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A View from the Mountains

Some years ago, Paul Whitelock wrote a regular column for a regional newspaper entitled A View from the Mountains. He has decided to recycle the name on Eye on Spain as a repository for news items of interest to English-speaking immigrants and visitors to Spain.

“Black Friday” – 29 October 2024 - A big news day
Saturday, November 30, 2024 @ 10:25 AM

    [Image courtesy of Mubis]

 

“Black Friday” turned out to be a momentous day for news.

  • One month since la DANA struck Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha and Castellón.
  • 1000 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
  • General Election in Ireland.
  • Vote on assisted dying in the UK parliament.
  • New president of the council of Europe appointed.
  • A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

 

One month since the deadly DANA struck in Eastern Spain

The clean-up was slow to get going but since then the army, police and volunteers from all over Spain have worked tirelessly to search for victims, clean up and clear the massive amounts of mud, rubble, other debris and ruined vehicles.

Since 29 October, la DANA has wreaked havoc in other parts of Spain, in Andalucía, Extremadura, Galicia and Asturias, in País Vasco, Catalunya and Aragón, in the Balearics and in Alicante and Murcia.

Some latest statistics: Death toll in Spain 230, 220 in the Valencia region, four are still missing. In Valencia, there were 87 municipalities affected, 69,000 homes, 1,500 garages flooded and 10,000 lifts rendered unusable.

Weather map [Image courtesy of El Tiempo]

 

La DANA also destroyed 12,500 shops, 125,000 vehicles (98% write-offs) and 115 schools, leaving 10,000 students without classes250,000 tons of waste have been removed while 2,300 residents are homeless.

 

1000 days since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia

At the end of a week in which Vladimir Putin has increased attacks on Ukrainian cities and on power stations and has deployed 10,000 North Korean troops, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made an incredible offer to Putin in an attempt to end the war.

Ukraine will cease hostilities if the country is allowed to join NATO, and will concede the territories in eastern Ukraine and the Crimea for the time being and seek to reclaim those areas by diplomatic means in the future.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy [Photo: Sky News]

 

A “snap” General Election in Ireland

Irish president Michael D Higgins called a snap general election at the request of the Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris. The vote was yesterday.

Exit polls indicate that it is level-pegging between three parties: Sinn Féin, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil with Sinn Féin ahead by a small margin.

 

Taoiseach Simon Harris [Photo: Sky News]

STOP PRESS (Sun 1 Dec at 07.50 am):

Now that the real count is underway, it is becoming clear that Sinn Féin has in fact lost ground and will probably come in third behind Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil who are level-pegging. [Sky News]

 

Vote on assisted dying in the UK parliament

The debate about assisted dying (euthanasia) has been raised again, largely through the efforts of celebrity Esther Rantzen who herself is facing a painful death from cancer.

Yesterday in the House of Commons a private members' bill introduced by MP Kim Leadbeater, passed its second reading with a vote of 330 to 275, a majority of 55. There were 35 abstentions.

 

 

Esther Rantzen [Photo: The Independent]

 

The vote doesn’t mean the bill will become law just yet. Instead, the legislation can now stand up to further interrogation in the Committee Stage and could undergo amendments, before a third reading before going to the House of Lords.

Those against the bill have argued that it lacks safeguards. Others fear that it can be used as a coercive measure against people experiencing abuse.

Proponents, on the other hand, believe it offers “common sense” and a compassionate and dignified death for people who are terminally ill and in pain.

 

New president of the Council of Europe named

António Costa from Portugal has been chosen as the successor to Charles Michel from Belgium as president of the Council of Europe, an important post within the European Union.

The appointment was announced yesterday on the same day that Spanish MP Teresa Ribera (PSOE) was announced as number two to president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (Germany).

António Costa [Photo: 20Minutos]

 

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah, the extremist Arab group in Lebanon, have agreed to a ceasefire. The Hezbollah leadership has been decimated via targeted bombing by the IDF (Israel Defence Force). It is hoped that the ceasefire will hold, although at the end of the week in which this historic “deal” was made, it is looking somewhat fragile.

[Photo courtesy of Oxfam]

 

Displaced Israelis and Lebanese will be allowed to return to their home areas and a buffer zone will be created between the north of Gaza and the south of Lebanon.

Israel will now be able to concentrate on its military campaign against Hamas, the extremist Arab group in Gaza Strip.

 

© Paul Whitelock

 

Acknowledgements:

BBC

Jenna Moon

RTVE

Wikipedia

www.cuatro.com

 

Photos:

20Minutos

BBC

Mubis

Oxfam

Sky News

The Independent

 

Tags:

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