Desert Golfingis exactly what it says on the tin, and nothing more. There is a ball, a hole, and some procedurally generated desert land in between. That’s it. No par, no club selection, no music, no items, no pause menu, no restarts, not even an avatar. Only dragging a cursor back to determine the next shot’s angle and power, and an attempt to get A to B. Once you do, a new hole appears, and you go on, infinitely. (The game technically has an “ending,” but God bless anyone who plays long enough to see it.)
Desert Golfing reads as overly simple on paper, and it makes sense as a sneaky critique of time-sucking, player-debasing mobile games. Actually playing it, though, borders on meditative. The game’s radical minimalism makes everything and nothing matter all at once. There’s a shot counter at the top, but it’s functionally meaningless, merely signifying how long you’ve played. You may spend 60 shots on one hole, but there’s no invisible eye judging you. Instead, you’re allowed to focus entirely on the simple pleasure of arcing a ball through the air, seeing it kick up sand and eventually plonk in the hole. It’s about the act of play more than the rules of a game: golfing, not golf. And when something new does pop up — a well of water, a setting sun, a cactus — it feels momentous.
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President Biden has worked tirelessly to end the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Biden has never given up on getting a ceasefire before he left office, and now he has done it. The two sides have agreed to a ceasefire to end fighting that has displaced 90% of the population of Gaza and left civilians on the brink of famine.
Joe Biden deserves an immense amount of credit, and with the ceasefire taking hold on Wednesday night, he will get it.
This is a crowning diplomatic achievement for a career that has been dedicated to diplomacy. Biden did it, but Donald Trump is trying to steal the credit.
Trump posted on Truth Social:
This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies. I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones. With this deal in place, my National Security team, through the efforts of Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven. We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World! We have achieved so much without even being in the White House. Just imagine all of the wonderful things that will happen when I return to the White House, and my Administration is fully confirmed, so they can secure more Victories for the United States!
Trump’s claim that he accomplished things without being in the White House is pathetic and laughable. Donald Trump deserves no credit because he didn’t do anything.
Just as he did with Barack Obama’s economy, Donald Trump, a convicted felon and fraudster, is taking credit for things that were accomplished before he arrived.
Trump is trying to fool the American people, and he should not be allowed to steal Joe Biden’s moment of achievement.
What do you think about the ceasefire and Trump trying to steal the credit? Share your opinion in the comments below.
Journalist Mark Halperin commented on the Pete Hegseth hearing on Wednesday morning and suggested that it went so well that it even provided a framework for other Trump nominees going forward.
He was joined by Sean Spicer, who agreed but clarified that not all of the nominees will need the kind of support that was required for Hegseth.
Halperin has been saying for months now that he expects most, if not all, of Trump’s picks to be confirmed.
MARK HALPERIN: I think it helps every other nominee for three reasons. One is they now have a template about how to do this, how to prepare, how to pack the room with supporters, how to work the chair, the committee, how to make sure everybody’s got statements, the way Sean cited. Number two, there’s momentum now.
There’s just this notion of the train’s leaving. Let’s get everybody confirmed. Let’s get the government up and running.
And number three is these Republican pressure for unity. You don’t want to cross Trump. Joni Ernst said that template, don’t cross Trump.
So I think it helps them all. I still think Tulsi Gabbard is currently the most endangered, but I still think she’s going to make it. Sean.
SEAN SPICER: I think it’ll be interesting, too. The one thing that we’re leaving out, I think everything we said about the hearing is absolutely right in terms of the template. But just remember that there’s only so many resources.
Having been through this process at a very high level before, you’re kind of marshalling all your resources for some of the big ones, right? So you’ve got to be careful that at the same time you’re not exposing, you know, like, for example, Chris writes up for Energy Today. I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I don’t think he’s going to have the full set of resources that you did for Hegseth yesterday.
Watch the video below:
Democrats came out with guns blazing in the Hegseth hearing because they were trying to destroy the very momentum that Halperin describes here. It didn’t work. Hegseth is likely to get confirmed. Even Democrats seem to be signaling defeat.
Pakistan’s national airline has been criticised for an advert that shows a plane flying towards the Eiffel Tower – with some saying it bears similarities to imagery of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The advert, which was posted on the official X account of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on 10 January, shows the plane heading towards the French landmark alongside the words “Paris, we’re coming today”.
It was meant to mark the return of direct flights to Europe after a four-year ban over safety standards was lifted.
But some on social media said the ad was reminiscent of imagery of the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, when hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC.
One user wrote: “Is this an advertisement or threat?”, while another said: “Who thought this ad was a good idea?”
Omar Quraishi, a former media adviser to Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, also questioned the thinking behind the ad, saying he was “truly speechless”.
“Did the idiot who designed this graphic not see a PIA plane heading for the Eiffel Tower? One of Europe’s iconic landmarks,” he wrote.
Image: PIA flight preparing to depart for Paris. Pic: AP
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has now ordered an inquiry to determine how the controversial advert was allowed to be published, according to local media.
The first flight from Islamabad to Paris since 2020 was fully booked with more than 300 passengers on board, PIA said.
Restrictions on PIA flights to Europe were imposed in 2020 by the European Union’s aviation safety agency after 97 people died when a PIA plane crashed in Karachi in southern Pakistan.
Then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said an investigation into the crash found that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot’s exams. A government probe later concluded the crash was caused by pilot error.
Performers with the Bob Baker Marionette Theater gesture to the crowd of families at Vidiots, a historic theater in northeast Los Angeles, a few miles from where fires are still burning in the Altadena and Pasadena neighborhoods.
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The carpeted floor of the main theater at Vidiots is drizzled with popcorn as dozens of children and their families crowd around a puppet show. Show tunes blast over the speaker as a puppet named Yellow Cat (who is, indeed, a yellow cat) prances and twirls across the floor.
Vidiots is a historic theater in northeast Los Angeles, a few miles from where fires are still burning in the Altadena and Pasadena neighborhoods. Vidiots joined forces with the Bob Baker Marionette Theater nearby to give families and parents a way to take their minds off the devastation.
Diego Montoya shows off a marionette puppet.
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“The show was planned as a way to give families some relief, an opportunity to do something that’s fun and silly. To sit back and get away from the chaos of the world right now,” says Yellow Cat’s puppet master, Diego Montoya. Vidiots also screened movies and gave out pajamas and coloring books. Many of the families at the free event earlier this week are victims of the fire in one way or another — some have lost homes, others have children who have lost schools.
Three-year-old Leo Bane is one of the spectators of the puppet show. Part of his school burned down in the Eaton Fire, so this event is a welcome distraction for Leo and his mother, Tania Verafield.
“I think this is the only two hours I haven’t been constantly checking my phone and trying to get updates and I feel just some relief at watching my son giggle [as he watches] these amazing puppets,” says Verafield.
Iris Wong (left) sits with her mothe, Tina Yen, and Tania Verafield holds her son, Leo Bane, as they watch the show.
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Schools in the Pasadena and Altadena areas are largely closed as the fires continue to burn. The YMCA and local government are offering child care, but slots are filling up fast, and it’s falling on many families to look after their young ones. Many told me they’re relying on each other to get through this time.
“People don’t know LA. It’s an amazing community,” says Ursula Knudsen. Both of her children lost their school campuses to the fire, and her younger daughter saw her school in flames as she evacuated with her father. Their home was also severely damaged.
“It’s not like Altadena needed a tragedy to come together as a community. That’s what’s wild. It’s only showing up 100 times more than it already was,” Knudsen says.
Buster Balloon shows off a puppet to children at the Vidiots theater.
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Coming to this free event with puppets, movies, and even a 6-foot-tall roving giraffe mascot has brought a moment of relief for Knudsen and her friend, Kate Mallor, whose children’s schools were also severely damaged by the fire. “It’s been so beautiful to see other moms here and to see our classmates and be able to hug,” says Mallor.
The puppet show in the main theater draws to a close with a grand finale. Yellow Cat is dancing to Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and that’s no coincidence, says Montoya, the puppeteer.
“It’s got a great message, you know, ‘Don’t rain on my parade, I’m going to have fun no matter what,'” Montoya says. “‘I’m going to do what brings me joy.'”
People walk by the exterior of Vidiots, which has a sign that says, “Here for you LA.”
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The California Newsroom is following the extreme weather from across the region. Click through to LAist’s coverage for the latest.
On the first day of the California Legislature’s new session, Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, an Orange County Republican, introduced a bill that would ban transgender high school students from competing on girls’ sports teams.
“Young women who have spent years training, sacrificing and earning their place to compete at the highest level are now being forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages,” Sanchez, of Rancho Santa Margarita, said in a video posted to social media.
“It’s not just unfair,” she added. “It’s disheartening and dangerous.”
Sanchez’s proposed law, called the Protect Girls’ Sports Act, is almost certain to fail in a Legislature controlled by a Democratic supermajority with a record of embracing inclusion for LGBTQ+ Californians.
But her introduction of it — notably, as her first bill of the session — underscores the persistent Republican emphasis on transgender issues, which continue to shape policy debates in California, where Democratic leaders have cast the state as a bulwark against President-elect Donald Trump, whose opposition to trans rights was central to his campaign.
Sacramento Democrats have blasted Sanchez’s bill as a political stunt, saying it is an unnecessary attack against transgender youth, who make up a tiny portion of California’s school-age population.
Supporters and opponents of banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports attend a meeting of the Riverside Unified School District board on Dec. 19.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Assemblymember Chris Ward, chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said in a statement that the caucus, whose members are all Democrats, “will not stand by as anyone attempts to use kids as political pawns.”
“Attacking kids is a failed 2024 issue,” said Ward (D-San Diego). “We are surprised the Assembly member introduced her first bill targeting a very small, vulnerable population of kids rather than using the opportunity to address key issues of affordability, housing and more that are impacting Californians.”
The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, which researches public policy around sexual orientation and gender identity, estimates that about 1.4% of American teenagers ages 13-17 — about 300,000 individuals nationwide — identify as transgender. Fewer play sports.
While polls show that most Americans support protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, they are deeply divided on issues involving queer children, especially kids who identify as transgender or nonbinary.
In a nationwide poll conducted last year for The Times by NORC at the University of Chicago, about two-third of adult respondents said transgender girls and women should never or only rarely be allowed to participate on female sports teams.
“Regardless of where Sacramento Democrats are on this issue, they’ll need to face facts,” Sanchez said in a statement to The Times, noting public opinion on the issue.
On the other side of the political aisle, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) last week introduced the Transgender Privacy Act, which would automatically seal all court records related to a person’s gender transition in an effort to protect them from being outed or harassed.
“The incoming Trump Administration and Republican Congressional leadership have made clear that targeting and erasing trans people is among their highest policy priorities, and California must have our trans community members’ backs,” Wiener said in a statement about his Senate Bill 59.
Supporters of LGBTQ+ students at a Dec. 19 Riverside Unified School District board meeting where demonstrators called on the district to “save girls’ sports.”
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Sanchez’s Assembly Bill 89, would require the California Interscholastic Federation, which regulates high school sports for public and private schools, to enact rules prohibiting any “pupil whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls’ interscholastic sports team.” It does not stop transgender boys from playing on boys’ teams or specify how the CIF would verify students’ gender.
California education code explicitly says students must be allowed to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including team sports, and must be permitted to use restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed those rights into law in 2013.
Sanchez’s bill comes after several recent high-profile fights across California over trans girls and women playing high school and college sports.
In November, a Christian high school in Merced withdrew its girls’ volleyball team from a state playoff match against a San Francisco team with a transgender player.
This fall, the San José State women’s volleyball team was embroiled in controversy after current and former players and an associate coach tried to have a trans player removed from the roster by filing a federal lawsuit. A judge later ruled the player could compete.
In November, two female high school students sued the Riverside Unified School District, alleging a transgender girl unfairly ousted one of them from a spot on the varsity cross-country team. The federal lawsuit also claims that when the girls protested the situation — by wearing T-shirts that read, “Save Girls Sports,” and, “It’s common sense. XX [does not equal] XY” — school officials compared it to wearing a swastika in front of a Jewish student.
The suit claims that the district’s policies unfairly restrict the girls’ freedom of expression and deny them fair and equal access to athletic opportunities.
Republican Assemblymembers Bill Essayli, front left, and Leticia Castillo, front right, called on the Riverside Unified School District superintendent to resign over his handling of the issue of transgender athletes competing in girls’ high school sports at a board meeting last month.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Two Republican Assembly members from the Inland Empire, Bill Essayli and Leticia Castillo, called on the district’s superintendent to resign over her handling of the issue.
In 2023, Essayli, whose district borders Sanchez’s, co-sponsored a bill that would have required school employees to notify parents if their child identified as transgender at school. Critics argued the bill would out and potentially endanger trans kids, while violating student privacy protections under California law. The bill died in committee, but similar policies sprouted up on school boards in conservative parts of the state, showing how a Republican idea that gets squelched in the state Capitol can still drive debate on an issue.
In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1955, which prohibits schools from mandating that teachers notify families about student gender identity changes.
Daisy Gardner, an outreach director for Our Schools USA, a nonprofit that supported AB 1955, called Sanchez’s bill and Republicans’ focus on transgender athletes “a very powerful organizing tool from the far right.”
The parent of an LGBTQ+ student who said she was speaking for herself, not on behalf of Our Schools USA, Gardner called Sanchez’s bill “a media stunt designed to whip up fear and hatred of trans people so that the far right can flip California red in 2026, and the casualties are trans lives.”
Gardner has been in contact with parents of two transgender high school athletes in the Riverside Unified School District amid the recent controversy and read a statement on behalf of one of the girl’s family during a raucous school board meeting last month.
“They are in pure hell,” she said of the parents. “They don’t know how to protect their kids.”
Matt Rexroad, a longtime California political consultant, said that while urban Democrats might be scratching their heads over Sanchez introducing this long shot bill on such a hot-button issue, it makes sense for her suburban district, which is “one of the more conservative areas of California.”
“It’s a good political issue for certain parts of California,” Rexroad said. “Clearly, Scott Wiener is not going to introduce this bill or vote for it, but not all of his bills pass either.”
Sanchez, he said, “is representing the views of her constituents.”
At least one of her constituents, though, was so angry about the Protect Girls’ Sports Act that she called Sanchez’s office and grilled a staffer about the specifics, like how a child’s gender would be verified.
Michele McNutt, a former Democrat who just changed her party registration to no-party-preference, said she was not satisfied with the staffer’s answers and called the bill “performative.”
“If it fails, they can frame it as, ‘California hates parents,’” said McNutt, whose two teenage daughters are student athletes in the Capistrano Unified School District. “I think the theater is the point, and it really isn’t about protecting girls’ sports.”
Developers using the virtualization software Docker have been plagued by an issue for a week, with users complaining that macOS is wrongly detecting it as malware.
Apple’s security systems in macOS are designed to protect the user and their data from a massive amount of online attacks in normal use. However, those same systems can also trigger in legitimate software if a mistake is made.
That seems to be the case for Docker, a virtualization tool often used to develop apps on Mac. For over a week, users are discovering their Mac is blocking Docker from running, because of a supposed malware issue.
For some versions of Docker Desktop, users can see a message warning “Malware Blocked,” and that “com.docker.vmnetd was not opened because it contains malware. This action did not harm your Mac.” Docker Desktop then simply doesn’t run at all.
While alarming to users, it turns out that it isn’t a malware problem. Really it’s a signing issue that manifests in that way when analyzed by macOS security.
Bad signs
Apple built a number of security tools into macOS that apps must abide by in order to run. This includes XProtect for detecting malware, Notarization to check for malicious components and code-signing problems, and Gatekeeper for checking the validity of Developer ID signatures.
On the status page for Docker, an “active incident” is listed for Docker Desktop for macOS, starting from January 7. The official listing is “Docker Desktop on macOS unable to start due to malware reports.”
The malware error message in macOS – Image Credit: Docker/Github
Initially, the Docker team offered a workaround that involved stopping Docker services, removing two binaries, reinstalling the binaries, and then restarting Docker.
The actual cause of the problem was uncovered on January 8. Some files in existing installations are incorrectly signed, tripping up the macOS anti-malware protection.
To solve the problem, the developers initially fixed it by copying correctly signed files from the Docker.app application bundle to the right places. It took until January 9 for a patch to be released for Docker Desktop versions 4.32 to 4.37, fixing the issue.
A support document has also been issued to help users, including guidance on how to install a patch. Users who installed Docker Desktop using Homebrew casks should perform a full reinstall to fix the issue.
An MDM script is also provided for IT administrators in corporate environments.
On Monday (Jan 13th, 2025), news came out that the UFC had voluntarily released Holly Holm after the former women’s bantamweight champion requested her release, despite still having two fights left on her contract.
It was a pretty big surprise given Holm’s status in the company. She was the one who derailed Ronda Rousey with one of the biggest head kick knockouts in MMA history. She was a UFC champion. She headlined five network Fight Night cards. And while she’s ended up a gatekeeper to title contention over the past few years, she was still ranked No. 8 at 135 pounds.
So why did Holm ask for her release? In a new interview on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show, “The Preacher’s Daughter” explained how it all went down.
“I mean, In a perfect world, I’ll do both…
I would like to have another fight for MMA and another fight for boxing.”
“It’s been 8 months since my last fight,” Holm said. “And I know I’m not gonna fight forever, but I still want a couple more. And I had been in talks just trying to see if anything would happen, and I did want to be able to dance in the UFC octagon one more time, but it just didn’t seem like it was something that was gonna be promised.”
“I did have 2 fights left on the contract, but you know, that’s not always promised. And I didn’t wanna wait around forever either. So I wanna see what other options there are.”
Holm came over to MMA from boxing where she had an even more impressive career. She was a three division boxing champion with 18 title defenses, and Box Rec considers her pound-for-pound the 12th greatest female boxer in history. With women’s boxing on the upswing right now, will she return to the ring?
“When I box, I fought at 140, 147, and 154,” Holm said. “I never fought at 135 in boxing. So sometimes I feel like it’s unfinished business. Do I go back? And the people that have belts at that weight class are Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor. So it’s like, is that unfinished business?”
It’s certainly lucrative business, but Holm doesn’t sound done with MMA yet.
“In a perfect world, I’ll do both,” she said. “Okay, if I can’t, I would like to have another fight for MMA and another fight for boxing … I still want another head kick knockout. You can’t do that in boxing. And then I also think, man, it’d be really cool to go and fight for a a 4th weight division in boxing, so why not?”
“I think of both of those things, pretty much down the middle. But, I think my heart still leans a little more towards MMA first. I don’t know. I just wanna see see what opens.”
It seems like the UFC ran out of ideas for what to do with Holly Holm — or fighters that could get past her. We’re not sure if there’s much out there for her in the greater MMA landscape either. She could rematch Cris Cyborg, or pushing back younger fighters trying to establish themselves. But in boxing, there’s a whole slew of top women’s fighters trying to gain the spotlight, and there are few opponents out there with a name as big as Holm’s.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated fierce loyalist Kash Patelto serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Trump posted Saturday night on Truth Social. “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”
It remains unclear whether Patel could be confirmed, even by a Republican-led Senate. In any case, find out more about him below, including his academic background.
Who Is Kash Patel?
Patel, born in 1980 to Indian immigrant parents and raised in Garden City, New York, gained prominence in 2018 when he served as an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. There, he earned Trump’s favor during the Russia investigation, with Trump later praising him for playing a pivotal role in uncovering what he called the “Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.” Patel’s work as an advocate for truth and accountability led to his appointment in 2019 to the National Security Council. He later became chief of staff to the acting defense secretary in the final year of Trump’s first term.
Where Did Patel Go to School?
Patel graduated from the University of Richmond in 2002, before earning a certificate in international law from University College London Faculty of Laws, as noted on his Facebook page. He then went on to complete his law degree at Pace University in 2005.
Is Patel a Lawyer?
Patel is a lawyer who was initially admitted to the Florida Bar in 2005, but he is no longer eligible to practice law in the state. In 2014, according to The New York Times, Patel entered and later dropped out of an Above the Law charity bachelor auction benefiting the Switchboard of Miami after a blogger noted that his law license appeared to be outdated in the state.
However, Patel is still registered to practice law in New York, where he was admitted to the New York Bar in 2012.
What Is Patel’s Net Worth?
It’s unclear what Patel’s exact net worth is.
How Does Patel Make His Money?
After graduating from law school in 2005, Patel spent eight years working as a public defender in Florida—first with the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office, and later as a federal public defender. In 2014, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division as a trial attorney, also serving as a legal liaison to the Joint Special Operations Command. Three years later, in 2017, Patel was appointed senior counsel for counterterrorism at the House Intelligence Committee.
Since 2022, Patel has served on the board of Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, and holds a consulting contract reportedly worth at least $120,000 annually.
In addition to his 2023 memoir, Government Gangsters, Patel has published two pro-Trump children’s books.
Imagine a packed stadium, the roar of the crowd swelling as the national anthem plays. But instead of voices raised in song, all you can hear are hums.
The “Marcha Real”, translated as “Royal March”, has been the anthem for Spain since the 18th century but, unlike other European countries, it lacks lyrics for its people to sing to. Composed in 1761 by Manuel de Espinosa de los Monteros as a military march, it won the Royal seal of approval from King Charles III in the 1770s. Since then, it has always remained an instrumental tune.
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to set lyrics to the “Marcha Real” yet all have ended in failure. Take 1870, for example, when General Juan Prim launched a competition to find suitable words – only to abandon the project after the judges could not agree on a winner.
Fast forward to Francisco Franco’s rule in the mid-20th century when poet José María Pemán added his own fascistic flair with verses: “Long live Spain! Raise your arms, sons of the Spanish people, which rebirths anew. Glory to the Fatherland that knew how to follow, over the ocean blue, the course of the setting sun.”
These were swiftly ditched following Franco’s demise and Spain’s move towards democracy.
In modern times, attempts to find a unifying set of lyrics since then have faced the immense challenge of catering to Spain’s diverse population, including Castilians, Catalans, Basques, and others, each of which have strong regional identities and identify more with those regions than a national Spain. There have been long-standing independence movements in Catalonia and Spain, for example.
The most significant recent attempt emerged in 2007 when Alejandro Blanco, President of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), was moved by the fervent renditions of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” at Anfield stadium, and sought to vocalise the “Marcha Real”.
A nationwide contest drew thousands of submissions, culminating in victory for opera singer Paulino Cubero’s entry: “Long live Spain! Let’s all sing together with different voices and one heart. Long live Spain! From the green valleys to the immense sea, a hymn of brotherhood.”
One phrase, though, sparked fierce backlash. Critics argued that “Long live Spain” carried echoes of Franco’s authoritarian regime, reigniting painful associations for many. Merely five days after the anthem’s revelation, the COE retracted the initiative, shelving the project.
Now, Spain remains among the rare nations like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and San Marino, whose people either stand in silence or hum along to their instrumental anthems.
