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80 Dead in Worst Spanish Train Crash in Decades, Driver to Face Probe

A train flew off the tracks as it reportedly tore at twice the speed limit around a bend in northwest Spain, killing at least 80 passengers and injuring more than 140 in the nation's deadliest rail disaster since 1944.

Carriages piled into each other and overturned in the accident late Wednesday, smoke billowing from the wreckage of mangled steel and smashed windows as bodies were lain out under blankets along the tracks.

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Spanish Police Arrest European Head of Hells Angels

Spanish police said Wednesday they have arrested 25 members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, including the group's European leader, on the Mediterranean resort island of Mallorca.

The 25 were detained on Tuesday and are suspected of drug smuggling, human trafficking, extortion, money laundering and prostitution-related crimes, police said in a statement.

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Bolivia Leader Accepts European Apologies over Airspace Block

Bolivian President Evo Morales Wednesday accepted apologies from France, Spain, Italy and Portugal for blocking his jet from their airspace over suspicions U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden was on board.

"I want to say that, while we are not completely satisfied, we accept the apologies of the four countries as a first step, because we want to continue relations with the countries," Morales said in a statement.

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Spain PM to Speak on Corruption Case on Aug 1

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will address parliament on a slush fund scandal rocking his conservative Popular Party on August 1, the head of the assembly said Tuesday.

Rajoy bowed to pressure from the main opposition Socialists, which had threatened a no-confidence vote if he refused to address parliament on the issue, on Monday and announced he would appear in the assembly but did not specify the date.

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Bank of Spain: Spain Stuck in Recession, Exports Offer Hope

The crisis hit Spanish economy remained in recession in the second quarter but seemed close to a recovery thanks to exports, the the Bank of Spain said on Tuesday.

"According to available data, that is still incomplete, we estimate GDP (gross domestic product) fell by 0.1 percent on a quarterly basis, a yearly drop of 1.8 percent," the central bank said in a statement.

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Spanish Dig Seeks Prehistoric Ancestors of Europeans

With trowels and paintbrushes, dozens of archaeologists in white hard-hats patiently sift the reddish-brown earth in the caves of Atapuerca, searching for remains a million years old.

From under strata spanning hundreds of millenia at this site in northern Spain, they unearth ancient mouse bones and the teeth of horses -- but what they most hope for is a sign of prehistoric humans that could write a new chapter in our evolution.

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Spanish Man Gets 40 Years for Murdering His Children

A Spanish man was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Monday for killing his two children, aged six and two, to take revenge on his wife for leaving him.

Jose Breton said the children, Ruth who was the eldest and Jose, went missing on October 8, 2011, while on an outing with him at a park in the southern city of Cordoba, a month after his wife had left him and moved to another city with the two youngsters.

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Spain's PM Says to Address Graft Scandal in Parliament

Bowing to pressure from the opposition, Spain's prime minister said Monday he will appear in parliament to answer questions over allegations he received secret payments from a slush fund run by his conservative Popular Party.

"I will go before parliament to offer all explanations," Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a joint news conference with his Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta when asked if he would address the affair in the assembly, as had been demanded by the main opposition Socialist Party.

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Court Urged to Summon Spain PM to Testify in Scandal

Plaintiffs in a Spanish corruption investigation demanded on Wednesday that a judge call Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to testify over allegations that he received illegal payments.

Rajoy has rejected calls to resign over the scandal implicating his Popular Party as he fights to pull the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy out of a deep recession.

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Spain Says Sorry to Bolivia over Morales Airspace Block

Spain Monday voiced regret at its diplomatic row with Bolivia, sparked when President Evo Morales' plane was blocked from Spanish airspace over suspicions U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden was on the jet.

"Spain deeply regrets this and is sorry that it happened. We offer our apology and consider the matter closed," Spain's Ambassador to La Paz Miguel Angel Vasquez said after delivering a written note to the Foreign Ministry.

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