Author: Bob James

Weather
One person was still missing this morning after a weekend of rain, snow and low temperatures across Spain, due to the arrival of a mass of polar air on Friday.
The authorities are currently searching for a young man who was fishing yesterday in a rocky area off A Coruña who may have fallen into the sea. Two hikers who got lost on Saturday in the Pyrenees have been found .. Both were in good health.
The bad weather has also left 53,000 households without electricity on Menorca and in Asturias.… Read all the news

Migration
The maritime rescue service says a baby has died despite efforts by rescuers to save it after a small boat carrying migrants sunk in the Med. The death came as over 500 others were rescued.
The service said yesterday that the bottom of the rubber boat gave out, tossing 56 migrants into the water when its rescue craft reached it on Saturday east of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Rescue workers were able to save 55 men, women and children, but could not resuscitate the baby.… Read all the news

Drugs
Police in four countries have smashed an international drug-trafficking ring in which cocaine was
smuggled aboard commercial jets.
Colombian police say 30 people have been arrested, including the suspected ringleader, Jorge Juan
Merlo of Spain. He was arrested in the Colombian city of Cali.
Other suspects were arrested in Australia, Spain, and the United States. Nearly 800 kilograms of
cocaine, $200,000 in cash, and cars and cell phones were also seized.
Authorities say the drug ring was centered in Colombia from which cocaine was flown to other
countries hidden in luggage aboard regular passenger flights.… Read all the news

Jail
Former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato arrived at a Madrid prison Yesterday to start a four-and-a-half year jail term for using company credit cards to make costly personal purchases while running state-owned lender Bankia.
Rato, who was economy minister in Spain and a prominent figure in the ruling PP before moving to the IMF, chaired Bankia for two years until just before its state bailout in 2012.
Carrying two suitcases and dressed in jeans Rato thanked family and friends for their support during the legal process against him before entering the Soto del Real prison on the outskirts of Madrid.… Read all the news

Sabotage
Police have arrested six people in Murcia for sabotage attacks on new works for the AVE high- speed train network.
The first attacks were launched in December last year and the following month the police arrested the alleged leaders a 55-year-old man and youths aged 17 and 14.
However, another wave of attacks happened in February when explosive cartridges packed with shrapnel were thrown at security staff.
The National Police say those now detained have links with extreme left wing groups.… Read all the news

Drugs
A Spanish official says police have arrested at least 15 people in an anti-drug operation that saw authorities seize more than five tons of cocaine concealed in a banana shipment.
Civil Guard and National Police agents took part in yesterday’s crackdown in Malaga. The official requested anonymity because the operation is still ongoing.
Dozens of police cars were seen at an industrial park in Malaga where the drug bust took place.
Sportsman
A CLIMBER from Crevillent on the Costa Blanca has died in the Himalayan mountain range.… Read all the news

Arms Deals
The High Court is investigating 23 years’ worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia during which
executives at a state-owned company allegedly paid millions in bribes to secure contracts.
Judge José de la Mata is examining five transactions made from 1992 to 2004 between Riyadh and
a company named Defex, as well as 11 other contracts signed more recently.
The company is 51% owned by the Spanish state while the other 49% is in the hands of private
businesses whose main activity is arms sales.… Read all the news

Saudi Arabia
The defense committee of Spain’s lower house of parliament yesterday rejected a bill that would suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia following an international outcry over the disappearance and suspected murder of a journalist at the Middle Eastern kingdom’s consulate in the Turkish capital Istambul.
The proposal was submitted by Podemos and backed by Catalonia’s two nationalist parties – the Republican Left the (ERC) and the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDCat) – while the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) and the right-wing Popular Party voted the measure down.… Read all the news

Migrants
Morocco said yesterday it would deport 141 migrants arrested on Sunday as they tried to storm a border fence with the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the incursion resulted in “the death of a person after falling from the top of the fence and wounding 22 injured by barbed wire in the fence, were taken to the hospital.”
Twelve members of the security forces were injured and taken to hospital for treatment.
Spanish authorities said about 200 migrants had climbed the fence and were taken to a reception center in Melilla.… Read all the news

Migrants
Spain sent 55 migrants back to Morocco yesterday a day after they forced their way into Melilla during an assault on the border in which two migrants died and 19 were injured.
A total of 208 migrants entered Melilla on Sunday after climbing over two barbed wire fences which separate the territory from northern Morocco.
Another 140 migrants have requested asylum, 10 are recovering from their injuries and three are minors.
One man who took part in the mass storming of the border died shortly after he entered Melilla of a suspected heart attack.… Read all the news