For all of his proximity to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Abravanel had no idea that they were planning to expel the Jews and so was unable to either cancel the expulsion decree or to make preparations for the community to move to another land.

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"A major power should have the vision to make early preparations for more difficult defence tasks, " the editorial stresses.

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Their preparations for 2010 have also seen them make a high-profile signing, handing an F1 debut to Bruno Senna, nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton.

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