Euro Weekly News - Costa Blanca South 12 - 18 May 2022 Issue 1923

THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 34 - 38

12 - 18 May 2022

Business is booming THE Vega Baja finished 2022’s first quarter as a Valencian Community leader in creating new businesses.

By the end of March, 10,819 Vega Baja com‐ panies were registered with Spain’s Social Se‐ curity system, 586 more than during the same period in 2021, the Valencian Statistics Institute (IVE) an‐ nounced.

Proportionately, this 5.7 per cent increase puts the Vega Baja in fifth place regionally and in second place provincially after the L’Alacanti area, accord‐ ing to the IVE report.

The Valencian Com‐ munity’s largest first quarter increase went to the Alto Mijares (Castellon) area where the number of compa‐ nies grew by 12.3 per cent.

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ON TRACK THE Diputacion provincial council will not drop plans to bring the Tram from Alicante to Elche.

Despite Elche City Hall’s refusal to ask the regional government to back the proposal, Diputacion president Carlos Mazon said that he still intends to carry out a feasibility study into the project.

It was hard to understand why Alicante City had local trains, the AVE high speed train and the Tram, all of which were well coordinated, but Elche could not, Mazon pointed out.

“Elche deserves the Tram,” he said.

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12 - 18 May 2022

NINETEEN Orihuela and Orihuela Costa firms re‐ ceived Tourist Destinations Comprehensive Quality Systems (Sicted) certificates for the first time. They were also renewed for a further 16 local businesses linked to tourism.

Sicted is a Spanish government initiative creat‐ ed to promote competitive and sustainable tourist destinations by offering quality products and services from both the public and private sec‐ tors. These official seals of approval were present‐ ed at an event that was held at Orihuela Costa’s Club Nautico and attended by Francesc Colomer, who heads the regional government’s Tourism Board.

Also present were Orihuela mayor Carolina Gracia and city hall’s Tourism councillor Maria Garcia.

“Sicted represents a team victory that is better than any other programme,” Colomer said as he thanked the Sicted holders for understanding that quality was something that could not be abstract.

“A tourist city makes it possible for happiness to reach the lives of others,” he said. “And that has to be the result of regular, measured and recognised work, not a chance happening.”

DOLORES Town Hall received a Silver Broom award for its door‐to‐door rubbish collect‐ ing service. Silver Brooms are awarded every two years by the Technical Association for Waste Management to insti‐ tutions in Spain and abroad

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A class act Photo credit: Orihuela city hall

SICTED RECOGNITION: Orihuela business-owners with Francesc Colomer, Carolina Gracia and Maria Garcia.

Carolina Gracia stressed the need to make ev‐ eryone aware of all that Orihuela had to offer as a tourist destination. She also called for cooperation between firms. “Orihuela has important attrac‐ tions, we are Mediterranean history and we have companies of great value,” she said.

Orihuela was one of the first Valencian Com‐ munity tourist destinations to recognise business‐ es that provided outstanding tourist services and had been doing so for 10 years.

“Their number has steadily increased since then, with 72 firms awarded Orihuela quality cer‐ tificates,” Gracia said.

A very clean sweep for good practice and man‐ agement, explained Dolores mayor Joaquin Hernandez.

“This prize highlights the significant effort that the

town hall is making to ensure that our municipality is clean, has fewer toxic emissions and is environmentally‐ friendly,” he said.

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NIBS EXTRA IVACE help DOLORES Town Hall, which is spending almost €1.5 mil‐ lion on improvements to its Los Azarbes industrial estate, will also receive a €197,208 grant from the Valencian In‐ stitute of Business Competi‐ tiveness (IVACE). Work will include channelling the Azarbe del Acierto irrigation canal, which has been prone to flooding in the past.

Cash injection TORREVIEJA councillors ap‐ proved assigning the €48.8 million which was unused from last year’s Budget to projects that will improve the municipality and help to re‐ activate the local economy without affecting future spending. This includes a €5.7 million allocation for resur‐ facing the town’s roads, Fi‐ nance councillor Domingo Paredes said.

Twice daily ELCHE City Hall will introduce new rubbish collection and recycling systems exclusively for bars, restaurants and cafes in 12 streets in the old quarter this summer. These will be emptied twice daily, explained councillor Hector Diaz, ensuring there is no visi‐ ble accumulation of unsightly and bad‐smelling rubbish.

Fewer melons PRODUCTION of the Carriza‐ les melons that are an Elche speciality could be cut by half this year, owing to two months of the heaviest rain ever recorded in Alicante Province. The heavy clay soil is waterlogged and impossi‐ ble to work, said Fernando Anton, president of the Car‐ rizales Irrigation Association.

Home alone EXACTLY 197,700 ‐ 26 per cent ‐ of Alicante Province’s 755,900 family homes are occupied by one person, ac‐ cording to the latest figures from Spain’s National Statis‐ tics Institute (INE). The major‐ ity are unmarried men of 65 years or under who possess a certain degree of economic stability, INE found.

12 - 18 May 2022

Overwhelmed with kittens THE kitten season has arrived.

The Pets in Spain animal charity, overloaded with kittens saved from life-threatening situations, are all too aware of this sad fact.

In the space of just one week, they are now looking after another six born to a mum that was injured and could not feed them.

Two more, aged just two weeks, were found abandoned in the under-build of a house.

“They were starving and infested with fleas,” Pets in Spain’s Yvonne Lewis told the Euro Weekly News.

A visit to the vet clinic re-

THRIVING YOUNGSTERS: Pets in Spain’s fosterers bottlefeed the latest intake.

vealed that one of them had maggots in one eye which received immediate treatment and steroid drops to eradicate the infestation.

“Hopefully the eye will recov-

Pothole misery ORIHUELA COSTA residents and visitors continue to complain about the state of the neighbourhood’s public roads.

The Cabo Roig and Lomas Residents’ Association (AVCRL) said the problem does not have a short‐term solution. Orihuela City Hall will first need to estimate the amount of work needed, put this out to tender and award a contract, they told the local Span‐ ish media.

“Pure science fiction,” they said, pointing out that the new team at city hall, currently preparing the first Budget since 2018, intend to set aside €2 million for asphalting roads.

“Solving the problem of Orihuela Costa roads requires an an‐ nual allocation of around €2 million from the next four or five budgets,” AVCRL said.

It was impossible to avoid the potholes on some streets, the association added, making it necessary to use the other side of the road.

When repairs are carried out, these usually involve filling the potholes with earth, which lasts until it rains.

“They are throwing away money and manpower that would be better used on asphalt,” the association maintained.

Rainfall, which is becoming heavier and more frequent, has in‐ creased the number and size of potholes and AVCRL said that they are now receiving complaints about damaged vehicles.

The association is now seeking legal advice about the steps to take when a car is affected, sources said.

er,” Yvonne said.

All eight kittens are now thriving, bottle-fed on kitten milk by the charity’s foster carers.

The pandemic has hit animal

Councillor’s ‘tip of the iceberg’ warning COUNCILLOR Mariano Valera was the victim of a verbal ho‐ mophobic attack on May 7.

Valera, Elche’s Equality, So‐ cial Rights and Inclusive Poli‐ cies councillor, related on his social media accounts that he and his husband were walk‐ ing hand‐in‐hand in Santa Po‐ la, enjoying the splendid weather.

Two youths of around 18 or 20 on bicycles stood in front of the couple, who waited for them to pass.

“They looked at us and shouted ‘perverts’ which left us perplexed, not knowing what to say or do,” Valera said.

He explained that he felt like running after them and calling the police to report a hate crime, but they were on

Dama for a year SARA TORRES was named Dama de Guardamar 2022 during a gala occa‐ sion at the Casa de Cultura on Satur‐ day May 7.

Sara, like Alexia Aldeguer and Glo‐ ria Gomez, who will be her maids of honour, was chosen in a two‐round draw of candidates’ names.

The gala traditionally precedes Guardamar’s Moors and Christians fi‐

charities hard, with outdoor fundraising events cancelled and reduced customer trade in charity shops.

As a consequence, and due to lack of funds, Pets In Spain must close their charity shop in Avenida Londres, Urbanisation La Marina on May 31.

“Please continue to support us and deliver donated items to sell in our other charity shop which will remain open on the lower level of Consum Square, in Urbanisation La Marina,” Yvonne said For more information visit www.petsinspain.com or ring 645 469 253 (tel or WhatsApp).

estas, held each July in honour of the town’s patron, San Jaime.

“After two years of the pandemic, we are able to resume July fiestas with high hopes,” said Guardamar’s Fiestas councillor Maria Venerdi.

“Our sincerest congratulations to Sara who will represent Guardamar during all the events planned for the coming year.”

bicycles and it was impossible to catch up with them.

“So I decided to denounce what happened here,” he wrote on Facebook.

“I feel angry, very angry about what happened and continues to happen.”

Valera said that he wanted people to know about the in‐ cident, to demonstrate that it was never necessary to hide away from anything.

“On the contrary,” he de‐ clared.

“People still question the need for protest events and ask why we go out on the streets but this is only the tip of the iceberg,” Valero said, referring to the Santa Pola in‐ cident.

“Love can’t be a crime, hate is the crime.”

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Improvised municipal dump TORREVIEJA Town Hall is accumulating tree‐prun‐ ings and seaweed at the undeveloped, unused and unvisited Alto de la Casilla mirador lookout.

According to reports in the Spanish media, munici‐ pally‐owned lorries and ve‐ hicles from the Acciona rubbish collecting service are using 25,000 square metres of the Alto de la Casilla area as an impro‐ vised dump.

Although the lorries are loaded with seaweed and vegetation, videos ob‐ tained by the provincial dai‐ ly newspaper also revealed bags of rubbish.

Torrevieja’s town plan shows the Alto de la Casilla site as a zone reserved for a green space and equip‐ ment, neither of which cor‐ respond to its current use, the press pointed out.

Asked for her com‐ ments, Torrevieja’s Parks and Gardens councillor, Carmen Gomez, told the newspaper that the site was used solely to dry and reduce the weight of the seaweed removed from the beaches before trans‐ porting it for treatment.

Regarding the plans to fi‐ nally landscape Alto de la Casilla as a lookout point, Gomez said the town hall was currently tendering a contract, which would be awarded before the end of the year.

and finally...

ORIHUELA City Hall is taking part in a scheme that will reuse Ori‐ huela Costa rainwater.

The project, an initiative from the regional government’s Agriculture department would provide growers in Torremiguel, San Miguel de Salinas and La Pedrera with additional irrigation water.

Manuel Aldeguer, the regional Director General for Water, recently explained Orihuela’s mayor, Carolina Gracia, that the project to be financed with EU cash, would divert surface rain‐ water from Orihuela Costa.

This will also prevent saturating the main drainage system during periods of torrential rain, Aldeguer pointed out.

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12 - 18 May 2022 from Front page

Camera club on Channel 5 BACK in November 2021, Los Alcazares Camera Club visited member Nilam Wright for an Indian cooking demon‐ stration and a curry lunch.

At that time Nilam was being filmed for the popular Channel 5 series, Bar‐ gain‐loving Brits in the Sun, so the Cam‐ era Club were delighted to see them‐ selves on television in the episode that aired on April 22.

Member Brian provided the highlight of the event when he set light to the papadum he was cooking and had to put out the flaming food by stamping it into the ground with his foot.

Nilam’s only comment was “Nice shoes, Brian!”

Whilst they can’t promise any future celebrity appearances on television, Los Alcazares Camera Club is always look‐ ing for new members, either perma‐

nent residents in Spain or ‘swallows’ who come and go.

The club meets on the first Tuesday of the month via Zoom at 10.30am (Spain) or 9.30am (UK) when members discuss their monthly photo competi‐ tion and usually watch a photography workshop video.

On the third Tuesday of the month, the club goes on a field trip to take pho‐ tographs followed by a meal to which family and friends are also invited.

Anyone interested in joining Los Al‐ cazares Camera Club should have a look at the website http://www.los‐al cazares‐camera.club or contact the chairman, John Dorsett (0034 966 762 715 and mobile 0034 606 452 445) or the secretary, Pip Shail on the mike shail45@googlemail.com email ad‐ dress.

Only men penalised A BAR in Girona, Catalonia, has been criticised by the mayor and others on social media for charging only men an en‐ trance fee.

The Guardia Urbana fined a bar in the Plaça del Sol for charging men an entrance fee of €10, which included a drink, while letting women in for free. The move was interpreted as discrimination on the grounds of sex. The complaint against the venue was filed on May 7 and the difference in price for men and women was widely discussed on social networks.

The mayor of Figueres, Agnés Lladó, posted on her Twitter account: “When we don’t pay for the product, we become the product.” She continued: “We want to put an end to all sexist discrimination so that no girl thinks that her body is what gets her into any place.” The Guardia Urbana reported the venue for sex discrimination under the decree on recreational activi‐ ties and events, a very serious offence which carries fines of between €15,000 and €50,000.

NEWS

Son’s UK-Spain fundraiser A T R A F FO R D dad‐of‐ two will take on a non‐ stop 1,600 mile cycle to Aguilas, Murcia, in hon‐ our of his mum who tragically died of organ failure.

Jonathan Mawby, 44, will begin his three‐ week ride on Friday, May 13, from Altrin‐ cham, Greater Manch‐ ester, to raise money for Myeloma UK after his mother had been di‐ agnosed with the blood cancer in 2018.

Jonathan, who owns a garage in Knutsford, Cheshire, has spent time holidaying in Aguilas and is a keen amateur cyclist.

His massive cycle will see him climb the equivalent of twice the height of Mount Ever‐ est.

Support vehicles will see him joined by his sister Sally Silver and dad Mike.

Jonathan Mawby said: “I’ll be cycling around 80 miles a day.

It’s going to be tough.

“I’m raising money for Myeloma UK in memory of my lovely mum, Lee, who died on October 5, 2020.

“She had been diag‐ nosed with myeloma in December 2018.

“Myeloma is current‐ ly incurable.

“Treatments can be effective at controlling the disease but as I know from Mum’s ex‐ perience, they don’t work for all patients.

“My hope is to raise much needed funds to find kinder, less intru‐ sive treatments and ul‐ timately to find a cure.”

You can donate to Jonathan’s fundraiser at www.justgiving.com/fund raising/altrincham toaguilas

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12 - 18 May 2022

€200m for Ukraine refugees

THE European Commis‐ sion announced a new aid package of €200 mil‐ l i o n t o s u p p o r t d i s‐ placed people in Ukraine, on Thursday, May 5.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We came together with a clear purpose: to support the brave people of Ukraine, who fight the aggressor and stand up for their

freedom.

“We are now in the 10th week of Russia’s brutal invasion. Ten weeks during which the European Union stood firmly by Ukraine.

“The European Union answered the call, once more, to support Ukraine. On behalf of the European Commis‐ sion, I pledged €200 mil‐ lion for Ukraine.

“And last month, dur‐

ing a pledging event, €9.1 billion was raised for Ukrainians inside and outside Ukraine.”

Close to eight million people, two‐third of whom are children, have b e e n i n t e r n a l l y d i s‐ placed since the begin‐ ning of Putin’s war in Ukraine. More than 5.3 million have left Ukraine to seek shelter in the EU and neighbouring coun‐ tries.

Speeding hypocrite

THE Tory Police Commissioner for Not‐ tinghamshire police who had promised to crack down on speeding has pled guilty to breaking the limit five times in less than three months.

Caroline Henry, admitted to breaking the 30 mph speed limit, including being caught on two consecutive days.

Magistrates were told by her defence solicitor, Noel Philo, that she had writ‐ ten a letter to the court saying she was “very sorry, embarrassed and ashamed.” Henry, who is the wife of Broxtowe MP Darren Henry, apparently

wrote the letter after taking the advice of her solicitor.

Henry is expected when they return to court on July 19, to argue two of the five offences were due to ‘emergen‐ cies’, with one being when she was “very concerned for one of her chil‐ dren.”

Her official website lists one of her priorities as ensuring an ‘effective and efficient’ police response to speeding.

In her election campaign she used the slogan "’Make Notts Safe’ promising to “reduce crime with action, not words.”

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SEX EDUCATION actor Ncuti Gatwa has been revealed by the BBC as the new ‘Doctor Who’, replacing Jodie Whittaker on Sunday, May 8.

Last July, the current Time Lord, actress Jodie Whittaker, sensationally announced her departure from the long‐running sci‐fi se‐ ries.

Rwanda‐born 29‐year‐old Scottish actor Gatwa will take control of ‘that blue phone box show’, the Tardis. He will undoubtedly embark on gripping travels through time and space when he becomes the 14th Time Lord to re‐generate.

Gatwa will work with scripts by Russel T

NEWS

New Dr Who

Davies, who the BBC revealed will return as showrunner. Davies previously worked on the show from 2005 to 2009.

“There aren’t quite the words to describe how I’m feeling. A mix of deeply honoured, beyond excited and of course, a little bit scared,” Gatwa said of his new job.

He added, “This role and show mean so

much to so many around the world, including my‐ self, and each one of my in‐ credibly talented predeces‐ sors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care.”

Paralysed after fall ‘Minder’ star dies

BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT star Jonathan Goodwin has broken his silence after a dangerous stunt left him paralysed.

Escapologist, 42, says his injuries are “likely” to be permanent.

Posting a snap of himself in a wheelchair with his dog, Jonathan even went on to challenge fans to a race.

“To answer some questions... I have a T11 spinal cord injury, which means I’m paralysed from the waist down.

“If any of you want to race though, I’m pretty sure I can beat you... #bringit.”

In his Instagram post Jonathan wrote: “Six months ago I went to rehearse something and left this little hairy monkey waiting patiently for me… he didn’t see his dad again until just a couple of weeks ago and when he finally did, dad had new cool wheels.

“A lot has changed in the last six months, but love is a constant and I’m very very loved. Looking forward to my next chapters and being a roll [sic] model.”

Jonathan was performing a rehearsal stunt on America’s Got Talent: Extreme when he fell nine metres while being hung upside down in between two sus‐ pended cars last October.

DENNIS WATERMAN, star of Minder, The Sweeney, and New Tricks passed away aged 74 at his home in Spain on Sunday, May 8.

His death was confirmed in a statement from his family.

“We are deeply sad‐ dened to announce that our beloved Dennis passed away very peacefully at his home in Spain, on Saturday evening, with Pam by his side. The family kindly ask that our privacy is respect‐ ed at this very difficult time,” it said.

Born in Clapham, South London, although famous for gracing our television screens in iconic cop dra‐ mas, his incredible career spanned six decades. At the age of 13, he was a child ac‐ tor, and played numerous roles in theatre produc‐ tions.

Undoubtedly it was his role in the 1970s as DS George Carter in the epic police drama, The Sweeney, that really brought Dennis to the at‐ tention of British television viewers.

DR WHO: Is known worldwide.

Shell’s highest profits ENERGY giant Shell reported its highest ev‐ er quarterly profits on Thursday, May 5, as oil and gas prices surge around the world.

Adjusted earnings at Europe’s largest oil company stand at $9.1 billion in the first three months of the year, which is almost triple the $3.2 billion it recorded a year earli‐ er.

Shell’s shares jumped more than 3 per cent in early trading last Thursday.

Shell’s Chief Executive Officer, Ben van Beurden, said: “The war in Ukraine is first and foremost a human tragedy, but it has al‐ so caused significant disruption to global en‐ ergy markets and has shown that secure, re‐ liable and affordable energy simply cannot be taken for granted.

“The impacts of this uncertainty and the higher cost that comes with it are being felt far and wide.”

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‘Fantastic Five’ go on UK tour Italy donates

THE QUEEN is to send five family members to different nations of the UK during her Platinum Jubilee double bank holiday weekend cele‐ brations, it has been an‐ nounced.

The Queen will send the emissaries to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland during the central weekend of the celebrations when many of the main events are taking place in London, the British press reported on Monday, May 9. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Wales, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex go to Northern Ireland, and

THE QUEEN: Is head of other Commonwealth countries.

Princess Anne heads for Scotland.

A Buckingham Palace

SPAIN reportedly wants automatic ac‐ cess to the UK’s DVLA database in return for an extension for British nationals to swap their driving licences.

Britain and Spain are working to for‐ malise an agreement that will allow Brits who stay in Spain longer than six months, a driving licence extension that will not require them to exchange their licence for a Spanish one.

According to one publication, negotia‐

spokesman said: “Members of the Royal Family will at‐ tend engagements in each

Licence demands tions have accelerated after the Spanish authorities refused to extend an interim arrangement that allowed Brits who stay longer than six months, to use their British driving licence legally.

Despite adequate notice from the Spanish government and significant warnings from the British Embassy in Madrid and others, many British people

nation, including public events marking the occa‐ sion.” Buckingham Palace has not commented on whether there would be more visits to the Queen’s overseas realms and other Commonwealth countries to mark the Platinum Jubilee.

The British media said that a visit by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to visit Canada, has been confirmed for later this month.

However, there has been no mention, as yet, of any jubilee visit to New Zealand, where the Queen is also head of state.

resident in Spain have failed to swap their licences.

That has left some stranded without transport. María José Aparicio of Spain’s DGT driver and vehicle licensing authori‐ ty said: “We never wanted to upset British residents and the plan is that once they have been able to apply for the swap, hopefully in a few weeks, they can start driving again while the application is processed.”

fire engines THE European Commission announced on Thursday, May 5 that Italy has donat‐ ed much‐needed fire en‐ gines to Ukraine, as the country battles to deal with fires caused by Rus‐ sian missiles. In total 45 modern fire engines have been donated.

The news comes amid claims by Ukraine Presi‐ dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia has destroyed over 400 clinics and hospi‐ tals in seemingly indiscrim‐ inate attacks. Experts have suggested however that these attacks are designed to pummel the Ukrainian people into submission as its initial strategy fails.

Non‐military donations have been an essential part of efforts to help Ukraine deal with the fall‐ out of war, with now close to six million having fled

MUCH-NEEDED: Modern vehicles. the country. Many of these refugees have lost everything, with the invad‐ ing forces having de‐ stroyed their homes.

It is understood that fur‐ ther non‐military aid, like the fire engines which were donated by Italy, is under consideration by the European Commission and member countries as Ukraine looks to try and rebuild in those areas it has recaptured.

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Stopping cold calls COLD calls in Spain are increasingly be‐ coming an issue for many living in the country, however an EU law has been put in place to stop them.

In the European Union, the right to da‐ ta protection is governed by Regulation (EU) 2016/679, which seeks to balance the right to protection of your data with the legitimate interests of businesses.

Simply put, if you do not want to be con‐ tacted you have the right not to be.

In Spain, you can register with Lista Robinson which is a free service that is run by the Asociación Española de Economía Digital (Spanish Association of Digital Economy).

The service is easy to register with and is free of charge. Once you are regis‐ tered with the association, businesses will be required to stop trying to contact you, although it may take a while for companies to update their databases ‐

COLD CALLS: Put a stop to them.

but there is always the option of telling them that you are on the Robinson list.

Perhaps the best thing about Lista Robinson is, it doesn’t just cover tele‐ phone calls. The service also allows you to list email and physical addresses, and not just one, but as many as you have.

Coughing Putin fuels health rumours V L A D I M I R PUTIN was spotted keeping warm with a heavy blanket as he oversaw the victory parade in Moscow on Monday May 9.

Putin sat among Rus‐ sian military leaders and dignitaries with his knees draped in a heavy brown blanket, the British press reported.

None of the other at‐ tendees had blankets in the nine‐degree Celsius air in Moscow on Mon‐ day morning.

The 69‐year‐old Rus‐ sian leader was also wit‐ nessed coughing heavily, though this was not ap‐ parent during his speech.

The annual parade on Moscow’s Red Square saw Putin claim that the troops and volunteers were “fighting for the motherland, its future.”

He accused the West of preparing for an “in‐ vasion of our land.”

Photos of the blanket‐ swaddled leader come after long running suspi‐ cions that Putin is suffer‐ ing from a serious ill‐ ness, possibly Parkinson’s.

In a televised meeting on April 21, the ‘bloated’ leader, appeared with a heavily swollen face and tapping foot as he firmly gripped the corner of his desk for minutes in an

apparent attempt to hide a trembling hand.

More recently there have been unconfirmed reports that Putin is set for an imminent cancer operation.

Different EU residency rules THE European Commission has said that it wants to deal with a skills shortage by making the bloc more at‐ tractive to non‐Europeans.

Under discussion are proposals that will change the rules on work and residence permits, with the commission saying that there are skills shortages in as many as 28 professions.

Industries that are affected by structural shortages include tourism, hospitality, IT, health and logistics.

Central to the proposals are changes to the cur‐ rent rules that allow for non‐EU citizens who have lived and worked in the EU for several years to apply for long‐term residence in the country where they live.

Becoming a long‐term resident will require the person to live ‘legally’ in an EU country for five years, as well as not being away for more than six consecu‐ tive months and 10 months in the entire period.

They also need to have sufficient economic re‐ sources and health insurance, whilst some countries also require the applicant to meet ‘integration con‐ ditions’ such as passing a language test.

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Long Covid ‘ageing’ Suffering from brain fog?

A NEW study says that cognitive impairment due to long Covid is equivalent to ageing by 20 years or losing 10 IQ points.

Long Covid researchers from the University of Cambridge and Imperial

College London examined 46 patients admitted to a UK hospital from March to July 2020.

The study, published last week in the journal eClini‐ calMedicine, part of The Lancet, discovered severe illness creates Covid brain fog, even six months after infection.

Of the 46 patients, 16 were placed on mechan‐ ical ventilation during their time in hospital.

The patients were com‐ pared to a control group.

Six months after their stay in hospital, the re‐ searchers asked the pa‐ tients and the control group to undergo a com‐ puterised test to mea‐ sure their memory, at‐ tention and reasoning.

The researchers found that compared to the control group, those who had been hospi‐ talised were less accu‐ rate and displayed slow‐ er response times in the test.

NEWS

Bitcoin slides to new low THE latest economic data from China has heightened fears over its zero‐Covid lock‐ down policies as bit‐ coin heavily dented.

China, which im‐ posed factory shut‐ downs and suffered port disruption, con‐ tributed to exports growth slowing to 3.9 per cent, from the 14.7 per cent increase in March, the British media reported on Monday, May 9.

This has caused a major blow to holders of cryptocurrencies af‐ ter the Bitcoin price fell to a three‐month low at less than $34,000.

Commodity prices have also weakened, causing 4 per cent falls for iron ore‐exposed shares in Anglo Ameri‐ can and Rio Tinto and Chilean copper miner Antofagasta.

These drops meant

the FTSE 100 lost 0.9 per cent or 67.25 points to 7320.69, with tech companies

again in the firing line after last week’s US interest rate rise wor‐ ries.

Harry’s PR suicide

BY attending the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations next month Harry and Meghan are avoiding PR suicide claims a royal expert.

Angela Levin commented on Friday, May 6 on earlier reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be attending the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Ms Levin said it was pretty obvious that the couple had finally realised that not showing up would be PR suicide.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had earlier on Friday confirmed that they were “excited and honoured to attend the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their children.”

After Trooping the Colour this year though there will be no room for Harry and Meghan, nor Prince Andrew, on the royal balcony.

Buckingham Palace announced that Her Majesty the Queen has made the decision to lim‐ it appearances on the balcony only to current working royals.

This select group also includes Princess Anne’s husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the children of the Cambridges and Wessexes.

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Hairy Biker’s cancer Loneliness

H A I R Y B I K E R Dave My‐ ers revealed he has can‐ cer and is undergoing chemotherapy on the Hairy Bikers ‐ Agony Un‐ cles podcast, which he hosts with cooking part‐ ner, Si King, on Thursday, May 5.

Myers, 64, from Bar‐ row‐in‐Furness in Lan‐ cashire, said: “I’ve got to come clean now. I

HAIRY BIKERS: Dave Myers is undergoing some chemo.

Trump ‘wanted bombings’

A BOOK by former Defence Secretary Mark T Esper says that then President Donald Trump proposed sending missiles and rockets, basically bombing Mexico, to destroy drug labs.

The book, entitled ‘A Sacred Oath,’ is a memoir of Esper’s time in office and was published on Tuesday, May 10.

The revelation is just one of many in a book that is said to paint the past presi‐ dent in a bad light.

It has reportedly been through the standard Pentagon security clearance process and is said to offer a stunningly

candid perspective of Trump’s presiden‐ cy.

Esper said: “I felt like I was writing for history and for the American people,” making sure in the process that he was fact‐checked with the book sent to more than two dozen four‐star generals, some cabinet members and others to weigh in on accuracy and fairness.

Pressed on his view of Trump, Esper pulled no punches, saying: “He is an un‐ principled person who, given his self‐in‐ terest, should not be in the position of public service.”

haven’t been too well re‐ cently and, basically, I’ve got to have some chemo.

“I have had to speak up about this because I don’t want to hide under a rock, but I would love it if people respected my privacy and just let me get on with it and give Si and our team all the sup‐ port they need, that would be great. But look, the prognosis is OK, I’m going to be fine.”

He added in the pod‐ cast: “I’ve just got to tuck in, look after myself, eat sensibly and get over this mess, flog books, and be a happy person so, within that, that’s where I am. I may be a baldy biker for a while so it’s just a warning, I don’t want to make a fuss about it, I look all right bald actual‐ ly.”

Dave didn’t share what type of cancer he had been diagnosed with.

tackled

Mental health matters.

THIS week is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and this year’s theme is tack‐ ling loneliness, using the hashtag #IveBeenThere.

The Mental Health Foun‐ dation UK is on a mission to let everyone know that their mental health matters.

The health pandemic has magnified individuals’ feel‐ ings of loneliness and the Mental Health Foundation UK states: “At the begin‐ ning of the pandemic, lone‐ liness levels were much the same as they had been in 2016‐17, with 5 per cent of

adults in Great Britain say‐ ing they were often or al‐ ways lonely.

“By February 2021, how‐ ever, this had increased to 7.2 per cent ‐ 3.7 million adults.”

The foundation wants to tackle this, and gives some coping strategies for loneli‐ ness including doing things we enjoy, doing things to stimulate the mind, physical activities, trying to engage with people daily, spending time with pets, using social media in a positive way and talking therapy.”

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TWO British soldiers killed in the First World War were laid to rest with full military honours on Thursday, May 5, a century after their deaths.

An engraved spoon provided a vital link between one fallen sol‐ dier and his identity.

The service was organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (MOD JC‐

Identities traced

CC), also known as the ‘MOD War Detectives’, and was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Com‐ mission’s (CWGC) Loos British Cemetery, Loos‐en‐Gohelle in northern France.

One set of remains was recov‐ ered in January 2018 during a First World War ordnance search near Lens. Also found was a pocket watch and a spoon with the num‐ ber 13228 stamped on the back.

MOD JCCC and the CWGC con‐ firmed it to be the regimental number of Private (Pte) William Johnston, aged 39, of 7th battal‐ ion, Royal Scots Fusiliers.

The MOD JCCC traced a great‐

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great‐niece who provided a DNA sample to compare with DNA tak‐ en from the remains. The results were conclusive.

The remains of another British soldier were found separately in the same area. Although it was not possible to identify him by name, MOD JCCC did confirm he served with the East Yorkshire Regiment.

Harry’s crew blocked BUCKINGHAM PALACE ‘minders’ will physically stop any Harry and Meghan Netflix crew if they try to film inside royal events at the Platinum Jubilee, according to media re‐ ports.

Harry and Meghan, who have signed a £112 million deal with Netflix, are feared they may bring disrepute to the Queen’s four‐day celebrations if the streaming giant tries to ‘exploit’ the opportunity.

A dedicated palace team will reportedly watch the filmmak‐ ers’ every move.

A source told one publica‐ tion: “While the family are de‐ lighted Harry and Meghan are coming, there is a real fear of tension, especially over any Netflix crew. There are con‐ cerns tension could explode if the Netflix team comes to the UK and tries to exploit their op‐ portunities.

“The worry is they will push it and try to gain access to areas of Jubilee celebration events where they can film Harry and Meghan and their children.

“So a team of Palace aides

NETFLIX DEAL: Palace aides will act as minders if need be.

will be on standby to keep a very close eye on the crew, and act as minders if needs be.”

Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40,

announced on Friday, May 6 they will be attending the June celebrations with their chil‐ dren.

Labour’s huge gains LABOUR took control of three previously Conservative‐led bor‐ oughs in a swing towards the left‐wing party in local elections last Thursday, May 5.

Wandsworth, Barnet and Westminster boroughs all went red following the elections, while elsewhere in England, Labour also saw modest gains.

Many pundits believe the swing away from the Conservatives was in response to the allegations of sleaze and lockdown par‐ ties, as well as the state of the economy following Brexit.

Although Labour had its strongest showing in several elec‐ tions, its leader Keir Starmer is under pressure as the party faith‐ ful and political analysts believe he has not managed to take full advantage of the poor showing by the Tories.

The surprise of the night was the revival of the Liberal Democrats, who picked up nearly one in five votes.

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Maradona’s €8.4m shirt

THE Argentina football shirt worn by Diego Maradona during the notorious ‘Hand of God’ moment that saw England defeated at the 1986 World Cup, was sold

for €8.4 million on Friday May 4.

Believed to be the high‐ est price ever paid for some sporting memorabilia, the item was auctioned by

Barclays’ record

A POLL commissioned by campaign group 38 degrees has labelled Barclays the ‘Worst bank in Europe’ for its financing of fossil fuels.

The views, carried in the report, were echoed by protestors who gathered outside the company’s Annu‐ al General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, May 4. The protestors, who included the notorious Extinction Re‐ bellion, demanded the bank stop financing fossil fuel companies and projects.

According to reports, 38 degrees found that 26 per cent of the bank’s customers would most likely move their accounts if the company did not take more ambi‐ tious action on climate change.

Barclays have said they aim to reduce financed emis‐ sions across the energy, power, cement and steel sec‐ tors by the end of 2030, including reducing total scope 1, 2 and 3 energy emissions by 40 per cent.

The bank is also aiming to stop financing new clients engaged in thermal coal mining by 2023 and not to fi‐ nance existing clients that generate more than 30 per cent of their revenues from thermal coal mining.

Sotheby’s who had issued a guide price 10 to 30 per cent lower than the price achieved.

Hodge said that ever since Maradona died in November 2020, people having been knocking on his door enquiring whether the shirt was for sale.

At the time, he said: “I find it disrespectful and to‐ tally wrong. It’s not for sale.

I am not trying to sell it.”

Brahm Wachter, Sothe‐

by’s head of streetwear and modern collectables, said: “This is arguably the most coveted football shirt to ever come to auction, and so it is fitting that it now holds the auction record for any object of its kind.”

The highest price achieved prior to the sale for a shirt, was one worn

by New York Yankees leg‐ end Babe Ruth, which sold for €5.2 million in 2019.

FOOTBALL SHIRT: Worn during the ‘Hand of God’ moment.

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Evacuation complete THE humanitarian mission to evacuate civil‐ ians from the Avostal steelworks in Mariupol has been completed.

A statement was posted on social media in the afternoon of Saturday, May 8, by Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine confirming the news.

Ms Vereshchuk said: “This part of the Mari‐ upol humanitarian mission has been complet‐ ed.” While all the women, children, and el‐ derly have been safely removed, Ukrainian troops continue their battle to defend the last stronghold of resistance in the battered port city.

According to the minister, and confirmed by the Russian defence ministry, a coordinated mission between the Red Cross and the UN saw 50 people evacuated. This number includ‐ ed 11 children.

Previous estimates had suggested that as many as 200 civilians could still be trapped underground.

The Azovstal facility is known to have a net‐ work of tunnels running below ground, where an unknown number of Ukrainian soldiers are holding out.

While evacuations were being prepared on Friday, May 7, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of ‘diplomatic options’ being discussed in order to free this last group of military f¡ghters.

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Covid pill in big demand

DESPITE most countries around the world signalling the end of the pandemic, Pfiz‐ er has reported strong and growing demand for its Covid‐ 19 pill Paxlovid.

The company has said that its new pill would be a valu‐ able means for governments to limit the severity of future outbreaks as they ease sani‐ tary rules.

According to Pfizer Chief Ex‐ ecutive Albert Bourla, the

NEW PILL: Paxlovid.

company is seeing “very strong signs of increasing de‐ mand for Paxlovid as it re‐ mains one of the best tools

we have.” He added that the company is also focused on developing a vaccine booster along the lines of the flu jab, a once‐a‐year booster.

Orders for the pill have been placed by a wide range of countries including the US, Israel, Bahrain and Canada.

With many predicting that we could see infections spike again, Pfizer said it is seeing growing demand for its coro‐ navirus pill.

McColl’s to collapse THE popular chain of convenience stores, McColl’s, is said to be days away from going into administration, with the group set to collapse without further investment.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company employs about 16,000 people, or roughly 6,000 on a full‐time equivalent ba‐ sis, jobs that could go should the group col‐ lapse.

Despite a cash injection of £30 million late last year, the group has struggled and is in need of new investment. Discussions are

believed to be ongoing with investors de‐ laying what many in the industry believe to be inevitable, however so far the company has not been able to raise the required cash.

McColl’s has a partnership agreement with the supermarket chain Morrisons and with the petrol retailer the EG Group. There is some speculation that either of these two companies could make a formal bid to take over the company, however neither has yet to comment or make a move.

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Ryanair customer fury

A RYANAIR customer has blasted the no‐frills airline af‐ ter he was double‐charged for a ticket and told to be pa‐ tient while he waited for a re‐ fund.

The Ryanair customer took to Twitter to make his com‐ plaint posting under a Ryanair tweet on Friday, May 6.

“First you double charged me, promised a refund with‐ in 10 working days. Then you

forced me to pay you extra money on top of that other‐ wise “I wouldn’t fly back,” the irate customer wrote un‐ der the Twitter handle pol‐ ishpotato.

He added that the airline “Promised to refund that one too. You owe me a total of over £200 and your cus‐ tomer service (nearly im‐ possible to reach) tells me to “be patient”?! Why should I be patient if you

TOOK MY MONEY due to no fault of my own?! This is ex‐ tortion!”

The posts come in a Ryanair reply to Twitter user Richard Earnshaw who wrote on May 6: “It’s astonishing people are still prepared to give them money! I haven’t flown Ryanair for years now.

I’d rather walk… barefoot over drawing pins… being chased by a lion… and Darth Vader!!”

Taliban orders burka

THE Taliban announced at a press con‐ ference on Saturday, May 7, that the all‐covering burka must be worn by all women when appearing in public.

The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice made the announcement on behalf of the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, in what is a return to the policy enforced between 1996 and 2001.

Then the blue burka became a symbol of the Taliban regime and its restric‐ tions on women in public, a covering

they have once again suggested is the ideal one.

The majority of women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for reli‐ gious reasons, but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.

Khalid Hanafi, Acting Minister for the Taliban’s ministry, said: “We want our sisters to live with dignity and safety.”

The decree says a woman’s father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not comply with the law.

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Fake priest COLDSTREAM GUARDS: A man apparently spent an evening in their barracks.

THE British Army are investigating a re‐ port that a man, posing as a priest, spent the evening in the barracks of the troops tasked with protecting the queen at the beginning of May. According to reports, the imposter gained entry to the barracks of the Cold‐ stream Guards without any identifica‐ tion. Later in the evening he reportedly ate, drank and shared stories with the troops.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the Queen was not in residence at the time, adding: “The army takes this breach of security extremely seriously, and it will be thoroughly investigated as

a matter of priority.

“This incident is now part of an ongo‐ ing investigation and it would be there‐ fore inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Apparently, the man had claimed to be a priest and told officers he was a friend of a member of the battalion’s chaplain.

He was then invited in and offered some‐ thing to eat and drink.

According to one of the troops, he told many tall stories, and they began to get suspicious when he “started talking about how he had worked as an ejector‐ seat test pilot and had some organs re‐ placed.”

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UK’s humanitarian aid Putin’s coverage hacked THE UK has boosted humani‐ tarian aid for ‘those bearing the brunt of Putin’s vile war’ with £45 million worth of fund‐ ing. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced on Thursday, May 5, that the UK will provide a package of support for the most vulnerable people affect‐ ed by the conflict in Ukraine.

The government revealed that: “charities working on the ground to provide care, sup‐ port and protection for those

PROVIDIN G AID: Supporting the most vulnerable.

in Ukraine and at its borders will receive £45 million in UK funding, as part of a wider package of support.

“Nearly 16 million people

Omicron strain milder VACCINATED people are significantly less likely to con‐ tract long Covid from the Omicron variant of Covid than from Delta, new figures have suggested.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), pub‐ lished on Friday, May 6, has shown the odds of double‐ vaccinated adults infected with the Omicron BA.1 strain reporting having long Covid one to two months later were 50 per cent lower than those who had Delta.

The statistics also found no evidence of a difference in risk of long Covid between first infections with Delta compared to the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in triple‐vaccinated adults.

But the ONS said the odds of triple‐jabbed adults re‐ porting long Covid adverse effects one to two months af‐ ter first being infected, were 22 per cent higher with the Omicron BA.2 variant compared to the BA.1 strain.

are reported to be in need of humanitarian assistance within Ukraine. Over five million refugees have arrived in Euro‐ pean countries since the con‐ flict started, making it the fastest‐growing refugee crisis since the Second World War.” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Britain has stood shoul‐ der to shoulder with the peo‐ ple of Ukraine throughout this conflict. As one of the largest humanitarian donors we will continue to make sure those bearing the brunt of Putin’s vile war have the lifesaving aid they need.

“British aid is supporting the most vulnerable in Ukraine, particularly women and chil‐ dren, who are facing increased risk of sexual violence and ex‐ ploitation.”

V L A D I M I R P U T I N had his victory parade on Monday, May 9 sabo‐ taged with a message telling Russians they had the “blood of thousands of Ukrainians” on their hands.

The message came as Russians prepared to watch the annual mili‐ tary parade in Red Square which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The hack impacted on‐ line viewers of various channels transmitted by MTS mobile operator, NTV Plus, Rostelecom and Wink.

Viewers saw a caption appear on hacked screens saying: “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of their children is on your hands. TV and the authorities lie. No to war.

“A cyberattack was carried out on Russian TV broadcasting chan‐ nels, because of which

subscribers could have extremist inscriptions in

the broadcast grid,” said MTS in Siberia.

State of emergency THE government in Sri Lanka declared a state of emer‐ gency just before midnight on Friday, May 6 as it moved to quell riots protesting the government’s han‐ dling of the economy.

The economy in Sri Lanka has struggled since the pan‐ demic with foreign reserves falling desperately low, re‐ sulting in shortages of basic commodities like food, medicines and fuel.

The declaration follows a month of demonstrations outside parliament which had escalated on Friday, re‐ sulting in police using tear gas to disperse the increasing‐ ly angry crowd.

The country has been calm since the declaration, with no reports of disturbances. Traffic is said to have re‐ turned to normal in the capital Colombo, with Sri Lankans waiting to hear the details of the emergency regulations. Past states of emergency have allowed the president to deploy the military to break up protests and to detain people without charge.

Excellent read online from the UK or I always pick up a copy when I’m on the coast.

Euro Weekly News keeps me up to date with what is going on on the Costa del Sol.” Ian Prosser, Reader, Essex

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Personality disorders THE much publicised court‐ room that has seen Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trade accusations, was told on Friday, May 6 that Heard suffers from attention seek‐ ing personality disorders.

Officially recognised by the American Psychiatric As‐ sociation’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, attention seeking or histrionic person‐ ality are according to some mental‐health professionals outdated, sexist, and stig‐

HEARD: Attention seeking.

matising.

For her part, Heard’s psy‐ chologist has dismissed the claims, saying that she is suf‐

fering from the mental stress of Depp’s alleged abuse.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, histri‐ onic personality disorder is a narcissistic and antisocial per‐ sonality disorder, often char‐ acterised by dramatic, ex‐ citable, erratic, or volatile behaviours.

In particular, those who suffer from the affliction, show exaggerated emotions and attention‐seeking be‐ haviours.

Roman treasure found

THREE metal detectorist friends have uncovered a treasure trove of 161 Roman coins in Wiltshire.

Their discovery, made in a field near the ancient village of Pewsey, is estimated to be worth tens of thousands of pounds.

After finishing his breakfast one morning, 53‐year‐old Robert Abbott, a computer shop owner from Essex, de‐

cided to switch his metal de‐ tector on and do some searching. Mr Abbott soon came across a Roman siliqua coin. This valuable discovery could be as much as 1,600 years old, and is valuable.

As soon as his friends ‐ 63‐ year‐old Mick Rae, and David Allen aged 59 ‐ realised what he had found, they joined in.

Their weekend tally eventual‐ ly totalled 161 coins, with

some dating back to AD 340‐ 402. These included silver sili‐ qua and miliarense coins.

“Having finished breakfast first, I turned on my machine ‐ a Minelab Equinox 800 ‐ and having walked around six paces from the tent, I found several tent pegs, and, just under the surface, a late Ro‐ man silver siliqua in pristine condition,” explained Mr Ab‐ bott.

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Passenger abandoned A S O N has told how his elderly mum missed her flight from Birmingham Airport to Spain because staff ‘failed to help her on board’.

Disabled passenger Sheila Cottrill, 87, arrived at Birmingham Airport three hours before her Ryanair flight to Barcelona, local British press reported on May 4.

She was due to fly out to visit son Jeremy ‐ who she had not seen since before the pandemic ‐ on Sunday, May 1.

The wheelchair user, from Nuneaton, War‐ wickshire, was taken through security by as‐ sisted passage staff, left close to her gate and told someone would return to help her board the plane.

But that help never came and she missed her flight.

Her son Jeremy told the local press: “It’s not the way to treat an el‐ derly disabled passenger

who was travelling on her own on her first holi‐ day post‐Covid situa‐ tion.”

Birmingham Airport said they are investigat‐ ing what went wrong. A

spokesman told the local press: “We feel dreadful about the experience Mrs Cottrill had. We are looking into what hap‐ pened with a view to making things right.”

Starmer exposed by leak A SECRET Labour Party document obtained by one publication looks set to plunge Sir Keir Starmer into a leadership crisis.

Mr Starmer had been recorded with activists while enjoying a beer late at night, during a visit to Durham on April 30, 2021. This was in the period when indoor socialising was banned under the government's coronavirus restric‐ tions.

Durham Constabulary announced on Friday May 6 that it was launching a new enquiry into this event. Starmer has always maintained that after the Indian takeaway and beers, he had re‐ turned to work, but the contents of this memo passed by a whistleblower seem to suggest dif‐ ferently.

The document includes the text ‘arrange take‐ away from Spice Lounge’, which is a local Indian restaurant. At the bottom of the forward‐plan‐ ning logistics document, commonly known as an ‘op note’, it simply said ‘End of Visit’.

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to reshuffle his cabinet in the summer, ac‐ cording to those closest to him.

The reshuffle has been expected after a less than convincing showing during local elections across England last week, with many questioning whether he is the right man to continue leading the party. Vowing to carry on, Johnson has downplayed the re‐ sults, referring to the strong results in the

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Boris’s summer reshuffle north of England.

Sources said that Mr Johnson is expected to change his top team before the summer re‐ cess. That is set to begin on July 21, however there is also talk that he may call an early elec‐ tion in the hope that on issues of national im‐

FAMILY TESTING: Found that 70 per cent of the children owned a pet dog.

Child hepatitis link

ROUGHLY 300 cases of a mystery hepatitis have been recorded in chil‐ dren around the world, with more than 20 coun‐ tries now reporting cas‐ es and at least one death.

Initial indications were that the cases could be linked to the pandemic and the use of vaccines, however the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that a number of children that tested positive for the disease,

all aged 10 or under, had come from families who own a dog, or have been exposed to a dog. They added that: “the signifi‐ cance of this finding is being explored.”

Questionnaires, com‐ pleted by the families of those affected, found that 70 per cent of the children owned or had been exposed to a pet dog.

Health officials have been quick to point out that this might just be

15m Covid deaths

NEW estimates from the World Health Organisa‐ tion (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the Covid‐19 pandemic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 was approximately 14.9 million.

The WHO released the revised figures on Thurs‐ day, May 5.

“These sobering data not only point to the im‐ pact of the pandemic, but also to the need for all countries to invest in

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more resilient health sys‐ tems that can sustain es‐ sential health services during crises, including stronger health informa‐ tion systems,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghe‐ breyesus, WHO Director‐ General.

Excess mortality is cal‐ culated as the difference between the number of deaths that have oc‐ curred and the number that would be expected in the absence of the pan‐ demic based on data from earlier years.

coincidence, with around half of all homes in the UK owning a pet dog. However, with a lack of any clear cause all possibilities are being investigated.

In the UK, more than 160 children have been identified with a sudden onset of hepatitis. At least 11 of these have needed a liver trans‐ plant, but no deaths have been recorded.

portance people will support him.

The dismal showing by the Conservative party is put down to the sleaze within govern‐ ment, the lockdown parties and the failure by Johnson’s government to get to grips with the cost of living crises.

JOHNSON: Expected to change his team.

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W I T H stories of can‐ celled flights still fresh in the memory, now comes the next crisis for UK air‐ lines as staff shortages resulted in airlines hav‐ ing to cancel on‐board food and drink services.

Early on Saturday, May 7, easyJet said that on flights leaving from some airports there would be

UK airline crisis no trolley service and that passengers were ad‐ vised to bring their own food and refreshments.

Initially, only flights from Scotland were af‐

fected, but TUI Airways later also warned cus‐ tomers flying from 15 UK airports that food will be ‘limited’.

The airline has said

that due to staff short‐ ages being experienced by their suppliers, they would no longer be able to serve hot and cold meals or sandwiches on all flights.

TUI explained: “We can confirm that unfor‐ tunately due to staff

shortages with our cater‐ ing supplier, there will be no hot and cold meals or sandwiches, and a limited offering of snacks and drinks, avail‐ able on board TUI Air‐ ways short and mid‐haul flights over the coming days.

Heat wave G LO BA L warming and changes in weather conditions have wreaked havoc in southern Asia, where a heat wave has seen temperatures exceed 50 degrees, melting glaciers and causing major floods.

US Stormwatch who have been monitoring the situation, have recorded ‘feels like’ temperatures as high as 57 degrees in parts of Pakistan and India.

They tweeted: “Truly one of the most anoma‐ lous heat events record‐ ed in human history in terms of both duration and intensity. Much of Southern Asia, including #India and #Pakistan, has experienced almost one continuous and un‐ precedented heat wave since March.”

RED HOT: Record highs.

In a tweet, Extreme Temperatures Around The World said that on Sunday May 8 the heat wave had seen record high temperatures for this time of year.

They tweeted: “Pak‐ istan rose to 48ºC at Sibbi and Jacobabad. In India 46.3ºC at Barmer (32.3ºC Tmin). Central Asia is also very hot, with 40ºC again in Turk‐ menistan. Warmer tem‐ peratures in Pakistan and northern India are expected next week.”

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Kate and Wills 1st names only IN a massive shake‐up of Royal protocol Prince William and Kate have torn up the rule book to ‘move with the times’ a British publication report‐ ed exclusively on Sunday May 8.

William and Kate have, according to a royal source, taken the stance after their disastrous Caribbean tour.

A source told the pa‐ per: “They want to be more approachable, less formal, less stuffy and break away with a lot of the tradition.

“When the team ar‐ rived back in London the couple had a debrief with aides.

“They went over every‐ thing and pinpointed spe‐ cific things that went wrong and how to im‐ prove moving forward.

“The general consensus was that the tour seemed out of date, out of touch, too formal and stuffy.

“So now it’s more ‘Wills and Kate’ instead of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge... ‘Just call me Wills’ type of thing.

“They want to try to avoid the bows and curt‐ sies in public, be more ap‐ proachable, less formal, less stuffy, and break away with a lot of the tra‐ dition and focus on a modern monarchy.”

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Andrew Neil back Sex Pistols fire again VETERAN BROADCASTER: Hosting a new show.

POPULAR political com‐ mentator Andrew Neil has returned to terrestrial TV with a new Sunday politics show after a disastrous spell fronting channel GB News.

The veteran broadcaster, 72, will host a live 10‐part se‐

ries, titled The Andrew Neil Show, which began on Chan‐ nel 4 on Sunday, May 8, to air weekly at 6pm.

It featured Cabinet minis‐ ter Jacob Rees‐Mogg as its first guest.

Neil has said his new Sun‐ day evening politics show will focus on “intelligent dis‐ cussion” rather than the “sensation and shouting” of the American opinion‐led format.

And he said the later time slot of the programme means his team will have ‘the waterfront to ourselves’ allowing them to ‘throw’ the news forward to the coming week.

The Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar and The Telegraph’s Madeline Grant will offer up their insight as political com‐ mentators.

Neil quit as lead presenter of the right‐wing GB News station in September 2021 after just eight shows, fol‐ lowing clashes with manage‐ ment over its editorial direc‐ tion and technical problems.

THE Sex Pistols will, to mark the Queen’s plat‐ inum jubilee, re‐release the once banned punk rock anthem God Save the Queen.

Released in 1977, the anti‐authoritarian song hit the stores in the same year as the Queen’s sil‐ ver jubilee. The song achieved notoriety by being instantly banned by the BBC and most indepen‐ dent radio stations.

The song called the monarchy “a fascist regime.” Amongst the lyrics were lines like ‘She ain’t no human being, and there’s no future, and England’s dreaming’.

Despite being banned and the nature of the lyrics the song proved a hit, reaching number two in the singles charts. The title of the song was however blanked out from the chart listing

DRONES have become common place in war, but Ukraine’s unprecedented use of small commercially available drones is re‐ portedly giving them the edge.

Operable by anyone, these small drones are being used not only to record the war but also to provide valuable intelligence to Ukraine’s armed forces, as they work to re‐ pel the invading Russian troops.

Valerii Iakovenko, the founder of Ukrainian drone company DroneUA, told Wired: “Drones changed the way the war was supposed to be.

“It is all about intelligence, collecting and

PUNK ANTHEM: 4,000 copies to be released.

to avoid causing offence.

Virgin, who the band signed with after they were dropped by A&M, will release 4,000 copies of the song to commemorate the Queen’s plat‐ inum jubilee. A further 1,977 copies of the A&M version will also be available.

Ukraine’s edge transferring data about enemy troops’ movements or positioning, correcting ar‐ tillery fire. It is about counter‐saboteurs’ actions, and it is of course search‐and‐res‐ cue operations.”

According to Iakovenko, the Ukrainian army has been making full use of the Star‐ link satellite system provided by Elon Musk, estimating that they are operating upwards of 6,000 drones for reconnais‐ sance.

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Untrained pilot chaos

BRITISH holidaymakers on a flight from Heathrow to New York were left terrified as their pilot was forced to turn back because he was still in training.

The Virgin Atlantic flight had been in the air for 40 minutes when the first offi‐ cer piped up to say that he had not completed his final flight test. One holidaymak‐ er commented on the amaz‐ ing mishap and said: “You could have cut the tension in the cockpit with a knife.”

After returning to Heathrow the Virgin At‐ lantic Airbus A330 had to wait for a more experi‐ enced replacement co‐pilot.

Commenting on the inci‐ dent, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson stated: “Due to a rostering error, flight VS3 from London Heathrow to New York‐JFK returned to Heathrow on Monday May 2 shortly af‐ ter take‐off.

“The qualified first officer, who was flying alongside an

experienced captain, was replaced with a new pilot to ensure full compliance with Virgin Atlantic’s training protocols, which exceed in‐ dustry standards.

“We apologise for any in‐ convenience caused to our customers who arrived two hours, 40 minutes later than scheduled as a result of the crew change.”

UK pension increase UK pensions could be set to rise by more than 10 per cent in 2023 after Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said that he would reintroduce the pension triple lock.

The move will see pensions go up in line with an infla‐ tion rate that is currently running above 10 per cent.

With the Bank of England forecasting inflation to rise above 10.25 per cent in the fourth quarter, any reintro‐ duction of the triple lock would see record rises in the state pension. The triple lock introduced by David Cameron guarantees to increase the state pension by 2.5 per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher.

Sunak suspended the triple lock, with the UK’s debt having increased enormously as the country struggled to cope with the pandemic.

The advert works really great. I’ve tried most of the other papers and the little local directories and it is only the EWN that I use because it works. In actual fact it brings in around 30 per cent of my work.”

Julian, Grill Us Julian

Russia’s warning

RUSSIAN filmmaker Shakhnazarov has blasted critics of President Vladimir Putin, saying that there will be “no mercy” for them.

Speaking on Russian TV Shakhnazarov said: “The opponents of letter Z must understand that if they are counting on mercy, no.

“There will be no mercy for them.

“It all became very serious, in this case, it means concentration camps, re‐education, sterilisation.

“This is very serious.”

Speculation started on Wednesday, May 4, that Putin could soon declare war against Ukraine and mobilise troops nationally on May 9. Russia’s onslaught against Ukraine so far has been called a ‘special military operation’ rather than war by THE Ministry of Health an‐ nounced on Thursday, May 5 that they had discovered a new coronavirus variant in Spain. In its latest report, the Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emer‐ gencies highlighted that some sequences corre‐ sponding to the new BA.5 mutation of Covid‐19 have been detected in recent weeks.

A warning has already been issued by the World Health Organisation regard‐

NO MERCY: The situation is now serious.

Russia. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin commented on the speculation about a national mobilisation and said: “There is no chance of that. It’s nonsense.”

He went on to add: “It is not true. It is non‐ sense.”

New Covid strain

ing the ‘transmission poten‐ tial of this variant,’ and the risk of it being immune to the current vaccines avail‐ able.

In its epidemiological re‐ port, the Ministry of Health explained that “the first stud‐ ies indicate that previous in‐ fection by the BA.1 variant of Omicron could offer a minor degree of protection against the new strain that is already

circulating in our country.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghe‐ breyesus, the director‐gener‐ al of the WHO, warned this week that the scientists who identified Omicron at the end of last year have now warned that the two sub‐ variants that have been de‐ tected in Spain, the BA.4 and BA.5, could be responsible for the increase in coron‐ avirus cases in South Africa.

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Child passport blunder R Y A N A I R is reportedly enforc‐ ing an EU law they say means that children’s passports should be less than five years old, causing issues for some trav‐ ellers.

One family has already com‐ plained that Ryanair’s passport guidelines have ruined their holiday. Zak and his family were denied boarding by Ryanair on Monday May 2, due to Ryanair’s rule. The family were able to fly

S I M O N C O W E L L will marry his fiancée, the US socialite, Lauren Silver‐ man next month.

A source told one publi‐ cation: “Simon cannot wait to have Lauren as his wife and didn’t see the point in delaying it.

“He has taken charge of the planning and the date has been set for June.

“The ceremony is going to take place in London, with their son Eric front and centre, naturally.

“Simon and Lauren are

to Tenerife with Jet2 though.

Zak’s family finally made it on holiday and had no issues at Spanish border control.

Ryanair commented on Zak’s situation and told the British press: “This UK passenger was correctly denied boarding in Glasgow Prestwick because his passport was not valid for trav‐ el to the EU. “This teenager’s passport was issued in March 2017, and

therefore exceeded its permit‐ ted five years validity for entry to the EU in March 2022, and was no longer valid for travel on May 2, 2022.”

The European Commission has reportedly said that it knows nothing of the law Ryanair is trying to enforce, however, and said that to travel to EU mem‐ ber nations, British passports must have been issued less than 10 years ago.

Simon Cowell weds

SURPRISE: No-one knows when it will be.

looking forward to coming together with their family

and friends to tie the knot.

“It’s been a long time coming and now Simon wants to get Lauren up the aisle as quickly as he can.”

Simon, 62, proposed to his long‐time girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, 44, in January after feeling like they were already en‐ gaged while living togeth‐ er during lockdown.

The Britain’s Got Talent

creator previously told the British press: “I am plan‐ ning it all, otherwise I know what will happen ‐ there will be 600 people and it’ll get out of control, like my 50th birthday par‐ ty.”

The date for the big day remains under wraps.

“No one knows when it’s going to be ‐ that’ll be a surprise, even for Lau‐ ren,” Simon said.

NEWS

Climate change virus warning CLIMATE change could, over the next 50 years, cause more than 15,000 new cases of mammals to transmit viruses to other mammals, according to a study published in Nature.

The article, published on April 28, follows the likelihood that the Covid pandemic started when a previously un‐ known coronavirus passed from a wild animal to a human.

The predicted rise in viruses moving between species could trigger more outbreaks, posing a serious threat to hu‐ man health, the study warns.

The authors write that they “predict that species will ag‐ gregate in new combinations at high elevations, in biodiver‐ sity hotspots, and in areas of high human population density in Asia and Africa, driving the novel cross‐species transmis‐ sion of their viruses an estimated 4,000 times.

“Because of their unique dispersal capacity, bats account for the majority of novel viral sharing, and are likely to share viruses along evolutionary pathways that will facilitate fu‐ ture emergence in humans.

“Surprisingly, we find that this ecological transition may already be underway, and holding warming under 2°C with‐ in the century will not reduce future viral sharing."

We have advertised with the Euro Weekly News for many years and wouldn’t advertise anywhere else.

Even in these difficult times we still have customers walking in with the advert.

Michelle, our rep is always on hand and offers us an exceptional service.”

NEWS

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12 - 18 May 2022

EU travel option THERE is a perfect EU travel the European Union found that they are afford‐ option for those born in ed a far easier time in entering Northern Ireland as all those than those using British pass‐ born in Ulster enjoy one very ports. special benefit regardless of the According to figures ob‐ Brexit result. tained by the Irish press, by Under the terms of the Good 2020, for the first time ever, the Friday Agreement of 1998, peo‐ number of applications for Irish ple born in the north can identify passports from those living in Easier with Irish passport. as either Irish, British or both Northern Ireland was greater meaning that they can hold dual citizenship and than those applying for UK passports. therefore both British and Irish passports.

Whilst the UK bounced back in 2021, the lat‐ Following Brexit, the number of people apply‐ est figures for 2022 suggest that there are now ing for Irish passports started to increase consid‐ more than two applications for an Irish passport erably as those deciding to travel to countries in compared to each British passport applied for.

MARCO CAVALIERI, the head of Strategy for Biological Health Threats and Vaccines of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), announced on Thursday, May 5, that the agency plans to approve Covid‐19 vaccines adapted to Omicron and other variants in September.

“Our priority is to ensure that the adapted Covid‐19 vaccines are approved by September at the latest, so

New variant vaccines that they are ready for the de‐ ployment of the new vaccina‐ tion campaigns in the Euro‐ pean Union in the autumn.

This would allow manufactur‐ ers to adjust their lines of pro‐ duction accordingly,” he spec‐ ified.

“Clinical trials of the adapt‐ ed vaccines must show that they are superior to the cur‐ rent licensed Covid‐19 vac‐

cines against Omicron and other variants,” added Cava‐ lieri.

“We are working with all the manufacturers of the vac‐ cines that are currently ap‐ proved, but it’s no mystery that mRNA vaccines are way ahead of the race. That is why we’re primarily working with Moderna and Pfizer/BioN‐ Tech.”

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ALIEN BOMBSHELL - ALIENS ALREADY LIVE AMONG US! NORA JOHNSON BREAKING VIEWS Nora is the author of popular psychological suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist.

A SPACE expert has warned that a NASA plan to let aliens know life on Earth exists could trigger dangers like an extra‐terrestrial inva‐ sion. This eerily echoes previously released classified documents from the UK’s Ministry of Defence revealing how staff believed aliens could visit for ‘military reconnaissance’, ‘scientific’ research or ‘tourism’.

But why would ‘aliens’ with such advanced technology that enabled travel throughout the universe at hyper‐mph be interested in a week’s B&B in Skegness? Surely they’d have the technology to do their ‘reconnaissance’ from afar?

And why on ‘Earth’ would anyone want to go to the UK for a holiday? Presumably they have the run of the universe, somewhere without global warming, corrupt politicians or fleeing oligarchs.

The UK admittedly does possess some uniquely otherworldly, semi‐derelict, deso‐ late seaside resorts that might make them feel at home. Judging by some of the popula‐ tion of these places, some of them might well

have stayed and set up boarding houses, one‐armed bandit emporia and tattoo par‐ lours.

The first British cosmonaut Helen Sharman previously admitted she believes aliens do ex‐ ist, claiming extra‐terrestrials “could be living among us here on Earth,” but have simply gone undetected.

At first, her theory sounds slightly bonkers.

And then you start looking more closely at UK MPs and maybe Helen could definitely be on to something. Do those MPs sound like they’re on another planet? Well, perhaps that’s because they are...

Maybe there’s another explanation for the UFO videos recently released by military forces: to convince us of the ongoing exis‐ tence of threats, real and imaginary, to max‐ imise their funding?

Nora Johnson’s critically acclaimed psy‐ chological crime thrillers (www.nora‐john son.net) all available online. Profits to Cude‐ ca cancer charity. Email: norajohnson3@ hotmail.com.

For more from our columnists please scan this QR Code

Nora Johnson’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

EUROPEAN PRESS

EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK

FINLAND

Wailing Day

Chewie, we’re home

WEDNESDAY May 4 was designated Big Wailing Day in Denmark as it was time to perform the annual test of 1,078 sirens situated around the country, which was first started in 1994 and takes place the day before National Day on May 5.

FOR the first time, the largest Star Wars private collections in the world visits Finland this year as the Unofficial Galaxies summer exhibition is due to open in the Tampere Hall on July 1 and visitors will be invited to dress as their favourite character

IRELAND

THE NETHERLANDS Liberation Day

Mixed blessing

CHELSEA Pensioner, 96-year-old Harry Rawlings (one of 20 Second World War veterans who travelled to Holland for the event) lit the Freedom Flame at midnight on Thursday May 5 in Wageningen to mark Liberation Day which is a public holiday in The Netherlands

IRELAND has been particularly successful in attracting international companies such as Facebook and Google to set up data centres thanks in part to the beneficial tax rules, but it now appears that these centres account for 14 per cent of all electricity used in the Republic.

BELGIUM

ITALY

Ruffled feathers

Oops

WHEN police stopped a British number plated car on the Brussels orbital road on May 1, they were surprised on looking inside that it was full of exotic birds such as canaries, parrots and parakeets as well as some pigeons, an astonishing 415 in total.

AN elderly female tourist appeared to have either fainted or tripped over a low barrier at the Galleria Borghese in Rome on May 4 and managed to damage a 17th century painting of St Francis by Guido Reni, which will now have to be removed and restored.

GERMANY

PORTUGAL

Condom conundrum

COTEC meeting

MAKING history in Germany, a court has ruled that a woman who damaged her reluctant partner’s condoms in a bid to become pregnant was guilty of ‘stealthing’ which normally occurs when a man secretly removes his condom during sexual intercourse, unbeknownst to his partner.

TRAVELLING to Oporto, King Felipe arrived on May 3 to take part in the annual COTEC meeting where representatives of Italy, Portugal and Spain meet to discuss innovation and international cooperation.

From Oporto, he travelled to Braga where the actual meeting took place.

FRANCE

UKRAINE

Electric fires

Decathlon returns

AFTER the second of Paris’s 149 electric buses caught fire for no apparent reason, the decision was made to take them all out of service temporarily so that the Bollore Bluebus 5SE could be checked for inherent faults, although no-one has been injured by the fires.

AFTER closing its four stores in Ukraine, French chain Decathlon has announced that it has reopened its shop in the Petrivka Retail Park in Kyiv and has also gone back online to supply goods to other parts of the country wherever delivery is possible.

NORWAY

SWEDEN

Record number

NATO doubts

IN 2021, some 41,100 people were granted Norwegian citizenship, the largest number ever with Swedes topping the statistics due to the fact that dual nationality is now allowed.

Perhaps unexpectedly British, Danish and Polish applicants beat non-European refugees in gaining Norwegian passports.

THE potential application by Sweden and Finland to join NATO could be stymied if the Croatian President Zoran Milanović is able to veto any deal at the upcoming Madrid summit.

He is at odds with the Croatian Parliament, but the vote may be for ambassadors only.

FEATURE

euroweeklynews.com

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT HAVING just (about) recovered from a second bout of the dreaded Covid contagion, it did cross my mind just how quiet all the Covid deniers have become.

At one time the social media was awash with individuals scoffing and decrying the very existence of this very real and potentially devastating disease. The conspiracy theorists were rampant, not only denying the disease actually existed, but a large number blaming it all on a devious plot to bring the whole of mankind to its knees and totally reset the world as we knew it!

I can only assume that as time went on and more and more of these people actually contracted the disease themselves, or were confronted with friends and relatives that fell victim, even the bloodiest minded of them finally had to accept the truth. None will ever admit it of course. That is the problem with conspiracy theorists, they are generally sufferers of rampant insecurity or inferiority complexes and to bolster their own frailties try to convince others they are more aware of situations and events in the world

12 - 18 May 2022

Covid deniers

than the majority. People who suffer from this malady will find conspiracies in just about everything; it constantly boosts their fragile egos by making them appear (and feel) important. Well I find them very dangerous indeed.

I also think they owe an apology to all the medical staff, doctors, nurses and laboratory workers who spent their time, and on many occasions actually laid down their lives in the fight to combat this devastating disease. They should also apologise to all who have lost loved ones and those still fighting the effects of the dreaded Long Covid, which has also been proven to be very real and utterly debilitating to so many ‐ they won’t of course, they never do.

Many of these conspiracy theorists are also deniers of historical events. Large numbers maintain that man has never walked on the moon or even actually travelled in space. Try telling that to the parents and loved ones of the tragic crew of the ill fated Challenger, or of the seven that died when the Columbia shuttle disintegrated on reentry in 1973.

To be honest if we listened to the conspiracy theorists, mankind would probably not exist at all. Mind you

sometimes I do actually think myself that we could all be figments of our own imagination. Ah well.

My second ‘Ah well’ of the week occurred the other night. After appearing at a prestigious beach front nightspot on Mallorca, I was approached by a beautiful young woman that appeared to have been enjoying my spot with some gusto.

Probably in her early 20s, she laid a hand gently on my arm and, gazing up adoringly, told me she was Swedish and had truly enjoyed my music. ‘You brought back so many wonderful memories’ she crooned seductively.

‘Oh really’ I stuttered, preening slightly but somewhat taken aback. ‘Yes’, she went on, ‘you reminded me so much of my late grandfather’‐ Ah Well!

Keep the faith Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com Mon. Fri. 1pm till 4.

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Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

EWN 31

FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA Crypto crackdown

euroweeklynews.com • 12 - 18 May 2022

34

STAT OF WEEK

$100,000

a night is the cost of enjoying the top suite in the world’s most expensive hotel, the Palms Casino Resort Hotel in Las Vegas.

Diesel costs spiral Credit: Alex Holyoake flickr

ONLINE cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase are either having to suspend services in Spainorarehavingdifficultyinreceiving approval to start them in a toughening of oversight by both the Bank of Spain and watchdog CNMV.

Visit Rwanda ACCORDING to the UK press, the British government plans to spend £100,000 on running a foreign language social media campaign targeting countries with the greatest number of potential economic migrants, saying that “Britain is closed for business” so they could end up in Rwanda instead.

British tourists WITH Schengen requirements very much in the mind of British holiday‐ makers, the National Statistics Institute (INE) confirmed that of four million international tourists visiting Spain in March, 18.3 per cent or 826,399 were British nationals who were able to cope with the post‐Brexit entry require‐ ments.

Cake Face AN amateur baker in Norwich has taken the plunge and set up her own home delivery business offering a combination of sweet treats and a large helping of mindfulness. Cake Face not only delivers cakes, but also inspiringwordsandalinktoanuplifting song.

Industrial output decline LATESTnewsfromtheSpanishNational Statistics Institute (INE) released on May 6 revealed that industrial output had dropped in March after getting slightly stronger in February. Although the percentages are relatively small in number terms, the drop of 1.8 per cent following a 0.9 per cent growth the previousmonthtranslatestomillionsof euros of lost production. In real terms over a 12‐month basis, production has grown by just 0.1 per cent and appears to have been held back firstly by Covid restrictions during 2021 and now by a combination of higher costs of raw material and supply‐chain delays.

Nearly 60 per cent of Spanish vehicles use diesel.

FUEL costs in Spain are giving the con‐ sumer no respite at the moment.

The 20 cents per litre discount that the government introduced on April 1 has relieved the situation slightly, but the cost of petrol and diesel just keeps increasing, with Economy Min‐ ister Nadia Calviño warning retailers that she may withdraw the discount if it is not passed on to consumers.

According to data from the EU Oil Bulletin published on Thursday May 5, diesel has broken a record in Spain by reaching an average cost of €1.872/litre which means that it ex‐

THE UK government has de‐ manded fair play for all and will target large tech firms who take advantage of consumers as well as small businesses.

Although no implementation date has been confirmed, the De‐ partment for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) an‐ nounced on Friday May 6 that it planned to launch a new digital watchdog with statutory powers.

The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be created in order to enforce pro‐competition rules and rebalance the relationship tech giants have with consumers and businesses, so they are bet‐ ter protected from unfair prac‐ tices.

Plans will be turned into reality

FINANCE

ceeded the price of petrol for the fifth consecutive week.

Data from the Geoportal of gas sta‐ tions of the Spanish Ministry for the Environment show that in 1,288 petrol stations, its cost is already above or close to €2/litre. That is equivalent to 11.3 per cent of the forecourt pumps in the country.

Specifically, in 780 stations it has al‐ ready hit that cost, while in the rest it is at €1.999/litre. In another 6,000, its cost exceeds €1.90/litre, slightly above the €1.872/litre average.

Despite diesel cars being doomed

to disappear in the future, a report from the We Are Safe disclosure ini‐ tiative, promoted by the employers of Unespa insurance companies, said that 14.6 million of the 24.6 million cars on the road in Spain are still de‐ pendent on diesel.

Even with these reported increas‐ es, fuel costs in Spain are still lower than the average of the European Union, and the eurozone. In these two zones, the average cost of petrol stands at €1.870, and €1.882, while diesel is at €1.939, and €1.921 respec‐ tively.

Fair play for all as fines up to 10 per cent of glob‐ al turnover will be implemented for breaches and senior tech bosses will face tough penalties if firms fail to comply with the rules The DCMS said that the majori‐ ty of UK companies now rely on powerful tech firms to ensure customers find their business on‐ line.

International firms control key online gateways for millions of internet users and give prefer‐ ence to their own apps and browsers. They are also able to set their own prices for the on‐

line services they provide busi‐ nesses without challenge, which can be passed on to consumers.

The impact of weakened com‐ petition is stark ‐ the Competi‐ tion and Markets Authority esti‐ mates that Google and Facebook made excess UK profits of £2.4 billion in 2018 alone ‐ harming consumers through higher prices.

Smartphone users could get more choice of which search en‐ gines they have access to more choice of social media platforms as new entrants enter the mar‐ ket and more control over how their data is used by companies.

Iberdrola investment FOLLOWING the news that Volkswagen/SEAT planned to spend €10 billion on the elec‐ tric vehicle business in Spain and is starting with a huge new building in Valencia, it has to be remembered that going electric, requires a lot of electricity.

Spanish utility company Iberdrola has jumped in quickly and announced that it plans to invest €500 million in the construction of a 250‐ hectare solar farm not far from the gigafactory’s loca‐ tion in the area of Sagunto.

The plan is to ensure that all of the electricity used by the factory is supplied by Iberdrola which will, through its investment, ensure that the manufacture of the VW batteries is possible using on‐ ly renewable energy.

Funding a green future THE Spanish Venture Capital fund behind Glovo and Spotify is going green as Seaya Ventures partners with Iberdrola and Nortia.

Hoping to raise €300 million and become the largest Venture Capital fund focused on sustain‐ ability in southern Europe, Seaya Andromeda has already attract‐ ed investments of €130 million.

The fund will invest in technol‐ ogy‐driven companies focusing on GreenTech, Circular Economy, Agritech and Sustainable Food Value Chain and will be promot‐ ing a sustainable and healthy so‐ ciety by reducing waste and pol‐ lution, through investments in top European tech‐driven com‐ panies.

As the fund endorses EU and Spanish aims to help provide a greener future, it anticipates fi‐ nancial support from the Spanish government.

to read more FINANCE scan this QR Code

36 EWN

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1.521,50 5.220,0 76,86 235,50 2.369,0 747,00 255,50 46,72 7.660,0 774,00 121,35 1.632,00 1.210,50 223,70 6.282,0 1,89 931,00 2.143,0 606,80 1.017,00 6.452,0 2.414,00 553,00 627,00 5.686,0 86,22 0,60 731,60 1.360,50 0,0453 2.960,0 920,00 1.208,50 3.118,0 2.325,0 1.338,50 1.539,50 11.890,0 1.890,00 1.317,00 584,00 130,00 274,30 242,10 3.671,0 1.140,50 124,74 2.917,0 1.037,50

1.469,00 5.152,0 72,10 231,10 2.294,0 729,60 249,00 43,98 7.494,0 770,00 116,50 1.568,50 1.183,00 209,70 6.016,0 1,89 853,00 2.100,0 592,40 965,00 6.370,0 2.361,00 543,20 608,60 5.556,0 82,64 0,60 717,40 1.321,50 0,0453 2.894,0 885,80 1.166,50 3.049,0 2.252,0 1.313,50 1.512,50 11.650,0 1.845,00 1.286,50 569,00 127,10 270,50 231,40 3.611,5 1.108,00 122,54 2.782,0 1.015,50

376,43K 206,50K 11,58M 2,63M 351,11K 1,12M 7,26M 50,01M 199,06K 325,70K 16,13M 1,32M 2,03M 19,44M 205,84K 0 985,70K 310,84K 1,06M 1,78M 501,77K 2,06M 2,46M 789,39K 1,25M 14,35M 0 475,84K 9,10K 0 340,11K 2,13M 2,80M 504,29K 8,65M 1,49M 329,82K 67,73K 812,74K 415,63K 8,35M 5,69M 11,75M 1,86M 1,84M 2,20M 23,36M 282,88K 1,13M

1.17254

0.85245

Units per €

US dollar (USD) ........................................1.0544 Japan yen (JPY)........................................137.23 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0385 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4400 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................9.9424

currenciesdirect.com/la-zenia • Tel: +34 965 994 830 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER

DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES M AY 9

COMPANY 3M American Express Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Dow Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com The Travelers UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walgreens Boots Walmart Walt Disney

PRICE 151,59 174,80 237,50 160,80 154,25 220,06 168,24 50,63 64,82 69,40 317,29 304,64 202,27 136,57 45,46 177,52 124,81 251,68 88,20 279,43 121,17 156,05 176,73 174,16 500,50 47,98 210,41 43,84 153,03 113,67

CHANGE 153,65 176,74 237,93 164,07 157,98 223,10 169,45 51,20 64,96 70,36 320,56 311,36 204,67 137,26 45,91 179,69 126,10 254,49 88,49 286,35 124,75 157,29 182,10 175,27 510,67 48,33 214,58 44,35 153,83 115,27

CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 151,26 433,10K 174,13 282,96K 234,88 395,88K 160,59 19,83M 153,65 1,82M 218,48 490,19K 167,15 1,95M 50,52 2,32M 64,48 1,90M 68,98 1,12M 316,39 289,20K 303,94 692,01K 201,85 654,15K 136,02 933,50K 45,25 5,72M 177,23 902,68K 124,42 2,29M 251,07 416,91K 87,90 1,22M 278,90 6,98M 120,96 1,03M 155,73 1,37M 176,39 1,23M 173,13 140,75K 499,23 439,21K 47,84 3,24M 209,67 1,04M 43,72 920,93K 152,37 954,93K 113,26 1,98M M - MILLION DOLLARS

NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES M AY 9

COMPANY

CHANGE NET / %

VOLUME

+406.11% +61.14% +31.80% +23.82% +28.01% +23.61% +20.82% +18.23% +17.75% +16.19% +16.08%

132.81K 100.21K 34.85M 114.96K 3.97M 13.47M 748.00K 0.43K 2.40M 764.97K 27.28M

-32.35% -29.17% -26.54% -24.31% -24.18% -22.39% -22.46% -19.52% -19.20% -19.20% -18.39%

86.26K 436.04K 1.18M 2.63M 932.46K 3.31M 5.29M 864.08K 4.86M 2.74M 133.36K

Most Advanced Immuron Metromile Better Therapeutics Kiromic Hudson Cyngn Axogen Inc Silver Spike Investment Silicon Motion Bon Natural Life Sonim Technologies

Most Declined Nephros Bioatla Singularity Future Tech Alkaline Water Inseego Aikido Pharma Inc Sprouts Farmers CoreCivic Evofem Biosciences DigitalOcean Holdings Baudax Bio

euroweeklynews.com

12 - 18 May 2022

BUSINESS EXTRA ECB interest THE European Central Bank (ECB), having stood firm against increased interest rates now believes it will have to happen, but over a period of time with con‐ trolled hikes which will take interest rates from negative to positive, with one board member sug‐ gesting a July start.

Pizza the action DOMINO’S, imported from America but one of Britain’s most successful takeaway suppliers has recorded a drop in sales as prices for its hot pizzas in‐ creased due to the return to pre‐pandemic rates of VAT. This may then benefit supermarkets where un‐ cooked pizzas are VAT free.

VW factory SPANISH President Pedro Sánchez attended the for‐ mal presentation of the Volkswagen gigabattery factory in the Valencian town of Sagunto on Thurs‐ day May 5, where compa‐ ny chairman Herbert Diess confirmed that it planned to spend €10 billion on electric car production.

Innovative travelling VEHICLE manufacturers have been concentrating on the production of electric buses, cars and delivery ve‐ hicles, but there is a new Spanish company offering something more affordable.

Unlike electric bicycles and e‐scooters, Malaga based Urbet, having toyed with small electric bikes from Chi‐ na sees a market for the equivalent of a 125cc motor bike which is electrically powered. Styled to look like vintage bikes, prices range from €2,000 to €9,000 and with a range of up to 350 kilometres and almost negli‐ gible running costs, this start‐up which currently has two showrooms could be a company to watch.

Oil fuels inflation THE British economy con‐ tinues to face ever rising inflation, forcing the Bank of England to raise inter‐ est rates to their highest level since 2009 and to warn of a possible reces‐ sion.

One of the main rea‐ sons for this huge spike in inflation is the cost of oil and gas prices which were spiralling towards the end of 2021, but have shot up further with Russia’s inva‐ sion of Ukraine.

Despite claiming to have lost £3.1 billion by cancelling deals involved with Russian gas and oil, energy giant Shell has re‐ ported profits of £7.3 bil‐ lion in the first quarter of 2022, more than double the profits it made in the previous year.

Similar increases in profits have been con‐ firmed by other compa‐ nies such as BP and Nor‐ wegian company Equinor which supplies Britain with 25 per cent of its nat‐

PROFITS UP: The Chancellor is handy with a petrol pump.

ural gas has also reported record profits.

Many politicians argue that Chancellor Rishi Sunak should introduce some form of ‘windfall’ tax on the companies benefiting from these enormous hikes in profits but, until now, he has ap‐ peared opposed to this concept.

The concept of such a temporary tax is not to penalise the companies by taxing all of their prof‐ its but by taking a per‐ centage of the unexpect‐ ed additional profits, the UK economy would bene‐ fit and this would release funds to help those most hit by inflation such as pensioners and the low‐

est paid.

The latest ‘gaff’ by Prime Minister Boris John‐ son who, when told that a pensioner was riding bus‐ es most days purely to keep warm, wrongly claimed that it was thanks to him that she has a free bus pass, probably didn’t go down well with voters in the May local elections.

Fighting dangerous apps MALICIOUS apps unknowingly down‐ loaded by hundreds of thousands of users put people’s data and money at risk, according to a new report.

The UK hopes to boost security stan‐ dards in a bid to better protect people from hackers when they download apps to their phones, TVs and games consoles.

The app market in the UK is said to be worth nearly £19 billion as people use apps to carry out everyday tasks such as shopping, banking and making video calls.

On May 4, the UK government re‐ vealed that: “There are few rules gov‐ erning the security of the technology or the online stores where they are sold.

“A new report on the threats in app stores published today by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) shows people’s data and money are at risk because of fraudulent apps containing malicious malware created by cyber criminals or poorly developed apps which can be compromised by hackers

FINANCE

EVERYDAY TASKS: Everyone uses apps nowadays.

exploiting weaknesses in software.”

The government hopes to increase security for users under new proposals for a code of practice for app stores.

Cyber Security Minister Julia Lopez said: “Apps on our smartphones and tablets have improved our lives im‐ mensely ‐ making it easier to bank and

NEWS

Lingua Franca Credit: HM Treasury flickr

38 EWN

shop online and stay connected with friends.

“But no app should put our money and data at risk. That’s why the gov‐ ernment is taking action to ensure app stores and developers raise their secu‐ rity standards and better protect UK consumers in the digital age.”

WITH Spain embarking on its massive press to be‐ come the technology hub of Europe, not only will its next generation of IT creators need to under‐ stand what they are do‐ ing, but will also have to be fluent in English.

This is because the ma‐ jority of programming de‐ velopment and training is undertaken in such a way that English is the domi‐ nant language.

When one considers the huge potential labour force in Latin and South America, it is clear that a large number of people will be unable to cope with the language prob‐ lem, so Mexican program‐ mer Primitivo Román Montero created Lengua‐ je Latino, a Spanish open‐ source programming lan‐ guage to help those entering the profession to cope.

Energy tussle AS Spain looks to place a cap on the price of natural gas used for power gener‐ ation, it is being criticised by energy companies al‐ though the plan, agreed jointly with Portugal, has been approved in princi‐ ple by the European Union.

Inflation is a major problem for the country and accurate forecasts through the National Statistics Agency (INE) are crucial, but according to Economy Minister Nadia Calviño, one large un‐ named utility company is causing a major problem.

In a radio interview on Thursday May 5, she claimed that this company has been ignoring several requests for information from INE which hinders the ability of the agency to prepare precise figures.

to read more FINANCE scan this QR Code

FEATURE

euroweeklynews.com

12 - 18 May 2022

Spectacular sky Spain

Meteor showers seen annually.

THE annual celestial spec‐ tacle known as the Eta Aquarid meteor shower can be seen every year be‐ tween April 19 and May 28. Although they can be observed from the north‐ ern hemisphere, one of the best locations to spot them is in the tropics, such as the Canary Islands.

Eta Aquarids come from Halley’s Comet, as does Oc‐ tober’s Orionid Meteor Shower. Both occur every year when the Earth passes through a ring populated

with fragments detached from the comet.

During their long journey, they leave small metallic particles that pass through the atmosphere and disin‐ tegrate. These become the shooting stars that we see.

Halley’s Comet was dis‐ covered by Edmond Halley (1656‐1742), and is, with‐ out a doubt, one of the most popular celestial ob‐ jects in history. Thanks to its orbit around the Sun, ev‐ ery 76 years we can see it with the naked eye. The last

time it was visible was in 1986, and we must wait un‐ til 2061 for this to occur again.

This year will reportedly be a good year for the ob‐ servation of the eta aquar‐ ids, as the crescent of the Moon will allow us to see the meteor shower. To do this, you have to find a place away from obstacles that affect your views, such as buildings, trees or moun‐ tains. These should always be located away from light pollution.

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2. Stop direct debits. Stopping your direct debits will ensure you won’t get stuck with any future utility bills. Even though name changes are made, there is a chance that an over‐ lapping bill could go through your account. If you’ve put a stop to the direct debit, the new own‐ ers will be notified.

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Don’t take a Spanish Bankers Draft to the UK. You will likely be paid by a Span‐ ish Bankers Draft (guaran‐ teed bank cheque). If you take it back to the UK and deposit it into your bank account there, it can take up to 10 weeks to clear! Ei‐ ther deposit it into your Spanish bank account and let them transfer it, or Rebecca use a currency com‐ Serwotka. pany.

Ready to sell your property? Call me today for a free valuation on 966 718 392! We have buyers waiting!

See our advert in the centre pages of this newspaper! www.homes4u.es

EWN 39

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euroweeklynews.com

12 - 18 May 2022

HEALTH & BEAUTY

How to aid digestion Tips for healthy hips during pregnancy

FOR many women, pregnancy is not easy.

Hormonal changes and a rapidly growing stomach can directly impact the digestive system, causing much discomfort. Knowing the causes can be helpful for coping. Here are some of the causes of the most com‐ mon complaints and how to deal with them.

One of the most common discomforts during pregnancy is nausea, typically during the first trimester. It seems to have a hor‐ monal origin and can be heightened by worry or lack of sleep.

Many women notice the onset of nausea when they need to eat, and it subsides when they do. Nausea can be reduced by eating frequent, but small meals and eating foods that absorb gastric juices, such as bread. Plenty of rest and medications can also relieve nausea.

Heartburn occurs most frequently to‐ wards the end of pregnancy, when the size of the uterus displaces the organs so much that the stomach becomes more horizon‐

tal. This means that if the stomach is full, acids move more easily up the oesophagus into the mouth. To relieve it, you can sleep with your head slightly raised, eat smaller but frequent meals and take a suitable medication.

The movement of food through the di‐ gestive system is slowed down by hormon‐ al changes, especially the high levels of pro‐ gesterone in the blood. It is normal to feel that food sits in the stomach for longer and to be drowsier after meals. This is tempo‐ rary and eating smaller, more frequent meals is once again the golden rule.

Some women find that they go to the toi‐ let more regularly during pregnancy, but others suffer from constipation due to the compression of the uterus on the end of the bowel. This usually improves with changes in diet and physical exercise. The midwife or doctor may recommend a mild laxative if the problem is significant. Laxa‐ tives, even natural ones, should not be tak‐ en without professional advice.

OUR hips are involved in nu‐ merous daily actions, pro‐ viding stability for the body and helping to cushion against the impact of run‐ ning and jumping. Despite this, most of us tend not to worry about them until we reach a certain age.

Excessively stiff hips can cause problems in the lower back, knees, ankles and feet. The following simple exercises are great for healthy and flexible hips.

Do each one 10 times three times a week and you will see an improvement in no time!

Hip flexion Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet flat on the floor, slightly apart. While keeping your back straight, lean forward as far as you can and then come back up again. Keep your weight on your feet.

Internal hip rotation

HIP EXERCISES: Simple movements help ease stiffness.

Again, sit on the edge of the chair with your back straight and your feet on the floor a little apart. Move your knees together while keeping your feet as far apart as possible.

External hip rotation Sit on the edge of the chair with your feet togeth‐ er. Separate your knees as far as possible without mov‐

ing your feet. You can use your hands to help push your knees outwards.

Stability and control Now stand up, but keep the chair nearby. Lift one leg so that all your weight is on the other leg. With the raised leg, tap the floor with your foot in front of you, be‐ hind you and on both sides.

Use the chair for balance.

HEALT & BEAUTY to read more Health & Beauty scan this QR Code

HEALTH & BEAUTY

euroweeklynews.com

12 - 18 May 2022

Dyeing your hair yourself

IF you fancy changing your hair colour for a new look, you can do it yourself fairly easily. However, it is impor‐ tant to choose a quality prod‐ uct. If it is the first time, opt for one that includes all the tools required (gloves and a spatula or comb) and a post‐ dye conditioner.

Avoid washing your hair the day before colouring, because this will remove the scalp’s natural oil. You are going to be using some slightly aggressive products, and oil provides good protection.

Once you have chosen the product, do a test with a small amount of the mixture on your skin to check for a possi‐ ble allergic reaction. Make sure there is no stinging or redness.

It can be tricky not to get dye everywhere, and you should protect your forehead, temples, ears and neck. Using a facial or body cream will pro‐ vide a barrier and prevent the dye from penetrating the skin.

Of course, gloves are essential.

Always apply the dye from the roots to the ends. Sepa‐ rate your hair into different strands to distribute the prod‐ uct evenly and use a comb to get the mixture into the hair.

Leave the dye on your hair for the exact amount of time recommended. Too little time may lead to poor results and too much time will probably result in significant damage to

the hair fibres.

Finally, wash your hair with lukewarm water and sham‐ poo for coloured hair. Finish with some conditioner for the final touch.

Items that stain teeth

THE way your teeth look is closely related to what you eat and drink. Although good dental hygiene is essential for clean and healthy teeth, there are some foods that can stain your teeth and cause cavities.

Your teeth look smooth, but they are actu‐ ally porous, and food and drink can get in through the enamel.

Some of the products that most stain your teeth: • Red wine: the acidity, the tannins and the colour itself cause your teeth to darken.

Consume in moderation and brush well af‐ terwards so that the colour does not have time to penetrate the teeth.

• Coffee and tea: the high concentration of chromogens, molecules that stain other substances, greatly damages your teeth.

Tea has tannins that give the drink its colour and can damage your teeth. Daily

consumption of tea or coffee can turn your teeth yellow and dull.

• Sugary and energy drinks: the high sug‐ ar content of certain drinks stains your enamel and leads to tooth decay. The acids in these types of drinks can cause signifi‐ cant damage to your teeth.

• Coloured fruits and vegetables: fruits such as blackberries, cherries or beetroots can stain your enamel due to the powerful pigment they contain. The colour and acidi‐ ty mean that you should be careful. How‐ ever, these foods have many nutritional benefits and you should not avoid consum‐ ing them altogether.

• Tobacco: although not a food, tobacco is one of the greatest causes of tooth dam‐ age. It can cause your teeth to darken and turn grey and is also detrimental to your oral health in general.

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12 - 18 May 2022

euroweeklynews.com

NEWS

Breakthrough for hearing

ACCORDING to research carried out at Northwestern University in Illinois, hearing loss in old age could possibly be reversed. Their scientists claim to have discovered a way of regrowing sensory cells in the ear that die off and are critical to human hearing.

These ‘hair cells’ cause irreversible hearing loss in people, usually through old age, damage by noise, or from cancer treatment. The team of researchers has found the master gene that would be critical in regrow‐ ing these cells, as revealed in the medical journal Nature.

Scientists have tried for a long time to find a way of regrowing the outer hair cells that are made by the cochlea in the inner ear. The loss of these cells is usually the cause of most forms of hearing loss. In a breakthrough, the researchers discov‐ ered that hair cells can be pro‐ grammed to become either outer or inner cells by the use of a single gene.

HEARING LOSS: Could be reversed.

Jaime Garcia‐Anoveros, Northwest‐ ern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s professor of anaesthesia, neurology and neuroscience ‐ and lead author of the study ‐ comment‐ ed, “We have overcome a major hur‐ dle.”

Adding, “We can now figure out how to make specifically inner or out‐ er hair cells and identify why the lat‐ ter is more prone to dying and cause deafness.”

FEATURE

euroweeklynews.com

It makes no sense to me MIKE SENKER IN MY OPINION

Views of a Grumpy Old Man I SAW a video the other day of a bloke on a bike go into a store in the USA and load up with as many goods as he could carry and ride out. No-one tried to stop him.

In fact the staff just stood there filming him. I then found out the reason for this is because State law says that stealing merchandise worth $950 or less is just a misdemeanour which means that law enforcement probably won’t bother to investigate, and if they do, prosecutors will let it go. That’s absolutely nuts!

Why won’t store employees do anything about this theft? Because they don’t want to take the risk. I doubt many would, knowing that one employee was murdered recently after trying to stop two thieves. It just doesn’t make any sense to me that you can nick up to a grand’s worth of stuff without getting nicked. I also read that these thieves go in four/five handed and just help themselves and walk out.

I went into Primark the other day and it looked like people only go in there to see how much mess they can make. The place looked like a jumble sale. Who has the patience to rummage through all that stuff?

Not me - see you later. Mind you at their prices, the American shoplifters would have a field day and would need a small van to nick a grand’s worth of stuff!

The UK voted for something last week.

My opinion of voting in the UK is trying to make up your mind whether you prefer dog poo or cat poo, because it doesn’t matter what party wins you will still finish up with a load of mess! I must also remember that when you get nicked for breaking the law, like Boris did, you just have to say ooops sorry and then ignore it. What a load of bull hooks.

Finally stop this woke nonsense now!

Men are being asked if they could be pregnant before some treatments, because the health authorities do not ask what sex you are when filling out consent forms.

Email: mikesenker@gmail.com

For more from our columnists please scan this QR Code

Mike’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

12 - 18 May 2022

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12 - 18 May 2022

Jubilee afternoon tea

Orihuela Orchestra ON Saturday May 21, the Orihuela Orchestra will be giving a concert at the Teatro Capitol in Rojales. More information can be found on the Rojales Town Hall website at http://www.rojales.es/.

The Orihuela Orchestra began its journey on December 25, 2011, at the Teatro Circo in Ori‐ huela, under the direction of Sixto Herrero.

Since then, it has uninterruptedly performed its concert season year after year, being a true cultural pillar in the city of Orihuela.

The Orihuela Orchestra has some truly ex‐ cellent string players who come from differ‐ ent walks of life, which has resulted in a great amount of artistic richness. Its members carry out a great deal of work in the field of musical performance and research.

The Orchestra has always created concert programmes based on specific musical themes, such as different styles and periods of music.

ORCHESTRA: Plays different styles of music.

SOCIAL SCENE

FANTASTIC SHOW: One of the best vocal casts they have ever had.

Guys and Dolls STUDIO 32 Musical Theatre Com‐ pany is proud to present its pro‐ duction of Guys & Dolls, which will be showing at the Cardenal Belu‐ ga Theatre, San Fulgencio, and will run from Wednesday, May 18, to Saturday, May 21. Doors open at 7.00pm.

The members of Studio 32 be‐ lieve that they have assembled one of the best vocal casts that they have ever had for this perfor‐ mance and do not want anybody who enjoys musicals to miss out on seeing this fantastic show.

For this reason, they are offer‐ ing groups of 20 or more who book using their online booking

service for the performances on Wednesday May 18 and Thursday May 19 a discount of €24. The money will be refunded on the night of the performance when the ticket receipt is shown at front of house. There will also be a com‐ plimentary drink on arrival and at the interval.

To book tickets online, visit www.studiothirtytwo.org. For fur‐ ther guidance on how to use the online booking service, email tick ets@studiothirtytwo.org. Tickets will also be available on the door on the night of the performance.

For further information, call 679 062 272 or 636 020 547.

ON Friday, June 3, at 4pm, the Spangles Ladies’ Har‐ mony Chorus will be cele‐ brating HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with one of their special afternoon teas at the Civic Centre in Los Alcazares. There will be some delicious sandwich‐ es, cakes and other good‐ ies on offer.

Tickets cost €12 each (in‐ cludes a glass of Cava on arrival) and places are lim‐ ited so should be booked as soon as possible. To book, call Susie at 44 7375 559 178 or email info@spangleschorus.com.

Spangles is a Ladies’ Bar‐ bershop Harmony Chorus which sings a variety of

popular songs, mostly with a rock, swing or blues feel.

Barbershop is about singing in harmony, but al‐ so being in harmony. It is the ideal platform to make new friends and sing to‐ gether at local social events. Their main aim is to ensure that audiences find their performances entertaining and enjoyable and that they enjoy them‐ selves too.

They meet at the Las Claras Centre in Los Nare‐ jos, Los Alcazares, every Thursday from 10am to 1pm and are always happy to welcome new members.

For more information, visit www.spangleschorus.com.

SPANGLES: The ideal way to meet new friends.

NEWS

euroweeklynews.com

World’s oldest dog A NEW world record for the oldest living dog has been officially con‐ firmed to be a 21‐year‐old chi‐ huahua from Florida ‐ meet To‐ byKeith!

Gisela Shore adopted tiny To‐ byKeith, born on January 9, 2001, when he was a puppy and has been with him for the rest of his life since.

The Good News Network reports that Gisela told Guinness World Records: “I was a volunteer at Peg‐ gy Adams Animal Rescue and one of the employees told me about an elderly couple trying to surrender a puppy because they could not take care of him any longer.

“I met with the elderly couple and I was introduced to a tiny tan Chihuahua. They had named him Peanut Butter. I later changed his name to TobyKeith.”

Little TobyKeith and Gisela’s 28‐ year‐old umbrella cockatoo, Coco, have a close friendship, often walking around together. TobyKei‐ th also enjoys going on small walks, eating slices of turkey and lying next to Gisela as she works

RECORD: 21-year-old TobyKeith is the world’s oldest dog.

from home.

In celebration of becoming the world’s oldest dog, TobyKeith had a pamper session including a bath, a manicure and then his favourite treat… a car ride!

Once his record was confirmed, Gisela’s family and friends were thrilled, Gisela said: “When he turned 20 years everyone’s reac‐ t i o n w a s W OW ! M y f r i e n d s a n d family thought he was the oldest dog they knew about.

“It definitely brought a big smile on my face!”

12 - 18 May 2022

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LETTERS

EW YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: 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.

A MIXED BAG

UK TV: Mixed-race actors currently appear regularly in commercials.

Hi, I’m in total agreement with Leapy Lee and previous letter writers, highlighting the highly disproportionate number of mixed‐race actors currently ap‐ pearing in UK TV commercials.

I’m all for the proportional in‐ clusivity on TV of all races, where historically correct how‐ ever, having watched the latest film version of David Copper‐ field, where the titular character is black, as is the wife of Bob Cratchit in the festive BBC pro‐ duction of A Christmas Carol, I have to ask the question, “WHAT THE DICKENS?” Terry PS. I also went to see the Manfreds at Benidorm Palace.

Great show

Your say Just a quickie ‐ love the ‘Break‐ ing Views’ column that really makes me and my friends smile in these trying times, Nora’s sense of humour matches ours perfectly. Thank you Nora and ‘Euro Weekly News’!

Karen

New website I wanted to let you know about your new website and I must say I like it a lot more. It’s easy to navigate and much more clear than your old one. The arti‐

cles on there are a little longer than in the paper in case I want to read a little more about an ar‐

ticle which is great.

Keep up the great work!

Jane

OUR VIEW CELEBRATING EUROPE DAY EUROPE DAY was marked on Monday May 9 across the 27 member states of the European Union.

The day marks the anniversary of the historic declaration of French foreign minister Robert Schuman in 1950, envisaging a Europe free from war and founded on the ideals of cooperation and sharing resources.

So, this is a day to honour peace and unity throughout Europe and of course during the 72 years since the declaration there has sadly been some form of physical aggression somewhere in Europe ranging from coups in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal to cross border fighting as Yugoslavia broke up.

The fall of the Berlin Wall as well as the dissolution of the USSR did see a modicum of democratic change, but since then there has been the internal conflict (fired by external elements) in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Kosovo.

Then as the Russian Bear came out of hibernation, there has been conflict in many parts of the old Soviet Union culminating in the invasion of the Ukraine.

In the meantime, as new members joined the European Union, there was just one ‘dog in the manger’, that wanted all of the benefits but none of the commitments which saw Britain voting to leave and even six years after the decision, the UK is still in dispute with the EU over the terms of the divorce.

Here in Spain, although individuals with British passports may have seen some restrictions on their lifestyles, it appears that the country as a whole has and is continuing to see real financial benefits from its membership of the ‘club’ and long may this last.

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FEATURE

GO LOCAL

THE EURO WEEKLY NEWS has urged its readers to support local businesses in the community by shopping locally in recent times. Now things are heading back to normal, we challenge you to maintain that habit by supporting local high streets, markets, butchers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully 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 businesses can support the local communi‐ ty. You may find something a euro or two cheaper on‐ line but have you consid‐ ered where your money is actually going?

By shopping locally you’re putting food on a local fami‐ ly’s table and there is noth‐

ing better than giving back to the communi‐ ties that have given us so much.

Local stores support charities and they BUY LOCAL: By shopping locally, sponsor lo‐ independent businesses can help support cal sports the local community. teams. In many cases, they are much your support. Spending your more than just a business, money locally will make a they’re a legacy. They may real difference to the local have supported generations economy. Local businesses of the same family. Likewise, recirculate a greater share brand new local stores and of every euro they receive at bars may help the genera‐ local level. They create local‐ tions of the future fulfil their ly owned supply chains and dreams and ambitions. they invest in their employ‐ Remember, your local ees. store is going up against multinationals and chains.

So remember.

They can’t win that battle on When you go shopping ‐ their own. So give them go local!

NEWS

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12 - 18 May 2022

EXPAT ULTRA

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TV

The bag that was mistaken for a hiding lion.

False alarm

A VILLAGE in Kenya got a huge surprise after a ‘stray lion’ turned out to be a carrier bag stuck under a hedge! The bag was spotted underneath some bushes by a passing farmhand who saw the big cat’s ‘face’ and was afraid that a lion was hiding and ready to pounce.

The man quickly raised the alarm with authorities and three wildlife officers rushed to the village of Kinyana, close to the Mount Kenya National Park, to trap the animal. The officers soon found that the ‘lion’ was nothing more than a Carrefour carrier bag with the face of a lion printed on it that had been placed in the bushes by a homeowner who lived nearby.

Village chief Cyrus Mbijiwe told the BBC: “We treated the incident with a lot of caution and seriousness.

“We first ensured everyone was safe then wildlife officials investigated and discovered that it was a bag.”

Once it was confirmed that the lion was in fact just a bag, they saw the funny side and started to take photographs and pose for selfies.

The farmhand, who works for the homeowner, was still praised for “raising the alarm in order to mitigate a possible conflict.”

His employer had not been at home when he called the authorities.

When she returned, she was warned about the big cat sighting and told to enter through a separate door.

She didn’t immediately make the connection between where she had left the bag and where the wardens were standing.

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FEATURE

HEADACHES BY THE NUMBER DAVID WORBOYS I’LL start with a question. A diary and a pencil purchased separately cost €11. The diary costs €10 more than the pencil. How much is the pencil?

Easy. Answer at the end.

The money required to buy a house for €2,000,000 in cash would require 25 kilometres of €10 notes laid out, end‐to‐end, along the motorway ‐ from Nerja to Velez‐Malaga or from Puerto Banus to Estepona. The notes would weigh 220 kilos ‐ twice the weight of Lennox Lewis in his prime.

N o n u m b e r c o n t a i n s a n ‘ L’ i n i t s spelling in English until we reach one million. There is no ‘B’ until one bil‐ lion. In rugby union the only impossi‐ ble points score‐lines are 1, 2 and 4.

There are 2,755 (dollar) billionaires in the world today ‐ roughly one in every 2,867,500 people. A single bil‐ lion is an enormous number. One bil‐

€2 million in €10 notes weighs twice as much as Lennox Lewis in his prime.

lion seconds ago the USSR was still in existence (it was 1991). A billion min‐ utes ago the Mayan civilisation was at its peak. A billion hours ago we were emerging from the stone age (112,000 BC).

Elon Musk is worth $282 billion. To go back in time by one second for ev‐ ery dollar of Elon Musk’s worth, we would go back 8,773 years

The speed of light is 300,000 km per second. The distance of one light day is 26 billion km; one light year is 9 . 5 t r i l l i o n k m . Ea r t h ’ s M i l k y W a y galaxy is 100,000 light years in diame‐ ter. Trying to define the entire uni‐ verse in numbers, with its estimated 140 billion galaxies, would give me a headache.

Finally, Spain’s greatest literature

figure died on April 22, 1616. The fol‐ lowing day England’s died too.

Ah! The pencil costs 50 centimes (and the diary €10.50).

For more from our columnists please scan this QR Code

David Worboys’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

Emotional Vampires SUZANNE MANNERS

THE TV series ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ depicts vampiric house‐ mates living in a quiet suburban neighbourhood in the US. One of the characters is an emotional vampire.

He doesn’t suck blood, he sucks the joy and pleasure from the lives of those around him, instead of sharp‐ ened canines, he uses a deadpan and monotone diatribe containing the most boring detail.

How many of us have met people like him? Seemingly innocuous folk who carry with them an aura of de‐ spair, woe and despondency. I’m not talking about those suffering from de‐ pression, but the people who take great pleasure in dampening the mood or metaphorically stamping on moments of joy and passion.

Some people cannot help their neg‐

plain about any and everything at full volume and who trample on any early morning excitement with announce‐ ments of impending doom or admin.

These people are also known as lemon suckers, but not in a shot of tequila, salt and lime, sense of it.

As humans we all need a moan or to let off steam as it prevents us from storming into the bosses’ office and giving them a piece of our minds and leaving with a P45.

Historically, bitching about people helps the members of a tribe to filter out the predators (or those who would bore you to death around the campfire). So by all means bitch away but please remember unless what you say is constructive you’re not a ro‐ mantic vampire, you’re just a troll.

BITCH AWAY: But remember, you’re not a romantic vampire, you’re just a troll.

ativity, I myself am quite a pessimist and a fully paid up member of the cynics club, but I desperately try not to trample on anyone’s joy (unless

they are racist, homophobic, sexist, loudly opinionated, or just boring).

At work they are the colleagues who tut and moan at new initiatives, com‐

To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com

Suzanne Manners’ opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.

PETS

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DOGS, cats, rabbits, ro‐ dents and other small mammals don’t deal with the heat like humans do and, as the temperature starts to rise and heat waves increase, veteri‐ narians have called for vigilance.

Many pet owners judge the heat by how they feel but there are many things we should consider as responsible animal owners.

For example, lots of dog owners don’t realise how hot the pavement gets when under the heat of the sun ‐ some‐ thing that can burn dogs’ paws and cause painful blisters and wounds.

Humans regulate their body heat through sweating, however, dogs and cats only sweat through their paws and noses, while rabbits and birds don’t sweat at all.

Dogs rely on panting as their way to cool down, allowing water to evapo‐ rate across their lungs,

12 - 18 May 2022

Keep pets cool tongues, and moist sur‐ faces of the mouth. Cats will usually groom their fur to keep cool, with the saliva evaporating off their fur.

To stop your pet from overheating, here are some tips from veterinar‐ ians: Keep pets out of the heat and sun ‐ especially

those that live in cages or terrariums like reptiles, rodents, and birds.

Never leave your pet in a hot environment, such as a car, and walk dogs in the early morning or at night ‐ checking the tem‐ perature of the pave‐ ment to make sure it isn’t too hot for their paws.

Make sure your pet has lots of fresh water and

you can also leave ice packs and frozen water

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bottles around the house for dogs, cats and small mammals to lie against.

For rabbits, dampen their ears with a cold washcloth (never bathe a rabbit, this can lead to shock which can be fa‐ tal).

KEEPING COOL: Dogs rely on panting as their way of cooling down.

Advertising Feature

Owners of brachycephalic dogs unaware of problems BRACHYCEPHALIC (short or flat snout) defects affects certain breeds of dogs such as the French and English Bulldog, and Pekingese and also certain breeds of cats such as the Persian and the exotic shorthair. There are five anatomical abnormali‐ ties which occur more commonly in brachycephalic dogs: elon‐ gated soft palate, stenotic nares, hypoplastic trachea, nar‐ rowed nasal cavity and everted laryngeal saccule (this last condition occurs as a consequence of the four others).

It is known by the acronym BOAS ( Brachycephalic obstruc‐ tive airway syndrome). These defects cause serious problems in these dogs and must be treated before it is too late. Any nar‐ rowing of the upper respiratory tract that causes whistling or snoring noises is a sign of airway obstruction and respiratory distress is always perceived as life‐threatening. Unconsciuos‐ ness and collapse are not uncommon in these dogs during ex‐ ercise or exposure to hot environments.

In a BSAVA (British Small Animal Veterinary Association) study, it was shown that most owners of this breed are not aware of the severe respiratory problems their dogs are suffer‐ ing from. More than half of brachycephalic dog owners would have liked further information about breed health problems before purchasing their dog.

The condition worsens with the age. Surgical reduction of obstructive tissue provides improved and open respiratory passage.

At the Marina Baixa Veterinary Hospital, every week brachy‐ cephalic dogs with respiratory problems are treated surgically.

In Costa Blanca Sur: www.resonanciaveterinaria.es Centro Veterinario de Diagnóstico por Imagen de Levante C/Los Arcos 23 Ciudad Quesada, Rojales. Tel: 609 779 109

PETS PAGE

to read more PETS scan this QR Code

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SERVICES

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CHARITY ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS IS ALCOHOL COSTING YOU MORE THAN MONEY? Drinking to excess not only affects your health it can spill over into every other aspect of your life – damaging everything that is important to you. Englishspeaking AA meetings are held throughout the Costa Blanca from Valencia City to Murcia. Anyone wishing to attend a meeting or discuss a possible drinking problem contact Costa Blanca North: 648 169 045 or Costa Blanca South: 625 912 078 or Costa Calida 679 385 105 All calls are treated in the strictest confidence. AA in German: 645 456 075; Spanish: 679 212 535; Flemish: 635 047 053; and Scandinavian: 659 779 222. www.aa-costablanca. org (93323) CAMPELLO CONTRA CANCER in conjunction with AECC Association Español Contra Cancer. Please support your local Cancer charity and if you wish to obtain literature or simply talk to someone. Please contact Mina or Trisha. Tel 650 071 278 or 610 921 413 e-mail aecc_campello@hotmail. com (95475) CANCER SUPPORT GROUP (MABS) MURCIA/MAR MENOR Help and support is just a phone call away, Avda Rio Nalón, Tel: 693 275 779 (95462) CHURCH SERVICE IN ENGLISH Tel: 950 617 549 www.givinglight.com.

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FREEMASONRY. Are you aware that Freemasonry is thriving on the Costa Blanca? There are various Lodges meetings up throughout the Valencia region. If you already are a Mason or simply wish to know more about Freemasonry in Spain please contact sec@glpvalencia.com Tel 600 841 064 (95477) HELP VEGA BAJA. We are a non-profit making organisation that helps and supports anyone, without pre

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judice, in times of need or crisis within the Vega Baja area. Our offices are based in San Miguel at Calle Lope de Vega 46 (Tel 966 723 733), Torrevieja at Rambla Juan Mateo Garcia 4 (Tel 965 704 282). We are online at www.helpvegabaja. com and also on Facebook.

You can email the San Miguel Centre at office@helpvegabaja.com.

We also have a 24-hour Emergency helpline which is available to both members and nonmembers on 966 723 733 (95456) INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY, TORREVIEJA Calle Urbano Arregui, 23, Torrevieja 03185, Alicante Evangelical non-denominational church. Sunday morning Services at 11:00am. All nationalities welcome - Contact 966 752 543 / 966 799 273. For other church matters phone: 966 799 273 / /617 215 463 www.icatorrevieja.org (95476) LA SIESTA EVANGELICAL CHURCH on Urbanisation La Siesta, Torrevieja is a friendly, English speaking church. For more information, including details of our services, see our website www.lasiestaevangeli calchurch.org (10005) PHILIP SCOTT LODGE No 10671 of the RAOB. Please call the secretary, Colin Bird on 693 287 614 for further information. (95459) PILAR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH. All welcome from any church background or none. For further information, www.pilarchurch.org Reg No: 2009-SG/A (95463) ROYAL Air Force Association Costa Blanca Registered Members Group: The RAFA Costa Blanca RMG replaces the RAFA Costa Blanca Branch 1359 which is now closed. The RMG is a social group of caring people and remains affiliated to the parent Association. Contact with the Royal Air Force Association and the RMG can be made via the RAFA website rafa.org.uk. Tel:004 4 800 018 2361. (238593) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Why not make this year the year you volunteer? 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

12 - 18 May 2022 • euroweeklynews.com SPONSORED BY

here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyh hvisits@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 a r e h e r e fo r t h e s m a l l 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 h o m e o r i n fo r m a t i o n o n 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 g u i d e yo u t o w h e r e yo u need to be. If you would l i k e t o g o t o a b ra n c h meeting then find your nearest one at, http://branches.britishle gion.org.uk/branches/ori huela-costa - covering from Punta Prima to San Javier. More info can be found on branch website www.orihuelacostarbl.co.uk.

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ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Gran Alacant & La Marina Branch. For info, contact the branch Secretary at granalacant.secretary@rbl. community

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ROYAL MARINES ASSOCIATION (Costa Blanca) The aim of the Association is to bring together not just ex Royal Marines, but ex Service personnel with an affinity to the Royal Marines. For further details Hon Sec 692 938 664.

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THE AIRCREW ASSOCIATION COSTA BLANCA BRANCH. Former & serving aircrews of the UK or Allied Armed Forces are welcome to join this convivial & friendly organisation, now in its 21st year. www.aca costablanca.org or call the Secretary on: 966 495 042 (95465)

ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION For information please contact Chairman Paul Edwards on 618 644 934, Vice Chairman Danny Kay on 966 716 274 or Se cretary Margaret Forshaw on 966 921 996. (95455) S T R O K E ASSOCIATION Spain (formally known as Torrevieja stroke support) Our aim is to help and support stroke survivors and their carers. With rehabilitation, speech therapy, OC therapy and a very active social group. For info please contact 654 801 260 or email strokesup portgroup@hotmail.com,

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, La Fustera. For more info: contact Frank Bentley on 966 495 188. (95461) THE BAKER Foundation Spiritual Centre Playa Flamenca. Calle Luis Gordillo, 1 Playa Flamenca Alicante 03189. You can join us on Facebook, The Baker Foundation spiritual centre. Or contact Linda Schug Tel. 606 990 665 for more details (95458) THE PATIENCE LODGE No 2177 of the R.A.O.B Please call Secretary Dave Tonge on 688 704 091 for further information. (253807)

CLASSIFIEDS THE SPIRITUALIST CENTRE, Benijofar will be closed for the immediate future due to Covid-19. To join the centre on ZOOM on a Tuesday evening at 7pm download the ZOOM App. To enter use ID Number 8451471869, then Password 3uf5TE. Identification Fiscal G54713789 (95454)

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P.E.P.A. VOLUNTEERS & FOSTER HOMES URGENTLY NEEDED. By fostering an abandoned dog or spending a few hours each week on our telephone helpline, you could help save the lives of many animals. Please call: 650 304 746. For more information browse our website: www.pepaspain.com (95708) SPAMA GANDIA SHELTER. Dog and cat rescue registered charity, La Safor area.

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ROAD TEST

by Mark Slack WITH cars increasingly looking alike it gets more difficult to identify what at‐ tracts people to a particular car. Of course for some people who are not ‘into’ cars it’s a decision of practi‐ cality, cost and other sensi‐ ble, more tangible reasons.

What if you are produc‐ ing more everyday motor‐ ing fare and trying to sepa‐ rate your cars from the rest of the market? Well you could take a leaf out of Honda’s book as a lot of their range is aimed at more practically minded motorists, yet stand out from the merely functional, while avoiding the avant‐ garde.

The HRV started life in 1999 as a rather boxy but interesting design and while the new HRV (priced from €34,302/£28,835) arguably lacks some of the exterior character of that original, it’s a smooth and striking

MOTORING

Honda HRV - comfort, practicality and toys! look comparing favourably with rivals from the likes of Peugeot. Internally the HRV is a very nice place to be seated, with even lead‐in models offering options to ‘Jazz’ things up (excuse the Honda pun).

A central touchscreen and buttons (hurrah!) mark a clean rather than mini‐ malist look. There’s a quali‐ ty, premium feel through‐ out and seating is comfortable with a decent range of adjustment and good space for occupants.

The luggage area is smaller than expected, but nonetheless capable for most activities.

Equipment levels are ex‐ cellent with the basics in‐ cluding heated front seats, full technology on the com‐ munications front, parking sensors front and rear and a camera, navigation, smart entry and start plus auto lights and wipers.

MOTORING

On the road the HRV’s quality feel comes through in a nicely insulated drive, decent accel‐ eration and sus‐ pension that smooths the bumps. Three drive modes assist with economy, and changes be‐ tween modes and petrol or electric power are smooth and unperturbed. The self‐ charging hybrid power plant means it’s a good move to cleaner motoring without range anxiety.

At low or modest acceler‐ ation levels the HRV retains a refined air, but exercise your right foot and the CVT automatic gearbox creates quite a din while it holds the revs and the speed catches up. It may not last long but is out of kilter with the HRV’s otherwise refined ambience. Moderating your

HRV: One of the nicest mainstream cars.

driv‐ ing style helps, but at some point you will require that push of pow‐ er and endure the vocals that come with it.

The HRV is one of the nicest mainstream cars I have driven and will doubt‐ less, as Hondas do, perform faultlessly for years. If you want your daily drive with comfort, a dose of practical‐ ity and plenty of toys, then the HRV could be for you.

Facts at a Glance Model: Honda HRV Advance Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol/battery electric selfcharging hybrid Gears: e-CVT automatic Price: €37,059 (£31,155) Performance: 0-100 kmh (62 mph) 10.6 seconds/Maximum Speed 170 kmh (106 mph) Economy: 4.2l/100km (67.3 mpg) Combined driving NEDC Emissions: 96 g/km NEDC Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.

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MOTORING

euroweeklynews.com

Fines for poor windscreen visibility THE Directorate‐General for Traffic (DGT), as we know, has become extra vigilant on the roads of Spain. A big concern of the entity is road safety, so it is essential to maintain your vehicles and not fall foul of the traffic cops needlessly.

There are a number of situations relating to driver visibility, and windscreens, in which a traffic cop can is‐ sue a fine. Maybe you are fully aware of all of the fol‐ lowing, but it never hurts to refresh your memory any‐ way.

Here are some of the things you could end up getting a traffic fine for: • If the windscreen, or any of the car’s windows show damage or breaks that hinder your visibility, you can receive a fine of €200.

• If you have not completely removed the layer of ice from the windscreen, or if it is very dirty, thus hindering your visibility, you can be given a fine of €80.

• If you have unauthorised stickers, sheets, or other elements on your windscreen, or car windows, you can receive a penalty of €200.

• If you drive with tinted or coloured rear windows, and you do not have the homologation proof, you can face a fine of €200.

• If you drive with the windscreen wipers in poor condition so that when it rains they do not perform their task correctly. This can make it difficult for you to see through the screen properly, which also endangers road safety, and you can receive a penalty of €80.

12 - 18 May 2022

EWN 63

What happens if I put 98 in my tank instead of 95?

CHOOSING the correct fuel to fill your car’s petrol tank is a regular, but extremely important gesture. There are different types of fuel available at all petrol sta‐ tions for refuelling, and you have to be very aware of choosing one or the other, in addition to not making mistakes.

Of course, we should all know that putting diesel in a petrol car, or vice versa, is not acceptable. This mistake can see you having a break‐ down not long after getting back on the road. It can also cost you financially to have the car’s fuel lines cleaned etc.

There are normally two types of petrol sold at sta‐ tions, 95, and 98. The differ‐ ence between 95 and 98 petrol lies solely and exclu‐ sively in the octane rating.

What does this mean? The value, which can be 95 or 98, reveals a scale of the an‐ ti‐knock capability of the fu‐ el when compressed in the engine cylinder. The higher the octane rating, the more

compression it can with‐ stand.

Filling a car with 98 octane fuel, when it is recommend‐ ed to use 95 octane fuel will only cause a problem to your pocket, as 98 is more expensive. You will travel the same kilometres as if

you had refuelled with 95.

If you put 95 in a car that should run on 98 octane, this will not lead to mechan‐ ical failures, or breakdowns.

All that will probably hap‐ pen is you simply suffer a loss of power, or function regularity. Of course, if this

mistake is repeated, or be‐ comes a bad habit, in the long run, it can take its toll on the engine.

Most vehicles have a sticker or label on the petrol cap, or the flap, informing you which fuel is recom‐ mended to put in your car.

64 EWN

euroweeklynews.com

12 - 18 May 2022

SPORT

Lewis Hamilton put on notice PORTOBELLO: Their fitness and experience proved too much for Fortuna and they went on to win 3-1.

PORTO WINS CAMPOSOL’S FIRST TOURNAMENT CAMPOSOL hosted a mini tournament on Wednesday May 3 at the Complejo De‐ portivo, Puerto Mazarron.

Esquina Park Rangers, Portobello and Fortuna Red Lions made up the foursome with over 50 players taking part.

On a glorious sunny day, it was the Red Li‐ ons who took the tournament by the scruff of the neck, winning their first two matches with the local hosts and EPR unable to make an impression.

In their next match they were leading but tiredness began to take effect and they suf‐

SPORT

fered their first defeat.

They had however done enough to reach the final, but Portobello’s fitness and experience proved too much for Fortuna and ‘The Yellows’ went on to win the tour‐ nament 3‐1.

All made their way to the ‘Rendezvous Bar’ afterwards to enjoy food and a beer while sharing congratulations and banter.

Camposol are looking to play friendly matches and hope that from the some 13 teams in the Costa Blanca area, matches can be arranged. They are perfect hosts but

are prepared to travel up to one and 1/2 hours.

Contact Russell MacMillan on the Club Facebook page or apalmar2011@hotmail. com.

In the Costa Blanca Walking Football League on Tuesday May 8, Moraira were at home to Formentera who were hoping to record their first league win.

For the result and match report and oth‐ er walking football news make sure you get your copy of next week’s Euro Weekly News: Supporters of walking football.

SEVEN time world champion Lewis Hamilton has es‐ caped a F1 ban after he threatened to withdraw from the Miami Gran Prix if told to remove his jewellery.

Drivers were put on notice at the last meeting by the new race steward, who said he would begin en‐ forcing the long‐standing rule banning drivers from wearing jewellery.

Hamilton appeared at Friday May 6th’s pre‐race conference wearing three watches, eight rings and four necklaces, according to a report in the British press.

Hamilton, who begrudgingly removed his earrings ahead of Friday’s practice session, has since been given a ‘grace period’ to remove his nose ring, ac‐ cording to Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz.

He isn’t the only driver who wears jewellery, ac‐ cording to Kravitz. The most high profile of the drivers who do, some believe that Hamilton is being singled out unfairly.

The grace period offered is, according to Kravitz because the hole through which the nose ring was inserted, has closed up and will need to be surgically removed.

No details have been provided on the grace period, with questions remaining whether he was able to have it removed before the race on Sunday May 8.

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