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Spiders, pumpkins and skulls: Halloween face-painting workshop in Palma
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 11:29:47Nothing signals the arrival of Halloween quite like faces painted as skulls, spiders, or batsâa beloved tradition that each year turns the little ones into the stars of the spookiest and most fun night of autumn.
With brushes, colours, and glitter at the ready, face-painting workshops have become a delightful way to count down to the big night, building excitement before the witching hour.
This year, El Corte Inglés is joining the celebrations once again with its âTerrifying Face-Paintingâ workshopsâan eagerly anticipated event for many families. The sessions promise to fill the run-up to 31 October with colour, imagination, and plenty of Halloween magic. Children can transform into smiling pumpkins, sparkling skeletons, or glittering bats, all while enjoying a creative and festive experience packed with surprises.
At the Avenidas store, the workshops will take place in the Halloween Space on the fourth floor on Saturday 25 October, from 11am to 2pm, and will continue on 29 and 30 October, from 5pm to 8pm.
Little participants can choose their favourite lookâwhether a cheerful pumpkin, a shimmering skeleton, or a glittering batâto complete their costume and fully embrace the spirit of the occasion.
Meanwhile, the Jaime III store will host sessions on the childrenâs floor on Saturday 25 October, from 5pm to 8pm, and Sunday 26, from 11.30am to 2.30pm.
These workshops are designed for families to enjoy together, sharing laughter and letting childrenâs imaginations work their magic.
Itâs a chance to experience Halloween through creativity, colour, and playâbecause sometimes, the best costume isnât bought, itâs painted with a smile, a few brushstrokes, and a sprinkle of glitter.
BLUE NIGHT x MOTORWORLD: Where Business Meets Horsepower and Heartbeat
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 08:52:08What started three years ago as a sleek networking soirée has evolved into Mallorcaâs most dynamic gathering for entrepreneurs, innovators and visionaries.
The Blue Night Palma Party® is back after a summer break - and this time, itâs taking over one of the islandâs most thrilling new venues: Motorworld Mallorca.
On October 18, 2025, more than 200 entrepreneurs from over 15 countries will gather inside the spectacular Motorworld Inn â a space that perfectly fuses mechanical beauty, industrial design and social energy. Guests will fly in from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and beyond, ready to mix business with rhythm and style.
Behind this unique concept stand three familiar names: Frank Semmig, AI expert and international business consultant; Stefano Munari, owner of The Best FM; and Sandra Resch of SR Events, who together curate a night thatâs equal parts inspiration, networking and celebration.
The evening opens with Felix Gauger, one of Germanyâs top business magicians, connecting guests through his clever close-up illusions. Later, the dancefloor will come alive under the decks of DJ Stefano Munari, with Peter Sax adding his signature live saxophone performance to the 80s, 90s and 00s beats.
A standout highlight this time will be Armah (Caspar Nii Armah), the Hamburg-based street artist with over half a million Instagram followers, known for his âRhythm & Writingâ (RAW) style. Heâll create a live artwork during the night â a one-of-a-kind piece capturing the pulse of Blue Night at Motorworld.
Expect premium tapas by Rauschenberger Catering, exclusive Blue Night cocktails, and an international crowd powered by partners like TQ Tax, Air Water, Benzinger Logistics and Poetry Vodka.
VIP tickets have already sold out, but standard passes are still available. So, gear up: on October 18, Blue Night Palma meets Motorworld Mallorca for a night where business meets horsepower and the dancefloor never sleeps!
The âfood heroesâ who cultivate global change
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 04:57:00DISCLAIMER OPINIONS: The opinions of the authors or reproduced in the articles are the ones of those stating them and it is their own responsibility. Should you find any incorrections you can always contact the newsdesk to seek a correction or right of replay.
DISCLAIMER TRANSLATIONS: All articles in this site are published in English. The translated versions are done through an automated process known as neural translations. If in doubt, always refer to the original article. Thank you for understanding.
DISCLAIMER PHOTOS: We mostly used photos images that are readily available online, from free sources, or from the people promoting the news. If by any chance it happens that we have used one of your copyrighted photos, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will take it down without question. We do not make profits as this is a not for profit project to give voice to the voiceless while giving them a platform to be informed also of general news, and it is completely free.
Gaza: $70 billion needed to rebuild the destroyed enclave, according to the UN
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 15:13:00At only 41 kilometers long (25.4 miles) and two to five kilometers wide (1.2 to 3.1 miles), few places in the Gaza Strip remained unscathed by constant Israeli bombardments before the latest ceasefire took effect last Friday.
According to the United Nations Development Programâs Special Representative for the Palestinians, Jaco Cilliers, the destruction across the enclave âis now around 84 percent. In some parts of Gaza, such as Gaza City, this figure is as high as 92 percent.â
$20 billion needed now
Speaking from Jerusalem, UNDPMr. Cilliers highlighted the findings of the latest Rapid Interim Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) in Gaza carried out by the UN, the European Union and the World Bank, which estimated the damage at $70 billion.
To relaunch the massive operation, some $20 billion will be needed over the next three years alonehe told reporters in Geneva.
The United Nations development agency is present in Gaza alongside humanitarian partners to provide immediate support to the enclaveâs 2.1 million residents.
This includes providing clean water, emergency employment, medical supplies, solid waste disposal, and securing homes and public spaces by clearing rubble that potentially hides unexploded ordnance or thousands of missing Palestinians.
âWe have already removed around 81,000 tonnes. That represents around⦠3,100 trucks,â Mr Cilliers explained. âMost of the debris removal is aimed at providing access for humanitarian actors so that they can provide much-needed aid and support to the people of Gaza. But we are also helping hospitals and other social services that need to be cleared of debris.â
The UNDP official stressed âvery good indicationsâ from potential donors in support of the reconstruction of Arab states, but also European nations and the United States âwhich have also indicated that they will come to support some of the early recovery effortsâ.
Indispensable immediate help
As important as reconstruction is to Gazaâs long-term future, UN humanitarians have once again called on Israeli authorities to open all access points to Gaza, after the 20 remaining Israeli hostages were released on Monday and Palestinian prisoners released from Israel.
The development follows the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel on Monday evening in Sharm el-Sheikh by US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
Earlier Monday, the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the release of all living hostages from Gaza, two years after they were among the approximately 250 people captured during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Testimony from Gaza City
Talk to UN News of Gaza, United Nations Childrenâs Fund (UNICEF), aid worker Tess Ingram described the story of a family displaced five times by war:
âI met a family today, Mustafa and Syeda and their children, and they told me they were one of the lucky ones because while Mustafa was removing the rubble from the building, this is their house, at least,â he said, âwe have a house.â
The family was relieved Monday when a tanker truck appeared, Ms. Imgram told us: âBut they live in fear that the truck wonât arrive today or tomorrow. She also canât get the medicine she needs and her sons had to travel a very long way today just to buy the basic necessities she needed. bread.
âFamilies absolutely need everything right now. We need the hundreds of trucks per day that have been promised to enter the Gaza Strip.â
The hostage remains
On Tuesday, attention focused on the transfer from Gaza of all the deceased hostages, an extremely difficult process overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It is still unclear how many deceased hostages will be transferred by Hamas.
âAs for live hostages or Palestinian detainees â' and believe me, this is a big problem for us â' we donât know, we know we have to be ready,â said ICRC spokesperson Christian Cardon, adding that the complex search began today.
Meanwhile, needs in Gaza remain enormous and âfluid,â humanitarian teams report, with more than 300,000 Palestinians heading north toward Gaza City since Friday, as the ceasefire agreement appeared to be holding.
âThe enthusiasm that came from the international community, from the people on the ground, that this was the beginning of the end of all suffering and that things were going to change quickly, is it just doesnât reflect on the groundday after day. We are not receiving enough aid,â said Ricardo Pires, spokesperson for the United Nations Childrenâs Fund (UNICEF).
Israeli authorities have agreed to allow 190,000 tonnes of relief supplies into Gaza and UN agencies and partners are rapidly scaling up operations, but much more is needed overall, according to humanitarian agencies, including the UN aid office, OCHAwe repeated it several times.
âOf course we are pleading with everyone, and we were also present yesterday in Sharm el-Sheikh, with 22 heads of state and government, who we are asking to help us press all possible buttons to get this up and running as quickly as possible,â said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke.
Help Center Carnage
Humanitarian teams continue to stress the need to stop distributing vital supplies from remote areas, including non-UN aid centers that are difficult to access and where hundreds of Palestinians have been shot or injured.
âMost actors â' including the ICRC â' have not been able to organize sufficient distribution of aid inside Gaza,â Mr Cardon said. âAnd what weâve seen instead is people coming back from distribution sites being injured, or even killed, in many cases⦠This is help coming to people and not other people going to help.â
State of Europeâs environment not good: threats to nature and impacts of climate change top challenges
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 17:25:43DISCLAIMER OPINIONS: The opinions of the authors or reproduced in the articles are the ones of those stating them and it is their own responsibility. Should you find any incorrections you can always contact the newsdesk to seek a correction or right of replay.
DISCLAIMER TRANSLATIONS: All articles in this site are published in English. The translated versions are done through an automated process known as neural translations. If in doubt, always refer to the original article. Thank you for understanding.
DISCLAIMER PHOTOS: We mostly used photos images that are readily available online, from free sources, or from the people promoting the news. If by any chance it happens that we have used one of your copyrighted photos, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will take it down without question. We do not make profits as this is a not for profit project to give voice to the voiceless while giving them a platform to be informed also of general news, and it is completely free.
EXPLAINER: What to do â' and what NOT to do â' if your car is caught up in a sudden flash flood as Storm Alice batters Spain
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 15:00:00AS Storm Alice leaves behind a trail of destruction across eastern Spain and the Balearic Islands, shocking footage has shown cars floating through city streets, motorways turning into rivers and drivers trapped in rising torrents.
Emergency services say many of these situations could have been avoided â' and knowing how to react in the crucial first moments can mean the difference between survival and tragedy.
Spainâs Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME) and firefighters across the country have repeated the same warning: never underestimate the power of moving water.
READ MORE: Haciendaâs unlawful harassment nearly killed her husband. Now, this retired Dutch expat is challenging Spainâs tax authority in a new memoir
Just 15 to 25 centimetres of fast-flowing water can knock a person off their feet, while 40 centimetres can carry away a small car.
Once it reaches 60 centimetres, even a 4Ã4 will lose grip and begin to float.
While still at 30 centimetres, a car will cling to the ground. At 45, its tyres lose traction and the current begins to push it sideways.
By 75 centimetres, the vehicleâs weight is no longer enough to hold it down â' it will lift, pivot, and be swept away.
READ MORE: Storm Alice causes chaos for tourists across Spainâs Mediterranean coast
Footage from Murcia in May 2023 showing a car turning a corner in only a few centimetres of water â and just 30 metres later being engulfed by a torrent.
Firefighter and rescue educator Adrián from the Sevilla bomberos explains that most fatalities occur when people try to cross flooded roads or underestimate shallow water.
âEven if the surface looks calm, the current beneath can be deadly,â he warns.
So what should you do if Storm Alice â' or any future DANA â' catches you behind the wheel?
If the car stalls but the water is still shallow and calm, call 112 immediately, explain your location, and stay put. Do not try to restart the engine. If you canât call, signal for help and wait.
If the current is strong but the car isnât yet moving, exit through the window on the side opposite to where the water is pressing.
READ MORE: Brits âfight over remaining supermarket boozeâ as DANA Alice continues to drench eastern Spain â' with orange alert in place until Tuesday
Opening the door will flood the cabin instantly. Climb onto the roof and make yourself visible to rescuers.
If the vehicle starts drifting with the current, you must consider abandoning it.
Jump with the flow, not against it, and swim diagonally towards higher or solid ground â' walls, trees or embankments. Fighting the current will exhaust you and reduce your chances of escape.
For pedestrians; never walk through floodwater. Covers from drains and manholes can be lifted by pressure, leaving invisible traps beneath the muddy surface.
Flash floods, known in Spain as riadas repentinas, are among the most dangerous effects of Mediterranean storms like Alice.
They form quickly, strike without warning and can transform familiar streets into deadly rivers in minutes.
If in doubt, donât risk it. Turn around, climb higher and wait for the water to fall.
Click here to read more Other News from The Olive Press.
TREBLE JOY FOR MASCHI BAR
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 10:51:28The Summer Pool League produced a fantastic Treble victory for Maschi Bar. Not only did they win their division, (losing just 2 matches all season) but also won the Team Grand Final against Sports Bar B, and the Knock-out Cup 7-2 against Sports Bar A. Fantastic pool from all.
Congratulations to the winning Team Maschi players Captain John, Christian, Adam, Allen, Arni, Brian, Chris, Dirk, Johann, Maschi, Perry and Phil for the first ever Treble win in the history of the Summer League.
A huge thank you to the Summer League committee John Hassell, Wayne Theobald and Nigel Blackburn for dedicating their time in running this league.
A special mention to the league sponsorsâ Wee Rock Cafeâ, thank you for hosting the presentation evening and supplying such a delicious buffet.
All teams I am sure will be looking forward with anticipation to the next Summer League challenge, so until then!
Age Concern Marbella â' San Pedroâs Lunch and Fashion Extravaganza, resounding success
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 13:59:18On Thursday, October 9, 2025, Age Concern Marbella â' San Pedro hosted a spectacular Lunch and Fashion Extravaganza at the elegant La Sala Puerto Banus, raising â¬3,500 to support the elderly and alone in the community in Marbella and San Pedro.
The sold-out event, attended by over 100 guests, featured style, glamour, entertainment, and philanthropy in a wonderful afternoon of togetherness.
The star of the show was international couturier Brian Piccolo, famed for dressing icons like Joan Collins and Jane Seymour. Brian kept the audience amused with tales from his illustrious career and a dazzling fashion show featuring his exquisite designs, including his signature evening jackets.
Age Concern Lunch and Fashion Extravaganza special guest models and performers
Among the beautiful models were Melissa Carver, Toni-Leigha and Melissa Vaughn, who said, âThe Piccolo trademark is the exquisitely crafted evening jacket â' and there were many! Anyone whoâs been paying attention will know that my husband, Danny Vaughn, has been seen on tour lately in a stunning gold brocade bolero jacket (with golden buttons we hand-selected in Marrakech, as you do!). Of course, this opulent item is a Piccolo original one-off, and there is only one in the world!â
Highlights included a stunning gold brocade bolero jacket, a one-of-a-kind Piccolo original, and a fiery red jacket that stole the show. Adding to the excitement, Piccolo displayed his vocal talents, joined by performers Melissa Carver, Laura Carter, Mark Conner, and Andy (Elvis) King, who all generously donated their time to entertain the crowd with delightful musical performances.
Everyoneâs a winner at Age Concern Lunch and Fashion Extravaganza
Guests enjoyed a two-course lunch with wine, lively conversations, and a sense of community, all for â¬49 per person and a thoroughly worthy cause. The eventâs fundraising centrepiece was a raffle for a bespoke couture garment designed and funded by Piccolo. The lucky winner, Lynne Penny Brodie, will choose her fabric and design for a unique creation, while Jane Taylor won an additional prize of a flight voucher from Malaga to Prague.
The funds raised will support Age Concernâs mission to combat loneliness and provide practical help through its Hardship Fund, offering a âhand upâ to older expats in need. The eventâs success was driven by the dedication of Lynda Woodin (Events), Carol Woolnoth (President), Sandra Sprawson (Vice President), and a team of hard-working volunteers, with special thanks to La Sala for their support.
âThis was a fabulous day of fashion, food, and friendship, all for a vital cause,â said Lynda from Age Concern Marbella â' San Pedro. âWeâre thrilled to have raised â¬3,500 to help make sure no one in our community feels alone.â
Age Concern invites anyone feeling lonely or isolated to join their Fun and Friendship initiatives or volunteer to make a difference in the community â' a community we will all rely on at some point in our lives. Contact them at 689 355 198 (weekdays, 10amâ'6pm) or visit Pasaje Armado n°2, San Pedro Alcantara, for more information.
Hereâs to more glamorous events and brighter days for Marbellaâs older community!
Thousands to take part in the Palma Marathon 2025
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 15:09:10The TUI Palma Marathon Mallorca 2025 is set to take place on Sunday October 19, drawing thousands of runners from around the world to the islandâs capital. Celebrated for its stunning seaside views and vibrant atmosphere, the event has become one of Mallorcaâs major sporting highlights, blending endurance, tourism, and community spirit.
The race weekend kicks off on Friday, 17 October, with the opening of the Palma Marathon Expo and race number collection at Parc de la Mar, situated at the foot of Palma Cathedral. Runners can collect their bibs on both Friday and Saturday, where sponsors and local brands will also showcase sports equipment, nutrition products, and lifestyle offerings. A popular feature, the Pasta Party, takes place on Saturday evening, allowing participants to fuel up before race day while enjoying live entertainment and the camaraderie of the running community.
On Sunday morning, the races begin at 8:00 a.m. with the 10K start, followed by the Marathon and Half Marathon at 8:15 a.m., both beginning and ending at Palmaâs iconic seafront promenade. The route leads runners past the cityâs most recognisable landmarks â including the Cathedral of La Seu, Parc de la Mar, and the Royal Palace of La Almudaina â before continuing along the coastline toward Portixol and beyond. With mild autumn temperatures and breathtaking views of the Bay of Palma, it offers one of Europeâs most scenic marathon experiences.
Organisers have also confirmed a lively after-race celebration at Mega Park Playa de Palma, where runners and supporters can gather to celebrate achievements, enjoy music, and share post-race stories.
Cool recovery centre
In conjunction with the marathon, Transcend, Mallorcaâs first dedicated sports recovery centre, based in Santa Catalina, Palma, has launched a special post-marathon recovery package designed to help athletes accelerate recovery after the race.
Running from October 19-26, the limited-time offer combines contrast therapy (fire & ice), red light recovery, and compression therapy â' all proven methods to reduce inflammation, ease muscle fatigue, and improve circulation. The initiative is aimed at both visiting competitors and the islandâs growing community of endurance athletes.
Founder Nicole Santos said the programme was created to give runners access to professional, science-led recovery treatments following such a demanding event.
âThe Palma Marathon is a celebration of resilience and community, and we wanted to contribute by helping participants recover faster and feel their best after crossing the finish line,â Santos said. âOur goal is to support the local running community while promoting the importance of recovery as part of overall performance.â
The launch of Transcendâs recovery offer highlights the islandâs expanding focus on sports tourism and wellness innovation. Mallorca has increasingly positioned itself as a hub for active lifestyles â' with its ideal climate, diverse terrain, and strong infrastructure supporting both elite and recreational athletes.
As anticipation builds for race day, the Palma Marathon continues to reinforce Mallorcaâs reputation as a destination where sport and lifestyle meet. Between its scenic routes, lively atmosphere, and new wellness initiatives like Transcendâs recovery experience, this yearâs edition promises to be one of the most dynamic yet â' celebrating endurance, community, and the spirit of the island itself.
Valencia construction industry on the rise with 10,000 new jobs after DANA storms
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-14 13:22:44Electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, steel fixers, formwork specialists and many others â Valencia province is facing a dramatic shortfall of around 10,000 additional construction workers in the wake of the destructive Dana storms of October 29, 2024.
The region was already struggling with a labour deficit of about 30,000 professionals before the floods. However, this figure has now surged to 40,000, according to estimates from the Valencian Federation of Building Contractors (Fecoval) and the Federation of Construction Employers of Valencia (Fevec). The situation has become critical. Companies across the province are desperately trying to fill vacancies in essential trades as rebuilding efforts intensify. Torrential rain and widespread flooding caused extensive damage, resulting in a vast number of reconstruction projects that have yet to begin.
âA bottleneck is forming, making everything more complicated,â said Fevec president Francisco Zamora on Tuesday October 14. âItâs not only affecting infrastructure works but also housing, as thereâs a shortage of workers in every construction-related trade.â
Rising cost of projects
This shortage is contributing to the rising cost of projects, an issue already highlighted by Fecoval president José Luis Santa Isabel, who noted a sharp inflation in the price of building materials across Valencia due to soaring demand.
In an effort to address the crisis, the regional government launched an accelerated training scheme in collaboration with Fevec and Femeval. Although the initiative started seven months later than planned, the programme â with training centres in Bétera and Alaquà s â aims to produce 3,000 new professionals. Even before its official launch, more than 200 people had signed up for construction-related training.
Fevec also runs its own labour foundation, which trained around 10,000 people last year. âSo far this year, weâve already trained nearly 8,000, and I expect weâll reach 10,000 by the end of the year,â Zamora added. âBut every effort counts â the need is enormous.â
According to Santa Isabel, it could take up to five years to fully restore safety and functionality to the municipalities affected by the October floods.
The Ministry of Labourâs latest list of âhard-to-fillâ occupations paints a similar picture. Several essential roles in Valencia â including aluminium, metal and PVC carpenters, metalwork assemblers, electricians for buildings and homes, and crane operators â remain among the most difficult to recruit.
This labour tension highlights a wider structural issue in Valenciaâs industrial and technical sectors, particularly in construction and public works. Experts warn that, combined with rising material costs and an overload of post-Dana reconstruction projects, the shortage could significantly delay recovery efforts and infrastructure development across the province.
Material costs soar
Builders are also being hit hard by skyrocketing material prices. âConcrete has gone up by â¬10 to â¬15 per cubic metre, iron by 30 per cent, and aggregates by 20 per cent,â explained Santa Isabel. âIf you already have a project contracted, it puts you in a very difficult financial position.â
He also pointed out that inflation in Valencia is far higher than the national average due to the sheer number of concurrent projects. âWeâve got regular works and Dana-related repairs all at once, leading to excessive inflation compared with the rest of Spain. Finding a bathtub or a machine is almost a miracle,â he said.
Firms are being forced to bring skilled workers from other regions
On top of this, many firms are being forced to bring in machinery and skilled workers from other regions, adding travel and accommodation expenses to their growing costs. âVehicles and drivers are being imported from outside,â Santa Isabel added.
As the province continues its long road to recovery, Valenciaâs construction industry faces an unprecedented challenge â rebuilding not only homes and infrastructure, but also its depleted workforce.
Spanish Air Force plans to build a bomb and missile base in Palma, Mallorca to store Hellfire
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 07:43:55Son Sant Joan air base, adjacent to Palma airport, will soon have a large logistics warehouse, which will spark debate among the Balearic community. The Air and Space Force plans to build a large facility there to serve as a warehouse for missiles, including Hellfire missiles according to Confidencial Digital, bombs and various explosivematerials, with a capacity of around 75 tonnes. According to the specialised website infodefensa.com, the project will have a budget of around â¬1.8 million and has already been awarded to the joint venture formed by MAB, Grupo Render Industrial and Coexa.
This is one of the most significant military engineering projects in the recent history of the Balearics, whose strategic location in the western Mediterranean, in addition to the space available to the Air Force at Son Sant Joan, make the Palma base a place of great logistical value, always within the security parameters set by the Ministry of Defence. An access road for heavy vehicles, a loading area and an additional security system for personnel traffic will enable the facility to act autonomously in the event of any contingency, responding immediately to any type of emergency that may arise.
According to the aforementioned media outlet, the Defence Ministryâs idea is to create a â7-bar resistant iglooâ model, guaranteeing the integrity and safety of its own personnel and taking into account the proximity of a civil aerodrome with high passenger traffic throughout the year. The usable area of this striking warehouse would be approximately 27 metres long by 9 metres wide, with an interior height of 4.5 metres, giving a total volume of 1,000 cubic metres.
To ensure the reliability of the structure, the side walls and the outer face would be constructed of reinforced concrete up to 40 centimetres wide or thick. For its part, the front area would feature a wall of vertical beams and a lintel with a 1.2-metre edge, designed to withstand the impact of explosions or overpressure. The roof would be made of a concrete slab between 40 and 50 centimetres thick, topped with a layer of vegetation just over half a metre thick, which would act as a natural barrier against a possible shock wave, as well as serving as scaffolding and integrating the infrastructure into the landscape.
A double steel door would seal off the main entrance to the large warehouse, leaving an access 5 metres wide by 3 metres high. Each of these leaves would be made of 10-millimetre steel sheets, reinforced for safety and with hinges that could withstand up to almost six tonnes of load, allowing the door to resist an internal explosion or internal overpressure, while preventing displacement or projections that could jeopardise the safety of that space and its perimeter.
The interior of the warehouse would be open-plan, equipped with explosion-proof electrical systems to prevent accidental sparks or discharges, as well as armoured lighting and cabling suitable for these potentially explosive spaces. In addition, there would be a waterproofing and drainage system, while the exterior would have a network of hydrants and fire surveillance and control points.
As reported by infodefensa.com, the technical storage limit would be 75,000 kilos of explosive material, although the distance from the airport would reduce this number, setting a practical amount of between 1,200 and 2,900 kilos, depending on the materials or the volume of material stored.
The same media outlet reports that load studies estimate that this warehouse could house combinations of between 20 and 32 missiles, in addition to guided bombs or light air-to-ground missiles. The igloo-shaped design provides greater protection in the event of serious incidents, with its semi-underground location improving climate control and making it less noticeable within the unique environment of Son Sant Joan and the air base. as well as making it more inconspicuous within the unique environment of Son Sant Joan and the air base.
The news reported by infodefensa.com comes at a time of high international tension, with Mallorca at the epicentre of events such as the presence of the US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford in the Bay of Palma, within a turbulent context, with large-scale conflicts such as the Gaza conflict and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American missile developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name âHeliborne laser, fire-and-forget missileâ, which led to the colloquial name âHellfireâ ultimately becoming the missileâs formal name.
It has a multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike ability and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms, including the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100-pound (45 kg) class air-to-ground precision weapon for the armed forces of the United States and many other countries. It has also been fielded on surface platforms in the surface-to-surface and surface-to-air roles.
Mallorca activist back in Spain heading home to Palma after spending 12 days detained in Israel: âIt was worth it, weâre going back.â
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 10:26:35Mallorcan activist Reyes Rigo has stated that being detained in Israel for almost two weeks âwas worth itâ after returning to Spain today, Monday morning, with five other members of the Freedom Flotilla, and has warned that they will continue to send flotillas until âPalestine is freeâ. âIt was worth it. We will return. We must denounce the genocidal Israeli state that kidnapped us in international waters and took us to a prison for prisoners, or rather, for terrorists,â Rigo told the media upon her arrival at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
She also urged the Spanish government to file a complaint with the international courts and denounce âthis kidnapping and imprisonment,â which in her opinion is ânothing compared to what our brothers are sufferingâ in Palestine, where there are women, children and men ârotting in the prisons of the genocidal state.â
Rigo went on to celebrate that the work of the flotillas âhas somehow shaken the worldâ and said that as many as necessary will be sent until âPalestine is freeâ. Finally, she called on workers to join the general strike on 15 October in solidarity with Palestine. Other members of the flotilla urged people to focus on the West Bank as well, and not just Gaza. âPlease, itâs Palestine, itâs not Gaza, itâs not the West Bank, itâs the whole of Palestine,â they emphasised.
Reyes Rigo was the only Spanish member of the Global Sumud Flotilla - the first flotilla - who remained detained in Israel since 1 October. She landed at 8.20 a.m. in Madrid along with the last five members of the Freedom Flotilla - the second flotilla - on an Iberia commercial flight that departed at dawn from the Qatari capital, Doha.
On Saturday, three other Spanish activists from the second flotilla, which was intercepted by the Israeli authorities last week, landed in Madrid, including Jimena González, a member of the Más Madrid party.
The coordinator of Podemos Baleares, LucÃa Muñoz, and fellow party member Alejandra MartÃnez, as well as other relatives of the flotilla members, were at Madrid airport to welcome them, amid cries of support for Palestine and their humanitarian aid mission to Gaza.
This new operation to return to Spain, like the previous ones, has been managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from its central offices, the Spanish Embassy and the consul in Tel Aviv, âwho have done an extraordinary jobâ, according to Foreign Affairs sources. This means that there are no longer any Spaniards from the flotilla being held in Israel, after a total of 57 people - 49 from the Global Sumud Flotilla and eight from the Freedom Flotilla - have returned to Spain in the last two weeks after being detained in Ktziot prison, located in the Negev desert.
The last six Spaniards, who arrived at Terminal 4S of Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport from Qatar, had been imprisoned until now âfor refusing to sign the voluntary deportation order,â sources from the Rumbo a Gaza flotilla told Europa Press. Reyes Rigo finally arrived in Spain after reaching an agreement with the prosecutorâs office to reduce the charges against her.
According to LucÃa Muñoz, a councillor for Unidas Podemos on Palma City Council, who also took part in the flotilla, the Spanish consul informed Rigoâs family that during a hearing held on Friday, this agreement had been reached with the Public Prosecutorâs Office and a fine had been imposed on the activist.
A court in Beer Sheva accepted the agreement after Rigo pleaded guilty to causing bodily harm and aggravated assault to a guard at the prison where she was being held. Initially, charges were brought against her for allegedly biting a guardâs hand and refusing to enter her cell, but this charge was later amended to allege that she had dug her nails into the officer while resisting.
Under the agreement, the court finally sentenced her to ten days in prison â which she had already served â as well as a fine of 10,000 shekels (about â¬2,650) and ordered her deportation. During her appearance before the judge, Rigo reported being mistreated while in custody. âThey beat us, they pushed us, and on the fifth day they attacked my friend and I tried to protect her,â she said, according to the Israeli newspaper. âThey grabbed me by the head and my glasses fell off,â she added, explaining that she was held with thirteen other women in a cell with a capacity for five, that they were not given water and that they were given ârottenâ food.
Spain holiday warning: Looming British budget could hit Mallorca holidays and beware of influencers
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 09:48:00The chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, Steve Heapy, has warned the UK government not to treat the travel sector as a âcash cowâ ahead of the Autumn Budget, expressing deep concerns about new tax burdens. Speaking at the ABTA Travel Convention in Calvia last week, Heapy expressed fears that more workers will be pushed into a higher tax bracket with the November announcements and he warned that will no be good for the travel industry, neither at home in the UK nor abroad.
He said that his company alone pays some half a billion pounds to the treasury in tax every year.
âWeâre an economic force for good and we, as an industry, should be treated with respect and responsibility. Apart from our impact on the GDP, we create hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK and depend on a large supply chain. But, there is only so much elasticity, of the British government wants to keep pulling at the finances of the travel industry, in particular tour operators and airlines, then things will snap and that will not benefit anyone.
âWeâre also having to meet expensive green and emission targets. Weâve been set SAF, sustainable aviation fuel, targets and these mean extra costs - specially when such a small amount of the fuel is being produced in the UK and we know much more could at cheaper costs to the airline industry, so perhaps the government could do us a favour there,â he said.
âWeâre having to pay peak prices and while at the moment just 2% has to be SAF, by 2030, it will be 10% and that will mean extra costs, it will hit the bottom lines and that could mean extra costs being passed on to consumers, which we donât like to do. But the budget may give us no alternative,â he said. âThe increase in National Insurance contributions has cost us £25m. Any further tax increases will affect us again,â he added.
The Jet2 boss highlighted that the number of Britons in the highest tax bracket has doubled in the past 12 years, calling on the government to show respect for an industry that âdelivers significant benefits to society and the economyâ. But, despite the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming budget announcements, Heapy said demand for travel remained âstrong and steadyâ, describing holidays as âone of the most essential consumer spending needsâ.
He told the Bulletin that Balearics bookings are strong and that he was pleased with the summer and satisfied with low season demand. But, he stressed the importance of booking holidays with professionals who know what they are talking about. He appeared sceptical about the use of Artificial Intelligence and influencers.
âAI is not perfect and one has to ask who some of these influencers are. Quite often, customers are carrying out so much research h on their own on websites etc. they know m ore about the destinations they want to travel to than some of the travel experts, so itâs a very professional industry and everyone involved whether it is travel agents or call centres has to know what they are talking about.
\"With AI, for example, itâs not always correct, itâs going to take a long time to actually replace people. I guess it is like in 2005 with the website boom, itâs a bit like the wild west at the moment. People need accurate and reliable information when booking and going on holiday,â he said. âAnd we, like the other tour operators and travel agents offer a bespoke service,â he added. âWe look you in the eye.â
Car rental association blames traffic jams in the Balearics on lack of public transport, Palma taxis still struggling in Mallorca
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 08:11:00Despite the holiday season winding down Palma taxi services are still struggling to cope with demand, although when it rains in Palma, catching a cab is never easy. This morning I booked a taxi to get to Son Espases for a 4.30pm appointment. I thought leaving the centre of Palma at 3.45pm would give enough time, however the very polite lady advised to make it 3.30pm to make sure I got there on time - the problemâ The traffic and itâs not exactly the alleged âcar hire seasonâ.
Officially, well according to Google Maps, the journey from the centre of Palma to the hospital is 12 min (5,3 km). To be honest, it never is, the daily traffic jams in Palma are not down to hire cars, it is due to the sheer amount of resident vehicles on the road, especially at peak commuter/school times. And, the president of the Balearic Islands car rental association, Cristóbal Herrera, has stated that, although the Balearic authorities are attacking the car rental sector, the cause of the mobility problems on the islands lies in the lack of public transport.
According to Herrera, âthe problem is that both the regional government and the governments of the different islands, instead of working together to improve tourism, have decided to lead the protest against tourism,â he said, according to a statement issued by the national association. The president of Baleval has accused both the regional government and the island councils of âtargeting car rental as the main focus of their attack, in order to ignore the lack of infrastructure and public transportâ.
At the annual convention of the National Business Federation of Vehicle Rental with and without Drivers, Feneval, its president, Juan Luis Barahoma, expressed his concern about âthe political driftâ that has developed this year in the Balearics, where ârestrictions on tourism have been unilaterally imposed, aimed essentially at the car rental sectorâ.
According to the association, this restriction violates the regional law on vehicle traffic control, âgiven that it was not published at least three months before its entry into forceâ in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands. According to Feneval, âa sector that represents only 10% of the vehicles on the islands is being criminalisedâ.
âIt seems that we are doing something wrong in the automotive sector and also in tourism, as we are being criminalised for all the problems that exist in areas with the highest tourist traffic, but no real solutions are being put in place,â said Barahona.
Gaza: Hostages reported released, aid scale-up has begun, say aid agencies
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 13:35:19António Guterres expressed his âprofound reliefâ that the hostages had been freed, two years since they were among some 250 taken during Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, before highlighting their âimmense sufferingâ.
The UN Secretary-Generalâs comments came as he headed to Egyptâs Sharm el-Sheikh along with world leaders for the Gaza peace summit. The international gathering was convened after Israeli forces pulled back from parts of Gaza, in line with an agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered in Egypt by US mediators and representatives from Qatar and Turkïye.
In a message on X, Mr. Guterres reiterated his call for the release of the bodies of the deceased hostages and urged âall parties to build on this momentum and to honour their commitments under the ceasefire to end the nightmare in Gazaâ.
190,000 tonnes of aid to deliver
Meanwhile, UN aid agencies reported significant positive developments in getting aid into Gaza.
âOur humanitarian scale-up in Gaza is well underway,â said UN humanitarian agency OCHA, which noted that it had secured Israeli approval for 190,000 tons of food, shelter items, medicine and other supplies to enter the Strip, 20,000 more than previously agreed.
For the first time since March, cooking gas has been allowed to enter the Strip.
In addition, âmore tents for displaced families, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour and medicines also crossed into Gaza throughout the day on Sundayâ, OCHA said in any update.
Crucially, the aid agency reported that its workers and partners were now able to move more easily âin multiple areasâ â' a welcome development after constant access restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities.
This has allowed aid teams to pre-position medical and emergency supplies âto where they are needed mostâ, the UN agency said, in addition to assessing key roads for explosive hazards and supporting displaced families in flood-prone areas ahead of winter.
âThis is just the beginning. As part of our plan for the first 60 days of the ceasefire, the UN and our partners will expand the scale and scope of our operations to deliver life-saving aid and services to virtually everyone across Gaza,â OCHA continued.
Symptoms of war
Two years of extreme violence and constant Israeli bombardment have left many families without homes to return to.
The violence has also created vast physical and psychological needs across Gaza which UN agencies are already addressing.
UNICEF, the UN Childrenâs Fund, underscored that âall one millionâ youngsters in the Gaza Strip need mental health and psychosocial support.
The war has devastated youngstersâ sense of safety, their development and wellbeing, the UN agency insisted with many displaying âsevere stress symptomsâ such as withdrawal, nightmares and bedwetting.
To help children heal and overcome their fears, UNICEF supports a self-help recovery programme in which trainers show children how to employ stress-management techniques to release and process painful thoughts and images.
One device is an imaginary âsafety buttonâ that children can press when they feel overwhelmed by their situation.
âWhenever I felt scared, I would put my hand on the safety button and take a deep breath in and out. It made me feel so relieved,â said Anas, 15, one of the children helped by the scheme.
In 2025, UNICEF said that eight in 10 of the youngsters participating in the programme showed reduced symptoms of traumatic stress.
John Zizioulas, Prophet of Orthodox Ecology
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 07:00:02By Martin HoeggerThe ecological crisis cannot be resolved by green technologies or international treaties alone. It requires a conversion of the heart and a rediscovery of the spiritual meaning of the world. This was the prophetic message of Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Zizioulas, â 2023), whose thought profoundly renewed Orthodox theology and inspired the ecumenical movement for the protection of creation.
At a conference at the Patriarchal Academy of Crete (9 October 2025), Greek theologian and sociologist Dr Konstantinos Zormpas, Director General of the Orthodox Academy of Crete, paid tribute to him in a dense and illuminating lecture. Drawing on his work, he and other speakers showed how Zizioulas was a pioneer of ecological thinking rooted in faith and liturgy.
A theology born of liturgy
As early as 1967, Zizioulas laid the foundations for a deeply spiritual ecological theology.[1] Creation is not a resource to be exploited, but the place where God and man meet. In the Divine Liturgy, the priest raises the chalice and says: âYour own we offer to You, in all and for all.â This gesture sums up his entire theology: humanity offers to God the fruits of the earth that she has received from Him, to see them transfigured. In this movement of giving and receiving, the world is sanctified. The human being becomes a âpriest of creation,â steward and servant of the cosmos.
In the Eucharist, matter becomes a place of communion: bread and wine, sanctified by the Spirit, become the Body and Blood of Christ. This transfiguration announces the ultimate vocation of creation: to participate in divine life.
In the Eucharist, matter becomes the place of communion: bread and wine, sanctified by the Spirit, become the Body and Blood of Christ. This transfiguration reveals the ultimate vocation of creation â to share in divine life.The Ecological Crisis: A Spiritual Crisis
For Zizioulas, the destruction of nature is the symptom of a spiritual crisis: humanity has lost the Eucharistic sense of the world. When people cease to see themselves as mediators and servants, they become dominators and consumers. The world, created for communion, becomes an object of exploitation. âIf we do not take this seriously,â he warned, âwe will be guilty before God for our indifference.â The true solution is not technical but spiritual: a *metanoia*, a conversion of heart and vision.Humanity, Priest of the Cosmos
Zizioulasâ expression â âman as the priest of creationâ â has become classic. It means that the human being is called to offer the world to God in gratitude and to sanctify matter through love. The liturgy thus becomes the ecological act âpar excellenceâ: it restores to the world its vocation of communion.An Ecumenical Ecology
Zizioulas played a major role in interchurch dialogue on ecological questions. Active in the World Council of Churches and collaborator of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, he contributed to the establishment of September 1st as the Day of Prayer for Creation. In 2015, he welcomed Pope Francisâs encyclical Laudato siâ with these words: âThe ecological threat transcends our differences; we must face it together.â Through his influence, orthodox theology has found a common language with other traditions: gratitude, sobriety, and sanctification of the world.
A Spiritual Pedagogy
According to Professor Polykarpos Karamouzis, Zizioulasâ thought calls for ecological education grounded in faith. In the Orthodox tradition, water, earth, and air are bearers of blessing. To waste them is to profane sacred gifts. The ecological disaster is therefore also a spiritual fault â a lack of gratitude toward the Creator. Teaching gratitude, he says, is already to begin ecological conversion.Ecological Sin and Repentance
Professor Christoforos Arvanitis emphasizes the pastoral dimension of Zizioulasâ thought: to destroy creation is to sin. This âecological sin,â now recognized in the texts of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, requires repentance and confession. The Christian community must learn to assume responsibility for the faults of its members. Ecology is not merely an ethical issue but a matter of salvation: those who deliberately pollute must change their hearts to be restored to divine communion.A Theology of the Cosmos
Professor Stylianos Tsophanidis sees in Zizioulas the true âtheological armâ of Patriarch Bartholomew. He gave Orthodox theology a cosmic scope: salvation concerns not only humanity but the whole creation. The Holy Spirit animates the world and prepares its transfiguration. Zizioulasâ theology is thus âcosmotheandricâ â God, humanity, and the cosmos united in one vocation to life.Inner Conversion and Hope
The Archbishop of Crete, Evgenios, reminded that overconsumption and mass tourism disfigure his island. The response, said Zizioulas, must be spiritual: âThe ecological crisis is first a crisis of the heart.â To rediscover the beauty of simplicity, the joy of thanksgiving, and the holiness of daily life is already to heal the relationship with creation. To respect nature is to honour the face of God in the world.Conclusion
The legacy of John Zizioulas remains a powerful inspiration for the theology of creation. By reminding us that every authentic act of faith is an act of thanksgiving, he introduced ecology into the dimension of communion between God, humanity, and the cosmos. In an age when the planet suffers from human excess, his thought calls for an ecology of gratitude and sobriety, where prayer becomes an act of resistance and hope.
Reading Zizioulas is to discover that ecological conversion begins with thanksgiving and continues in everyday life, where humanity learns to offer creation as a gift, not to possess it as a commodity.A website is dedicated to the life and work of John Zizioulas, where his portrait can be found: https://zizioulas.org* Martin Hoegger is a reformed theologian and author living in Switzerland. He participated to this Congress of Crete. https://www.hoegger.org
[1] In the article âLa Vision eucharistique du monde et lâhomme contemporainâ (The Eucharistic Vision of the World and Contemporary Man), Contacts 19 (1967), 83-92.
ODIHR Expands Hate Crime Training to Strengthen Justice Systems Across the OSCE Region
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 14:06:45In Warsaw on October 13 2025, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) launched its updated hate crime training manuals for police and prosecutors, building on twenty years of hands-on practice across the OSCE region. The session, held in the Belweder meeting room as part of the OSCE Human Dimension Conference, gathered national experts from Poland and North Macedonia to showcase how these programmes have transformed the criminal justice response to hate crimes.
A Renewed Commitment to Combating Hate Crimes
Opening the event, Tia Jolijashvili, ODIHRâs First Deputy Director, reminded participants that hate crimes âare not only attacks on individuals, but on the cohesion and security of entire societies.â She underlined the importance of professional training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary to ensure that bias-motivated crimes are properly identified, investigated, and prosecuted.
Since its creation in 2012, ODIHRâs Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme has been implemented in nearly 20 countries, while its companion course for prosecutors, the Prosecutors and Hate Crimes Training (PAHCT), launched in 2014, has reached over 15 states. Both programmes have now been fully revised to incorporate lessons learned, best practices, and new victim-centred approaches.
Modernised Tools and a Victim-Centred Approach
Programme coordinator Ruth Burns explained that the updated TAHCLE curriculum now includes expanded materials on victim support, community-based policing, and strategies to overcome chronic under-reporting of hate crimes. âIf frontline officers fail to recognise bias motivation, victims will never see justice,â she said. The training promotes sensitivity, practical case analysis, and cooperation with civil society to build trust with communities most at risk.
For prosecutors, the PAHCT updateâpresented by Margarita Kovtunâoffers flexible modules tailored to national legal frameworks. It focuses on accurate legal qualification, evidence of bias, and sensitive engagement with victims. A key innovation is the âProsecutorâs Decision Treeâ, a tool launched in 2024 to help practitioners navigate complex intersections between hate speech and hate crime provisions.
National Success Stories: Poland and North Macedonia
Two national case studies demonstrated the programmesâ concrete impact. Marta Krasuska, Chief Specialist on Human Rights and Ethics at Polandâs National Police Headquarters, described how the TAHCLE framework enabled the training of over 11,000 officers and staff since 2023 through a cascade model. âWe built a sustainable systemâfrom national coordinators to local trainersâso every police station integrates hate crime prevention into daily work,â she explained.
From North Macedonia, Simona Yordanov, Rule of Law Officer at the OSCE Mission to Skopje, and Public Prosecutor Aleksandar Markoski highlighted their success in institutionalising PAHCT through a formal memorandum of understanding between ODIHR, the national Prosecutorâs Office, and the Academy for Judges and Prosecutors. The result: a leap from two convictions in two decades to 64 hate-crime and hate-speech judgments in the last five years.
Towards a More Resilient Regional Framework
Participants from civil society and OSCE field missions echoed the importance of continuous monitoring and inclusion of health-related and intersectional dimensions, such as hate crimes targeting people living with HIV or TB. ODIHR representatives confirmed that future modules will integrate such perspectives and explore virtual reality simulations to modernise training delivery.
As Jolijashvili concluded, âEach hate-crime case properly recognised and prosecuted restores not only justice for the victim but confidence in the rule of law itself.â With its renewed manuals and growing network of trained professionals, ODIHRâs initiative stands as a cornerstone in the OSCEâs long-term effort to counter intolerance and strengthen human rights across its 57 participating States.
Tanker Fight Against Baltic Undersea Cables Reached Its Anticlimactic Ending
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 12:13:00DISCLAIMER OPINIONS: The opinions of the authors or reproduced in the articles are the ones of those stating them and it is their own responsibility. Should you find any incorrections you can always contact the newsdesk to seek a correction or right of replay.
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Gaza: Hostages reportedly released and aid surge begins, aid agencies say
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 12:34:00António Guterres expressed his âdeep reliefâ that the hostages had been released, two years after they were among the approximately 250 captured during the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, before highlighting their âimmense sufferingâ.
The UN secretary-generalâs comments came as he traveled to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt with world leaders for the Gaza peace summit. The international meeting was convened after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza, in accordance with an agreement between Israel and Hamas, negotiated in Egypt by American mediators and representatives of Qatar and Turkey.
In a message on
190,000 tonnes of aid to be delivered
At the same time, UN humanitarian agencies have reported significant positive developments in the delivery of aid to Gaza.
âOur scale-up of humanitarian assistance to Gaza is on track,â the UN humanitarian agency said. OCHAwho said he had obtained Israeli approval for 190,000 tons of food, shelter items, medicine and other supplies to enter the Gaza Strip, 20,000 more than previously agreed.
For the first time since March, cooking gas was allowed to enter the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, âmore tents for displaced families, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour and medicine also entered Gaza throughout the day on Sunday,â OCHA said in an update.
Importantly, the humanitarian agency said its workers and partners were now able to move more easily âacross multiple areasâ â' a welcome development following continued access restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities.
This allowed humanitarian teams to preposition medical and emergency supplies âwhere they are most neededâ, the UN agency said, in addition to assessing main roads for explosion risks and supporting displaced families in flood-prone areas ahead of winter.
âThis is just the beginning. As part of our plan for the first 60 days of the ceasefire, the UN and its partners will expand the scale and scope of our operations to provide vital aid and services to virtually everyone in Gaza,â OCHA continued.
Symptoms of war
Two years of extreme violence and constant Israeli bombardment have left many families without a home to return to.
The violence has also created vast physical and psychological needs across Gaza, which UN agencies are already responding to.
UNICEFthe United Nations Childrenâs Fund, stressed that âthe millionâ young people in the Gaza Strip are in need of mental health and psychosocial support.
The war has devastated young peopleâs sense of security, development and well-being, the UN agency insisted, with many experiencing âsevere symptoms of stressâ such as withdrawal, nightmares and bedwetting.
To help children heal and overcome their fears, UNICEF supports a self-help program in which trainers show children how to use stress management techniques to release and process painful thoughts and images.
One of these devices is an imaginary âsafety buttonâ that children can press when they feel overwhelmed by their situation.
âWhenever I was scared, I would put my hand on the safety button and breathe in and out deeply. It gave me a lot of relief,â said Anas, 15, one of the children helped by the program.
By 2025, UNICEF said eight out of ten young people in the program had a reduction in traumatic stress symptoms.
Almeria offers Spainâs cheapest All Saintsâ Day getaways
PUBLISHED: 2025-10-13 14:14:12WITH autumn and winter holidays fast approaching, and fresh off the heels of the Puente del Pilar holiday in Almeria, residents are already looking forward to the next holiday: the All Saintsâ Day, taking place on November 1. This year, Almeria has proven itself to be a hotspot for tourism, whether in peak season or the off season, and All Saintsâ Day will be no different ⦠except this time, Almeria has a special appeal: two destinations in the province have been found to be the cheapest options for a holiday on the first day of November.
Vera and Roquetas de Mar, the two winners of the budget-friendly battle
According to a detailed analysis released by holiday booking and rental Web site Holidu, two destinations in Almeria stood out as being some of the most affordable for a quick getaway: Vera and Roquetas de Mar.
The analysis showed that Vera has the second most affordable price for a holiday at just â¬90 per night, with Roquetas de Mar trailing slightly behind at â¬93. These are far from the only attractive prices in Almeria, however: Pulpi at â¬104 per night, Nijar at â¬111 per night, and Mojacar at â¬118 per night are all excellent options for a low-budget leisure holiday, and the nature in Almeria is unbeatable.
The coastal destinations of Almeria continue to prove themselves to be tourism powerhouses for the region, as visitors are consistently drawn by its sparkling shores and charming towns, even in the off season. The tourist rental prices in Almeria are some of the most attractive on the market, offering a peaceful and quiet holiday without the hustle and bustle of major tourist hubs.
Almeria set to boom in the off season
This follows the enactment of a regionwide plan to drive up Almeria tourism in the off season, which is already yielding excellent results. With the boom in international travellers and unbeatable prices, itâs hardly surprising that Almeria becomes the destination of choice for foreigners, and in particular those from the UK, for a relaxing holiday on one of Spainâs most spectacular coasts.
Read more news from Almeria here.
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