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MADRID: Spain has imposed a temporary ban on exports of live cattle following an outbreak of the highly-contagious lumpy skin disease, Agriculture Minister Luis Planas told reporters on Tuesday.
Lumpy skin disease is a virus spread by insects that affects cattle and buffalo, causing blisters and reducing milk production. It does not pose a risk to humans but often leads to trade restrictions and severe economic losses.
“We have temporarily suspended exports of live animals to prevent the spread of the disease; France has done the same,” Planas said.
France imposed a similar ban on cattle exports and events such as bullfighting on Friday.
The Spanish outbreak was detected on a farm with 123 dairy heifers near Girona in the northeast, after three animals showed symptoms on October 1.

LONDON: Victims of IRA bombings should receive compensation from tax on assets seized from the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, according to a report by former Charity Commission Chairman William Shawcross.

The report suggests that the funds on offer will not go far enough to compensate all victims adequately, but should still be set aside for the purpose by the Treasury.

The IRA used Semtex, a plastic explosive, supplied by Libya to conduct bombings in the 1980s and 1990s.

Qaddafi’s assets were frozen after the fall of his regime in 2011, with victims saying they have grown in value from £9 billion ($12 billion) to £17 billion, earning the Exchequer around £5 million annually in tax.

Shawcross wrote in his report: “Funding could be obtained from the tax accrued on the frozen Libyan assets but will probably be insufficient, depending on the solution chosen. Other sources of government funding will probably be required.”

He added that it is “not possible to identify the number of people affected” by IRA bombings backed by Qaddafi, and that the number may continue to rise.

The Treasury, he said, should make up any shortfall owed to them and strike a deal with the current Libyan authorities over unfreezing assets, but this “may not transpire.”

He added: “It is time to draw a line. The pain and suffering of the victims is real and harrowing; it has been compounded by the length of time this matter has been under discussion and that victims have waited for the redress they believe is due to them, partly because they have been encouraged in that belief.”

The report was completed in 2020 but was sat on by successive Conservative and Labour governments before being released on Monday after lobbying by the families of victims.

It had been withheld in part due to the sensitive and in some cases classified nature of information it contained.

Susanne Dodd, whose father Stephen Dodd died in the bombing of Harrods department store in London by the IRA in 1983, said: “I would like to see the tax from the Libyan assets ring-fenced and given to victims’ families. That should include all the tax brought in so far.

“We believe the Treasury raised £5 million last year and over almost 15 years that’s a lot of money.”