Just when you thought the Thunderbirds were a distant childhood memory, The Yellow Submarine rolls into town!

For five days only, Thunderbird 4 will be coming to Spain in a wacky car rally in aid of children’s charity Clic Sargent.

The vehicle was created by three Thunderbird fans from Manchester, who converted a 300 euro Fiat Marea into the aptly named Thunderbanger.

Friends Keith Huntington, Mike McCartan and Shaun Bridgeman took 12 weeks to build the replica out of scrap pipes, tubing and plastic panels from building sites.

Huntington, 44, said: “’It took us quite a few weekends but it was worth it to see the look on people’s faces when we have taken it on test runs.”

The Yellow Submarine will join more than 100 modified cars on the 2,500 mile trip to Barcelona and the trio hope to raise 5000 euros for charity.

via Thunderbirds are Go (ing to Spain) | Olive Press Newspaper.

Spain has designed the world´s first robot with its own “conscience” and “life”, which will “entertain, teach and be a companion” to humans who purchase it.

The AISoy 1, which will go on sale in August, is the first social android developed by Spanish firm AISoy Robotics, which is now bringing its creation out of the laboratory.

“It almost seems like science fiction, but it´s a reality,” said Diego Garcia, one of the “fathers” of the robot and head of AISoy´s product engineering and development division.

AISoy 1 was conceived to entertain and provide company to the user, but its main objective is “to live,” just like any other being that “senses, has emotions and makes decisions”.

At 25 cm in height and weighing 1.5 kg, the robot “is almost a living being. It has the same activity as a living being, it has its own autonomy and conscience”, he said.

It also has a series of “basic needs, like nourishment and security, and other more advanced ones, like love, recognition, freedom and, above all, enjoying itself and getting along well”.

In contrast to the available robots developed till date, its makeup does not consist of “a collection of limited actions or programmed responses. It´s dynamic, it has its own life and, at times, it´s unpredictable,” said AISoy 1´s designer.

The robot is capable of learning from experience and modifying “its behaviour, values and actions it can undertake at specific times,” he said.

“If you take two AISoy 1´s and leave them in two different families, within two months they will be totally different because they will have had different experiences,” said Garcia.

Starting August, any family will be able to buy the robot, which is in the final phases of production, and it will be sold via the AISoy 1 website.

Although the price of the domestic robot has not yet been made public, the firm says that it will be “less costly” than alternative prototypes developed by other firms.

via The world’s first robot with conscience-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times.

Unemployment in Spain has risen for the 12th quarter in a row to reach 20.09 per cent or 4.6 million people.

The Spanish economy moved out of recession at the start of the year, but the weak growth failed to put people back in work.

Economists believe that country will slip back into recession in the second half of the year as people loose faith in the banking sector and austerity measures kick in as Spain wrestles with its massive public debt.

The Spanish government is saddled with the third-largest budget deficit in the euro zone.

According to the figures jobs are being lost across all Spain’s major sectors including construction, the service industry and tourism.

Trade unions have called for a general strike at the end of September to protest against budget cuts.

via 4.6 million jobless in Spain with more to come – Unemployment : news, world | euronews.

A Dublin father-of-two was gunned down in Spain because of a row over a toilet.

Dad John´Jock´O´Neill (41) was murdered after a bust up in a bar on the Costa del Sol.

It is believed an argument started in the toilets of Coco´s pub when a British man began banging on the door of a locked cubicle.

The spat spiralled when the man confronted a group of holiday makers from Dublin in the Benalmadena bar — and was ejected from the premises.

Tragically, Mr O´Neill tried to act as a peacemaker as the man verbally abused the Irish group.

The man returned with a gun and fired five shots, hitting Mr O´Neill in the back as his distraught girlfriend Maxine looked on.

The victim, from Coolock in Dublin, staggered from the bar and collapsed at a bus stop 50 yards away.

The group of Dubliners were in the popular tourist area ahead of a wedding this Saturday. It is believed children in the bar may also have witnessed the shooting.

Police who are now hunting for the British gunman and have raided the suspect´s home, which is in the wider Benalmadena area.

The suspect, who is understood to have criminal convictions in the UK, is now believed to be on the run.

Further details of the shocking killing emerged today.

The gunman was thrown out of the bar by security staff who warned him that “there&´s 30 of them and one of you, so do yourself a favour and go home.”

But the gunman returned to Coco´s Bar in Benalmadena, on the Costa del Sol, at 3am local time yesterday, and opened fire, shooting at least five bullets from a 38-calibre revolver as terrified drinkers dived for cover.

Plasterer O´Neill, a father of two from Bunratty Drive, Coolock, was hit in the back as he ran for the exit.

His distraught girlfriend, Maxine, suffered a panic attack as she watched paramedics battle in vain to save her loved one.

Mr O´Neill, who was at the bar with his girlfriend and others from the wedding party, died in a pool of blood by the bus stop as his friends desperately tried to get him to a hospital.

Paramedics battled to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

John O´Neill´s girlfriend and their two children were being comforted by friends this morning.

Mr O´Neill´s only involvement in the toilet cubicle row which preceded the shooting was to try to defuse the situation, it is understood.

O´Neill´s girlfriend gave a description of the gunman to the Spanish authorities who are now hunting down the killer.

Mr O´Neill, whose children are a boy aged three and a girl aged nine months, has never been in trouble with the garda and was a popular figure among his friends and neighbours.

Spanish authorities have ruled out any suggestion that the death was gang-related.

A cloud has now descended on the wedding party, who were preparing for what should have been the happiest days in the life of one of John´s close friends.

The celebration was due to take place this Saturday but the tragic events of yesterday morning have thrown the event into doubt.

A post-mortem will be carried out today at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Malaga.

The murder is being investigated by officers from the Specialist Violent Crime unit of the National Police in nearby Torremolinos.

They believe they have identified the killer, who is thought to be from Liverpool.

The initial indications were that Mr O´Neill died “as a result of a row that went too far” although “all lines of investigation were being pursued at present,” Chief Inspector Pedro Parrilla said.

One local said Mr O´Neill had been shot in the back and the gunman then fired more shots at the pub before making his getaway.

Eyewitness Luis Solero said: “I saw a man running off with blood stains on his shirt.

“He jumped over a fence and ran in the direction of the marina. He was still carrying the pistol in his hands.”

Coco´s is a large bar, popular with tourists and expats, and has a terrace offering spectacular views over the Mediterranean.

It has seating for 188 people, two pool tables and 10 plasma screen TVs.

Locals in Coolock yesterday described Mr O´Neill as “the best neighbour anyone could have wanted”.

Last night the O´Neill family, including his brother David and sister Sharon, gathered at the family home to come to terms with their loss. Family members declined to comment today.

via Dublin father shot dead in Spain ‘over toilet row’ – Republic of Ireland, Local & National – Belfasttelegraph.co.uk.

Spain has reopened an investigation into the death of a journalist killed in Iraq in 2003 and reissued arrest warrants for three US soldiers in relation to the incident.

According to the Associated Press, Spanish cameraman Jose Couso was killed by tank fire after US soldiers responded “to what they said was hostile fire” from a hotel in Baghdad where journalists were staying during the invasion of Iraq.

Journalist freedom campaigners have welcomed the decision, which follows a ruling by the supreme court to reopen the case following an appeal by the Couso´s family. The case had been been dismissed on two previous occasions.

Another journalist, Reuters reporter Taras Protsyuk, from the Ukraine, was also killed by the tank shelling at the Palestine Hotel on 8 April 2003.

A US review into the incident reportedly found the use of force was justified. But a Madrid judge has now reissued warrants for three soldiers – named as Sgt. Thomas Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp – in relation to the incident. Campaigners today urged the US authorities to respond to the requests.

Reporters without Borders said a new investigation would help to finally give the journalist´s family the truth about what happened.

“We welcome the supreme court decision that relaunched the investigation into Couso's death,” the group said in a release. “It is high time the case emerged from the judicial labyrinth in which it has been lost for years. If Sgt. Thomas Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp were questioned in court, it could shed light on the unanswered questions surrounding this case.”

“We urge the US authorities to respect the request being made by the Spanish court and the Couso family. After a seven-year wait, the family's need to know the truth about his death is greater than ever.”

via Spain issues arrest warrants for US soldiers over journalist’s death.

Spain woke up with alerts yesterday that temperatures would be over 40 Celsius degree in 12 of the country´s provinces.

In addition, forecasters said, high temperatures are going to be increasingly common in the future.

The Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) predicted in a report that maximum temperatures over the period 2071-2100 will rise between 3 and 6 degrees compared with those between 1961-1991.

The findings also show that minimum temperatures will increase by between 2 and 5 degrees.

Spain can also expect a decrease in rainfall. The first half of this century will not see any significant changes, but there will be less rain in Spain between 2050 and 2100, with a decrease of between 15 to 30 percent in the last decade of the century.

The tendency for temperatures to rise in Spain began in the 1980s.

Secretary of State of Climate Change Teresa Ribera warned that the country has to act now to prepare for the climate change.

“We have to start from global climactic models adapted for the individual characteristics of our country,” she said.

The president of the AEMET, Ricardo Garcia Herrera, said the changes don't mean that Spain is going to become to a desert climate, “rather that we are going to a climate with less precipitation and higher temperatures.”

“This is not irreversible if we are able to lower our emission of CO2,” he said.

via Higher temperature, less precipitation predicted in Spain.

Prices in Spain are rising faster than at any time in the past year and a half, according to figures published Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The figures show Spain´s inflation rate for June stood at 1.9 percent, 0.4 percent higher than 12 months ago and the highest in the last 18 months.

INE attributed the increase mainly to the prices of food, non-alcoholic drinks and organized travel, which usually rises at this time with the holiday season in full swing.

High fuel costs took the Harmonized Consumer Price Index to a record high of 5.3 percent in June 2008, but that was the moment when prices began to decline. Spain witnessed an inflation rate of 2.4 percent in November 2008, the highest level registered until the prior month.

via Inflation in Spain at highest point in 18 months.

Spanish telecom firm Telefonica has agreed to buy Portugal Telecom´s (PT) stake in Brazilian mobile company Vivo, ending weeks of strained negotiations.

No figure for the deal was announced, but reports say the Spanish company will pay 7.5bn euros ($9.8bn; £6.3bn).

Earlier this month, Telefonica said it had pulled out of a 7.15bn-euro bid to buy PT out of Vivo.

The bid had been accepted by PT shareholders, but was blocked by the Portuguese government.

However, the European Court of Justice overruled the government´s objections to the deal on the basis that they broke rules on the free movement of capital.

Telefonica is keen to expand in the fast-growing Latin American market, and sees taking control of Vivo, Brazil´s largest mobile phone company, as a key element in this strategy.

via BBC News – Telefonica agrees Vivo deal with Portugal Telecom.

Catalonia´s parliament in Barcelona voted to ban bullfighting today in the first such prohibition in mainland Spain.

Regional lawmakers voted 68 to 55 for the ban, the speaker of the assembly said.

The bill was the result of a popular initiative backed by 180,000 signatures, according to the Prou platform behind the initial campaign. Toreros have fought half-ton bulls to the death in public arenas for centuries, inspiring writers including Ernest Hemingway.

Opposition to the tradition has been growing in recent years, with a third of Spaniards favoring a bullfight ban, rising to a majority among those aged 18 to 29, according to a poll for El Mundo  newspaper in 2007.

The number of bulls taken on in 2009 fell to 4,436 from 6,396 in 2003, according to data from the interior ministry.

Catalans are less interested in bullfighting than many of their compatriots as 106 bulls faced the matador´s sword in the region last year, compared with more than 1,000 in Andalucia and almost 800 in Madrid.

The vote comes as Catalonia is battling Spanish institutions over its identity and two weeks after tens of thousands of people marched in Barcelona for the right to call the autonomous region a nation.

“The reality, and you know it, is that for some political groups it's not about animal protection,” Albert Rivera, of the Mixed Group said in the parliamentary debate before the vote. “You want to eliminate everything that reminds us that Catalonia forms part of Spain.”

Supporters of the bill say it´s not part of Catalonia´s bid for greater autonomy.

Josep Rull, a regional lawmaker for Convergencia i Unio, said the law is about ending cruelty to animals and would make Catalonia more European than the rest of Spain. CiU allowed its lawmakers to decide individually how to vote.

“As a nation we will take a step forward and that gives us a certain pride,” he said. “A majority in Catalonia has values that are shared with the rest of Europe.”

The Canary Islands banned bullfighting in 1991 as part of a wider law that aimed to protect domestic animals, singling out a ban on dog fights and the phasing out of cock fights.

via Catalonia votes to ban bullfighting – The Irish Times – Wed, Jul 28, 2010.

Spain´s socialist government has fined the Intereconomia television network 100,000 euros for running a series of advertisements that it claims “attacks the dignity” of homosexuals.

The spots, which are self-promotional advertisements by the group Intereconomia, show scenes of outlandishly and scantily dressed participants in “gay pride” marches making sexually suggestive gestures to the camera and denouncing religious belief.  The scenes, which are typical of such “pride” events, are so lewd that Google requires viewers to state that they are at least 18 years of age before showing the YouTube version.

In one of the ads, the images are interposed with a series of questions, including “is this the society that you want?” and whether or not the viewer would like to “support this with public money?” It ends with the question: “Proud? Of what?”

Another shows a series of photographs of homosexual activists followed by photos depicting families and children, and concludes, “One day of gay pride, 364 days of pride for normal, everyday people.”  The spots reportedly ran 273 times between July 22 and September 17, 2009 on the network.

Following a complaint filed with the Ministry of Industry in January of this year, the ad was deemed unacceptable by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, a socialist regime that has established homosexual “marriage” in the country and strongly favors the gay political agenda. The fine was announced on June 2.

The Zapatero administration´s swipe against Intereconomia may also be political payback against the network, which has been a constant thorn in the side of Spain´s socialists.

Intereconomia´s promotional ads regularly attack Zapatero and socialism.  One ad begins by noting that “socialists have never ceased to kill,” after which it shows a series of socialist dictators, including Stalin, Hitler, and Mao Tse Tung, and the corresponding death toll associated with each one.  It then displays the face of Prime Minister Zapatero and says “Spanish Socialism, 100,000 deaths per year – before birth.”

Intereconomia has issued an official response to the fine, saying, “In analyzing the fine imposed on Intereconomia by the Ministry of Industry for a publicity campaign in defense of the family, it is fitting to remember that in Spain we did not construct a democracy for the purpose of having thought police.”

“Spaniards and their media have the right to point out the meddling of the government in public morals,” says the statement. “Even more when this meddling has been done, as in the case of gay marriage, in disobedience to the social consensus current in the immense majority of developed countries, and with the support of institutions like the Tribunal of Strasburg.”

“If the minority ´gay lobby´ can exercise its traditional political activism, it is legitimate to give voice to criticisms,” the network writes, adding that such criticisms are “based on anthropology, science, and the very complexity of reality.”

Although the fine is a significant one, the Collective of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals of Madrid (COGAM) has said that it isn´t enough.

The organization said that homosexuals in Spain are a “very vulnerable,” and demanded “that this network be shut down as quickly as possible, changing the laws in effect if that is necessary.”

via Spanish Television Network Fined €100,000 for Criticizing Homosexuality.