Why only you can choose the perfect perfume

 

Scientists have discovered why we all have so much trouble buying the ideal fragrance for a love-one. According to new research, we are all drawn to perfumes that complement our own natural smells, making it near impossible to second-guess the right scent for a partner. Findings to be presented at a conference in London next week show that when people chose their own fragrance they become much more attractive to the opposite sex. Dr Jan Havlicek, a smells expert based at Charles University in Prague, says that perfume is rarely chosen to mask our natural body odour and instead we all chose the fragrance which work best with our own smell. He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'Perfumes have been used by people for thousands of years and the prevailing view has been that this was to mask our natural body odour to make us smell more attractive. 'In fact, what we have found is there is a strong individual interaction between perfume and body odour. People choose fragrances to complement their own odour. It is probably why buying perfume as a gift is so difficult and why they end up lying in the bathroom not being used.'

Why only you can choose the perfect perfume

 

Scientists have discovered why we all have so much trouble buying the ideal fragrance for a love-one. According to new research, we are all drawn to perfumes that complement our own natural smells, making it near impossible to second-guess the right scent for a partner. Findings to be presented at a conference in London next week show that when people chose their own fragrance they become much more attractive to the opposite sex. Dr Jan Havlicek, a smells expert based at Charles University in Prague, says that perfume is rarely chosen to mask our natural body odour and instead we all chose the fragrance which work best with our own smell. He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'Perfumes have been used by people for thousands of years and the prevailing view has been that this was to mask our natural body odour to make us smell more attractive. 'In fact, what we have found is there is a strong individual interaction between perfume and body odour. People choose fragrances to complement their own odour. It is probably why buying perfume as a gift is so difficult and why they end up lying in the bathroom not being used.'

Tanning beds may be even riskier than thought

 

New research published online Oct. 6 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology suggests that the main type of ultraviolet rays used in tanning beds -- UVA1 -- may penetrate to a deep layer of skin that is most vulnerable to the cancer-causing changes caused by UV rays. The new study comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers banning the use of tanning beds among children under 18. The American Academy of Pediatrics is on record that it supports such a ban. In the study, 12 volunteers were exposed to UVA1 and UVB rays on their buttocks. (One difference in the waves is length: UVB waves are shorter.) The UVA1 was more damaging to the skin's basal layer then the UVB light. The UVA1 induced a type of lesion called thymine dimers on the deeper basal layers of the skin. UVB radiation caused more of these lesions, but they did not go as deep, and thus may be less likely to cause the changes linked to skin cancers. "The doses we used were comparable for erythema -- sunburn -- for UVA and UVB. That would be roughly equivalent to the doses needed for tanning in each spectrum," said study co-author Antony R. Young, a professor at the St. John's Institute of Dermatology at King's College School of Medicine in London. "Indoor tanning is like smoking for your skin," said Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "It's the single worst thing you can do in terms of skin cancer and premature aging." Many indoor tanning salons advertise that tanning beds can help boost the body's production of vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin because skin makes it when exposed to the sun's rays. "This is nonsense and an excuse," Day said. "We know people burn in tanning beds and that UVA and UVB are toxic." Teens are particularly vulnerable, she said. "They are immortal in their mind, and skin cancer and aging seem a long ways away." Melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer, "is not an old person's disease," she said. The new study provides "a little bit more muscle in helping to warn people about the dangers of tanning, but an FDA ban is what we need," she added. "I do think there should be legislation on sunbed use under 18 years of age," said Young, who added that such use is already prohibited in England. John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group representing the industry, said that if there was science to back up many of these claims, the FDA would have acted by now. The agency has been mulling these claims since March 2010, he noted. What's more, the new study is about ultraviolet radiation, not tanning beds, he said. "Tanning beds have the same ratio of UV waves as the sun. UVA-1 is the primary wave length emitted by the sun, too," he said. "The sun and indoor tanning pose the same risks and benefits if you don't burn. There is no science that shows non-burning exposure to sun or a sun lamp causes cancer."

Tanning beds may be even riskier than thought

 

New research published online Oct. 6 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology suggests that the main type of ultraviolet rays used in tanning beds -- UVA1 -- may penetrate to a deep layer of skin that is most vulnerable to the cancer-causing changes caused by UV rays. The new study comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers banning the use of tanning beds among children under 18. The American Academy of Pediatrics is on record that it supports such a ban. In the study, 12 volunteers were exposed to UVA1 and UVB rays on their buttocks. (One difference in the waves is length: UVB waves are shorter.) The UVA1 was more damaging to the skin's basal layer then the UVB light. The UVA1 induced a type of lesion called thymine dimers on the deeper basal layers of the skin. UVB radiation caused more of these lesions, but they did not go as deep, and thus may be less likely to cause the changes linked to skin cancers. "The doses we used were comparable for erythema -- sunburn -- for UVA and UVB. That would be roughly equivalent to the doses needed for tanning in each spectrum," said study co-author Antony R. Young, a professor at the St. John's Institute of Dermatology at King's College School of Medicine in London. "Indoor tanning is like smoking for your skin," said Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "It's the single worst thing you can do in terms of skin cancer and premature aging." Many indoor tanning salons advertise that tanning beds can help boost the body's production of vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin because skin makes it when exposed to the sun's rays. "This is nonsense and an excuse," Day said. "We know people burn in tanning beds and that UVA and UVB are toxic." Teens are particularly vulnerable, she said. "They are immortal in their mind, and skin cancer and aging seem a long ways away." Melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer, "is not an old person's disease," she said. The new study provides "a little bit more muscle in helping to warn people about the dangers of tanning, but an FDA ban is what we need," she added. "I do think there should be legislation on sunbed use under 18 years of age," said Young, who added that such use is already prohibited in England. John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group representing the industry, said that if there was science to back up many of these claims, the FDA would have acted by now. The agency has been mulling these claims since March 2010, he noted. What's more, the new study is about ultraviolet radiation, not tanning beds, he said. "Tanning beds have the same ratio of UV waves as the sun. UVA-1 is the primary wave length emitted by the sun, too," he said. "The sun and indoor tanning pose the same risks and benefits if you don't burn. There is no science that shows non-burning exposure to sun or a sun lamp causes cancer."

Legionnaires' disease caught by holidaymakers

 

Nine Britons have been struck down by ­Legionnaires’ disease after visiting Corfu. The Health Protection Agency is investigating after the tourists to the Greek island, aged from 39 to 79, fell ill since August. However, the HPA said the possibility of a UK-source had not been ruled out.Flu-like symptoms of the disease can lead to severe pneumonia or even death. It is treated with antibiotics. Legionnaires’ can be spread through water droplets from taps or air conditioning but not from person-to-person. Professor Nick Phin, of the HPA, said: “People travelling to Corfu should be aware of this potential risk, however we are not suggesting they change their holiday plans.”

Legionnaires' disease caught by holidaymakers

 

Nine Britons have been struck down by ­Legionnaires’ disease after visiting Corfu. The Health Protection Agency is investigating after the tourists to the Greek island, aged from 39 to 79, fell ill since August. However, the HPA said the possibility of a UK-source had not been ruled out.Flu-like symptoms of the disease can lead to severe pneumonia or even death. It is treated with antibiotics. Legionnaires’ can be spread through water droplets from taps or air conditioning but not from person-to-person. Professor Nick Phin, of the HPA, said: “People travelling to Corfu should be aware of this potential risk, however we are not suggesting they change their holiday plans.”

death's-head hawk moth is a harbinger of pestilence and death.

Death’s-head hawk moth: spotted in England. Photograph: Butterfly Conservation/PA

As the favoured signature of the serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, the death's-head hawk moth is a harbinger of pestilence and death. But the benign sunshine and warm southerly winds of an Indian summer have brought the rare moth flying to our shores.

The death's-head, a forbiddingly charismatic insect with a distinctive skull pattern on its thorax, has been sighted along the south coast at Arne, Dorset, and in Plymouth, Devon, in what is proving to be a vintage autumn for exotic migratory moths.

Most exciting for Britain's army of amateur moth recorders is the largest influx of the rare flame brocade moth for 130 years, with lepidopteristssuspecting that the purplish-brown moth has established a breeding colony at an undisclosed location in Sussex.

Michael Blencowe, Butterfly Conservation's officer for Sussex, and a friend, Graeme Lyons, first discovered the flame brocade when one turned up in a back garden last weekend.

"I'd never seen one of these moths before so I grabbed my net and went off to find out if there were any others about at a suitable site nearby," said Blencowe. "I saw 10 that night and there have been recordings of 20 or more there every night since."

This has been the best season for migratory moths for more than five years, according to Butterfly Conservation. Other species lured by the Indian summer include the distinctive crimson speckled, the dainty vestalmoth and Spoladea recurvalis, an extremely rare tropical species.

Before 2006 there had been just 19 records of Spoladea recurvalis in Britain, with 19 recorded that year. More than 20 have been recorded so far this autumn in Sussex, Dorset, Cornwall, Cumbria and the Isle of Man, ushered into the country by southerly winds.

Usually only single figures of flame brocades, which is more commonly found in France and Spain, turn up in the UK each autumn. Mark Parsons, head of moth conservation for Butterfly Conservation, said: "This moth appears to have been making an attempt to recolonise these shores, possibly as a result of more favourable overall weather conditions through climate change."

The death's-head hawk moth is the largest moth to fly in Britain and has the ability to fly into beehives in search of honey without being stung. If handled, it can emit a loud squeak, which terrified medieval Europeans. In Poland, where the moth was called the wandering death-bird, its cries were likened to those of a grief-stricken child.

It has been a shorthand for horror ever since: given an honourable mention in Bram Stoker's Dracula, more recently its pupae were left in the mouths of victims by the serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs.

death's-head hawk moth is a harbinger of pestilence and death.

Death’s-head hawk moth: spotted in England. Photograph: Butterfly Conservation/PA

As the favoured signature of the serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, the death's-head hawk moth is a harbinger of pestilence and death. But the benign sunshine and warm southerly winds of an Indian summer have brought the rare moth flying to our shores.

The death's-head, a forbiddingly charismatic insect with a distinctive skull pattern on its thorax, has been sighted along the south coast at Arne, Dorset, and in Plymouth, Devon, in what is proving to be a vintage autumn for exotic migratory moths.

Most exciting for Britain's army of amateur moth recorders is the largest influx of the rare flame brocade moth for 130 years, with lepidopteristssuspecting that the purplish-brown moth has established a breeding colony at an undisclosed location in Sussex.

Michael Blencowe, Butterfly Conservation's officer for Sussex, and a friend, Graeme Lyons, first discovered the flame brocade when one turned up in a back garden last weekend.

"I'd never seen one of these moths before so I grabbed my net and went off to find out if there were any others about at a suitable site nearby," said Blencowe. "I saw 10 that night and there have been recordings of 20 or more there every night since."

This has been the best season for migratory moths for more than five years, according to Butterfly Conservation. Other species lured by the Indian summer include the distinctive crimson speckled, the dainty vestalmoth and Spoladea recurvalis, an extremely rare tropical species.

Before 2006 there had been just 19 records of Spoladea recurvalis in Britain, with 19 recorded that year. More than 20 have been recorded so far this autumn in Sussex, Dorset, Cornwall, Cumbria and the Isle of Man, ushered into the country by southerly winds.

Usually only single figures of flame brocades, which is more commonly found in France and Spain, turn up in the UK each autumn. Mark Parsons, head of moth conservation for Butterfly Conservation, said: "This moth appears to have been making an attempt to recolonise these shores, possibly as a result of more favourable overall weather conditions through climate change."

The death's-head hawk moth is the largest moth to fly in Britain and has the ability to fly into beehives in search of honey without being stung. If handled, it can emit a loud squeak, which terrified medieval Europeans. In Poland, where the moth was called the wandering death-bird, its cries were likened to those of a grief-stricken child.

It has been a shorthand for horror ever since: given an honourable mention in Bram Stoker's Dracula, more recently its pupae were left in the mouths of victims by the serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs.

Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla could lose his vision after a dangerous run-in with a bull.

Elena Munoz/AP

A bull brutally gored a matador in Spain on Friday, tearing through the man's jaw and pushing out his eyeball as spectators watched in horror.

"I can't see, I can't see anything," Juan Jose Padilla, 39, shouted as he was rushed out of the ring while bleeding profusely and cupping his protruding eye.

The 1,120-pound animal had chased the bullfighter and pinned him to the ground, goring him after he tripped. Television images caught the horrifying scene.

The bull, named Marques, was the second fighting beast Padilla had faced during the second day of the annual Virgen del Pilar festivities in Zaragoza.

Padilla was rushed to emergency facilities at the Misericordia bullring before being driven to the hospital.

A statement from the Miguel Servet Hospital said he was in a stable condition after a five-hour operation to repair his face.

The hospital said Padilla was likely to suffer facial paralysis and lose sight in one eye.

The hospital said he suffered eye, bone, muscle and skin damage when the bull pinned him to the ground. Surgeons had not been able to repair a severed facial nerve.

Surgeons used titanium plates and mesh to reconstruct parts of Padilla's face.

 

Sicily's tiny anti-Mafia TV channel

 

Sicilian TV station that campaigns against the Mafia, Telejato, is among hundreds of channels threatened with closure due to a change in the law. Partinico is a pretty nondescript little town - a handful of baroque churches, a couple of elegant palazzos and a lot of ugly concrete in between. If it were not for the fact that it is in the so-called "Mafia Bermuda Triangle", perhaps nobody outside the province of Palermo would have heard of it. As it is, like Corleone, it is a name that prompts Italians to raise an eyebrow and suck in their breath when you tell them you are planning to visit. Discreet entrance My point of departure is San Giuseppe Jato, another former Mafia stronghold. Continue reading the main story From Our Own Correspondent Broadcast on Saturdays at 1130 BST on BBC Radio 4 and weekdays on BBC World Service Listen to the BBC Radio 4 version Download the podcast Listen to the BBC World Service version Explore the archive Having just visited a vineyard on land confiscated from an infamous jailed boss, I decide to try my luck with the only direct bus of the day to Partinico. I do what the traffic warden advises and wave it down in the middle of the road, just in front of the toy shop. After a picturesque journey through the Jato Valley, I alight an hour later at my destination, a town where the mountains rise up above the church steeples and illegal attic extensions. I find the block of flats which is home to Telejato without too much difficulty. It is on a quiet side street away from the bustle of the main road. The building number seems right but there is no sign or any directions to the TV station inside. I conclude that the best way to find Pino Maniaci is to follow my nose. As I climb the staircase, the smell of cigarette smoke gets stronger. I follow the aroma up to the second floor, through an unlocked door and into the newsroom. Pino Maniaci's daughter Letizia is the station's main reporter It is 13:20 and they go live at 14:00. Pino, his daughter and a couple of volunteer journalists are putting together the bulletin. When I come in, he turns towards me, cigarette between his lips. After the briefest of greetings he says, "We're on air soon so sit down and don't break my balls." His daughter looks up and grins. "Don't worry, that's how he talks to everyone," she says. Indeed Pino Maniaci, when not inhaling smoke, is invariably exhaling expletives. Unable to sit still and not wishing to be a ball-breaker, I nose around the small converted apartment. You can tell by the pictures, tributes and cuttings on the walls, just how proud Pino is of Telejato. Courage He has turned a tiny local TV station into one of Sicily's most powerful anti-Mafia voices. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote With his Groucho Marx-style moustache and Chico Marx-style accent, he boasts that even the Mafia watch Telejato” He says nearly all the locals watch it. In the heart of Cosa Nostra territory, he was the first journalist to dare to give the full names of arrested mafiosi. Before him, nobody published more than initials for fear of reprisals. Pino, his family and a small team of volunteers put together a daily news show, which is dominated by Mafia and corruption stories. "We're always first on the scene," he tells me. "Even international channels like CNN call and ask to use our footage." The station works closely with the various police forces, including the Catturandi di Palermo - a special squad that hunts mafiosi in hiding. "Wherever we show up, they're there. Wherever they show up, we're there." Pino's childlike bravado conceals his genuine courage. With his Groucho Marx-style moustache and Chico Marx-style accent, he boasts that even the Mafia watch Telejato. "We were the only ones to interview the brother of Bernardo Provenzano, one of the biggest Mafia bosses," he tells me. With a gleeful twinkle, Pino continues, "We even discovered that Provenzano himself had an aerial specially positioned to pick up our signal. If you listen to the police wire taps, you can hear our signature tune!" Murder attempt Telejato has a motto: "They consider themselves men of honour. For us, dishonouring them is a question of honour." Pino uses derision as both weapon and shield, but he admits he is scared, especially for his family. "I smoke three packets a day and always joke that it's just as well the biggest room in our tiny station is the bathroom!" Living under police escort, he has suffered countless attacks - slashed tyres, severed brake cables, burnt-out cars, windscreens shattered by gunshots. "They even tried to bump me off!" he chuckles, describing a failed attempt to strangle him, which left him with four fractured ribs, a broken leg, a black eye and several broken teeth. At 17:00, it is time for me to head for the station to catch a train up to Palermo. Pino refuses to let me go without showing me some true Sicilian hospitality. Police escort in tow, we go to a nearby coffee bar. Everyone, including the officers, gets an espresso and Pino insists I taste a cannolo, the island's famous ricotta-filled pastry. "I have to keep Telejato going," says Pino between mouthfuls, "so that one day Sicily will be more famous for these than for the Mafia."

PM intervenes in Fox flatmate row

 

Beleaguered Defence Secretary Liam Fox is fighting for his political career after the row over his working relationship with a close friend deepened. Prime Minister David Cameron is poised to decide his fate on Monday after ordering the head of the civil service to urgently report back on an internal investigation into whether Dr Fox's links to Adam Werritty, a former flatmate, breached ministerial guidelines. A series of allegations have surfaced over the unusual involvement Mr Werritty had in brokering meetings for Dr Fox, as well as the access he enjoyed to Government despite having no formal parliamentary or Whitehall role. Dr Fox, who has been in Libya on what should have been a publicity coup as he met the country's interim government, was forced to issue an embarrassing statement clarifying comments he made earlier about how a meeting in Dubai in June with a businessman had been arranged. But he also insisted he has nothing to hide and indicated he is the victim of a smear campaign, telling The Sunday Telegraph: "I have absolutely no fear of complete transparency in these matters. I think there are underlying issues behind these claims and the motivation is deeply suspect." Further revelations emerged, however, that cast doubt on previous claims made by Dr Fox that Mr Werritty, best man at his wedding, had never attended formal meetings with overseas dignitaries. According to the Observer, footage has been uncovered that shows Mr Werritty meeting Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa with Dr Fox in a London hotel last year. During his visit to Libya, Dr Fox was asked to answer allegations that Mr Werritty arranged the Dubai hotel meeting, away from officials, with him and Harvey Boulter, chief executive of private equity company Porton Group. The Secretary of State said defence industry representatives asked for the meeting "when they happened to be sitting at a nearby table in a restaurant", but emails emerged later that appeared to confirm that Mr Werritty had been involved in setting up the discussions for some time - and Mr Boulter told the Guardian he first met Mr Werritty to arrange a meeting with Dr Fox in April. In a statement issued after the emails emerged, a spokeswoman for the minister said: "Dr Fox was referring to Mr Werritty, and not himself, bumping into Mr Boulter at a restaurant prior to the meeting."

15 year old British holidaymaker taken into care as his aunt is drunk

 

The police in Sant Antoni de Portmany got more than they bargained for when they asked the 15 year old who was looking after him on holiday The juvenile unit of the Sant Antoni de Portmany Police on Ibiza has decided to admit a British 15 year old to a youngsters’ centre while it is hoped that he can return back to the U.K. EFE news agency reports that the 15 year old was found on the island looking after his alcoholic aunt, and a statement from the local police on Friday explained that the case came to their attention last Wednesday, when the police were involved in a minor incident with the youngster. The 15 year old was found in the street and the police asked who was looking after him. He told them that it was his 40 year old aunt, with whom he had come to Ibiza on holiday. However the police found the aunt to be drunk in the hotel and possibly also under the effects of drugs or medicaments, and considered she was in no condition to look after the adolescent. They took note of the situation and returned a few hours later and then found the 15 year old also drunk, and the woman was now ‘totally out of it’ and ‘shrieking at her nephew for no apparent reason and with clear symptoms of being drunk’. The police saw empty alcohol bottles on the floor and medicines on the furniture. After a time the police managed to locate the boy’s mother by phone in England, the sister of the aunt, and explained the situation, calling on her to come to Ibiza urgently to deal with her son. The mother apparently told the police that she could not travel to Ibiza the next day, and it was agreed with her that the boy should sleep that night in another room with some friends. Then the decision was taken, with the help of the British consular offices in Ibiza to try and mediate with both the mother and the aunt, and finding that collaboration missing, and assembling witness reports on incidents between the boy and his aunt in the hotel, it was decided to remove the 15 year old into temporary care. He’s now in the Sa Coma centre awaiting the arrival of his mother to take him back to the UK. The consul is helping with the organisation of the flights.

15 year old British holidaymaker taken into care as his aunt is drunk

 

The police in Sant Antoni de Portmany got more than they bargained for when they asked the 15 year old who was looking after him on holiday The juvenile unit of the Sant Antoni de Portmany Police on Ibiza has decided to admit a British 15 year old to a youngsters’ centre while it is hoped that he can return back to the U.K. EFE news agency reports that the 15 year old was found on the island looking after his alcoholic aunt, and a statement from the local police on Friday explained that the case came to their attention last Wednesday, when the police were involved in a minor incident with the youngster. The 15 year old was found in the street and the police asked who was looking after him. He told them that it was his 40 year old aunt, with whom he had come to Ibiza on holiday. However the police found the aunt to be drunk in the hotel and possibly also under the effects of drugs or medicaments, and considered she was in no condition to look after the adolescent. They took note of the situation and returned a few hours later and then found the 15 year old also drunk, and the woman was now ‘totally out of it’ and ‘shrieking at her nephew for no apparent reason and with clear symptoms of being drunk’. The police saw empty alcohol bottles on the floor and medicines on the furniture. After a time the police managed to locate the boy’s mother by phone in England, the sister of the aunt, and explained the situation, calling on her to come to Ibiza urgently to deal with her son. The mother apparently told the police that she could not travel to Ibiza the next day, and it was agreed with her that the boy should sleep that night in another room with some friends. Then the decision was taken, with the help of the British consular offices in Ibiza to try and mediate with both the mother and the aunt, and finding that collaboration missing, and assembling witness reports on incidents between the boy and his aunt in the hotel, it was decided to remove the 15 year old into temporary care. He’s now in the Sa Coma centre awaiting the arrival of his mother to take him back to the UK. The consul is helping with the organisation of the flights.

Spanish banks in €6bn merger talks

 

Banco Popular, Spain’s fifth-biggest listed bank by assets, has offered to buy its smaller listed rival Banco Pastor in a merger that marks a new stage in the restructuring of the country’s financial sector. In filings published on Friday by the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), the market regulator, the banks said they were proposing a friendly all-share deal in which Popular would offer to buy 100 per cent of Pastor. More ON THIS STORY Dismay at Spanish bank restructuring Spain nationalises three more savings banks In depth European banks Santander predicts return to big profits Global Insight Italy and Spain The CNMV had earlier suspended trading in shares of Popular, with a total market value of €4.99bn, and of Pastor, valued at €827m, apparently after news of the discussions leaked before the planned announcement on Monday. At Friday’s share prices, the Popular offer represented a one-third premium for Pastor and valued the target bank at 0.75 times book value, according to the Pastor camp, although Popular’s share price could fall once the suspensions are lifted. CaixaBank, the banking arm of the Barcelona-based La Caixa savings bank, was valued at 0.8 times book value at its flotation earlier this year, but Bankia, comprising Caja Madrid and six others, managed only 0.4 times when it was listed. Three savings banks seized by the official bank rescue fund last month were valued at between zero and 0.12 times book. Until now, the Bank of Spain and the Spanish government have focused on forcing unlisted savings banks to recapitalise themselves and merge with each other to reduce costs and improve efficiency after the collapse of the Spanish housing and construction bubble. Listed banks have been seen as potential buyers rather than takeover targets. “This is only the start,” said one person aware of the talks as the boards of the two companies held separate meetings. “There is going to be a huge shake-out in the banking sector.” Popular is a national Spanish bank that has focused on retail banking and lending to small and medium-sized businesses, while Pastor’s activities are concentrated in the north-western region of Galicia. Pastor – along with four Spanish cajas or savings banks – was one of the nine European banks that failed Europe-wide stress tests in July.

The Duchess of Alba with her new husband Alfonso Díez outside Dueñas Palace in Seville.

 Photograph: Javier Diaz/Reuters

She is a frizzy-haired 85-year-old eccentric and hugely wealthy aristocrat with a squeaky voice and an impossibly long name. He is a lowly civil servant 25 years her junior. Today the two were married, prompting a frenzy of excitement in this southern Spanish city.

Crowds formed outside Seville's Dueñas Palace – just one of several regal residences the Duchess of Alba owns around Spain – as she, her family and a few friends gathered for a small ceremony for her marriage to Alfonso Díez in the palace's private chapel.

The billionaire duchess, who has been known to ask the media for money in the past, allowed in just two news agencies – for free.

"She is an amazing woman. She does whatever she wants and doesn't give a damn what people say," said 18-year-old tourism student Ana Trigo, as she fought for space on the pavement outside the Dueñas's imposing gates. "I know she's got lots of money, but that's just the luck of birth isn't it?"

A neatly groomed priest, a flamenco singing troupe, innumerable bunches of roses, sunflowers and carnations, and at least two bullfighter guests made their way into the palace complex as security guards pushed back the crowd of gawping, shouting Sevillanos.

"I've written a paso doble and want to sing it for her," said composer Vicente Tarrancón, who travelled the 300 miles from Alicante with an electric piano and a violinist but who remained firmly outside the palace gates.

Onlookers mostly were not disturbed by the duchess's inherited wealth, estimated at up to €3.5bn (£3bn), even though one in five Spaniards are currently unemployed and the economy is heading towards a double-dip recession.

Apart from her palaces, the duchess owns huge tracts of land all over Spain and has a collection of paintings that include works by Goya and Velázquez.

"She gives a lot of money to charity and employs a lot of people. And she repaired the church of the Christ of the Gypsies," said housewife Mari Luz González. "She's wonderful."

Cries of "Guapa!" or "Good-looking!" welcomed the pallid duchess when she appeared dressed in a pink wedding dress with a green ribbon around her waist at the palace gates with her new husband. She responded by dancing a few flamenco steps.

Most people, however, seemed to be taking a tongue-in-cheek attitude to the duchess's latest romance and using it as an excuse to indulge in Seville's favoured pastime of partying. At least one onlooker had dressed in a bridal gown. Another came disguised as Spain's monarch, King Juan Carlos, who was reportedly petitioned by the duchess's children to see if he could dissuade their mother from remarrying.

"Let's face it, the scandal is not that he is younger, but that she is so old," said Margarita Ruibal. "It's not every day you hear of someone of that age getting married."

An unemployed man who called himself Buti came dressed as a yoghurt carton to protest at the €40 a day paid to farmworkers. "Here they are, living it up in their palaces while 300 families a day lose their homes in Spain," he said.

The duchess's attempts to stop her six children from squabbling with her husband-to-be over money – by making her will public before the marriage – failed to appease them all, prompting the duchess to call one daughter-in-law "lying, wicked and covetous" on a television gossip show.

The daughter-in-law and her husband were among the few guests who turned down the wedding invitation. "Alfonso doesn't want anything. All he wants is me," the duchess said earlier this year.

Newsstands, meanwhile, displayed the front cover of Interviú magazine – which showed topless pictures of the duchess taken three decades ago on an Ibiza beach. The publicity-loving aristocrat was said to be formally furious, but privately delighted, by the flattering figure she boasted when she was a mere fifty-something. The magazine said it had held on to the pictures for 30 years so as not to upset the duchess, but thought them now worth publishing.

Local shops were selling duchess-themed "I love DQS" T-shirts featuring her trademark frizz of white hair. The regional CanalSur TV station beamed live coverage into the city's bars, where unemployed men sold postcards of the Virgin Mary statues that populate Seville's churches.

The duchess, whose full name is María del Rosario Cayetana Victoria Alfonsa Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva, boasts 49 inherited aristocratic titles – at least 20 of which allow entry into the select club of Spanish Grandees. She also claims the title of Duchess of Berwick and boasts blood ties to the British royal family and Winston Churchill.

Twice widowed, her last husband Jesús Aguirre, who had previously been a leftwing Catholic priest, died in 2001

pregnant woman murdered while attending Mass

 

A madman shot two women attending Mass at a Catholic church in the Ciudad Leal district of Madrid on September 29. It was approximately 8 pm when Iván Berral Cid (34) entered the Santa María del Pinar parish church and without a word opened fire on the two innocent women, killing one and severely wounding the other. After commiting the crime, Berral Cid shot himself thus ending his own life. According to reports, Berral Cid had meticulously planned the attack following a June 2011 restraining order to stay away from his former companion, a Colombian woman. He had a considerable criminal record, including drug trafficking, domestic abuse, and resisting arrest. However, no record of psychiatric treatment has yet been reported. His former companion is expecting a child. It is believed that his obsession with his former girlfriend, coupled with other psychological issues, led him to take action at the church after he had spent months living on the street. Some members of the congregation believe that they may have seen him before the fatal attack. According to witnesses, Berral Cid had been haunting the church all day on September 28. One witness said that Berral Cid asked him at 6:45 that evening at what time Mass was expected. The killer entered and left the church several times during the recitation of the Rosary before the Mass.  The parish priest, Fr Francisco Santos, said that Berral Cid was acting strangely and also asked him at what time the Mass would begin. Witnesses said that moments before the Mass began, Berral Cid entered the church with pistol in hand. While raising the pistol, he grazed the head of a 72-year-old man waiting for the Mass and then put the muzzle to the temple of the unsuspecting expectant mother thus ending her life and of her baby. Rocio Pineiro (36) fell dead to the floor as Berral Cid advanced towards the altar as he fired wildly. Another bullet struck 52–year-old María Luis Fernández in the chest, and at least another struck the ceiling of the church. Witnesses said that in what seemed like a bizarre ritual, the killer stalked towards the sanctuary and at about six feet from the altar spun around to face the congregation whereupon he sank to his knees. Fixing his gaze on the congregation and the entry into the church, Berral Cid placed the muzzle of the pistol in his mouth, pulled the trigger and blew his head off. Panic ensued after members of the congregation had appeared transfixed during the carnage. Some flew out the door to seek help while others rang for the police and emergency services with their cellphones.  “My daughter, my daughter!” wailed María del Carmen, the mother of the dead woman who was due to deliver her baby within days. Emergency services were unable to revive Rocio, whose head was destroyed by the impact of the pistol’s discharge.  “Save at least my grandson, Alvaro!” cried María del Carmen. Physicians at the La Paz Hospital were able to save little Alvaro, who remains in critical condition.  Rocio and her mother had come to the church to pray for the health of the baby, having just celebrated the patronal feast of their hometown in Galicia. Members of the congregation sought help for Fernández, who fell bleeding to the floor of the church. One man tried to staunch the blood flowing from her breast as Fernández fell in and out of consciousness.  When she asked what had happened to her, Jesus Herranz told her that she was fine even as blood drained from the exit wound on her back. Fernández said that she felt cold as Herranz tried to stop the bleeding. Finally, emergency services arrived and took her to a nearby hospital. Police found in the killer’s wallet a handwritten note in which he claimed that the “devil is after me” and that he had no work or money for food. Rocio and her husband Fernando had been married for barely 5 months. Her family and friends were overcome with grief and confusion following the attack. Neither she nor the other victim knew the killer nor each other. Some witnesses are concluding that Berral Cid was looking to kill a pregnant woman as a form of demented rage actually directed towards his girlfriend. Rocio worked at a bank in Madrid,  a branch of which also employed her father. Upon hearing the news, her father fainted away in grief. Her mother, Maria del Carmen, had come to Madrid to help with preparations for the birth.

Greenpeace has revealed how Spain is “repeatedly and systematically overlooking illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by its huge fleet throughout European waters and beyond”.

 

Greenpeace has revealed how Spain is “repeatedly and systematically overlooking illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by its huge fleet throughout European waters and beyond”. The report, titled Ocean Inquirer, takes as a case study one Galician family whose companies have received over €16m in subsidies from European taxpayers to fund a long list of criminal activities. Greenpeace states that the Vidal family’s many ships have been found conducting IUU fishing for decades, right around the world, and been prosecuted in the US, the UK and in the Pacific and the Spanish government have promised on numerous occasions to investigate and put an end to these abuses. But Greenpeace claims that what they have actually done is fund them - with our money. Spain has the largest fishing fleet in Europe, maintained with billions in subsidies - more than double the amount of subsidies received by any other EU nation. Greenpeace has accused the Spanish fleet of exploiting the CFP to infiltrate the fleets of other European nations and take their fishing quotas. If Spain, and Europe, continue with business as usual, it is predicted by the EU that less than 10% of our fish stocks will be at sustainable levels by 2022. Greenpeace’s case study of the Vidal family documents their long history of illegal fishing, their prosecutions and convictions and their frequently successful attempts to avoid justice, and Spain’s continuing failure to deal with an issue which has been raised with them on numerous occasions. It also reveals new evidence on Vidal’s latest business venture, an alleged fish oil factory in Galicia. This factory is not currently operational, many months after its claimed opening date, and yet Greenpeace says it has already earned the Vidal family another €6.5m - in EU subsidies. Greenpeace oceans campaigner Ariana Densham said, “According to some estimates, up to 49% of the global catch is IUU, and this is one of the reasons why our over-exploited fisheries are in such rapid decline. The fact that in Europe this theft of fish is being subsidised by taxpayers’ money, that we’re actually paying pirates to steal our fish, destroy one of our oldest industries and devastate the marine environment, shows just how corrupted the CFP is.” Greenpeace is calling for a full EU investigation into subsidies given to the Spanish fishing industry, and for all future subsidies to be given to legal, transparent and sustainable fishing practices, consistent with the CFP’s stated objectives. In response to this report, European fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki stated that “The serious allegations are already under investigation by the European Commission and being followed up with the Spanish national authorities. We are establishing all facts in order to pursue breaches“.

Sheikh Abdullah Ben Nasser Al-Thani's work on La Bajadilla Port in Marbella delayed

 

DELAYED La Bajadilla Port in Marbella has still not begun, because four months after the work was assigned, the contract has not been signed. There are three appeals against Sheikh Abdullah Ben Nasser Al-Thani’s project, which was due to be completed in 2015. One is from the Marbella Marina International Consortium, which was on competition with the temporary union created by Marbella Town Hall and Qatar Sheikh and Malaga CF owner, Al-Thani. His proposal to expand Marbella’s port and marina was chosen over theirs, but they believe that the decision was “unfair”. They haven’t directly asked for the process to be stopped, but bringing a case against the decision makes this automatic, regions such as Andalucia must have a specific tribunal to regulate relationships between public administrations and the companies chosen to carry out work, as the Junta de Andalucia does not have one, the Andalucian Supreme Court of Justice will rule in this case, and a judge will decide if the work can go ahead, even if the case continues at the same time. In any case, it appears the contract will not be signed this year. Al Thani’s project conceives a circular port with space for 1,221 yachts and a cruise stop, as well as a 45,000m2 commercial and leisure area with a five-star hotel. It aims to create around 3,000 jobs.

35 towns in Malaga spend more than they make

 

101 towns in Malaga province, 35 ended last year with budgetary deficits for spending more than they were making. Changes to the Constitution which were approved by PSOE and the PP in early September in congress in order to limit the deficits of public administrations could mean that many towns will find themselves in a sticky legal situation. The text states that “local administrations” must have “budgetary balance” by 2020, but seeing the figures for the province, which is not an exception in Spain, for 2009 and 2010, this will not be easy. The numbers could be even worse than it initially appeared, as Atajate, Carratraca, Cortes de la Frontera, Gaucin, Genalgualcil and Parauta have not yet handed in their figures for either year, while others, which although the Tax and Economy Ministry’s records show their budgets were balanced, admit that they ended the year with empty coffers and no money available in banks and payments to face. Many cases have only come to light after the elections when new parties have taken over. Malaga city has a debt of €735m, the highest in the province and the fourth worst in Spain behind Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. The second worst figures are seen in Benalmadena, with a debt of €87m, although the worst deficiency is in Cuevas Bajas, with a difference of €800,000 between what was spent and what was taken in 2010.

Police warn they may not be able to afford Tesco's £3m riot compensation bill

 

In total, the retailer has asked for nearly £3m in compensation from police forces around the country, following the riots that tore through some high streets in August. It is likely that this is the biggest request from a single retailer. The company is claiming under the Riot Damages Act, a piece of Victorian legislation that allows businesses and individuals affected by riot damage to claim directly from the police, rather than their own insurer. In the immediate aftermath of the civil disturbances, the British Retail Consortium urged small retailers to put in their claims to make sure their businesses were not harmed. However, the Greater Manchester Police Authority, which has been hit with 280 claims totalling £4.4m, has criticised Tesco for using the Act, saying there was no guarantee the police force would be able to afford all of the compensation. The force faces £134m budget cuts in the next five years. It added that J Sainsbury was one of a number of large companies that had chosen not to submit any compensation claims. Tesco has submitted more than 20 claims for compensation to Manchester police, including one for £40-worth of looted stock.