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La Liga: Matchday 18 analysis

The Spanish tournament is halfway through and it was a tough weekend for the leaders who played under difficult weather conditions, thanks to a snowstorm. Nevertheless, games were played as scheduled, except for Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic de Bilbao at Wanda Metropolitano.

Granada 0-4 Barcelona.

FC Barcelona traveled to the south of the country to play at the Nuevo Estadio de los Cármenes. The Red and White had lost only once so far this season until this game. Koeman seems to have found the line-up, the starting eleven and his players’ positions, as he has been on an eight-game unbeaten streak, with six wins and two draws.

Barcelona seems more confident and full of chemistry, especially in the new Messi-Pedri partnership. De Jong and Griezmann are also playing their best games. Although there are still many doubts when the rival team attacks, because when defending, Barca spreads out a lot. Similarly, the best version of the team is already showing and has managed to shorten the distance between the Madrid teams.

Osasuna 0-0 Real Madrid.

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Real Madrid, against all odds, traveled to Pamplona on Friday because of the weather. And at the last-minute Zidane was allowed to travel with the team as he had been in contact with someone from the coaching staff who tested positive for COVID-19.

The team had Ramos and Hazard return in the starting eleven, so it seemed that despite the weather, Real Madrid would make it through. But the snow made it impossible to reach the goal. So much so that with 70% possession, Real Madrid only had one shot to score. While Osasuna, with less possession, got one more shot to score.

For the time being, Zizou won’t be worried about La Liga, as the Super Copa and Copa del Rey matches are coming up in the next few days. He will do it until January 23, when Madrid plays against Alavés.

Seville 3-2 Real Sociedad.

Andalusians and Donostians had a direct encounter since Lopetegui’s team was three points down in the table. The white-and-blue team arrived at the Sánchez Pizjuán stadium in a downward spiral, as they had been on a bad run with only one win in the last six games. And the Europa League champion took advantage of it with En-Nesyri’s hat-trick and tied the rival in points, even with three fewer games played.

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Atletico remains in the lead, with 38 points, despite having three matches still to play, while Real Madrid is down by one point and Barcelona is close with 34 points. Should Atletico win their pending matches, they will have a 10-point difference with the second place, they will play the first match this Tuesday against Sevilla.

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FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested in Mexico and Deported to U.S.

Authorities in Mexico announced Thursday that Samuel Ramírez Jr., a U.S. citizen accused of murdering two women and listed among the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, was arrested in the northern state of Sinaloa.

Ramírez Jr., 33, was detained Tuesday in Culiacán just 1 hour and 13 minutes after being added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Ten Most Wanted list, the agency said in a statement.

The suspect, who was born in California, has already been deported to the U.S. state of Washington, where he faces charges related to the fatal shooting of two women at a bar in Federal Way in May 2023.

A court issued an arrest warrant for Ramírez in November last year, and the FBI initially offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his capture, later increasing the amount to up to $1 million.

“To protect individuals’ privacy and ensure continued cooperation from the public, the FBI does not confirm the identity of those who provide information,” the agency said in its statement.

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UN experts warn Nicaragua runs vast transnational network to monitor exiled dissidents

Nicaragua maintains an “extensive” transnational network to monitor and intimidate opposition figures living in exile, affecting “hundreds of thousands” of people, the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua warned on Tuesday.

In a statement, the experts said their report “details an extensive transnational architecture of surveillance and intelligence used to monitor, intimidate and attack the hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans living abroad.”

The report, which will be presented on March 16 to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, states that the structure maintained by the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo includes the army, the police, migration authorities and diplomatic missions.

According to the statement, “the government has arbitrarily stripped 452 Nicaraguans of their nationality, left thousands more exiled in a situation of de facto statelessness, and prevented many from returning to Nicaragua.”

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Trump: ‘We Think It’s True’ Amid Claims Iran’s Supreme Leader Was Killed

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believes multiple reports claiming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the U.S. and Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic are likely true, though he stopped short of confirming the news.

“We have a feeling that the information is correct,” he said, according to NBC News. “I don’t want to say anything definitive until I see it, but we think that’s the case. And many of their leaders have disappeared,” he added.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many indications” that Khamenei had died in an attack on his residential compound.