La Manga Club in Murcia filed for bankruptcy protection

La Manga Club in Murcia filed for bankruptcy protection. Owned by George Soris’s company MedGroup, the company says that they will continue to trade, but will take ‘very strong measures’ to make the company viable.They purchased the club from P&O for 102 million pounds in 2004. It includes three golf courses, 28 tennis courts, 8 football pitches, a spa, 1,800 private villas and apartments, and a 5 star Hyatt Regency hotel. It’s one of the most complete tourist complexes in Spain and one of the best in Europe, and currently employs 700 workers.The Concurso Voluntario de Acreedores was placed in the mercantile court in Murcia, but the judge has yet to make any decision on the case.The situation implies that the firm has problems meeting debts which are pending. Some reports say that its...

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Posted in: La Manga Club in Murcia

severe fall-off in bookings is alarming tourist authorities and businesses.

The severe fall-off in bookings is alarming tourist authorities and businesses. Figures from the Spanish tourist industry reveal that the number of Britons who visited Spain in November, for example, was down by 15% on 2007. The fall has closely tracked the decreasing value of the pound. Britons began to turn their backs on Spain in September, when numbers were down 5%, reaching 7% in October. Last month's dramatic decline came after the pound had lost 25% of its value against the euro in a year. With the pound and the euro now apparently heading for parity, tourist authorities fear that worse will come ? with the all-important summer season now looking grim. Thousands of Britons are dropping traditional holidays to Spain because of the weakness of the pound and fears over the after-effects...

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Posted in: They only ever spend their money on alcohol and then they have to be carted off to hospital after they get drunk and pass out

arrest of 20 members of a suspected international counterfeit money distribution network, operating in Spain and Portugal.

code-named ‘Margarita-Kuskus,’ in Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Malaga, Almeria and Lugo provinces, has led to the arrest of 20 members of a suspected international counterfeit money distribution network, operating in Spain and Portugal. The operation, carried out in collaboration with the European Union's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), also resulted in the seizure of 150,000 fake euros in 50 and 20 euro denominations destined for distribution in Spain. The investigation was launched toward the end of last year after in increase in false bank notes was detected in circulation in Alicante and Lugo Provinces. Given that the modus operandi of these crimes was the same in both provinces, Guardia Civil officers from both agreed to work in partnership on the investigation. Once the distributors,...

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Posted in: Portugal and North Africa,Spain

purple €500 notes are so rarely seen that they have earned the nickname “Bin Ladens”.

Spain is estimated to have one of the biggest black economies in Europe, accounting for between 20 and 23% of annual GDP. Spanish tax authorities are investigating 12,000 big transactions involving €500 notes.It is, perhaps, the strangest idea yet for pumping extra liquidity into Europe’s troubled banking system. Spanish officials were yesterday reported to be looking for ways of encouraging Spaniards to remove the estimated 108m €500 notes they have hoarded in safes or under floorboards and take them to the bank. That averages out to at least two per Spaniard, or a total of €54bn, circulating outside the country’s banking system.A combination of tax-cheating and a long-standing mistrust of banks, means Spain soaks up a quarter of all the €500 notes - one of the world’s highest denomination...

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Posted in: Spain is estimated to have one of the biggest black economies in Europe

Banco Santander SA,hit by worlds largest fraud

The $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Fund invested solely with Madoff, taking a cut of 1 percent of assets and 20 percent of gains, which averaged about 11 percent annually in the past 15 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fairfield Greenwich is one of at least 15 hedge-fund firms and private banks, including Tremont Holdings Group Inc. and Banco Santander SA, that earned similar fees for sending customers’ cash to the 70-year-old money manager. “It’s mind-boggling that people like Tremont and Fairfield Greenwich had been doing this for so long,” said Brad Alford, who runs Alpha Capital Management LLC in Atlanta, which helps clients choose hedge funds. “It’s the job of these funds of funds to be doing due diligence. That’s why they get paid.” Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 after he...

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Posted in: Banco Santander SA

Man driving his car against the traffic at 120 kms/hour with a woman hanging on for dear life on the bonnet.

Police in Marbella could not believe what they saw. A scene more at home in a Quentin Taratino film than on the local N340 road. A man driving his car against the traffic at 120 kms/hour with a woman hanging on for dear life on the bonnet.It happened at 4am in the morning last Tuesday, but details have only now been released. Diario Sur newspaper reports that witnesses said the driver was zigzagging and appeared to be trying to get the woman to fall from the car bonnet. The police patrol radioed for support in an attempt to block the way of the car which refused to stop to their sirens. After a long chase with the woman hanging on to the windscreen wipers, a second patrol car managed to stop the vehicle. The 31 year old Brazilian woman told the police that the driver, a 34 year old Spaniard,...

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Posted in: Marbella

Fortuna Land scam was run out of offices on the Costa del Sol using companies registered in places like Cyprus and Delaware (USA).

The Spanish land investment scam run for years by Fortuna Estates has finally been busted, with the Spanish fraud squad swooping last week on several office in Mijas and Fuengirola, arresting at least 2 people, and questioning 20 others. This could be one of the biggest Spanish property scams to date, with hundreds, if not thousands of British and Irish victims. The Spanish authorities estimate that Fortuna Estates made at least 65 million Euros out of this fraud.Still under official secrecy orders, the police have released few details about “Operation Fuentespino”, but the Spanish press reports that there could be more than 2,000 victims, mainly middle class investors from the United Kingdom and Ireland.Fortuna Estates, which had changed its name to Fortuna Land (Investment) by 2007, snared...

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Posted in: Fortuna Estates fraud

Death of the Beach Bars,500 bars and restaurants in the Malaga province alone have been built on the sand in contravention to planning regulations

Coastal authority of Andalusia has announced plans to enforce a 1988 law designed to prevent construction within 100 yards of the waterline. An estimated 500 bars and restaurants in the Malaga province alone have been built on the sand in contravention to planning regulations, authorities claim. Around 300 of them will be forced to close when their concessions end next year. Javier Hermoso, the chief of beaches on the eastern Costa del Sol, said closing the bars and clearing the coastline had become his main objective since taking office in September. "It will be a long complicated process because nothing has been enforced for 20 years," he told local newspaper La Opinion de Malaga. Critics of the move fear that the clamp down will lead to huge job losses at time when the area is already suffering...

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Posted in: 7000 people out of work in Malaga alone with this move

15 self-proclaimed anarchists stormed the Greek embassy in Berlin

Protests at the killing of Athens teenager Alexandros Grigogorpoulos have spread abroad. About 15 self-proclaimed anarchists stormed the Greek embassy in Berlin, saying Greece itself bears responsibility for his death. There was no violence reported, but the group displayed a banner saying the youth was killed by the Greek state. Berlin police sealed off the embassy while talks began on ending the stand-o...

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Posted in: Berlin

Greece has been hit by a third day of unrest

Greece has been hit by a third day of unrest, as anger continues to boil over at the police killing of a teenage boy on Saturday. Rioting erupted again in the Athens suburb of Exarchia, where 15-year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot dead, and also in the northern city of Salonika. The Greek Communist Party called a popular demonstration in Athens and a 24-hour strike against the police’s action. This morning papers carried dramatic pictures of the weekend’s rioting, with blazing headlines like ‘Athens under siege’ and ’48 hours of horror.’ “The trouble, for me, simply highlights the lack of education in this country,” said lawyer Haralambos Samaras. “It is the most important thing we lack, both here in Greece and across Europe.” Dozens of people were hurt in the worst rioting in years...

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Posted in: Greek Communist Party

falling pound poses a serious danger for millions of ordinary British people since almost every daily essential, from food to fuel and manufactures,

A falling pound poses a serious danger for millions of ordinary British people since almost every daily essential, from food to fuel and manufactures, is imported. The dominance of finance capital has left the UK with a manufacturing sector that accounts for no more than 16 percent of GDP, while the service sector, much of it related to finance, accounts for 73 percent.Joining the euro does not offer a lifeline, since it would not offer a solution to the economic and fiscal problems that underlie the falling pound. With government borrowing now set to rise to 57 percent of GDP, it might not even be possible.Britain’s borrowing requirement puts it well outside the convergence criteria originally set for euro membership. The criteria might be relaxed because so many existing member countries...

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Posted in: ” said Roger Brown,“but the risk is higher because of the amount of debt.”,global head of rates research at UBS,No one expects the UK to actually default

Sweden cut its rates by a massive 1.75 percent, bringing the base rate down from 3.75 percent to 2.00 percent.

The cut in British interest rates was part of a general move by the world’s central banks in response to the deepening recession. The European Central Bank (ECB) cut its rates by three quarters of a percentage point. By the standards of the ECB, this is a huge cut. Over recent months, it has never cut by more than one half of a percent. Interest rates in the Eurozone now stand at 2.5 percent.Sweden cut its rates by a massive 1.75 percent, bringing the base rate down from 3.75 percent to 2.00 percent. Sweden’s action was in response to worsening economic data. Growth of 0.1 percent had been anticipated, but the latest figures point to a contraction of 0.5 per cent in Sweden’s export-oriented economy.Even in this context of sharply deteriorating economic conditions across Europe, the situation...

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Posted in: European Commission president José Manuel Barroso recently said that he thought British membership was “closer than ever before.”

If you feel any insecurity in your job you are not going to go out and buy a house

The government’s hastily unveiled plan to reduce the number of home repossessions was dismissed by leading UK house builder Bellway. Finance director Alistair Leitch said it would have “absolutely zero effect on new housing. It will not entice Joe Public to buy a new property.” Leitch identified concerns about unemployment as the major factor in slumping house sales. “If you feel any insecurity in your job you are not going to go out and buy a house.”His impression was confirmed by a new survey of job trends, which showed that the UK job market is weakening rapidly.“The UK jobs market is heading downhill at breakneck speed,” said Mike Stevens at KPMG. “Employers in almost all sectors have drastically cut recruitment plans and are shedding contract and temporary staff as fast as they can.”The...

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Posted in: The scale of the downturn in the UK manufacturing PMI [Purchasing Managers Index] data during November is unprecedented

The UK jobs market is heading downhill at breakneck speed

The reason for the drastic fall in the pound is the state of the British economy. “The outlook for the British economy is particularly dire,” the Economist warned, “because it has been hit so hard by the banking crisis.” As a result, “Lending to the sectors that matter—households and non-financial companies—has essentially stalled since the summer.”Lending has dried up because banks are attempting to shrink their balance sheets so that they can stay in profit. But the effect of every bank doing this is to send the whole economy into a further downward spiral. The banks are shifting the risk from their own balance sheets to other companies and to working people who lose their jobs and homes.Recent economic data has pointed to Britain entering a deeper recession, and at a more rapid rate, than...

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Posted in: outlook for the British economy is particularly dire

It now costs more to ensure the UK against default than some of its banks such as HSBC and Lloyds

Bank of England cut its interest rate to 2 percent on Thursday, bringing the UK base rate to its lowest level since 1951. This historically low level reflects the scale of the crisis that has hit the British economy after decades of being the favoured destination for global flows of speculative money.In the run-up to the interest rate cut, the pound fell to US$1.45. This is its lowest level against the dollar for six years. As recently as July the pound was trading at US$2.00. From its peak, the pound has fallen by a total of 30 percent against the dollar.The pound hit its lowest ever level against the euro at €1.1 and a 10-year low against the Japanese yen. It has lost 45 percent of its value against the yen since last summer. The extent of the fall in the pound is comparable to its collapse...

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Posted in: impact on sterling will be negative.

British pensioners living overseas should be stopped from raking in millions of pounds in winter fuel payments

British pensioners living overseas should be stopped from raking in millions of pounds in winter fuel payments, campaigners are insisting.Charities and OAP groups will next week protest that more than £10million a year is being paid to those who have escaped the chilly UK and retired to the sun.Some 50,000 elderly Britons who have moved permanently abroad are claiming the yearly allowance, worth between £200 and £300, which is supposed to help with winter heating bills.Campaigners have hit out at winter fuel payments made to those living in sunny climates abroad, while elderly UK residents struggle with rising energy billsEven those living on Spain's Costas and in Portugal, Greece and some tropical islands are benefiting from taxpayers' money.As long as they register for the allowance in Britain,...

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Posted in: British pensioners living overseas should be stopped from raking in millions of pounds in winter fuel payments

Guardia Civil and the National Police have seized 26,199 kilos of drugs in the Campo de Gibraltar so far this year

The Guardia Civil and the National Police have seized 26,199 kilos of drugs in the Campo de Gibraltar so far this year, compared to the 25,001 kilos seized in 2006 for the same period. More facts: during the first three months of this year they have caught more than the total for 2006; the total street value of the hashish hauls alone amount to €37 milli...

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Posted in: Guardia Civil and the National Police

Colombian and Spanish members of a drug trafficking gang have been arrested in Elche

23 members of a drug trafficking gang have been arrested in Elche. Those arrested are Colombian and Spanish and all residents of Elche and Santa Pola. The police found the drugs hidden in cartons of wine which had been brought to Spain from Colombia on regular drug runs.24 kilos of cocaine, 4.4 kilos of marihuana and a field planted with the drug, and 200 grams of heroin were found in the police operation which started observing the gang some six months ago.The drug runners were a family clan, based in the town, and who had connections to sell in Dolores, Villena and Torrvieja. The alleged head of the group, a woman with the initials M.A.D. remains at large according to some repor...

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Posted in: Dolores,Villena and Torrvieja.

Captain of a Spanish fishing trawler arrested off the Co Cork coast has lost a High Court bid to stop his trial on charges alleging obstruction

Captain of a Spanish fishing trawler arrested off the Co Cork coast has lost a High Court bid to stop his trial on charges alleging obstruction of fisheries protection officers by allegedly cutting nets to release the boat's catch into the sea after the vessel was boarded.The case centred on whether the State, in the context of the aims of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, is entitled to prosecute such charges on indictment and to choose a penalty of mandatory forfeiture of a boat's catch and gear.Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill yesterday ruled for trial on indictment and said the sanction chosen was appropriate.Deterrence of future offending was a requirement of the regulation, he noted. He was giving his judgment dismissing proceedings by Augustin Ferradas Martinez aimed at preventing his prosecution...

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Posted in: MV Playa de Lagos

Police operation was mounted to smash an international organised crime ring based on the Costa del Sol

police operation was mounted to smash an international organised crime ring based on the Costa del Sol.300 officers swooped on 21 addresses in Tile Hill, Canley, Stoke, Brandon Marsh and Balsall Common yesterday morning in what police said was an "unprecedented" operation.Twenty people aged between 19 and 64 were arrested and another two are being questioned on the Costa Del Sol in Spain.Tens of thousands of pounds was seized along with a large amount of drugs, believed to be destined for the streets of Coventry and Warwickshire.Police were continuing to search homes across the Coventry area as part of the largest ever crime crack-down the city has ever seen.It began in the early hours yesterday when 320 officers were briefed before embarking on the unprecedented operation.West Midlands Police...

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Posted in: villas on the Costa Del Sol

European Commission said Thursday that it is pursuing legal action against Spain over three breaches of European Union (EU) environmental law.

European Commission said Thursday that it is pursuing legal action against Spain over three breaches of European Union (EU) environmental law. Two of the breaches relate to obligations for the treatment of waste water, with more than 400 towns and cities listed as not having water treatment up to EU standard. The third case regards Spain's open-cast coal mining in a protected nature site. Spain will receive final warnings on the three breaches of EU legislation. In the first case, the commission considers that some 343 Spanish towns and cities are discharging urban waste water into already designated sensitive or potentially sensitive areas without appropriate treatment. This constitutes a breach of an EU directive that by the end of 1998 requires that cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants...

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Posted in: Spain has two months to respond satisfactorily to the issues

Thousands of Nissan workers took to the streets of Barcelona in protest at the company's plan to lay off 1,680 workers.

Thousands of Nissan workers took to the streets of Barcelona in protest at the company's plan to lay off 1,680 workers. The demonstration, which began at 7pm in the Plaza Urquinaona, passed off without incident as the protesters made their way to regional government headquarters building in the Plaza San Jaume, where they were met by a representative from the Catalan government.The trade unions are calling on regional and national government leaders to intervene directly with the management of the Nissan-Renault alliance to negotiate solutions for the companies' Spanish factories. They also warn that this week's demonstrations may only be "the start of a grave social conflict" if Nissan is allowed to follow through with its plan to cut 1,680 jobs - or 40% of the total workforce - at its Zona...

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Posted in: Nissan

Monzer Al Kassar Prince of Marbella international arms dealer.

June 5, 1990, Monzer Al Kassar and his wife opened an account, number 1964, at the Audi Bank in Switzerland. Al Kassar and his wife used their real names and both signed the documents, highly unusual for a bank account that would later be used in an illegal arms deal. The initial purpose of the account is unknown. The bank records from this account and others would later become evidence used by a Swiss prosecutor to freeze Al Kassar's proceeds from the illegal sale of Polish arms to Croatia and Bosnia. Subsequent events provided the necessary ingredients for an embargo-breaking arms deal: a war, an attempt by the international community to stop...

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Posted in: Marbella

Attempted robbery a supermarket near Antonio Machado Promenade in Malaga

Attempted robbery a supermarket near Antonio Machado Promenade in Malaga, went wrong. Wearing a motorbike helmet, he entered the supermarket, wielding a kitchen knife. He approached the cashier and demanded money but, when she refused, he grabbed the till and ran away with it.As he made his way to a 125cc motorbike, which he had parked at the entrance, the actions of a customer, who blocked his way with a shopping trolley and a supermarket employee who was chasing him, caused him to drop the till and the motorbike keys. Not prepared to leave his motorbike, he hid the number plate with a piece of cardboard and pushed the vehicle up the street.Police later found it parked nearby, together with a wallet containing his identity card. They arrested the owner and have also charged him with two...

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Posted in: Antonio Machado Promenade in Malaga

Eight years and six months for House Jacking Gang in Alicante

Two members of the violent gang this week began jail sentences of eight years and six months each after admitting armed robbery and kidnap in a plea bargain deal.A third was sentenced to a year and a half in prison by a court in Alicante after being convicted as an accomplice.Two men involved in the April 22 2004 kidnap are still on the run.Mr and Mrs Yarwood were playing cards as they relaxed after dinner at their home in Moraira on Spain's southeastern coast when the gang burst in.The couple were threatened with pistols and a knife and told they would be killed unless they paid 600,000 euros - the equivalent of £400,000 at the time of crime. The pair, from Frodsham, Cheshire, were terrorised overnight and the following morning, Mr Yarwood, 72, a retired electrician was driven to the local...

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Posted in: Alicante

"It was like a scene from a gangster movie."Darren Coupland, 41, has been arrested over claims that he killed German Oliver Johaht and shot the other

Civil engineer Darren Coupland, 41, has been arrested over claims that he killed German Oliver Johaht and shot the other man in a row over a drug debt.Johaht, 33, was found bleeding to death in the street outside the Briton's luxury home on the Costa Dorada. Italian Carmelo Mazara had been beaten with an iron bar and shot in the neck but managed to escape to a nearby health clinic, where he was found by police.Coupland was found bleeding heavily at the nearby property business he ran with his wife and sister-in-law in the seaside town near Barcelona.The married father-of-two from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, had been stabbed in the throat. A police source said: "It was like a scene from a gangster movie."Coupland was taken to hospital where the stab wound was treated and he was arrested. Police...

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Posted in: Costa Dorada

Spain, has been deemed unsafe by international watchdogs

Spain, has been deemed unsafe by international watchdogs. a car bomb, thought to be the work of terror group ETA, injured 17 people in a university car park in northern Pamplona, a town which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to its annual bull-run every year. According to the British Foreign Office, the threat to foreign travellers from terrorism in Spain is high. Since July, there have been at least 11 explosions in well-known tourist towns around the country including Torremolinos, Malaga and Benalmadena. Last week, the quiet medieval streets of Lucerne in Switzerland, one of the safest tourist destinations in the world, witnessed a savage assault on a British man who died of severe head injuries. Meanwhile, the once-peaceful island of Bali is back on high alert exactly six years...

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Posted in: threat to foreign travellers from terrorism in Spain is high

WANTED Adam Hart, 29, who is suspected of conspiracy to supply cocaine and who escaped arrest in August 2007 as police officers searched his workplace

Adam Hart, 29, who is suspected of conspiracy to supply cocaine and who escaped arrest in August 2007 as police officers searched his workpl...

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Posted in: 29,Adam Hart,who is suspected of conspiracy to supply cocaine and who escaped arrest in August 2007 as police officers searched his workplace

Costa Blanca hideaway for British criminals

Crimestoppers, the UK crimefighting charity, together with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), issued a new list of ten most wanted British suspects, including their photographs, details of their crimes and their aliases.British and Spanish authorities are targeting the Costa Blanca in southeastern Spain in a bid to round up those notorious villains thought to have fled to the tourist haven which has become a favoured hideaway for British criminals.Law-abiding citizens who recognise those on the list are being urged to ring the dedicated hotline and provide anonymous tip-offs on their whereabouts. Any information deemed useful will be passed on to Spanish police, who will execute the arrest warrants and send the suspects back to Britain to face trail.Bill Hughes, Director General of...

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Posted in: Costa Blanca hideaway

National Police have arrested four people in connection with a local cocaine trafficking gang

The National Police have arrested four people in connection with a local cocaine trafficking gang. They also dismantled a laboratory and recovered half a kilo of the drug, some cash and two cars, one of which had allegedly been used to bring the drug to Elche from Madr...

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Posted in: Elche

Vall de Gallinera, Alicante growing 130 marihuana plants

27 year old man has been arrested for allegedly growing 130 marihuana plants in Vall de Gallinera, Alicante. He was discovered as he was pruning the plants. The Civil Guard said the weight of the uprooted plants was more than 25 kil...

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Posted in: Alicante

Paxi C captain was killed in a fight with one of the crew.

Crew of a Guardia Civil coastal patrol boat has boarded an Italian merchant vessel - the 'Paxi C', sailing from Alexandria (Egypt) to Gijón - anchored off Fisterra since its captain was killed in a fight with one of the crew. They were sent to take charge of the investigation after an SOS message sent at 6.20am by the ship's first officer, who was ordered to drop anchor and prepare to be boarded after explaining what had happen...

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Posted in: Guardia Civil coastal patrol boat

France's most wanted criminal was arrested in Salou

One of France's most wanted criminals was arrested in Salou last Saturday. Emile F (56) had been on the run since his conviction in 2004 for a kidnapping and murder committed in August 1995 in Jouy en Josas, near Paris, in a feud between rival drug trafficking gangs. In a joint operation involving French police, the man was arrested along with his son, who has since been released on provisional bail after questioning. Both were using false IDs, but were identified using forensic records supplied by the French investigation te...

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Posted in: Salou

Mark Lewis has been left in charge of the town hall in San Fulgencio after the mayor, deputy mayor and four senior councillors were arrested

A British expatriate who speaks only a smattering of Spanish has become the "accidental mayor" of a town on Spains Costa Blanca after a wave of corruption arrests. Mark Lewis, 58, has been left in charge of the town hall in San Fulgencio after the mayor, deputy mayor and four senior councillors were all taken into police custody following allegations of real estate corruption. Mr Lewis, who lives in Spain with his wife and daughter, was given the title by default on Wednesday on the grounds that he is one of only two councillors from the ruling coalition not to be arrested. "Mr Lewis has taken charge of the council on the grounds that he is the fourth deputy mayor. Everyone above him in the pecking order has been arrested," the source added. "Everything is in a state of chaos since these arrests...

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Posted in: San Fulgencio

Equatorial Guinea’s exiled opposition leader, Severo Moto, has been arrested in Spain after allegedly trying to transport illegal weapons

Equatorial Guinea’s exiled opposition leader, Severo Moto, has been arrested in Spain after allegedly trying to send illegal weapons to the oil-rich African nation. The arrest was the latest twist in a tangled case that has implicated figures such as Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British Prime Minister, and Simon Mann, the Eton-educated mercenary, who is facing trial in Malabo for his alleged role in a failed 2004 coup attempt. Mr Thatcher, who now lives on the Spanish Costa del Sol, was given a suspended jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to unwittingly financing the coup attempt and breaking the anti-mercenary laws of South Africa. The arrest of Mr Moto raises questions about whether a fresh coup attempt was under way. According to Spanish court sources, he was arrested on Monday...

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Posted in: Equatorial Guinea

Gary Glitter planning to buy a posh pad in Puerto Banus

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Posted in: Gary Glitter planning to buy a posh pad in Puerto Banus

BANKSY Art Destroyed,Westminster Council, which has voted to remove the 23ft high piece entitled One Nation Under CCTV

Jude Law, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera are among those who have been prepared to pay high prices for one of his works. Westminster Council, which has voted to remove the 23ft high piece entitled One Nation Under CCTV from a wall in Newman Street, London, said it did not want to see the art destroyed, but was trying to take a stand against graffiti. The mural depicts a red-hooded figure painting the words "ONE NATION UNDER CCTV" on the wall, while a US-style police officer holding a camera and a brown dog look on. Deputy council leader Robert Davis said: "We are not saying the owners need to paint over this mural as we can see it has value in the right location, such as an art gallery. "We simply want it removed from this wall and the owner is perfectly entitled to remove it and sell...

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Posted in: Westminster Council

"European banks are five times more exposed to emerging markets than American and Japanese banks,"

"European banks are five times more exposed to emerging markets than American and Japanese banks," said Stephen Jen of Morgan Stanley. "Pressures on emerging market economies therefore could have a particularly negative boomerang effect on European banks." Concerns have suddenly shifted from liquidity and bad balance sheets to exposure to economies like Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania, where currencies are declining and economies faltering. In the last week, Eastern European currencies have slid by around 10.0%. The central banks of Hungary and Denmark have sought to prop up their currencies by raising interest rates, but the sell-off of emerging market currencies continued on into Friday. (See "Flight To Dollar And Yen.") "Currency is what people are focusing on now because it can exacerbate...

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Posted in: Eastern European currencies have slid by around 10.0%. The central banks of Hungary and Denmark have sought to prop up their currencies by raising interest rates

Croatian police continue to examine the crime scene of two murdered journalists in Zagreb.

Croatian police continue to examine the crime scene of two murdered journalists in Zagreb. Ivo Pukanic and Niko Franjic died after a bomb was placed under their car. The recent wave of mafia style attacks has prompted Croatia’s Prime Minister to act. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said: ‘‘There is no need to declare a state of emergency in Croatia, but we will introduce extraordinary measures.’‘Pukanic, the owner of leading independent newspaper Nacional, had been targeted before in April, but escaped unhurt when a gunman opened fire outside his house. However Nacional, which often ran stories on organised crime, reported Pukanic believed he would be killed. Earlier this month the daughter of a prominent Croatian lawyer was also murdered after being shot in the head. Croatia has been warned to...

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Posted in: Croatia

Alexander Kindred,was arrested after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers intercepted him at Dover docks in Kent

Alexander Kindred, 55, of Glennturret Terrace, Perth, Scotland,sentenced to three and a half years in prison He was arrested after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers intercepted him at Dover docks in Kent on April 26 last year.They discovered 4,229,200 cigarettes among the crates of biscuits, which he claimed had been loaded into the vehicle in Germany to be transported to the UK.A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard that the revenue evaded on the tobacco amounted to £580,000.HMRC spokesman Bob Gaiger said: "We will not hesitate to take action against those dealing in smuggled goods and evading duty."This sentence will serve as a deterrent to others. Selling smuggled tobacco products is not a harmless tax fiddle - it cheats the Government of revenue, which can be used to fund vital public...

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Posted in: Perth,Scotland

Russian regulators have halted Google's attempt to acquire one of the company's major online advertising firm.

Russian regulators have halted Google's attempt to acquire one of the company's major online advertising firm.Google may have broken through American and European governmental opposition to its high-profile mergers in the past, but a new attempt to partner with a Russian company has left the company stymied by Moscow. According to the New York Times, Russia’s antitrust authorities nixed Google’s attempt to acquire online advertising firm Begun on Friday.The proposed merger would have given Google access to a network with 40,000 advertisers across 143,000 Russian Web sites. The Federal Antimonopoly Service put a stop on the deal, but didn’t provide many details as to why, besides a generic desire to foster competition.“We are very disappointed to hear that FAS has come to this decision,” Google...

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Posted in: Russia’s antitrust authorities nixed Google’s attempt to acquire online advertising firm Begun

Russia's wealthiest 25 individuals have collectively lost $230bn (£146bn).

Russia's wealthiest 25 individuals have collectively lost $230bn (£146bn). Tycoons like Oleg Deripaska - Russia's richest man and friend, we now know, of British politicians - have seen their fortunes vaporised. On paper, Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea FC owner, has suffered a $20.3bn wipeout. Alisher Usmanov, the Arsenal shareholder-tycoon has lost $11.7bn, Bloomberg estimates. Analysts say that private jets could soon be going for bargain basement prices, while some super-rich are scrambling to sell off their villas in Sardinia and Surrey. In Moscow, elite nightclubs have relaxed their strict entry rules - there aren't enough customers. The capital's top restaurants, meanwhile, have stopped accepting credit cards.Not that Russia's oligarchs are in the mood for entertaining. Since hosting...

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Posted in: twilight of the oligarchs

Paris Hilton is planning a permanent move to London.

Paris Hilton is planning a permanent move to London.The hotel heiress is currently in the British capital filming her new TV show Paris Hilton’s My New BBF (British Best Friend). And she is ready to leave Hollywood for good and settle down in the UK.She told friends, “I love it here, I am going to move here permanently. I have already been here for one month and am much, much happier here.“I love guys with English accents. I have met a really cute English guy, but its early days.”I can hear many people rejoicing with this piece of news. I am not rejoicing, just so you know. Do you honestly think the UK is going to allow Paris to move to London?So...

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Posted in: Paris to move to London is like waging war to the UK.

National Police officers received a tip off that the group was transferring ‘hashish’ in a van to the United Kingdom

The gang were stopped by National Police officers after they received a tip off that the group was transferring ‘hashish’ in a van to the United Kingdom. According to the National Police, they carried out operation ‘Rostel’ in a bid to stop the gang, after they discovered that there was an organised group based in south-east Spain who had managed to smuggle a large quantity, thought to be about a tonne, of the drug through a Murcian port. They said that they suspected the drugs were bound for the UK and that they expected it to be transferred in vehicles through France and across the Channel. Police discovered a member of the group getting ready to load a van at a villa in Garruchal, where one of the gang’s main members resides and following extensive investigation, they raided a house in...

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Posted in: Garruchal

1kg of heroin, Cleveland Police stopped a Vauxhall Vectra driving from North Yorkshire towards the Guisborough area and arrested the driver.

Officers from Cleveland Police stopped a Vauxhall Vectra driving from North Yorkshire towards the Guisborough area and arrested the driver. A search of the vehicle discovered 1kg of heroin. At the same time, on Sunday afternoon, officers stopped a BMW on the A19 near Crathorne, near Yarm, before raiding addresses in Guisborough, Redcar and Middlesbrough, where cash and more drugs were found. In total, nine people were arrested for conspiracy offences, four males – three teenagers and a man in his 40s – and one woman in her 40s, have been released on bail pending further inquiries. The four men initially arrested, were charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and were remanded to appear at Langbaurgh East Magistrates’ Court. Detective Inspector Dave Mead, of Cleveland Police, said: “This was...

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Posted in: Cleveland Police

CONSTRUCTION worker who was sexually harassed has been awarded a total of €49,700 by the Equality Tribunal.

CONSTRUCTION worker who was sexually harassed has been awarded a total of €49,700 by the Equality Tribunal. The worker took a case under the Employment Equality Act against his former employer - "a construction company" - for whom he worked from June 1996 until April 2006.He said he was sexually harassed and that the company "treated him in a discriminatory manner and victimised him when it changed his conditions of employment, placed him on sick leave and ultimately made him redundant," said equality officer Bernadette Treanor in her report.In 2000 and 2001, he complained about sexual harassment to his foreman, who took written statements from him and the alleged harasser."The only result of the complaint was that [he] was moved to another site. The complainant is satisfied that as as result...

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Posted in: Ireland

One in 20 Irish people and almost one in 10 young people has taken cocaine

One in 20 Irish people and almost one in 10 young people has taken cocaine, a major all-Ireland study of the use of the drug has established.Men are twice as likely to use cocaine as women and regular and even daily use of the drug is increasing, according to the drug prevalence study carried out for the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD). North Dublin, where almost 16 per cent of young people reported use of the drug, emerges as the country’s cocaine blackspot, but prevalence rates are rising steeply throughout the country.Use of the drug by 15-34-year-olds has risen five-fold in the north-eastern counties over the past five years, and more than three-fold in the midlands and the west. The vast majority of cocaine users start taking their drug in their early twenties and the most...

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Posted in: Ireland

Taxi mafia, Forced to pay a thousand kroons for a ride from the city centre to the Tallinn Airport.

Italian friends promised recently never to return to Estonia after he was forced to pay a thousand kroons for a ride from the city centre to the Tallinn Airport.“This is daylight robbery!” said the Italian who had not asked how much the ride would cost assuming that it would be normal price for a 15 kilometre ride. When arriving and being asked to pay a thousand kroons he asked the taxi driver for a price list which said 65 kroons a kilometer. “I pay twice less at home although the distance is three times longer,” he said.Sooäär writes that the lack of interest of Savisaar’s city government to stop such daylight robbery leads one to believe that this taxi mafia is secretly funding the City Government. According to the MP, Savisaar is not understanding that such problems affect the image of...

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Posted in: Estonia taxi mafia

Emilio Di Caterino, had become an informant. Di Caterino and his wife and three children are already in the witness protection programme

More and more important mobsters are turning state's evidence, the DNA said. Oreste Spagnuolo, one of a killing squad suspected in 15 murders over the last five months, ''inflicted a major blow'' to the clan when he decided to help the police earlier this month, investigators said. The DNA is confident of turning more Camorristi, they said. On Monday that another clan member, Emilio Di Caterino, had become an informant. Di Caterino and his wife and three children are already in the witness protection programme, it said.Camorra clan Italy has sent the army against is feeling ''hunted'' as turncoats desert it, Italian anti-Mafia police said on Monday. Hundreds of police and troops are stopping the Clan dei Casalesi from going about its business, the Anti-Mafia Directorate (DNA) in Naples said....

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Posted in: Gunter Grass,Mikhail Gorbachev,Orhan Pamuk and Desmond Tutu,Rita Levi Montalcini,Six Nobel Prize winners - Dario Fo

International Monetary Fund believes that more banks in the European Union could fail

The International Monetary Fund believes that more banks in the European Union could fail as efforts to raise additional capital begin to slow.According to the IMF's annual review of the European economies released on Tuesday, the need for banks to rely more on government support will grow as investors and sovereign wealth funds show less inclination to put money into banks and volatile money marke...

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Posted in: International Monetary Fund

Three banks belonging to the Greek buyout firm Marfin Investment Group said they will not participate in the government's bail out.

Three banks belonging to the Greek buyout firm Marfin Investment Group said they will not participate in the government's 28 billion euro ($37.09 billion) bank rescue plan.The three are the first Greek banks to respond officially to the conservative government's plan, worth up to 11.4 percent of its GDP, to help lenders ride out the global financial crisis, although Greek banks had little exposure to toxic assets."Marfin Popular Bank (MRBr.AT: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Marfin Egnatia Bank EGMr.AT and Investment Bank of Greece do not need and do not intend to use any state aid of any nature whatsoever," they said in a statement.Banking sources said on Tuesday many Greek banks would not participate in the plan until they see the exact terms, although they welcomed it as a future...

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Posted in: Bank of Greece

HSBC announced a $607m (£351m) deal in Indonesia yesterday which allows Britain's largest bank to double its presence in the world's fourth-most popu

HSBC announced a $607m (£351m) deal in Indonesia yesterday which allows Britain's largest bank to double its presence in the world's fourth-most populous nation.The arrangement to buy an 88.9% stake in Bank Ekonomi follows frenzied speculation that HSBC would buy a troubled investment bank or bail out one of Britain's banks. Instead, it defied the rumours and stuck to its preference of making acquisitions in emerging markets. It is able to fund the deal from its own resources.The transaction is the latest illustration of the banks' divergent approaches to dealing with a crisis that has forced Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland to raise capital from the government. Barclays, however, has bought the Wall Street businesses of collapsed Lehman Brothers in a signal it is determined to...

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Posted in: HSBC

The International Monetary Fund believes that more banks in the European Union could fail as efforts to raise additional capital begin to slow.

The International Monetary Fund believes that more banks in the European Union could fail as efforts to raise additional capital begin to slow.According to the IMF's annual review of the European economies released on Tuesday, the need for banks to rely more on government support will grow as investors and sovereign wealth funds show less inclination to put money into banks and volatile money marke...

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Posted in: International Monetary Fund

Prudential speculation that the insurer is working on a potential deal to buy part of US insurance giant AIG.

Prudential shares jumped by 22% yesterday on speculation that the insurer is working on a potential deal to buy part of US insurance giant AIG.The Pru's shares had slumped by almost 30% in two sessions at the end of last week, amid worries that an economic downturn could put pressure on insurer solvency. The Financial Services Authority had helped to stoke the anxiety by admitting it was in discussion with insurers over the issue. An FSA briefing note had raised concerns over "weaknesses" in the calculation of capital ratios.Yesterday Standard Life shares rallied by 4.4% and Legal & General by 3.4% though Aviva shares were flat.But investors cheered the hope that the Prudential was interested in raising money to fund a potential deal, rather than to bolster its balance sheet. They also...

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Posted in: US insurance giant AIG

Bank Failures in Iceland Cause UK Council Delay Funds for Genome Analysis Center

Norfolk County Council last week postponed to November its plan to award a £1 million grant toward the center — which would be the first of its kind in the UK — after it learned how much of a £32.5 million investment in three failed Icelandic banks it will lo...

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Posted in: Genome Analysis Center

Russia, Iran and Qatar, holders of more than half of the world's natural gas, agreed to form a ``gas troika'' for joint exploration and production

Russia, Iran and Qatar, holders of more than half of the world's natural gas, agreed to form a ``gas troika'' for joint exploration and production, OAO Gazprom said. ``We have agreed to create a technical committee, and one of its missions will be to review projects that can be implemented in a trilateral way,'' said Alexei Miller, chief executive officer of Russian gas exporter Gazprom. Miller spoke to reporters in Tehran after talks today with Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari and Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiy...

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Posted in: ``gas troika''

Tamboskaya mafia organisation Vladislav Reznik being investigated on the orders of a Spanish judge

Vladislav Reznik, a deputy of Putin's United Russia party and the chairman of the State Duma Financial Markets Committee, is being investigated on the orders of a Spanish judge for alleged links to the Tamboskaya mafia organisation.The gang is accused of a series of serious crimes including murder, kidnap, arms and drugs trafficking, money laundering and racketeering and has been mentioned in connection with match fixing UEFA cup games.A luxury villa belonging to Mr Reznik in the exclusive La Toro resort on the island of Majorca was raided by the Guardia Civil who seized computers, files, and works of art including paintings and sculptures.Cars,...

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Posted in: La Toro resort on the island of Majorca