内容摘要：Instead of soccer balls, Silveti grew up playing with “muletas” and “capotes” — the brightly colored capes matadors use to channel the bull’s charge.

Instead of soccer balls, Silveti grew up playing with “muletas” and “capotes” — the brightly colored capes matadors use to channel the bull’s charge.

“My youngest loves it,” the matador said. “When he watches a bullfight, he plays with a napkin or a cloth and says ‘Olé!’ How is that possible?”Spanish bullfighter Alejandro Talavante holds a bull’s tail and ears after a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Spanish bullfighter Alejandro Talavante holds a bull’s tail and ears after a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)“The King” was no longer alive when Silveti became a professional bullfighter in Spain in 2011, but he senses his father’s presence constantly.“I feel his spirit in my soul,” Silveti said. “On certain days, when I’m alone and focused, I try to speak to him and follow his example.”

As a child, Silveti never watched his father at the ring. He stayed home with his mother and brothers. With no social media at hand to monitor live updates, they asked God to protect him.Many matadors, like Silveti, pray ahead of each bullfight. At the Aguascalientes plaza, the Rev. Ricardo Cuéllar blesses them.

Bullfighters pray in the bullring chapel before a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Bullfighters pray in the bullring chapel before a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and took 251 people hostage. Most have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says women and children make up most of the Palestinian deaths, but doesn’t say how many were militants or civilians. It says another 117,600 people have been wounded in the war.The overall tally includes 2,151 dead and 5,598 wounded since Israel resumed the war last month.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and it blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas.and displaced around 90% of its population, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in squalid tent camps or bombed-out buildings.