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...

Fran Rivera: Bullfighter sparks revenge porn row in Spain A top Spanish bullfighter has drawn a fierce backlash for his comments on the case of a young woman who killed herself days after a sex video featuring her was widely shared. The 32-year-old mother-of-two, named by Spanish media as Verónica Rubio, took her own life on Saturday. It is being treated as a case of revenge porn - the non-consensual sharing of sexual images online.  Last week work colleagues had shared the video, reportedly recorded five years earlier, before she was married, by a former partner. Spanish media report that she hanged herself the day after her husband saw the video. "It's not manly to make a video like this go viral," the famous matador Fran Rivera, 45, told Espejo Público, a television programme, when asked about the case. "But men, and I say this because I'm a man, were unable to have such a video and not share it." Although he also said that the de...

Source: The Guardian Key Words: May resignation speech Ever since I first step p ed through the door behind me as Prime Minister, I have striven to make the United Kingdom a country that works not just for a privileged few, but for everyone. And to honour the result of the EU referendum.  Back in 2016 , we gave the British people a choice. Against all predictions, the British people voted to leave the European Union. I feel as certain today as I did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice you have a duty to implement what they decide. I have done my best to do that. I negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbours that protects jobs, our security and our Union.  I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal . Sadly, I have not been able to do so . I tried three times. I believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high. But i...

Source:  Ivan Bandura on Unsplash Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri fuel stereotype that women are "subservient" - UN report  The report notes that the inability for female-voiced assistants to respond to insults can highlight female "powerlessness". Artificial intelligence voice assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, are perpetuating and spreading gender stereotypes, says a new UN report. Titled "I'd blush if I could", the report from UNESCO says the almost exclusive market of female voice assistants fuels stereotypes that women are "obliging, docile and eager-to-please helpers". And with assistants responding to requests no matter the manner in which they are asked, this also reinforces the idea in some communities that women are "subservient and tolerant of poor treatment". Canalys, a technology research company, has estimated that 100 million "smart speakers", which are use...

Source: Wikipedia (Chmee2) London Marathon's last finisher 'ignored and laughed at ' The last finisher at Sunday's London Marathon has said she had a "brutal" experience being ignored and " sniggered at" by stewards . Mum Kerrie Aldridge, raising money for a miscarriage charity , said the course was being cleared as she completed the marathon in nine hours and 11 minutes. The criticism comes after another woman said she was called "fat and slow" by contractors at Sunday's race. London Marathon organisers apologised, adding they were investigating. Stewards were dismantling the course - including taking down mile markers and barriers - as Ms Aldridge from Cardiff finished the event, which attracted a record 42,549 runners. She said she was forced to drink from half-empty discarded bottles of water because the refuel stops were no longer manned . To make matters worse , she said some contractors were rude to her wh...

Source: Wikipedia Judge rules museum ' rightfully owns' Nazi- looted painting A Spanish museum is allowed to keep an artwork that the Nazis took from a Jewish woman in 1939, a judge ruled . Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum has fought a 14-year legal battle in the US with the family of Lilly Cassirer. Ms Cassirer was forced to trade the valuable Camille Pissarro painting for her freedom as she tried to flee Germany, just before the war. A federal judge in California ruled that legally it belongs to the museum, which acquired it in 1993. According to Spanish law, if a collector or museum does not know that an artwork was looted when they acquire it, then they are legally entitled to keep it. But the judge, John Walter, criticised Spain for not keeping to the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art - an international agreement to return Nazi-looted art to the descendants of the people they were taken from. Some 44 nations, including Spain, signe...

Source: Wikipedia Anti-bullfighting party set for Spanish election breakthrough   As the right enlists bullfighters as candidates, animal welfare champions are polling well   If the polls and pundits are correct, Spain’s Vox party will achieve its much-prophesied breakthrough in Sunday’s general election, becoming the first far-right grouping to win more than a single seat in parliament since the country embarked on its post-Franco return to democracy. Although Vox’s chances of attracting about 11% of the vote have hogged the headlines , another small party – and one with a markedly different worldview – is also gearing up for a historic day at the ballot box . The animal rights party Pacma, founded 16 years ago to put an end to bullfighting, could win two seats in the congress of deputies, according to the most recent poll by the country’s Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS). Like Vox’s looming breakthrough, Pacma’s arrival in the arena of national pol...