Society

The future is here. Digitalisation in school classrooms is now a reality. This summer, a large step has been taken in order to provide Catalan high-school students with laptops and digital books. Catalan Minister for Education Ernest Maragall says it is “an extraordinary step in changing our educational system”.

The Programme for Maternity Health’s birth registry has published data that shows that 30% of newborns in Catalonia have a mother with a foreign nationality. Also, 52% of teen births between 14 and 17 years old were of mothers from a foreign nationality.

The longest kidnapping by Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and the Sahel has now ended after 268 days. The 2 men arrived last night at Barcelona from Burkina Faso, where they took a plane after a long journey by car and helicopter across Mali, where they were kept. They were kidnapped in Mauritania last November when they were travelling with a cooperation aid convoy heading to Senegal and The Gambia. The freeing operation has been very complex and there are unconfirmed rumours of a ransom payment.

According to date from the General Workers’ Union, Catalonia invested only 3.6% of its GDP to education in 2007, putting the territory behind less developed countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. Also, the number of Catalan students dropping out of university is double than the EU average.

Catalan rural agents patrol the Costa Brava shore to prevent illegal fishing and protect wildlife and natural spaces. They are patrolling with boats as well as with a helicopter.

The Barcelona City Hall has invested 6.8 million euros to the development of social centres that will attend to families with a high risk for social exclusion. The Centre Obert of Sant Martí is an example of the success of social centres.

Local emergency services initially treated the victim on the beach in Castelló d'Empúries, in northern Catalonia, before sending him to the hospital by ambulance.

A commemorative plaque is to honour Lluís Companys in the French town of La Baule in Brittany, where he was arrested on 13 August 1940, exactly 70 years ago.

The Air Controllers Union (USCA) and AENA resume talks on workers? labour rights, avoiding huge disruptions to air travel in peak summer season

Councils of el Vendrell and Calafell negotiate with blanket street vendors in a move to regulate their activities and to avoid illicit competition with local businesses

Spanish government clarifies that there is no controversy in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands regarding the use of Catalan and Spanish languages, a U.S. government report suggests

Government invests 8.7 million in a new informatic platform that integrates details of emergency operations to facilitate the work of fire-fighters in Catalonia

NGOs in Catalonia meet to prepare an aid strategy for the victims of the recent heavy flooding in Pakistan. They are ready to act as soon as international organisations decide exactly what is needed in the field

wo hundred and fifty-two days later, aid workers Albert Vilalta and Roque Pasqual are still being held in the northern region of Mali by a Magreb Islamist terrorist group

Brand new technology could be of great service to Catalan fire-fighters in the near future. It would monitor vital signs made by fire-fighters working in emergency situations