News in brief

Immigrant rate highest in EU at nearly 10%

Spain has the highest percentage of immigrants in the EU, according to the annual Etnia immigration survey. Its 4.48 million immigrants make up 9.9% of the population, ahead of France, with 9.6%, Germany (8.9%) and the UK (8.1%). The research also suggests that seven out of 10 new arrivals in Spain stay and work in the country. The increase in migration over the last 10 years has seen a corresponding rise in economic activity, with immigrants estimated to produce 4.5% of GDP. Of Spanish youngsters, 13% were born outside the country or to parents who migrated to Spain.
Paul Hamilos in Madrid

Comedian and actor freed after supporting protests

Burma's military regime said yesterday it had freed a comedian, and an actor and his wife who were arrested in the crackdown that followed pro-democracy protests. The comic Zaganar, whose act poked fun at the junta, and Oscar-winning actor Kyaw Thu were freed on Wednesday, three weeks after being seized. They had fed monks leading protests, which left 13 people dead, according to official reports. The regime said almost 3,000 people had been arrested, but only about 500 were still being held. The regime also claimed it had discovered explosives at a Rangoon monastery last week.
Ian Mackinnon

Protests as dolphins sent on 30-hour flight to Dubai

A shipment of 28 live bottlenose dolphins has been flown from the Solomon Islands to an aquatic park in the United Arab Emirates, despite protests from environmental groups in Australia and New Zealand. The Solomons fisheries minister, Nollen Leni, defended the decision to allow the exports, accusing animal welfare groups of trying to block the South Pacific country's "new million dollar" industry. Each dolphin is priced at $200,000 in the Dubai market. The 28 dolphins were bought by the Atlantis Resort hotel on Palm Jumeirah - a man-made island shaped like a palm tree off Dubai.
Associated Press, Honiara

Joey Bishop, last Rat Pack survivor, dies aged 89

Joey Bishop, the comedian, actor and last surviving member of the so-called Rat Pack of Hollywood entertainers led by Frank Sinatra, has died aged 89. Bishop, who was renowned for his quick wit, first found success as a night club comic and then Hollywood actor. He starred in Ocean's Eleven in 1960 and went on to have his own TV talkshows. Born Joseph Abraham Gottlieb in the Bronx, New York, Bishop died on Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, California. His wife, Sylvia Ruzga, with whom he had one son, died in 1999.
Thair Shaikh