Spain

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Smuggler Makes Dishes From Cocaine
Smuggler
Makes Dishes From Cocaine

Smuggler Makes Dishes From Cocaine

42-piece set includes cups, plates, saucers, and 20kg of drugs

(Newser) - Spanish police have seized a 42-piece crockery set—complete with cups, plates, bowls, you name it—that happens to be made entirely of cocaine, the Times of London reports. Police say a smuggler got nabbed trying to sneak the bogus dishware from Venezuela to Catalonia, by way of London. It's...

Rare Lynx Cubs Born in Spain
 Rare Lynx Cubs Born in Spain 

Rare Lynx Cubs Born in Spain

Iberian Lynx is world's most endangered cat

(Newser) - Officials say three endangered Iberian lynx cubs have been born in a nature reserve in southern Spain. The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered cat, and the cubs were part of a breeding program in Andalusia's Donana National Park. The regional environmental department says the cubs born Wednesday bring...

Robot Fish Will Help Battle Pollution
Robot Fish
Will Help
Battle Pollution

Robot Fish Will Help Battle Pollution

High-tech 'carp' find chemical contaminants in Spanish harbor

(Newser) - Robots will soon be patrolling the harbor of Gijon, Spain, and if all goes well, the local sea life won't notice a thing, reports the Financial Times. The pollution-detecting bots cost $30,000 each and are modeled after carp, complete with shiny scales and an undulating swimming motion. "We...

Spanish Teens + $82 Balloon = Stunning Space Pics

(Newser) - A group of Spanish high-school students has successfully sent a balloon and camera package 20 miles above the surface of the Earth, scoring stunning pictures of space, the Telegraph reports—and on a budget of about $82. “We were overwhelmed at our results, especially the photographs,” the team’...

EU Rules Starve Spanish Vultures

(Newser) - Madrid’s regional government hopes to relax EU laws that call for rotting livestock to be removed from fields—a precaution against mad cow disease—because the removal denies carrion-munching vultures a meal, the AP reports. “When a sheep or cow dies in the countryside,” said one ornithologist,...

Winds of Change Could Power Energy Shift

US gets only 1% of power from wind, but that could soon change

(Newser) - Wind turbines only provide 1% of power in the US, but advances by other nations might there's a push to up that number after the advances made by other nations. When storms pound Spain, wind-driven power provides up to a quarter of the nation's supply, driving down the cost of...

Google Earth Sparks Texas Treasure Dispute

(Newser) - A California man who used Google Earth to locate a 19th century Spanish treasure ship is suing for the right to excavate on private land, ABC News reports. Nathan Smith drove to Refugio, Texas, after spotting evidence—what it was isn’t clear—from a satellite photo. The case of...

Obama No 'Superman' for Chicago's Olympic Bid

But rival Madrid wishes Bush were still here

(Newser) - Barack Obama may be the world's darling for the time being, but that doesn't mean his hometown of Chicago is a shoo-in to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, says Spain's sports minister. "He's not Superman," says Jaime Lissavetzky. "I don't think he will be the decider."...

Winds Kill 13 in Spain, France
 Winds Kill 13 in Spain, France  

Winds Kill 13 in Spain, France

(Newser) - High winds in Spain and southern France today killed 13 people, crippled transportation networks, and cut power to more than 1.7 million, Reuters reports. The deaths were caused by flying debris, collapsed walls, and trees pushed over by the wind, which topped 100 mph in some areas. In Barcelona,...

Heirs Ordered to Open Franco's Palace

Spain still coming to terms with repressive past

(Newser) - The heirs of Spain's late dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco, have been ordered to open Franco's summer palace in Galicia to the public. The move is the latest in a series of belated attempts by the Spanish to begin to come to terms with decades of repressive dictatorship that followed the...

World's Oddest New Year Rituals

Grapes, bonfires, effigies are some nations' traditions for a lucky 2009

(Newser) - While much of the world indulges in the traditional New Year's Eve fare of glittery balls and fireworks, other countries have more unusual ways of shepherding in the next year, reports Travel and Leisure. For example: 
  • Spain: Gobbling a grape for each clock stroke is considered a fruity down
...

Spain Probes Guggenheim's 'Troubled' Finances

Fraud, mismanagement, profligacy call Bilbao museum into question

(Newser) - A decade ago the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum put the sleepy Basque city of Bilbao on the international art map. But in recent months the institution has been tarnished by an embezzlement scam, overspending on middling artworks, and a $9.4 million loss in a botched currency deal. Now, reports...

Ballesteros Released From Hospital

Golfer will receive outpatient care after brain tumor surgery

(Newser) - Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros was released from a Madrid hospital today, having undergone several operations on a brain tumor, Reuters reports. The retired legend, a five times major winner, will continue to receive treatment at an outpatient clinic. Since being diagnosed, Ballesteros, 51, has had four operations, including one routine...

Ballesteros Has More Surgery
 Ballesteros Has More Surgery 

Ballesteros Has More Surgery

Golf giant undergoes fourth brain operation

(Newser) - Seve Ballesteros is back in the hospital recovering from a fourth brain surgery, the BBC reports. The golf legend underwent a procedure in Madrid to drain fluid from his brain following the removal of a malignant tumor in October. The operation is an apparent medical setback for Ballesteros, 51, who...

Spain Drops Probe Into Franco Crimes

But plan to dig up mass graves may still go ahead

(Newser) - One of Spain's leading judges terminated an inquiry into atrocities committed during the 1936-1939 civil war and the ensuing dictatorship, ending the country's first criminal investigation into Francisco Franco's regime. The judge dropped the case after government prosecutors questioned his jurisdiction over what the suit called crimes against humanity. But...

Basque Military Chief Nabbed in France

'Txeroki' had hand in ETA violence the past five years, say investigators

(Newser) - A military leader of the Basque separatist organization ETA linked to police murders and the 2006 Madrid airport bomb attack has been busted in France, reports the Times of London. The man, who goes by the nom de guerre of Txeroki, was arrested  in a small town in the Pyrenees....

Spain Rejects Asylum Bid of Osama's Son

He and his British wife made the request from an airport in Madrid

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden's son is not welcome in Spain, even if he has denounced his father's ways. The government today rejected an asylum request from Omar bin Laden, 27, and his British wife, the BBC reports. Omar lives in Egypt and says his life is endangered there because of his...

Osama Son Seeks Asylum in Madrid

Trained operative now rallying for peace

(Newser) - Omar bin Laden—goateed, peacenik son of Osama—is seeking political asylum in Spain, where he and his British wife arrived from Egypt. He's being held at Madrid airport while authorities make a decision, Reuters reports. The al-Qaeda-trained Saudi, 28, made headlines earlier this year when, sporting a leather jacket...

Spanish Judge Begins Probe of Franco Crimes

Magistrate also orders poet Federico García Lorca's body exhumed

(Newser) - A Spanish judge today ordered the grave of poet and playwright Federico García Lorca dug up, and declared 114,000 political killings in the 1930s and later under former dictator General Francisco Franco crimes against humanity, the Guardian reports. The move—part of the first official inquiry into Franco-era...

Spain's Debt Solution: Shame Delinquents Into Paying

Debt collectors aim to embarrass by arriving in lavish costume

(Newser) - As personal debt grows in Spain, debt-collectors are taking the trick-or-treat approach, donning costumes—tuxes, bagpipers’ gear, Pink Panther suits—and knocking on doors. If all goes as planned, neighbors take note and the debtor is embarrassed into paying, the Wall Street Journal reports. “The idea is to make...

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