English in Madrid

Source:  Mark Chan en Unsplash SLOW LANE All new cars to have special gadget to stop you going over the speed limit by 2022  A stack of new safety legislation is due to be approved by the European Parliament later this year and Britain is expected to follow suit ALL new cars sold in the UK will be fitted with a special gadget to stop people driving over the speed limit by 2022. New vehicles will need to have an Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) limiter as standard after the legislation got the green light from the European Commission. The move is just one of several new safety measures that are expected to be approved by the European Parliament in September. Cars will have to have data loggers , autonomous emergency braking , lane keep assist, driver fatigue detection and reversing cameras or sensors. New models will also need pre- wiring for alcohol interlocks to allow the fitting of in-car breathalysers for people who have been convicted of drink...

Source: Alexander Schimmeck en Unsplash Spain hits back at Mexico in row over colonial rights abuses  Madrid ‘completely rejects’ Mexican president’s demand for apology for crimes against indigenous people  A diplomatic row has broken out between Mexico and Spain after the Mexican president wrote to King Felipe VI demanding that he apologise for crimes committed against Mexico’s indigenous people during the conquest 500 years ago. In a video filmed at the ruins of the indigenous city of Comalcalco, in southern Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on Spain and the Vatican to recognise the rights violations committed during the conquest, led by Hernán Cortés. The video was posted on the president’s social media accounts. “There were massacres and oppression. The so-called conquest was waged with the sword and the cross. They built their churches on top of the (indigenous) temples,” he said. “The time has come to reconcile. But let us ask forgiveness...

Source: Sasun Bughdaryan en Unsplash Johnny Bobbitt: Two admit GoFundMe hoax about homeless man A homeless man and a New Jersey woman have admitted concoct ing a hoax feel-good story that drew more than $400,000 (£300,000) in GoFundMe donations . US military veteran Johnny Bobbitt, 36, pleaded guilty in court to conspiracy to commit money laundering . Katelyn McClure, 28, admitted wire fraud . They claimed Bobbitt gave McClure his last $20 when her car ran out of petrol near Philadelphia in November 2017. More than 14,000 people from across the world donated money. The bogus Good Samaritan story was posted by McClure and her then-boyfriend Mark D'Amico, 39.  Bobbitt, McClure and D'Amico still face additional state charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft. The couple had become acquainted with Bobbitt about a month before the hoax during their trips to a casino, investigators said. The story melted hearts around the world,...