For our Spanish news headlines on this Thursday, we have DAESH-praising religious leader in court, for the first time in history, Spain reaches 21 million Social Security affiliates, and WhatsApp users warned to protect against account theft.
Plus, European composite PMI data will be the financial news giant of the day.
Contents (click to jump ahead)
Spanish News Headlines
The National Court will begin to hear evidence from today, Thursday, against a “religious leader” who, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, had “internalised the radical and violent jihadist ideology advocated” by the Islamic State and who had prepared to “begin a recruitment and indoctrination activity in favour of the terrorist organisation’s postulates on women”.
In its indictment, the Prosecutor’s Office asks to sentence OA to three years in prison for the crime of terrorist self-indoctrination. The accused, 34 years old, was arrested last June 2023.
Social Security has registered 21,032,661 affiliated workers in March, discounting seasonality and the calendar effect. It is the best figure in the historical series, after having added 530,843 in the last year, in line with the average job creation in the years before the pandemic, from 2015 to 2019.
For its part, the average membership figure (the original series) is at record levels, with 20,901,967 members. There are 193,585 more employees than in February, an increase much higher than the average for the years 2017 to 2019, which was 150,000 employees. The year-on-year growth in average affiliation has been 2.6%, with 525,414 more workers than a year ago.
Recently, cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky have identified a worrying increase in cases of WhatsApp account theft. This mechanism, which has received attention in the technology community, involves social engineering tactics to gain unauthorised access to user accounts.
The account theft process begins with obtaining the victim’s phone number from leaked databases or the Internet. Cybercriminals then try to install the WhatsApp application on a new device by entering the victim’s phone number. That’s when WhatsApp sends a verification code via SMS to the user’s phone number as a security measure, and the scammers request this six-digit code from the victim with some excuse.
Once they obtain the verification code, they manage to access the victim’s WhatsApp account. With this compromised account, scammers use various tactics to trick the victim’s contacts, requesting money transfers through identity theft.
To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news
Business, Markets and Statistics
In financial news on Thursday the 4th, the headlines will be dominated by the publication of the composite PMIs of the main powers in the Eurozone, complementing the manufacturing data from Tuesday.
We will also know the evolution of production prices in the Eurozone.
Similarly, in the UK, the services PMI will be published, as will the SMMT car sales figures, and a bleak report on UK armed forces suicides.
Plus, bad news and good news, the ORR rail complaints data and delay compensation claims data will be published, and the Fortune Best Companies to Work For will be revealed.
Things to Do
Aircraft fans can look forward to the Patrulla Aguila aerobatic team performing locally in the San Javier Airshow, taking place from 3rd-5th May – Festival Aéreo San Javier – over the playas de Santiago de la Ribera, San Javier, Murcia. They are also at the DIFAS 2024, taking place in Oviedo on 1 June, and on 15th June, the 50º Aniversario del ALA 14, in Albacete, where a competition is open to design a Eurofighter livery.
For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.
Traffic and Travel
We have had snow again in higher areas and so the weekend is going to be busy on the roads particularly around winter leisure zones, which includes second homes, but mostly the mountainous regions for winter sports. We will have the full details of the busiest times in tomorrow’s bulletin.
For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es
Official Websites for Travel Information
- For live traffic reports, visit the DGT traffic map
- For weather warnings, consult AEMET
- DGT Twitter account
- AEMET weather related road information
- Aemet Twitter account
- For flight information, check the AENA airport operator’s website
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DAESH praising religious leader in court
