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SPANISH NEWS

Three Spanish ministers yesterday had to ‘face the music’ in an EU Meeting on immigration that took place in Tampere in Finland. Jesus Caldera (Social Services), Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba (Interior) and Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (Justice) had to listen to a series of complaints from ministers of other countries within the European Union over what they termed as a ‘disastrous’ policy adopted by Spain., The general feeling at the meeting apparently was that the ‘Caldera Law’ under which illegal immigrants were given their residence permits ‘en bloc’ had acted as an encouragement to practically all those nationalities outside the EU to undertake immigration expeditions to Spain in order to seek the same treatment. There apparently was little response from the ministers to these allegations.

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It was last March that Juan Antonio Roca was arrested in Marbella as part of a growing corruption scandal, and at the time, all of his assets were seized. These included 103 pure breed horses that were housed on his extensive property in San Pedro de Alcantara. However, after the seizure it appeared that no one was appointed to care for the horses, resulting in three of them dying from malnutrition, whilst at least another ten are in a deplorable condition, as apparently they are now unable to remain upright for long, and have ulcers and tumours on their legs. Of those that died, one was found to have ‘serious colon problems due to the consistent eating of the sand in its pen’. According to sources inside the Malaga Veterinary College, the horses are of a very delicate kind that need much care and exercise to retain their fitness. A lawyer for the estate also revealed that the property is in a precarious state as when it was expropriated, the authorities removed all the keys, and the Judge in the case, Miguel Angel Torres, did not name an administrator, but judicial sources now state that some sort of overseer is currently being sought in order to remedy the situation.

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Police Commissioner Miguel Angel Santano yesterday denied that any police reports over what had or had not been found in police searches following the March 11 bombings had been altered or falsified. He would only state in an interview yesterday that Boric Acid was ‘inoffensive’. As a result of the allegations published yesterday by a national newspaper, interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba has threatened to take court action against the paper for what it alleged. [In its editions of yesterday, the paper alleged that a police report had been altered to prevent a possible Eta connection coming to light].

MORE IMMIGRANTS

The discovery of a raft with nine immigrants on board last Tuesday in the Las Aguilas beach in Murcia Province has alerted the Guardia Civil to the apparent fact that those mafias in charge of organizing the illegal arrival of immigrants in Spain has now set its sights on finding new locations. For the moment at least, it would appear that the Alicante coast is relatively free of this threat, but sources within the Corps voiced the opinion that it would only take a slightly more powerful craft to reach the shores. However the craft currently used affords little space for fuel storage, whilst other sources also stated that the Corps is seriously lacking in equipment both to detect and detain any possible arrivals of illegal immigrants across the Mediterranean, with the latest information from the Interior Ministry stating that it would be ‘2010 at least’ before the adequate equipment is made available in Alicante.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The world will be watching today as radical Muslims undertake a ‘day of rage’ aimed at protesting the remarks made last week by Pope Benedict XVI during a university speech in Germany. Although the Pope has apologized for his remarks and lamented that they were taken in the wrong spirit, many Moslems have stated that in their opinion, this was not sufficient. Meanwhile, Franco Frattini, the EU Commissioner for Security and Justice stated that all the members of the EU should publicly issue statements of support for the Pope.

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As the United Nations General Assembly continued its debate on the state of the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the assembly that applying sanctions to any violator country without calculating their consequences ‘could bring unpredictable results’. He added the view that Moscow was confident that practical solutions could be found to resolve non-proliferation issues in a non-confrontational manner by recognizing that countries are entitled to legitimate access to the benefits of the peaceful use of atomic energy.

The session was considerably enlivened by a speech from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who caused alternately gasps and laughter from the chamber when he referred to United States President George W. Bush as ‘The Devil;’ and a man who is totally unqualified to rule the most powerful nation on earth. The remarks against Mr. Bush continued to emanate from the Venezuelan leader as he later visited Harlem, calling the US President a ‘sick man’, However two of the President’s staunchest domestic critics came to his defense: New York Democrat Charles Rangel made a public statement to Mr. Chavez, telling him: “You don’t come into my country, you don’t come into my congressional district and you don’t condemn my president”, whilst House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat stated that Mr. Chavez “is an everyday thug.”

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It was revealed yesterday that Richard Hammond, the 36-year-old presenter of the television programme “Top Gear’ had suffered ‘a serious brain injury’ after crashing the Vampire jet-powered car at 300 mph on a disused airfield in York. However, as family and friends including the show’s star presenter Jeremy Clarkson visited Mr. Hammond in hospital, doctors stated that they were ‘reasonably optimistic’ that he would make a good recovery, after emergency services workers stating that Mr. Hammond ‘was very lucky to have survived’ the crash. Meanwhile, the BBC has delayed making a decision over whether the new series should be aired next month until the condition of Mr. Hammond becomes clearer.

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