Gunmen are thought to be hiding in Liege cathedral.

The attack took place around noon on Saint-Lambert square, home to the town's courthouse and located near a busy Christmas market, Belga news agency said. A two-year-old child is reportedly fighting for life in hospital. Six other victims are said to be gravely injured. One of two or more assailants threw stun grenades into the courthouse while another was hurled at a bus shelter, RTL-TV1 said. Shots were fired across the square by gunmen posted on the rooftop of a bakery shop, with further shots heard later from across town. Police cordoned...

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Spanish royal family hit by fraud scandal

 The once squeaky-clean Spanish royal family has become immersed in a growing fraud scandal that reveals how members of King Juan Carlos's family may have cashed in on the monarchy's good name. At the centre of the scandal is the king's son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic-medal-winning handball player who became the Duke of Palma after marrying Juan Carlos's sporty daughter, the infanta Cristina. Urdangarin and his business partners are the subject of daily leaks from a fraud investigation involving millions of euros of public...

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Snowshoeing in Spain’s Sierra Nevada Mountains

Do you have a map? Yes.Do you have a compass? Yes.Do you have a GPS? Yes.Do you have an ice axe? No we are staying in the forest.Do you have crampons? No, we have snowshoes!Paco was clearly going through a list drawn-up by someone else but found our reasoning acceptable and let us pass.Although Spain’s Sierra Nevada contains the highest mountain in mainland Spain (Mulhacen 3472m), there is only one downhill ski resort in the range. Essentially, this...

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Spanish suburbs transformed into land of shattered dreams

 When Magali Quezada began working at a remittance office in suburban Madrid four years ago there were long lines of customers -- now she waits patiently for someone to walk in. "It used to be swarming with people, there were long lines of people who wanted to send money back home," the 34-year-old Peruvian said as she looked around the empty office at Torrejon de Ardoz. Like other Spanish suburbs, Torrejon saw a huge influx of immigrants during the years of a profitable real estate boom as millions of foreigners arrived seeking jobs in construction...

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Yard detectives investigating Maddie disappearance travel to Spain and Portugal

 SCOTLAND Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have flown to Spain and Portugal, it emerged yesterday. Three officers met colleagues in Barcelona last month. It is believed the visit was linked to reports Maddie may have been smuggled into the country after being snatched just before her fourth birthday on a holiday in Portugal in 2007. Advertisement >> Investigators hired by parents Gerry and Kate earlier uncovered a child porn ring in the city. A Met Police spokesman said there had been “good co-operation”...

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Royal Navy comes to the aid of Spanish trawler under pirate attack

 The British Royal Navy has arrested seven suspected pirates after helping a Spanish fishing vessel which was being attacked in the Indian Ocean. The British Ministry for Defence said the Royal Auxiliary Fleet Ship Fort Victoria, carrying Royal Marines, carried out the rescue on the 28th of November between Somalia and the Seychelles. The RFA Fort Victoria is a stores ship with is designed to carry ammunition, food and explosives to replenish naval vessels at sea. The vessel’s navy helicopter fired shots at two suspected pirate vessels...

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Málaga port's new attraction closed after seven hours

 The new Muelle Uno has been closed as building works are continuingThe Muelle Uno development - EFE After much fanfare about the opening of Málaga port to the city, and the opening of the Muelle Uno on Tuesday, the Málaga City Hall decided to order the closure of the new street just seven hours after it opened to the public. A public statement was sent out which said that, for reasons of safety, and because the building work was still continuing, they were ordering the street to be closed and called on the tender owner to close the shops....

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Three tons of cannabis seized from Alicante drugs yacht

 The haul has a street value of more than 5 million €A previous haul of cannabis resin .. Three tons of cannabis have been seized and four suspects have been arrested in a joint operation by the Customs Authority and National Police which took place off the coast off Alicante on Tuesday morning. The operation was on the high seas some 70 miles off shore, where a Customs patrol boat intercepted a yacht which was visibly sailing low in the water and was later found to be carrying 100 bales of cannabis. Diario Información puts its street value...

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British man dies, strangled in a ponche

 A 32 year old Briton died on Mallorca around 1730 on Wednesday afternoon in a domestic accident in a property in Cami de Son Choix de Lloret, Lloret de Vistalegre. He was strangled when a poncho he was wearing got caught in a generator which he had just started up. 061 emergency services arrived at the scene and found the man seriously injured, but there was nothing they could do to save his li...

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British paedophile arrested in Almería

 National Police have today arrested a 66 year old British man who is wanted on four charges of rape and on twelve counts of sexually abusing his step-daughter when she was nine to 13 years old, and then later the granddaughter when aged six. The arrest took place in Los Gallardos, Almería, and the man has been named as L. Morris. The search for him started in July 2010 when the granddaughter finally told her both that she had suffered abuse on two occasions, and an arrest order was then issued with the suspect fleeing to Spain. Meanwhile...

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