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Catalan chemists have already received 74% of the pending arrears

ACN

The Catalan Chemists’ Professional Association, in charge of distributing the money from partially-subsidised prescribed drugs, has already received €309 million of the €416 million arrears payments due.The Professional Association announced the “immediate distribution” of the money received. Two weeks ago, Catalan chemists went on strike for these arrears, urging the Catalan and Spanish Governments to issue the payments. In theory the Catalan Executive is in charge of paying them, but to do so it needs a previous transfer from the Spanish Government. The necessary transfers from Madrid have been arriving intermittently over the last year and on many occasions with considerable delay. For these reasons, chemists protested on the 7th November in front of the Spanish Government’s Delegation in Barcelona.

November 21, 2013 03:07 PM

A 9th police officer is indicted related to a man’s death

ACN

The judge investigating the death of a man a few hours after his arrest in Barcelona by the Catalan Police has decided to indict a 9th officer related to this case. On the 4th November, 8 Catalan Police officers were indicted and suspended from active service for physical aggression - which might have caused the arrestee’s death, trying to destroy evidence and consequently obstructing justice. The 9th officer is indicted for having allegedly cleaned up remains of blood on the street after the victim’s arrest, obstructing the judicial investigation. However, the Catalan Home Affairs Ministry has not suspended this 9th policeman, as the charges “are not so severe” as for the other 8 officers who actively participated in the arrest, but has decided to transfer him to another police station.

November 21, 2013 01:39 PM

Barcelona leads the way in digital identification through mobile phone

ACN

Barcelona’s City Council has launched idBCN, a mobile application that allows citizens to make themselves identified through their cell phone. This new digital identification system is a world pioneer in this field and allows citizens to access all kinds of paperwork and online services in a legal and safe technological framework. The initiative follows a series of actions promoting Barcelona’s current status as the Mobile World Capital, while also stressing the city’s commitment to becoming a leader in the world of ‘smart cities’, new technologies and mobility sectors.

November 20, 2013 09:35 PM

First time creating “micro-kidneys” from stem cells

ACN

Researchers from Barcelona’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB), the Catalan capital’s Hospital Clínic and the Salk Institute of California have successfully created three-dimensional renal structures which are virtually indistinguishable from embryonic kidneys. They have started creating kidney cells from human stem cells, and ultimately proven that these newly created cells could aggregate in vitro to form a “micro-kidney”. The team led by Juan Carlos Izpisúa, from the CMRB, said that this scientific breakthrough would facilitate the study of kidney diseases and enable scientists to work on new treatments. He added that this achievement was a great step towards developing therapies based on the use of stem cells.

November 18, 2013 09:41 PM

Catalan Police’s largest-ever operation ends with 33 drug dealers arrested

ACN / Lluís Vilaró

The extensive Catalan Police operation against drug trafficking in Barcelona’s Zona Franca quarter and in Sant Adrià de Besós’ (North of Barcelona) ‘La Mina’ neighbourhood resulted in 33 arrests and 29 homes searched. With 300 police officers deployed from 7 different police areas, this operation was the largest-ever made by the Catalan Government’s police corps in terms of officers deployed. Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Ramon Espadaler, stated that further arrests could still be announced in the following days. The investigation leading to this operation had begun in December 2012.

November 15, 2013 09:18 PM

Number of Catalan speakers rising despite adverse context

ACN / Pau Cortina

Catalan language speakers are increasing their number and have exceeded the 10 million people mark, according to the latest report on the situation of Catalan. This means that 72.4 % of the population now speaks the language in the various areas of the Catalan linguistic community. In addition, 12.8 million understand it, representing 91.7% of the population. These latest figures confirm a consolidation trend, which paradoxically, is occurring in an unfavourable context, with an “adverse socio-political environment in territories outside Catalonia”. According to the report, the political and judicial “offensive” against Catalan are the main threats against the standardization of a language which, nevertheless, continues “to progress”.

November 13, 2013 09:25 PM

FC Barcelona to extend alliance with Unicef until 2016

ACN

The Catalan club’s Board have approved the motion to extend the alliance with the UN body until the end of their term in office, which lasts until 2016. FC Barcelona has agreed, as it has done in recent years, to donate €1.5 million euros a year to joint projects with Unicef, which involve the promotion of education and sport among vulnerable children. Barça and the United Nations first joined forces in September 2006. The current deal was due to end in 2014. “We are very satisfied with this alliance”, stated the  Board Spokesman and Secretary, Toni Freixa.

November 12, 2013 09:13 PM

Catalan chemists go on strike again for arrears

ACN

On Thursday morning most of Catalonia’s chemists’ were closed and their owners and employees were demonstrating on the street. They were protesting because neither the Catalan nor the Spanish Government is paying them on time for the prescribed drugs, which they have to buy in advance with their own money. It is the second time since October 2012 that they have been protesting for the same reason. The situation improved slightly a few months ago, but delays in the Spanish Government’s transfers of money to Catalonia have made the Catalan Executive unable to pay on time and a significant debt has accumulated. According to the chemists, they are owed €416 million, corresponding to the last 4 months.

November 7, 2013 10:14 PM

Lleida University leads an international study on efficient thermal storage

ACN

The University of Lleida (Western Catalonia) will be leading the INNOSTORAGE Project regarding efficient thermal storage. They will focus their study on improving energy-storing by using Phase Change Materials and their temperature changes. The project, which is financed by the European Commission, aims at reducing CO2 emissions and saving energy by finding new efficient energy-storing systems. Thanks to the Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES), INNOSTORAGE brings together searchers from Catalonia, France, Israel, the United-States, Australia, and New-Zealand.

November 7, 2013 10:13 PM

8 police officers are indicted and suspended for a man’s death just after his arrest in Barcelona

ACN

Eight officers of the Catalan Police have been indicted by the judge and consequently temporarily suspended from active service by the Catalan Government, it was announced on Monday. The 8 policemen are suspected of beating up a middle-aged man while they were arresting him, causing his death, trying to destroy evidence and obstructing justice, according to the judicial report. The victim – gay businessman Juan Andrés Benítez – died a few hours after his arrest from a heart attack, allegedly provoked by 5 punches received on his head during his arrest. The case has generated significant controversy, since it is not the first time that Catalan Police have been involved in a violent abuse scandal. At the same time, the Spanish Police were requested to act as judiciary police and issue an investigation report on the facts.

November 4, 2013 09:38 PM

American Oceanographer Sallie Watson is awarded Catalonia’s Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology

ACN

The Catalan Government’s Ramon Margalef Prize was awarded to American oceanographer Sallie Watson for her research on marine biology. The President of the Catalan Executive, Artur Mas, praised the scientist for her discoveries, stating Watson was “the “most productive, charismatic and active searcher in the field of biologic oceanography and marine ecology”. Mas also underlined Catalonia’s growing influence on the international scientific stage, by stating that even though “it was a small country” Catalonia had transformed into an “international scientific centre of high calibre”.

October 22, 2013 09:31 PM

Feather pillows can cause a chronic and eventually fatal breath shortness disease according to a Catalan study

ACN

Researchers of Barcelona-based Vall d’Hebron Hospital and Research Institute discovered some of the main causes of the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which were unknown before today. Vall d’Hebron’s study showed that a continuous exposure to feather pillows and duvets was one of the main causes of this illness as it favours the scarring of lung tissue. This disease provokes a progressive decline of lung function and leads to asphyxia because of the deterioration of the organ’s tissue. The study has been able to trace the diseases’ causes in half of the studied cases. Besides feather pillows and duvets, the persistent exposure to fungus and close contact with birds can also trigger the illness. The Catalan research allows for a new approach to the illness’ prevention and its diagnosis in the early stages. It also represents a completely new approach to this pathology in terms of treatment.

October 21, 2013 09:21 PM

The European Court of Human Rights temporarily stops the eviction of an apartment block near Girona

ACN

The Court based in Strasbourg has answered the appeal of the lawyer representing the Mortgage Platform (PAH), which had occupied an entire apartment block in Salt, near the Catalan city of Girona. 16 families occupied the block in order to get a house, but 3 left fearing eviction. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has temporarily delayed the eviction of the entire apartment block as a precautionary measure until it has fully studied the case, arguing that evicting the families would go against international law on housing rights. The ECHR has given the Spanish Government 8 days to prove it has adopted the measures to guarantee such rights. The decision comes the day the eviction was planned. Families and a thousand supporters received the news crying of joy and shouting the PAH’s motto: “Yes, it can be done; yes, it can be done”.

October 16, 2013 09:09 PM

Catalan researchers present an HIV vaccine prototype that could be tested in humans in 2014

ACN

At the HIV Vaccine World Congress, which is taking place in Barcelona between the 7th and 10th October, Catalan researchers presented a vaccine prototype that has proven to be effective in clinical studies conducted with mice and monkeys. The vaccine stimulates the creation of antibodies and attacks infected cells. The prototype has been created by the Catalan programme to develop a vaccine against HIV, HIVACAT. According to the programme’s Scientific Director, Christian Brander, the vaccine could eventually also be used as a therapeutic treatment.

October 8, 2013 09:19 PM

Concern in the Ebro Delta over a series of small earthquakes allegedly due to a gas offshore platform

ACN

A series of earthquakes measuring between 2 and 4.2 on the Richter scale have been affecting the coast of southernmost Catalonia and northernmost Valencia in the last few weeks but particularly since last weekend. All the evidence suggests that the Castor offshore gas reservoir is behind the earthquakes. In 2009, the Spanish Government approved the building of an underground gas reservoir located under the sea bed, some 20 kilometres offshore from the Ebro Delta and Vinarós, using the cavity in the rock from a former oil field. Madrid approved the project without an earthquake risk report, despite a formal petition from the Catalan Government. Now, geologists, the Spanish Industry Ministry and the company admit that the injection of gas into the rock could be triggering the earthquakes. Activities have been stopped and the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the case.

October 4, 2013 09:57 PM

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