International contemporary jewelry on show in Barcelona
The German Pforzheim School has been invited this year in the Week of Contemporary Jewelry of Barcelona. Twenty designers and five galleries are participating.
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SEAT will present a small car designed for urban environments before the end of the year
The car is inspired by the car ‘Up!’ that Volkswagen presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Car manufacturer SEAT is based in Greater Barcelona, which is the main automobile cluster in Spain.
Guardiola: “I’m not promising titles. I’m promising we’ll play like we did against Milan”
The Barça manager Josep Guardiola has defended his team’s methods against Real Sociedad and AC Milan despite the results. “I only expect my players to behave like they have done these last few days”, he said.
Catalan researchers discover a procedure that might be able to alter the malignant transformation of a cell
"This could mean a breakthrough in the fight against cancer," said the head of the study Juan Angel Recio from Barcelona-based Vall d’Hebron Research Institute.
The European Commission maintains its growth forecast for Spain at 0.8% in 2011
Brussels believes it is "unlikely" to relapse into a second recession but warned that the possibility "can not be excluded". The European Commission has not lowered its growth forecast for Spain or the whole of the Euro area despite the financial turbulences of the last weeks.
The Catalan Government is preparing the release of 3,800 million euros in retail bonds
As carried out on two other occasions in the last year, the Catalan Government is preparing to release of 3,800 retail bonds to get cash. Financial sources informed ACN about the operation, which has not been confirmed by the Catalan Ministry of Economy. The bonds would be offered before November 21st, the day that the bonds issued by the former Catalan Government in autumn 2010 expire.
The Catalan Supreme Court halts the two month deadline to include Spanish as a school language of instruction
The Catalan Government appealed the order of the Catalan Supreme Court, which insisted that the Catalan school system should be modified in order to comply with the Spanish Supreme Court’s sentence from last December to include Spanish as language of instruction. With the Government’s appeal, the Court’s deadline is automatically suspended, until the Court decides on the appeal. The appeal is based on two sentences from the Spanish Constitutional Court validating the Catalan school model, as well as on the linguistic immersion principle which guarantees social cohesion and equal opportunities.
Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor is a Barça fan
Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has declared himself a FC Barcelona fan and visited Barça players. Ranbir Kapoor is one of the biggest Bollywood stars. And FC Barcelona is also becoming more and more popular in India.
Fitch lowers Catalonia’s debt rating despite recognising the efforts to reduce the public deficit
The rating agency Fitch reduced Catalonia’s long term debt’s appreciation, going from A to A- because of the expected weak economic growth. Nevertheless, Fitch recognised the efforts to reduce the public deficit carried out by the Catalan Government. Fitch has lowered the debt rating of five Spanish Autonomous Communities and given others a negative perspective for the future. The Catalan Ministry of Finance thought that the reduction is due to “the international situation” and stressed that efforts are already made.
Chemists from the University of Girona get oxygen from water, using iron catalysts
The research results were published on the website of the prestigious journal 'Nature Chemistry' and will appear in the print edition as well. The Universitat de Girona is particularly strong in research related to water. The study opens a new path to develop new technologies to carry out artificial photosynthesis.
Catalan firemen are working on a pioneer European location device to find trapped victims
The innovative technology has a pencil to measure vital signs, an odour detector, a sound detector and two cameras. The Catalan Government's Fire Department and the French firemen from Marseille CEREM participate in the deisgn of the new device.
Catalan film ‘Pa negre’ pre-selected to represent Spain at the Oscars
‘Pa negre’ (Black Bread), directed by Agustí Villaronga and shot entirely in Catalan, was the main winner of the last Spanish film awards surprising everyone. Now it has been pre-selected together with Pedro Almodóvar’s latest movie ‘La piel que habito’ ('The Skin I Live In') and Benito Zambrano’s ‘La voz dormida’ (The Sleeping Voice). The film that will represent Spain will be known on September 28th.
The Spanish Parliament supports the current Catalan school model
A parliamentary motion has been approved, backing the Catalan linguistic immersion model at public schools. It was approved with the votes of all of the parliamentary groups except those from the People’s Party (PP) and the Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD). The motion received 192 “yes” votes and 148 “no” ones. It is the Spanish Parliament’s answer to the controversy over Spanish as language of instruction in Catalan public schools.
Barça has a cruel start at the Champions League against AC Milan (2-2)
FC Barcelona have started their European title defence with a bittersweet draw with the Italian champions. Pedro and Villa neutralised Pato’s shock opener after 25 seconds, but when Barça looked assured of a 2-1 win, Thiago Silva headed an injury time equaliser.
The poet Jordi-Pere Cerdà dies
Jordi-Pere Cerdà was awarded Catalonia’s highest distinctions, including the National Prize for Literature, the Cross of Sant Jordi and the Prize of Honour of Catalan Letters. He wrote under the pseudonym Antoni Cayrol and was one of the main Catalan voices of the Roussillon.