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EL MUNDO
"El Mundo" is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain and founded in 1989. It's considered one of the country's newspapers of record along with El País and ABC. It's owned by Unidad Editorial S.A. Independant iberal and centre-right newspaper based in Madrid.
When The Russia-Ukraine War Began: A Look Back At 24 Newspaper Front Pages
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War
Bertrand Hauger

When The Russia-Ukraine War Began: A Look Back At 24 Newspaper Front Pages

One year after the fateful decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, we take a look back at some of the front pages from the world's newspapers marking the the start of the war.

This article was updated February 24, 2023

"THIS IS WAR," read the front page ofGazeta Wyborcza. Alongside the terse, all-caps headline, the Polish daily featured a photo of Olena Kurilo, a teacher from Chuguev whose blood-covered face became one of the striking images of the beginning of the Ukraine invasion.

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A day after simultaneous attacks were launched from the south, east and north of the country, by land and by air, some press outlets chose to feature images of tanks, explosions, death and destruction that hit multiple cities across Ukraine, while others focused on the man behind the so-called "special military operation": Vladimir Putin.

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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.

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.