Vince Tracy's Podcasts

Spanish Tourism industry estimates over that around 82 million visitors arrived in 2017, setting a new record, while the forecast for next 12 months is also very positive Spain's prime minister warned Monday that Madrid would maintain unpopular direct control of Catalonia if the former regional leader Carles Puigdemont tries to govern again from exile in Belgium. Five Spanish women who were secretly filmed stealing products from their workplace have been awarded €4,500 in compensation by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The women launched the case after they were dismissed after being caught on hidden cameras robbing or helping other employees rob products from the supermarket where they worked as cashiers............. an employer cannot secretly film their employees in the workplace Two women carrying goods between Morocco and Spain's Ceuta enclave were killed on Monday in a stampede at the border between the two countries officials said. An official investigation has been launched into top bosses at Carillion who changed the rules so they could keep their bonuses as the firm collapsed and put 23,000 jobs at risk. The watering down of so-called 'clawback conditions', which would have allowed investors to demand the return of bonuses in the event of company failure, came in 2016 when the firm was already showing signs of financial stress. A UK supermarket will be the first in the world to remove plastic packaging from all of its own-label products. Iceland's landmark move puts pressure on its rivals to follow suit amid public demands to turn back the tide of plastic pollution. Calais Hospital, ran in partnership with health chiefs in south Kent, is able to offer 'fast care to any NHS patient' - as hospitals in England reach crisis point. Surgeon Simon Bramhall, 53, resigned from his job at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 2014 after another surgeon found "SB" branded on a failed donor liver, A psychologist said to have recommended the release of the black cab rapist has spent 30 years calling for softer sentences for sex offenders, it has been revealed. John Worboys is set to be freed from prison nine years after he was jailed indefinitely following his conviction for sexually assaulting 12 female passengers. His release was signed off by the Parole Board following a report by Dr Jackie Craissati, a renowned clinical psychologist hired by Worboys' defence team. A woman who ran out of petrol on a motorway before a fatal smash has been put on trial accused of causing death by dangerous driving.

The song this week is from a classic album I produced in the 80's for my pal wrestler Adrian Street....it is called "Imagine What I Could Do To You" and he used it to enter the wrestling ring....I brought it out on a vinyl 45 and while I was pushing stuff in London I played it to a boffin in R.C.A.....who said it was possibly the worst record in the history of music....I asked him if I could quote him on that....and that is what went on the label....the song ended up in a film and was featured on Adrian's bouts in the States and paid off my mortgage....THAT'S how it's done. Over the last few years I have been impressed by Bruno Mars....so I decided to take a look at "Bruno Mars Live in Harlem" which was a televised live concert...I was totally blown away...he is the real deal...as good as it gets....the guy dances sings plays drums,guitar,and piano and knows how to entertain...absolutely sensational....and what a voice....I was beginning to despair with the music biz...with the likes of Bradley Walsh...Alexander Armstrong and Nick Knowles trying to muscle in...I suggest they watch Bruno and see how it's really done then get back to their proper jobs. The sexual harassment saga never ends...the female film stars all wearing black dresses (which probably cost thousands) at the latest film award ceremony...showing solidarity (and various parts of their bodies) in support of those who have been sexually harassed before going back to their mansions....we get it ladies...we don't need telling every couple of days....try slapping a few faces instead of making a fortune then omplaining.....I think the majority of women find this pathetic...those who have been subject to any form of violence obviously need help but someone who was tapped on the behind 20 years ago needs to get over it....you have won ladies....we are now all equal so lets just move on. O.K....are you ready for this...we have just had 6 months of rain and floods....probably the worst on record...rivers overflowing...landslides...BUT WAIT!!!....the reservoirs in Kent are half full....so we could be heading for...wait for it....a DROUGHT !!...so there you go...one half of our little country will be dying of thirst while the other half (200 miles away) drowns....no point complaining because all we will hear is "we have to make cuts because of lack of funds" which is the standard excuse for verything....except royal weddings. Boozing at airports and drunks on flights have hit the news....there was an air hostess on saying the matter is getting worse...she had been thrown up on and "touched up" on occasions and the problem of alcohol misuse needs to be solved.....to me the answer is simple....ban alcohol from airports....oh sorry...I forgot....they need to make lots of money from serving overpriced drinks....that's far more important than passenger safety at 30,000 feet.....then on comes a bloke from some drinkers society...a Scotsman (now there's a surprise)...who goes on about how he likes to have a few drinks when he arrives at the airport because sometimes he has had to sit around for hours because of delays....so I would doubt he would have "a few" drinks in that time...as always it comes down to greed...let's leave the drunken idiots to the pilots and air hostesses while we make a fortune.

In a rare outing, former Spanish King Juan Carlos was seen at Epiphany Day celebrations just days after complaining bitterly, and publicly, about feeling sidelined by the royal family. The Spanish government is investigating Iberpistas, the operator of the AP- 6 tollway northwest of Madrid, after thousands of vehicles were trapped for up to 18 hours in the snow over the weekend. Many drivers complained about a lack of information about the situation SPAIN'S El Niño lottery has officially been drawn, with first prize going entirely to Bilbao. A GIANT €35 million hotel is to be built near La Fossa beach, Calpe, dominating the skyline as the area’s tallest building. MORE THAN 200 African Migrants have entered Spain after storming over a double fence between Morocco and Melilla. In total, 209 people reported In a chaotic Theresa May cabinet reshuffle... Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned Theresa May he would rather quit than accept a move to the business department and Justine Greening refused to move to work and pensions. In an open letter signed by 20 MEPs - including Tories Julie Girling and Richard Ashworth - the Prime Minister was urged to keep Britain in the single market following Brexit. A figure of 24,473 averages out at around 160 requests a day from computers and other devices connected to the parliamentary network, which is used by MPs, peers and staff----to download pornography.......is there a link to the following....?.....Nearly half of paedophiles found guilty of grooming a child online before trying to meet them for sex are let off jail by 'lenient' judges, new figures show.

As the aftermath of Catalunya unfurls...If there is one thing that hasn’t changed in the self-styled “ayuntamientos of change” – city councils in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza and other places where Podemos has been in power with a variety of partners since the 2015 local elections – that is the turbulent relationships that have always defined the Spanish political left. Gas and Electricity Bills are set to rise in Spain despite Governmental efforts to contain the rises.....as the Government prepares to raise the minimum wage by 2.5% A national policeman has been caught on camera slapping a female to the ground in the Valencian community causing outrage after the video circulated on social media. FOUR members of the same family have been injured after a lift plunged four floors in an apartment block in Spain. The accident happened at the Travesía de Conde Duque building in the Centro district of Madrid.. A COLLISION between a stolen car and a van early Sunday morning in Murcia has resulted in the death of three and the serious injury of another two people. Emergency Service 112 received a call about the accident on the Avenida Miguel Indurain and dispatched fire engines to the scene as well as ambulances and officers from the Local and National Police. IMore than 250 hunts have met for the annual Boxing Day event after Prime Minister Theresa May U-turned over plans for a vote on scrapping the ban. Alcoholic Christopher Ward burgled his parents' home in Leicester after leaving a family funeral. But he avoided jail following an emotional courtroom intervention from his father. Suspects charged with killing four children in Salford house fire 'attacked with boiling water and left with broken fingers after being targeted by other inmates in prison'.........and........More than 320 prisoners have been wrongly released from jail over the past six years according to new figures released by the Ministry of Justice. Among those released, are suspects awaiting trial for murder, armed robbers and those guilty of grievous bodily harm. More than one person is incorrectly released from custody due to a range of excuses - from prisoners getting mixed up with people sharing the same surname to others who saw court officials misfiling the sentence in custody records......AND.... New figures reveal that prisoners have been paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for lost or damaged property since 2013 for items including toothbrushes and trainers. Nearly 10,000 council staff have been suspended on full pay during the past five years over allegations that include sexual harassment and fraud, it has been reported. About 2,000 local authority employees have been suspended while still receiving their full salary each year since 2012. A woman took to Mumsnet to share her distaste for the song 'Baby It's Cold Outside' . She shared feeling uncomfortable with the lyrics as others agreed they're 'rapey'. Others told her she is overreacting.

The song this week is from a musical play I wrote back in the day and it's called "School Without A Teacher" and was performed by several schools around the area....it looked at what would happen if computers replaced teachers (ahead of my time or what)...seems like an ideal situation for pupils but as the play demonstrates this is not necessarily the case. Went to the local panto in New Brighton....Peter Pan...took the 3 year old grandson which was his first panto...I was hoping he would have a long enough attention span....no need to worry...he was transfixed....it was so loud but really well done...they had "stars" from Coronation Street and the kid's TV channel ...neither of which I had heard of with Tinkerbell on roller skates....the little fella said "Grandad...I like Tinkerbell"...to which I replied "Yeah...so do I"....but for very different reasons. Another brave protector of the realm has been knighted...SIR Ringo Star....I suppose he must have done something other than being a passenger on the Beatle bus....it's all getting beyond a joke....I'm sorry but I never got The Beatles (shock horror)...to try to understand what it was they had which made them so popular world wide I've been watching several documentaries on Sky Arts about their various activities including the making of The Magical Mystery Tour which was an absolute pointless load of rubbish proving they had no idea regarding making films...and their disastrous business set up with Apple Corps which lost millions...which still left me unconvinced...they did write a lot of decent songs and a lot of debatable ones but that's all they did all day....I wonder how long they would have lasted if they had carried on doing live gigs?....but hey who am I?...and it's only my opinion...and not that of the masses who all pile into the shops for a few days before Christmas. I watched a programme called All Star Musicals which featured none singing celebrities learning to sing showsongs....the idea was bad enough as most showsongs belong in a show not as a solo spot sung by someone who isn't a singer...it was pretty bad with the likes of Nicky Campbell...Tony Robinson etc proving you should stick to what you actually do.....it was presented by Andrew Flintoff who was an uneasy watch...he really should have stuck to cricket...and to top things off we now have a female Dr.Who...not that I watch it...don't get it....but lo and behold Bradley Walsh is going to be in it....when he can drag himself away from The Palladium....The Chase....his new album...and the police series he's in...there should be a competition to try and find a day when Bradders isn't all over our TV screens...is there no-one else out there? I remember a while ago when a local corner shop butcher called the shop "Sausages R Us" (with the R the other way round)...he was threatened with legal action for copyright by "Toys R Us" which I found pathetic....however what goes round comes round...one of our major stores put an advert on TV comparing their prices with Toys R Us for the same item....showing big reductions...illustrating a sense of greed on the part of Toys R Us,...since then Toys R Us are closing down a lot of stores....when will retailers get the message?...the public are getting wise to them and these days with shopping on line it's all about PRICE.....I do like to see people power now and again.

IRELAND–BASED pilots for low-cost airline Ryanair have suspended their one-day pre-Christmas strike action on Wednesday. A policeman in Catalonia is charged with sabotage against trucks. The sabotage took place on the 1st and 5th of December . The detainee placed a kind of plate with spikes on the AP-7 highway and caused some fifty trucks to change the wheels, according to the Catalan police. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has rejected Spain's appeal against the fine of 19 million euros imposed by the European Commission (EC) in July 2015 for falsifying the figures of debt and public deficit of the Community Valenciana Brussels considered that the Generalitat had misrepresented and falsified health expenditure figures between 1988 and 2011 without paying attention to the warnings from the Valencia Audit Office, which it considers a "serious negligence" on the part of Spain. ANDALUCIA and the Canary Islands have the worst quality of life indicators in Spain according to a new study......capita income, long-term unemployment, inequality, poverty, life expectancy, the percentage of the population that enjoys good health, obesity, smoking, the population that has passed at least upper secondary education, the years of waiting for schooling and early school leaving. Both Andalucia and the Canary Island obtain a total score of 17 out of a minimum of 12 points and a maximum of 48. The average of all the Spanish communities is 31 points.Valencia scores 27 points and Murcia 22 points. La Rioja and the Basque Country (43 points), which are the territories with the highest welfare index. DRAMATIC scenes continue to emerge from an ‘unopened’ prison in Archidona, where the Spanish government have been holding hundreds of migrants since mid-November...Amid accusations of the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, batons and riot police on prisoners protesting against a lack of food last week In the UK, Brexit has been dealt a fresh blow after the majority of Britons want now to remain in the European Union, a new poll by BMG Research has revealed......even as an average of 200 cases come before the courts every year, typically costing the taxpayer £4.5 million in compensation payouts and making a mockery of Home Office pledges to deport foreign nationals who commit serious crimes....... most of these compensation claims have their roots in the highly controversial 1998 Human Rights Act which has fuelled an apparently never-ending merry-go-round of ‘unlawful detention’ claims, often pursued by no-win, no-fee solicitors on behalf of immigrants and refugees with criminal records. Scotland Yard will review hundreds of rape, child abuse and sexual assault cases after a second prosecution collapsed because police again sat on texts that proved a suspect's innocence. Specialist counter terrorism police officers arrested three men, aged 22, 36 and 41, at addresses in Sheffield and a 31-year-old man at an address in Chesterfield. Arthur Collins, 25, has been jailed for 20 years. He had hurled corrosive liquid across a club in east London during a tit-for-tat gang war and later branded the crime 'a silly little mistake'. An investigation has found that growing numbers of doctors earn six-figure sums for working overtime on top of their annual salaries. At least 126 received £100,000 last year for extra work. According to a group of Santas...not only are we tarnishing Christmas, but we are seriously damaging our children in the process. The report states the obvious. Children-s demands are now far too excessive.... Soap actor Joe McFadden won Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday night, lifting the Glitterball trophy with his professional partner, Katya Jones......and Sir Mo Farah has been named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2017

The song this week is called "He's Me Mate" and is a song I wrote in the late 70s for Cannon and Ball...they didn't want it so I left it at a local theatre for The Krankies who notified me and said they were going to include it in their act....they ended up performing it on The Childrens Royal Command and other TV programmes.....it wasn't until the mid 90s that I eventually met them as I was on the same show...we became good friends and I have been writing songs for them ever since....more of them later...incidentally Cannon and Ball decided to record Wind Beneath My Wings which was a flop...shame. .I've been up in The Lake District for the past few days....I went walking with my wife in a place called Staveley....I have done this 5 mile circular walk a few times which involves crossing the River Kent at one point...when we get there ...no bridge....it had apparently been washes away in the recent floods....so I decided to take a diversion ...and got lost....we ended up in a small village where I met the nicest bloke in the world....I told him of our predicament and he got his phone out and showed us a map on it....and even offered to give us a lift back....which I politely turned down....he then showed my wife how to get the map on her phone.....then he went into the building we were standing by and brought out a complimentary bottle of beer.....it was his brewery !!!!....the guy was Polish and a pleasure to have met. I'll be taking my grandson to the local panto at The Floral Pavilion in New Brighton next friday....he is three and a half and his mum said she hopes he has enough attention span.....as I've forked out 52 quid he better have !!...even if I have to tie him to the seat....and on the subject of pantomimes The Krankies are in Dick Whittington with John Barrowman in Manchester and it has made the NATIONAL news because ONE person has complained saying it was too rude for children....thousands have seen it but ONE complaint makes the news....very sad....I only hope they don't look into the many songs I wrote for them over the years...for example I wrote a parody on "I'm a Barbie Girl"...called "I'm a Booby Girl" where Janette sings the song as her rubber boobs go bigger and bigger...then there was the Ossie Osbourne Song where she comes on as Ossie and every line of the song has a swear word but Ian has a hooter and hoots it out....bringing the house down...and many more. I don't do gigs anymore but every Christmas I entertain a collection of carers at their annual dinner...which requires me sorting out a set which includes an hour of jokes and singalong songs....as I have done many similar functions over the years I have always kept a file of what I have done and where and the times of the sets....so looking through the files I found an ideal one for this gig...it was for an organisation called "The Irby Gardeners"....in 2012....so I used this one with a few updates on the jokes which went down well and that was that....from there I went on to the school fayre where my son teaches...when I got to the car park I wasn't sure where the fayre was so I asked the only bloke in the car park who was also looking for the function....he looked at me and said "I know your face....you once played for us at the Irby Gardeners".....what are the chances? .... finally....there was a discussion on TV regarding the fact that MOST people couldn't care less about politics or feminism or transgender etc etc....and they were asking women whether they were offended if a bloke held open the door for them etc....NONE of them were which proves the point that the minority have the spotlight....which matters not as no-one takes any notice...including me....I also caught an interview on Radio 2 with Alexander Armstrong promoting his Christmas album which is so bad it isn't worth discussing...I only hope he doesn't perform it at some of the places (continued)

Spain’s security chiefs are well aware that their focus must be on the internet. Spanish authorities are very concerned about the possible effects of fake news stories, bots, and hackers, all of which could influence the campaign and the vote itself. Officers with Catalonia’s regional police force on Monday morning clashed with pro-independence demonstrators who were protesting the transfer of 44 artworks from the region’s Lleida Museum to neighboring Aragon. A new study by the State Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services shows that Catalonia is the region that experienced the deepest cuts to social spending during the economic recession, between 2005 and 2015. Faced with political and social opposition, the Catalan government was forced to backtrack on some of its decisions. The ups and downs of the pro-independence drive have affected the quality of healthcare: the system was first hit by budget cuts enacted by former premier Artur Mas in the middle of the economic crisis; Madrid municipal police officers have begun enforcing controversial new regulations for pedestrians in a popular downtown shopping district.Mayor Manuela Carmena, of the leftist Ahora Madrid coalition, has made two major pedestrian thoroughfares – Preciados street and del Carmen street – into one-way routes over the Christmas holidays. The measures will be in place until January 7 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays during peak times for human traffic in the popular commercial area. ...City officials say that the measure will enhance security and improve mobility in the area. But the initiative has drawn widespread criticism and become an endless source of humor on social media, where comparisons have been drawn to cattle trails and even to the North Korean regime Ryanair Pilots are set to strike over the Christmas period in support of their colleagues based in Germany and Italy. The strike is planned for Wednesday 20th and is pushing for better working conditions. Chris Froome has been asked to explain a possible doping violation during La Vuelta de España. In the UK Britain is facing demands to push back the ‘cut-off date’ for new EU migrants to 2021 in return for a two-year transition deal, it emerged last night. Documents show that EU negotiators plan to issue the demand during the next phase of negotiations in return for the ‘transition deal’ wanted by the Prime Minister. The ultimatum risks infuriating Brexiteers who insist that Brexit should be capitalised on by the Government to regain control of the country’s immigration system. A gang who murdered three young children after pouring fuel down a chimney in Walkden, Greater Manchester, reportedly ran to a nearby house to watch the devastating blaze. Nearly 40 per cent of those receiving jail sentences in 2016 for violent offences – including murder, grievous bodily harm, assault, kidnapping, stalking and harassment – already had 15 or more convictions The North Sea’s most important oil and gas pipeline – carrying 40 per cent of mainland Britain’s crude oil from the North Sea – had to be shut down after cracks were found. As a result, the price of a barrel of Brent crude rose to $65.56 (£49.23), a level not seen since the summer of 2015. Yesterday there was also an explosion at a major gas transfer station in Austria – the main point of entry for Russian gas into Europe. In the wake of the blast, UK gas prices hit their highest level for six years, threatening higher bills this winter.. A burglar alarm advert has sparked fury on Merseyside after showing a man with a Scouse accent trying to break into a London home. In the advert for Ring security services a man, dressed in black, approaches a house before ringing the bell and peering through the window. The homeowner is able to speak to the would-be thief through an app on his phone and when the camera connects he speaks in a Liver(continued)

Essential listening for anyone interested in Liverpool, the Beatles, Merseyside and the way Liverpudlians speak.Vince is joined by the world-famous impressionist Paul Melba.

Essential listening for anyone interested in Liverpool, the Beatles, Merseyside and the way Liverpudlians speak.Vince is joined by the world-famous impressionist Paul Melba.

I love chatting with the legends and I want to share my chat with this soul legend. His hits include 'New Orleans' and 'Quarter to Three'. He proved to be a really nice gentleman. Thank you Gary.

I love chatting with the legends and I want to share my chat with this soul legend. His hits include 'New Orleans' and 'Quarter to Three'. He proved to be a really nice gentleman. Thank you Gary.

Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena made unexpected change of course on Tuesday against the independence leaders and, also, at the beginning of the 21-D electoral campaign. The magistrate has withdrawn the European and international arrest warrants issued against former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and ex-advisors Antonio Comín, Lluís Puig, Meritxell Serret and Clara Ponsatí and has ordered that his decision be communicated to the Belgian authorities so that they can make the collaboration requested by Spain. Llarena, however, maintains the Spanish arrest warrant against Puigdemont and the escaped ex-counsellors, so, according to high court sources, the five will be arrested when they return to Spain. A November 9 meeting between Oriol Soler, a Catalan entrepreneur and publisher who has been one of the leading ideologues of the secessionist movement, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is continuing to make waves in Spain. Language barriers may no longer be a problem thanks to Travis the Translator, a new device capable of translating 80 languages in real time. And with more than 42,500 people around the world forced to flee their homes each day, the device is set to provide much-needed assistance to NGOs that help those affected by the refugee crisis. Over 572 million people speak Spanish worldwide, of which 477 million people are native speakers, according to a new report from the Spanish government’s Cervantes Institute. Spanish native speakers jumped by 5 million between 2016 and 2017. The Manchester bombing might have been stopped and MI5 was investigating the ringleader of the London Bridge terror attack at the time of his rampage, a security review has found. Commuters were left furious today after it was revealed rail fares will rise by more than most people's salaries from next month despite missed punctuality targets. DUP leader Arlene Foster refused to back down in a row over Brexit tonight insisting she was just as 'unequivocal' as Dublin about the terms of the Irish border. In a clear signal there will not be a quick fix as Theresa May scrambles to reassemble a draft deal that was ready for agreement yesterday lunchtime, Mrs Foster said there was 'no way' she could endorse the current version.

This weeks song is entitled "Mersey Moments" and is taken from a DVD I made a while back about my wonderful river.....it describes how no matter where you are in the world if you stand on any harbour wall you think of The Mersey...even if just for a moment....the song is set to shots of the river... some from its banks and some from actually on it. I noticed your Facebook entry about the shop who refused to serve a man in army uniform in case it offended Muslims which was later found to be fake news....this is a perfect example of an attempt to incite hatred and those responsible should be severely dealt with in the courts....which will never happen of course.....the problem with most of our population is they believe what they read which is where the real problem is....at no time in my working life did I ever automatically take newspaper headlines as genuine...or indeed adverts - but as a Trading Standards officer I was in a position whereby i could prosecute for false advertising....but the papers seem to get away scot free with the trash they print....and sadly the sheep go along with it.....we are not born hating other human beings we are taught by parents and the media. It's started....the same old worn out Christmas songs being played over the supermarket speakers...I am SICK of "...all I want for Christmas is you"....or "the bells are ringing' out for Christmas day" by the Irish bloke with no front teeth from The Pogues..etc..etc....IT IS RUBBISH!!...SOMEONE GIVE US SOMETHING NEW PLEASE!!.....the music business has had it...mainly because of greed....all we get now is meaningless songs with endless repetitive lyrics which are instantly forgettable...not to mention the dreadful "swing" albums by the likes of Alexander Armstrong...Bradley Walsh...Nick Knowles and the most recent...Anton Du Beke....for heavens sake.....as I have said recently the only ones making any money out of this tripe is the recording companies because there is always SOMEONE who is daft enough to buy this old hat garbage...fortunately the artists won't make much as the music is past it's sell by date royalty wise.....but sadly they are killing pop music. Still on the music scene we have TV personalities "putting together" albums of their favourite songs...with tracks by the original artists...I just do not get it....not only that... they have their face on the album sleeve....what is the point....they can't sing so clear off....and what I find amusing is the re-intrduction of vinyl....telling us the quality is so much better....which is nonsense as it depends what you play it through....I think the real reason is you can't "illegally" download music on to vinyl as you can with everything else so you have to BUY albums....maybe I'm wrong.....but I don't think so. And finally did you know that a member of The Royal Family has just got engaged?...headline news with all the media creeps speculating over what "might" happen....forget earthquakes and volcanoes erupting and wrecking lives...Harry is engaged to Meghan....as one chap so eloquently put it "I'll switch the BBC News back on after the wedding".....and how much is this event going to cost us?....and let's hope the marriage doesn't go the same way as the collection of other members of the Royal Family whose marriages have gone up in smoke.....we are still waiting for a refund....I think it'll be a long wait.

Spain has been given its worst rating in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, coming in at 41st place out of 176 countries with a score of 58. In 2015 it came in 36th out of 168 countries, with the same score. Thousands took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday to protest violence against women, just as Spain reels from a trial over an alleged gang rape. Many Catalans are growing weary of a pro-independence process that has been dragging on for five years now. A new survey shows that 80% of them want to see a governing team emerge from the December 21 elections that will help heal the wounds created by the politics of division. Forty people were injured after a section of floor at a packed nightclub on Spain's holiday island of Tenerife collapsed on Sunday, sending revellers plunging into the basement, officials said. Pollution is choking Spain’s main cities...... Specialized crews are fighingt the threat posed by Asian wasp nests full- time. The death of a man unleashed an avalanche of distress calls in Galicia In the UK Divorcee Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will marry in church after the Archbishop of Canterbury gave them his blessing.The Most Reverend Justin Welby said yesterday that he was ‘so happy’ they had ‘chosen to make their vows before God’.He had already made clear he had no objections to Miss Markle, who divorced film producer Trevor Engelson in 2013, marrying Harry in a church, and indicated he would be willing to conduct the service if asked. Theresa May's husband's investment bank employer has paid no UK corporation tax in the past eight years, it was revealed today. ........ Despite the huge losses its directors were paid £43million in salaries, pensions and other benefits - but it is not known what Mr May earns. A teenager has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after three children and two men died when a stolen car ploughed into a tree. The 15-year-old wept as he was remanded in custody at Leeds Youth Court on charges of causing the death of five people on Saturday night. The first year of tough new A-level exams has confirmed there is still a big north-south divide in achievement when it comes to England's secondary school education. Ex-Coronation Street star Bruno Langley wept as he avoided jail for grabbing women by the breasts, crotch and bottom during a drunken night out. The actor molested four women at a Manchester music venue last month, but was only charged with sexually assaulting two of them. He wept in the dock today as he avoided jail after admitting both offences. Academics from an anti-Brexit university have portrayed people who voted to leave the EU as 'narcissists' who dislike foreigners.The Goldsmiths College researchers suggested the 17 million people who voted Leave were motivated by xenophobia and were similar to Donald Trump supporters. The findings were based on just 161 leave voters and 345 remain voters paid to participate in an online survey. UK population could hit 70million three years earlier than expected if migration does not fall, according to 'alternative' official estimates. The number of people living in Britain is due to top 70million by mid 2029 under the main forecast.