Oasis Fm – Tenerife's official British radio station

Local News Round Up - 08.08.2008
Look at what else made the news this week Cocaine Currency Recent reports show that Spanish bank notes contain the highest concentrations of cocaine in Europe, according to a study made public last Thursday. Randomly selected Spanish euro notes contained traces of cocaine at an average concentration of 155 microgrammes, according to the study by Valencia University made public in the magazine Trends in Analytical Chemistry. Cocaine was found not only on notes that had been in direct contact with the drug, but on nearly all notes in circulation, said Miguel de la Guardia, co-author of the study. He attributed the phenomenon to cross-contamination between bank notes, as well as in money-counting machines in banks. In the United States, which has the most contaminated bank notes in the world, dollar bills containing more than 1,300 microgrammes of cocaine have been registered. Researchers attribute the contamination of the Spanish euro bills and the US dollars to the high cocaine consumption in the two countries. Spain is regarded as the gateway of Latin American cocaine into Europe, with about 40 percent of all European cocaine hauls made there in 2006. Immigrant Typhoid Fear The Spanish Police Confederation (CEP) have reported that "at least eight sub-Saharans" from Hoya Fria, Intern Center for Foreigners (ICD) have been transferred to the Hospital de La Candelaria. The cause of hospital admission is that "showed symptoms of infectious-contagious disease." The eight patients were passengers of an illegal boat carrying around 45 immigrants which arrived in Tenerife last week. The remaining passengers have been isolated to prevent further infection. The National Police have complained that, "The policemen have not been informed of possible diseases or the health risks to which they could be exposed," Despite the isolation, agents of the National Police who have come into contact with these immigrants, only have "gloves and masks," explained the Spanish Police Confederation from Tenerife. It is thought that six of the eight immigrants admitted to the Hospital de La Candelaria are suffering from "typhoid". Since the case Health Ministry has carried out a reinforcement of the sanitary-hygienic measures in detention facilities to prevent further cases of typhoid fever, a disease closely linked to poor hygiene. Typhoid is a bacterial infection characterised by diarrhea, a rash, most commonly caused by bacteria. The bacterium is spread through food, drink contaminated water and, therefore, in principle, neither the Police nor the Canary Island population would be in danger. Changes to Spanish Abortion Law Reforming the current abortion law is being treated with extreme caution by the Spanish government. Reformation of the abortion law would mean that women would be allowed to terminate their pregnancies in the first trimester. The government wants to make is possible for women to undergo an abortion for any reason within the first trimester, doing away with widely abused rules that make abortion legal only in cases of rape, malformation of the foetus or if there is a risk of physical or psychological harm to the mother. Instead of following the more common route of drafting legislation and presenting it to Congress, the Socialist administration has unveiled plans to set up a cross-party congressional commission to hear arguments from lawmakers, doctors and experts about how Spain's 23-year-old abortion regulations should be changed to reflect the needs and attitudes of modern society. The government's aim appears to be to try to bring conservative lawmakers in on the initiative early in order to avoid opposition further down the road. It also wants to prevent all late-term abortions - beyond six months - except in cases where the mother's life is at risk. More than 100,000 abortions are performed in Spain each year with the risk of psychological problems for the mother being cited as the reason in the vast majority of cases. Adeje Pilgrimage to Candelaria The municipality of Adeje Celebrations invites all neighbours to participate in the pilgrimage Adeje-Candelaria to be held in the next few days 13 and August 14. The path of the pilgrimage will begin in Adeje August 13, at 07:00 hours, will continue to Boca Tauce, pipes and Forestry Arafo to arrive at Candelaria twenty-four hours later. For this reason it is recommended to prepare for the crossing using comfortable shoes, reflective vest, water and food. Los Those who want to join should address the cultural centre of Adeje or communicate via telephone 922 756 246. San Miguel The Heritage Area of the municipality of San Miguel de Abona, attached to the Department of Culture, is working on a draft inventory and cataloging traditional pottery of the town. The purpose of this study is to inventory and categorize those pieces of pottery, such as funds, edges, or vice handles all kinds of pieces have been recovered in that area over the past five years, in different parts of the region, especially in areas of San Miguel de Abona as the source Tamaide, La Hoya or El Fronton. Summer Movies Thursday 14^th August in El Fronton beginning at 9pm. Concerts and workshops for children The Social and Cultural Work of CajaCanarias organizes the coming days various socio-cultural activities aimed primarily at children in the south of Tenerife, which will take place on Thursdays and Fridays in the municipalities of Adeje and Granadilla. These proposals, which include concerts and various workshops, is part of the programme to the financial institution develops traveling by way of different localities, in collaboration with local councils. Adeje Fañabé and La Caleta The Cabildo had completed its work of ‘beautification’ to the link to the TF-1 Fañabé and access to La Caleta, in the municipality of Adeje. The activity, which has enjoyed a budget of 617,000 euros has made it a more scenic route for the large influx of tourists and traffic to the area of Costa Adeje. Mexico's Calderon dumps economy minister President Felipe Calderon announced last Wednesday that he was replacing Economy Secretary Eduardo Sojo as part of efforts to cope with the impact on Mexico of soaring global food prices. Among the challenges that the new secretary, Gerardo Ruiz, will have will be improving the competitiveness of Mexican products and increasing foreign investment. In a ceremony held at the Los Pinos presidential residence, Calderon made the suprise Cabinet replacement, the fourth since he came to power 20 months ago. There had been no prior rumors that Sojo might be on the way out. Ruiz, who has been serving as Calderon's chief of staff, will have as his main task "supporting the economy of Mexican families at all times, especially in the face of the international rise in food prices," the rightist head of state said. "I have included him so that he may dialogue with businessmen and marketers with the aim of designing strategies and accords that allow us to keep basic products stable" in price, said the president. Another of Ruiz's rasks will be to promote investment "with the objective of dynamizing economic activity and generating jobs that Mexicans need," Calderon said, as well as expanding programs to support micro, small and medium-sized firms, "which are the main creators of jobs in the country." Calderon, who has proposed that Sojo become the new president of the National Statistics, Geography and Information Institute, emphasized the work of the outgoing economy secretary in promoting investment. He recalled that in 2007 Mexico registered "the second-highest figure in history" in that sector, $23.23 billion. According to Mexico's central bank, the rate of annualized inflation in June was 5.26 percent. It is estimated that in the first half of the year the gross domestic product grew 2.8 percent. Physical and Mental Domestic Abuse According to the data from the Canarian Institute of Women of the 8,894 women who complained about their partner or former partner in domestic violence over the past year, 880 withdrew their complaint. Nevertheless, the experts considered a good figure, since years ago is coming to withdraw nearly half the charges. Of the 8,894 women who filed complaints judged solely on Gender Violence in the archipelago over the past year, only 880 withdrew them, i.e. 9.9% of the total, according to data of the Institute of Women Canario (ITC) published in its report on incidents of gender violence in the Canary Islands. This perentage is very similar to the national average which stands at 10.09%, which the Sub-delegation of Government greatly appreciates, as "Canaries is usually a leader in the number of complaints and the number of victims, quite over which represents the national average, so anything that involves approaching the national average in the archipelago is synonymous with an improving situation." "The danger to withdraw the complaints is that women are left unprotected," said the secretary for Social Policy of the Socialist Party, Marián Franquet. In this sense, it is worth noting that the report on the Impact of Gender Violence in Canary developed by ITC reflected that 2,073 women won a protective order after a complaint brought against their partners or former partners, which means that was granted to more than 74% of women who so requested. However, although the figure is considered positive it should be noted that "for us when women decide to withdraw the charges they have filed against their abusers it is a failure, and that further work is needed to sensitize women that if they want to be more independent socially and psychologically, "says an official of the Civil Guard in charge of escorting hundreds of women with protection orders in the north of Tenerife. Major causes As to the reason why a woman decides to withdraw the complaint against someone who has abused physically or psychologically is a very studied by experts on gender violence and agree on what is called "second honeymoon". After a violent episode comes repentance by the aggressor and thus unleashes emotions on the victim, assuring that it will not happen again. Finally comes the reconciliation, which lasts until returning to a new aggression. It was at the time of reconciliation when most women choose to remove the allegations and to demonstrate its willingness to fix things, "explains Franquet. If there is sufficient evidence of physical or psychological abuse this carries a jail sentence. Immigrant Numbers Fall A dugout with 60 immigrants on board was intercepted 102 miles south of the Canaries coasts. The immigrants were spotted by a rescue plane, Relief and Rescue (SAR) and another Marine Rescue. According to confirmed sources, the ship accompanied the barge until it enters into the Port of Los Cristianos between 17:00 and 21:00 hours. Where, immigrants were attended by members of the Red Cross. Also, more than 100 African migrants were being held at a detention centre in Motril, Granada, last Wednesday night after two boats turned up on the shores of the southern province in less than 24 hours. The flood of immigrants, who apparently set off from northern Morocco, exceeded the capacity of Motril's immigrant detention centre, and around 70 are waiting to be moved to Algeciras. Among them are several minors and six babies accompanied by their mothers. Since the start of the year, 582 migrants have been intercepted attempting to reach the Spanish coast at Granada, though nationwide the number of migrants caught trying to enter the country illegally has declined slightly from 2007. "We expect the numbers to be reasonable in terms of the number of migrants intercepted," Consuelo Rumí, the secretary of state for immigration, said. In the first six months, the number of migrants caught entering Spain clandestinely fell 7 percent compared to the same period of 2007 and was down 50 percent compared to 2006.