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EL MUNDO
El Mundo is a daily newspaper published in Madrid, founded in 1989. Considered one of Spain's newspapers of record, it is the country's second largest by circulation. It holds a liberal, center-right editorial stance.
Protesters carry a wounded man after police and military opened fire on the crowd, killing 18, during the military coup demonstrations in Yangon, Myanmar.
BBC

The Latest: Myanmar Turns Bloody, Navalny Transfered, AI Animated Photos

Welcome to Monday, where Aung San Suu Kyi is seen after Myanmar death count spikes, vaccine rollouts begin across Africa and there's a cool new way to make old photos come to life. We also feature Argentine daily Clarin"s look into the digital phenomenon of "sugar dating."

COVID-19 latest:Ivory Coast began their national rollout of the COVID vaccine using COVAX, while Ghana & Nigeria are due to start this week. Distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine begins today in the U.S.

• Myanmar coup: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi was seen for the first time today since being detained in a video of her court hearing. This followed the worst day of violence Sunday when police opened fire killing 18 protesters, according to the UN human rights office.

• Netanyahu accusations: Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu blamed Iran for the destruction of an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman last week.

• Hong Kong charges 47: Police in Hong Kong have charged 47 pro-democracy activists with "subversion", in the widest use yet of the territory's controversial security law.

• Navalny moved to penal colony: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was transferred from Moscow to a penal colony about 100km (60 miles) east of the capital to begin his sentence.

• Trump speech: Former U.S. President Donald Trump made his first public appearance since leaving the White House, slamming his successor, repeating lies that he won the last race and hinting that he may run again in 2024.

• Cool or creepy?:Artificial intelligence is powering a new digital tool to animate photographs that can bring your old relatives back to life.

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Players for al-Ahly soccer club in Cairo
EL MUNDO
Julie Boulet

The Names In Spain Are Mostly The Same, Though That May Change

A tiny revolution can be heard rumbling through Spain: starting June 30, parents will have the ability to chose the order of their child’s last names.

Spain is a land rich in diversity of cuisine and culture, natural wonders and memorable personalities. But it's a bit of a bore when it comes to names: the 10 most popular last names are shared by 38% of the population. One twist is that children get both their father's and their mother's last name, with the father's always coming first. But this is all about to change, adding a bit more diversity to phone books in Madrid and Barcelona.

The double-name practice has led to the dominance of only a few names, and it is not uncommon that both parents have the same last names. That leads some to tout the same last names twice, just like the former regional president of Madrid, Ignacio Gonzalez Gonzalez, currently under investigation for corruption. Imagine if your own governor were called John Smith Smith (even if he weren't under investigation).

The new civil registry law might finally bring some diversity to Spanish last names, explains Munich-based Suddeutsche Zeitung. It would allow parents to decide to put the mother's name first, which until now was only possible after a request to a family court judge. This time-consuming option was chosen by less than 1% of couples. Parents will now have three days after birth to decide in which order to put the child's last names. If no agreement is found, the civil registry officer will decide: the father's name would not necessarily come first, as most cases would be decided according to alphabetical order. Anna Salort, a family law and civil rights specialist, speaking in the Madrid newspaper El Mundo, offers some advice: "The parents should settle on the name before the deadline expires. I don't think you would want you child's last name decided by a third person."

The lawyer sees this a step that would move Spain's gender divide "closer to equality." The rooted patriarchy has made it so that all around the world, men's last names are more dominant, and now Spain is offering a different option. It already changed the law for single mothers in 2005, who are no longer compelled to give their children the father's name, which in some cases had to be invented.

On a purely bureaucratic level, it should limit the risk of mistakes made by Spain's civil registry, which must currently keep track of over three million Garcias. Olé!

Telepizza is a Spanish company with affiliates around the world
blog

Cost Of Spain's Political Crisis Tallied In Pizzas

MADRIDThe political gridlock in Spain is getting just a bit silly: two general elections and endless soap-operatic negotiations since December 2015 have yet to produce a stable government among the bickering parties.

No doubt, as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy searches in vain for a ruling majority, there are real-life ramifications across the country. This week Spanish telecom giant Telefónica revealed in documents for an IPO selloff of Telxius, its infrastructure arm, that Spain's political instability was hurting the company's bottom line.

Now, as El Mundo reports Thursday, all the political heat has apparently struck Telepizza, the Spanish pizza take-out chain. The pizza delivery giant's general manager in Spain, Pablo Juantegui, said growth in pizza orders had "halted" since May 2016, because of consumer "uncertainty and loss of confidence," partly attributable to the legislative paralysis.

Still, such crispy analysis doesn't necessarily jibe with broader signs about Spain's economy. On Tuesday, acting economy minister Luis de Guindos said the economy will expand by more than 3% this year, beating earlier government forecasts.

Sure, no one likes national political gridlock. But both Telepizza and Telefónica should perhaps first take a closer look at how they're stiring their own sauce.

The British Union Jack flies over Gibraltar
blog

Gibraltar And Brexit: How EU Referendum Could Rattle The Rock

GIBRALTAR — There is a troubling side story jutting into the Brexit debate from this tiny British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula.

Madrid-based daily El Mundo reports that in Gibraltar — affectionately known as "the Rock" — locals and the government alike are opposed to "Brexit", a British exit from the European Union, which is up before a national referendum this summer.

The territory, home to a British military base, has been under British control since 1704. Every day, around 10,000 workers cross the border from Spain to work in Gibraltar, which has open borders with Spain thanks to the UK's membership in the EU.

The Rock maintains its own autonomous parliament and fiscal regime, a solution that locals consider the best of both worlds between the UK and Spain, which still holds an outstanding claim to the territory.

But if Gibraltar's 30,000 inhabitants are dragged out of the EU by their compatriots 1,200 miles away — even if they vote to remain in their own local referendum — they will lose the right to free movement across the border to Spain, and trade will become subject to border controls.

"We are more protected within the EU," says Natasha Passano, a local schoolteacher, to El Mundo.

The debate has grown tense as Gibraltarians, known as llanitos, consider the repercussions a vote could have on their lives. "I will vote to remain in the EU," says Daniela Caruana, a pharmacist. "My boyfriend works here but he is from across the border, and we live in Spain because the rent is cheaper there."

Gibraltar's government is a strong supporter of remaining in the union, and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo recently warned that Brexit could rekindle the long-standing diplomatic conflict between Spain and the UK over ownership of the territory. Spanish authorities declared that if Britons were to decide to leave the bloc, the matter of sovereignty would have to be discussed immediately.


When British voters go the polls on June 23rd, they could decide the fate of this centuries-old possession. "I don't think the Spanish would erect a border fence," says a shopkeeper. "But we would be in limbo."

blog

El Mundo: Election Ends Two-Party System In Spain

El Mundo, Dec. 21, 2015

"Spain knocks down two-party system and leaves the government high and dry," reads the front page of conservative newspaper El Mundo, after Sunday's general election saw the expected rise of newcomers Podemos on the left, and Ciudadanos on the right.

It's a "messy" situation for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, one El Mundo columnist writes.

Despite coming in first, Rajoy's ruling center-right Popular Party fell well short of securing a majority with just 28.7% and 123 MPs (out of 350), meaning it will have to seek support from its opponents if it wants to rule.

The establishment center-left party PSOE was the main loser of the evening, with only 22%. This results, El Mundo writes, leaves the party's leadership with the tough choice of either getting in bed with their age-old right-wing opponents, or leading a coalition of left parties with upstart Podemos, third on 20.6%, and regional independent parties in the Basque and Catalonia regions.

Another possibility highlighted by the newspaper is for Rajoy's party to form a minority government with fourth-ranked Ciudadanos, dubbed the Podemos of the right. This would however likely force a change in leadership, with the newcomers firmly opposed to pro-austerity Rajoy remaining in power.