Australian spotted jellyfish, phyllorhiza punctata, invade Spanish beaches

AN invasion of Aussie jellyfish has forced Spain to close six beaches at popular holiday resort areas after more than 100 swimmers were treated for stings.

Normally seen in the southern Atlantic or Pacific, scores of phyllorhiza punctata, otherwise known as Australian spotted jellyfish, have converged on waters off Orihuela, south of Alicante on the Costa Blanca, reported The Times today.

While not overly dangerous to humans, the jellyfish - which is native to the southwestern Pacific but has been found in the Gulf of Mexico and off North Carolina - holds a mild venom that can cause discomfort.

The Spanish beaches that closed were Punta Prima, La Mosca, Playa Flamenca, Cala Cerrada, La Zenia and Cala Capitan.

The report followed warnings from biologists that British seas could be turned into a "jellyfish soup" this summer, according to Sky News.

Biologists from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), based in Ross-on-Wye, southern England, said yesterday that pollution and overfishing might be behind the rise in the number of jellyfish living in the UK's coastal waters.

"There is strong evidence that jellyfish numbers are increasing around the world, including UK seas, and these increases have been linked to factors such as pollution, overfishing and possibly climate change," the MCS' Peter Richardson said.

 

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Edo kidnap victim battles for life after gunshot injury

Following gunshot wounds inflicted on him by his abductors, the life of a recently released kidnap victim, Victor Idiahi, now hangs in the balance. He is battling for survival at a hospital in Benin City.

Mr Idiahi, who recently returned from Spain where he was based, was kept for four days by his abductors until he was released after his family allegedly paid the equivalent of ₦10 million in foreign currencies as ransom to his kidnappers.

However, the kidnap survivor was allegedly kept without medical attention by the kidnappers during the period he was held.

According to family sources, the ransom was collected at Idogbo village, a suburb of Benin City, in Ikpoba Okha local government area, near a bye-pass on Benin-Sapele express road. They also revealed that the survivor was later recovered a little distance from where the ransom was paid.

The Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, recently said the state's law on kidnapping would be amended to carry the death sentence. He stated this in response to persistent cases of abduction in the state. On Monday, the wife of the Attorney General of the state was kidnapped by some gunmen.

 

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city in southern Spain is urging residents to exchange their cars for a lifetime pass on the new tram system in a bid to reduce traffic and solve urban parking problems.

The initiative launched last month is part of an environmental scheme in the southern coastal city of Murcia to reduce congestion and emissions and encourage the use of public transport.
Residents were invited to donate their cars – which must be in working order and with a valid MOT – in return for an everlasting ticket on a tram system inaugurated last month.
"The point is to take cars out of circulation for the environmental benefits this brings," explained Severiano Arias, director of the Murcia Transvia Society. "So we are only accepting working cars not ones ready for scrap heap because that would not serve any purpose."
The donated cars are being displayed across the city, often in places designed to highlight traffic problems in the city. For example in one display cars were stacked on top of each other.
The public was invited to participate in the removal of cars from the city's streets through social media networks facebook and twitter.
Each tweet or post on the subject was rewarded with the removal of a piece of car by mechanics until the entire vehicle disappeared. The process was recorded via webcams.
Other green initiatives in Spain have stumbled through lack of interest. In April last year socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero announced the goal of having 2,000 electric vehicles on the road by the end of the year.
He pledged funding to convert disused phone booths into battery top-up points and government subsidies of up to 6,000 euros on each vehicle. But less 20 cars were sold during the first 3 months of the scheme, which has since been quietly shelved.

 

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The death of a woman from south London on the island of Ibiza was "almost certainly" caused by drugs

The death of a woman from south London on the island of Ibiza was "almost certainly" caused by drugs, Spanish police have said.

Jodie Nieman, 20, from Croydon, suffered a heart attack in the south-east of the island early on Wednesday.

She had been on a night out at the Space club in the Playa d'en Bossa resort when she fell ill.

Officers were "almost 100% certain" this was because of drugs, a Guardia Civil spokesman said.

Results from a post-mortem examination on the British tourist are expected to be released on Friday.

Miss Nieman had been staying in a flat in the resort with a group of female friends.

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Spain government trails opposition by 14 points

Spaniards fed up with high unemployment and a sluggish economy would elect the center-right Popular Party (PP) with a lead of more than 14 percentage points over the governing Socialists, an opinion poll showed on Sunday.

The Metroscopia survey published in the daily El Pais found 44.7 percent of 1,001 respondents polled last week would vote for the PP as opposed to 30.4 percent for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist party.

The gap was 13.8 points in a poll by the same organization a month ago and more than 10 points in local elections held on May 22, when the Socialists suffered their worst such defeat since Spain returned to democracy in 1978.

The Socialists beat the PP by 3.6 points when parliamentary elections were last held in March 2008 after overseeing the euro zone's fastest-growing economy in 2007.

But since then a decade-long housing bubble has burst and Spanish unemployment has soared to more than twice the European average. The Socialists' rating has meanwhile plunged 13.3 points and the PP have advanced by 4.6.

Metroscopia added that 50 percent of those polled thought Zapatero should call elections before the current parliamentary term is due to expire in March 2012, while 42 percent thought that would make matters worse.

The PP have stepped up demands since their landslide victory in the May polls for Zapatero's government to resign, but have stopped short of calling for a no-confidence vote.

Zapatero made it clear in the state of the nation debate in parliament last week that he intended to stay on to complete reforms designed to trim a wide deficit and convince bond markets Spain's public finances and financial system are solid.

Key to staying in power will be passing the 2012 budget in September, for which the minority Socialists are expected to garner the support of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV).

 

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