EU warns Gibraltar with legal action over air pollution,Gibraltar, the presence of tiny airborne particles beyond EU limits in the region could put the United Kingdom under legal action.

EU warns Britain with legal action over air pollution | AHN: "Gibraltar, the presence of tiny airborne particles beyond EU limits in the region could put the United Kingdom under legal action. The British government is now left with six months to persuade EU officials over meeting European clean air standards in London. Talking to reporters in London on Thursday, EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said that the UK was at the second stage of a six-stage infringement process. Potocnik said that Britain was not the only EU member facing sanctions over its air quality, adding that 20 out of 27 members were facing the same. Slovenia and Sweden are already facing a legal action at the European Court of Justice over their air quality levels. The commission said that industry, traffic and...

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Spain agrees plan to raise retirement age to 67 - Channel NewsAsia

Spain agrees plan to raise retirement age to 67 - Channel NewsAsia: "Spain's government said Friday it had agreed to raise the retirement age to 67 from 65, a bitterly fought reform aimed at repairing public finances and soothing markets. Closely watched by markets as a sign of Madrid's determination to keep long-term spending on track, the outline deal was reached after one-and-a-half months of talks with unions and business chiefs. An agreement with the country's two major unions was reached in the early hours of the morning ahead of the cabinet meeting. 'The deal is important,' Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference after a cabinet meeting approved the scheme. 'It seeks to confront the great problem of Spanish society: economic recovery and job creation,...

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Spain arrests Pakistani for links to al-Qaida

The Associated Press: Spain arrests Pakistani for links to al-Qaida: "Spanish police have arrested a Pakistani man they say is linked to a cell that forged passports for al-Qaida-linked groups. Police had been looking for the suspect since seven members of the cell were arrested in Spain in December and three more in Thailand, Interior Ministry said Friday in a statement. It named the suspect as 30-year-old Malik Imtanan Sarwar and said he was picked up Thursday in Barcelona. The statement said he worked with other group members to send stolen passports to Thailand to be doctored and later distributed to groups linked to al-Qaida, mainly Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terror group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai, India, attacks that killed 166 people. The ministry said the group also supplied...

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Egypt Communications Cut Ahead Of Further Protests

UPDATE: Egypt Communications Cut Ahead Of Further Protests - WSJ.com: "The Eygptian government's crackdown on protestors intensified Friday with access to most forms of mass communication, including the Internet, mobile and SMS down, even as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that 'freedom of expression should be fully respected.' As the country braced for huge anti-government protests on the traditional day of prayer, the government appeared to have unplugged most means of communication--including social network Facebook and Twitter--that activists had been using to coordinate action across the country. Landline calls placed from outside the country, however, were connecting. In a blog, U.S.-based Internet intelligence firm Renesys recorded how late Thursday it saw 'the...

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Egypt chaos as violent protests escalate

Egypt chaos as violent protests escalate - Africa, World - The Independent: "Egypt's capital was the scene of violent chaos today as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters stoned and confronted police, who fired back with rubber bullets and tear gas — a major escalation in the biggest challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Even a Nobel Peace laureate was soaked by water cannon and forced to take refuge in a mosque. Large groups of protesters, in the thousands, gathered at at least six venues in Cairo, a city of about 18 million people, and many of them were on the move marching toward major squares and across Nile bridges. There were smaller protests in Assiut south of Cairo and al-Arish in the Sinai peninsula. Regional television stations were reporting clashes between...

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Clashes in Cairo Extend Arab World’s Days of Unrest

Clashes in Cairo Extend Arab World’s Days of Unrest - NYTimes.com: "Violent protest spread across Cairo and other Egyptian cities on Friday as thousands of demonstrators intensified their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak, pouring from mosques after noon prayers and clashing with police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. Related Waves of Unrest Spread to Yemen, Shaking a Region (January 28, 2011) The protests came after days and weeks of turmoil across the Arab world that has toppled one leader in Tunisia and encouraged protesters to overcome deep-rooted fears of their autocratic leaders and take to the streets. But Egypt is a special case — a heavyweight in Middle East diplomacy, in part because of its peace treaty with Israel, and a key ally of the United States." :Text...

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In Tunisia, luxurious lifestyles of a corrupt government

They arrive every day at this white mansion overlooking the Mediterranean, parents with their children, old men with canes, young men in leather jackets, among the many Tunisians on a pilgrimage to vent their anger at a corrupt government. It's been two weeks since mobs overran this opulent house, amid protests that have spread across the Arab world. Neighbors said it was occupied by a nephew of former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Today, the infinity pool is filled with debris. The 30-foot floor-to-ceiling windows are shattered. The smell of charred wood wafts through the air as scores of visitors see the luxurious lifestyles of their former elites for the first time. "The smell of fire is also the smell of freedom and happiness," declared Sami Soukah, a retired driver, as he looked...

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Spanish town rebels against anti-smoking law

AFP: Spanish town rebels against anti-smoking law: "Hotels and restaurants in the northern Spanish town of Palencia closed on Wednesday to protest the country's tough anti-smoking law which took effect this year. About 100 professionals from the sector also staged a demonstration, some carrying banners saying 'If you don't smoke, we don't get paid. Let us live' and 'Total ban, sector ruined.' Another said 'Zapatero, you should have been a hotelier,' referring to Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Trade associations said 60 to 70 percent of the hotels and restaurants in the town of around 80,000 people closed for the day. It was the first major demonstration against the anti-smoking law, one of the strictest in Europe, since it was introduced on January 2. The new law bans...

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Blackburn pound store boss 'on the run in Spain',Blogger: Costa del Crime - Manage Posts

Blogger: Costa del Crime - Manage Posts: "Blackburn pound store boss 'on the run in Spain' (From This Is Lancashire): 'BLACKBURN pound store boss is believed to have fled to Spain after being suspected of stealing £9,500 from his shop. Marc Atherton, 29, got a flight to Alicante Airport and is now thought to be in Benidorm with his partner Jamie Crossman, police said. The day before bosses of Poundworld in the Mall Shopping Centre had noticed three days' worth of takings were missing. Now the store manager has been listed as wanted on the police national computer and all ports have been notified. Last night Atherton's mum urged her son to pick up the phone and contact his family. Carol Smith, 55, of Bolton, said: “I just want him to come home and we can sort things out.'" :Text may be...

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RBS said Spain remains caught in a vice of tightening fiscal policy and a deepening property slump that may culminate in a 40pc fall in house prices

RBS said Spain remains caught in a vice of tightening fiscal policy and a deepening property slump that may culminate in a 40pc fall in house prices, eroding the solvency of the cajas. The Madrid consultants RR de Acuna estimate the overhang of unsold homes at 1.2m. Mr Peruzzo called on EU leaders to take much bolder action to overcome the crisis, demonstrating that they really mean to “save Spain” by beefing up the rescue machinery. EU ministers played for time at a key meeting last week, giving an impression of complacency." :Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright hold...

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Why is Spain’s unemployment so high? | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

Why is Spain’s unemployment so high? | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists: "Since the global crisis, unemployment in Spain has soared to 20%, double the EU average. This column compares Spanish unemployment with that of France and argues that differences in employment protection legislation account for nearly half of the dramatic rise in unemployment in Spain. Its findings add further support to calls for a single labour contract in the countr...

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Marbella under fire over Antonio Banderas home

Marbella under fire over Antonio Banderas home | Olive Press Newspaper | News: "MARBELLA Town Hall has come under fire from the TSJA for violating a previous ruling regarding the home of Spanish heart-throb Antonio Banderas. After years of battling in the courts to save his garden, the actor was allowed to keep his sea view intact when the Marbella Town Hall decided to amend the PGOU urban plan last October. But now the TSJA has issued a six-page warning to the Planning Department reminding them should they fail in their duty “to implement the ruling of a final decision”, they are liable for civil or even criminal charges. The document also clearly...

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"Interpol is hunting a former Auckland man and his British wife suspected of masterminding a European property scam

Interpol seeks NZer in Spanish probe - World - NZ Herald News: "Interpol is hunting a former Auckland man and his British wife suspected of masterminding a European property scam alleged to involve almost $2 million. The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh reported that 20 people claimed to have paid substantial sums to Nigel Andrews for deposits for apartments in Turkey, which have not yet been built. Mr Andrews, a 51-year-old New Zealander, and his wife Margaret were reported to have vanished from their offices in Marbella in June, where they had set up a company called Royal Resorts Turkey." :Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright hold...

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Morocco Says It Foiled Terrorist Cell - NYTimes.com

Morocco Says It Foiled Terrorist Cell - NYTimes.com: "Moroccan government arrested 27 people accused of operating a terrorist cell in Western Sahara led by a member of the local branch of Al Qaeda, officials said Wednesday. The group was planning suicide and car bomb attacks against Moroccan and foreign security forces as well as bank robberies in Rabat and Casablanca to finance their activities, the interior minister, Tayeb Cherkaoui, said at a news conference carried by state news media. The group’s leader, the minister said, was a Moroccan member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in North Africa and has camps in neighboring Algeria, Mauritania and northern Mali. The goal was to set up a “rear base” for terrorism planning, he said." :Text may be subject to copyright.This...

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Al Qaeda Seeking Revenge against Morocco – Anti Terrorism Expert Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)

Al Qaeda Seeking Revenge against Morocco – Anti Terrorism Expert Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English): "Rabat, Asharq Al-Awsat – Moroccan political analyst Dr. Mohamed Darif, who specializes in studying Islamist groups, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Moroccan authorities have dismantled dozens of terrorist cells since 2002 thanks to the pre-emptive security approach pursued by Morocco which had made it possible for the Moroccan authorities to foil a large number of these terrorist cells' plans. Dr. Darif added that the continuous news in Morocco of terrorist plans being foiled and terrorist cells being dismantled can be explained by the logistical...

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Bodyguard 'frozen' at Jackson sight, shield Michael Jackson's children from seeing their father as the singer's lifeless body

,The Press Association: Bodyguard 'frozen' at Jackson sight: "bodyguard obeyed a frantic doctor's instructions to bag up medical equipment and shield Michael Jackson's children from seeing their father as the singer's lifeless body lay on a bed in his palatial mansion, a court heard. Alberto Alvarez told the Los Angeles court all this happened before he was told by Dr Conrad Murray to call an ambulance. Mr Alvarez said he was the first security guard to reach Jackson's room after word came that something was wrong, and described a shocking scene. The King of Pop was on his bed connected to an IV tube and a urinary catheter. His eyes and mouth...

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Markets make Portugal pay heavy price for loan - Business News, Business - The Independent

Markets make Portugal pay heavy price for loan - Business News, Business - The Independent: "Portugal's cost of borrowing soared by 80 per cent yesterday, as the eurozone's ongoing debt crisis took centre stage again with the festive season barely over. The Portuguese government successfully sold €500m (£425m) of bonds repayable in six months but the yield – or cost in interest to its taxpayers – was 3.68 per cent. That compares with the 2.04 per cent the country paid for a similar auction in September. The yield was as low as 0.59 per cent as recently as a year ago. The punitive rates were a reflection of the continued fears that Portugal will be the next domino to fall by following Ireland and Greece in having to seek a bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. The country's...

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Marrakech tops BA's must-visit list

The Press Association: Marrakech tops BA's must-visit list: "Marrakech in Morocco is being marked as a top-tip destination for 2011. British Airways, which begins services to the Moroccan resort on March 28 2011, has placed Marrakech at the forefront of its must-visit list. American and Caribbean destinations also feature in BA's 10 best travel tips, with San Diego in southern California second and New York third." :Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright hold...

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