Buckingham Palace announced at 8am on Friday that the Queen had bestowed the title of Duke of Cambridge on her grandson. His bride, Miss Middleton, will be known as the Duchess of Cambridge

Buckingham Palace announced at 8am on Friday that the Queen had bestowed the title of Duke of Cambridge on her grandson.
His bride, Miss Middleton, will be known as the Duchess of Cambridge after the royal wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
A dukedom is the highest rank in the British peerage.
They have also been given the Scottish titles of Earl and Countess of Strathearn, which may reflect the fact that they met at St Andrews University.
The couple's third title is a Northern Irish one, Baron and Baroness Carrickfergus.

Bomb attack in the main square in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh has killed at least 14 people and injured 20, some of them foreigners,

bomb attack in the main square in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh has killed at least 14 people and injured 20, some of them foreigners, officials say.

The explosion ripped through the Argana cafe in Djemaa el-Fna square, a popular tourist destination.

The interior ministry said evidence now pointed to a bomb attack after initial reports suggested a gas explosion.

Morocco has seen two months of protests against King Mohammed VI amid a tide of uprisings across the region.

The last major terrorist attack in Morocco was in 2003 in the city of Casablanca - 45 people, including a number of suicide bombers, were killed.

'Sounded like a bomb'
Moroccan government spokesman Khalid Naciri told French television that Thursday's casualties involved a number of nationalities but he would not confirm any as yet.

"We worked... on the hypothesis that this could... be accidental. But initial results of the investigation confirm that we are confronted with a true criminal act," he said.

An interior ministry statement added: "Analysis of the early evidence collected at the site... confirms the theory of an attack."


A medical source told AFP news agency that 11 of the dead were foreigners, including five women, but this has not been independently confirmed.

Witnesses described hearing a huge blast that sent debris flying into the air.

Briton Hugo Somersham-Jones told the BBC he was at his Marrakesh home, close to the square, when he heard the explosion.

"It sounded like a bomb. I went outside and saw smoke and got to the cafe and saw falling masonry. I came out to the main square and saw the first floor of the cafe in ruins.

"People had fire extinguishers, trying to put out the fire, and others were pulling people out from the building - it was pretty bad."

Mr Somersham-Jones, a hotel owner who has been running his business in Marrakesh for six years, said the square was the main area where people congregate and that there had been a deadly gas explosion last year.

Portuguese tourist Alexandre Carvalho told the Associated Press news agency that he had seen injured people being carried away.

"I believe the injured were mostly tourists, judging by what they were wearing," he said.

The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the blast and that consular staff had been deployed to offer assistance to any British nationals.

It advised UK nationals to stay away from the square.

Djemaa el-Fna square is a Unesco World Heritage site and is popular with foreign tourists, particularly Europeans.

Analysts say the blast could have a serious effect on Morocco's important tourism sector.

One French businessman told Reuters: "You can't find a more emblematic target than Djemaa el-Fna square. With this attack and amid the worrying unrest in the region, tourism

GRANADA promoter Jose Avila Rojas has been acquitted of the charges against him for selling apartments which he never built

GRANADA promoter Jose Avila Rojas has been acquitted of the charges against him for selling apartments which he never built. The prosecutor was asking for four and a half years in prison for Avila Rojas, who is also charged in the Malaya case. Malaga Prosecutor accused him of charging two families €84,000 for two houses he sold them in Marbella which never existed. The apartments were due to be completed in 2006.

The Andalucian Supreme Court of Justice declared the license which was granted to him in 2003 to build on a plot he owned as illegal.

The court declared that the license depended on a series of errors being put right, this was done, and the project was changed for a plan to build 202 homes and 24 offices, as well as garages and storerooms, and it was considered to be legal at the time.

However, the Supreme Court of Justice determined in 2010 that the license was not valid.

However, the court has considered that the promoter did plan to go ahead with the work and acted in good faith. However, he did promise to pay them back with other properties but never did so, not returned the amounts they had paid, although this was not used for any other purpose.

US First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughter has provided the boost Marbella Town Hall hoped for

IT seems the visit by US First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughter has provided the boost Marbella Town Hall hoped for. More than half (65 per cent) of rooms at Marbella 5-star hotels are already booked for June. This was revealed by Marbella Tourism Councillor, Jose Luis Hernandez.

“Customers usually wait until the last minute, it has been a while since these reservation figures have been seen,” Hernandez said. A luxury room in one of Marbella’s eight 5-star hotels typically costs from €200 reaching  €6,000 per night.

Last summer, these hotels were practically full, reaching 90 per cent capacity in most cases. Some Marbella hoteliers report that while there are more ‘rich’ customers, the European middle-class market has decreased. In January this year overnight stays at Marbella hotels were up 22 per cent compared to January 2010.

Nationally, Spain’s estimated 241 5-star hotels were at 48 per cent capacity in March this year and charged €137 per room, 0.8 per cent less than last year, National Statistics Figures show.

Meanwhile, Marbella Mayor, Angeles Muñoz revealed that despite adverse weather conditions, the town’s 5 and 4-star hotels were at 85 per cent capacity during Holy Week.

In contrast five hotels in Malaga Province remained closed during this period.

These were: Hotel Pinomar Playa and Hotel Don Miguel, both in Marbella; Hotel Byblos (Mijas); and Hotels AGH and Las Dunas located in Estepona.

This summer will see the introduction of The Millionaires’ White Summer Party to Marbella, in conjunction with exclusive jewellers Chopard.

This dusk ‘'il dawn event will bring the glamour and music of Las Vegas to Marbella and is sure to become an important annual fixture on the social calendar.

An Evening from Las Vegas Live is the a perfect excuse to combine a sunshine holiday with an unforgettable night out.
This glamorous event will take place in the exquisite, jasmine scented gardens of the privately owned Finca la Concepción, in Marbella, on Saturday, 30 July 2011.

If tickets are purchased before the end of May, guests will be entered into a fabulous prize draw.
A musical extravaganza

An Evening from Las Vegas will be pay homage to the glitz, glamour and incredible music of Las Vegas in its heyday.

The organizers are flying over three exceptional musical performers, a 22 piece "Basie" style Big Band Orchestra and dancers straight from Vegas for a night full of music and excitement.

The event will also be supporting the Red Cross' Japan Tsunami Appeal by raffling a number of fantastic prizes, including two watches from sponsor Chopard.

The amazing Maxine Barrie will open the show singing the powerful songs of Shirley Bassey accompanied by a full orchestra. A troupe of Vegas showgirls will then perform for the guests.

They will be followed by an incredible singer, Stephen Triffitt, who is acknowledged to be the world’s best Sinatra performer. He will be singing all the classic songs with the backing of a 22 piece orchestra, under the stars.
The second half of the evening will be more up-tempo, with American singer Eric Conley paying homage to the late, great Barry White.

He will be setting the mood for a party hosted by International DJ Rusty Egan, who will be playing classic Studio 54 disco tracks which will guarantee everyone up and dancing until the early hours.

It will be presented by the charismatic Oscar Horacio of "Marbella Te Quiero" and sponsored by Chopard and Veuve Clicquot. This will truly be a night to remember.
The event will run from dusk 'til dawn in the grounds of the exclusive Finca La Concepción, and will be a full night of entertainment.

An Argentinean Steak Grill, a Goyo concession, Veuve Clicquot Champagne bars and general bars will be at the event to serve refreshments throughout the evening. 

Exclusive prize draw
Tickets can be requested via the website www.millionairessummerparty.com for 120€ per ticket, which will include a reception cocktail of Veuve Clicquot champagne and canapés from Goyo.

Guests purchasing tickets before the 31 May 2011, will be entered into an exclusive prize draw to win a number of fantastic prizes. Including:
Lunch for two at the boutique beach club Buddha Beach Puerto Banus
A meal for two at Puerto Banus' exciting La Sala restaurant and bar
A free hydrothermal circuit at the Meliá La Quinta YHI Spa
Two green fees for the stunning La Quinta Golf course, worth 92€ per person
A weekend at hip and chic Sisu Boutique Hotel from September
A VIP table on Friday, 29 July at the exclusive and glamorous Pangea Night club in Puerto Banus for six people
Buy tickets for The Millionaires' Summer Party Marbella on the website, email enquiries@millionairessummerparty.com or call 0034 637 155 145 and be entered into the draw to win these great prizes. Winners will be announced 3 June 2011.
Getting there and away

Travelling from the UK to Marbella is quick and direct. Many airlines fly from the UK to Malaga including British Airways, easyJet, Monarch, Ryan Air and Aer Lingus and average flight times are less than three hours.

There are direct buses from the airport to Marbella bus station, or you can hire a car from the airport.

Spain, Gibraltar in new maritime face-off

A new row flared between Spain and Gibraltar after police in the British territory charged on Tuesday that one of its boats was damaged in a clash with Spanish police vessels that illegally entered its waters.

Spain's government said on Monday it had complained to Britain over the incident on Sunday, while Spain's Civil Guard police force accused their Gibraltar counterparts of behaving like "pirates".

The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) said in a statement on Tuesday that Civil Guard boats were chasing a suspect vessel "outside BGTW", or the territorial waters of the rocky promontory off Spain's southern coast.

But the pursuit entered "BGTW with the Civil Guard intercepting the suspect vessel", it said in a statement.

"The crew, two Spanish nationals, were arrested by the Civil Guard after bales of cannabis resin were found onboard the vessel. No prior notification of the chase had been given to the RGP by the Civil Guard."

 

abandoned corner of southwestern Spain has become the latest testing ground for equipment that could one day be used on a manned-mission to Mars.

The arid area of Rio Tinto, a former mining area in the Huelva district of Andalusia, was the site chosen to test a new space suit and a prototype unmanned rover named Eurobot.
The unusual chemical and geological make-up of the landscape makes it the closest to conditions on the Red Planet in Europe, scientists said.
"This is a dress rehearsal for the biggest journey our civilisation has ever taken," said Gernot Groemer of the Austrian Space Forum who led the expedition team to Spain last week.
"We have a mineral here called jarosite - and that is exactly what we have on Mars."
The team tested new technology that has been three years in development - a spacesuit simulator called Aouda X, which has been partially funded by the Europlanet network.

 

Lotus eyes points finishes from Spain

Team Lotus can set it sights on delivering its first points finishes from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards thanks to the major update of its car planned for that event, reckons technical chief Mike Gascoyne.
The team is on course to deliver a major overhaul of its car for Barcelona, which will include the team's version of the exhaust-blown diffuser that a number of other teams have already introduced this year.
And hopes for a big step forward in pace are such that Gascoyne is optimistic it can lift his outfit from the back end of the midfield right into the chase for a top ten finish.
"I think if we look at scoring points, we have to look at Barcelona onwards," he told the official Team Lotus website. "The updates to the car are going to be very significant."
Speaking in detail about the upgrade plans for the car - which will also include tweaks to overcome the power-steering issues the team has suffered from Gascoyne said: "Our major update is coming along for Barcelona, which will be a major update for the diffuser and the rear end of car.
"It will bring quite a lot of performance to the car, and we've got some other smaller updates for Barcelona [too]. And then also smaller updates for Turkey as well."
Gascoyne has said he is satisfied with the performance of the team in the first three races of the year, and he thinks the difficulties it has faced getting its tyres into the right operating window in cooler conditions should not be a problem for too much longer.
"It's good to be back after the first three flyaway races," he said. "It is always quite an intense time getting everything freighted out to those flyaway races, and it is difficult to get many updates onto the car.
"In general we are reasonably pleased. We had four out of six finishes and showed good pace in the races China especially. We qualified very well in Malaysia, very close to the teams in front.
"The one negative is we have struggled a bit with qualifying and [single] lap pace, especially in cooler conditions and cooler track temperatures, but I think that is something we are getting on top of. Coming up for the next few races won't be a problem."
Team Lotus is due to announce a tie-up with British sportscar maker Caterham during a media event at Duxford on Wednesday, a move which will see an expansion of the F1 outfit's off-track activities.

 

Moroccan authorities should free or grant a new and fair trial to Sidi Zakaria Moumni, a champion boxer, Human Rights Watch said today

Moroccan authorities should free or grant a new and fair trial to Sidi Zakaria Moumni, a champion boxer, Human Rights Watch said today. A Rabat court of appeal convicted Moumni of fraud in January 2011 after trials that gave him no opportunity to confront his accusers and used a confession allegedly coerced by torture.

Moumni, 31, was convicted on charges that he took money from two Moroccans to secure them work in Europe and then did not deliver. The case is emblematic of a justice system that fails to guarantee fair trials in politically-sensitive cases, despite King Mohammed VI's pledges to enhance judicial independence, Human Rights Watch said.

"Whatever basis there may be for prosecution, Zakaria Moumni did not receive a fair trial," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Judges shouldn't be throwing people in prison on the basis of witnesses who can't be challenged and questionable confessions."

In an address to the nation on August 20, 2009, King Mohammed VI announced an "in-depth, comprehensive reform of the judicial system" to "make justice more trustworthy, credible, effective, and equitable, because it serves as a strong shield to protect the rule of law." He spoke of "moralizing justice and shielding it from corruption and abuse of authority."

Authorities detained Moumni on his arrival from Paris on September 27, 2010 and have kept him in custody ever since. Moumni, who lives near Paris with his French wife, says police held him in garde à vue (pre-arraignment) detention for three days without informing his family, and beat and ill-treated him so he would sign a "confession" they prevented him from reading.

Moumni repudiated the confession before both the prosecutor and the trial judge, and said he had been tortured, as the court's judgment notes. Nevertheless, the court convicted him on the basis of his contested confession and written complaints filed by his two accusers, who did not appear in court to testify and whom Moumni says he does not know and never met.

Moumni contends that the motive behind this prosecution was his persistent and public efforts to persuade the royal palace that he is entitled to a government job under a royal decree that stipulates benefits for Moroccan athletes who win international honors.

Moumni won the "light-contact" boxing world championship in 1999. He has repeatedly contacted Moroccan authorities, including the palace, over the years to claim a job in the Youth and Sports Ministry to which he believes he is entitled as a world title-winner, by virtue of Royal Decree (dhahir) No. 1194-66, dated March 9, 1967, and a later directive concerning its application. He states that in 2006 he was received at a high level in the royal court, but ultimately was rebuffed in his quest for a post. Since then he has made various efforts to re-contact the palace, including by approaching Mohammed VI's residences in France more than once when he knew the king was visiting - which he believes has motivated the government's criminal prosecution.

On January 25, 2010, Moumni attempted to deliver his request to the king and his entourage by approaching a château belonging to the monarch in Betz, 65 kilometers northeast of Paris, asking to be received. He was turned away by the guards.

Moumni has frequently aired his grievance to the Moroccan and international media. For instance, Al Jazeera television profiled his case in 2006, and featured Moumni criticizing the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Royal Federation of Light-Contact Boxing for blocking his access to a paid post. An article on the French news site Bakchich.info dated June 29, 2010, recounted Moumni's fruitless efforts to contact the palace. The Moroccan weekly al-Ayaam covered Moumni's grievances in detail in its July 8, 2010 issue, including his alleged rebuff by the palace.

Moumni's Arrest and Prosecution
Moumni had never previously been convicted of any offense, either in Morocco or France, according to state judicial records from both countries provided by his wife.

On or about January 26, 2010 - the date is illegible in the report in the case file - Driss Saïdi and Moustapha Wachkatt, who said they reside in the city of Errachidia, filed complaints with the prosecutor in Rabat, saying that on January 22, they met in a Rabat café with Moumni, who took 14,000 dirhams (US $1,820) from each of them in exchange for a promise to get them jobs in Europe. They said that they were not able to reach him after that, though.

Moumni told Human Rights Watch that on February 12 police at Casablanca airport stopped him as he returned to the country, telling him there was a warrant for him in connection with his having harmed "les sacralités," a term often used to refer to the monarchy and the person of the king. They released him after questioning him briefly, but stopped him for questioning again when he left the country three days later. They did not question him about the fraud complaint, Moumni said. They let him go, saying they would try to close the matter but that there were no guarantees, he said.

He heard nothing more until September 27. As his plane from Paris touched down at Rabat-Salé airport that day, he phoned his family to say he had landed, Moumni said. But at passport control, a policeman asked him to accompany him to an office. Moumni phoned a relative to say he expected to be delayed slightly before leaving the arrival zone of the airport. Instead, four men in civilian clothes searched him, handcuffed him, and escorted him to a car outside.

When Moumni did not emerge from passport control, his aunt, who was waiting for him, asked airport authorities about him and was told that he was not on the passenger list. In France, Moumni's wife, Taline Moumni, contacted Paris airport authorities, who confirmed that he had been on board the flight. She then contacted the Rabat-Salé airport and was told that no passenger by the name of Zakaria Moumni had arrived on that flight. The police post at the airport told her that no one by that name had been arrested, she told Human Rights Watch.

For three days, Moumni's family could obtain no information about his whereabouts. On September 30, Moumni phoned to inform them that he had just been tried and was awaiting the verdict in Salé prison.

Secret Detention and Allegations of Torture and a Forced Confession
Moumni told Human Rights Watch that after the police took him to a car outside the airport on September 27, they seated him in the back seat, between two men, blindfolded him, and had him put his head down. They drove him to an unknown location, where they put cuffs on his feet and started slapping and insulting him. They then took him to a room, stripped off his clothes and tied his hands to a chair while his feet remained bound.

The interrogators asked Moumni to tell them about his life, he said. When he described approaching a royal counselor about the post to which he believed he was entitled by law, the police started slapping and insulting him, saying, "You had better understand something." They poured water on him, forced him to sit on his knees, and at one point they beat him on his feet, he said. He remained naked until the following day, when they returned his pants and underpants but not his shirt. He remained blindfolded until they transported him from this detention center to a police station, on September 30.

At the police station, Moumni said, the police offered to release him if he signed a promise to stop approaching the king's residence. When he hesitated, they said that they would ask him instead to sign other documents acknowledging that they had returned his cellphone and personal effects. When he asked to read those documents, they blindfolded him again and threatened that if he did not sign, they would send him back to the interrogation center. He signed a series of documents without being allowed to read them, he said.

Many of the abuses that Moumni alleges he suffered are the same that Morocco practices against terrorism suspects, as Human Rights Watch documented in an October 2010 report. These include detention in an unacknowledged place, failure to inform the family about the detention as required by law, torture and ill-treatment during interrogation, and compelling the accused to sign a statement without reading it.

On September 30, court documents show, authorities brought Moumni before deputy prosecutor Ilyas Saloub, attached to the Rabat Court of First Instance. Saloub read to Moumni the charges against him and questioned him about his statement to the police, dated September 29, in which he "confessed" to having defrauded two Moroccan citizens by taking 14,000 dirhams from each in exchange for a promise to get them jobs in Europe. Moumni denied the charges, as the hearing record notes. The record also states that Moumni waived his right to be represented by a lawyer. Moumni signed that record, and was tried the same day without a lawyer.

Moumni said that he first learned the contents of the statement he signed in police custody when he stood before the deputy prosecutor.

Moumni told Human Rights Watch that the trial later that day was very brief. He said that Presiding Judge Mohamed Yamoudi asked him perfunctory questions, such as whether he knew the complainants. He replied that he did not and had never heard their names before. He also asked the judge to let him call his family or his lawyer. The judge concluded the trial without calling any witnesses.

On October 4 the court found Moumni guilty of defrauding others, under article 540 of the penal code, and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Moumni told Human Rights Watch that he also told the prosecutor of the torture and ill-treatment he says he endured while in police custody, which the hearing record does not mention. Moumni said that he explained in detail to the prosecutor and then to the trial judge what he had endured, and showed both of them injuries to his legs that he said were the result of police beatings. The defense lawyer, Jamaï, visited Moumni in prison for the first time on October 1 - the day after his trial - and observed cuts and bruises on one of his legs, Jamaï told Human Rights Watch. He also said that Moumni complained to him that his arms ached from being handcuffed for most of three days.

To Human Rights Watch's knowledge, the court did not investigate Moumni's allegation of torture and ill-treatment. The case file includes a joint statement before the prosecutor, dated September 29, 2010, signed by lawyer Abdessamad Raji Sanhaji, on behalf of the two complainants, reaffirming their accusations. But the court did not summon them to testify in front of the defendant the next day, and issued its verdict without hearing from them.

On October 6 Jamaï filed an appeal. He also petitioned the court to summon the two plaintiffs and engaged a bailiff (huissier) to deliver the summons to the complainants. The bailiff looked for one of the complainants and wrote a statement saying that the complainant could not be found at the address he had provided. The appeals court postponed the trial twice because the complainants did not appear, Jamaï said.

Suspicious of the complainants' statements, Jamaï also asked the court to summon the police agent who reportedly took their statements on September 29.

The appeals court eventually heard the appeal in a single session on January 13, at which it did not summon the complainants or the police agent who took their complaint. As in the trial in first instance, the lawyer designated by the complainants in their complaint did not attend. It remained unclear why the complainants, who presumably would seek restitution of the money that Moumni had supposedly obtained from them fraudulently, never showed up to present their case against him.

The court, with Judge Hachemi Slimani presiding, reaffirmed the conviction, but reduced Moumni's term to two and-a-half years. The court's judgment notes the defendant's statement that he does not know his accusers, took no money from them, and was tortured in detention. It notes also that the defense asked the policeman to appear as a witness. But it nevertheless based its guilty verdict on Moumni's "confession" to the police, which it deemed credible.

Moumni is serving his sentence in Roumani prison, a two-hour drive from Rabat.

Morocco prosecuted in an unfair trial another person who addressed the palace in a critical fashion. Retired Colonel Kaddour Terhzaz was convicted of "revealing national defense secrets" in November 2008, after he drafted a letter to the king critical of the state's treatment of Moroccan soldiers who had come home after having been held as prisoners of war in Polisario-run camps in Algeria.

"Zakaria Moumni appears to have been imprisoned for his public lobbying and criticism of the royal court after trials that fell far short of international fair trial standards," Whitson said. "This does not sound like the kind of independent justice that King Mohamed VI pledged to establish in 2009."

SPANISH officer was injured during an ‘encounter’ between the Guardia Civil and the Gibraltar authorities close to the Rock.

SPANISH officer was injured during an ‘encounter’ between the Guardia Civil and the Gibraltar authorities close to the Rock. The Guardia Civil were intercepted in Gibraltar waters while chasing a boat which was allegedly carrying drugs from Morocco. The drug smugglers were stopped 3.7 kilometres off the coast of Gibraltar, after they had thrown packages of drugs overboard during the chase, which began 10.8 kilometres from Europa Point.

Seven boats, from the Customs Office, the Royal Navy and Gibraltar Police then approached, and according to the Guardia Civil, threatened and insulted them and told them to release the smugglers to them because they had been captured in Gibraltar waters.

They are also said to have deliberately knocked into the Guardia Civil boats, causing damages, and leading to one of the officers sustaining injuries to his arm.

The ‘assault’ continued until the Guardia Civil left the area and took the two detainees with them, as well as their boat and 100 kilos of hashish.

The Unified Guardia Civil Association is calling for the case to be pursued in court and for those responsible to be punished.

"The (British) Royal Navy and RGP acted like pirates as in other times in the past," said a statement from the police organisation.

Manuel Varela de Seijas Brabo, who works under the name Manu Brabo, is one of four journalists seized by Gadhafi's forces on April 5 while reporting on the conflict from the outskirts of Brega.

The parents of a Spanish photojournalist who was captured by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Sunday they had received a phone call from him in which he said he was well but in a Tripoli jail.
Manuel Varela de Seijas Brabo, who works under the name Manu Brabo, is one of four journalists seized by Gadhafi's forces on April 5 while reporting on the conflict from the outskirts of Brega.
The others are GlobalPost correspondent James Foley, freelance reporter Clare Morgana Gillis — both Americans — and South African photographer Anton Hammerl.
Brabo's father, Manuel Varela, said in an interview broadcast by Spanish state broadcaster TVE on Sunday that his son told him he was in a military prison, was being fed and was "in fairly good shape."
Brabo called his parents on Saturday and told his mother Victoria Brabo that he did not know when he would be released.
"He reassured us that he was being treated well, had not been subject to any aggression in the jail he was being held in along with three other reporters and that he was being given food and tobacco," she told TVE. She said she had spoken to her son "for around a quarter of an hour."
"He thinks his main problem is going to be his illegal entry into the country and he also commented that he hadn't obtained permits to photograph some things," his father said.
GlobalPost and The Atlantic reported Thursday that Clare Morgana Gillis called her parents in New Haven, Connecticut, and said she was in good health at a women's civilian jail run by forces loyal to Gadhafi.

TRIBUTES have flooded in for a British teenager who fell to her death from a motorway bridge.

TRIBUTES have flooded in for a British teenager who fell to her death from a motorway bridge.
Hundreds of family and friends have expressed their sorrow for Samantha Hardy, 19, who jumped onto the N340.
The troubled teenager was allegedly killed by a passing car after landing on the dual carriageway in La Cala, in the early hours of the morning.
Thousands have since visited her Facebook page, as well as a specially set up memorial site at gonetoosoon.org.
Among countless tributes, the teenager from Bolton, is described as ‘boisterous, loving, caring and giving’.
Bouquets of flowers have been left beside the bridge, while mourners dressed in pink (her favourite colour) for her funeral at Fuengirola Crematorium. Pink balloons were also released.
One tribute read: “You were always so full of life, always up for fun; you were the life and soul of the party!! I still can’t believe you’re actually gone.”

FORMER UN chief Kofi Annan has slammed Costa del Sol planners

FORMER UN chief Kofi Annan has slammed Costa del Sol planners who have allowed the coastline to become overdeveloped.
Speaking to a packed conference hall in Marbella, Annan said planners should have been more careful.


“Before rolling out a tourism strategy, one has to make sure that the development is sustainable from the point of view of infrastructure and services offered to the tourist.
“But, most of all, it has to be sustainable for the local community – the people who live in the area. One has to avoid the temptation to over exploit facilities.”
Mr Annan, secretary general of the UN between 1997 and 2006 was speaking as guest of honour at the third Global Congress on wine and climate change.

Christly was shot four times, twice in the abdomen, once in the behind and once in the leg, but after emergency surgery he has now recovered.

The investigation into a shooting suffered by a 54 year old British man, Peter Christley, who was shot when he went to answer the door of his home in Benalmádena last January, has, according to Diario Sur, given its first results.

National Police have identified two men allegedly implicated in the shooting in Calle Londres, in Ubanisation Torremar Park, and arrested an Irish man on Tuesday this week. The man, who has not been named in reports, was placed before the court on Wednesday, and accused of taking part in the shooting.

The second suspect remains at large, and is thought to have fled the area, and so an international arrest warrant has been issued, although he has not been named in press reports.
Investigations, based in the Torremolinos-Benalmádena police station, continue.

Christly was shot four times, twice in the abdomen, once in the behind and once in the leg, but after emergency surgery he has now recovered.

Wheelchair bound thief arrested in El Prat Airport

The regional Catalan police, Los Mossos d’Esquadra, have arrested a gang of thieves who operated against travellers at the El Prat airport in Barcelona.

The gang was led by a 35 year old Macedonian man in a wheelchair who used his condition to trick his victims, usually tourists who were queuing in the baggage check-in area.

Three people, Macedonian and Bulgarian, have been arrested in total, and a fourth has been denounced.

 

Emergency landing at Sevilla Airport

A Vueling flight from Barcelona had to perform an emergency landing at Sevilla Airport just after 8,30pm on Wednesday when the front under-carriage wheel failed to operate.

The plane was carrying mostly Spaniards, but there were also Britons, French and Germans on board. None of the 150 passengers were injured in the incident, although some did need medical attention for shock, but the incident did bring chaos as Sevilla Airport was closed for a time. 26 flights were affected, most of them diverted to either Jerez or Málaga.

The airport reopened late on Wednesday night. Operators managed to tow the damaged plane from the runway at 2215.

 

Three year old dies in fall from third floor flat

A passerby saw how a three year old boy fell to his death from a third floor flat in Alcantarilla, Murcia, on Wednesday night.

Police say the reason for the fall, which happened at 1806, is still under investigation.

The passerby called 112 and said that the child was lying unconscious and bleeding on the ground.

Emergency services could do nothing to revive the child.

 

 

Spain's hostelry and gaming sectors unite against Smoking Law

A new platform which was presented in Madrid on Monday has called hostelry business owners and workers from across the country to a protest which is to be held in the Spanish capital on May 9 against Spain’s smoking law.

The extended legislation which came into force on January 2 this year bans smoking in all closed public spaces, and the platform, ‘Libertad Sin Humo’ – ‘Freedom Without Smoke’, wants it replaced with less restrictive legislation.

The platform was presented by José María Rubio, President of the FEHR Spanish Hostelry Federation, which has joined forces with the gaming sector in an attempt to get the law changed. He said the new law has brought losses of more than 20% to hostelry, while the bingo halls have said that their income dropped by 30% in the first three months of this year.

EFE reports that Libertad Sin Humo has already collected almost 600,000 signatures in support of their aim, and plans to present their petition to Congress and the Ombudsman during the first week of May.

 

Two million Britons are expected to head overseas this Easter with Spain the number-one holiday destination.

Hundreds of thousands of people are taking advantage of the opportunity to enjoy an 11-day break but only have to book three days off work thanks to the royal wedding weekend following hot on the heels of the Easter bank holidays.

The Canary Island and the Costa del Sol are the most popular destinations with bargain hunters heading to Egypt and Tunisia and families jetting off to Florida

Foreign city breaks are also proving to be popular with the top five choices being Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome and New York.

The airports are preparing for the busiest period of the year so far, with 600,000 scheduled to leave from Heathrow, 250,000 from Gatwick, 160,000 from Stansted and 105,000 from Luton.

Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh airports are poised to see 150,000 passengers pass through their terminals, with 125,000 leaving from Manchester and 65,000 from Birmingham.

Eurostar and ferry terminals are also looking forward to a busy two weeks.

Abta chairman John McEwan said: “Easter is the traditional curtain raiser to the summer and the royal wedding bank holiday has given a special boost to bookings. I am delighted to see that so many of our customers are taking advantage of the extra days off either heading overseas or taking a break closer to home.”

Spain's traffic campaign fines almost 3,400 drivers in 7 days for using their mobile phone while driving

The special 7-day traffic campaign launched against driver distraction issued 4,201 fines to drivers on Spanish roads between April 4 and April 10. The vast majority of them, 3,387, were fined for using their mobile phone manually while they were behind the wheel.

The Interior Ministry pointed out in a press release this Monday that using your phone while driving quadruples the risk of an accident and is comparable to the risk of driving while under the influence of alcohol.

The campaign monitored almost 4,000 vehicles in all Spain’s autonomous communities, with the exception of Cataluña and the Basque Country where responsibility for such matters falls to each region. The traffic also fined 38 drivers for programming their GPS while driving, and another 169 for using headphones or earphones connected to apparatus other than mobile phones.

Twenty four percent of the drivers who were pulled over were found to be using hands-free mobile phones. The Ministry notes that, while this is permitted by law, it is still a risk as it reduces a driver’s concentration.

Driver distraction is one of the main causes of fatalities on Spanish roads, and was involved in 48% of the 329 fatal accidents which have taken place so far this year until April 14, killing 169 people.

It was the cause of 684 traffic fatalities during 2010.

 

José María del Nido put at the centre of Marbella corruption

The anti-corruption prosecutor has put the Sevilla lawyer, and President of the Sevilla Football Club, José María del Nido, at the centre of the corruption in Marbella town hall in the ‘Minutas’ case.

Francisco Jiménez Villarejo’s report increases his sentence request for Del Nido from 13 to 30 years in jail on charges of perversion of the course of justice, misuse of public funds, corporate crime, falsification of documents and professional disloyalty.

Del Nido was a legal advisor to the Marbella Town Hall between 1999 and 2003 when Jesús Gil was Mayor. The prosecutor says that over that time he invoiced municipal companies for more than six million €, and that he was paid that amount although he allegedly failed to carry out the work itemised in the bills.

The prosecutor claims that Del Nido was at the centre of the decisions of Marbella Town Hall, while the lawyer claims that he was only ‘an external assessor’.

The prosecutor says that after Jesús Gil spent six days in prison in the ‘camisetas’ case involving advertising on Atlético Madrid, he lost confidence in his previous legal advisor, José Luis Sierra, and that he contracted Del Nido as a replacement in a dinner in Puerto Banús in September 1999.

 

Antonio Banderas Takes Part in Religious Procession in Spain

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas on Sunday led the religious procession carrying the image of the Virgin of Tears and Favors through the streets of the city of his birth, Malaga, in one of the hundreds of religious events held to mark Holy Week in Spain.

Accompanying her husband, as is their custom, was actress Melanie Griffith, who has fully involved herself in the celebrations and traditions that each year at this time Banderas returns to Spain to take part in.

While he finalized the details before the procession, the actor said that he thoroughly enjoyed participating in Holy Week celebrations and was “very emotional because it’s been a very special year for the many activities” in which he had been involved.

 

Spain's top breeder of fighting bulls dies in traffic accident

Juan Pedro Domecq Solis, owner of Spain's oldest and most prestigious bull-breeding operation, died Monday in a traffic accident near his Lo Alvaro ranch in the southern province of Huelva, family sources said. He was 69.

The Civil Guard told Efe that the accident occurred about 12:10 p.m. on highway A-433.

For reasons that are not yet known, the SUV the rancher was driving crashed head-on into an oncoming truck.

The driver of the truck was injured in the crash and taken by helicopter to the regional Riotinto hospital, where he was reported to be in guarded condition.

Juan Pedro Domecq Solis, who was the president of the Fighting-Bull Breeders Union from 1984 to 1994, inherited the breeding operation founded by his grandfather Juan Pedro Domecq y Nuñez de Villavicencio, who in 1939 bought the legendary Veragua brand.

George Benson is quite simply one of the greatest guitarists in Jazz history and he is back in Marbella by popular demand

Performing at the Hotel Puente Romano Tennis Club in Marbella on June 25th 2011, George Benson is quite simply one of the greatest guitarists in Jazz history and he is back in Marbella by popular demand, entertaining us with his greatest hits including Never give up on a good thing, On Broadway, Give me the Night and many more.
At various points along the four-decade continuum of George Benson’s career, he has been heralded as a jazz guitarist of unparalleled talent, a vocalist with great emotional range and sophistication or a combination of both and with 14 Grammy´s in his pocket, another spectacular performance is guaranteed in Marbella.
Location: Hotel Puente Romano Tennis Club, Marbella, Spain
Date: June 25th, 2011
Doors: 8pm
Support: 9pm
George Benson: 10pm

‘Mr Marbella’ is to start a regular slot on Heart FM, based in Coin, from next month.

DJ Maurice Boland is returning to the airwaves for the first time since his close relationship with a 16-year-old girl was exposed.
 
He will take over the afternoon show from current station boss Lee Jay on May 1 on an initial three month contract.
This will follow a two hour in-depth interview in which he admits his mistake over his relationship with the teenage singer.
Last night Boland told the paper: “I am pleased to be back.”
And he added: “I have no problem discussing the issue. I will welcome any questions that people want to put to me. If someone wants to phone up and attack me I am going to ask why.”
The broadcaster, 62, had set out to help the teenager forge a musical career but their relationship had evolved and he had made a “terrible mistake.”
He helped the Sotogrande International School pupil to come runner up in local talent competition WOW and was guiding her musical career.
He has been out of the limelight for the past nine months since having his contract terminated at Talk Radio Europe (TRE), as exclusively revealed at the time by the Olive Press.
We revealed how the outraged parents had turned up at the radio station demanding to see him before he was then sacked.
The parents have since relocated with their daughter back to the UK due to the affair.
“We have no idea what the response will be from the public and everything will depend on that,” said producer Sid Olivera, who grilled him for the two-hour special, expected to be aired later this month.


“He was pretty honest but was very guarded with his answers, I am sure he will talk his way out of it on air.
“If he goes on air and is flippant it just won’t work, he’ll rub people up the wrong way. He’s going to have to admit it happened and say: ‘I’m sorry’, can we now move on?
“Either way, there is no doubt he’s sorely missed on the coast.”
Married for 40 years, with three children, Boland had worked since the 1980s in Marbella, interviewing famous people including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Cliff Richard and Jeffrey Archer.
Heart FM Station boss Lee Jay added: “So far the reaction has been very favourable, people can’t wait to get Maurice back.
“He will be putting out the same kind of show as before, which was obviously a very successful format and is the sort of thing that people want”

Staff at La Zagaleta – where homes start at three million euros – are blaming the British owners and Troon golf club for the loss of jobs.

WORKERS at Andalucia’s most exclusive development are threatening to strike over Easter.

Half a dozen staff were laid off in cutbacks and are now manning a picket line outside the upmarket development between Ronda and Marbella.
Among a dozen banners in English that line the road outside, one said: ‘English board = Fired Staff’.
First developed by arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi in the 1970s, the development counts Hugh Grant and Dolph Lundgren as residents.
The staff – three gardeners, a waiter, a cook and a caddy master – were laid off due to the recession and a loss of community fees, insist the owners.
Now with the support of the CCOO trade union, as many as 50 of the 62 members of staff are expected to go on a seven day strike from April 18.
CCOO spokeswoman, Lola Villalba, explained: “The workers are being used in a war that is being waged between Troon, the promoter of the urbanization and the board who run the club.
“Both of them are fighting to seize the reins of the complex.”
Both sides are still in discussion and a hearing with the Labour Dispute Settlement Service of Andalucia has been scheduled for Friday.


Troon golf runs golf clubs around the world, including Turnberry golf course in Scotland, La Quinta in Marbella and others in Dubai and South Africa.
A spokesman from Zagaleta said: “They want their jobs back, which is why they are protesting. We are discussing it all this Friday.”

Last fugitive in Dominican Republic’s biggest drugs case nabbed in Spain

The only suspect still on the loose in the case of the Puerto Rican kingpin Jose Figueroa Agosto, was brought from Madrid via the Las Americas International Airport Saturday night, report local media.

According to investigators, Leavy Yanira Nin Batista and/or Fior Jansen Rodriguez, wife of the murder convict, had fled to France with the help of the also accused Adolfina (Dolphie) Peláez.

National District Assistant prosecutor Jose Dantes Diaz brought the fugitive aboard a flight from Madrid, escorted by five Spanish agents.

Nin faces several charges of laundering money for Figueroa’s drug trafficking network.

Spanish police display recently seized ETA bomb-making material

Spanish police combating the armed Basque separatist group ETA have displayed a cache of 1.6 metric tons (1.8 tons) of bomb-making material seized in two raids earlier this week.
Apart from chemical compounds used in making explosives, the exhibit included detonators, a handgun and fuel canisters.
The seizures were made in a series of hideouts in the northern Basque region and adjacent Navarra using information provided by an ETA suspect arrested Tuesday.
The display was arranged in secure premises within a Civil Guard barracks in the northern seaside city of San Sebastian on Saturday.
Two suspects were being held in connection with the seizures on suspicious of belonging to a terror organization, a national court judge said. Spain, France, the EU and the U.S. consider ETA a terror group.
ETA declared what it called a permanent cease-fire in January and had said it was open to letting international observers verify the truce.
The uncovering of such a large stash of explosives, coupled with the shooting in France last weekend of a police officer who was wounded in the shoulder during a gunbattle with two fleeing ETA suspects, has raised doubts about the credibility that can be given to the cease-fire.
ETA's most recent "permanent" cease-fire was in 2006, but it ended with a car bomb at a parking garage at Madrid's international airport that killed two people.
Many observers believe the truce is merely a ploy for pro-independence activists to gain a political advantage in the run-up to municipal and regional elections on May 22, and possibly for ETA to restock its arsenals.
Spain's government insists that for outlawed Basque separatist party Batasuna — ETA's political wing — to be able to field candidates they must renounce violence and ETA must lay down its weapons for good.
ETA's pro-independence political allies recently formed a new party called Sortu that says it rejects ETA violence, but on March 23 the Supreme Court ruled against this happening, saying Sortu is a repackaged version of Batasuna.
ETA has killed more than 825 people in Spain since the late 1960s in a campaign to create a Basque homeland along the Atlantic coast in an area that encompasses part of northern Spain and southwestern France.

The owner of the Asador Guadalmina in Marbella says he's suffered losses of up to 45%

It’s now been a month since the Marbella restaurant, the Asador Guadalmina, reopened in San Pedro de Alcántara as a smoke-free zone, and the owner says he has suffered losses of between 40 and 45% during that time.

José Eugenio Arias Camisón’s establishment was closed down on February 10 for failing to comply with Spain’s new smoking legislation which came into force on January 2 this year. He reopened a month later, after giving a written commitment that he would comply with the law, but now says he may have to close down if his income does not improve.

The restaurant owner told the EFE news agency that he has as yet had no reply from the Partido Popular to his question on what the party plans ‘to do with this law when they win the elections.’

His appeal against the closure order served on his restaurant by the Junta de Andalucía is however under consideration by the Andalucía High Court of Justice. Arias-Camisón has also warned of a possible mutiny against the legislation by all businesses in the hostelry sector.

Pro-democracy activists in Morocco are gearing up for more mass demonstrations this month, unsatisfied with the king's pledge to carry out "comprehensive" constitutional reform.

Inspired by the success of protesters elsewhere in North Africa, tens of thousands of Moroccans took to the streets on 20 February.

King Mohammed VI responded three weeks later, promising changes that would dilute his absolute hold on power.

The prime minister calls it a "peaceful revolution". But the protest leaders insist the proposals fall far short of their demands.

"Our first demand is a constitution for the people and by the people - a complete reform," says Montasser Drissi, one of the original group of young protesters.

The February 20th movement grew quickly via Facebook and is now calling for further rallies this Sunday and the following week.

'No Tahrir Square'
The king has ordered a committee to draft constitutional reforms which include making the prime minister elected, not appointed.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

They dare to voice criticism that they haven't dared to before”

Mohamed El-Boukili
Moroccan Association for Human Rights
The proposals will then be put to a referendum. But the committee members were chosen by the king himself, convincing protesters that any changes will be superficial. So the demonstrations continue.

"It's good to keep the commission under pressure," explains Mr Drissi. "If the people want change and the king does not - he will be alone. He must listen to the people."

Many of those people are now trumpeting their demands all over the Moroccan capital.

You can barely walk a block in central Rabat these days without passing a protest.

Unemployed graduates are staging a sit-in outside parliament; hundreds of teachers have set up camp in front of the education ministry.

Other groups march along Mohammed V Avenue proclaiming their frustration through loud hailers.

There is no Tahrir Square here, no daily focal point to the protests. But the democratic wave that swept Egypt and Tunisia has emboldened many Moroccans to make unprecedented calls for reform.

"They dare to voice criticism that they haven't dared to before; they dare say we want a king who does not rule, but who is a symbol. They dare to say and discuss this. Before it was not permitted," says Mohamed El-Boukili, of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights.

Restrictions on speech
He points out that King Mohammed VI was greeted as a reformer following the abusive reign of his father, King Hassan II, who ruled through torture, killing and forced disappearances.


Many Moroccans hold their king in high regard
Even so, restrictions on free speech remain: Several newspapers have been closed down, and the king remains unquestionable as Morocco's supreme religious authority as well as monarch.

"There are many civil society actors now creating pressure for change and real reform. There is real demand," says journalist Driss Ksikes. He received a three-year suspended sentence in 2007 for publishing jokes on politics, religion and sex.

"There is disequilibrium now. The monarchy is very strong, and the pressure from the streets for a free Morocco is very important. We know there is an opportunity and maybe there will not be another one," he adds.

So on the top floor of a trade union building in Rabat, the 20 February movement has been plotting their next move.

They have rejected a call to discuss the constitutional changes with the king's committee arguing that would lend legitimacy to a flawed process. Instead there is talk of sit-ins and flash mobs as well as the rally this weekend.

The hope is the movement can harness the frustration of other groups demonstrating for more specific needs - like jobs - and against a culture of corruption.

University graduates formed just one of the crowds marching past parliament last week, angry that their degrees get them nothing without connections or money.

"After events in the Arab world we took the chance to claim our rights too," says Ali, an unemployed English graduate on the march.

"We are suffering, and we could not say that before Tunisia and Egypt. But maybe we have more rights now."

"We're here to protest about many problems, including political ones. But the first is jobs," agreed Lahsin, an out-of-work teacher.

34 year old woman has died in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga after undergoing a plastic surgery operation in a private clinic in the city.

Diario Sur reports that the woman was admitted to the private clinic for breast resizing at the start of last week, but there were unspecified complications and she was transferred to hospital. It is thought that she had an adverse reaction to medication after the procedure. Her condition got worse and she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, but died at 6am, on Sunday.

It’s not the first such case in the province of Málaga. In 2008 the family of Encarnación Salazar denounced doctors after a liposuction had fatal consequences in the Hospital Pascual and in 2005 the wife of the then president of Nigeria died after a procedure in a clinic in Marbella.

The Camerons headed to Granada, where they stayed in a mid-market hotel that costs roughly 120 Euros a night.

British Prime Minister David Cameron took his wife, Samantha, on a two-day excursion to Spain to celebrate her 40th birthday, which is April 18th. That's not really news, but the budget nature of the trip is.

Breaking Travel News reports that the Camerons were spotted on a two-hour Ryanair flight from Stanstead to Marbella. The Mirror reports that the Camerons were "looking glum" while they waiting for their flight.

Upon landing, the Camerons headed to Granada, where they stayed in a mid-market hotel that costs roughly 120 Euros a night. Cameron, has, after all, caught flack for his travel plans (they canceled a Christmas trip to Thailand for seeming too out of touch).

They also toured Sierra de Huetor Natural Park, a popular spot near Granada famous for its springs and geologic diversity. They also hit up the famous Alhambra, a 14th century Moorish palace on the outskirts of Granada.

The Camerons were famously on stay-cation in Cornwall last summer when Samantha went into labor, later delivering a baby girl.

Felipe had learnt that he and his wife, Princess Letizia were not invited to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Prince of Wales was told by Crown Prince Felipe of Spain at a gala dinner in Madrid last week that a solution must be found for Gibraltar, there was great surprise at why a centuries–old dispute had been stirred up.
Mandrake can disclose that the heir to the Spanish throne was, however, acutely aware of a diplomatic incident even closer to home.
Felipe had learnt that he and his wife, Princess Letizia were not invited to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
“It is extraordinary,” a Spanish official told me “Only King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were invited.”
What made the snub to Felipe — who, like Prince Charles, is a great–great-great–grandson of Queen Victoria — even more surprising is that space had been found at Westminster Abbey for the owner of a Spanish tile company who donated generously to Charles’s charities, Manuel Colonques, and his wife, Delfina.

His firm, Porcelanosa, met a “significant proportion” of the costs of a lavish charity dinner at Buckingham Palace in February.
Charles was a guest of honour at the wedding of Felipe and Letizia, a divorced television newsreader, in Madrid in 2004. He attended both the ceremony and the sumptuous banquet that followed.
On Friday, St James’s Palace confirmed that only the king and queen had been invited. “You would need to check with the Spanish royal household as to who they have opted to attend,” the official said.
That night, however, a nervous courtier suggested that Charles had asked for Felipe and Letizia to be added to the guest list.

Budget airline Ryanair won a prime ministerial publicity coup this week when passengers spotted British premier David Cameron using the carrier

Budget airline Ryanair won a prime ministerial publicity coup this week when passengers spotted British premier David Cameron using the carrier to take his wife on one of its cheap flights to Spain for her 40th birthday.

The couple have not had a foreign holiday since Mr Cameron became PM last summer. Plans to enjoy the pleasures of five-star Thailand holidays were put on hold over Christmas for fear of looking insensitive amid high unemployment figures.

Now it appears that he has found a way around this publicity problem, taking one of Ryanair's cheap flights to Malaga this week – leaving the kids at home with the au pair. However, they were spotted by an eagle-eyed passenger who took a photo of them in the departure lounge at London Stansted.

Upon arrival in Malaga, the couple took a car to the historic city of Granada, where they made a point of visiting the incredible 14th-century Moorish fortress and palace called the Alhambra.

Ryanair made another impact in the press this week when it used the launch of its new cheap flights to Corfu to attack the "high fare airlines and greedy tour operators" who were allegedly "strangling" the island's holiday industry.

The new route begins in June, and Ryanair head of communications Steve McNamara claimed that it would provide much-needed competition on the island. "Greek tourism has been strangled by high fare airlines and greedy tour operators, who have been making out like bandits in the absence of a low fares airline to deliver the competition that Greek tourism needs," he declared.

Sir Sean Connery has confirmed he will no longer make official public appearances,

HE HAS exchanged the bright glare of the spotlight for the cool shade of the clubhouse. After 50 years of red carpets and press conferences, Sir Sean Connery has confirmed he will no longer make official public appearances, however this does not exclude the golf course.
Yesterday Scotland's political leaders were united in their praise for his contribution and wished him well in the future.

The former James Bond actor had been expected to attend the Dressed to Kilt charity fashion show in New York on Tuesday night but pulled out.

The leader of the Labour Party Iain Gray last night said: "Sir Sean Connery distinguished himself as a world-famous actor and brought credit to Scotland for not only his performances but the manner in which he conducted himself in public life. We wish him will in stepping down from public engagements."

While Annabel Goldie, the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party said: "Sean Connery and James Bond have become inseparable iconic figures and Sir Sean is probably the best known Scottish and British actor of all time.

"If he has now decided to put his feet up and take things easier then I send him my best wishes and thank him for his magnificent contribution to cinema and to Scotland."

An SNP spokesperson said: "Sean is a great supporter of Scotland and the causes he believes in, and will continue to be so."

The 80-year-old failed to turn up at Dressed to Kilt, a key event of the Scotland Week programme in New York on Tuesday night, which led to speculation about his health. His publicist Nancy Seltzer said the actor was playing golf at his home in the Bahamas.

She said: "I've left word for Sean, who is on the golf course. He told me he wasn't attending and had retired from public appearances."

When asked specifically about his health by The Scotsman, Ms Seltzer replied: "Sean is in great health, mentally and physically. Thank you for asking. When he turned 80 he decided to retire from making public appearances. I do truly think he's earned the right to do so without speculation."

The actor had been expected to attend the event with his wife and his stepson, Stephane Connery and together they would have watched his granddaughter, Saskia Connery, 15, make her modelling debut. In the end Saskia Connery did not attend either as she had "an educational commitment".

Sir Sean is co-founder of the Friends of Scotland charity, which organises Dressed to Kilt. A source was yesterday quoted as saying: "Just earlier this week we had no doubt Sir Sean would be coming in his capacity as our honorary chairman. Then we got a call to say he wasn't coming. Apparently he's on the golf course.

David Cameron has flown to Spain for a short break with his wife to mark her impending 40th birthday.

David Cameron has flown to Spain for a short break with his wife to mark her impending 40th birthday.

The prime minister and his wife, Samantha, flew with a low-cost airline without their three children yesterday, and are due to return to the UK on Friday.

Cameron is "still in charge" despite being on a break, Downing Street said. "He's still prime minister," a spokesman said.

His deputy, Nick Clegg, came under fire in February when he told a London newspaper he "forgot" that he was running the country when Cameron was on a working tour of the Middle East.

At the time, Cameron dismissed suggestions that he had handed over the reins, saying: "Just because I leave the country, doesn't mean I am not in charge."

Cameron has taken the opportunity offered by the start of the Easter recess to spend some time with his wife, who will turn 40 later this month.

He flew to Spain on Wednesday after a hectic day in which he arrived back from Pakistan in the early hours, chaired a cabinet meeting and visited a hospital as part of emergency efforts to rescue the government's under-fire NHS reforms.

It is the first time the couple have been abroad on holiday since Cameron became prime minister in May.

Rock legend Gary Moore left estate of more than £2m

Gary Moore was found dead in a hotel room in Spain
Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore left an estate worth over £2m, according to probate records.
The Belfast-born star died of a suspected heart attack in February as he began a holiday in Spain.
Records released last week show that Moore's estate was worth £2.077m but this was reduced after liabilities to a net figure of £1.021m.
The High Court in England granted a temporary order allowing his executors power to run his companies, Orionstar and Bonuswise, pending a final settlement of his estate.
Moore, with an address in Hove, England, had two sons from a former marriage and a daughter from his relationship with Jo Rendle. It is not known if he left a will. The 58-year-old had a successful solo career as a singer and guitarist but is best remembered for his time with Thin Lizzy.
Moore died hours after checking into the five-star Kempinski Hotel on the Costa del Sol.

Thousands of owners of holiday homes are about to lose a major tax benefit as a result of changes that come into force on Wednesday.

Thousands of owners of holiday homes are about to lose a major tax benefit as a result of changes that come into force on Wednesday.

Until now, those letting holiday accommodation were allowed to offset the cost of repairs, furniture and fittings against capital gains tax when they sold up and, more importantly, used losses they incurred on that home's "business" to lower their annual income tax bill.

It is thought about 65,000 UK families currently benefit from the "furnished holiday lettings" (FHL) rules, costing the Treasury millions. The rules apply to holiday lets in the UK and anywhere in Europe – defined as the European Economic Area.

Owners were allowed to deduct expenses such as mortgage interest, cleaning, agent commission, utilities, business rates, insurance and any improvements and furnishings from their rental income.

For example, if your annual rental income is £10,000 but your total expenses £15,000, and you made repairs totalling £5,000, your loss for the year would be £10,000.

In the past you were able to offset that loss against your other income. But not any more. The relief made particular sense for higher-rate taxpayers, who were saving considerable sums, particularly if they "worked" the relief.

Many over-60s bought homes both here and on the European mainland on the basis that the outgoing relief would be there for years to come.

Experts are predicting the removal of the tax break, added to low rental returns, particularly in Europe, could result in many second home-owners selling up.

From 6 April it will be possible to offset losses from a holiday lettings business only against certain income from that individual business. Stephen Barratt at accountant James Cowper says: "The impact of the proposed changes will be severe for many people ... In the case of most second homes which are let as furnished holiday lets, this will mean there is no tax relief.

"The cost of maintaining those properties will therefore go up significantly, making them less affordable. This is potentially serious for many owners whose incomes are already stretched."

He warns that further changes are on the way which will make holiday lets even less attractive from next year.

"The present minimum requirements for letting the property are that it must be let for 70 days a year and be available for letting for 140 days a year.

"These minimum requirements are set to increase, with effect from April 2012, to 105 and 210 days respectively," he says.

A spokesman for property tax legislation specialists Hedge Tax Mitigation says owners should seek professional advice if they are in any doubt as to how the changes will affect them.