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Attack on Zelenskys oligarch friend Kolomojskyj

Inspectors discover quasi weapons uranium in Iran

Latest News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

Inspectors from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report that Tehran has enriched uranium by 84%. Iran denies it.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have found uranium in Iran with a purity just below the level needed to build a nuclear bomb. The uranium has been enriched to 84%, according to Bloomberg. Uranium enriched to about 90 percent is needed for atomic bombs. Iran denies it. The Islamic Republic has not enriched uranium with a purity greater than 60%, according to the national atomic energy agency.

The IAEA would need to determine whether Iran intentionally produced the material or whether the concentration was the result of unintentional accumulation. The Vienna-based IAEA wrote on Twitter late on Sunday that it was aware of such reports. Authorities did not elaborate on the allegations. The organization is in talks with Iran about the “results of recent verification activities”.

More than provided for in the nuclear deal

In the currently suspended international nuclear deal with Iran, a 3.67% limit on uranium enrichment was agreed in Vienna in 2015. Tehran has recently been known to be producing uranium enriched to 60%, which is considerably more than than provided for in the nuclear deal.

Negotiations to resume the international nuclear deal with Iran, which began in April 2021, have been stalled for months. The deal was intended to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure that the country does not build nuclear weapons. It was negotiated by the US, China, Russia, Germany, France, Great Britain and Iran.

However, under then-US President Donald Trump, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on Tehran. As a result, Iran also gradually withdrew its obligations and restricted inspections of its facilities by the IAEA.

(APA/AFP/dpa)

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The historical myth of the “good” Muslim

Latest News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

“But that means Christians were saints, right?” That was one of the comments I saw in the recent video Destroying Muslims’ Greatest Myths on my Coat of Arms YouTube channel. That’s the way it is. A silly comment indeed. It’s like thinking that saying communists are “bad guys” means saying Nazis are “nice guys”. It is better not to try to understand what is going on in the brain matter of certain people. Life is too short for that. But despite the video’s controversial subject matter, according to YouTube metrics, the video has a 99.5% approval rating so far. And it was really good to see the positive reaction from people and even to surprise with some of the myths that I presented there. The video was so good and enlightening for so many people that I thought: why not share these myths with my readers here at Gazeta?

As I said in the previous column, in the last century medieval Muslims have been promoted to supernatural figures, veritable beacons of freedom, tolerance, science, technology, philosophy and all the other things that can be added to this beautiful oriental heritage. Now to doubt that medieval Muslims made a very positive contribution to science would be utterly foolish: history confirms this fact. But suddenly, many people (and even scholars) “forgot” the great atrocities they also committed wherever they went. I’m here to remind you that Muslims were just as human as any other human being. So it’s time to deliver on the promise I made to you in last week’s column: Get the kids out of the room because this is where it gets ugly. For this we go to the other side of the Atlantic about 1,300 years ago: the Iberian Peninsula.

Even in death, Christian Arabs found no rest: Islamic authorities sometimes dug up dead Arabs, realizing posthumously that they had become Christians, and crucified the poor devil’s corpse.

From a social and geopolitical point of view, there is no better place on earth to see the myth of the good Muslim being shattered. Because you know very well that what was then the largest Muslim empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, ruled practically the entire Iberian Peninsula, then called AlAndalus. And with this empire begins the propaganda of religious tolerance and peace that reigns throughout the peninsula. This period, which began in 711, even got a nice name: the paradise of Andalusia.

In his book The Myth of Paradise in Andalusia, historian Dario Fernandez Morera mentions that crucifixion, impalement and the typical beheading were among the atrocities committed by the Moors of the Umayyad Caliphate. Even a chronicle of the time describes how Emir Abd alRahman III. Beheaded 100 Christian prisoners to set an example and sent all the heads to the city of Cordoba, which was always trying to rebel. Incidentally, even Muslim heretics who became Christians were left behind: the chronicler Ibn Hayyan describes a series of crucifixions of apostate Muslims in a public square.

Even in death, Christian Arabs found no rest: Islamic authorities sometimes dug up dead Arabs, realizing posthumously that they had become Christians, and crucified the poor devil’s corpse. Perhaps the bestknown example is that of a Moorish convert named Ibn Hafsun who suffered this fate.

And if today women still suffer and are dehumanized under many Islamic laws, imagine it then. Just like today, women were subject to the terrible law of Sharia. Cases have been reported of women burning their faces, such as that of a caliph who burned the face of a woman who resisted his sexual advances. A collection of Islamic laws called “Muwatta” shows that women were often “circumcised,” which is just a euphemism for female genital mutilation.

And when the Umayyad Empire fell came the Almohads and Almoravids, who can tell you by name what a good thing it wasn’t. According to Professor Mark Cohen in his book Under Crescent and Cross [Sob o crescente e a cruz], on page 117, they spread terror across the peninsula: mass beheadings, crucifixions, church burnings, and forced conversions of Christians and Jews to Islam marked decades of oppression. Interestingly, by the way, the same author is very benevolent towards Muslims in general.

It is obvious that it is impossible to know the frequency and duration of this violence, just as it is impossible to know the duration of periods of peace. But both happened and are very well documented: to generalize to one period or another is to oversimplify such complex dynamics. Many people suffered during this time and this is testified to in Christian Martyrs under Islam: Religious Violence and the Making of the Muslim World [Os mártires cristãos sob o islã: A violência religiosa e a construção do mundo muçulmano]. Professor Christian C. Sahne shows us in this work how “violence against Christians laid the foundation for the antagonism between ChristianMuslim relations in the centuries that followed” and how leaders of the struggle against Muslims and their supporters were brutally murdered, leaving a terror in their wake Reconquista itself and the seven centuries of struggle of the Europeans to expel the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula show this ingrained antagonism, and that if they fought for it and died for it, they must have had for strong reasons, that is, this Paradise in Andalucia was more of a stressful hell, and unfortunately there is more… much more!

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1676882073 Dancing with the Stars Rosanna Banfi quotI danced against cancerquot

Dancing with the Stars, Rosanna Banfi: "I danced against cancer"

Entertainment News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

Dancing with the Stars Rosanna Banfi quotI danced against cancerquot

Paola Pellai February 20, 2023

The television was out of sight Rosanna Banfi, but Dancing with the stars gave us back his smile and sweet determination. “This program revitalized me. There are no concrete projects yet, but I hope that suggestions will come.”

You no longer recognize her. Who massacred Iva Zanicchi

The secrets of this program?
“Milly Carlucci is an incredible general at leading a proven team. You feel protected and if, like me, you’re lucky enough to be with a dancer who you get along with very well, you’ve bingoed. Simone Casula and I hit it off straight away: we are friends».

Is it true that you spontaneously said yes when Carlucci called you?
“I would have even said yes to her the day before she suggested it to me. TV and cinema had forgotten me, I was tired of waiting for a call that didn’t come. After 50 it’s hard to find the right role for you. That’s when the idea of plan B came to me.

tell us
«We opened the Orecchiettetteria Banfi in Rome. A place dedicated to the father’s career and to the excellence of Puglia, born of a true passion. Dad and I always cooked. The impetus for this came from our daughter Virginia, who enrolled in a culinary school after traditional high school. She worked in other restaurants, got engaged and then married a chef».

What I bought with my first paycheck: Milly Carlucci's confession

The names of the first courses pick up on Dad’s famous jokes…
«The first courses are only with orecchiette. The most popular variant is the “Porca puttèna” with tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic».

Have you ever thought of revolutionizing orecchiette with cricket flour?
«(laughs, amused, ed.) No, no, no… I don’t know if this is really going to be the future of food, but humans are an animal that can adapt to anything. After all, it’s just a flour, I don’t think it has a special taste or that we would hear the cricket crunching under our teeth».

Papa was allowed to have a say: On January 22, 2019, the then Deputy Prime Minister Di Maio declared him a member of the Italian Unesco Commission.
“Occasionally he’ll join these online meetings with a hundred people who only speak English and then laughingly tell me he’s the only ‘Mr’, everyone else is ‘Dr’ or ‘Prof’. In short, it doesn’t do anything.”

After art school, she didn’t know how to tell dad she wanted to be in show business.
“It’s true, I was afraid of his answer. Instead he smiled at me and told me he would help me if he could.”

With Lino he also presented Saint Vincent in Eurovision in 1988
“It was an immense emotion. As soon as the Eurovision theme song started, I closed my stomach. On stage, I would have introduced Miguel Bosè, whose photo I kept in my diary… He was so beautiful, it’s hard to imagine… (he smiles, ed.) ».

Dad even helped her give birth.
«It was not an easy birth: my mother was a small woman and I weighed almost 5 kilos. She couldn’t have done it on her own, dad helped her. But do you know what he did then?”.

NO…
“When the midwife walked past her afterbirth and asked him to remove it, he flushed it down the toilet and blocked it. Yes, he clogged the toilet with my placenta (laughs, editor’s note) ».

We always talk about dad, but there is also a great mom
«Mamma Lucia was the classic woman of yesteryear who pretends to let her husband decide everything and is instead the one who has the last word. Mom did a great job, she helped dad a lot to get famous by keeping the family together and making sure he found a safe and loving place every time he came home. But dad also taught us to respect values and rules and not to betray the trust. He knows? Those were different times, I was the eldest daughter, but when I came home later than agreed, I got a few slaps in the face… ».

She had such a close family that she found it easy to clone them when she made her own
“Mum and Dad have been married for 61 years. The marriage between me and Fabio (Leoni, note) has lasted for 31 years, we have been working together for years, sharing all day. We were lucky enough to meet and be the right person for each other. We’re not a panda couple, we’re a happy couple.”

Which mother is she?
«Virginia is 30 years old, Pietro is 25. I left her free in her choice, but always by her side, open to dialogue and comparison. Today we are a de facto working family. We work together in the Orecchietterie».

This chain of love was crucial in winning her biggest fight: in 2009, she underwent surgery for breast cancer.
“On Dancing with the Stars, I danced to a tumor-inspired choreography and dedicated it to all the women who are struggling and those who haven’t. I am a testimonial for the Komen association, which focuses on prevention. Prevention saves our lives, we must never tire of saying that. Women often neglect themselves to prioritize responsibilities related to household, husband and children. I tell them to take the time to feel good about themselves. When you’re feeling good, make those you love feel good too.”

She defines herself as a “restaurateur”: one wish as a restaurateur and one as an actress.
«As a restaurateur, I would like to turn our Orecchietteria into a business and open branches in other cities. As an actress, on the other hand, I would like to tie in with Un Medico in Famiglia. 30-year-old customers come to the restaurant who know the episodes by heart because they grew up together.”

Dancing with the Stars, Rosanna Banfi: "I danced against cancer" Read More »

Eddie Redmayne is cozying up with chic wife Hannah Bagshawe after his BAFTA loss

Entertainment News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

He lost the supporting actor BAFTA to Barry Keoghan.

However, Eddie Redmayne proved he was still in good spirits as he and wife Hannah Bagshawe went party-hopping on Sunday after the glamorous ceremony.

The couple formed a perfect couple as they kicked off the night in British Vogue and Tiffany & Co. Celebrate fashion and film bash at Annabel’s before heading to the Chiltern Firehouse Awards Ceremony for the Netflix afterparty.

They chose not to switch outfits they wore for the ceremony, with Eddie looking stylish in a black Alexander McQueen jumpsuit with satin lapels and baggy pants.

The British actor, 41, opted not to wear a shirt underneath his blazer top, which transitioned into a jumpsuit.

Loving life: Eddie Redmayne proved he was still in good spirits after his BAFTA loss as he and wife Hannah Bagshawe went party-hopping after the ceremony on Sunday

Hannah, 40, also looked incredible as she donned a see-through, nude dress adorned with colorful beads and embellishments.

The pair beamed broadly as they posed for snaps at the party, although Eddie missed out on picking up his second BAFTA.

He was nominated for his fourth BAFTA for his role in The Good Nurse, in which he played serial killer Charles Cullen.

However, the category was won by Barry for his work in The Banshees Of Inisherin.

The biggest night in British cinema returned on Sunday night when actor Richard E Grant took the helm to present the 76th EE British Academy Film Awards.

Taking place at the Royal Festival Hall, Richard, 65, was joined by Alison Hammond to host the star-studded ceremony, while film critic Ali Plum walked the red carpet with Vick Hope.

Austin Butler took home Best Actor at the awards, beating favorite Colin Farrell in shock excitement.

The actor fought back tears as he paid tribute to the Presley family while accepting the honor after portraying the late King Of Rock in the Baz Lurhmann biopic.

Cute: The pair kicked off the night in British Vogue and Tiffany & Co. Celebrating fashion and film bash at Annabel’s before heading to the Chiltern Firehouse for the Netflix afterparty

Dapper: They chose not to change the outfits they wore for the ceremony, with Eddie looking stylish in a black all-in-one jumpsuit with satin lapels and baggy pants

Vogues Edward Enninful ties the knot

Bold look: The British actor, 41, opted not to wear a shirt underneath his blazer top, which transitioned into a jumpsuit

BAFTA’s 2023 winners at a glance

BEST FILM – All Quiet on the Western Front

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM – The Banshees of Inisherin

DIRECTOR – Edward Berger, All Quiet on the Western Front

PRINCIPAL ACTRESS – Cate Blanchett, Tar

MAIN ACTORS – Austin Butler, Elvis

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

SUPPORTING ACTORS – Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – The Banshees by Inisherin

ADAPTED SCRIPT – All quiet on the western front

MOVIE NOT IN ENGLISH – All quiet on the Western Front

DOCUMENTARY – Navalny

ANIMATED FILM – Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro

ORIGINAL SCORE – All quiet on the western front

EE RISING STAR AWARD – Emma Mackey

Austin thanked the entire crew and team he worked with on the film and admitted he was “just trying to take it all in” as he choked back tears upon accepting the honors.

“It means everything to me,” Butler told the ceremony, still using the Elvis stretching tone he learned for Baz Luhrmann’s film.

He also paid tribute to the Presley family, who provided insight into Elvis’ life for the biopic, adding he “hopes he made them proud”.

Cate Blanchett also won Best Actress for her performance in the biopic Tar, the film’s only major win that night.

She tearfully accepted the gong as she thanked her mother and her director, Todd Field, adding that Blanchett also said 2022 was an “extraordinary year for women.”

She added that it broke down, that women’s experience was not “monolithic” and that her role as Lydia Tar was “a dangerous and potentially career-ending endeavor.”

As the ceremony began, Carey Mulligan was incorrectly announced as the winner of the Supporting Actress Award after a translation error while deaf actor Troy Kotsur was presenting.

Stunning: Hannah, 40, also looked incredible as she donned a sheer nude dress adorned with colorful beads and embellishments

Heading home: Eddie was pictured heading home after a night of partying

Everyone was celebrating: The couple looked ready for bed after their night on the town

Oscar winner Kotsur made the announcement via sign language before a communication error resulted in Mulligan’s name being called out for her appearance in She Said.

Netflix’s German war epic All Quiet On The Western Front was the night’s big winner with a total of seven awards, including Best Picture, while The Banshees of Inisherin was a close second with five, including Best British Film and Best Supporting Actor or Actress.

The film, based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, tied with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2001) as the highest-grossing BAFTA-nominated non-English film in history.

Directed by Edward Berger, Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow can be seen in the leading roles.

BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2023: THE WINNERS

BEST MOVIE

Applause: Netflix anti-war epic All Quiet On The Western Front

All quiet on the western front – WINNER

The Banshees by Inisherin

elvis

Everything everywhere at once

tar

BEST ACTRESS

First nomination: Ana de Armas is up for Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (Tar) – WINNER

Viola Davis (The Lady King)

Danielle DeadwylerTill

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Emma Thompson (Good luck Leo Grande)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything everywhere at once

BEST ACTOR

Up for grabs: Austin Butler is nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Elvis

Austin Butler (Elvis) – WINNER

Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Daryl McCormack (Good luck Leo Grande)

Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

Bill Nighty (alive)

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

After sun

The Banshees of Inisherin – WINNER

Brian and Karl

realm of light

Good luck Leo Grande

Life

Roald Dahl’s Matilda

See how they run

the swimmers

The wonder

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells) – WINNER

Blue Jeans (Georgia Oakley, Helene Sifre)

Electrical Illness (Marie Liden)

Good luck to you Leo Grande (Katy Brand)

Rebellion (Maia Kenworthy)

MOVIE NOT IN ENGLISH

All quiet on the western front – WINNER

Argentina, 1985

corsage

decision to go

The quiet girl

DOCUMENTARY

All breaths

All the beauty and the bloodshed

fire of love

Moontime Daydream

Navalny – WINNER

ANIMATION FILM

Pinocchio – WINNER

Marcel wears the shell with shoes on

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

To redden

DIRECTOR

Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Qua in All at Once

All Quiet on the Western Front, Edward Berger – WINNER

The Banshees by Inisher Martin McDonagh

Decision to leave, Park Chan-wook

All everywhere at once, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Tar, Todd Field

The Woman King, Gina Prince-Bythewood

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Banshees of Inisherin – WINNER

Everything everywhere at once

The Fabelmans

tar

triangle of sadness

ADAPTED SCRIPT

All quiet on the western front – WINNER

Life

The quiet girl

she said

The whale

SOUND

All quiet on the western front – WINNER

Avatar: The Way of Water

elvis

tar

Top Gun: Maverick

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse – WINNER

middle guard

Your mountain is waiting

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett (Wakanda Forever)

Hong Chau (The Whale)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) – WINNER

Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere at Once)

Carey Mulligan (she said)

SUPPORTING CAST

Shortlist: Eddie Redmayne is nominated for a supporting actor in The Good Nurse

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) – WINNER

Ke Huy Quan (Everything everywhere at once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

Albrecht Schuch (rest on the western front)

Michael Ward (Empire of Light)

POUR

“Triangle of Sadness” was awarded in the “Casting” category

After sun

nothing new in the West

Elvis – WINNER

Everything everywhere at once

triangle of sadness

CINEMATOGRAPHY

All quiet on the western front – WINNER

The Batman

elvis

realm of light

Top Gun: Maverick

COSTUME DESIGN

Costume Design: Margot Robbie in Babylon

nothing new in the West

Amsterdam

Babylon

Elvis – WINNER

Mrs. Harris goes to Paris

EDITING

Sequel: Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick

nothing new in the West

The Banshees by Inisherin

elvis

All everywhere at once – WINNER

Top Gun: Maverick

MAKEUP & HAIR

nothing new in the West

The Batman

Elvis – WINNER

Matilda the Musical by Roald Dahl

The whale

ORIGINAL RESULTS

All quiet on the western front – WINNER

Babylon

The Banshees by Inisherin

Everything everywhere at once

Pinocchio

PRODUCT DESIGN

nothing new in the West

Babylon – WINNER

The Batman

elvis

Pinocchio

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar: The Way Of Water features special visual effects

nothing new in the West

Avatar: The Way of Water – WINNER

The Batman

Everything everywhere at once

Top Gun: Maverick

BRITISH SHORT FILM

The Ballad of Olive Morris

Bazigaga

bus girl

A boost

An Irish farewell – WINNER

EE RISING STAR

Happy: Nominees Sheila, Naomi and Daryl

Emma Mackey (Sex Education) – WINNER

Naomie Ackie (Whitney Houston: I want to dance with someone)

Sheila Atim (The Woman King)

Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education)

Daryl McCormack (Good luck to you)

Eddie Redmayne is cozying up with chic wife Hannah Bagshawe after his BAFTA loss Read More »

Melon woman reveals preparations for Mangueira fashion show: ‘Lots of sex’

Entertainment News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

Melon woman reveals secret for good parade in Sapucaí: “a lot of sex”

Renata Frisson, the bowler hat woman, revealed one of the secrets to a good time in her debut runway show as Mangueira’s muse: “lots of sex.”

The beauty, who is entering the avenue this Sunday (19), said the activity was ideal for anyone about to cross the avenue.

“It’s cardio, it helps you burn calories, it relaxes you, moves your waist and makes your skin feel good,” he said just before finishing dressing.

“My costume is beautiful. Full of butterflies,” he said, stopping Sapucaí again.

Currently, Renata has a slimmer silhouette with smaller breasts she’s reduced silicone implants from 500ml to 360ml and a slimmer body at a size 34.

1 of 1 Renata Frisson, the bowler hat woman, poses at Sapucaí — Photo: Marcos Serra Lima/g1 Renata Frisson, the bowler hat woman, poses at Sapucaí — Photo: Marcos Serra Lima/g1

Melon woman reveals preparations for Mangueira fashion show: ‘Lots of sex’ Read More »

[EN VIDÉO] A car catches fire on the A-20 in Montreal

Latest News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

A motorist narrowly escaped on Highway 20 in Montreal, his vehicle was a total loss after it suddenly caught fire in the late afternoon.

“Fortunately, according to our information, there was only one person on board and the person was not injured. Subject to all caveats, the paramedics wouldn’t even have had to move,” Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Sergeant Audrey-Anne Bilodeau confirmed to the Journal.

A video posted to Facebook also shows rather impressive images of the scene on Highway 20, very close to exit 60. We see the car completely devastated by flames and a thick black cloud rising into the sky.

total loss

An initial call to 911 on the matter was made around 5:20 p.m., according to SQ.

“We have very little information at the moment, but the vehicle would be a total loss,” said Sergeant Bilodeau. Traffic in this area returned to normal around 7 p.m.

Note that this fire has no criminal origin. For its part, the SQ mentions that it has not initiated any investigation into this affair.

The Montreal Fire Department (SIM) had not responded to questions from the journal at the time of this writing.

Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?

Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?

[EN VIDÉO] A car catches fire on the A-20 in Montreal Read More »

Vallecas dreams of trekking the Rayo Strip across Europe

Latest News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

“Lightning Liverpool next year!” It’s the fashion song in Vallecas and is played in the preview of Sunday’s game against Sevilla. “Let’s see if Liverpool come in…” jokes Álvaro García, one of the bastions of a Rayo who rubs shoulders with Miuras like Athletic, Betis or Villarreal for moving into European positions. “In the dressing room we are careful, but it is logical that people are excited and dreaming. It’s the second round now and it’s no coincidence that we’re up there,” said the winger.

Although the last two draws (1-1) against Getafe and Sevilla have tempered the Rayista euphoria, Vallecas is backing a team that sits sixth in the table after 22 league games with the sixth-lowest salary cap. This Sunday they had to be called out ahead of Seville, where they are and who their goalkeeper Bono saved from defeat in south-east Madrid.

Rayo’s starting XI against Sevilla poses with their fans in the background at Vallecas INMA FLORES stadium

Commander of the Rayista ship is the youngest first class trainer. Andoni Iraola (Usurbil, Gipuzkoa, 40) managed promotion in 2021 and eight of the 11 starters against Sevilla were in that squad. One of them is Álvaro García, who spent two seasons in the second division with the Vallecanos before enjoying the best moment of his career at the age of 30. “The key is the dressing room, we know each other perfectly and with the same coach, the newcomers adapt perfectly,” he explains.

David Cobeño, former Rayista player and sporting director, highlights the importance of this block. “I talk to the footballers about it. They are the same but after spending several years in the elite their confidence is different, the rivals have more respect for them and it shows. They are better than last season and also worse than the next one,” he sums up.

In Rayismo, the character of Iraola seems to be the key to the team’s good progress. With advanced pressure and vertical play, Rayo is the sixth team in the league with the most shots on goal (13.14 shots per game). Nacho del Molino, a Rayista member, commented before the game that “he knows a lot of people who, without being from Rayo, wear the team’s games to see good football” and that in this regard he “never disappointed”.

Rayo 2022/2023 is at its best in club history at this point in the season. He has 34 points in 22 days, just like in the 2012/2013 season, when they signed their best historical position with Paco Jémez on the bench (eighth with 53 points). They also had 34 points at this point last season, where they achieved championship positions in the first round. But the drop was significant in the second round and they were only able to add eight more points to reach 42 and finish in twelfth place. Aware of fears of history repeating himself, Iraola nevertheless told a press conference that he saw “a more balanced team in their results” this year.

For this part of the season they have signed Raúl De Tomás, who stood out in his first spell at Rayo and scored 17 goals for Espanyol last year, leading to the Spain side’s call-up. The summer soap opera of his departure from the Catalan club had the worst possible outcome: his return to Rayo was forged from the period and the player has been training for four months without being able to play. Teammates, managers and fans will keep their fingers crossed for RDT to regain its best version and bring an extra quality to the Rayo forward who already had a promising youngster like Sergio Camello and a veteran like Radamel Falcao.

The inflow into the stadium of Vallecas (capacity almost 15,000 spectators) has grown compared to the previous season: According to Transfermarkt, it has increased from an average occupancy rate of 57.2% to 82.9%. Antonio Castilla, President of the Peñas del Rayo Federation, enjoys the great sporting moment of a club that is the “emblem of its neighborhood” and coexists in the capital with two giants of the likes of Real Madrid and Atlético. “There have been important transfers (to Getafe or Valladolid) and the youngest are getting hooked even though the board has removed the child’s season ticket,” he says.

Rayo President Raúl Martín Presa has publicly asked Isabel Díaz Ayuso and José Luis Martínez Almeida for help to expand a stadium in Vallecas that he says has “become too small”. Also small is the structure of the club, which consists of very few workers. “We’re few, but we all love the Strip. If we stay in the first class for more years, the organizational chart will expand,” confirms sporting director Cobeño.

Two Rayo fans celebrate Florian Lejeune’s goal that led to a 1-1 draw with Sevilla. INMA FLORES

Rayo is a special club for many reasons, but one of the most striking is that a large part of the fans coexist around him, very leftist and with a working-class spirit, with a president who invited the Vox leaders into the box as Fans have not yet had access to stadiums due to the pandemic. Living together is not easy and the clubs do not give Presa any credit for the good sporting situation. “Their decisions vary depending on the day and time,” says Antonio Castilla.

When the ball rolls, differences of opinion with the board are of course forgotten and illusion prevails. The big challenge for those from Iraola is to keep up. “It’s easy to cope with the euphoria because we’re a modest club,” says Cobeño, who smiles when he talks about running the strip through the fields of Europe.

A single European participation

The only time Rayo Vallecano participated in European competitions was in the 2000/2001 season. The Madrileños finished last season in ninth place but were invited to the UEFA Cup for being one of the teams with the fewest bookings in Europe. They advanced to the quarterfinals where they were eliminated by Alavé, who would finish runners-up after the unforgettable final against Liverpool.

In the 2013/2014 season, after the best season in their history, the Vallecanos should have also played in the Europa League as they finished eighth and Malaga was sanctioned but the club was in bankruptcy proceedings and UEFA didn’t let them granted license to play. It was Sevilla, of all people, their last rival, who took part in the tournament and ended up clinching the title after beating Benfica in the final.

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Hardware stores advocate postponing retirement pensions

Business News / Ashley Cornell, email: [email protected]

The Legault government’s proposal to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 has garnered strong support from Quebec hardware and building materials retailers.

“People don’t know, but older workers are worth their weight in gold to us. They know their stuff, are reliable and you don’t always have to back down. When they tell you the job is done, it’s done; and otherwise well done. »

Maxime Bossinotte, owner of the TimberMart-affiliated Matériaux Direct renovation center in La Pocatière, can’t imagine doing without these workers over 60 who are often shunned by employers.

He also believes the government should do everything it can to encourage these people to remain in the labor market by removing any obstacles – especially taxes – that might curb their desire to keep working.

“Typically, these workers want to stay active while spending more time on activities they are passionate about, like hunting or snowmobiling. By adapting, by learning to connect with their desire to work only two days a week, for example, or only certain times of the year, there can be perfect marriages. »

The businessman from La Pocatière in Bas-Saint-Laurent agrees with that of AQMAT, the Quebec Hardware and Building Materials Association.

Against a current

Hardware stores advocate postponing retirement pensions

Eric Girard
Minister of Finance

Contrary to the position of unions and some employers’ associations in recent weeks, home improvement stores in general welcome Treasury Secretary Eric Girard’s proposal to change the rules of the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).

The latter does not plan to change the statutory retirement age, which is currently set at 65. However, the CAQ has opened the door for a review of progressive access to old-age pensions, say at age 62, to encourage people to work longer.

“This revision comes at a time of increasing decline in the labor force. At a time of this labor shortage, we cannot afford to be left behind,” said CEO Richard Darveau.

90% suffer

AQMAT’s position is based on the results of a recent survey of its members. In addition, 90% of them say they are suffering from the decline in the labor force, 44% support the idea of raising the retirement age (to 62 or even 65) and 97.4% believe that tax checks are needed to keep people over 60 to stay in the labor force.

On this last point, the federation recommends that Quebec exempt employers and workers from any contribution to the QPP once a worker over 60 chooses to remain in the labor market.

For his part, Mr. Bossinotte believes that Quebec should abolish their deductions for at least the first 16 hours (two days) of work per week. In his opinion, the additional income generated in this way would flow back into society through higher consumer spending.

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