English in Madrid

Source: Pexels (Kindel Media)   Mother, daughter and boyfriend held in Madrid organ sale murder plot A Spanish mother is accused of conspir ing with her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend to murder her partner – and then reporting the plan to police . Officers say the mother, 52, and daughter, 20, went to police to accuse the boyfriend of fraud, after he had failed to carry out   the killing. It is alleged they gave him €7,000 (£6,270) to hire   a hitman to kill the mother's partner and sell his organs. All three were arrested for the plot. Police sources, quoted by Spanish media, say the plotters - all Spanish - signed a contract for the hit in March. But weeks passed, and finally the mother and daughter reported the boyfriend to police on 14 June. The boyfriend, 29, had claimed to be in Spain's CNI intelligence service, and had fake documents to that effect . Police say he had assured the mother and daughter that he could hire a colleague to ca...

Source: Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash Spain battles biggest wildfires in 20 years as heatwave grips Europe Health officials warn ‘ the worst is still to come ’, with temperatures expected to exceed 44C in some areas Firefighters battled wildfires at a scale not seen for 20 years in Spain and southern France was placed on unprecedented red alert as much of western Europe sweltered in an extreme early-summer heatwave on Thursday. With temperatures in northern Spain and southern France set to exceed 44C, governments urged their citizens to take the utmost precaution, warning that in some areas the worst was yet to come . The conditions led officials to raise the French extreme heat alert to red. The alert, signifying a “dangerous weather phenomenon”, was the first since the system was introduced in 2004 following a 2003 heatwave that led to 15,000 premature deaths. It was issued for the four southern départements of Hérault, Gard, Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône. “All mem...

Source: Wikipedia Ban on ' harmful ' gender stereotypes in adverts comes into force   A ban on adverts that perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes, such as men struggling with changing nappies , comes into force. A new rule written into the UK's Advertising Codes should mean adverts that perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes are taken off TV. From today, commercials must not include stereotypes "which are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence ". According to the ASA, the aim is to identify specific harm that should be prevented, rather than banning gender stereotypes altogether. Craig Jones, director of communications for the ASA, says: "You won't see an end to men doing DIY in ads or women doing shopping because we believe that not all gender stereotypes are harmful, but we've set out examples of ones we think are harmful, images like a family trashing the house and the mother having sole responsibility for clea...

Source: Wikipedia Madrid could become first European city to scrap low-emissions zone  Region’s likely new president Isabel Díaz Ayuso believes congestion is part of city’s cultural identity Madrid may be about to become the first European city to scrap a major urban low-emissions zone after regional polls left a rightwing politician who views 3am traffic jams as part of the city’s cultural identity on the cusp of power. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who is expected to become the new Popular party (PP) president of the Madrid region, believes night-time congestion makes the city special and has pledged to reverse a project known as Madrid Central, which has dramatically cut urban pollution. The PP’s mayor-in-waiting, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, under whose remit the scheme falls, vowed that his first action would be to “address” Madrid Central. “It was one of the pillars of our campaign,” he said. The PP would instead prioritise street cleanliness and conservation, he a...