Drum Festival Spain - La Tamborrada

When and Where The Drum Festival Spain usually takes place on January 20th in Donostia San Sebastian in the Basque land of Spain for one day only.

What to Expect From midnight to midnight the streets of San Sebastian fill with many gastronomic societies from San Sebastian marching in uniform all bidding to outdo each other. It begins in Plaza de la Constitution and marches all the way to the Old City of San Sebastian. This Spanish drums festival is an intense noisy fiesta lasting 24 hours.

History
The history of this Spanish drums Festival goes back to when the French occupied the Basque country. The French soldiers would play their drums when they were on the charge. One day as they did so in 1720 a baker who was filling water barrels from a fountain near the Iglesia de San Vicente (Church of St Vincent) San Sebastian began to sing, and a group of young girls passing by started banging on the barrels as accompaniment. The crowd started to gather and this drum beating knees up which evolved over the last almost 300 years into the spectacle you see today. It also gave rise to Raimundo Sarriegui who created the masterpiece the "March of San Sebastian" which is played to this day. (Festival Pig)

New species of frog discovered

An Australian researcher who discovered a new species of flying frog near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam has revealed how she found it.

Jodi Rowley discovered the frog in 2009 but thought it was an ordinary flying frog.
But at closer inspection she noticed differences in the colour of the webbing and the size of the frog.
Jodi named the new species Helen, after her mum.
What made the discovery so special was how close to such a big city the frog was living.
Researchers are now working to establish whether Helen's frog is endangered. (CBBC Newsround)

Stolen train crashes into house in Sweden

A cleaning woman is seriously hurt after she apparently stole a train and crashed it into a house.

It happened in a suburb of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.
The train was empty but there were three families in the house. Luckily, none of them were hurt.
The railway firm, Arriva, said the woman was an employee of theirs. She was flown to a nearby hospital. They are now investigating the incident. (CBBC Newsround)

Paella (with chicken and artichokes)

Ingredients (4-6 people):

• 600 grams rice (short grain)
• Half a chicken in pieces
• 2 artichokes
• 2 medium-sized red peppers
• 2 mature tomatoes
• Black pepper
• Garlic
• Parsley
• A strand of saffron
• Olive oil (one glass, about 1/4 litre)
• 1/2 lemon
• A sprig of rosemary and thyme
• Salt

Steps:

1: Fry the chicken in some olive oil. Put the browned chicken pieces into a pan with 8 glasses of water, and bring to the boil. Leave simmering for half an hour.

2. Cut the artichokes and red pepper and fry them.

3. Fry the tomato and garlic in olive oil in the large paellera (special paella pan), then add the rice, stir for a minute and then add the chicken, chicken stock (there should be 6 glasses), artichokes, red peppers, the juice of half a lemon, black pepper, parsley, thyme, rosemary, the saffron strands (Grind them first. If you haven't got a grinder, use colorante which you'll find in the spice and herbs racks in supermarkets) and salt.

4: Once all the ingredients are in the paella pan, turn the heat up to maximum and boil for about 10 minutes. Then lower the heat and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, the liquid should have evaporated. Turn off the heat, and leave to stand for five minutes. If possible cover while it is standing (many Spaniards use paper to cover the pan). (Euroresidentes)

Malaga miracle worker saves boy’s life on Ryanair flight

A SPANISH nurse was called into action to save the life of a child who had gone into convulsions on a Ryanair flight to Germany.

The nurse, who was flying to Dusseldorf on New Year’s Eve, acted swiftly when she spotted the child lying in the aisle close to unconsciousness.
Virginia Valle, 27, from Malaga, quickly took the boy’s temperature to find it was over 40 degrees and then steadied his head to stop him banging it, as well as getting the father to hold his tongue to stop him from swallowing it.
As the boys parents were Italian and Belgium the language barrier was initially a problem.
“They spoke no Spanish so we made do with a mixture of French and English,” she told Sur.
After ascertaining if he had had some sort of allergic reaction, she asked the airline for some diazepam, but discovered the rudimentary medical kit on board had very little of use.
Finally she was able to get a paracetamol from the mother and managed to bring his temperature down by inserting it into his rectum.
After a few minutes the contractions started to slow down and finally the boy dropped off to sleep with his temperature dropping.
“It was such a relief and half the plane gave me a round of applause,” said Valle, who was forced to move to Germany to find work last year.
“The father kept telling me how I had saved his son’s life.”
She continued: “The biggest problem was having to fight off other passengers who wanted to help, but with no idea.
“Some told me to cover him up when I took his top off to try and bring his temperature down, while another wanted to give him something to eat.
“An Asian man even suggested that he gave him some acupuncture.”
Ironically the nurse had been expecting to spend New Year’s Eve in Malaga with her family.
But due to a mix up with her ticket she ended up having to fly back to German that day.
She ended up spending the night on her own in Germany, eating a panini.
“But in the end I was overjoyed to have been on the flight and had my calling to help. It was something of a miracle!” (The Olive Press)

African country Zambia bans the hunting of big cats

 

Zambia has banned the hunting of lions and leopards because of a drop in the numbers of its big cats.

Until now, people in the southern African country could hunt the animals for sport.
But Zambia's tourism minister Sylvia Masebo said there are no longer enough cats for hunting purposes.
"Tourists come to Zambia to see the lion and if we lose the lion, we will be killing our tourism industry," she said.
Lions are found in all of Zambia's major parks, but their numbers are going down, with fewer than 4,500 lions in the whole country.
The number of leopards is unknown.
Neighbouring Botswana is also banning all sport hunting from 2014, while Kenya stopped hunting for sport decades ago. (CBBC Newsround)

2013 to be great for English students

The year 2013 will without doubt be a great year for many of us wondering what's in store for us. Expert forecasters are predicting it will be one of the best years ever. It will be one of those years when record numbers of people will stick to and keep their New Year's resolutions. That means millions of smokers will quit smoking and the overweight will make a more conscious effort to trim their waistlines. It should also be an easier year on the pocket as the world economy recovers slightly from its recent shocks and downturns. In technology, all eyes will be on Apple to see if it will launch another revolutionary product. Industry insiders say rumours are spreading of an Apple television.
There is also good news for those hoping to make gains with their English. An abundance of great new tools will hit the shelves of both online and traditional stores throughout the year. These will provide students with an unprecedented variety of products to help them in areas they want to improve on. The Internet will also see a lot more sites aimed at providing students with ways to interact with others around the world in English. More and more learners will study English in cyberspace from a growing army of online teachers. 2013 will also see record numbers of people studying abroad, but not just English - millions will start learning Chinese, as China grows increasingly important in business. (Breaking News)

U.S. town bans small bottles of water

The U.S. town of Concord in Massachusetts state has banned stores from selling water in bottles that are smaller than one litre. Stores who sell the water will have to pay a $50 fine. The new law is the result of a three-year campaign by local resident Jean Hill. Ms Hill first told people about the idea at a meeting in 2010. She wants people to drink more tap water and use fewer plastic bottles, which she says end up littering streets, rivers and the countryside. She said: "Bottled water is bad for the environment, our health, and our public water systems. Concord's decision to go bottled-water free is a great example of how communities can promote our most essential public service: the tap."
Many people are unhappy with the new law, which started on New Year's Day. The bottled water industry said small bottles are very important for people's health. It said banning small bottles would mean people will drink more small bottles of colas and other soft drinks. Shops can still sell small bottles of other kinds of drinks. Local stores and restaurants say they will lose customers as people will simply drive to nearby towns to buy small bottles of water. One local resident said the new law is dangerous to her health. Ann Davidson, 82, said tap water is bad for her health so she has to buy water, but 1.5 litre bottles are too heavy for her. People buy 50 billion small bottles of water each year in the USA. (Breaking News)