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The Catalan Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), based in Greater Barcelona, is the highest ranked centre in the world in the fields of physics and astronomy, according to a survey carried out by Excellence Mapping. This ranking sorts the world’s leading research centres according to 17 different areas of academia. The ICFO was ranked first in physics and astronomy, while the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) was placed third in this category. Other Catalonia-based institutions that were included in the list were: the Institute for High Energy Physics, IFAE (18^th place), the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB) and the Polytechnic University of Barcelona (UPC). The Director of the ICFO, Lluís Torner, told the CNA that the Catalan model of research is “highly competitive”.

On Thursday, Europe’s biggest gay and lesbian event started and will receive an incredible 70,000 attendees from 50 countries around the world. The internationally renowned ‘Circuit Festival’, which is in its 6^th year, lasts between the 8^th and 18^th of August, and presents a wide reaching program of cultural, artistic, sporting and party activities. According to the event organisers, 70% of visitors come from abroad and during the 10 -day event they will spend a total of €100 million in Barcelona. Those attending the festival will stay in the Catalan capital for an average of seven days, and it is estimated that each visitor will spend €250 per day.

More than 10,000 fans watched the Catalan team prepare for tomorrow's friendly match with an all-star selection of Malaysian players. Leo Messi was once again the most acclaimed player of the squad. Barça players and the manager congratulated Cristian Tello for his call-up to the Spain national team. Jordi Alba, who didn’t train on Thursday, trained alongside his team-mates this evening. Pedro Rodríguez, who is recovering from a knock to his right calf muscle, was the only player to miss the session.

The Landscape of the Geniuses tourism project celebrates how the Province of Tarragona (south Catalonia) has influenced the work of four world renowned artists: Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró, Pau Casals and Pablo Picasso. The route focuses on four municipalities in the Costa Daurada and the Ebro Valley, in which these artists spent a considerable amount of time, and explore how the region left a lasting impression and inspired them in the creation of their work. The route involves 270 points of interest and accommodation facilities that include: museums, architecture, restaurants, hotels and campsites. A tourist card gives access to all of the visitor centres along the route as well as numerous discounts.

Both Barcelona-El Prat and Madrid-Barajas received 3.8 million passengers during the month of July, a figure which represents an increase of 0.3% for the Catalan and a decrease of 14.4% for Madrid’s compared to July 2012. The figures released by Aena, the public body that controls the majority of Spain’s airports, show that El Prat records its highest ever amount of passengers for the month of July and, up until now, a total of 20 million people have passed through its gates this year. Girona airport had 384,187 passengers, a reduction of 1.8%. While Reus airport (south Catalonia) saw passenger levels rise by 0.7% compared to July of 2012 with a total of 166,984.

Since 1986, the Catalan Government has its own lottery system, which brought a profit of €40 million last year. The Catalan lottery administration dedicates 60% of the revenue to prizes and the remaining 40% to finance public policies. In total, there are six lottery games, including scratch cards and lotto draws, but there are no specific draws for special days, as exists in the Spanish Government’s Christmas Lottery. After a proposal from representatives of shopkeepers’ associations, the Catalan Executive decided to launch a similar Christmas draw, with tickets worth 5 euros. 80% of the revenue will go towards prizes and 20% will finance children’s assistance programmes. €15 million will be put on sale. The opposition has been surprised by the initiative and stated they were hoping it was not the only measure to increase revenue.

According to data released by the Catalan Finance Ministry, the Catalan economy has stopped the fall in GDP during the second quarter of 2013, since it remained at the same rate of the previous quarter. There has been a slow strengthening of the Catalan economy over the last few months: the fourth quarter of 2012 saw a reduction of 0.7%, the first quarter of 2013 GDP only shrunk by 0.1% and during the second quarter it remained stable at 0% growth. The improvement has been due to the industrial sector, particularly thanks to the exportation of goods which made up for the sustained falling of domestic demand. However, compared to the same figures for last year, the Catalan economy decreased by 1.3%.

Neymar scored his first goal for FC Barcelona to break the deadlock in Bangkok against the Thai national team. The other scorers were Messi (2), Pedro (3) and Alexis in a game that was over by halftime (5-1). On Wednesday, Barça played the fifth of the series of friendlies and they are getting better and better under Tata Martino as the 2013/14 season goes on. FC Barcelona’s next step will be Malaysia.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, officially announced on Tuesday that last year’s budget will be extended for the whole of 2013, since the 1.58% deficit target imposed by the Spanish Executive is too low and arrives too late. However, he explained that the budget extension guidelines will meet the 1.58% deficit target, because otherwise they would not have the money to pay for the additional spending. Furthermore, Mas announced they will take the “unfair and illegal split” of the deficit targets among the different government levels to court, since they consider the Spanish Government has not done it “in a proportional way”, since it keeps most of the deficit allowed for Spain’s total public sector for itself. Some opposition parties have strongly criticised the Catalan Government for extending the budget.

The President of the Regulatory Council of Priorat wine appellation, located in south-western Catalonia, is anticipating an excellent grape harvest this summer as there have been no major setbacks that have affected the evolution of the vineyards. The hot and dry weather during August has led to a process of maturation that is very favourable in terms of colour and there is a good balance between alcohol and acidity. The President of the Regulatory Council of the word-famous wine region, Toni Alcover, expects there to be a high quality harvest with a quantity in excess of 5.5 million kilograms of grapes.

The Catalan Ombudsman, Rafael Ribó, announced on Monday that 4% of children under the age of 16 suffer from food deprivation. Almost 50,000 children are not eating meat or fish at least once every two days, meaning they do not have a sufficient intake of protein. However, Ribó rejected there was a structural problem of malnutrition and linked the phenomenon to the economic crisis’ effects. Ribó asked the Catalan Government to act immediately to ensure that all children have access to enough food. The Ombudsman proposed 33 recommendations to reduce the child poverty rate, which currently stands at 28%, with approximately 345,000 children under the age of 16 living in poverty. The rate of extreme poverty has also increased in recent years and affects a tenth of Catalan children (130,000).

The 15^th FINA World Aquatics Championships have come to an end with numerous world records broken and the introduction of new event high diving. The US topped the medal table with a total of 30; China obtained a total of 25 medals while Russia came third with 19 medals. The championships, which were based this year in Barcelona, involved six disciplines: diving, high diving, open water, swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo. Six world records have been broken during the two weeks of events including American Katie Ledecky smashing the women’s 1500m record. The event cost €25 million and was broadcast to 520 million viewers in 160 countries. According to FINA the event was attended by 267,000 spectators, 67,000 more than expected.

The solvency ratio stood at 10.21% of the bank’s total resources, with 9.77% of core capital. Barcelona-based CatalunyaCaixa closed the first half of 2013 with a net profit of €183 million, which have met targets to recapitalise the bank. The interest margin reached €264 million, which represents a reduction of 5.9% as a result of a credit transfer to the publicly-owned banking management company Sareb. In spite of this, the reduction is less than the average decline seen in the sector as a whole and it has seen a remarkable growth during the first half of 2012 of 14.8%.

Palestinian and Israeli children, some disabled, enjoyed a day they’ll never forget in front of a packed Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium with FC Barcelona. The second and final clinic in the Holy Land for the so-called ‘Peace Tour’ – before the Catalan team heads for Asia – was followed by a somewhat more intense training session than in Dura, in the West Bank. During Sunday evening’s clinic in Tel Aviv, Leo Messi was accompanied by Mohamad, a 17-year-old from Palestine, and Assael, a 19-year-old from Israel.

More than 24,000 people welcomed Barça to Dura, in Palestine, where the Catalan team held the first clinic on the ‘Peace Tour’. Located close to Hebron, the Dura Stadium was packed to welcome FC Barcelona’s full first team and coaching staff, who everyone in this country is used to seeing on television. The players, who were received by a banner in Catalan, trained with a group of 40 Palestinian boys and girls.