Gangs of highway robbers are targeting British tourists on holiday in Spain.

Hundreds of visitors in British-registered vehicles or hire cars have had their possessions, passports and money taken in ‘quick and slick’ distraction muggings.

The thieves typically trick their victims with loud noises, apparent accidents, supposed vehicle problems or pleas for help – before stealing bags and belongings from their vehicles. 

Thieves: Hundreds of visitors in British-registered vehicles or hire cars have had their possessions, passports and money taken in 'quick and slick' distraction muggings

As millions of families begin their summer breaks, the Foreign Office has warned British-registered cars are ‘an easy target’ for motorway thieves. 

The number of British tourists ambushed on Spanish roads has soared as the euro crisis has deepened, with the British Embassy in Madrid reporting a 10 per cent rise in the first quarter of this year.

 This is likely to increase further as the peak holiday season begins. 

A spokesman for the embassy said:  ‘Motorists may be driving along the motorway and not notice there’s a car close up behind. 

‘Someone in the other car throws a stone at their vehicle which creates a loud bang. The British drivers pull over to see what has happened and the gang is behind them. 

‘They cause a distraction to steal from them or simply mug them. It’s a growing problem.’

Warning: As millions of families begin their summer breaks, the Foreign Office has warned British-registered cars are ¿an easy target¿ for motorway thieves

A hotspot for the gangs is the AP7 motorway between the French border and the Alicante region in southern Spain. 

More than 140 cases of theft on this route were reported to British Consulates last year. 

However, a spokesman said there were likely to be ‘hundreds more’ attacks going unreported across Spain because victims usually contact a British consulate only if they have lost their passport. 

Dave Thomas, consular regional director for Spain, said: ‘Be on your guard against anyone who attempts to stop you or ask you for help.

‘They may well be part of a  gang operating a scam in which an unseen accomplice will rob you of your things.’ 

Stephen and Helen Robinson, from Desford, Leicestershire, had their bags stolen from their Audi Q5 as they stopped to walk their labrador retriever Polly at a service station between Barcelona and Valencia. 

The couple, who are in their 50s, were standing at the boot of their car when a man on a mobile phone asked them how to say something in English. 

While he distracted them, their belongings were taken from the front of the car, despite Polly being inside. 

Mrs Robinson said: ‘It was quick and slick. You may be more tired and therefore more vulnerable when you’ve been travelling, so separate your valuables into different places in the car, and when you stop be aware you may be being watched. You won’t see the accomplice of the person who is distracting you.’ 

In a separate incident, Joy and Alan Horton, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, were driving a Ford Focus hatchback through Spain when they heard a loud bang and pulled over.

A car that had been travelling close behind them also stopped, and while the driver talked to them, his accomplice stole their possessions without them noticing.

Mr Horton said: ‘If you think your car may have been in a collision and you pull over, lock the car as soon as you get out and mount a guard on both sides of the vehicle. Keep all bags and valuables in a locked boot.’ 

Professor Stephen Glaister, of the RAC Foundation, said: ‘Drivers need to remember to stay alert and be ready for unwelcome surprises just as they would be at home.’

The biggest fines in British maritime history were handed down to a group of Spanish fishermen on Thursday, for illegal fishing in UK waters.

 Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA

Some of the biggest fines in British maritime history were handed down to a group of Spanish fishermen on Thursday, for illegal fishing in UK waters.

Two companies owned by the Vidal family were fined £1.62m in total in a Truro court, after a two-day hearing, in which details emerged of falsified log books, failing to register the transfer of fish between vessels, false readings given for weighing fish at sea, and fiddling of fishing quotas.

Judge Graham Cottle said the family were guilty of "wholesale falsification of official documentation" that amounted to a "systematic, repeated and cynical abuse of the EU fishing quota system over a period of 18 months".

He said: "[This was a] flagrant, repeated and long term abuse of regulations. The fish targeted [hake] was at that time a species of fish on the verge if collapse and adherence to quotas was seen as crucial to the survival of the species."

The Spanish fishing vessels had been sailing under UK flags and were landing fish based on quotas given to British fishermen under the EU's common fisheries policy. Two vessels were involved, but the companies own several other large vessels, capable of industrial-scale fishing.

The offending fishermen, who admitted their guilt earlier this year, were not in court to hear him, having been given leave to return to Spain last night. The offences, dating from 2009 and 2010, relate to two companies, Hijos De Vidal Bandin SA and Sealskill Limited, both owned by the Vidal family. They were fined £925,000 on a confiscation order, plus £195,000 in costs, and an additional fine of £250,000 levied on each of the two companies. Two skippers who were acting under the family's instructions were fined £5,000 each.

Ariana Densham, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace, who was present for the trial and judgement, said that the fines, while welcome, did not go far enough. "This group of people should never be allowed near UK fishing quota again," she said. "The Vidal's right to fish should be removed completely."

She said the offences showed the vulnerability of the EU's fishing quota system to fraud. "The system that allowed this to happen needs to be fixed," she said. "This case is not a one off. It's a symptom of Europe's farcical fishing rules. The Vidals were permitted to fish under UK flags, using UK quota, and receive huge EU subsidies, with none of the proceeds ever feeding back into the UK economy. The system is skewed in favour of rich, powerful, industrial-scale fishing companies, when really it should be supporting low-impact, sustainable fishermen."

There are currently moves under way in Brussels by the fisheries commissioner, Maria Damanaki, to reform the EU's common fisheries policy. The proposed reforms – which include the ending of the wasteful practice of discarding healthy and edible fish at sea – have met stiff opposition, particularly from the French and Spanish fishing industries. Spain has the biggest fishing fleet in Europe and receives the lion's share of the subsidies available for fishing within the EU. A historic agreement was reached among member states last month on the proposals, but they must now pass the European parliament, which is expected to consider the proposals later this year.

Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books

Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper* magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books. I suppose it can be alternated with "In the Library," a perfume that smells like old books.

Paper Passion fragrance by Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine, with packaging by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl.

“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.” Karl Lagerfeld. 

It comes packaged with inside a hollow carved out of a book with "texts" by "Karl Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers."

Spain king ousted as honorary president of World Wildlife Fund branch after elephant hunt

The World Wildlife Fund’s branch in Spain has ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president — a title he’d held since 1968 — after deciding his recent elephant hunting safari was incompatible with its goal of conserving endangered species. The announcement Saturday was the latest in a string of bad news for Spain’s royal family, which has been embarrassed by legal and other scandals. The fund said in a statement that “although such hunting is legal and regulated” it had “received many expressions of distress from its members and society in general.” It said members voted at a meeting Saturday in Madrid to “to get rid of the honorary President” by a substantial majority of 226 votes to 13. The Royal Palace declined immediate comment on the announcement. Many Spaniards were dumbfounded when news broke in April that the king had made a secret journey to hunt elephants in Botswana even though it was widely known he was president of the Spanish branch of the fund. Such an opulent indulgence also angered Spaniards at a time when national unemployment hovers around 25 percent, the economy is contracting and there are fears the country may need an international financial bailout. The Spanish public learned of the safari only after the king had to fly back in a private jet to receive emergency medical attention for a broken hip suffered during the trip. In an unprecedented act of royal contrition, a sheepish Juan Carlos apologized, saying as he left the hospital: “I am very sorry. I made a mistake. It won’t happen again.” It was a poignant moment because the royal family had been under intense media scrutiny for all the wrong reasons. The king’s son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, is a suspect in a corruption case, accused of having used his position to embezzle several million euros in public contracts through a supposedly not-for-profit foundation he’d set up. Over Easter, the king’s 13-year-old grandson, Felipe Juan Froilan, shot himself in the foot with a shotgun, even though Spanish law dictates you must be 14 to handle a gun. The king on Tuesday decided to take a pay cut in solidarity with civil servants who are to lose their traditional Christmas bonuses as part of the government’s most recent austerity drive. The salaries of Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe will be reduced about 7 percent — to about 272,000 euros ($334,000) and 131,000 euros ($160,000) respectively — in line with government policy, the Royal Palace said. The king and prince acted voluntarily in cutting their salaries, the palace said.

Pope sues magazine over photo

 

July's Titanic magazine cover (Photo from www.secularism.org.uk)

TAGS: Religion, Scandal, Law, Mass media,Germany

Pope Benedict XVI has resorted to court action after apparently being offended by a German satirical magazine.

The July edition of Titanic published a photograph of the Pope with stains covering his cassock below the waist on the front and back covers. On the front cover the stain is yellow, and on the back it is brown.

The pictures were published under the headline "Hallelujah in the Vatican: The leak has been found!" referring to a recent scandal over correspondence to the Pope and his close associates being leaked to the media, the German N24 channel said.

The edition’s impudence infuriated some Catholics including clerics in the Vatican.

Archbishop Angelo Becciu acting on behalf of the Pope of Rome has already contacted a law firm in Germany, Matthias Kopp, spokesperson for the German Bishops' Conference told Spiegel Online. He also added “Titanic oversteps every measure of decency."

The magazine’s editor-in-chief Leo Fischer denies the edition has violated the Pope’s personal rights and says the picture is offensive only in people’s minds, as it shows that the Pope has spilled a drink. "Everyone knows that the Pope is a big fan of Fanta," Spiegel Online quotes Fisher as saying.

A court in Hamburg has already issued temporary sanctions against Titanic until the case is ruled. The magazine has to suspend further distribution of the July issue featuring the Pope’s picture. They are also banned from publishing the image online. Issues already in circulation don’t have to be called off.

The court’s decision dissatisfied Titanic’s editor-in-chief and says he is prepared to fight a long battle.

Thousands of Spanish miners and their supporters flooded the streets of Madrid in a second day of mass protests, just hours after the country’s leader announced a nationwide tax hike.

Workers marched up the city’s main avenue, wearing hardhats and carrying walking sticks, to protest outside the Industry Ministry.

Many walked for nearly three weeks in the blazing sun before finally reaching Madrid.

The crowd chanted, “Miners, stick it out, Spain is rising up!” as they made their way toward Madrid’s central square on Tuesday.

"We didn't expect such a big welcome. The fact that people are coming into the street and mobilizing is a good sign,” Roberto Quintas, a miner of 22 years, told AFP.

Workers set off fireworks, generating large puffs of smoke along the streets. 

Some came from the north of Spain, where protests outside coal mines resulted in clashes with police just three weeks ago.

The miners were joined by relatives and supporters, also angry at cuts made in response to the economic crisis.

Wednesday’s protest came as the country’s leader announced a nationwide tax hike.

Spanish coal miners demonstrate in Madrid, on July 11, 2012 in protest at industry subsidy cuts that they say threaten their communities (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says he will raise VAT by 3 per cent as part of the plan to trim the public budget by 65 billion euro over the next two-and-a-half years. He also announced a 3.5-billion-euro cut to local government spending.

The fourth austerity package in seven months will raise the sales tax to 21 per cent and do away with tax rebates for home buyers. Unemployment benefits for workers will also be scaled back.

PM Rajoy asked public workers to make an “exceptional effort,” as the government takes away their end-of-year bonuses. MPs are included in the cuts, and will have their budgets slashed by 600 million euro.

He told parliament that the measures he was announcing should be adopted without delay.

Spanish coal miners march through Madrid on July 10, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dani Pozo)

Miners arrived in the Spanish capital overnight, wearing hard hats with lights turned on. The protesters were joined by ordinary citizens, also angered by cuts made in response to the economic crisis.

Spain’s working class has been hit with increased pressure in recent months, faced with higher taxes and new regulations, which make it cheaper to fire employees. The country has also seen recent funding cuts to education and national healthcare.

The measures are in return for a eurozone bank bailout and a one-year extension for Madrid to decrease its budget deficit to 3 per cent.

The workers marched hundreds of miles from the north of Spain, where demonstrations outside coal mines have resulted in clashes with police.

Protesters are fighting against the government’s decision to slash coal industry subsidies by 63 per cent. Unions say the plan threatens 30,000 jobs and could destroy their livelihoods.

Workers are also unhappy with cuts against funding for miners to learn new professions and for school grants for their children.

The Spanish government argues that it currently pays disproportionately high subsidies to the industry, which it claims is a small and unprofitable part of the economy.

Sympathizers welcome Spanish coal miners during a march through Madrid on July 10, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dominique Faget)

Spanish coal miners march through Madrid on July 10, 2012 (AFP Photo/Dani Pozo)

This is the shocking moment a foreign driver ran over a group of British tourists as they celebrated Spain's Euro 2012 win in Magaluf.

The motorist bounced over the bodies of the fallen holidaymakers in his Range Rover before nonchalantly driving off as if he had gone over a speed bump.

Joe Worsnop, 20, was seriously injured as he partied on the Spanish holiday resort's main strip with a group of friends. His twin brother James was also hurt.

Carnage: The car rolls over several people as one young man, front, tries to step out of the way

Footage of the group partying in the street as they were knocked down by the car was caught on camera and posted on YouTube.

A mob further down the street reportedly smashed the vehicle's windscreen as it was driven off after witnessing the incident.

Police later arrested a 37-year-old Spanish man and forensic tests are being carried out on the vehicle.

 The holidaymakers were celebrating Spain's 4-0 win over Italy in the Euro 2012 final in the early hours of Monday morning when the incident happened.

The emergency services were called and Joe's twin brother James telephoned their mother, Trish, from the back of the ambulance at home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to tell her what had happened.

James was kept in hospital for two days after suffering a gash to his back that needed 17 stitches.

 

Party: Tourists in the street in Magaluf, the Spanish holiday resort, moments before the Range Rover drove straight through the crowd

But his much more seriously injured brother was in so much pain he was flown home before being taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary after his wounds became infected.

Speaking from his hospital bed, the Kwik-Fit mechanic, who turns 21 on Sunday, said: 'I didn't see the car at first.

'I thought someone had punched me to the floor but when I turned my head all I saw was the Range Rover plate and it was too late, the other wheels went over me.

'I'm just glad to be home. It was the scariest moment of my life but now I feel I'm the luckiest man alive, I'm so lucky to be here.'

The mechanic has since written on Facebook: 'The next time I'm under a Range Rover's wheels I want to be working on them, not wearing them.'

His friend Michael McDonald, 20, was also hit by the car but managed to escape with minor injuries.

Mr McDonald said: 'We'd been coming down from another bar when there were hundreds of people in the street in front of us all chanting football songs.

Crunch: The motorist drives off as if nothing had happened with a group of stricken tourists lying in the road

'A police car came through and let off tear-gas to clear the crowds. Some people did go and things had calmed down but then I was suddenly on the deck and realised I'd been run over, I'd been hit. We heard the driver was arrested eventually but the police are apparently just treating it as an accident.'

Danny Nolan, 21, was struck a glancing blow by the Range Rover but he escaped with cuts and grazes.

He said: 'I was just inches from going under the car. A bloke who'd been in front of the car and tried to stop him knocked me out of the way as he fell under.

'We're staying on until Sunday but can't wait to get home. It's not the same without Joe, we want to see how he's getting on.'

Glyn Hirst, also 21, said: 'This car just came up and mowed people down. The driver got impatient. I felt sick, I couldn't look at first but then I had to go and find my mates.

'The car ran about five people over then stopped for a few seconds. I saw a guy in front of it put his hands on the bonnet but the driver just kept going and went over him and the other guy was still under his tyres.

'That poor guy's still in intensive care. He was begging his mates "don't let me die".'

The men had been part of a group of 15 Bradford friends who had flown out to Magaluf for a week.

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed its officials were aware of an incident in Magaluf resulting in three British nationals needing hospital treatment and the consul's help.

Spain’s current government, like its predecessor, always seems behind the curve

Spain’s current government, like its predecessor, always seems behind the curve. It has made some progress in passing budget cuts and some structural reforms, but it’s not enough. Only recently did it start to mention additional measures to get the country’s finances under control. The hope is that it won’t fall short. Spain’s 2012 budget target of 5.3 percent of GDP will be impossible to reach and is arguably too ambitious (last year’s deficit ended at 8.9 percent). The central government’s deficit already adds up to 3.4 percent at the end of May – when the target for the whole year is supposed to be 3.5 percent. Madrid argues that it’s due to up-front transfers to the liquidity-starved regions. But the regions themselves will struggle to hit their own targets. And the economy is also getting worse: the Bank of Spain has warned that the recession intensified in the second quarter of the year. But even if this year’s target looks out of reach, Spain can’t sit on its hands – and doesn’t have to. As part of the 100 billion euro bailout for its banks, the EU said progress on deficit targets would be closely reviewed. The European Commission has already made several recommendations: broaden the VAT tax base, boost other special taxes, eliminate tax breaks on housing, and speed up plans to raise the retirement age to 67. Simultaneously, it recommends actions to fight poverty and a youth action plan. Boosting VAT may hit consumption, but Spain must find a way to boost dwindling revenues without hurting the economy’s competitiveness. It should also focus on cutting waste in government at the regional and local level: Spain has over 8000 municipalities, 60 percent of which have a population of less than a 1000. Unemployment benefits, the most generous in Europe, should be overhauled to encourage job seeking. Then there is a long list of pending privatisations: airports, buildings, utilities and prime real estate. Spain needs to come up with answers because the government must soon approve next year’s spending ceiling. Meanwhile, other structural reforms are on the to-do list, such as liberalising services or the energy sector. Spain still hasn’t done everything it can to get the markets off its back.

Spain’s current government, like its predecessor, always seems behind the curve

Spain’s current government, like its predecessor, always seems behind the curve. It has made some progress in passing budget cuts and some structural reforms, but it’s not enough. Only recently did it start to mention additional measures to get the country’s finances under control. The hope is that it won’t fall short. Spain’s 2012 budget target of 5.3 percent of GDP will be impossible to reach and is arguably too ambitious (last year’s deficit ended at 8.9 percent). The central government’s deficit already adds up to 3.4 percent at the end of May – when the target for the whole year is supposed to be 3.5 percent. Madrid argues that it’s due to up-front transfers to the liquidity-starved regions. But the regions themselves will struggle to hit their own targets. And the economy is also getting worse: the Bank of Spain has warned that the recession intensified in the second quarter of the year. But even if this year’s target looks out of reach, Spain can’t sit on its hands – and doesn’t have to. As part of the 100 billion euro bailout for its banks, the EU said progress on deficit targets would be closely reviewed. The European Commission has already made several recommendations: broaden the VAT tax base, boost other special taxes, eliminate tax breaks on housing, and speed up plans to raise the retirement age to 67. Simultaneously, it recommends actions to fight poverty and a youth action plan. Boosting VAT may hit consumption, but Spain must find a way to boost dwindling revenues without hurting the economy’s competitiveness. It should also focus on cutting waste in government at the regional and local level: Spain has over 8000 municipalities, 60 percent of which have a population of less than a 1000. Unemployment benefits, the most generous in Europe, should be overhauled to encourage job seeking. Then there is a long list of pending privatisations: airports, buildings, utilities and prime real estate. Spain needs to come up with answers because the government must soon approve next year’s spending ceiling. Meanwhile, other structural reforms are on the to-do list, such as liberalising services or the energy sector. Spain still hasn’t done everything it can to get the markets off its back.

Spain to Set Deadline for Companies Owned by Local Governments to Balance Books

Spain's central government plans a Dec. 31, 2013, deadline for companies owned by local governments to balance their books or face liquidation, a document seen by Dow Jones Newswires shows. It is part of a wider reform of town-level administration that may be approved Friday. It seeks to transfer municipal services to provincial governments. Those services are currently provided by towns, which have had a steep drop in revenue because of a collapse in property-related taxes amid a five-year real-estate slump. The plan comes as Madrid prepares a new batch of austerity and budget-cutting measures to be presented this month, before much of the administration shuts down for holidays during August. Spanish gross domestic product contracted 0.3% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of last year. The government has recognized the nation is in recession and has said the downturn has likely intensified. An initial second-quarter GDP government estimate won't be available until July 30th. Data Friday showed Spanish industrial production fell on average by 6.1% on the year in calendar-adjusted terms in the first five months of the year, with lower production of capital equipment and durable goods as main drags on output. As the weakening economy hits government revenue, many town and village administrations have been left with large budget gaps to cover, as they are mandated by law to provide social services such as care for the elderly. The reform will make it easier for towns to transfer those services to provincial governments that have been shorn of responsibilities over the last three decades as power devolved to towns and regions. This may be controversial in highly decentralized Spain, especially as provincial-level governments are seen by many as a holdover of 19th-century politics, unneeded in an era when regional governments have been empowered to take over key functions such as health care and education services. Unlike regional administrations, provincial governments aren't elected directly but are controlled by the party that has the most town councilors in each of Spain's 50 provinces. The new reform targets towns and cities of less than 20,000 inhabitants, where Spain's central government plans to conduct a one-year evaluation of public services. If the evaluation is negative, those services will be transferred to provincial-level governments.

Spain Crisis Forces $7B in Cuts on Hospitals

For some cancer patients, Spain’s debt crisis means living on borrowed medicine. Virgen de la Luz hospital in the rural province of Cuenca turned away two women with lung and breast cancer in May after Roche Holding AG (ROG) stopped supplying tumor fighter Herceptin, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News. The women got the drug after a 24-hour wait thanks to a hastily-brokered deal to borrow it from another clinic. To rescue Cuenca and the rest of Spain’s health system, which sank into debt alongside the regional governments that operate it, the state arranged an infusion of guaranteed loans and demanded 7 billion euros ($8.8 billion) in cost cuts. Yet doctors and patients warn the prescription for cutbacks may cause more pain than the budgetary malaise it was meant to cure. “The situation is not going to change,” said Jose Andres Guijarro, a gynecologist at Virgen de la Luz who helped found a citizens group protesting cuts at the hospital. “If we didn’t have money to pay before, we won’t have it now.” Patients and hospitals across Spain are wrestling with the same dilemma. Even as old debts get paid off -- the country’s 17 regions ran up some 12 billion euros in unpaid health bills through last year -- new ones are piling up. As a result, the need to break the cycle with spending cuts threatens to redefine the very notion of Europe’s tradition of socialized medicine: how best to treat patients, not how to make ends meet. “As long as it is state-funded, the health system will always run a deficit,” said Miguel Llorens, financial director for Hospital Provincial de Castellon. Roche stopped taking his IOUs as well, and he says he pays the Swiss drug giant in cash. Solar Panels Tangled in a debt crisis that left him requesting a 100 billion-euro European Union bailout to help banks reeling from a real-estate collapse in its fifth year, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sliced 7 billion euros out of the health system as part of about 45 billion euros of cost cuts and tax hikes. The spending cuts come in exchange for 35 billion euros in syndicated bank loans the central government arranged on behalf of town halls and regions, which pay for health care. The hope is that the bailout will help get the flow of drugs moving again. Roche says its Spanish creditors paid their debts last week. That put medicine distribution “back to normal throughout the country,” including in Castellon and Cuenca, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said in an e-mailed statement. Still, Llorens says things aren’t back to normal on the ground. When a patient needs Herceptin or another Roche medicine, he sends the company a pre-order. Roche bills him. Only after the bank transfer clears does he get the product. One Solution The square-bearded former nurse says he expects the credit agreement with Roche to resume in September. That will only solve one of his many worries, though: he must find about 3 million euros of cost cuts this year to meet his 85 million-euro budget. So he has mounted solar panels on the roof to save on electricity, endorsed salary reductions -- including a 20 percent pay cut for himself -- and left retired doctors’ positions open to trim his payroll. Llorens, who started working at Castellon as a nurse when he was 18, says while hospitals need more funds, they must learn to become more efficient. Before the loans, the average hospital was paying bills almost a year and a half late, industry group Farmaindustria estimates. The spending cuts are the only way forward, or else unpaid bills will start to pile up again, according to Gloria Rodriguez, the regional government liaison for the Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies. The debt crisis helped put one in 10 members of her organization out of business, she said in an interview. Spain’s regions “were spending happily,” according to Rodriguez. “Now they have seen they can’t finance it.” Band-Aid Rajoy’s measures will mean longer hours and less pay for doctors and nurses, and higher costs for patients accustomed to spending little to nothing to visit a physician. It’s fair to call the regional bailout a band-aid for bigger structural wounds in the health system, said Kaushal Shah, an analyst for Business Monitor International in London. “The situation is far from over,” she said. Despite its debt, Spain spent less per capita on health in 2010 than France, Italy, Germany, or the U.K., according to the World Health Organization. The budget demands may erode the fundamentals of the system, said Carmen Torralba, mayor of Sotorribas, a 900-resident cluster of villages outside the city of Cuenca.

Beware of missed call to check SIM cloning

Next time if you get a missed call starting with +92; #90 or #09, don't show the courtesy of calling back because chances are it would lead to your SIM card being cloned. The telecom service providers are now issuing alerts to subscribers —particularly about the series mentioned above as the moment one press the call button after dialing the above number, someone at the other end will get your phone and SIM card cloned. According to reports, more than one lakh subscribers have fallen prey to this new telecom terror attack as the frequency of such calls continues to grow. Intelligence agencies have reportedly confirmed to the service providers particularly in UP West telecom division that such a racket is not only under way but the menace is growing fast. "We are sure there must be some more similar combinations that the miscreants are using to clone the handsets and all the information stored in them," an intelligence officer told TOI. General Manager (GM) BSNL, RV Verma, said the department had already issued alerts to all the broadband subscribers and now alert SMSes were being issued to other subscribers as well. As per Rakshit Tandon, an IT expert who also teaches at the police academy (UP), the crooks can use other combination of numbers as well while making a call. "It is better not to respond to calls received from unusual calling numbers," says Tandon. "At the same time one should avoid storing specifics of their bank account, ATM/ Credit/Debit card numbers and passwords in their phone memory because if one falls a prey to such crooks then the moment your cell phone or sim are cloned, the data will be available to the crooks who can withdraw amount from your bank accounts as well," warns Punit Misra; an IT expert who also owns a consultancy in Lucknow. The menace that threatens to steal the subscriber's information stored in the phone or external memory (sim, memory & data cards) has a very scary side as well. Once cloned, the culprits can well use the cloned copy to make calls to any number they wish to. This exposes the subscribers to the threat of their connection being used for terror calls. Though it will be established during the course of investigations that the cellphone has been cloned and misused elsewhere, it is sure to land the subscriber under quite some pressure till the time the fact about his or her phone being cloned and misused is established, intelligence sources said. "It usually starts with a miss call from a number starting with + 92. The moment the subscriber calls back on the miss call, his or her cell phone is cloned. In case the subscribers takes the call before it is dropped as a miss call then the caller on the other end poses as a call center executive checking the connectivity and call flow of the particular service provider. The caller then asks the subscriber to press # 09 or # 90 call back on his number to establish that the connectivity to the subscriber was seamless," says a victim who reported the matter to the BSNL office at Moradabad last week. "The moment I redialed the caller number, my account balance lost a sum of money. Thereafter, in the three days that followed every time I got my cell phone recharged, the balance would be reduced to single digits within the next few minutes," she told the BSNL officials.

France brings in breathalyser law

New motoring laws have come into force in France making it compulsory for drivers to carry breathalyser kits in their vehicles. As of July 1, motorists and motorcyclists will face an on-the-spot fine unless they travel with two single-use devices as part of a government drive to reduce the number of drink-drive related deaths. The new regulations, which excludes mopeds, will be fully enforced and include foreigner drivers from November 1 following a four-month grace period. Anyone failing to produce a breathalyser after that date will receive an 11 euro fine. French police have warned they will be carrying out random checks on drivers crossing into France via ferries and through the Channel Tunnel to enforce the new rules. Retailers in the UK have reported a massive rise in breathalyser sales as British drivers travelling across the Channel ensure they do not fall foul of the new legislation. Car accessory retailer Halfords said it is selling one kit every minute of the day and has rushed extra stock into stores to cope with the unprecedented demand. Six out of 10 Britons travelling to France are not aware they have to carry two NF approved breathalysers at all times, according to the company. The French government hopes to save around 500 lives a year by introducing the new laws, which will encourage drivers who suspect they may be over the limit to test themselves with the kits. The French drink-driving limit is 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood - substantially less than the UK limit of 80mg.

The number of Britons arrested overseas is on the rise, official figures have shown.

 The Foreign Office (FO) handled 6,015 arrest cases involving British nationals abroad between April 2011 and March 2012. This was 6% more than in the previous 12 months and included a 2% rise in drug arrests. The figures, which include holidaymakers and Britons resident overseas, showed the highest number of arrests and detentions was in Spain (1,909) followed by the USA (1,305). Spanish arrests rose 9% in 2011/12, while the United States was up 3%. The most arrests of Britons for drugs was in the US (147), followed by Spain (141). The highest percentage of arrests for drugs in 2011/12 was in Peru where there were only 17 arrests in total, although 15 were for drugs. The FO said anecdotal evidence from embassies and consulates overseas suggested many incidents were alcohol-fuelled, particularly in popular holiday destinations such as the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, the Balearics (which include Majorca and Ibiza), Malta and Cyprus. Consular Affairs Minister Jeremy Browne said: "It is important that people understand that taking risks abroad can land them on the wrong side of the law. "The punishments can be very severe, with tougher prison conditions than in the UK. While we will work hard to try and ensure the safety of British nationals abroad, we cannot interfere in another country's legal system. "We find that many people are shocked to discover that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office cannot get them out of jail. We always provide consular support to British nationals in difficulty overseas. However, having a British passport does not make you immune to foreign laws and will not get you special treatment in prison."