Latest news with #AVE
Express Tribune
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Influencer Marta Díaz fends off robbery attempt on Barcelona train, after Lamine Yamal's bash
Influencer Marta Díaz recently opened up about a distressing experience she had while traveling back to Madrid after attending Barcelona star Lamine Yamal's 18th birthday celebration. In a TikTok post, Díaz described how she was targeted by a thief on the high-speed AVE train, a situation that took a terrifying turn when her suitcase went missing just before the train departed. Díaz noticed a man acting suspiciously, giving her a strange look that made her uneasy. 'I didn't feel good about him,' she said, recalling her discomfort. After settling in the train, she realized her suitcase was gone. In panic, she searched the train, repeatedly exclaiming, 'It's not here, it's not here.' @maarta_diaz Honestamente me asusté mucho la verdad, pero bueno solo que llevéis cuidado! ❤️ ♬ sonido original - maarta_diaz Fortunately, Díaz managed to spot the thief at the back of the train, calmly walking with her suitcase in hand. 'He acted like he didn't know anything. I was in shock,' Díaz recalled. With the help of another traveler, Díaz was able to retrieve her suitcase. In her video, she urged her followers to stay vigilant, warning that a mere second of distraction could lead to theft, whether in Barcelona or anywhere else. In the same video, she expressed her gratitude to the young man who helped her track down the thief. Meanwhile, her brother, David Díaz (known online as Alphasniper97), took to social media to ask for the boy's help in identifying him, offering a gift in return. The robbery incident came just days after Marta attended Lamine Yamal's lavish birthday party, a 'mafia-themed' event that has sparked significant controversy. Photos and details of the party began circulating, revealing that individuals with dwarfism had been hired to perform at the event. Photo: Instagram/X The Spanish government is now investigating allegations of discrimination, with the Association of People with Dwarfism (ADEE) condemning the hiring of entertainers with dwarfism. The backlash surrounding Yamal's birthday has been swift. ADEE president Carolina Puente called the event 'unacceptable,' emphasizing that people with dwarfism should not be used as entertainment at private parties. While Yamal has yet to comment on the criticism, one performer hired for the event defended the party, insisting they were treated with respect and had a great time. Díaz, who was also a guest at the birthday bash, shared images of her dress code for the event, a 'mafia' theme, and her own experience. The 18-year-old footballer's celebration has stirred debate about the treatment of individuals with disabilities, while Díaz's experience highlights the continuing concerns of safety and respect during high-profile events.
Perth Now
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Katie Noonan to premiere new Tim Winton-inspired performance
ARIA award-winning musician Katie Noonan will lead the Australian Vocal Ensemble to premiere a bold new selection of songs inspired by iconic author Tim Winton for a performance on Cottesloe's foreshore. Soprano Noonan, who founded AVE in 2021, will be joined by world-class vocals from mezzo-soprano Fiona Campbell, tenor Louis Hurley and bass-baritone Andrew O'Connor for an afternoon and evening of music at The Heritage Collective at 40 Marine Parade. Described as capturing Australia's landscapes and subtleties of modern life, Noonan said the new songs were be a collection of work close to WA's heart. Your local paper, whenever you want it. 'We are thrilled to be finally making our WA debut on Noongar Country at the beautiful Heritage Collective at Cottesloe Beach, with a bespoke program of works featuring 100 per cent WA composers,' she said. The performance will include compositions by Emma Jayakumar, Ruben Davies, Lachlan Skipworth and Aaron Wyatt, who have reshaped Winton's storytelling into a sonic experience. Since its establishment, AVE has commissioned 32 new Australian works from 27 composers, including 12 female and three Indigenous artists, as well as producing two full albums. 'We cannot wait to present these acapella vocal quartet works alongside some Renaissance and Baroque masterworks and fill these inspiring spaces with the notes of our intimate sound world,' Noonan said. The premiere comes ahead of Noonan's highly-anticipated Grace tour — a recreation of Jeff Buckley's only studio album released in 1994. The 20-date Australian tour will kick off in September at the Astor Theatre Perth in Mt Lawley. Tickets for The Heritage Collective event are available at
Local Spain
11-06-2025
- Local Spain
How young foreigners in Spain can get 90% discounts for summer travel
The Spanish government has recently approved the new Verano Joven (Summer Youth) travel programme for 2025. The government has dedicated €120 million to the scheme, which will enable young people between the ages of 18 and 30 to get up to 90 percent discounts on public transport this summer. The initiative aims to promote sustainable mobility, tourism, culture, and personal development for young people by facilitating access to public transportation during the summer season. Who can benefit from the scheme? Young people born between January 1st, 1995, and December 31st, 2007, which is ages 18 to 30. They must either have Spanish nationality or legal residence in Spain. This means if you're here on the Digital Nomad Visa or Non-Lucrative Visa for example, you will be able to benefit. Unfortunately the discounts are not available for those who are just here on holiday. What discounts can I expect? 90 percent discounts on bus travel 90 percent on mid-distance trains 50 percent discount on Avant trains: This includes medium distance and high-speed trains. 50 percent discount on high speed and long distance trains: This includes services such as AVE, Avlo, Alvia, Intercity and Euromed. All these operators will offer a 50 percent discount with a maximum discount of €30. 50 percent discount on Interrail Global Flexible: Discounts can also be enjoyed for the 10-day Interrail Global Flexible pass purchased through Renfe. When can I travel? The discount only applies to travel during the summer months from July 1st to September 30th 2025. You can travel on any day or route you choose, but you are not allowed to book more than one return ticket per day for the same origin and destination, unless the trip has already been completed. How do I get these discounts? First you must register on the Ministry of Transport's special website when the application period opens. The website is not yet up and running, but we will update this article as soon as it is. They suggest that you register at least 24 hours before purchasing your first ticket. For this you will need: Your NIE, DNI or passport number, cl@ve or digital certificate Personal information like name and date of birth After you have registered you will receive a personal, non-transferable code which will enable you to buy tickets at discounted rates on the websites of transport operators such as Renfe. The Verano Joven programme for travel first launched in 2024 and was so successful that the government is bringing it back this year. Last summer, 1.4 million young people between the ages of 18 and 30 benefited from discounts. making a total of 5.2 million train and bus trips between July 1st and September 30th 2024.
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Forbes
Iberian Blackout: Electrify Everything—and Have A Backup
People get off a stopped high-speed AVE train near Cordoba on April 28, 2025, during a massive power ... More cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP) (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images) When the lights went out across large swaths of the Iberian Peninsula this week, the effects were swift and strange. Guests at high-end hotels couldn't get into their rooms—not because the staff had vanished, but because the keycards didn't work. In hostels, where old-fashioned brass keys still hang behind the front desk, the night went on more or less as usual. Toilets in some places refused to flush, kitchens in others went cold. No warm food, no coffee. A true European tragedy. Yet those with gas stovetops were still able to serve up hot meals. 'We had no internet for most of the day. Power came back at around 9 pm in Madrid. Everyone was out on the streets, listening to battery-powered radios!' said Kelly Delaney, an energy expert vacationing in Spain at the time. 'Hotels couldn't check us in with no computers and no way to set up electronic key cards, and we had to scramble and find a hostel that used traditional keys. I have never thought about keys. Maybe some things should not be linked to electricity.' As the blackout dragged on for hours, Spaniards did what Spaniards do: they took to the streets. There was music, there were impromptu fiestas. In a country with a long tradition of resilience, the spirit stayed high even as the grid stayed down. But this event offers a glimpse into a larger truth: running the grid of the future—especially one powered increasingly by renewable energy—is not going to be seamless. There will be hiccups. And when everything is electrified, those hiccups hit harder. History reminds us that even the brightest minds can trip the switch. In 1965, Thomas Edison's former company, by then Consolidated Edison, was at the center of a cascading failure that plunged 30 million people in the northeastern U.S. into darkness. The blackout wasn't caused by malicious actors or massive storms—but by a faulty relay. Even high-tech systems are only as resilient as their weakest link. Look to South Africa for a more persistent warning. The country's grid struggles are not due to a lack of renewables or fossil fuels per se, but mismanagement. South Africans endured an average of 3.71 hours of load-shedding per day in 2023. When things fall apart, it's not always the energy mix that's to blame—it's how you run the system. Electrifying everything is still one of the fastest and cheapest ways to cut emissions, especially when the power comes from clean sources. According to the International Energy Agency, electrification of transport and heating could reduce global CO₂ emissions by nearly 4 gigatons per year by 2050. That's the equivalent of eliminating the emissions of the entire European Union. Still, some sectors—heavy industry, aviation—remain stubbornly hard to electrify. There is no silver bullet and running the grid on volatile renewables will have its challenges. In addition to improving how we manage the grid, which was focus of most analyses to date, there are also shades of gray in deciding what should be electrified. While hospitals and military bases usually have backup power, many everyday tools that once worked manually now rely entirely on electricity. For example, Tesla, for all its high-tech wizardry, still includes a manual door release in its cars. In a pinch, you can always get out. Contrast that with the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in 2021. The pipeline couldn't operate because the control systems were offline—systems that, not so long ago, could be run manually. This isn't just a technical issue—it's an economic one. Maintaining manual options costs money. Do hotels need a physical master key for every door? Should we keep horses in the barn just in case there is another oil embargo? If your system works 100% of the time, redundancy seems wasteful. But in a world of cyber threats, blackouts, and system overloads, we're beginning to see that resilience matters. The silver lining? We're having this conversation now. We're learning from Iberia, from South Africa, and from many other electric grids around the world. Electrify everything—but leave a hatch open, just in case. In energy, as in life, it's always wise to have a backup plan.
Gulf Today
28-04-2025
- Climate
- Gulf Today
Massive blackout disrupts flights, subway trains in Spain and Portugal
A massive blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday, halting subway trains, cutting phone service and shutting down traffic lights and ATM machines for the 50 million people who live across the Iberian Peninsula. The power cut also disrupted air traffic, affecting flights to and from Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, European air traffic organisation Eurocontrol said. The organisation said it was still too early to say how many flights would be affected. Utility operators sought to restore the grid but Spanish electricity transmission operator Red Eléctrica said the outage, the cause of which was not immediately known, could last from six to 10 hours. Officials said the possibility that it was caused by a cyber attack had not been ruled out. The outage caused chaos in parts of Portugal and Spain as traffic lights stopped working, causing gridlock. A view of empty hospital emergency beds at a hospital during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain, in Barcelona. Reuters Transport networks were halted, hospitals were left without power and people were trapped in the metro and in elevators. In Madrid, hundreds of people stood in the streets outside office buildings and there was a heavy police presence around some important buildings, with officers directing traffic as well as driving along central atriums with lights. People leave the Atocha train station in Madrid after its closure as a massive power outage hits Spain. AFP The Spanish and Portuguese governments met to discuss the outage, which also briefly affected parts of France, and a crisis committee was set up in Spain, sources familiar with the situation said. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited electricity transmission operator Red Eléctrica's control centre. "The government is working to determine the origin and impact of this incident and is dedicating all resources to resolve it as soon as possible," the Spanish government said. Passengers stand next to a stopped RENFE high-speed AVE train near Cordoba during a massive power cut. AFP Red Electrica said it was working with regional energy companies to restore power. Portuguese utility REN said it had activated plans for the phased restoration of the electricity supply. POWER CUT INTERRUPTS PLAY AT MADRID OPEN Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the court as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power. The European Commission said it was in contact with the authorities in Spain and Portugal and the European network of transmission system operators ENTSO-E to try to establish the cause of the outage. GRIDLOCK Power outages on this scale are rare in Europe. In 2003 a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused a major outage across the whole Italian peninsula for around 12 hours. In Madrid, the air was filled with the sound of police sirens and helicopters clattered overhead. The towering Torre Emperador skyscraper in the Spanish capital was evacuated via stairs. Worried people tried desperately to reach their children's schools as the cell signal came and went. Customers buy gas bottles in a petrol station during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula. AFP In a video posted on X, Madridi Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged the capital's residents to minimise all travel and stay at their current locations if possible. Airports reported delays. AENA, which manages 46 airports in Spain, reported flight delays around the country. Portugal's airport operator ANA said airports activated emergency generators which for now allows essential airport operations to be maintained at Porto and Faro airports. "In Lisbon, operations are ongoing but with limitations. So far, there have been no impacts on Madeira and Azores airports," it said. Agencies
