LATIN AMERICAN TIMES

Man shot in Brunswick

Man shot in Brunswick

A gunman is on the loose after a man was gunned down in a busy Brunswick street late this afternoon. The man was shot several times outsi...

Bali jails Australian boy over cannabis possession

<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15884706"> </a>An Australian boy has been jailed for two months for possessing cannabis on the Indonesian island of Bali. The case sparked an outcry in Australia, where the media argued the 14-year-old was too young to be jailed. But Indonesian analysts hit back, criticising Australia for holding Indonesian youngsters in detention in people-smuggling cases. The teenager, who has not been named, will serve the rest of his sentence at an immigration detention centre. The jail term includes the time already served, so the boy, from New South Wales, is expected to be freed in two weeks' time. He will be deported to Australia at the end of his sentence. The boy bought a small amount of cannabis from a dealer on the island - a crime punishable by up to two years in jail. But the court treated him leniently after hearing that he had pre-existing drugs problems and had sought help from doctors. Drugs cases involving Australians in Indonesia regularly cause a huge outcry because of the country's extreme sentencing rules. The most notorious was that of the so-called Bali Nine, who were convicted of trying to import heroin. Most of them are serving lengthy prison sentences after having death penalties commuted on appeal.

Bali jails Australian boy over cannabis possession

An Australian boy has been jailed for two months for possessing cannabis on the Indonesian island of Bali. The case sparked an outcry in ...

British woman falls off hotel balcony when having sex

There has been another case of balconing in Spain, this time in Adeje, Tenerife, and with the twist that the victim was having sex with he...

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is pictured sitting in a plane in Zintan after his capture in Libya's rugged desert.

<div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Saif al-Islam Gaddafi" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/20/1321789703033/Saif-al-Islam-Gaddafi-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Photograph: Ismail Zitouni/Reuters</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The man who led the fighters that captured Saif al-Islam has said that the late dictator's son tried to escape arrest by pretending to be a camel herder."When we caught him, he said, 'My name is Abdul Salem, a camel keeper,'" said commander Ahmed Amur on Sunday. "It was crazy."His unit, from Zintan's Abu Bakar al-Sadiq brigade, had been patrolling the vast southern desert of <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Libya" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya">Libya</a> for more than a month when it was given a tip-off late last week that Saif al-Islam was close to the town of Obari."We knew it was a VIP target, we did not know who," said Amur, who worked as a professor of marine biology in Tripoli before the war.He said rebel units with pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns deployed in ambush positions in the desert near Obari, a small town that lies astride roads leading to both Algeria and Niger.As the informant had predicted, two Jeeps came into view at lunchtime on Friday, surging through the desert near the main highway that leads to Niger."When we saw the first car we fired shots ahead of it, not to hit, as a warning. It stopped. Then the second car belonging to Saif came," he said, speaking in English. "We shot warning shots, he (Saif's car) stopped in the sand. Saif and his aide came out of the car."He said rebel fighters approached on foot, Saif threw himself face down and began rubbing dirt on his face. "He wanted to disguise himself," he said.Amur raced up to him and ordered him to stand up, finding himself face to face with Saif al -Islam.But the most notorious son of the late dictator claimed he was not one of the world's most wanted war crimes suspects, but a simple camel herder – Abdul Salem being the equivalent of a British "John Smith"."His face was covered (with dirt), I knew who he was," said Amur. "Then he said to us, 'Shoot.' When the rebels refused to shoot, and identified themselves, Saif told them: 'OK, shoot me, or take me to Zintan.'"We don't kill or harm a captured man, we are Islam," said Amur, still clad in the green combat jacket he wore when making the arrest. "We have taken him here to Zintan. After that, our government is responsible."Zintan was on Sunday hemmed-in by checkpoints set up by its fighters, whose units fought some of the toughest battles of the war, ending in their attack on Tripoli in August.Omran Eturki, leader of Zintan council, says Saif must face trial in Zintan's own courthouse. "We can try him, it will not take too long, we don't need any new laws," he said, referring to questions over Libya's current legal limbo. "They are Zintanis who captured him so they will have to have him here."Eturki said it was better to try him in Libya than send him to the international criminal court, which has indicted Saif for war crimes and crimes against humanity."The judicial authorities can appoint the judges and the lawyers, but the trial must be here. As long as there is justice, that is it."He said Saif would get a fair trial. "There is no point to make a revolution for justice, and then you become the same killers. All the people of Zintan want to see him have a proper trial. We don't like to harm him. If we wanted to kill him we could kill him. We captured him so I think we have the right to try him."</div>

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is pictured sitting in a plane in Zintan after his capture in Libya's rugged desert.

Photograph: Ismail Zitouni/Reuters The man who led the fighters that captured Saif al-Islam has said that the late dictator's son tried ...

Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his part in a different operation that brought millions of illicit drugs into Canada. Baljinder Kandola, a former Canadian border guard who was charged with being part of a cocaine-smuggling ring, was at a loss for words during much of his testimony on Tuesday to explain why he risked so much to help a millionaire auto-parts importer for nothing in return. Under cross-examination by Crown counsel James Torrance, Kandola said he agreed to wave his co-accused Shminder Singh Johal and associates in his three automotive companies through the border, helping them avoid inspection, reported the Province newspaper. Kandola — who worked at the Pacific Highway crossing from July 2001 until his arrest on Oct. 25, 2007 — admitted he made unauthorized use of Canadian Border Services Agency databases to come to the conclusion Johal had been subjected to inspections over the years unfairly. “He asked if I was able to wave him through,” Kandola told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly, who is hearing the case without a jury. “It would save him time and money, and he wouldn’t be harassed.” Torrance reminded Kandola of his testimony a day earlier, when he said he was risking his job, his pension and his standing in the Sikh community by breaking his oath to protect Canada’s borders. “What was [Johal] offering you in return?” asked the prosecutor. “He didn’t offer me anything,” replied Kandola. “In my mind he was bringing auto parts into Canada.” Torrance asked, “This [waving Johal through] was definitely something you shouldn’t do?” “Yes,” agreed the witness. “Then why would you want to help a successful millionaire businessman?” Kandola replied: “I don’t know, I’ve asked myself the same question.” Torrance turned to Kandola’s illegal use of the databases to come to the conclusion Johal was unfairly harassed. A “lookout” had been placed on Johal’s border crossings after a tip from the RCMP. “Did you not consider [Johal] was previously suspected of smuggling cocaine?” asked Torrance. “No,” said Kandola. “That was all cleared up by your queries [into the databases]?” “I guess so,” replied the defendant. Torrance then meticulously went through Kandola’s phone, text and CBSA database records to show that he called Johal to let him know when he was in position to wave him through the border and when the “lookout” was on or off during the wee hours of Feb. 10, 2007. Asked if he was paid by Johal when they met at a 7-Eleven store the next day, Kandola denied it. Kandola was arrested on Oct. 25, 2007, shortly after he waved through a car driven by Herman Riar that contained 208 kilograms of cocaine. Riar pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and was sentenced last year to 12 years in prison. Kandola and Johal have pleaded not guilty to charges of drug smuggling, illegal firearms, conspiracy and bribing an official. The trial in New Westminster is scheduled to last three more weeks.

Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his p...

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang, a court heard yesterday.  Adam Vincent, 33, was shot with air rifle pellets and savagely punched and kicked in the weeks before his gruesome death.   The gang then scattered his body parts in waterways across Lincolnshire, Sheffield Crown Court was told. <div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Adam Vincent's head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June" class="blkBorder" height="286" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/11/article-2060452-0EC41B1A00000578-650_468x286.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" />Discovery: Adam Vincent's head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June, pictured</div>His severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes on March 3 this year.  After a police investigation two other parts were recovered and his head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June.  Prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC said the five-strong gang believed Mr Vincent had stolen £5,000 from them and 'grassed' them up to the police.The court heard Mr Vincent was a heroin addict and sold 'wraps' for the gang in return for using some of the drug himself.<div class="relatedItemsTopBorder" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </div><div class="relatedItems" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><h4 style="min-height: 1px; font-size: 1em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"></h4></div> At the time of his death he was living with the gang whose headquarters was based in a small bungalow in Scartho, Grimsby.  Grimsby men Lee Griffiths, 43, his sons Thomas, 22, and Luke, 19, Lee's stepson Mark Jackson, 27, and Matthew Frow, 32, all deny murder between February 26 and March 4.  They also deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by concealing Mr Vincent's dismembered body between the same dates along with Andrew Lusher, 43, also from Grimsby, who is alleged to have hired the van used to dispose of the body.  <div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Mr Vincent's severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes, pictured, on March 3 this year" class="blkBorder" height="286" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/11/article-2060452-0EC41B1200000578-707_468x286.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" />Mr Vincent's severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes, pictured, on March 3 this year</div>The three Griffiths and Mark Jackson further deny conspiracy to supply heroin between December 1, 2010 to March 7, 2011.  Frow admits conspiracy to supply the Class A drug.  Mr Bayliss said Mr Vincent was a close associate of the five men charged with murder.  He did small-time drug dealing on their behalf and 'it was the gang he was associated with that killed him.'  Three weeks before Mr Vincent's body was found three of the gang were arrested for drugs offences by police then released.<div class="thinFloatRHS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 10px; min-height: 1px; width: 235px; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;">'Birdwatchers chanced on the leg just hours after it had been dumped'</div>Officers searched the bungalow, which is owned by Lee Griffiths, and where Mr Vincent had been living.  Mr Bayliss said Lee Griffiths believed Mr Vincent had given information to the police and had stolen £5,000 and drugs from them.  The gang began a 'sustained physical assault' on Mr Vincent and the violence continued for a fortnight ultimately leading to his death.A post mortem showed Mr Vincent died from a blunt force trauma to the head. He had been struck at least three times with a weapon.  Mr Vincent was last seen alive on February 27 and the following day it is claimed that one of the gang sent a text to his girlfriend which implied Adam Vincent had been killed.  His body was dismembered after his death and a van, organised by Lusher, was allegedly used to dispose of it.  The birdwatchers chanced on the leg just hours after it had been dumped.<div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC told Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, the five-strong gang believed Mr Vincent had stolen £5,000 from them and 'grassed' them up to the police" class="blkBorder" height="286" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/11/article-2060452-0EC4321F00000578-780_468x286.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" />Prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC told Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, the five-strong gang believed Mr Vincent had stolen £5,000 from them and 'grassed' them up to the police</div> Mr Bayliss said: 'Adam Vincent was killed behind closed doors by this gang.  'All five of the defendants were participating in a joint enterprise which led to Adam Vincent's death.'He said it was difficult to identify individual acts of violence but the prosecution claim anyone involved in it is guilty of murder even if they were not present when the fatal blow was delivered.The court heard three of the gang were arrested for suspected drugs offences and the bungalow was searched. Drug paraphernalia was seized along with an air rifle on February 11.Pellets matched to the rifle were found in Mr Vincent's body.  Mr Bayliss said: 'Even before this one of the things that was happening was that Mr Vincent had been shot in the body by this a air rifle.'It would have caused pain and injury. It was an indication of how he was being treated.  'Mr Vincent's father Keith visited his son who was in hospital with pneumonia in late January. Mr Vincent told his dad he had had enough of his drug-taking lifestyle.' 'He said: ''I want to get away but they won't let me. I need to sort some issues out first.' 'He later added: 'You don't know these people. I'm trying to get it all sorted.'' Mr Vincent discharged himself against medical advice and was probably killed three weeks later.  Mr Bayliss said witnesses spoke of how Mr Vincent would tell of being beaten up and how 'they couldn't let him go because he knew too much.'  When Mr Vincent stole the money from the gang he was given 'a bit of a kicking' and was tied up in the house, it was alleged.  Another witness said Lee Griffiths was becoming 'paranoid' about heroin going missing from the house and suspected Mr Vincent had been stealing it.  The court heard that as early as January Mr Vincent was seen with a black eye and Thomas Griffiths was bragging he had shot him.  A few days before Mr Vincent was killed Thomas Griffiths was seen to punch him in the face in the house and Luke Griffiths kicked him in the side while his father held a knife to Mr Vincent's throat.  The victim was later seen in pain and by February 26 was described as having a 'shocking' appearance by a witness at a supermarket.He was walking with a limp and had cuts all over his face.'His facial expression according to a security guard was one of terror,' said Mr Bayliss.  The hearing, which is expected to last at least six weeks, continues.

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang, a ...

IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me

<div class="art-o art-align-center otm-1 " style="width: 485px; text-align: center; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img alt="Adulthood" border="1" height="300" src="http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/sundaymercury/nov2011/4/5/adulthood-242837542.jpg" style="float: right; padding: 0px; margin: 10px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Adulthood" width="465" /></div>“IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me.”These are the chilling words of a 19-year-old Birmingham gang member who once roamed the streets of Lozells, selling drugs and fighting with rivals over territory.He has since left that dark and dangerous life behind him and is on course to become a PE teacher.Now he has helped make an award-winning film aimed at warning the next generation of the dangers of gangs.It is being shown in schools across Birmingham to children the same age he was when he became involved.Today, the teenager lifts the lid on the closed world of gang culture in our second city.But even now he cannot be named for fear of retribution from the people he once saw as ‘family’.“It started when we were at high school,” he told the Sunday Mercury.“I was part of a group of friends who came together and decided no-one would trouble us if we had any problems. There were probably about 20 of us in Lozells and Aston.“Back then, it felt more like a family than a gang.‘‘You do everything with your gang.“If you go to the city centre or something like the bonfire at Pype Hayes, you wouldn’t go on your own, you’d go with 20 or 30 people so you were safe.“If we saw other gangs there would be a fight. And that could escalate really easily.“Luckily, I was never a person to get stabbed but I’ve seen things like that and it’s not nice.‘‘My friend was also shot and killed last year. He was just in a car; it was a long-term rivalry; they pulled up next to him and shot him.“In the back of your mind you know you don’t want to be in that environment, but you’re probably safer with your friends than without them.“If you get caught slipping by going somewhere and another gang sees you, you’re liable, They don’t care whether you’re still in the gang or not.”CriminalYet what started out as friends sticking up for each other quickly changed into criminal behaviour as the teen’s gang began selling drugs to make money.The wannabe teacher, who was once cautioned for possession of cannabis, added: “The aim was just to survive and to make money to live life.“Everyone was selling it for someone else and just trying to make a bit for themselves.“We would sell whatever drugs the buyer wanted really, if people want something you’ll end up trying to sell it.”And he claimed his young gang members were led further astray by older kids who thrive on street violence.“Peer pressure plays a big part,” he added.“There were older figures but we never saw them as leaders. We saw them as older brothers. That’s the influence they had on us.“There was loads of people our age with nothing to do. We were all young and easily influenced by the older generation.“They used to say it was ‘robbery season’ where everything you want, you get. If you want a phone, you go and rob a phone.‘‘It was callous and evil.”And as the gang got older, the trouble they got into became more serious.“I think half of our gang ended up in jail,” added the 19-year-old.“That’s for everything from drugs to violence to robbery.

IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me

“IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me.” ...

Police wrest control of Rio's largest slum

Crack police forces were Sunday in full control of Rio's largest favela after launching a dawn assault to eject narco-traffickers who had been ruling the area for 30 years. "I have the pleasure to inform you that Rocinha and Vidigal (a neighbouring favela) are under our control. There were no incidents and no shots were fired. We don't have any information on arrests or weapons seized," Alberto Pinheiro Neto, chief of the military police, told a news conference. "The communities have been our control since (1900 AEDT) and we are withdrawing our armour and, in 45 minutes, we will reopen the streets," which had been closed since 0400 GMT ahead of the operation. Advertisement: Story continues below Built on a steep hillside overlooking the city and located between two wealthy neighbourhoods, Rocinha is home to 120,000 people. The long-anticipated operation in a city that has one of the highest murder rates in the country is part of an official campaign since 2008 to restore security in Rio before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which Brazil will host. Backed by navy armour and commandos and with two helicopters flying low overhead, hundreds of special forces police and 200 navy commandos punched their way into Rocinha and Vidigal at dawn. "The arrival of the UPP (a police unit set up to pacify the favelas) will be positive for the new generations to put an end to narco-trafficking. I want my sons to stay away from trafficking," said 51-year-old Carlos Alberto, who was one of the few Rocinha residents willing to speak to the press. But not everyone supported the police operation. A few women were seen crying. All access to the two favelas has been blocked since 2.30am (1102 AEDT). Earlier three vehicles blocked one of the avenues in the upper part of Rocinha. Dozens of policemen in the perimeter asked journalists present in the area to remain behind as they fanned out in the narrow alleys. Streets were deserted, with only a few residents watching from their windows as the troops made their advance. "We hope the pacification will not be just about ejecting the drug traffickers but also to bring sanitation, education, health," said community leader Raimundo Benicio de Souda, 4known as Lima. "There are people living (here) among cockroaches, urinating and defecating in a can," Lima told AFP, adding that for this reason "the pacification must have these people as a priority". William de Oliveira, president of the Favelas People's Movement, wearing a shirt with the inscription "I love Rocinha, said: "We want the people to be treated with dignity, respect, that those who have been involved in crimes be jailed but not assassinated" by police." Authorities estimate that about 200 criminals remained inside Rocinha following last week's capture of local drug kingpin Antonio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, also known as Nem. Nem was caught hidden in the trunk of a car, along with several accomplices and a few corrupt policemen who were protecting them. Nem was a model employee of a telecom company who "stumbled" into organised crime after getting a loan from a former Rocinha drug baron to pay for medical care for one of his daughters. To pay back his debts, he reportedly began dealing drugs and later took over as chief of the gang which controls Rocinha. The capture of Rocinha, the 19th favela to be pacified by police, recalled the huge operation launched by joint police and military forces to seize control of Rio's Alemao favela, home to 400,000 people in November 2010. Alemao was retaken after three days of clashes that left 37 people dead. Since Friday, heavily armed police had been besieging Rocinha, checking all cars going or leaving the area. Endemic and chronic urban violence has long tarnished the image of Rio, where more than 1.5 million people live in 1,000 slums spread throughout the city.

Police wrest control of Rio's largest slum

Crack police forces were Sunday in full control of Rio's largest favela after launching a dawn assault to eject narco-traffickers who ...

Angry Birds” – which is basically a drone that has been specially developed to take down drug-running ultralight airplanes that are utilized by gangs in order to smuggle illegal substances

<p style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: #ffffff;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-95393" height="353" src="http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/drug-plane.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; clear: both; display: block; padding: 0px; border: initial none initial;" title="drug-plane" width="562" />Everyone with a modern smartphone would definitely have heard of Angry Birds before, and hey, even if mobile gaming is not your cup of tea, surely the name Angry Birds has passed by your mind from time to time during a conversation? Well, the US Border Patrol might get the help of “Angry Birds” – which is basically a drone that has been specially developed to take down drug-running ultralight airplanes that are utilized by gangs in order to smuggle illegal substances at the south of US from Mexico.<p style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; background-color: #ffffff;">The drone will fire a net which entangles the propeller of the ultralight airplane, which in return stops the engine. As for another drone, that is slightly more violent in nature – it will perform a kamikaze crash straight into the ultralight in order to break its propeller. I think the kamikaze version has far more anger issues, and it would require less accuracy than firing a net at a propeller – what do you think? One thing’s for sure – there will not be any green pigs aboard the airborne drug mules…

Angry Birds” – which is basically a drone that has been specially developed to take down drug-running ultralight airplanes that are utilized by gangs in order to smuggle illegal substances

Everyone with a modern smartphone would definitely have heard of Angry Birds before, and hey, even if mobile gaming is not your cup of tea, ...

Son in milk-shake poisoning case sentenced

Son gets jail in attacks on man in milk-shake poisoning case No one can say Gilbert Ortiz isn't a survivor. In 1992, his wife poisoned him with an insecticide-laced milk shake. Ortiz nearly died. Nearly two decades later, his son - nursing a grudge over his mother's imprisonment - assaulted him. Twice. On Wednesday, a judge ordered the son, 21-year-old Jonathan Ortiz, to spend a year in jail and four years on probation. The unusual case began in March 1992, when Elizabeth Fuentes-Ortiz brought a McDonald's hamburger and a milk shake to her husband while he was working at Toys R Us in Redwood City. She told him the shake might taste funny because it was filled with amino acids to help him build muscles. In fact, the shake had been laced with Ortho Sevin, an insecticide. Ortiz went into convulsions 10 seconds after downing the concoction in the store's break room, police say. His heart stopped, his liver failed and he lapsed into a coma that lasted 11 days. But he survived and told police what had happened. By then, his wife had already made it to Mexico with Jonathan, then 2, in tow. In 2000, Fuentes-Ortiz was arrested near Guadalajara. She was convicted two years later of attempted murder and was sentenced to 13 years to life in prison. On June 25, 2010, Jonathan Ortiz stabbed his father, "screaming about what he had done to (Jonathan's) mother," said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. The son took the wounded man to the hospital, where Gilbert Ortiz "made up a story about being robbed at knifepoint," Wagstaffe said. Then, on Oct. 17, 2010, Jonathan Ortiz attacked his father again, this time beating him, prosecutors said. The father again concocted a story that he had been attacked during a robbery. But a relative contacted police and revealed what really happened, Wagstaffe said. Jonathan Ortiz claimed self-defense. In September, he pleaded no contest to felony assault.

Son in milk-shake poisoning case sentenced

Son gets jail in attacks on man in milk-shake poisoning case No one can say Gilbert Ortiz isn't a survivor. In 1992, his wife poison...

Britain's FBI 'abandoned chasing crime Mr Bigs because it's too difficult'

<blockquote>The elite unit set up by Labour to fight major criminals has failed to catch crime bosses because it is ‘too difficult’ and may even have been infiltrated by the underworld, says a whistleblower. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is supposed to be Britain’s answer to the FBI. When it was launched, Tony Blair pledged the organisation would ‘make life hell’ for the country’s ‘Mr Bigs’. It recruited from the cream of the police, immigration, customs and MI5 and had more than 4,000 staff in offices all over the world.  But Tim Lee, a former intelligence officer with SOCA, claims the agency has been blighted by corruption and bureaucracy. Mr Lee, 58, who joined SOCA in Nottingham when it was formed in 2006, paints a damning picture of his five years in the organisation. He claims: An investigation into a crime boss was mysteriously dropped when a SOCA officer with alleged links to the suspect took over the running of the case. Allegations of serious sexual misconduct made by a female SOCA worker against a male colleague were covered up. Hostility arose between police, customs and immigration officers when operational units were first formed in 2006.</blockquote>

Britain's FBI 'abandoned chasing crime Mr Bigs because it's too difficult'

The elite unit set up by Labour to fight major criminals has failed to catch crime bosses because it is ‘too difficult’ and may even have ...

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in Chase — a community in B.C.'s Shuswap region — photos of himself lying on the floor beside a giant pile of money. In the accompanying email, Stirling told Shawn Martin that he wouldn't repay cash he owed him despite being flush after a recent trip to the South American cocaine centre. Bizarre details of Stirling's feud with his neighbours, Martin and his mother Myrna Beckman, over loans totalling $30,000 are laid out in a suit and counter-suit filed in August and September in Kamloops Supreme Court and obtained the Vancouver Sun. Stirling was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 18 just north of Colombia with 400 kilograms of cocaine secreted aboard his sailboat. He is currently detained in a Miami Detention Centre where he told officials "there was nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking and that the United States should mind its own business." "He further remarked that if Canada didn't have such high taxes, (he and his co-accused) could get legitimate jobs." If allegations in the B.C. court documents are accurate, some in the town of 2,500 were aware of Stirling's plan to import cocaine. Martin and Beckman, who live down the road from Stirling and his wife Marlene, say in their court claim they heard at a barbecue last March "that the plaintiff John Stirling was in Colombia setting up a massive cocaine deal." Martin and Beckman said their efforts to get repayment on several loans to the Stirlings were met with threats and harassment. They also said accusations by the Stirlings that the neighbours were the aggressors in the dispute are ridiculous — Martin has dwarfism and gets around with crutches and a wheelchair; his mother, 63, is his caregiver. Both Martin and Beckman declined to comment to the Sun because their case is before the courts. Marlene Stirling did not return calls. The documents show that Stirling, a 60-year-old convicted cocaine trafficker, struck first against his neighbours, filing a suit on Aug. 29 asking for $10 million in damages. Stirling said in a brief synopsis that over the last two years, his disabled neighbour and mom have threatened the Stirlings "with bodily harm and death." "The defendants have written the plaintiffs blackmail letters for money," Stirling wrote. "The defendants have caused anxiety, depression, stress, loss of sleep requiring medical care to the petitioners. "The defendants have caused travel to become necessary from Colombia for John Stirling at great expense and loss from work to protect his family . . . The defendants have or have attempted to hire Hells Angels to cause murder or physical harm to the plaintiffs and have made statements by phone and email of that intent," the Stirling claim said. The neighbours fired back in a detailed defence filed Sept. 14, denying all the allegations and making a counter-claim. They said that, unlike Stirling, they have no criminal record and no connection to the notorious biker gang. "The defendants do not know any Hells Angels or Hells Angels associates and have never had dealings with them or hired them to do anything," Martin and Beckman said, adding the only information they have about the Angels came from the Stirlings themselves. "The plaintiff Marlene Stirling also told the defendants that two Hells Angels members sat at her kitchen table and had coffee on multiple different times," the documents said. They said they learned in an Internet search of Stirling's 2001 bust on his fishing boat, the Western Wind, with 2.5 tonnes of cocaine owned by the Hells Angels. He was never charged. Tensions escalated between the former friends in August, when Stirling "was back from Colombia and was bragging that he had two suitcases full of money containing in excess of $200,000," the mother-son team said. Martin fired off an email, "asking John to pay the rest of the money the plaintiffs owed the defendants for loans from June 1, 2007, to Feb. 23, 2011." On Aug. 23, Stirling sent his neighbours "an email with a picture of him laying on the floor of his Adams' Lake residence with a pile of money in front of him, holding a piece of paper with Aug. 19, 2011, written on it," the claim said. The email said: "I told you if you waited you would have got paid, but since you didn't, you will never receive a dime and everyone else has been paid back for their investment but you." They said Stirling warned them that he would go to court and ruin them if they didn't back off. "The defendants have videotape evidence of the plaintiff John Stirling threatening to kill more than one person at gunpoint," the documents said. "On Sept. 10, 2011, the defendants were informed that the plaintiff John Stirling has been seeking to hire people to burn down the defendants' house and cause physical harm to them." Martin and Beckman said "a man calling himself Ryan showed up at the defendants' residence wearing a black leather jacket with a Hells Angel patch and was looking for the plaintiff John Stirling because John apparently owed this guy Ryan money." Martin said in the court statement that he called Stirlings' house and warned Marlene that someone was looking for John "and that he sounded really p—ed off."

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in...

New Orleans homicide rate is 10 times the national average. But gangs and drugs don't explain it.

<div id="articleTabs_panel_article" class="mastertextCenter" style="padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; clear: both; height: 3437px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; margin: 0px;"><div class="padding-left-big" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 15px; margin: 0px;"><div id="article_story" class="col6wide colOverflowTruncated" style="float: left; width: 571px; position: relative; z-index: 10; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div id="article_story_body" class="article story" style="padding-top: 11px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="articlePage" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><h3 class="byline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.583em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 8px; font-weight: normal;"> </h3><a name="U5031389375964OC"></a>New Orleans<a name="U5031389375960XE"></a>At half-past midnight, as Halloween stretched into All Saints Day, a thick crowd of revelers was milling around the corner of Bourbon and St. Louis streets in New Orleans' famed French Quarter when a series of gun shots erupted. On security footage later released by police, the crowd scattered as suddenly as a school of bait fish at the approach of a barracuda.<a name="U503138937596OVC"></a>But for eight in the crowd it wasn't quick enough. Seven were wounded and one, 25-year-old Albert Glover, the target of the attacker, died on the scene.<a name="U503138937596KZG"></a>Just over an hour later and six blocks away, gunfire rang out again. This time Joshua Lewis, 19, and three other teenagers were cut down in a fusillade of 32 bullets fired by a single assailant following a brief altercation. Lewis later died at a local hospital. In all 16 people were shot in New Orleans on Halloween night, a butcher's bill that shook even the jaded citizens of America's deadliest city.<a name="U503138937596ZF"></a>The violence left New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas strapped to the hot seat. Appointed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu in May of 2010, Mr. Serpas—the former police chief of Nashville, Tenn.—came into office vowing to stem a tide of violent crime and reform what he called "one of the most dysfunctional police departments in American history." In Mr. Serpas's first 18 months more than 60 officers have been fired or have resigned under investigation, including members of the department's top brass. Overall, nearly 200 officers have left for a variety of reasons.<a name="U503138937596WVH"></a>Over the same period, the city's murder rate has risen. As of this week, 164 homicides have been committed in New Orleans in 2011, on pace to eclipse last year's total of 172. To put that number in perspective, New York City, with more than 20 times the population of New Orleans, had 536 murders last year. If New York had New Orleans's homicide rate, more than 4,000 people would have been murdered there last year, about 11 every day.<a name="U503138937596GJD"></a>In response to public outcry over the bloodshed, Mr. Serpas has offered a plethora of reform ideas. His public statements are peppered with references to his 65-point plan to remake the department, the adoption of crime-interdiction strategies such as Project Safe Neighborhoods, and enhanced community policing efforts to help repair the police department's tattered image.<div class="insetContent insetCol3wide embedType-image imageFormat-D" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 8px; font-size: 1em; zoom: 1; width: 264px; float: left; clear: left; text-decoration: none; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="insetTree" style="font-size: 1em; float: left; position: relative; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div id="articleThumbnail_1" class="insettipUnit insetZoomTarget" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; float: left; top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="insetZoomTargetBox" style="font-size: 1em; position: relative; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insettipBox" style="font-size: 1em; position: absolute; bottom: -5px; left: -5px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insettip" style="font-size: 1em; cursor: pointer; position: relative; left: 0px; background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a style="display: block; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; background-color: #eff4f8; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 8px; min-width: 70px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap; border: 1px solid #999999;">Enlarge Image</a></div></div><a style="display: block; cursor: pointer;"><img alt="ccmccollam" border="0" height="174" hspace="0" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AO536_ccmcco_D_20111111143714.jpg" style="float: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; border: 0px none initial;" vspace="0" width="262" /></a><div id="articleImage_1" class="insetFullBracket" style="font-size: 1em; visibility: hidden; position: absolute; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; z-index: 100; clear: both; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insetFullBox" style="font-size: 1em; box-shadow: #222222 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 3px solid #333333;"><div class="insetButton" style="font-size: 1em; position: absolute; top: auto; right: auto; left: -5px; bottom: -5px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a class="insetClose" style="display: block; cursor: pointer; background-image: none; height: auto; width: 68px; white-space: nowrap; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; left: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.25em; min-width: 70px; text-align: center; background-color: #eff4f8; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 8px; border: 1px solid #999999;"></a></div><img alt="ccmccollam" border="0" height="369" hspace="0" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AO536_ccmcco_G_20111111143714.jpg" style="float: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; cursor: pointer; border: 0px none initial;" vspace="0" width="553" /></div></div></div><cite style="font-style: normal; text-align: right; display: block; color: #666666; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Associated Press</cite>The French Quarter in New Orleans</div></div></div><a name="U5031389375965KG"></a>With his outlines, flow charts and ready recitation of reams of statistics, Mr. Serpas sounds every inch the embodiment of a modern police commander. Early in his tenure such proficiency was a welcome change from the questionable competence of his predecessors. But as the murders have persisted and department morale has sagged, his penchant for data-speak has worn thin on the citizenry.<a name="U503138937596GH"></a>To be fair, from the outset Mr. Serpas has been somewhat circumspect about his department's ability to reduce homicides. When pressed he is apt to say things like there is no "silver bullet" and he comes close at times to suggesting that the murder epidemic is beyond his power to stem—a point which, whatever its accuracy, does not instill confidence in a traumatized populace.<a name="U503138937596DAH"></a>At a city council hearing following the Halloween shootings, Mr. Serpas was pressed to identify the source of the murder problem. Were more police the solution? Not really, he responded. He's brought in nationally recognized researchers to advise the department on the root of the murder problem, but they didn't have any easy answers: "People who've studied homicide their whole life say 'Why is that number that way?'" he told the council.<a name="U5031389375969GG"></a>In March, the Justice Department (which is negotiating a consent decree regarding court supervision of the New Orleans Police Department) released an analysis of the city's crime problem that did contain some insights. Contrary to popular perception, it found that New Orleans' overall crime rate—including its rate of violent crime—is lower than that of other cities of comparable size. It's even lower than the crime rate in such family-friendly destinations as Orlando, Fla.<a name="U503138937596RRB"></a>But that news comes with a giant caveat: The Big Easy's homicide rate (52 homicides per 100,000 residents) is 10 times higher than the national average and almost five times that of other cities of its size.<a name="U503138937596NLF"></a>Why is the city such a murder outlier? In many jurisdictions, the Justice Department notes, gangs and drugs are principal drivers of the murder rate. Not so in New Orleans, which has comparatively little gang activity or organized violence related to the drug trade. Nor do the killings tend to happen in back alleys or vacant buildings as they often do in other places. More often they occur in residential neighborhoods in close proximity to witnesses. And more often the motivation is not random robbery, but revenge or argument.<a name="U503138937596JE"></a>In short, the killing in New Orleans is personal. "What appear to be different about homicides in New Orleans are the circumstances of the events," Justice Department investigators noted. "In reading the narratives of the offenses, one is struck by their ordinariness—arguments and disputes that escalate into homicide."<a name="U503138937596OUB"></a>This presents Mr. Serpas and his troops with a different sort of policing challenge. Law enforcement can disrupt gangs and target drug kingpins. But what does it do about a culture in which Glocks have become the preferred tool for settling petty disputes?<a name="U5031389375964FD"></a>The word Mr. Serpas and other officials frequently invoke to describe their approach is "holistic," a term more commonly associated with ashrams and yoga gurus than big city cops. But at bottom, the superintendent insists, the bloodshed in New Orleans isn't going to be solved just by putting more cops on the beat or cracking down on minor violators. After all, Mr. Serpas noted, the Halloween night shooting of eight people on Bourbon Street happened with policemen standing a few feet away from the gunman. "It did not make a difference in this young man's mind."<a name="U503138937596ZB"></a>Changing the mindset of young men who settle beefs with bullets is a tall order for any community. To make an enduring dent in the murder rate, the cops will need to get into the neighborhoods, at a granular level, using street intelligence, diversion programs and targeted sweeps on a sustained level. And even then, breaking the city's crippling culture of violence will take more than a reformed police force can provide.</div></div></div></div></div>

New Orleans homicide rate is 10 times the national average. But gangs and drugs don't explain it.

New Orleans At half-past midnight, as Halloween stretched into All Saints Day, a thick crowd of revelers was milling around the corner of Bo...

James Murdoch is preparing to concede that News Corporation should have acted faster over the phone hacking scandal

<div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="James Murdoch" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/6/1320605271701/James-Murdoch-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">. Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on James Murdoch" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/jamesmurdoch">James Murdoch</a> is preparing to concede in front of MPs that <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on News Corporation" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/news-corporation">News Corporation</a> should have taken further action earlier to investigate allegations that phone hacking was more widespread at the <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on News of the World" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsoftheworld">News of the World</a> than the actions of a single rogue reporter.The News Corporation boss is to appear before the culture media and sport select committee on Thursday ready to admit that more could have been done between 2007 and 2010 when first insiders and later rival<a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Newspapers" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newspapers">newspapers</a> said the illegal practice was widely deployed.Fighting to save his career, Murdoch is aware he has to appear informed about how News Corp dealt with the hacking allegations – and he has to be prepared to admit that mistakes were made, including by himself.However, with advisers such as News Corp's acting chief lawyer Janet Nova flying in, it is not clear how far the company's legal team will allow James Murdoch to make the limited concessions planned. Friends of Murdoch say he is "surrounded" by people giving him advice, making it hard to proceed.The News Corp boss also plans to sidestep any questions about the size of the severance payment made to former <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on News International" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsinternational">News International</a> chief executive Rebekah Brooks. <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="Murdoch gave loyal lieutenant Rebekah Brooks 1.7m pay-off, car and office" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/05/murdoch-phone-hacking-rebekah-brooks">It was reported</a> at the weekend that the figure received was £1.7m, although it is understood the payment was in fact larger than this.Acutely aware of what is becoming a sensitive issue at the company, Murdoch is expected to say any payments made to Brooks cannot be discussed due to contractual confidentiality. News Corporation has no legal obligation to disclose the size of the severance because Brooks was not a director of the US-listed company.Murdoch was in charge of the News of the World and the company's other British newspapers as part of his job as executive chairman at UK subsidiary News International. He took over from Les Hinton at the end of 2007, nearly a year after News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed for his involvement in hacking into phone messages left for Prince William and Prince Harry's staff.Before Murdoch arrived Hinton agreed to pay Goodman a severance of £240,000, after Goodman launched an unfair dismissal claim. News International has said it found no evidence at the time that hacking went on more widely.A year later, Murdoch agreed to pay football boss Gordon Taylor £425,000 plus £200,000 to settle a phone hacking lawsuit. Controversy surrounds the payout – with former News of the World editor Colin Myler and chief lawyer Tom Crone saying Murdoch was told of an email that made it clear hacking went beyond Goodman. Murdoch has told the committee he had no knowledge of the email.He has also said he was not shown a separate report prepared for Tom Crone by QC Michael Silverleaf – which said that there appeared to be a "culture of illegal information access" at the News of the World. It is understood that he will offer new additional information about what he knew at the time.</div>

James Murdoch is preparing to concede that News Corporation should have acted faster over the phone hacking scandal

. Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty James Murdoch is preparing to concede in front of MPs that News Corporation should have taken furthe...

Fears of global recession as Italy teeters on brink

On a day of unremitting gloom and yet more market turbulence, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, won a late-night confidence vote in parliament after making a speech in which he promised to start power-sharing talks to form a caretaker coalition government. Although he won the vote, 153-145, he is expected to step down, with a national unity government likely to take over. In a sign that the spread of the debt crisis to Italy could break up the single currency, the British Chancellor, George Osborne, admitted Treasury was undertaking crisis planning for a euro zone collapse. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, hinted at worse to come, saying this was only ''a stage of the global crisis''. There had been hopes that the G20 would agree to increase IMF resources by as much as $US250 billion to more than $US1 trillion, but disagreements about the wisdom of doing so, its structure, size and the contributors to the fund forced world leaders to pass on the issue to a meeting of G20 finance ministers in February. In financial markets an early rise in share prices was reversed after it became clear that divisions in the G20 would prevent a deal in Cannes

Fears of global recession as Italy teeters on brink

On a day of unremitting gloom and yet more market turbulence, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, won a late-night confidence vot...

UK Border Agency hit by fresh 'bribes for visas' scandal

Scotland Yard says a high-level employee, whose job was to vet thousands of visa applications from Africa, accepted bribes for allowing Ni...

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life.

<blockquote>Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life. An initiative I instigated at European level is to try and ensure the CAB model is replicated in every European country so we have a framework in place," he said. "Those engaged in gangland in Ireland who have used their assets to acquire properties abroad will discover there's no hiding place. We'll have sister organisations in every EU country who we can rely on to secure the assets of those who have gained from their criminality." And he pledged to continue to support the work of the Garda in continuing to tackle criminals who have ruined so many lives. COMPLACENT "They have no respect for human life and that lack of respect extends to the products they sell -- the drugs they bring to the street are destroying lives in our cities and towns," he continued. "They have done it over the decades, they continue to do it and they have no concern for the lives they're destroying. "It's my job to ensure that An Garda Siochana have the resources and the support from all political parties on all levels in the work they do." He was speaking at the launch of Paul Williams' new book Badfellas which was launched at the Harcourt Hotel last night. But he said he could "never be complacent" about the fight against organised criminality. "Unfortunately as one gang disappears and a group is sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, there always seems to be another group to fill their space," he added.</blockquote>

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life.

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life. An initiative I instigated at...

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria. Girls were forced into prostitution by threats, which included alleged practices of voodoo or abduction of family members. Ten people have been arrested in the Andalusian village of Roquetas de Mar in a raid in which seizures also included 20,000 euros in cash, a large number of passports of women from sub-Saharan origin and documentation relating to their criminal activity on the site of the Yegua Verde. The investigation began in late 2010 when police discovered the existence of a group of victims who had all been sexually exploited by the organization. The network, now dismantled, had been bringing women from Nigeria since 2005 and then the introducing them illegally into Spain before forcing them into prostitution. The organization, members of which were all Nigerian nationals, recruited women in various towns in Nigeria. The recruitment was carried out by relatives of the leaders of the organization. They also formed an association to attract women, called "The Nigerian Women’s Progressive Movement", through which they had even applied for grants from the Junta de Andalucía, although this was not granted. The women arrived in Spain by boat having spent many days walking through African deserts.  The victims were transported by land with false documents from Nigeria to Morocco, crossing through many other African countries such as Benin, Niger, Mali and Algeria. Once on the Moroccan coast, the organization made contact with citizens of Morocco, who in exchange for large sums of money, provided them with places on a boat which made the journey across to the peninsula. During this journey which could often last several months, the girls suffered numerous tragedies. After crossing the strait, and once in Spain, the network took many of the victims to Roquetas de Mar (Almería) where they were forced into prostitution with constant beatings and threats. Among the forms used by the criminals to coerce the women were included alleged practices of voodoo by which method they were made toto submit their will to the control of the organization. They were also threatened with the kidnap of their families in Spain and Nigeria. Debts of up to 50,000 euros The women were forced to work for more than two years until they eventually obtained freedom having paid of debt which could easily amount to 50,000 euros, although, depending on how the victims might behave they would often find the cost of their living expenses, clothing or other support dramatically increased. As a result of painstaking research, carried out by a National Police operation in Roquetas de Mar ten members of the network, six men and four women, have now been arrested and charged. In addition, agents found four homes and a brothel located in the Paraje de la Yegua Verde where they also found involved 20,000 euros in cash, numerous sub-Saharan women's passports, a large amount of documentation relating to the sexual exploitation of the women and various instruments of voodoo. The Police were assisted in their investigation by members of the Central UCRIF led by the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders at the Provincial Police Station UCRIF Almeria.

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria. Girls were forced...

'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.

<div class="clrd" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; min-height: 1px; zoom: 1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The 39-year-old, who is a father to three-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, has been in a relationship with Carlos for four years.<div class="art-img" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; float: right; width: 304px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Ricky Martin is apparently keen to marry Carlos Gonzalez (Getty Images)" height="185" src="http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/dn/2011/11/05/800787506_14039120-596x362-1320521838319_304x185_inline.jpg" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="304" /><span class="img-cap legend" style="padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 6px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; color: white; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Ricky Martin is apparently keen to marry Carlos Gonzalez (Getty Images)</div><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">He chose to apply for Spanish citizenship in order to take advantage of the country's decision to legalise same sex marriage in 2005, reports El Pais.<p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The government was seemingly pleased to welcome the Livin' La Vida Loca star and, unusually, did not ask him to renounce his Puerto Rican or US citizenship.<p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Ricky is yet to comment on the reports, but the newspaper claimed he intended to tie the knot in Spain rather than one of the US states that allows same sex marriage, as he wanted to pay tribute to prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's support for gay rights.</div><div class="clrd" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; min-height: 1px; zoom: 1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="art-lft" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; float: right; width: 480px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div id="intelliTXT" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The singer surprised many of his fans when he came out last year by releasing a statement that read: 'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.'</div></div></div><span style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">

'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.

The 39-year-old, who is a father to three-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, has been in a relationship with Carlos for four years. Ricky ...

Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality.

<span class="index_summary" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.2em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; padding: 0px;">The concessions were granted by the Spanish cabinet on Friday<div class="img-desc2" style="position: relative; width: 300px; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 10px;"><img align="left" alt="Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE" class="piclarge" src="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/spain/uploads/5/beniciodeltoroandrickymartin.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 2px solid #e5e9f9;" width="300" /><cite style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #111111; opacity: 0.55; bottom: 1px; position: absolute; left: 1px; width: 290px; padding: 5px; margin: 0px;">Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE<a style="color: #035a89; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE" rel="milkbox[gall1]" href="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/spain/uploads/5/beniciodeltoroandrickymartin.jpg"> <img alt="enlarge photo" border="0" src="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/images/mag.png" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a></cite></div>  Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality. The news of the concession was given by the Government on Friday to the artists who were both born in Puerto Rico.  Spokesman José Blanco made the announcement after the Friday cabinet meeting. He said that the two ‘recognised in different artistic facets’ wanted to share their Spanish nationality with all the Spanish people and therefore the Government congratulated them for it. There is widespread speculation that the decision will allow Ricky Martin to marry his boyfriend, the economist Carlos González, in Spain. Also granted nationality on Friday was Yisi Pérez, wife of the El País journalist, Mauricio Vicent, whose accreditation as a correspondent in Cuba was removed by the Cuban authorities.  Read more: <a style="color: #003399; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" href="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32580.shtml#ixzz1cmPtmd1C">http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32580.shtml#ixzz1cmPtmd1C</a>

Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality.

The concessions were granted by the Spanish cabinet on Friday Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE Ricky Martin and Beni...