Deadly Storms Strike Spain and France

High winds and torrential rains pummel northern Spain and south-western France

1. Three children were killed when the roof of a sports hall collapsed in the northern Spanish town of Sant Boi de Llobregat, near Barcelona, amid winds of up to 170km/h,  officials said. At least two other adults were also killed in Spain in separate storm-related incidents.

2. “Part of the building collapsed, there were between 20 and 30 youngsters inside. We know there are some dead and 16 injured,” a local government spokeswoman told AFP news agency.

A man looks at a tree split by a storm in Toulouse, France. Photograph: Pascal Pavani/AFP/Getty Images. Image may be subject to copyright.

3. “An official with the Barcelona region’s Interior Ministry said ‘many children’ were trapped in the debris at the sports center, without offering specific figures. She spoke on condition of anonymity under agency rules.” AP said.

4. A woman was killed when a wall collapsed on her in Barcelona, while a traffic officer was killed by a falling tree in Burela, Galicia.

5. More than a million homes in France are without electricity, while roads have been blocked, train services halted and airports closed, as huge waves battered the French and Spanish coastline, BBC quoted authorities as saying.

6. “The storms are expected to spread eastwards on Saturday bringing the risk of further heavy rain, strong winds and disruption, BBC weather experts said.”

7. “The number of clients who are cut off from the grid is rising from minute to minute as the storm moves eastwards,” a spokesperson for the electricity grid operator, ERDF, told local media.

8. The storm is reportedly the most powerful to hit south-western France  since December 1999, when about 90 people were killed and up to four million homes left without electricity.

Related News Link

• Fatal storms hit Spain and France

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Fuel Protests Flare in Europe

Truckers and fishermen across Europe protest rising oil prices

Truckers and fishermen across Europe held protests against rising world oil prices on Wednesday, demanding government action to prevent the price hikes. Protests were held across Britain, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.

Trucks are driven along a section of the A40 highway during a demonstration, in London on May 27, 2008. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

In Britain a convoy of truckers converged on London on Tuesday, closing a busy main road and causing traffic backlogs. Similar protests took place in Wales, were Welsh hauliers threatened to blockade ports and refineries. Refinery blockades in 2000 caused shortages in many areas. The drivers demanded a rebate because they said fuel bills had risen by 50 percent in one year. Britain has the highest fuel taxes in the European Union.

In Bulgaria hundreds of truckers launched protests in the capital Sofia, the Black Sea port city of Varna and the Danube port city of Russe on Wednesday, demanding lower taxes on fuels and calling for price ceilings on fuels.

In France the fishermen continued their ongoing protest against high diesel prices on Wednesday with truckers and farmers adding their voice demanding action from the government. Fishermen demanded to buy diesel at discounted rate at half the market prices, which have increased by 30 percent in 2008. They staged similar protests last year asking government to cushion the effects of surging marine fuel prices that have eroded their profit margins. Farmers blocked access to an oil depot operated by Total near the city of Toulouse and demanded the government exempt them from a special petrol tax called TIPP.

French truckers group OTRE also threatened to take action across France if the government failed to respond to their demands by Thursday evening.

In Italy fishermen in the Adriatic will strike commencing Friday.

In Netherlands truckers are planning a national day of action for Thursday to protest against rising diesel prices.

In Spain the Fishermen’s Confederation is arranging a protest in Madrid for Friday and the main truckers’ association has called a strike for June 8 concerning high fuel prices. Farmers in Catalonia are expected to announce protests.
(Original report by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit, Reuters. Copyright Thomson Reuters). Partially edited by FEWW

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