A leading Spanish union has threatened to call a general strike in La Linea over unpaid municipal salaries.

Council workers are owed millions in overdue salaries and although they received a partial payment last week, life for many of them is tough.La Linea’s council is verging on bankruptcy and new sources of revenue are scant despite the best efforts of recently-elected PSOE mayor, Gemma Araujo. “This situation is unbearable,” said Jesús Gonzalez Aragón, Campo secretary for leading national union CCOO. “The workers cannot take this any more.”“Next week we’ll have to add August to the list of unpaid months and there is no expectation of any solution in the short term.”“In CCOO we are willing to call the workers to an assembly to take a vote on a general strike.”Union leaders and a handful of workers have held daily vigils outside the Palacio de Congresos, where the council is temporarily housed....

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A GANG of five stole a Gibraltar man’s belongings and car in La Linea.

Three women allegedly set a trap for him which enabled two men to threaten him at knife-point, according to Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP). The man was driving alone to Gibraltar from Alcaidesa via Carrefour and the road through the Junquillos, which joins the border road, in the early hours of the morningThe three women jumped into the road, forcing him to stop his car, according to the victim. “They distracted him further whilst two men got in to his unlocked car and was threatened at knife point,” the police said in a statement. “He was then robbed of all his belongings and even his car.”The incident has been reported to Spain’s National Police, which is liaising with both the victim’s family and the RGP. As a result of this incident, RGP have issued a warning about distraction...

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Jungleman Poker Cheating Scandal Doesn´t Change a Thing

The recent online poker cheating scandal revolving around Jose Macedo,  Haseeb Qureshi and Dan “Jungleman12” Cates has fired up a great deal of passionate debate on various poker forums and poker news sites.Many of the “noveau righteous” are throwing their hands up in the air and proclaiming that this scandal will be the catalyst to hijack online poker legislation in the US,  the more experienced in the industry are trying to play down the hysteria, stating that the “Jungleman12” poker cheating scandal doesn´t change a thing. And, of course, every cloud has a silver lining.What is All the Fuss About?For anybody who has missed the story, Jose Macedo was a pretty decent young Portuguese poker player. Unfortunately, he got involved with Haseeb Qureshi – a poker instructor with Cardrunners.com...

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The businessman accused of murdering his new wife on their honeymoon can be extradited to South Africa to stand trial

The businessman accused of murdering his new wife on their honeymoon can be extradited to South Africa to stand trial, a judge ruled today.Shrien Dewani, 31, denies any involvement in the death of Anni Dewani, who was shot dead in a taxi in Cape Town last November in an apparent car-jacking.Her widower, who is accused of ordering the attack, has fought extradition proceedings, saying he is suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.District Judge Howard Riddle, handing down the judgment at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in south-east London, said there was a "strong public interest" in Dewani being extradited, however.He said he had "no doubt" Dewani is at high risk of suicide or self-harm, but that he believed he would receive appropriate mental health care at the hands of the South...

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Spaniard seriously hurt in Gibraltar fuel tanks explosion has died

A Spanish dock worker who suffered serious burns in the fire which broke out on Gibraltar at the end of May when two fuel tanks exploded at the port died in hospital this Wednesday. The 40 year old from La Línea de la Concepción was under treatment at the burns unit of the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Sevilla, with burns to 70% of his body.The news of his death was confirmed to Europa Press by sources close to the family.A colleague who was working with him at the time was also hurt and 12 cruise ship passengers on the Independence of the Seas, which was moored nearby, suffered minor injuries.The fire was extinguished at 5am the following day&nb...

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Protestors set fire to tires, block access to Gibraltar

Council employees in the border town of La Linea, who haven´t been paid since April, blocked access to Gibraltar for 30 minutes in a protest which involved burning tyres. They say they have run out of ways to get their plight noticed.It's hard to imagine, isn't it. We think the funcionarios have a cushy job for life, and all our concern goes to the unemployed. But all over the country there are people in the same situation. Many local authorities are on the verge of bankruptcy, and the interest on their borrowing has to be paid before the wages of their staff. Not to mention all the businesses and their employees who have done work for the ayuntamiento...

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two kilos of cocaine is being consumed in Gibraltar every month

two kilos of cocaine is being consumed in Gibraltar every month, according to estimates by the Royal Gibraltar Police.The figure is based on analysis of drug seizures and intelligence gathered during anti-drug operations and routine police work.The amount is modest compared to drug consumption levels in other jurisdictions.But it will nonetheless prove shocking for the majority of people in the community, who have no direct contact with the drugs underworld. The figure was revealed by RGP Commissioner Louis Wink during a frank interview with the Chronicle in the wake of comments in the Supreme Court by Puisne Judge Karen Prescott, who said the sale of cocaine was “prevalent” in Gibraltar. Mr Wink agreed with the judge and said that, while his officers and the courts were tackling the...

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Gibraltar Government has unveiled a dramatic portfolio of residential and other property that passes to it following an agreement with the MOD.

Last Saturday, the Chief Minister Peter Caruana and the Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox signed the third Lands Agreement since 2004 between the Gibraltar Government and the Ministry of Defence.Detailing the plans Chief Minister Peter Caruana said that this latest lands agreement "benefits everyone and provides excellent opportunities to Gibraltar for the present and future". He also emphasised that the MOD's continuing significant presence in Gibraltar is both politically and economically important.Under this new Lands Agreement the MOD will transfer significantly more assets to GOG than GOG will reprovide for the MOD, No 6 said in a statement issued with a collection of photographs of the released buildings.Government says that the underlying theme of this agreement is that MOD...

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