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Sources have revealed that last weekend, the Prime Minister once again used an official aircraft for his own private use, flying with Andalucian President Manuel Chaves to Berlin to hear his wife sing in the chorus of the concert given by Daniel Barenboim conducting an orchestra made up of young musicians from Israel and Palestine. According to insiders, sources close to the Prime Minister advised the Spanish embassy in Berlin that the visit was ‘strictly private’, with the Prime Minister flying back to Spain immediately after the concert had ended. This marks the second time in a month that Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has used official transport for his own private usage, coming on top of a lightning visit he paid to Harrods in London with his wife and family on a shopping spree, using official aircraft to fly to the UK and back again.
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It would appear that the resignation of Jose Montilla as Industry Minister and his replacement by Joan Clos has given the embattled Mayor of Barcelona some political breathing space. Mr. Clos has been the objective of many attacks not only from inside his own Catalan Socialist party but also from almost all the opposition parties as well following his apparent inability to deal satisfactorily with the collapse of a building in the Carmel area of the Catalan capital due to the work on the Metro that was taking place underneath it. With the Catalan elections on the horizon, the latest polls showed that the chances for Mr. Clos of retaining the Mayoral seat in Barcelona ‘were very slim indeed’. Now he is to go to Madrid to replace Mr. Montilla, who in all probability will become the next President of Catalunia after the November local elections.
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Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy appears ready to kick into high gear as soon as the new political term starts next week, yet one area appears to have caused some irritation – the sending of Spanish troops to Lebanon. Although he initially approved of the idea, Mr. Rajoy was caught off balance over the numbers of troops to be sent, and added yesterday that despite pulling out from Iraq in record time, Spain now has more troops overseas than at any other time in history serving on international missions in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Congo and the Baltic. Accordingly, Mr. Rajoy is expected to ask the government what the financial cost is expected to be for all these missions. At the same time, he is also expected to pour ridicule on the government for its failure to deal; adequately with the fires in Galicia and the waves of immigrants that are constantly arriving in the Canary Islands – quite apart from the status of the ‘negotiations’ with the Basque terror group Eta.
Jose Manuel Medina, the Mayor of Orihuela, yesterday made his appearance in court to answer questions in the case of alleged corruption presented against him by prosecutor Felipe Briones, that were mainly based on his using a luxury car and a home in exchange fro granting favours to Urbanizers. In court yesterday, Mr. Medina was asked about the use of a Bentley , which he stated had been loaned to him by a lovcal constructor who knew he had an e-affection for old vehicles. When asked about the home, Mr. Medina replied that he had made a verbal agreement in that he was paying a monthly rent of 600 Euros with an option to buy it in the future, and presented documents to justify his statement. When he was asked about a meal organized by an urbanizer at which he was purportedly present. At which ‘presents’ were handed out, Mr. Medina replied that he was in Salamanca that day, and added that he was unaware as to whether any councilor did attend. Responding to questions regarding the area of the Municipality known as Terras Nuevas where land was requalified as buildable, Mr. Medina replied that the decision was based on reports both from his own technical department and that of the Conselleria for the Territory, which the judge demanded to see in a period of less than ten days. However, Mr. Medina refused to reply to any questions raised the lawyer representing the spokesman for the local Socialist Party.
Meanwhile outside the courthouse a small amount of demonstrators had gathered including one who bore a certain physical resemblance to Mr. Medina, who was imitating Groucho Marx, as the resemblance between the Mayor and the late comedian was well known locally. To complete the satire ‘Groucho’ arrived in a luxury car and spent the two hours that Mayor was inside the courthouse, distributing a national magazine in which the urbanizing situation in Orihuela was described as ‘another Marbella’.
Today is the day when one of the more unusual Fiestas of the Valencian Community will be staged. The annual ‘Tomatina’ of Buñol this year will be expanded to allow 40,000 people to collectively participate in throwing 100,000 kilos of tomatoes at each other as well as any nearby onlookers. After some wine and sweet cakes, the participants will enter the ‘arena’ at 11 o’clock for two hours of ‘battle’ in the fiesta that was declared in the national interest four years ago. This year, the town has spent 22,000 Euros on acquiring the tomatoes from a cooperative in Castellon. In addition to the security forces, five ambulances and various paramedics will be on hand to treat any participants that are injured, but the vast majority of these will in all probability be treated for irritated eyes due to the stinging sensation that being hit by flying tomatoes produces. Equally this year, some 23 media representatives have been accredited including representatives from the UK, Korea and Japan, and at least some journalists are expected to participate in the battle, the origins of which are allegedly based on a fruit battle between two youths that took place in 1945.
Scotland Yard yesterday stated that it was formally accusing three other men with being involved in a plot to cause explosions on aircraft bound for the United States from the UK. The three, named as Mohammed Yasar Gulzar, Mohammed Shamin Udin and Nabel Hussein are all accused of conspiring to assassinate people and of preparing acts of terrorism. Of the 15 already charged in the plot, eleven have to answer to charges of conspiracy and planning terrorist attacks. The three men will appear in a Westminster court later today..
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Police in Las Vegas yesterday detained Warren Steed Jeffs , the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints, and one of the ‘most wanted men’ in the United States. Married to dozens of women, in line with his faith, Mr. Jeffs was also accused of promoting marriages between adults and minors. As a prophet and the founder of the Fundamentalist Church, Jeffs had enormous control over the lives of all his followers, administering their assets and properties as well as assigning wives for all the men. The Church has its main branches in Colorado City in Arizona and Hildale in Utah.
More than fifteen years after his death Laurence Olivier’s widow Joan Plowright, has started to speak about the reality of being married to what many people considered the world’s finest actor. According to a BBC interview, Miss Plowright revealed that her late husband, who rose to some not inconsiderable fame through his interpretations of Henry V and Richard III had bisexual tendencies. This would appear to coincide with a biography the actor published last year that included allegations of some romantic adventures with actor Henny Ainley in the 30s, as well as a ‘dalliance’ with comic actor Danny Kaye. Lord Olivier died in 1989 at 82 after a long battle with prostate cancer, and for the first time his wife of twenty years was not mincing words during her interview. When asked about the alleged homosexuality of her husband, she answered: “ I don’t think I have to defend his memory, for his greatness as an artist is there for everyone to see. A genius like Olivier could never lead a normal life. He had extreme behavior that had to be understood, and at the same time ensure that his personal demons did not take over. Sometimes he was successfully in combating them, and at other times he was not” Lawrence Olivier and Joan Plowright met in 1957 at the Royal Court Theatre when he was married to Vivien Leigh, who according to Miss Plowright, had manic-depressive moods that represented a serious problem for Lord Olivier. She went on: “We had to be vary careful not to force her, as she could become violent. Not making things any better was the fact that she constantly was changing opinion. One day she would agree to a divorce, only to be against it the very next day.”
Veteran actor Sean Connery has now refused to participate in a planned political debate during Scotland’s Festival of Politics after discovering that his debating opponent –the Festival’s presiding officer George Reid - planned to ask the star about his views on domestic violence. Sir Sean was attributed as stating that women’ at some times take it to the wire. That’s what they are looking for. They are looking for a smack.’ However, the actor has always maintained that the remarks were taken out of context. Picking up a BAFTA Award for his achievements in film, Sir Sean took the opportunity to announce the end of his 50-year career with a furious tirade against Hollywood accusing the entertainment industry of incompetence and lack of professionalism. Accusing Stephen Norrington, the director of his last movie “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” as being ‘insane’, the veteran actor added wryly: “The time to retire has come because of my rather unfortunate last movie. The cost to me in terms of frustration and avoiding going to jail for murder cannot have continued.”
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