Russian Fires

By Leon Buengel

In summer 2010 since the fires in Russia started, the death rate increased in the capital Moscow about more the 50 %. More than 5000 people than normal died in the months of the terrific fire. The reason for this is as simple as terrible. As a result of the fires there had been so much smoke that the people in town just could see ten meters wide. Everything was smoky. A Russian journalist said that the people had two opportunities when they wanted to sleep. Either they close the window. But then it would be too hot in the room, or they could open the window. But then the heat came into the room. Heat was everywhere. The people were afraid to go out of house because the probabiility to get ill was so high. You just could go out with a mask or with a wet thirt in front of your mouth and face. It was horrible. But not just the econnomy had a problem with these fires. After a while first consulates closed in Moscow. An other problem is that the fires went near to nuclear laboratories. The Russians were afraid of an explosion like there had been one in Tschernobil. There had been such an explosion that a cloud of nuclear dirt got into the atmosphere. Many people died right at the moment of the explosion or tight after it. Even now you can see what illneses there had been after the accident. The Russians were afraid these could happen with their country, too. There were about 600 fires in Russia, most of them near Moscow.

Gusts of wind struck Spain

By Baniel Belvis

This weekend terrible storms struck all Spain and 'ruined' the "Puente del Pilar", a 4 days long weekend to pay tribute to the 'Virgen del Pilar'.

The effects of the storms were sensible in all the country during all the weekend. For example, in Roses, where the strong gusts of wind above the mediterranian sea caused high waves, above 8 meters. Yesterday, the 12th of October 2010, the wind fell down a tree in Rubí, my hometown. The tree destroyed 5 cars in his path. In Barcelona the wind moved down motorcycles and crashed cars. Wind gusts reached over 70 kms/h. In the roads, it was also a terrific weekend. There were 26 deaths caused by the strong rains and wet roads.

Weird news

By Daniel Belvis

Lightning strikes a preacher

A preacher who asked God for a sign was struck by a lightning in Forest, Ohio. The lightning went through the microphone and surrounded the preacher, who was unhurt. The church had to be evacuated because it was on fire.

Coke worker fired for drinking Pepsi

A Coca-Cola truckdriver, who had been working in the company for 12 years in the USA, was fired because someone reported to his boss that he was drinking Pepsi and was thus supporting the rival firm.

Barcelona, the third happiest city in the world

By Pol Berbel Arqués

Forbes and the market research company GfK Roper City Brands published a list of the 10 happiest cities in the world. Barcelona was in third position, after Rio de Janeiro and Sydney. Barcelona also came 15th in a survey made by the ONU in 2009 on cities’ standards of living.

The happiness list is the result of a study based on the opinions of 10,000 people who have probably never visited the cities in question. A staff member from Oh-Barcelona asked his work mates about this in order to find out what Barcelona’s citizens really think.

People who were born in Barcelona say that the city’s position on the list is justified because of its mild climate, its geographical location and its cultural and night life. Although the opinion of foreigners who live here is similar, they add that Catalans are quite reserved.

The underground reaches the Carmel

By Denis Timotei Savu

Since July 2010 line 5 of Barcelona’s underground railway has arrived in the neighbourhoods of the Carmel, El Coll and La Teixonera. It was a historical moment for the residents, who now have the city centre in easy reach. These new stations connecting up with the northern part of the city will be used by up to 30,000 people every day.

On the day of the opening ceremony the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Mayor of Barcelona visited the underground and paid homage to the residents’ movement whose campaigns made possible the existence of these new underground stations.

Raimon Panikkar

Raimon Panikkar

By Alex Font

Raimon Panikkar was a Spanish philosopher and theologian. He was born in Barcelona in 1918 and died in Tavertet in 2010.

He was the son of an Indian father and a Catalan mother, and always felt both Indian and Spanish. He studied chemistry, philosophy and Catholic theology. In 1946 he was ordained a Catholic priest. Panikkar was a member of the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei.

He taught in universities in Spain, India and the United States. All his life he worked to achieve inter-religious dialogue. He criticized Western countries because they tried to impose their views on the way poor countries should develop.

He wrote more than 40 books and 900 articles. In 1961 he was awarded Spain's National Literature prize.

Accident on the Pendulum

By Xènia Nogué

In July 2010 a 15-year-old girl died as the result of an accident that occurred in the Tibidabo Amusement Park. Four teenagers, three girls and one boy, aged between 12 and 14, were on the Pendulum ride. One girl died, and another was seriously injured. The other girl and the boy were practically unharmed.

How did it happen?

Three hours before the accident, the maintenance service stopped the ride because they thought that something was wrong. They did not find any problem, however, so they reopened the ride. Two hours later the Pendulum failed while these four teenagers were on the ride. It fell on to another ride called "La mina d'or". It was fortunate that no more people were harmed. The emergency service arrived at the site of the accident 20 minutes after it happened. They did all they could to rescue the teenagers but it took three hours to get to the girl who later died. Although she arrived alive at the hospital, she eventually passed away. The most seriously injured girl had to stay in hospital for three months.

What is going to happen now?

When the experts and staff discover what really caused the accident they will set up a family recreation area.

The Mayor, Jordi Hereu, said that he is going to do everything he can to prevent such an accident from ever happening again.

Apple first shop in Spain

Apple first shop in Spain

By Laia Esquerrà

There's a phenomenon which hasn't been studied. The passion for Apple. A day before the Apple Store in Barcelona opened there were people already waiting. Some of them even saw how they did the last arrangements in the shop. They organized themselves because the most important thing wasn't getting out of the shop with something or being the first to get in. It was being part of the event.

The Apple Store in Barcelona, in La Maquinista, is the biggest in a shopping mall so far. In this store they also do every kind of activities. They teach kids to play music and make videos and they do courses of every programme that Apple has. The first 1.500 purchasers got as gift an Apple t-shirt.

Apple has promised opening at least 10 Apple Stores in Spain in the next years but they also said that it isn't easy to find the right place for it. The second shop was opened in Madrid.