Backup plan

GIBRALTAR is looking to cut red tape to attract a greater range of companies if talks between the UK, EU and Spain fail to agree on an EU treaty.

Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia said the government is looking at ‘alternative business models and opportunities’ in the event of a No Negotiated Outcome (NNO).

He co-chaired a meeting with Director General for Europe at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Julian Braithwaite on the subject.

Progress

had crossed into British Gibraltar’s territorial waters. But defence lawyer Christopher Finch managed to convince the jury that much larger forces had exploited the accused for their own ends. He argued that there needed to be intent to import the drugs and the boat to Gibraltar.

Acquitted

Otherwise, Finch said a court could view a sailing boat passing through the bay as an importation. The Supreme Court’s nine person jury then acquitted the defendants of drug smuggling charges.

The UK and Gibraltar governments said they were ‘pleased’ with the progress made since the last NNO meeting in December.

“All sides in the negotiations are committed to working intensively to conclude a UK-EU Treaty,” Garcia said. “This will help secure future prosperity for both Gibraltar and the surrounding region.

“However, in the event that this is not possible, it is important at the same time to prepare for the alternative as much as we can.”

SHE has lived through two world wars, a bloody civil war, the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed millions and even pulled through unscathed when she caught Covid. Now Maria Branyas Morera has taken the title of the oldest living person at the ripe age of 115.

Maria, who lives in Catalunya, has inherited the accolade

Revenge is a dish best served hot for Shakira...but beware of your supercool ex

WHEN the Spanish tabloids’ golden couple Gerard Pique and Shakira split up, it seemed that everything was being settled amicably.

The Colombian songstress released a song, Monoto ny, whose lyrics and video conveyed heartbreak. But barely two months later, the dominant emotion in new track Session 53 is undiluted vengeance.

She takes aim at the ex Bar celona and Spain footballer and his new girlfriend Clara Chia and lets fly with both barrels.

The devastating lyrics include lines such as: ‘I was out of your league, that’s why you’re with someone just like you.’

And she follows up with ‘You left me with your mum as a neighbour, the press at my door and a debt with Hacienda’.

The latter is a reference to Shakira’s ongoing