International news

Three European countries, Spain, Germany and France were in mourning this week after the co pilot of a Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf deliberately crashed his plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. it has emerged that the co pilot, 28 year old Andreas Lubitz had received psychiatric treatment for serious depression. Many airlines have brought in new safety measures following the disaster.

  

International news:

The ebola crisis continues to spread and President Barack Obama this week called an emergency cabinet meeting after a second health care worker in the United States was diagnosed with the virus. The President has warned that the world must step up its response to the deadly disease which first broke out in west Africa this summer. Almost 4,000 people have died from ebola and cases have been reported in the US, Spain and Australia.

In sports news:

Spain crashed to a shock defeat in this week’s World Cup qualifiers when they were beaten 2 - 1 by Slovakia last night. It was first time in seven years that Spain failed to win an away qualifier. 

Meanwhile Gibraltar will take on Ireland in Dublin tomorrow  in the first of their qualifying games.

And now some news in brief:

August ended with a bad week on the roads. Twenty seven people were injured in multiple crashes but there were no fatalities. Ten of those hurt in the accidents were children or young people. Many of the accidents were due to the high level of traffic on the roads at the end of the month.

SPAIN IN MOURNING AFTER EIGHTY DIE IN TRAIN DISASTER

Spain is in mourning after at least 80 people were killed in one of the country's worst ever rail disasters. The high speed train derialed close to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia on Wednesday night. At least 80 people were killed and almost two hundred injured in the disaster. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Santiago, visited the scene and expressed his sorrow at the scale of the tragedy. Amubulance workers and firefighters suspended industrial action to help in the rescue efforts. Three days of official mourning have been declared in memory of the dead. Official investigations are focussing on the speed the train was travelling when the derailment occurred.

THE TOUR OF SPAIN WILL PASS THROUGH CASARES NEXT MONTH

The Tour of Spain cycling event will pass through Casares during its eighth stage on August 31st.  The stage will start at Jimena de la Frontera and pass through Cortes and Gaucin before finishing at the top of Penas Blancas in Estepona, a distance of 170 kilometres. The town council believes that the Tour offers great opportunites for tourism in Casares, and will showcase the white villages and the coast. It will also promote lodging and catering facilities for visitors following the tour. 

SPAIN’S UNEMPLOYMENT HITS A RECORD HIGH OF OVER 27 PER CENT

Spain’s unemployment rate has hit a record all time high of 27.2 per cent of the workforce in the first quarter of this year. This is the highest figure since records began in the mid 1970’s. There are now 6.2 million people out of work.  The jobless rate stood at 7.9 per cent in 2007, but the collapse of the property boom and the economic crisis which began in 2008 has seen the number out of work rising relentlessly since then. Today Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is to outline his government’s plans aimed at halting the recession in the Eurozone’s fourth largest economy. But opponents of austerity are planning major demonstrations in Madrid and other centres. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that the unemployment rate would peak at 27 per cent this year.