Europe Calling

Spain faces a political headache after the conservatives won a weekend election but lost their absolute majority. Its democracy is now all about political manoeuvering as the PM tries negotiating with his political rivals PSOE, Podemus and Ciudadanos. The Spanish Stock market struggles as EL Gordo returns. Blatter and Platini have been banned from all football activities by FIFA and both have been fined for breaches of the sport’s code of ethics. The wealth gap between the UK top and bottom 10 per cent of households has widened by more than a third since 2006, meaning the poorest half of the nation now owns just 9 per cent of its wealth..........an overpaid boss wrecks office morale: Three out of five workers are 'significantly' demotivated by growing pay inequality,.....study finds

With the election almost here Prime Minister Rajoy has been physically attacked by a youth in Pontevedra and boasts he is happy to have done it. Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez expressed solidarity with the Prime Minister. Meanwhile Staus Quo star, Rick Parfitt, has launched an estate agency in Marbella. Opera Star Montserrat Caballe has been given a suspended sentence for tax evasion. 40 pallets of cocaine disguised as wood has been seized.Six men have been arrested in Liverpool. In the UK.....The excitement of Britain's latest astronaut hits fever pitch and Jose Mourinho is given a 40 million pounds pay off...... Prince Charles has been sent secret cabinet documents for decades ........Police are missing 'obvious indicators of suspicion' at crime scenes and as Cumbria suffers and The NHS 'faces its worst funding crisis for a generation' .....a well-off Serbian city gets £1million of new flood defences ...and a forthcoming book by Machteld Zee offers an unprecedented insight into the secret world of Britain's so-called Sharia courts after she was allowed access to them over three days in 2013.

Spain is gathering election fever as Rajoy is aiming to continue as Prime Minister in an atmosphere of coalitions and threats of Independence. The TV debate was won by Pablo Iglesias as Rajoy did not join the debate. Spain is locked in a battle with Colombia and the USA in a wrangle over sunken treasure. Spain also hopes to improve the numbers speaking English by proposing to end dubbing on films. Meanwhile, in France, Calais has registered its vote as France's most right wing town. In the UK Storm Desmond has wreaked havoc across Cumbria and Scotland and the views of Donald Trump about policing in London has sparked controversy and Baroness Butler-Sloss has led a commission that has reported that England is no longer a Christian country. Feedom of Information is brought into focus, a female zookeeper has died after suffering a head injusry in a rugby match and a baby sitter who had sex with an 11 year old boy will not go to jail. Meanwhile, Sharia courts operating in the UK are treating women as second-class citizens with these secretive tribunals settling family and financial disputes

As British jets join in the bombing campaign against Syria.......Hilary Benn recalls how British trade unions joined in the Spanish Civil War. Here4 in Spain, the political shenanigans continue in Catalonia......a suicidal woman falls from a flat, kills a man below yet survives and incest is still legal in Spain. Sean Connery's wife is to stand trial over fraud allegations and a Spanish farmworker has been gored at a farm ... In the UK...the fallout is expected after the voting on the issue of bombing Syria. Elsewhere, with more trouble at Calais we are told the border terror alert system breaks down twice a a week. George Osborne seems to be taking from the UK to pay for foreign aid........The Yorkshire Ripper is back in the news.....and the legal chiefs administer astounding judgements although one has been disciplined for his attitude to defendants. We've been told Strictly Come Dancing is rigged....now the Apprentice is under scrutiny and the Brits love their programmes being repeated!

Now a Russian plane has been shot down by Turkish fighters and Russia accuses Russia of slander for saying they buy oil from Iis and Erdogan refuses to apologise for downing the plane. According to El Pais PM Rajoy appears to be isolating himeself from his allies and turning a blind eye to the jihadist threat as King Felipe asks for EU members to stand united against those who would take away our freedom. ......There's fury in Spain over tributes to Franco on the anniversary of his death................... 48 Women were killed in Spain in 2015 in another catalogue of domestic violence............. A British father has been convicted of manslaughter after killing a German 'paedophile' in a fight in a restaurant in Sotogrande. In the UK David Cameron is asking parliament to support further action in Syria and Iraq. Prince Charles blames the Syrian Crisis on Global Warming. The Health Minister Jane Ellison, has spoken out against first-cousin couples among British Pakistanis.............A Pakistani man has been jailed form 40 years over failed Manchester bomb plot.......Researchers say UK soaring immigration is caused by surge in Romanians and Bulgarians.....and a 32 year old drunk driver whose irresponsible actions left two female passengers with horrific injuries, has had his curfew lifted so he can go on a stag do.

As 132 innocent people were being killed in Paris by Muslim extremists an event in Bradford where radical panellists reportedly told of a duty to establish an Islamic state in Britain. The ringleader of the Paris attacks was seen drinking beer and smoking cannabis the day after the massacres, a witness has exclusively told Sky News. England played their football match against France whilst Germany v Holland and Spain v Belgium were cancelled. Turkey fans booed during the minute's silence for the victims of the Paris attacks before their national team drew 0-0 with Greece in a friendly international football game on Tuesday. French counter-terror police swooped on a flat in the northern suburb of Saint Denis on Wednesday morning and have now confirmed that Europe's most wanted Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed in the seven hour siege ..... In Spain, Interpol tells us only 5,600 of 25,000 terrorists have been identified. Police organization tells Seville conference that world authorities need to work together to fight Islamic State while Spain is investigating 301 people over links to jihadist terrorism. Number of arrests this year has quadrupled compared with 2013, while the amount of open cases has grown 60%........ Men account for 82% of highest salaries in Spain, says new report and Spain’s road accident death toll is already past 1,000 victims in 2015. Supreme Court judges yesterday threatened to wreck the Government’s bid to ensure migrants speak English. A ruling called for the Home Office to water down its guidelines on English language tests for immigrant husbands and wives. If Theresa May fails to do so, the judges warned they will make a declaration that the Government is breaking human rights laws. Peers vote to allow 16-year-olds vote in EU referendum. Peers voted by 293 votes to 211 in favour of the plan, putting the Lords at odds with MPs who rejected the plan this summer, because it may delay the referendum by up to a year Doctors will strike over three days, providing emergency care only for 24 hours from 8am on December 1, followed by full walkouts from 8am to 5pm on December 8 and 16.” Lord Thomas, the leading judge in England and Wales, spoke out following the courtroom breakdown of the judge Mr Justice Dingemans who dealt with the killers of 16-year-old Becky Watts last week. He said Judges are suffering emotional damage because of the increasing number of sex and pornography cases, Meanwhile....Will they ever learn? Students swig from vodka bottles in the street and cover pavements in vomit in latest alcohol-soaked city centre pub crawl.......and CCTV footage captured by Andrew Britton shows the moment a man was kicked, punched, stamped on and dragged to the floor by a gang of children in Bradford, West Yorkshire.”

Whilst Artur Mas is preparing to take Catalonia away from Spain, Benidorm and Alfaz are enjoying their fiestas and Deliberries is tryng to help one particular sector of the employment market. ANGELA Merkel’s government has admitted it is paying the pensions of 41 Spaniards injured while fighting for the Nazis. The men were part of General Franco’s Blue Division who fought for Adolf Hitler on the eastern front during World War Two. A letter from Angela Merkel’s government in response to a parliamentary question revealed €107,352 is paid annually by German taxpayers to the veterans, eight widows and one orphan. Left-wing German politician Andrej Hunko said it was ‘a scandal that 70 years after the war, Germany is still paying more than €100,000 a year to Nazi collaborators’. The agreement to pay the pensions was struck between Franco and Germany in 1962. A twitter user has been jailed for 18 years. Beñat Lasa Fernández found guilty of glorifying terrorism after making fun of Admiral Carrero Blanco’s 1973 assassination and other ETA victims...... As Britain honours the war heroes in Remembrance Day services one bus driver interrupted the solemn occasion in Bedfordshire by hooting his horn durin two minutes silence. As John Major says wealthy an big firms should do more to tackle poverty David Cameron prepares to tackle the European Parliament with demands for change. One writer talls him he needs to control the borders, get proof of work, control own economy and laws and keep to proper values.

The British Government have asked for the cancellation of all flights from Sharm El Sheikh after the Russian plane crashed in Egypt. A Spanish firm has won a huge compensation payout after being falsely accused of involvement in an E. Coli outbreak...............25% of brand new houses in Spain have been branded as unsellable........A Spanish toy chain has produced a non-sexist Christmas calender.....and child matadors have been filmed killing the bulls in front of their cheering school mates..... In the UK....The problems of standing up to yobs is in the papers.....the police are planning to fill their coffers with more speed cameras in action and ..........semi-literate teachers are holding back students.........CBI has been found rigging a poll encouraging firms to stay in the EU......and an Asian trio involved in an honour attack don't go to jail....and an English dad is looking for his bacon in a bacon-free KFC

In Spain, the battle for Catalonia carries on with allegations of a Madrid witch hunt by Artur Mass. There are kidnap fears for the crew of a Spanish Air Force helicopter after a crash near the Canary Islands. There is a mystery over disappearance of three crew members who were earlier said to have been rescued by Moroccan authorities after their craft ditched in the sea. A Briton has been found dead in a Benidorm police cell. Spanish police say Antony Abbott's partner Catherine Corless had contacted police to report him for hitting her in Benidorm hotel. European Parliament votes to stop EU agricultural subsidies being used to support bullfighting in Spain in latest blow to traditional activity. Almost two-thirds of people in the UK say they do not feel any sense of European identity – a far higher proportion than in other EU countries, a new poll has revealed.......Apart from this poll a battle royal reigned in parliament this week as George Osborne tried to make his welfare cuts. The Lords defeated his strategy just as it was revealed more than £1billion in tax credits is lost to fraud and error every year, Some £29billion was paid in tax credits to 4.7million claimants by HM Revenue and Customs in 2013/14, official figures show. So what else is making Britain great? Kim Farry, 54, lives rent free in a flat in Fulham and collects up to £250-per-week in cash handouts so believes that finding a normal job would force her to take a pay cut......Abdulrahman Abunasir submitted an asylum claim while serving a jail-term for sexually assaulting a woman in London but is blocking deportation attempts by claiming he is a Syrian refugee.........Former corporal Paul Vice, 32, who is known as 'the commando who refused to die', was left stunned after he claims staff told him he could not use the disabled toilet at a sports centre in Exeter, Devon............Bryony Hollands, 19, died when Thomas Burney, 26, mounted a kerb at 70mph and careered into her and her boyfriend Ben Evans, 20, in Mapperley, Nottinghamshire, at about 12.30pm on August 21.”............A female PE teacher faces jail today after she admitted having a sexual relationship with two pupils and was caught in bed with them at the same time...............and a boy has been fatally stabbed at a secondary school in Aberdeen at lunchtime. Just when will the authorities look more closely at the content on UK TV?......Twisted monsters, vicious murders and even a family burned alive in their home – all of this can be found in just the first episode of Jekyll and Hyde, which is set to broadcast on ITV at 6.30pm

Whilst there has been a decrease in the unemployment numbers there is speculation that more austere years lie ahead for Spain. Seville fans were attacked after the Man City game and there is a question mark hanging ove rthe Barcelona v Real Madrid match. A waiter has been stabbed by his boss for being too slow. Nine women have been freed from an illegal brothel in Marbella In the UK the week has been dominated by the state visit of the Chinese premier and David Cameron is accused of kowtowing to China's despots. Women are being treated differently to men when found guilty of sexual misconduct and the police need to recruit more black officers. The Bishops have demanded that Britain takes 30.000 more Syrian refugees and the schools are cashing in with fines for out of term school holidays.

In Spain... Is Spain an alcoholic society? Catalan officials deny November independence vote was criminal act. Education secretary and former deputy president testify before Barcelona judge two days before Artur Mas will answer same accusations of disobedience, abuse of office, misuse of public funds and usurping authority...... .Benidorm, which was once a place where families and young adults could go without feeling threatened has now turned into a place where there are many no-go areas................Paternity test on exhumed Spanish landowner brings maid's daughter millionaire inheritance. Spanish pensioner in Andalucian town of Morón de la Frontera to inherit £2.2m after judge ordered DNA test on corpse of wealthy landowner she had long suspected to be her father ....... Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the rhetoric being used by politicians in the UK and Europe had echoes of the years leading up to the Second World War......... Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of think-tank MigrationWatch UK, said Britain's population could increase by a staggering 3million by 2020 – adding strain to the country’s creaking public services. BUT STILL....A dozen retired judges, including Lord Woolf and more than 300 lawyers and academics yesterday condemned the Government for taking too few refugees .A warning came from former Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham and the Royal Navy may now be forced to hire foreign troops from six countries including New Zealand, Canada and Australia. Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson sparked fury today after defiantly refusing to apologise to Parliament for the way he 'vilely traduced' Tory peer Leon Brittan over unfounded rape claims. Alison Sharland from Cheshire, and Varsha Gohil, from London, both said their ex-husbands misled judges about how much they were worth - and they wanted divorce claims re-analysed........

Unemployment in Spain: Unemployment increases by 26,087 claims in September ......Chairman of supermarket chain Mercadona, Juan Roig, has been crowned top dog for ‘corporate reputation’.......Zara owners’ profits surge by over 25% as Spanish jobs boosted .. The company recorded net profits of €1.17bn between February and July, up 26% on the same period last year....... Spain has now promised to take 17,000 refugees by the end of 2015..... The bodies of the two women from Birmingham, aged 33 and 36, were recovered near the spot they went missing in the resort of Lloret de Mar in Spain just after 4am this morning. About 200 violent migrants supported by British anarchists launched a 'massive invasion' of the Channel Tunnel in a desperate bid to get to the UK. The head of the EU Parliament was accused by fellow MEPs of wasting public money. In a report they revealed Germany’s Martin Schulz has two limousines, two chauffeurs and 33 other assistants....... The UK Prime Minister insisted that the British parliament should decide who gets to vote, as the European Court of Justice today backed French rules which stopped a murderer from voting....... The Mediterranean Diet..ie a high intake of fish, plant foods and olive oil has been linked to the reduced risk of breast cancer In the UK.....Theresa May warned the Tory conference that huge pressure is being placed on public services and infrastructure by economic migrants...... Babysitter Jade Hatt who had sex with 11-year-old boy escapes jail .... Swindon Crown Court heard that the boy was 'sex mad' and 'sees it as a notch on his belt' to have sex with Jade Hatt, 21, who seduced him while babysitting him when he was off school for a day. Fans left Twickenham heartbroken as England became the first ever host nation to go out of the Rugby World Cup at the group stages. Some were even reduced to tears on an emotional night.

Many Catalans are fighting hard for the right to decide on whether to split from the rest of Spain. But what would an independent Catalonia actually look like? Volkswagen scandal: Seat admits manufacturing 700,000 cars with VW’s rigged engines......A cement mixer ploughed into a car in Madrid and police believe that the mixer’s handbrake was either released or was faulty. The 37-year-old victim was killed instantly”.......Gibraltar's priest Mark Miles is excelling as Pope's translator..... Richard Littlejohn asks, "How the hell did a country which stood alone against Hitler end up being frightened of causing 'offence' to anyone? Our pride in our national identity and our institutions has been corroded, almost certainly irrevocably, by our new, zealously enforced state religion of 'diversity'. RAF Sergeant Mark Prendeville, an aircraft engineer who has completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was taken to hospital in Margate after chemicals from a fire extinguisher got into his eyes during a training exercise. Sgt Prendeville was twice forced to move to another area after being informed: 'We've lots of cultures coming in.' All this happened at a hospital named after the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother — a fervent champion of the RAF — not far from the site of Kent's Battle of Britain airfields. Hungarian crime family who moved to Bolton and kept two women in their home as sex slaves are condemned as 'barbarians' and jailed for 17 years............Woman, 34, in Norwich at the centre of child abuse gang is jailed for life after orchestrating 'utterly depraved' sex parties where children were 'raffled off' to be assaulted “ Campaigners say controls should be extended to cover marketing to children up to the age of 16, which could, in theory, ban football pundit Gary Lineker from promoting Walkers crisps.” Size 8 model who was told to slim ‘down to the bone’ by major London agency launches petition calling for a new law to protect girls against pressure to be 'dangerously skinny'

Castellón airport, an emblem of Spain’s reckless boom-era infrastructure spending, received its first commercial passenger flight on Tuesday morning”......“ Battle of Biblical proportions as Marbella restaurant and brotherhood lock horns over late-night noise”..................Politicians call for British gunships to be permanently stationed in Gibraltar during defiant National Day speeches”.....Spanish police have recovered a bicycle stolen during the Vuelta a España after spotting it in a second-hand shop”....and, finally, “ Protesters vow to end the "Toro de la Vega" bullfighting event, where hunters on horseback and on foot chase a bull thorough/through a pine forest before killing it with spears” In the uK ..it's all about Jeremy Corbyn.....The hard-line socialist earned £67,060 a year as a backbench MP, but has accepted a £58,000 hike as opposition leader. Mr Corbyn has also agreed to take an official taxpayer-funded car..........Jeremy didn't sing the National Anthem at the Battle of Britain service and also offered a different kind of Prime Minister's Question Time............. Porn's effect on youth 'is catastrophic' says Top Met officer John Sutherland and David Cameron demands universities clamp down on hate preachers ......... Planning came into focus when parents Michael Heron and Jenna Hulme were stunned by Oldham council's decision that the Wendy house, bought as a birthday present for four-year-old Jacob, must be torn down

Whilst EU leaders seem hell-bent on allowing all and sundry...Denmark has blocked the road and rail links between itself and Germany. The Autumn rains return to Spain with a vengeance including flamingos killed in Albacete. Who is the man behind Spain's national police twitter account? Spain is overwhelmed by immigrant requests. Interior Minister warn of immigrants escalating terrorist threats.A Spanish pensioner offers 5.000 euros reward for a job for his son. In the UK ....as migrants pour in to the UK the hate cleric Anjem Choudary is freed on bail ahead of his trial and the NUS invites a speaker who said Jihadi John was beautiful. MPs are once again named and shamed over expense fiddles as average bonus for top city bosses hits 1.1 million pounds..more than 1750 couples earning more than 100.000 get Osborne's cheap loans and and high rates of crime linked to Universities........Mo Farrah admits taking a drug in Somalia and Paula Radcliffe is exonerated by published drug test results.