Spain

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Millionaire Busted Over Alleged 'Harem'

Shoja Shojai accused of holding aspiring models in Spanish mansion: reports

(Newser) - A British millionaire allegedly detained a "harem" of aspiring models in his Spanish mansion, preventing them from leaving as he fathered at least seven children with them. The Iranian-born Shoja Shojai, 56, was arrested in Spain after one woman reported domestic abuse. Investigators found the women in the mansion,...

Spain Cops Bust Guy With 'Cocaine Sandwich'

Ham, cheese, 100g of coke—you know, the usual

(Newser) - In other circumstances, lunch might consist of a sandwich and a Coke, but Spanish police say they have arrested a Colombian national living in a resort town for his variant on the theme—the cocaine sandwich. As Sky News reports, the concoction "contained ham, melted cheese, and nine cylinders...

Virgin Mary Statue Wins Policing Prize, Then Outrage

She doesn't exactly meet the requirements, secularists say

(Newser) - Spain's top policing award this year went not to a heroic police officer but to ... a statue of the Virgin Mary. The country's interior minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, awarded the gold medal of police merit to an icon of the virgin in Málaga because, as...

Spain May Make Its Kids Do Chores

Proposed legislature also includes mandate to 'respect teachers'

(Newser) - Is it a daily battle to get your kids to do their chores? You may want to move to Spain, where parliament on Friday approved a bill that would make children legally obliged to do housework—and more, BBC News reports. If the bill becomes law, those under the age...

Island's Sole Power Sources: Wind, Water

Spain's El Hierro will be completely self-sufficient

(Newser) - El Hierro, the tiniest and most southerly of Spain's Canary Islands, is surrounded by no small amount of volcanic activity , but it's turning to the power of wind- and water-driven energy for 100% of its 10,000 inhabitants' needs. In a move that would make it the world'...

Behold: Hamster-Size Deer Born in Spain

Deer-mouse is super-endangered

(Newser) - This baby makes 43: A tiny, hoofed deer—the world's smallest at about the size of a hamster—has been born in Spain, weighing in at about 4 ounces, reports Phys.org . The deer-mouse, aka "tragulus javanicus," was born April 9 at a nature park and "...

Town Named 'Jew Killer' May Change Its Name

Residents of Castrillo Matajudíos will put it to a vote

(Newser) - Castrillo Matajudíos sounds lovely—unless you speak Spanish. In English, the name of the tiny Spanish village is "Castrillo Jew Killer" or "Castrillo Kill the Jews," depending on the translation. It was so named because Jews were massacred there twice, in 1035 and 1109. Now the...

Spain Shoots Down Barcelona Area's Independence Bid

But region vows to hold it anyway

(Newser) - Spain isn't letting Catalonia pull a Scotland . The Spanish parliament has voted decisively against letting the region, which includes Barcelona, hold a referendum on independence. The vote was 299 to 47, with only the Catalan and Basque parties voting in favor; the major Spanish parties were united against it,...

Ill-Advised Tryst Ends With Woman at Bottom of Well

As her not-terribly-valiant lover flees...

(Newser) - It's tough to imagine an outdoor tryst ending much worse than this: at the bottom of a well, with hypothermia setting in. But firefighters say that's exactly what happened in Ciudad Real, Spain, on Friday night, when a 21-year-old woman and similarly unidentified man decided to have sex...

Now Part of Spain Wants to Break Off—Illegally

Catalonia says it will hold referendum on issue, in face of court ruling

(Newser) - More secessionist rumblings : Catalonia is technically a largely autonomous "community" in northeastern Spain. It would like to be much less than that. The region's parliament last year decided that it would hold a referendum on secession, something it says it fully intends to do on Nov. 9—even...

One Country So Broke, It's Giving Away Villages

Spain gives them away or sells for less than $100K

(Newser) - Want to buy a little vacation house in the Spanish countryside? Thanks to Spain's economic downturn, some buyers have picked up entire villages for as little as zero euros, AFP reports. Thousands of villages have been abandoned across Spain, often by residents seeking city life or better farmland, and...

Don&#39;t Mess With Spain&#39;s Perfect Eating Schedule
Don't Mess With Spain's Perfect Eating Schedule
OPINION
Feb 19, 2014 11:29 AM CST

Don't Mess With Spain's Perfect Eating Schedule

Actually, the US should adopt it, says LV Anderson

(Newser) - In case you hadn't heard, Spain is considering making some pretty radical changes —switching time zones and cutting siestas in order to get onto a more typical 9-to-5 workday schedule—and LV Anderson thinks that's a terrible idea. Consider a typical "Spanish mealtime regimen," she...

Spain Mulls the Unthinkable: Short Siestas, Reset Clocks

Nation considers aligning with its neighbors

(Newser) - In Spain, grappling with economic crisis could require a major cultural shift. Activists are pushing to align the country's schedule with its neighbors, an effort that would require cutting daily siestas—including lunch and a nap—to just an hour. On top of that, the campaigners would turn the...

Spain's Christmas Gift to Its People: $3.4B Lottery

Annual 'El Gordo' holiday lottery rains cash on beleaguered Spaniards

(Newser) - Spain, which has had not a lot to celebrate in the financial realm in recent memory, is basking in the glow of its annual exercise in literally throwing scads of cash to the wind: Yesterday's "El Gordo" lottery saw some $3.4 billion awarded to thousands of winners...

Spain to Restrict Abortions
 Spain to Restrict Abortions 
Dec 21, 2013 6:46 AM CST

Spain to Restrict Abortions

It would be the first EU nation to reverse the trend toward legalization

(Newser) - Spain is poised to defy the trend in Europe and impose tough restrictions on abortion, reports Reuters . Women currently can get an abortion on request during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, but the proposed law would allow the procedure only in the case of rape, serious risk to the...

Man Says He Was Raised by Wolves

Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja says he traded words for growls

(Newser) - A six-year-old boy was taken into the mountains to help a goatherd, but when the man died, the boy was left alone—until a mother wolf nosed some meat his way. So says Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja, now in his late 60s and long back among humans in the Spanish town...

Pianist Faces Jail Over Incessant Practicing

Neighbor says it caused psychological damage

(Newser) - Spanish prosecutors want to send a young pianist to jail for more than seven years after a neighbor accused her of causing psychological damage and noise pollution. The plaintiff—identified only as Sonia B.—claims she suffered from noise contamination between 2003 and 2007 owing to the five-days-a-week, eight-hour...

Spain Busts 25 in Sex Slave Ring: Police

5 victims freed in operation

(Newser) - Spanish police say they've busted a gang of 25 Nigerians who were engaged in human trafficking, Internet fraud, and money laundering. Five women victims of sex slavery were released during the crackdown on the underground operation in Spain, the police say. The gang was using Spain as a springboard...

Americans Read and Math Bad
 Americans Read and Math Bad 
Oct 8, 2013 9:00 AM CDT

Americans Read and Math Bad

New study shows US adults are lagging in crucial skills

(Newser) - You've probably heard that test scores are lagging badly for America's youth, but it turns out they're just chips off the old blocks. A sweeping new study has found that American adults are below-average when it comes to literacy, basic math skills, and "problem-solving in technology-rich...

Mutant Bugs' Task: Destroy Own Species

Fruit flies implanted with gene to halt population

(Newser) - How do you get rid of a population of bugs destroying your crops? Scientists are trying out a controversial method: spreading a gene that prevents females from reproducing. Males can live with the lab-inserted gene, but females die in the larval stage—which doesn't leave a lot of options...

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