Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary clashed with angry workers from Spanair on Tuesday when he was announcing new routes connecting the Basque airport of Bilbao with Madrid and Barcelona.

The Spanair workers, that were protesting Spanair's "decision to cease operations", felt insulted by some of gestures of Michael O'Leary. TV footage shows Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary making a victory sign in what workers said was an apparent act of provocation and a lack of respect. Police had to step in after tempers flared and protect the Ryanair chief executive.

Ryanair is examining opportunities in Spain following the collapse last week of loss-making rival Spanair.

Spanair said it had "taken the decision to cease operations," grounding its fleet. An estimated 22,000 passengers who had booked seats on 220 canceled flights were left looking for alternative arrangements.

The airline, whose hub was Barcelona airport, employed around 2,000 people and used the services of some 1,200 ground staff. It stopped operating after a Spanish regional government announced it could no longer fund the airline.

Antoni Tapies, a Spanish painter and sculptor who was one of the world's top contemporary art figures, has died. He was 88.

A statement from the government of his native Catalonia region in the northeast said Tapies died Monday evening in Barcelona. It said he had been in poor health since 2007.

Tapies was one of Spain's main exponents of abstract and avant-garde art in the second half of the 20th century. He was known for sprawling works that sometimes featured discarded everyday materials.

Other trademarks were crosses and the letter X, and the number 4, symbolizing the four elements of nature and the four cardinal points.

Tapies won many awards over the course of his career including the Velazquez Prize, Spain's top art award, in 2003.

A blast of cold weather sweeping across Europe will keep its icy grip on the Basque lands on Tuesday and Wednesday as the Basque Government's Interior Department maintains its yellow alert warning because of freezing temperatures and risk of freezing.

According to provisions given by Euskalmet, Monday will continue to be cold though somewhat less damp. Very light snowfall is expected during the day but there is a greater risk of snowfalls at night over 600 metres.

On Tuesday, there is greater risk of freezing and heavy snowfalls are expected, mainly at night.

Wednesday is expected to be the coldest day in the week with freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls.

Europe

Hundreds have lost their lives in eastern Europe as freezing weather sweeps across the continent westwards, while major airports warned that services would be delayed or cancelled.

A state of emergency was declared in Bosnia after the cold snap claimed its seventh victim, and avalanches and strong winds cut off hundreds of villages in eastern parts. Helicopters were needed to deliver aid packages to mountainous areas and take the sick to hospital.

Greece also declared an emergency situation in the western Peloponnese peninsula after heavy rain caused flooding and an 82-year old woman drowned while trying to escape her house.

Nine more deaths from freezing temperatures were registered in Ukraine overnight, emergency services said, taking the death toll to 131 from a nine-day cold spell, the most severe in the country for six years with night temperatures down as low as
minus 33 Celsius (minus 27 Fahrenheit) in parts.

On the evening of 4th February, many towns in Biscay and the rest of the Basque Country remember St Agueda -Agate in Basque, Agatha in English -, the Italian saint who was martyred on 5th February 251 AD, by Governor Quinciano because she refused to give up her virginity.

On the eve of St Agatha's, hundreds of choirs in several Basque villages and cities, dress up in typical costumes and parade through the streets, singing traditional verses composed in honour of the St Agatha. Agatha is then declared patron saint of the Basque Country with the following words: 'Santa Ageda bezpera dogu Euskal Herriko eguna, etxe guztiak kantuz pozteko aukeratua doguna'. ('Today, St Agatha's Eve, Day of the Basque Country, is the day we have chosen to liven up all homes with our singing').

In return for their singing, the choirs receive tips though this tradition developed only recently. Previously the choristers would just receive something to eat or drink.

The verses of the songs are adapted to the place where the choirs stop to sing. The choristers accompany their own singing by rhythmically knocking on the ground with sticks.

The verses, with small language variations, always begin with the following words: 'Zorion etxe hontako denoi, oles egitera gatoz / aterik ate ohitura zaharra aurten barritzeko asmoz. /Ez gagoz sano aberats diruz, ez eta oinetakoz, / baia sameaz ondo gabiz ta kanta gure dogu gogoz'. Which roughly translates as: 'Wishing happiness to all who live in this house/ we come to greet you/ renewing the old custom of going from door to door./ We are short of money and shoes/ but we have a voice/ so we want to sing out loud'.

According to the historian, Jose Maria Uranga, the tradition has its origin in Biscay, though it also had some roots in the bordering towns of Gipuzkoa.

A blast of Siberian air looked set to keep its icy grip on the Basque lands for several days more as the Basque Government's Interior Department maintained its orange alert warning because of freezing temperatures and risk of freezing.

According to provisions given by Euskalmet, Friday will continue to be cold though somewhat less damp. Very light snowfall is expected today but there is a greater risk of freezing, with temperatures dropping as low as -6ºC in Navarre.

Bilbao was the only Basque capital where temperatures remained above 0º Celsius, (3ºC). In Donostia-San Sebastian, temperatures dipped to –3 ºC, while in Vitoria-Gasteiz temperatures fell to –6ºC.

The capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, was particularly affected by the weather, which caused a number of traffic problems in the city and its surrounding area with a record of 25 traffic accidents due to the snow.

In Arrasate, Mondragon University shut and classes were cancelled for over 2,000 students.

The cold is expected to continue through the weekend.

A team of Peruvian doctors successfully removed a "parasitic twin" from the stomach of a 3-year-old boy on Monday.

Dr. Carlos Astocondor of the medical team at Las Mercedes Hospital, in the northern port of Chiclayo, said the condition occurs in about one of every 500,000 live births.

He said the partially formed foetus weighs more than a kilogram and is 25 centimetres long.

According to Astocondor, "everything was smooth" and the prognosis is "good", after surgery complicated by the fact that the foetus was attached to the boy's liver and kidney - requiring the help of a cardio-vascular surgeon.

Astocondo explained that the brain, heart, lungs and intestines never developed after the foetus was absorbed by the other foetus inside the mother's womb.

The boy's parents said that he had complained of abdominal pains for some time but doctors in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon had not noticed anything.

Only when the boy's father took him to the city of Chiclayo did paediatricians there detect the "parasitic twin" - also known as a "fetus in fetu".

On the first Monday after the last Sunday of January, around twenty men or "ioaldunak" from Zubieta, a small town in the heart of Navarre, gather by the pilota court in their town square.

Dressed in Basque traditional footwear, petticoats and wool-lined coats, carrying huge cowbells on their backs and hispos (a kind of magic wand made with horsehair) in their hands, they walk to the neighbouring town of Ituren led by one man. This man keeps the pace of the march and the rhythm of the cowbells' music which sound thanks to the rhythmical movements of the "ioaldunak".

Halfway along on their journey, the zanpantzarrak from Zubieta meet the zanpantzarrak from Ituren, and both walk together to Ituren where they march through the streets. The next day, the zanpantzarrak from Ituren do the same thing: Dressed the same way, half way to Zubieta they are met by the zanpantzarrak from this village and march through their streets.

This ritual tradition has close links to nature. It is said that the sound by the cowbells and the shaking of the hispos scares away the bad spirits.

The Spanish government says it is taking action against airline Spanair for allegedly committing security breaches and trampling on citizens' consumer rights by ceasing operations.

Development Minister Ana Pastor said Saturday the government was initiating proceedings which could lead to Spanair being fined 9 million euro ($11.8 million) for two "serious infringements" of aviation security legislation.

Spanair said late Friday it had "taken the decision to cease operations," grounding its fleet. An estimated 22,000 passengers who had booked seats on 220 canceled flights have been left looking for alternative arrangements.

The airline, whose hub was Barcelona airport, employed around 2,000 people and used the services of some 1,200 ground staff. It stopped operating after a Spanish regional government announced it could no longer fund the airline.

Spanair's financial woes were exacerbated by a 2008 crash that killed 154 people. Eighteen people survived what was Spain's worst aviation disaster in 25 years. In a statement, the airline said its "last commercial flight will land at" 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Jan. 27.

Spanair has a fleet of 36 mainly aging aircraft and flew to 19 domestic and 24 international destinations, which included Algeria and Poland. The airline, which also ran a commuter service between Madrid and Barcelona, was in trouble financially before Spanair Flight JK5022, an MD-82 jet, crashed on takeoff on Aug. 20, 2008 as it tried to leave Madrid bound for the Canary Islands.

The Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastian, a seaside city in the north of the Basque Country, was chosen among TripAvisor's top 15 destinations "on the rise" when the online travel consultant announced its list of the new places to explore in 2012.

The 'beautiful beaches' of Ondarreta and Zurriola, La Concha bay, seafood restaurants and traditional "pintxos" (Basque tapas) bars are some of the things that TripAdvisor recommends of this 'picturesque city'.

"Take in the views from Mount Igueldo. Walk up Monte Urgell to visit the Statue of Christ and see even more spectacular views", the online travel consultant adds.

The Basque city will be European Capital of Culture in 2016. The city was chosen from among six Spanish cities - including Burgos, Córdoba, Las Palmas, Segovia and Zaragoza - to share the title with Polish city Wroclaw in 5 years time.

Other top 15 destinations 'on the rise' include the lively Mediterranean seaside Town of Fethiye in Turkey; Seminyak, with some of the nicest beaches in Bali; Chania in Greece; Bordeaux, is one of the most un-French cities in France; and Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland and a major contemporary art and shopping destination.

The list is completed with Tallinn, Estonia; Riga, Latvia; Moscow, Russia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Austin, Texas; Chaweng, Thailand; Lyon, France; Essaouira, Morocco; and Mendoza, Argentina.

Spain's new justice minister says he will reform the country's abortion law to make parental permission obligatory for 16- and 17-year-olds looking to end pregnancies.

The former Socialist government updated a 1985 law in 2010 to allow abortions without restrictions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and for 16- and 17-year-olds to have the operation without their parents' permission.

Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardon made the announcement Wednesday in Parliament but gave no details of other potential changes to the legislation or when the reform would be presented.

His right-leaning Popular Party opposed the Socialist reform and pledged in its election campaign last year to amend the bill if elected. The party won a landslide victory in elections Nov. 20.