The KNVB Campus appears among the trees of Zeist as a small city of Dutch football. At the entrance, the past welcomes the present: a circle of bronze statues brings together the great myths of Oranje, from Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens to Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, or Edwin van der Sar. In the center, Rinus Michels, the coach that Cruyff himself chose to lead the Oranje of the century.
Day of mystery, silences, hopes, and speculations this Tuesday in Moscow. It all began when the specialized website Flightradar24 reported the landing of a U.S. military plane at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. Since the arrival of Donald Trump’s mediators to resume the stalled search for solutions to the war in Ukraine has been expected for weeks, speculations did not take long. But a few hours later, American media CBS and Axios claimed that none other than the head of U.S. espionage, the CIA director John Ratcliffe, had flown to the Russian capital to attend meetings with Russian authorities in Moscow. Neither the United States nor Russia have officially confirmed this trip.
By the work and grace of the bad neighborhood of President Donald Trump, the United States and Canada have declared a trade war. For Ottawa, however, there is more than just business in this conflict and it considers it an attack against the French language and culture, which constitute a fundamental part of Canadian national identity.
“Shouldn’t we fix that little spot on her nose?”. On her return from the trip to Kyiv, where she was exposed to the air raid siren alerts of the Ukraine war, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, received on her Instagram that masked criticism of her appearance offered by a plastic surgeon whom she did not identify. “I am happy with my body and I don’t need a plastic surgeon, a man, to have an opinion about it,” the 48-year-old politician responded sharply.
Volkswagen is still immersed in a crisis that requires the deployment of profound measures. The CEO of the VW Group, Oliver Blume, insisted this Tuesday in Wolfsburg, in his first address to the workers since the layoff plans became known, that the German giant is experiencing a moment of weakness, reiterating his message from recent weeks in which he has even spoken of a “critical” situation.
“We won’t let him down.” The FC Barcelona directors followed with logical interest Julián Álvarez’s first match with Atlético de Madrid at the Metropolitano after his now famous statements during the World Cup (“I want to fulfill my dream”) and their conclusions recognize the position of the Argentine footballer. The center forward fulfilled his obligations with his current team (he has a contract signed with Atlético until 2030), but he openly showed his discomfort. His body language on the bench, when he came on to play in the second half, as well as when the match ended (walking alone towards the tunnel while his teammates were at the other end of the stadium greeting the fans) needed no translation. Nor did the insults directed at him by the Atlético fans, which included a wide repertoire: there were choral ones (“tell him to leave once and for all”), individual ones (“plenty to go around”) and geopolitical ones (“damn Catalonia and damn Barça”) that will have to be seen if they are punished by the Anti-Violence Commission.
A coach of a women’s volleyball team from Palma, 23 years old, has been arrested in Mallorca by the National Police as the alleged perpetrator of a sexual assault against a student under 16 years old. The young woman became pregnant as a result of the assault.
The Council of Ministers today, the first after the summer holidays, has approved a Royal Decree-law for the creation of a “public and mandatory” register of lobbies to ensure greater transparency and accountability.
Why not send an ES-Alert during the heavy rains in Tarragona last weekend? That is the question behind the latest controversy surrounding the Generalitat Government upon their return from vacation. Those downpours caused 11 injuries – one critical and another serious -, flooded streets and building basements, as well as closed roads, interrupted Rodalies service, and evacuated campsites. According to Salvador Illa’s Executive, the alert to mobile phones was not sent because the emergency level was below the threshold required to use these mass warnings.
Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, has contacted the 17-year-old minor who last Sunday was hit with batons by a group of police officers after being removed from a line formed to enter and watch the match between Elche and Barcelona at the Martínez Valero stadium.