IDF and CENTCOM said.

The senior US defense official said the exercise aims to show adversaries like Iran that Washington is not too distracted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s threats to mobilize a major military power.

Juniper Oak 2023 logo. (CENTCOM)

CENTCOM said in its statement the armed forces would practice joint command and control, air operations in maritime surface warfare, combat search and rescue, electronic strikes, suppression of enemy air defenses, strike coordination and reconnaissance, and air interdictions.

Of the 142 aircraft involved in the exercise, 100 are Americans, US media reported, including four B-52 strategic bombers, four F-35 fighter jets, 45 F/A-18 fighters and two MQ-9 Reaper drones.

CENTCOM said F-15 and F-16 fighters, AC-130 attack helicopters, Apache helicopters and other rescue and refueling aircraft — including the Boeing KC-46, which Israel is expected to receive in 2025 — would also take part.

The IDF said the plane would practice “various scenarios,” including hitting targets simulating sea threats and the US bombers dropping live ammunition into southern Israel.

The 12 naval vessels involved in the exercise include six Israeli Navy ships and six US ships, the latter of which comprise an aircraft carrier strike group.

Israeli and American naval vessels are seen during the Juniper Oak 2023 exercise January 24, 2023 in the eastern Mediterranean. (CENTCOM)

The IDF said the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 5-class corvettes and a submarine would take part in the exercise. The corvettes are to be refueled by an American supply tanker during the exercise “to expand the IDF’s range and operational areas in routine and emergency situations,” it said.

CENTCOM and the IDF said the exercise would also include high mobility artillery missile systems and multi-launch missile systems, as well as infantry and special forces.

About 6,400 US personnel join 1,100 Israeli personnel for the exercise. Senior CENTCOM commanders, including their chief, Michael Kurilla, will be observing the exercise.

A CENTCOM HC-130J refuels an IAF Sikorsky CH-53 ‘Yasur’ helicopter over northern Israel during the Juniper Oak 2023 exercise January 24, 2023. (CENTCOM)

The official, who spoke to US outlets, said it was “the most significant exercise to date between the United States and Israel,” citing the massive amount of aircraft and personnel involved.

He said the exercise was not aimed at any specific nation, but regional adversaries such as Iran would take notice. “The scale of the exercise is relevant to a whole range of scenarios, and Iran can draw certain conclusions from this,” the official was quoted as saying by NBC News.

“It’s really mostly meant to challenge our ability to do things on this scale with the Israelis against a whole range of different threats. But you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if Iran sees the scale and nature of these activities and understands what we’re both capable of,” the source added.

CENTCOM artillery systems fire missiles during the Juniper Oak 2023 exercise on January 24, 2023. (CENTCOM)

Israel regularly conducts various training exercises with the US military in the country, including air force exercises and anti-missile defense exercises.

In November, the IDF and the US military conducted a series of joint air exercises simulating attacks against Iran and its regional terror proxies.

The then IDF chief Aviv Kohavi said at the time that joint activities with the US military in the Middle East would be “significantly expanded”.

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The Russian Navy frigate conducted a firing exercise on an enemy ship.

“The crew of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, operating in the western Atlantic, conducted an exercise on the use of hypersonic missiles,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to this text, transmitted by the official Russian news agency Ria Novosty, the exercise consisted in hitting an enemy naval target located 900 km from the ship with a Zircon hypersonic missile.

Russia sees these weapons as a way to breach increasingly sophisticated US missile defenses, which Russian President Vladimir Putin says could one day down Russian nuclear missiles.

Nine times the speed of sound

The frigate “Admiral Gorshkov of the Soviet Union Fleet” is a modern multipurpose guided missile ship. It entered service with the Russian Navy in 2018 and 2021 and was upgraded to use Zircon hypersonic missiles capable of nine times the speed of sound.

During the Jan. 4 commissioning ceremony for the Zircons-launched frigate, Vladimir Putin assured that it had “no equivalent in any country in the world.”

Nicolás Maduro has decided not to travel to Brasilia on January 1st, after various efforts by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. That decision went under the carpet at the inauguration of the seventy-year-old standard of the Latin American left. The Venezuelan ruler’s decision not to come to Buenos Aires on January 24 is new.

The government of Venezuela announced that Maduro would not travel to Argentina for security reasons. The Venezuelan President declined at the last minute the invitation of the Argentine government to attend the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) this Tuesday, the 24th, a space for regional integration that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador , trying to revive him, and from Argentina, Alberto Fernández.

In an official statement The Venezuelan regime claimed that “extravagant plans by far-right extremists” were afoot to attack it and jeopardizing the regional event, in a discourse that for many resembles that of the Cuban dictatorship decades ago when Fidel Castro was still alive. Venezuela is represented at the CELAC summit by the foreign ministerYván Gil, who was appointed to this position a few days ago.

Maduro’s decision followed protests led by Venezuelan, Cuban and Nicaraguan citizens. in Buenos Aires to express their opposition to the presence in Argentina of representatives of three Latin American authoritarianisms: Maduro (Venezuela), Miguel Díaz-Canel (Cuba) and Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua).

Unlike Maduro, Díaz-Canel arrived in the Argentine capital this Monday and was received at Ezeiza Airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires by Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Pablo Tettamant.

Daniel Ortega will also not be present at the CELAC meeting. According to former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Arturo McFields, the Nicaraguan ruler is “terribly afraid to leave his cell” and therefore travels only from Managua, where he lives in a kind of bunker, to either Caracas or Havana .
“In the last few hours we have been irrefutably informed of a plan drawn up within the neo-fascist right, the aim of which is to carry out a series of attacks against our delegation,” the Venezuelan government said.

Venezuelan social and political activist residing in Argentina claimed Maduro’s absence as a triumph of the protest wave and the possibility that criminal proceedings would be instituted against the ruler of Venezuela for crimes against humanity, related to complaints filed by Venezuelan victims before the judiciary of Argentina.

“This is a victory for civil society, but also a sign that Argentina still has judicial independence. Nicolás Maduro is not coming to the CELAC summit for fear of being arrested,” Jesús Delgado Valery told DIARIO DE CUBA from Buenos Aires. Delgado Valery is Venezuelan and coordinator of the DemoAmLat initiative dedicated to promoting democratic principles in Latin America.

Indira Urbaneja, a Venezuelan political scientist, told DIARIO DE CUBA that holding the CELAC summit represented a crucial space for the Venezuelan government’s strategy to reintegrate into the region.

“The framework of the celebration of CELAC was the perfect place for Nicolás Maduro to break through the restrictionsthe regional siege that has been ongoing since mid-2018,” Urbaneja said. In 2018, Maduro was re-elected in elections unrecognized by dozens of countries in Latin America, North America and Western Europe.

According to Urbaneja within the framework of this summit For Maduro, the reunion with Lula da Silva and with Alberto Fernández himself was crucial. (President of Argentina) who are trying to promote a new strategy, a kind of reorganization in the region in relation to Venezuela”.

According to this normally informed political analyst Maduro and his entourage had their suitcases ready to travel to Buenos Airesbut the security issue was predominant in the end to preclude the trip.

“The main problem is security. A fully guaranteed level of safety has not been achieved in Buenos Aires,” Indira Urbaneja claimed.

In the analysis that the analyst shares with DIARIO DE CUBA, he not only weighs the risk of an arrest warrant being issued for Maduroas emphasized by Venezuelan opposition actors, but rather, for example, action could be taken on the President’s plane or on members of the entourage.

Urbaneja coincides with Delgado Valery Recognition of the independence of the powers in Argentina. In your opinion, this creates a situation of uncertainty because the government of Alberto Fernández could not guarantee Maduro that the judiciary would not take any action.

Besides not knowing as legitimate his re-election in 2018, A $15 million reward suspended by the US in 2020 weighs heavily on Maduro. Maduro and his security collaborators, on the other hand, are the subject of a preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity after opposition protests were quashed in 2014.

The union called on 6,000 workers to stop work by 11:59 pm. His demand: 500 euros more salary for employees.

One of the most important warning strikes in recent years began at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER). A spokesman for Verdi confirmed this on Wednesday morning. The union called on the 6,000 workers of the airport company, ground handling services and aviation security to stop work until 23:59. As a result, no passenger traffic can be processed on the BER on Wednesday. Originally planned there were 300 takeoffs and landings with around 35,000 passengers.

A spokeswoman at Schwechat Airport and the Austrian Airlines (AUA) press office announced on Wednesday that nine flights on the route between Berlin and Vienna were canceled on Wednesday, including five outbound flights and four return flights. In relation to the total number of flights at Schwechat Airport, the effects are therefore smaller. The AUA will actively inform affected passengers of changes or rebookings, but recommends that passengers check their flight status on the AUA website in a timely manner.

Union demands another 500 euros in wages

Verdi demands an extra 500 euros in salary per month for employees of the airport company and groundhandling services with a collective agreement term of twelve months. In both negotiations, the employer side is demanding significantly longer contract periods.

The last major warning with similar consequences occurred several years ago: in April 2018, hundreds of flights across Germany had to be canceled because collective bargaining for municipal and federal employees was not making progress.

In eight German federal states, tens of thousands of employees fell in a warning strike. In addition to airports, urban transport, kindergartens, clinics, administrations and indoor swimming pools were also affected in several places. Airports were involved at the time because, even after privatization, many municipal employees were still working on baggage and identity checks, among other things.

(APA)

In black leggings and a puffer jacket, Bethany Lane, 35, walks down Bleecker Street in Manhattan carrying three “Goldendoodles” (a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle) and a “Bernedoodle” (a Bernese with a Poodle) Tinkerbelle. They go to a store for treats and walk through Hudson River Park.

After an hour, she takes the dogs home, a luxury home owned by a couple in their 40s who made their fortunes in real estate. “My job is to keep these dogs happy while their owners are busy. i fall in love with her It’s like my babies.”

Lane began working as a “dog walker,” a person who was paid to walk dogs, 11 years ago after graduating from Rutgers University and moving to New York to pursue a career in public health to pursue.

“I had to pay rent and my student loan, so I went to the classifieds. I saw that someone would pay me to walk dogs. Being obsessed with dogs it was perfect.”

She started getting more work as a walker and founded Whistle & Wag in 2014. Once he even worked 12 hours a day. She was able to pay off college debt and hire other dog walkers.

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Today, almost three years after the pandemic began, it can no longer cope with demand. After raising prices — he told one customer he would charge $35 a ride — and attracting dozens of new customers, Lane estimates he made a sixfigure sum last year.

She’s so confident in the business that she bought a house in Tuckerton, New Jersey, to spend her weekends there. “It’s a threebedroom house, it has a back yard, and it overlooks the bay,” says Lane, who shares a twobedroom apartment with her partner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “I can go to any restaurant whenever I want. I can go on vacation. If someone had told me as a kid that I could raise dogs for a living, I would never have believed it.”

The current moment is profitable for dog walkers. While job search sites show that New York City firsttime hikers charge just $14 for a 30minute walk, more experienced hikers with highend clients charge nearly three times that, earning $100,000 (R514,000). $) or more per year .

The pet groomer market is booming. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, more than 23 million American households — nearly one in five — have acquired a dog or cat during the pandemic. These days, with many returning to facetoface work, someone needs to hang out with all of these animals.

“Before the pandemic, I was getting a call or two a month from prospects,” Lane says. “Today there are several a week. And there are many puppies.”

Walking dogs, as a paid activity, was something that attracted people who were interested in a regular job but had flexible schedules for other activities. Something that will appeal to actors, musicians, writers, students, retirees, stayathome moms and dads, and people who are still undecided about what to do with their lives.

The increase in the number of people with pets added to the growth of the sector transformed the activity into something more akin to a business. These are not just ordinary walks, but also more differentiated services for dogs living in the city: nature walks, day trips to farms, training camps and spas.

One of those looking to capitalize on the moment is Michael Josephs, 34, of Brooklyn. A former teacher of disabled students, he trained Willy, a black Labrador mix, at Prospect Park after school. “After three months I could ride my bike in the park and he would follow me when I ran. People saw our relationship and asked me to train their dogs.”

In 2019, Josephs decided to quit his teaching job to open Parkside Pups. He charges US$20 (R$102) for a 30minute walk with a group of dogs. In one month he had already acquired eight clients who worked five hours a day to make around US$30,000 (R$154,000) a year.

The movement faltered during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns but has since recovered. “We hit it off really well in 2022,” says Josephs, who lives in Middletown, New Jersey. “We used to primarily serve customers in downtown Brooklyn or in the park area. Now we have dogs in neighborhoods you’ve never seen many before, like Ditmas Park and Windsor Terrace.”

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Today, Parkside Pups offers puppy training ($60 per hour, R$308), pet sitting ($65 per day, R$334), and 15minute puppy checkins ($12, R$62). According to Joseph, the company generated over $100,000 in revenue last year.

His wife, Clarissa Soto, helps out with the work, and the couple are now considering opening a dog daycare outside of Prospect Park and a field in western Connecticut for animal housing. “Now we have financial security for our child,” says Soto, who was born last year. “We opened a savings account to pay for his college.”

The couple also has more money for incidentals. “We just spent six days at Disney with our families,” says Josephs. “We went to Miami, to Canandaigua, for a wedding. We can spend it on things that bring us joy.”

Translated by Clara Allain

Antonio Muñoz (La Rinconada, Seville, 63 years old) celebrates his one year anniversary as mayor of Seville this month after replacing Juan Espadas, who left the senior staff to try – unsuccessfully – to lead the Junta de Andalucía for the PSOE recapture. During this time, and using what he calls the “Seville method” of making politics (namely, making gains for the city outside of the political noise), he declassified investment for Line 3 of the Metro; she managed to persuade the Andalusian capital to host the space agency and implemented the 2023 budget with Ciudadanos. Now she faces the challenge of becoming the mayor of the most important city with a socialist councilor – a symbolic square for socialism – to revive The wave of the absolute majority of the PP in the municipality, which also swept the city of Seville, has not yet abated. He feels that pressure, but he draws it from the confidence that a “happy mayor” gives him. He is not afraid of the Moreno effect and although he does not see Pedro Sánchez as a brake, he assures that he will concentrate on management in the election campaign and will not stir up fear of Vox.

Question. Do you feel the pressure of being the candidate of the capital ruled by the PSOE?

Answer. I can feel the pressure. No doubt I see that as a great political responsibility.

Q It took her predecessor Juan Espadas six months to step down. Would these six months have been enough to make yourself known?

I didn’t have the whole time that I would have liked to give Muñoz the print in the mayor’s office.

R The more time a political leader has to make themselves known, the better. But the times and the decisions were what they were. I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to put the stamp on Muñoz, which I tried to do this year.

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Q What is this Muñoz imprint? How do you take stock of this year in office?

R In a scenario of political noise, as mayor I tried to use a different method of making politics and the results are there. The budgets: Nobody gave a dime because we were able to set up the budgets in an election year and without an absolute majority and they will move forward. The Metro: A year ago it was unthinkable that the board and the ministry could reconcile interests, that they would think more about Seville and less about give and take, and this week the financing contract will be signed. And there was my role as a mediator, which I think is the role that suits me as mayor, to think about the people of Seville. The Space Agency: I think it’s a different way of doing politics: getting involved so the projects aren’t the Muñoz project, they’re city projects that try to push the city’s relevant issues forward without so much political noise.

Q He keeps repeating that the noise bothers him and that the national debate is making the election campaign difficult for him. How do you perceive this outcry on the streets, with embezzlement, sedition, the government’s legal reforms in the penal code, the verdicts of the law that only yes is yes…?

R What I perceive is the maturity of the neighbors. I think voters are mature enough to know that the mayor of Seville will be elected in May.

P. Will Sanchez stay?

R Not

Sánchez does not pull me off “

Q Your dominance depends on the formations to your left being united.

R I hope they go together. Beyond what suits me or not. Four candidacies should not be presented to leftists who do not feel identified with the PSOE.

Q PP polls conclude she could rule Seville with Vox. Sánchez alluded to the rally he recently shared with you on the Coalition of Fear. Will you follow this strategy?

R I will not resort to the strategy of scaring voters with Vox’s question, because if we learn about the proposals of this far-right party and its government actions in Castilla y León, the people of Seville are intelligent and mature enough to know what the Consequences would be if Vox ruled. Vox already has its resume as a political group. I will not feed the voice of fear because I respect the electorate.

Q What is your model for Seville?

R Seville is the capital of Andalusia and the third largest metropolitan area in Spain, and if it is to be a competitive city it must address three fundamental challenges. The first is anything related to sustainability and the fight against climate change. Second in business. In order to have a competitive economic sector, it must embrace the digital transformation and increase the number of businesses without having this over-reliance on tourism. And third, we need to reduce disparities between some areas and others within the city.

Antonio Muñoz, during the interview.PACO PUENTES

Q Why isn’t a city like Seville too dependent on tourism?

R It is not inconsistent that in Seville we have a thriving tourism and that we are developing other sectors of the economy where we are not starting from scratch. In the industrial sector, we have the top-selling science and technology park in Spain, with more than 536 companies. We have an aeronautical park and the development lever that the Spanish Space Agency and the Free Zone and the Port Zone will mean with companies related to renewable energies. Seville will be a benchmark for the European green economy.

Q But the message that gets through is that Seville is all tourism, Easter and funfair.

R The shadow of the Giralda is too long and, from a tourism point of view, overshadows what is happening in other economic sectors. One of the goals of this year of government was to focus on a different Seville from an economic point of view. You have to know that today satellite components that fly to Mars and Jupiter are manufactured in Seville. Here’s a start-up company that diagnoses colon cancer early and markets it to more than 100 universities across the United States. This is Seville too. I like the slogan we use to promote the city, not only from a tourist point of view, namely the very famous and very unknown city of Seville.

The shadow of the Giralda is too long and overshadows what is happening in other economic sectors in terms of tourism.”

Q Six of the 12 poorest neighborhoods in Spain are in Seville.

R It makes me blush. The City Council has shown no inaction over the years, whoever governs, governs, but we are putting band-aids on a problem that requires a different kind of medicine, and that medicine means that the government of Spain and that of the Junta must agree to address the situation with an ambitious plan to change the direction these neighborhoods are taking. There has been no budgetary impact on the Spanish government and the junta, as I am claiming it should be. We are ready to lead, but if we only rely on local budgets, we will not be able to.

Q Speaking of neighborhoods, in the autonomous communities, the PP won in Seville and rose in traditionally socialist neighborhoods. Are you concerned about the Moreno Effect and the demobilization of your electorate?

R I’m not afraid of the Moreno Effect. People know that this is where the mayor of Seville is elected. No doubt part of my strategy will be to mobilize the neighborhoods where the PSOE has traditionally voted, and that means motivating them by addressing their often-forgotten demands.

Q He was referring to the very unknown city of Seville. Is a gay mayor a handicap for the very Marian city of Seville?

R no I feel absolute normality. What people appreciate is that there are no scams, that you show yourself for who you are. My approach to Marian Sevilla or the Seville Brotherhood was absolutely normal.

My approach to Marian Sevilla or the Seville Brotherhood was absolutely normal.”

Q He had always been reluctant to take part in this Brotherhood liturgy and now he seems enthusiastic.

R I really enjoy being mayor of Seville. I’ve said I feel like a happy mayor, and when I say happy, I don’t say it lightly because I’m burdened with responsibilities. The opposite of being happy or happy is being sad. I am the mayor of all Sevillians and I have to be present at the celebrations, whatever my particular beliefs.

Q Is Seville any closer to having capital city status after the recent meeting with the central government and the junta?

R I call for a legal framework for capital. I didn’t invent that Seville is the capital of Andalusia. The Statute of Autonomy says so, and I think there are a number of unique factors that justify this requirement. The Capital Act is not a law against anyone. I’m not asking, let alone reducing those that a coastal capital or an inland capital can have. Enough of having a complex to be the capital of Andalusia.

Q What do you think that Seville is always compared to Malaga?

R The competition between Andalusian cities seems very impolite to me. Andalusian cities need to cooperate and work together. Malaga had to reinvent itself when it lost the hotel complex in Torremolinos because it was unattractive, under a museum franchise model, but that model doesn’t apply to Seville. We have to take away the belief from people that just because Malaga is doing well doesn’t mean Seville has to be doing badly. Seville has a much more crucial role to play on the board of the Spanish state, it can’t just be a fun and happy city for people coming from Despeñaperros and up. It also needs to be a city that invests and attracts talent

Q After receiving billions of euros for the Expo, do you think Seville has been penalized?

R More than punished I think there was an unwritten mantra in the distribution of general state budgets and the junta with Seville that in 92 there was an exceptional investment. That weighed. What I want to say is that more than 30 years have passed since the Universal Exhibition of 1992 and Seville is piling up infrastructure backlogs that are a bottleneck for economic development: the backlogs of the S-40 ring road, the subway and the connection of the airport with Santa Justa station. That had to be solved now.

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In the Sahel, jihadists control large parts of the region and have displaced millions of people over the past fifteen years.

Burkina Faso has just ended the military agreement that allowed French troops to fight al-Qaeda and Islamic State insurgents on its territory.

The ruling junta still wants France to supply them with military equipment, but says it can defend itself. We will see. Burkina Faso has neither confirmed nor denied the information that it decided to call in Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group.

French troops withdrew from neighboring Mali last year, ending a decade of fighting Islamist insurgents after relations between the two countries deteriorated. Both Burkina Faso and Mali are ruled by military juntas that have violently seized power over the past two years.

The withdrawal of the French army from Mali coincided with the junta’s decision to hire the Russian mercenary group Wagner, with whom it signed a lucrative deal. Other European countries withdrew their troops citing Mali’s collaboration with Wagner. President Macron has accused Russia of “predatory” influence in struggling African countries.

Atrocities in Africa as in Ukraine

The NGO Human Rights Watch accuses the Wagner group of war crimes and torture in Mali and the Central African Republic. This country, which has been in civil war since 2013, is at the heart of Russia’s strategy of influence in Africa.

France decided in the summer of 2021 to suspend its military cooperation with Bangui. The tight guard of the dictator Faustin-Archange Touadéra is ensured by Russian mercenaries who also act as his advisers.

Touadéra gave the group control of the country’s mining resources, whose subsoil is rich in gold and diamonds.

Several bloody attacks have been reported in artisanal mines in the northeast of the country over the past three months, killing dozens of civilians. In neighboring Sudan, the Wagner Group offers the regime protection against privileged access to the country’s gold mining operations.

Wagner, spearhead of Russia

The Wagner Group, recently labeled an international terrorist organization by the United States, is spreading its tentacles in Africa. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Russian mercenaries are operating in 18 African countries to advance Moscow’s geopolitical goals.

African leaders turn to Wagner to quell uprisings, protect themselves and defend their regimes. In return, they leave the exploitation of natural resources to the group, with whom they share the revenue.

Gone are the days when France was completely at home in Africa. Its secret services and its army created and destroyed the regimes there. Now the Russians are coming running. And not only in Françafrique. France and the West have other fish to fry.