Playmaker Iker Muniain announced this Wednesday that he will leave Athletic Club at the end of this season, after 15 seasons in the first team in which he has played 557 games, putting the finishing touch to this stage with the Copa del Rey title conquered less than a month ago in La Cartuja, breaking a 40-year drought in the competition.
“It has been something incredible, the communion that the fans and the team have shown shows that we are truly unique in the world. It has been a very difficult decision, but I think it is the best for both Athletic and for me. As the song says ‘I confess that you have been the best thing in my life. But now, my love, the time has come to separate us,’” said Iker Muniain in the video with which the Bilbao club announced the departure of its captain.
? “You have been the best of my life,
but now, my love,
“The time has come for us to part.”
© The captain announces his goodbye after 15 seasons in the first team.#AthleticClub ?? pic.twitter.com/YwiV6kP4S3
— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) April 24, 2024
The Athletic playmaker commented that he leaves “happy” and “with the dream of having won” the “much-desired” Cup title, as well as having won “the Barge 40 years later.” “These remaining games, as always, we will fight to reach that dreamed of Champions League position. ¡Aúpa Athletic!” He added.
The club reacted to the news with a statement in which it reported that Muniain decided to leave “by his own decision.” “The moment and the way that the captain has chosen to say goodbye to the team of his life represent a new example of the unconditional love of the red-and-white ’10’ for Athletic,” highlighted the entity, which assured that the player is “deserving of the highest recognition” for the “legacy he leaves behind.
The veteran footballer, 31, says goodbye to the club “of his loves with the indelible memory left by the Cup final and the subsequent party at La Gabarra in Bilbao.” The ’10’ scored one of the penalties of the shootout and lifted the trophy together with De Marcos.
“The waste of energy, attitude and enthusiasm shown leaves the impression of a happy Muniain, proud of Athletic and his teammates. Happiness and pride shared with the fans, with Iker being the perfect promoter of days of glory that are now eternal,” highlighted Athletic, which announced that “in the near future” a farewell event and tribute to Muniain will be held in San Mamés.
The captain of the ‘lions’ leaves Athletic “through the front door” after 15 seasons in the first team and 557 games, so far, the second player in the historical ranking after Iribar’s 614. He arrived in Lezama at the age of 12, in the children’s category, and went through stages until he debuted with the first team at just 16 years old.
It was on July 30, 2009 in San Mamés against Young Boys, and in the second leg tie he became the youngest player to score a goal in an official match with Athletic in its entire history after Txomin Acedo, who scored at a few months old. except in the regional championship in 1914.
Since then, Muniain has scored 75 goals spread across LaLiga, Copa, Champions and Europa League. His record includes two Spanish Super Cups (2014/15 and 2019/20) and the recent Cup title that breaks a 40-year drought in the competition. He has been runner-up in the Cup five times and one more in the Europa League, in the final in Bucharest against Atlético de Madrid in 2012.
“The statistics do not reflect the way in which the Navarrese player has helped to enhance the history of Athletic. As other great red and white legends did in his day, Muniain preferred to stay at home and compete with his team, in the team that formed him. and gave him the opportunity to become a professional, giving up signing for another club that could offer him more money and the promise of more titles,” said the Basque team.
That ‘one club man’ decision has made him an idol in Bilbao and a reference for Athletic’s youth ranks. “Since his appointment as captain he has always been at the height of the institution, showing constant displays of sportsmanship and respect,” thanked the Bilbao club, which also emphasized “the fortitude, dedication and dedication” of the player in his two serious injuries. on your knees.
Flowering plants are disappearing from Dutch nature due to a shortage of insects
#Flowering #plants #disappearing #Dutch #nature #due #shortage #insects
Froukje Rienks, NIOO-KNAWGliding on yellow morning star
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 18:22
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Rolf Schuttenhelm
editor Climate
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Rolf Schuttenhelm
editor Climate
A shortage of bees and other pollinators is killing wild plants in Dutch nature. This is the conclusion of researchers from Leiden University, Naturalis and the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in a new study. They examined 87 years of measurements at more than 365,000 locations.
Species that were once common grassland flowers, such as the cuckoo flower, daisy, meadow milkweed, knapweed and many dozens of others, are in steep decline. Those flowers were the first to disappear from the farmland. Causes: over-fertilization and the disappearance of moist hay fields.
But the flowers are also declining sharply in the remaining natural grasslands. This decline has several causes, including nitrogen pollution and desiccation of the landscape.
Unpollinated flowers
On top of this is a decline due to a decrease in pollination, lead researcher Kaixuan Pan from Leiden University tells NOS. “Between 1930 and 2017, the number of plants pollinated by insects fell by more than a sixth on average. This decline threatens the stability of the ecosystem and food security.”
Plants that depend on insects often produce colorful flowers, with nectar and pollen. If that pollen is not exchanged by insects, (fertile) seeds often do not form and the plant cannot sow itself. The spot is then occupied by plants that are pollinated by the wind, such as grasses. That is a much smaller part of plant wealth: globally, about 90 percent of all plants are (partly) dependent on insects for pollination, including many food crops.
Downward spiral
Research leader Geert de Snoo of NIOO-KNAW finds the declining flower pollination extra worrying, because it can lead to a vicious circle. Insects, in turn, are declining partly due to a decrease in the supply of nectar and (suitable) pollen in the landscape. In short: fewer bees means fewer flowers, which means even fewer bees. “This looks very much like a downward spiral,” says De Snoo.
Hans de Kroon, professor of plant ecology at Radboud University, also has this concern. “Plants and insects are interdependent.” De Kroon is not involved in the new research, but previously led an insect study that had a huge impact in 2017: the number of flying insects in nature reserves appeared to have decreased by as much as 76 percent in 27 years.
“We are in danger of forgetting what is normal,” says De Kroon. “This also applies to flowery places: there should be more flies there than you can currently observe. This is because large numbers of insects are disappearing elsewhere in the landscape.”
A research team led by NIOO-KNAW previously published a ‘masterplan‘ for insect recovery. This advocates a series of simultaneous measures, including restoration of small-scale diversity in the landscape and a decrease in the use of agricultural poisons, another major cause of insect mortality.
“The great trick is ultimately to get back into a positive spiral,” De Kroon concludes.
Flowering plants are disappearing from Dutch nature due to a shortage of insects
What does the SIPRI global military spending report show?
The unprecedented rise in military spending shows that global peace and security are eroding. Photo: SIPRI
According to Nan Tian, Senior Research Fellow of SIPRI’s Arms Production and Military Expenditure Programme, “The unprecedented rise in military spending shows that global peace and security are eroding. Countries are prioritizing strengthening their military power, but they are facing the risk of falling into a spiral of military action and reaction in the context of increasingly volatile global security and geopolitics.” .
“Worldwide spending on weapons and the machinery of war is appalling,” said Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen. With such a large amount of money, we can solve all the major challenges that humanity faces such as hunger, disease and catastrophic climate change. The US is responsible for more than 1/3 of the world’s ‘inhumane’ spending.”
SIPRI’s report also said that India is the country with the fourth largest military spending in the world, the largest percentage increase in spending is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (105%), and the conflict in the Middle East region, causing military spending in this region to increase the most in the past decade. In the Middle East, Israel increased spending by 24%, reaching $27.5 billion, but still ranked second, behind Saudi Arabia.
* Poland is ready to deploy NATO nuclear weapons
In an interview with the press on April 22, President Andrzej Duda said Poland was ready to allow NATO to deploy nuclear weapons in the country. “If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons on Polish territory as part of sharing nuclear capabilities to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, we are ready,” Duda said. do that”.
President Andrzej Duda said Poland is ready to allow NATO to deploy nuclear weapons in the country. Photo: Getty Images
Poland is a NATO member and a strong supporter of Ukraine. Poland currently has a border of about 230km with Kaliningrad – a special territory of Russia, and shares a 402km border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia.
Mr. Duda also said that Poland and the United States have been conducting discussions on nuclear cooperation between the two countries “for some time.” “The Americans have their interests in Poland,” he emphasized. Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had repeatedly publicly stated that Poland was essentially in the “eve” of war, but Mr. Duda firmly denied this statement.
“I believe that if we act responsibly, there will never be a war, because we will always be strong enough not to be attacked,” he asserted.
HUU DUONG (synthetic)