Spain: Police shoot fugitive city’s van attack wearing possible bomb belt

A police operation was underway Monday in an area west of Barcelona, and a Spanish newspaper reports that the fugitive in the city’s van attack has been captured.

Regional Spanish police said officers shot a man wearing a possible explosives belt in Subirats, a small town 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of Barcelona.

Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, has been the target of an international manhunt since Thursday’s van attack in Barcelona. Authorities said Monday they now have evidence he drove the van that plowed down the city’s famed Las Ramblas promenade, killing 13 pedestrians and injuring more than 120 others.

Abouyaaqoub then is suspected of carjacking a man and stabbing him to death as he made his getaway, raising the death toll between the Barcelona attack and a related attack hours later to 15.

Read more: Spain: Police shoot man wearing possible bomb belt - Campbell River Mirror

Mobile Phones: EU -Wide Free Roaming Charges A Boost For European Tourism And Users

EU-Wide No More Roaming Charges

Whether you voted remain or leave, the European commission has come to your aid. Holidaymakers are about to get free mobile phone roaming across Europe and a host of other destinations from 15 June – for the next two years, at least.

Following a long campaign and a series of staged roaming price cuts, the EU Commission has finally put in place a long-cherished aim – the ability of Europeans to make same-cost mobile calls and data downloads irrespective of which EU country they are in.

But fears remain that once Brexit takes place the gains could be reversed for Britain. And holidaymakers will still need to be careful about getting caught out in some non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Andorra and even the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which are not formally part of the EU or even the European Economic Area (EEA).

Some mobile operators are choosing to include these areas in their new roaming-free packages, but others are not. What’s more, Turkey appears to be half in, half out – Vodafone is treating it the same as the EU but others are not.

Already initial reports show that free roaming in the EU since June 15 has been a huge success for consumers and tourism.

EU-Digest

Kazakhstan: EXPO-2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, is worth a visit

Kazakhsta Capital Astana is a modern and friendly city

After a build-up lasting five years, Kazakhstan has finally opened EXPO-2017. If you’re in Astana between now and mid-September when it closes, you should go.

It might feel excessively corporate and you’ll probably come out of the EXPO-2017 site none-the-wiser on what exactly its Orwellian-tinged ‘Future Energy’ means, but don’t dwell on this — it’s not the real point of the exposition.

In reality it is putting Kazakhsta on the map for many people and they will be very positively surprised.

EXPO-2017 is a source of national pride and a must-do event for most ordinary Kazakhs this summer, at least for the ones who live in and around Astana.

And this pride and sense of fun is evident throughout EXPO-2017. The dozens and dozens of uniformed guides are courteous, speak excellent English and are genuinely helpful. The student volunteers beam with joy and are relishing the internationalism of the whole event.

As for the visitors, at the beginning of the expo it must have been 95% Kazakh. These were groups of families and friends touring the pavilion, drinking in each country’s take on EXPO-2017. This ranges from Britain’s glowing yurt to Iran’s focus on promoting its carpets.

The visiting Kazakhs, armed with selfie sticks and aging smartphones, weren’t the super rich who travel effortlessly around the world, these were Kazakhs who may never have left Central Asia, or been on a solitary trip to Europe. EXPO-2017 feels as if it has returned the international exposition series to its original mid-19th century Victorian era roots of bringing the world to a particular city.

And make sure you don’t miss out on the Caribbean pavilion, the least scripted section. The women from Belize, Haiti and Dominica will tell you how they are coping with four months in Kazakhstan, a country they hadn’t heard of until earlier this year.

Many Airlines are flying into  Kazakhstan with some special fares of less than euro 100.00 rt.. including:

Lufthansa flights	Ukraine International flights	Pegasus Airlines flights
Aeroflot flights	Etihad Airways flights	Turkmenistan Airlines flights
Air France flights	Air India flights	Hainan Airlines flights
S7 Airlines flights	Atlasglobal flights	Uzbekistan Airways flights

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ON KAZAKHSTAN CLICK HERE

EU-Digest

EU-Spain- Terrorism: Why was Spain targeted by these Deranged Islamic terrorists? - by S. Jones and G.Tremlett

Images of the aftermath of the attack on Barcelona’s most famous street on Thursday will stir different images in the minds of different people. For those in France and the UK, they will be reminders of the attacks on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice and on Westminster Bridge in London.

For many Spaniards, they will bring back memories of 11 March 2004, when 191 people were killed and more than 1,800 others injured in a series of train bombings in Madrid carried out by al-Qaida.

Older Spaniards will also remember Eta’s violent struggle for Basque independence, a failed campaign that killed more than 800 people in bombings and shootings over a period of decades.

But if the spectre of Eta has faded six years after the group began giving up its weapons – and 20 years after its murder of a young politician marked a turning point in Spanish society – the same cannot be said of the threat of cowardly radical Islamic terrorism

Read more: Barcelona and Cambrils attacks: why was Spain targeted by terrorists? | World news | The Guardian

Terrorism - Spain: Barcelona attack: Van crashes into crowds in Ramblas tourist area

Deranged Radical Islamist Terrorists

A van has ploughed into crowds in the busy Las Ramblas area of central Barcelona in what police are treating as a “terror attack”.

A government official tweeted that 13 people have died and at least 50 have been injured.

Spanish police released a handout with information about and a photograph of Maghrebi Driss Oukabir, who is suspected of renting the van used to run down pedestrians in Las Ramblas.

The self-titled Islamic State group (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the deadly attack through its Amaq news agency.

"Once again a cowardly attack on innocent people by a deranged group of radial Islamist terrorists, whose territory of their self proclaimed "Islamic State" is crumbling away at an ever increasing speed".  

"To stay updated on terrorist movements{ check out the SITE Intelligence Group Website ". 

"SITE Intelligence Group is a for-profit US Bethesda, Maryland-based company that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. From 2002 to 2008, SITE Intelligence Group was known as the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute. SITE is led by the Israeli analyst Rita Katz".

"On a personal basis, in case you see any suspect activities in your area or neighborhood, immediately contact your local police or security agency"..

EU-Digest

Germany: Air Berlin files for bankruptcy protection

Crisis-stricken German airline Air Berlin is seeking protection from its creditors after running out of cash to stay solvent.

But the airline says it wants to remain in operation following a government bailout.

Read more: Air Berlin files for bankruptcy protection | Business | DW | 15.08.2017

Tropical Diseases Now In Europe: Holiday season means risk of tropical diseases - by Steve Bridges

Warmer weather and summer travel put tropical mosquito-borne diseases on the European health authorities’ radar.

The warming climate has unpredictable and wide-ranging impacts on the environment. Some climate effects on human health are direct, such as extreme weather and rising sea levels that threaten low-lying areas.

Other climate change effects on health are no less unpredictable but more indirect.  The Asian Tiger mosquito and Yellow Fever mosquito species are now present in parts of Europe thanks to warmer temperatures, bringing the risk of tropical diseases with them.

August and September are the primary transmission season for mosquito-borne diseases.

Italy saw the first locally acquired case of "chikungunya" in Europe, with over 200 individuals affected. Chikungunya causes fever and severe joint pain that is often debilitating and can vary in duration.

There have also been cases of "dengue fever" in France, Madeira, and Croatia. Dengue causes bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and plasma, joint pain, and fever.

And the first EU cases of "West Nile fever" were detected in Italy and Romania in 2016.

Read more: Holiday season means risk of tropical diseases in Europe