News, March 2004

March 26th, resumé.

(Church and Sport news click more) Another 5 Moroccans detained re 3/11; German intelligence show the bombings possibly planned in Germany, where some of the most recent arrested lived; Zapatero will soon be ready to make official statement re. Iraq troops - could mean stand-down; EU summit today -Aznar attends- anti-terror plan adopted, including new commissioner appointed; Aznar and Zapatero met yesterday to prepare EU summit and discuss transition of power; 11 now unconditionally held under anti-terrorist laws - some positively identified by train passengers, also one Spaniard, who has given full evidence of his involvement in the robbery of the explosive, although he was not aware of the potential consequences; Scotland Yard has clear evidence of a British link with the bombers; plaque placed yesterday at Kilometre Zero, (not the Atocha station, but Puerta del Sol (city centre)) - homage made to all who helped; 124 remain hospitalised after being injured in the Madrid bombings, 2 critical, another 12 very serious - over 1800 were attended by the hospitals; missing part of a cell phone used in the attacks located in store in immigrant neighbourhood Lavapies, Madrid; new government leadership in talks with minority parties to secure investiture of Zapatero and the presidencies (speakers) of the Congreso and Senado - especially sensitive in the Senado where the PSOE will need all but one minority parties to support it; fuel prices expected to rise sharply over coming weeks; imminent planned troop withdrawal from Kosova cancelled due to recent troubles; open boat with 24 Maroccans on board discovered close to Granada coast -sign of renewal of illegal immigration wave; 8 regions continue to face snow and wind warnings in what may be the last outburst of winter weather.

Sport:

Football (soccer): Madrid beat Monaco 4:2 in first leg of Champions' Cup 1/4 final, Deportivo still to play; Zaragoza beat Madrid in extra time in Copa del rey final; Madrid leads in Spanish league from Valencia, which is losing ground; UEFA cup last 16: Valencia and Villareal through, Celtic knocked Barcelona out, Newcastle knocked Mallorca out -
Basketball: Tau Ceramica leads ACB league but has lost unassailable lead; Spaniard Pau Gasol is helping Memphis Grizzlies to beat records
Motor: F1 Fernando Alonso had a great start to the F1 season, gaining the podium in Melbourne behind the Ferrari drivers, who show continuing dominance over the rest; after Malaysia GP Alonso is in overall 6th position.
Cycling: Season started end January in Mallorca- author saw inaugural race stage in Palma, Mallorcan cyclist Toni Colom made history by winning for the Illes Balears team (formerly Banesto); the course of the 2004 Vuelta Ciclista de España is now available - it will replace traditional climbs in the north with more exposure to Valencia, Andalusia and Extremadura. See the route at: http://www.lavuelta.com/04/ingles/recorrido/index.asp

Churches

United churches' memorial service A service took place in the Betel auditoruim, Madrid, organised by the Madrid Evangelical Council - Saturday 20th; evangelicals and other minority religious groups have complained that their memorial services have been 'boycotted' by official representatives, while the State funeral is taking place in a Roman Catholic cathedral. Among the evangelical and orthodox affected were many Romanians: 11 dead, 85 wounded, of whom 26 remain in hospital.

Zaragoza, March 10th, 2004 (ACPress.net)
The AGM of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, held recently in Zaragoza, saw the creation of a new Department to defend religious liberty.

The Religious Liberty Department is to be headed up by Javier Povedano, who is also the Head of the Spanish branch of Open Doors, an evangelical organisation with a long history of helping the persecuted Church around the world. Pedro Tarquis, Director of ACPress.net, was elected Director of Redimir, the new umbrella organisation supervising all the media projects of the Evangelical Alliance, including Protestante Digital and ACPress.net.

Jaume Llenas was confirmed as General Secretary, and Pablo Martínez remains as President. Another initiative has to do with closer links with the Union of Evangelical Women.

Catalan Bible online The Catalan churches now have a resource online in the shape of the IBEC translation of the Bible. It can be found at http://www.ibecat.org

Annual report from the Evangelical Churches' Federation this report was published late February and covers the FEREDE's role in maintaining relations with the State. Once again, this time in even harder tones, the FEREDE denounces the government for indifference to the religious minorities. There are difficulties in 'demonstrating' in open, public places, in providing religious assitance to people in public institutions (like hospitals, prisons or the armed forces) and tax exemptions granted only to the RC church. Full text in Spanish of the press release: www.protestantedigital.com/documentos/comunicados/index.htm.

Diakonia preparing national congress The social action network of the evangelical churches, called Diakonia, had its third biennial congress in March, 19th to 21st, in Madrid. The churches are very involved in work with the needy, particularly immigrants, many from muslim backgrounds. This was a special opportunity to discuss how the churches can better react to disasters. One of the leading ministries within Diakonia is the Madrid City Mission, based in the immigrant neighbourhood of Lavapies, where a good number of the arrests were carried out after the 11M bombings.

Sources El Mundo, TVE, EP