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SPAIN TODAY - MONDAY 21 MAY 2012
Mark Nolan / 2012-05-20 19:57:16
The Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, Ana Mato, insisted that the Royal Decree-Law on Urgent Measures to Guarantee the Sustainability of the National Health System "is the realisation of the universal and free nature" of all the healthcare services included in the common basic portfolio of services for all Spanish citizens. With this legislation, the Government "wishes to guarantee that public healthcare in Spain is universal, free and of the highest quality, but also economically sustainable and managed efficiently". The Royal Decree represents the culmination of a first stage of the Healthcare and Social Services Pact that was proposed by the Minister for Health to the Regional Governments of Spain under which important agreements have been reached through the Inter-Regional National Healthcare System Council.
The Council of Ministers has received a report from the Minister for the Treasury and Public Administration Services on the progress of the meeting of the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council held on Thursday, in which the Financial-Economic Re-balancing Plans of the Autonomous Regions were approved, with the exception of the Principality of Asturias. The Vice-President of the Government made a "highly positive" assessment of the meeting that "marks a very important milestone in the development of a state of autonomous regions".
The Education Minister, José Ignacio Wert, is all set to make one of his promises a reality by announcing changes to the “Civic Education” course, first introduced by the Socialist government in 2006 and deemed unacceptable by conservatives and the Catholic Church because of references to homosexuality and social inequality. In broad terms, the new course, which is taught at the high school level, places more stress on respect for legal and constitutional limits and uses more generic expressions than the previous version. The new course content will also mention global conflicts such as terrorism, religious fanaticism and exclusive nationalisms, while removing mentions of "an unequal world," "wealth and poverty" and "the lack of access to education as a source of poverty."
A total of three people died on Spanish roads in one of the three fatal accidents during the weekend, as reported by a spokesman of the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT). In the interim balance sheet, including fatal accidents between 15:00 on Friday and 20:00 on Sunday, two people were injured, one of them seriously. Unusually, all fatal accidents occurred on Saturday, Friday and Sunday registering no fatalities.
A civil engineering student from Madrid, Spain who goes by the name Sheepo has built a fully-functional 1:8.5 scale version of the Land Rover Defender 110 in Lego. The Lego vehicle is controlled by remote control, it has a five-speed gearbox, transfer case offering four-wheel or two-wheel drive mode, and four functional disc brakes, with a top speed is around 2.5 mph. It’s made up of 2,800 parts and seven motors. The creation has been submitted to LEGO CUUSOO, if the kit gets 10,000 votes, LEGO will put it into production.
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