Four police officers stabbed in north London

<p> </p><p>Four police officers were stabbed as they tried to detain a man after a disturbance in north London, Scotland Yard said on Saturday. Police said officers were called to an incident shortly before 9 a.m. on the main road in Kingsbury where they had tried to speak to a man before he ran into a butcher's shop and grabbed a knife. "Officers followed the man in an attempt to detain him and were subsequently assaulted," Chief Superintendent Dal Babu told reporters. "Four male police constables suffered stab injuries during the incident and have been taken by the London Ambulance Service to hospital." One was stabbed in the stomach, a second suffered head injuries and stab wound to his arm, the third was stabbed in the leg, and the last sustained stab wounds to a hand and also suffered a broken hand. Witnesses told media the suspect had been shouting at police beforehand and up to 10 officers had tried to calm him down. A 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is being quizzed at a police station in the area.</p>

Four police officers stabbed in north London

  Four police officers were stabbed as they tried to detain a man after a disturbance in north London, Scotland Yard said on Saturday. Poli...

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A NEW breed of super-rich is crawling out of the mahogany woodwork in Australia.

<p> </p><p>A NEW breed of super-rich is crawling out of the mahogany woodwork in Australia. With the recent mining boom and strengthening dollar, a new report has revealed that more than 2500 individuals are worth at least $US30 million. The report, the first conducted by Sydney-based Wealth-X - which describes itself as a wealth intelligence firm - showed that 2750 Australians earned at least $US30 million (30 of them are billionaires). Wealth-X Australia vice-president Adrian Jenkinson said the number of ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals reflected the strength of the resources boom. "A lot of the wealth is a result of the current economic environment ... (especially) around mining and mining-related services," he said. "It's directly linked to the commodities boom." Clive Palmer did not make the cut with the survey valuing him at a paltry $1.27 billion, far below the Sunday Mail Rich List estimate of $6 billion. But Queensland-born Chris Wallin, of QCoal, made 7th position with a net worth of $US3 billion. The top three were Gina Rinehart, with a net worth of $US10.1 billion, Ivan Glasenberg at $US9 billion and Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest $US4.9 billion. Mr Jenkinson said the majority of UHNW individuals had become wealthy for the first time. "Unlike Europe, where you have large pockets of old wealth . . . these are people who are becoming very wealthy for the first time," he said. He said the new generation would retain its newfound wealth through smart banking and investing, but they were still willing to indulge in luxury "playthings". "They're interested in luxury goods - art, watches, boats, planes and helicopters," he said, adding that traditional investments such as property and motor vehicles would always be popular. Mr Jenkinson said Wealth-X had only recently been introduced to Australia but the organisation planned a number of connected studies on the rising number of ultra-rich individuals. He said people would always be interested in the studies, with the public and media constantly fascinated by the ultra-wealthy lifestyle. "They're always interested in what the ultra-wealthy are doing and what they're buying," he said. But he said the survey also helped the wealthy individuals to better connect with each other. "It helps people in the overall investment community understand where the money is," he said.</p>

A NEW breed of super-rich is crawling out of the mahogany woodwork in Australia.

  A NEW breed of super-rich is crawling out of the mahogany woodwork in Australia. With the recent mining boom and strengthening dollar, a ...

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SIX people have been arrested for their involvement with a gang which stole jewellery from elderly people

<p> </p><p>SIX people have been arrested for their involvement with a gang which stole jewellery from elderly people. They are believed to be responsible for more than 120 robberies in 19 provinces throughout Spain, including Almeria, where some of the members were based. Around 450 pieces of jewellery have been recovered and will be exhibited at the Almeria Guardia Civil station for owners to identify. The way they operated was by one of them asking people over the age of 65 for directions to distract them while taking their belongings, or in other cases, they would offer to sell them cheap jewellery which they put on them while removing the valuable items they were wearing. They travelled in high-range vehicles all over Spain and chose small towns, isolated areas, and locations surrounding homes or centres for the elderly. On some occasions if the victim resisted, they would take the jewellery by force and had knocked down some of the victims.</p>

SIX people have been arrested for their involvement with a gang which stole jewellery from elderly people

  SIX people have been arrested for their involvement with a gang which stole jewellery from elderly people. They are believed to be respon...

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ONE of Europe’s most powerful hashish smugglers was arrested in Estepona

<p> </p><p>ONE of Europe’s most powerful hashish smugglers was arrested in Estepona, National Police said. The arrest of the 33-year-old man was part of an operation against drug traffickers based in Huelva in which more than 3,620 kilos of hashish were seized from a pneumatic boat at a shipyard in Isla Christina, Huelva. The two men on board were dressed as Guardia Civil officers so as not to arouse suspicion. They were arrested along with eight others. The criminal organization smuggled drugs to Spain via Malaga and Huelva from Morocco. Two days later, National Police the leader of the organization, who had a prison order against him from 2010 for drug-related crimes, was arrested in Estepona. He is considered by police to be one of Europe’s most powerful drug barons. In the operation, police seized 100 mobile phones, documents, three computers, four vehicles, a jet-ski, a motorbike, two satellite phones, six GPS devices and €27,000 in cash. The documents led to the arrest last month of a Guardia Civil officer who allegedly provided the gang with information on vehicles and their owners.</p>

ONE of Europe’s most powerful hashish smugglers was arrested in Estepona

  ONE of Europe’s most powerful hashish smugglers was arrested in Estepona, National Police said. The arrest of the 33-year-old man was par...

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The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project

<p>The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project, taking a historic step toward realizing one of the first large-scale plants of this kind in North Africa to exploit the region's vast solar energy resources. With this approval from the Bank's Board of Executive Directors, Morocco takes the lead with the first project in the low-carbon development plan under the ambitious Middle East and North Africa Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Scale-up Program. A $200 million loan will be provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the part of the Bank that lends to developing country governments, and another $97 million loan will come from the Clean Technology Fund. "The World Bank is proud to provide the financing needed to make this large-scale renewable energy investment possible," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. "Ouarzazate demonstrates Morocco's commitment to low-carbon growth and could demonstrate the enormous potential of solar power in the Middle East and North Africa. During a time of transformation in North Africa, this solar project could advance the potential of the technology, create many new jobs across the region, assist the European Union to meet its low-carbon energy targets, and deepen economic and energy integration in the Mediterranean. That's a multiple winner." The 500 megawatt (MW) Ouarzazate solar complex, as the first power site, will be among the largest CSP plants in the world and is an important step in Morocco's national plan to deploy 2000 MW of solar power generation capacity by 2020. The World Bank has supported Morocco's national Solar Power Plan since it was launched in 2009 and is now making this significant loan to co-finance the development and construction of the Ouarzazate Project Phase 1 parabolic trough plant through a Public Private Partnership between the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) and a private partner. Ouarzazate Phase 1 will involve the first 160 MW and will help Morocco avoid 240,000 tons of CO2 equivalent a year. The Ouarzazate project will also contribute to Morocco's objectives of energy security, job creation, and energy exports. As a regional frontrunner in clean energy, Morocco is rising to the challenge of its international commitments made in the last two United Nations' climate summits and under the "Union for the Mediterranean." "The Ouarzazate first phase is a key milestone for the success of the Moroccan solar program," said Mustapha Bakkoury, President of MASEN. "While answering both energy and environmental concerns, it provides a strong opportunity for green growth, green job creation, and increased regional market integration. It will pave the way for the positive implementation of the regional initiatives sharing the same vision (Mediterranean Solar Plan, Desertec Industry Initiative, Medgrid, World Bank Arab World Initiative). The support of international financial institutions, like the World Bank, through development financing but also climate change dedicated financing, is essential to help bring the overall scheme to economic viability," added Bakkoury. Relevant Links North Africa Aid and Assistance Morocco International Organisations Energy Environment The Ouarzazate loan is in line with the World Bank's commitment to scaling up funding that helps developing countries cope with climate change and embark on a low-emission development path. The World Bank Group's renewable energy portfolio increased from a total of $3.1 billion between fiscal years 2008-09 to $4.9 billion in 2010-11. Given the simultaneous expansion of the overall energy portfolio during the same period, the renewable energy proportion rose from 20 percent to 23 percent. About the project: The World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Agence Française de Développement, European Union Neighborhood Investment Facility, and the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau are working with MASEN and a competitively selected private partner to implement Ouarzazate I.</p>

The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project

The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project, taking...

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FIVE members of a British family have been arrested for stealing 156,700 litres of diesel oil from a Malaga pipeline.

<p> </p><p>FIVE members of a British family have been arrested for stealing 156,700 litres of diesel oil from a Malaga pipeline. The highly-organised team are alleged to have used their plumbing knowledge to puncture the pipe and set up hidden hoses leading to their rented finca in nearby Campanillas. In early October oil company CLH noticed a drop in pressure in the pipe supplying Malaga airport and filed a complaint with the Guardia Civil, who immediately launched operation ‘Rudolf 2011’ to catch the thieves. Police located the leak and discovered a hut hiding the extracting devices. They traced the pipes to the Campanillas house where they arrested a man who was controlling the device. They also discovered a 500-litre capacity van connected to the supply with a hose. Later they arrested four more members of the family of thieves, who it is thought planned to sell the fuel on illegally. The Guardia Civil have said this is the first case of its kind in Andalucia. Rudolf 2011 will now investigate whether the group is part of a larger criminal organisation. Worryingly, much of the oil had leaked onto the ground through holes in the clandestine system, which was made using a high-pressure tap and household plumbing equipment.</p>

FIVE members of a British family have been arrested for stealing 156,700 litres of diesel oil from a Malaga pipeline.

  FIVE members of a British family have been arrested for stealing 156,700 litres of diesel oil from a Malaga pipeline. The highly-organised...

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Gas gang, which stands for Guns and Shanks,Five convicted of killing gang rival aged 15

<p> </p><p>Five teenagers were convicted today of chasing a 15-year-old boy from his school gates and stabbing him to death in a gang-related attack. Zac Olumegbon was knifed in the heart and also had wounds to his chest, neck and buttocks. His hands and arms were scarred showing that he had tried to ward off the blows. He was cornered by the youths wearing hoodies in a back garden 100 yards from the Park Campus school in West Norwood. Another schoolboy was also stabbed but Zac was the prime target in the attack in July last year. At the Old Bailey four of the youths were found guilty of murder and a fifth convicted of manslaughter. They can be named for the first time today after Judge Giles Forrester QC lifted an anonymity order. The murderers are Helder Demorais, now 17, Kyle Kinghorn, who is 18 today, Ricardo Giddings, 17, and Jermael Moore, 17. Moore was a promising grime artist, known as J-kid or Younger Sneaky, who had posted videos on YouTube under a gang name. Some of the footage, which includes the sound of shots being fired, shows hooded and masked youths making gun symbols with their hands as he raps lyrics. Shaquille Haughton, 16, was the youth convicted of manslaughter. They will be sentenced next month. The court heard that Zac was a victim of a feud involving the Gas gang, which stands for Guns and Shanks (knives), based around Loughborough Road and the Angel Town estate in Brixton. Their rivals were the The five youths arrived at the school by car knowing their victim would be turning up for class. The teenager had spoken at a conference on youth violence the day before and vowed to help other teenagers, his mother said in a statement. He wanted to share his experiences with those who had endured "similar struggles to him", said Shakira Olumegbon. She said he had left for school "happy" on the day of his death after discussing the future with her. But Ms Olumegbon received a phone call from school to tell her he had been attacked. She said: "I remember praying he would be okay. The scene that confronted me was indescribable."</p>

Gas gang, which stands for Guns and Shanks,Five convicted of killing gang rival aged 15

  Five teenagers were convicted today of chasing a 15-year-old boy from his school gates and stabbing him to death in a gang-related attack....

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private jets waved through customs and immigration checks

<p><div class="article-image fl-left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: url(http://images.mirror.co.uk/collections/m4_art2/imagegallery-bg.jpg); clear: both; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="image-caption" style="font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Home Secretary Theresa May (Pic:PA)" border="0" height="437" src="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/nov2011/5/6/pics-image-6-651492639.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: left; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="610" /><p class="caption" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Home Secretary Theresa May (Pic:PA)</p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">THERESA May was fighting for her job last night after damning new documents fuelled the scandal of lax security at our borders.</p><div class="inline-ad span-16 last" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; width: 310px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="caption" style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 0.917em; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #727272; line-height: 1.636em; text-align: center; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Advertisement >></div><div class="ad0 mpu InSkinHide" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div id="tmgdfc-rk2" style="font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><ins style="display: inline-table; height: 250px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 300px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: initial none initial;"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="display: block; height: 250px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 300px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: initial none initial;"><iframe width="300" height="250" frameborder="0"></iframe></ins></ins><img alt="" height="1" src="http://ad.360yield.com/status?publisher_user_id=f76b9966-281a-42c6-a68e-a7c070233c30&publisher_dsp_id=7&publisher_call_type=redirect&publisher_redirecturl=http://ad.360yield.com/match" style="font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="1" /></div></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Leaked emails showed that thousands of private jet passengers were allowed into the UK without going through immigration or customs.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">They also revealed the Home Secretary relaxed checks at airports on at least 2,500 occasions this summer.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">And the Mirror can reveal passport applications are being secretly subjected to a controversial new “postcode lottery” trial scheme.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The High Risk Applications scheme is based on fraud statistics. Staff were given a list of postcodes to check against every new passport application or renewal. Applicants in areas deemed to be higher risk face several weeks additional delay in getting their passports.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">In London, the only areas which get virtually no checks are postcodes that begin with WC and EC – the most central and prosperous areas. Meanwhile applications from women aged 50 and over are often waved through.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A source said: “It’s a classic Tory policy, and it discriminates against those they deem to be living in ‘poor’ areas.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“The whole thing smacks of elitism and snobbery. A lot of people are very unhappy with the process.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">These revelations come on the day ousted Border Agency official Brodie Clark gives evidence to MPs on how he was pushed out by Mrs May.</p><div class="art-o art-align-left otm-59 article-image" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: url(http://images.mirror.co.uk/collections/m4_art2/imagegallery-bg.jpg); clear: both; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Brodie Clark (Pic: DM)" border="0" height="396" src="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/nov2011/1/4/brodie-clark-pic-dm-125560334.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: none !important; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Brodie Clark (Pic: DM)" width="610" /></div><p class="crosshead" style="margin-top: -15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Borders boss Brodie Clark</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Labour yesterday released the leaked emails showing UK Border Agency staff were told NOT to check passengers arriving in the UK by private jets – at the instruction of the Home Office.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">From March 2, 2011, anyone on a private charter did not have to show their passports and could avoid customs. Figures show there are between 80,000 to 90,000 private flights each year, carrying two to three passengers.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The emails show an unnamed official at Durham Tees Valley Airport warned the UK Border Agency that the policy was putting the UK’s security at risk.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">He said that staff “continue to feel uneasy about an instruction that is at odds with national policy and is creating an unnecessary gap in border security which, if exploited by the unscrupulous, could bring the Agency into disrepute”.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">He also warned there was no way of checking if the number of people arriving in the country was the same as they had been advised.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">His manager at the UK Border Agency’s Border Force said the “no checks policy” was part of a “new national strategy”.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">In a further blow to Mrs May, other leaked documents showed how Britain’s borders were abandoned on hundreds of occasions over summer.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The Home Secretary ordered a pilot scheme, which ran from July to October this year, under which Border Agency staff could relax checks on passengers. It meant people arriving from the European Economic Area did not have the biometric chip in their passport checked, while children under 18 could be waved through.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">These “level 2 checks” were used on at least 2,600 occasions. The relaxed regime was used to speed up queues at immigration control.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">According to an email from a Border Agency Border Force official, the checks were relaxed 100 times in the first week of the trial and more than 260 times in the sixth week.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">We revealed last week that officials warned Mrs May the easing of border checks could lead to a rise in child trafficking.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Mrs May admits to bringing in the pilot scheme without informing MPs. But she claims that Mr Clark went further by extending it to include passengers from outside Europe.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Mr Clark, who resigned last week, denies he acted without ministerial authority. His testimony to the Commons select committee could prove very damaging to Mrs May.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said last night: “This is startling new information about the scale of the borders fiasco.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“Ten days on there are even more questions than answers about what on earth was going on at our borders.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“Last week the Home Secretary told us no one had been waived through without checks. But these documents show passengers on private flights weren’t even seen.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"Last week the Home Office wouldn’t admit to having figures about how often checks were downgraded. Now we know those figures exist and that checks were downgraded 260 times in one week alone.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“The Home Secretary needs to show she is capable of sorting this fiasco out rather than making it worse.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Last night, the Home Office refused to comment on the trial.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The UKBA said: “It is not true that we don’t carry out ­passport and warnings checks on private flight passengers and will deploy officers to airfields where we have concerns.”</p><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><br /><br /><br /></span></p>

private jets waved through customs and immigration checks

Home Secretary Theresa May (Pic:PA) THERESA May was fighting for her job last night after damning new documents fuelled the scandal of lax s...

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THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”.

<h3 class="post-title" style="margin-top: -4px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: #000000; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; color: #1c3c6f; font: normal normal bold 200%/1.4em impact, 'Segoe UI', Calibri, 'Myriad Pro', Myriad, 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: #242424;"><a href="http://blogrehabilitation.blogspot.com/2011/11/mother-of-missing-madeleine-mccann-said.html" style="color: #000000; display: block; font-weight: normal; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial;"><br /></a></h3><p><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, serif; text-align: left; background-color: #242424;" /><span style="background-color: transparent;">03:44</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, serif; background-color: #242424;"> | </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://blogrehabilitation.blogspot.com/search/label/THE%20mother%20of%20missing%20Madeleine%20McCann%20said%20yesterday%20she%20still%20wished%20she%20could%20%E2%80%9Cstop%20time%E2%80%9D." rel="tag" style="color: #000000; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none;">THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”.</a></span></p><div class="post-body" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6em; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Georgia, serif; text-align: left; background-color: #242424;"><p> </p><div class="article-image fl-left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: url(http://images.mirror.co.uk/collections/m4_art2/imagegallery-bg.jpg); clear: both; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; line-height: 18px; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><div class="image-caption" style="font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><p><img alt="Kate McCann (pic: Jeremy Durkin)" border="0" height="396" src="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/may2011/8/8/image-1-for-editorial-pics-8-may-2011-gallery-341814213.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: left; padding: 0px; border: 0px solid #000000;" width="610" /></p><p class="caption" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Poignant: Kate McCann</p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;">Kate McCann, who marked the fourth anniversary of Maddy’s disappearance in May, said she and husband Gerry would not give up on finding their little girl.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;">In a poignant message on the Maddy search website, she wrote: “My grandparents always said the years pass more quickly the older you get. It certainly feels that way. I still dream of being able to stop time.</p><div class="inline-ad span-16 last" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; width: 310px; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;">“Our only alternative however is to continue doing as much as we can to the best of our ability to enhance the search for Madeleine. So that is what we’ll do.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;">She added: “It is a big relief that our Government finally agreed to a review. It will be lengthy and difficult but definitely a major step.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;">Maddy was nearly four when she vanished from her family’s holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.</p></div>

THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”.

03:44  |  THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”.   Poignant: Kate McCann   Kate McCan...

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Rio de Janeiro’s most wanted drugs baron who controlled the drug trade in South America’s biggest favela with fear and intimidation for 30 years has been arrested

<div id="storyEmbSlide" style="color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><div class="slideshow ssMain" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding-bottom: 3px;"><div class="nextPrevLayer" style="height: 334px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="ssImg" style="padding: 0px;"><img alt="Pictures showed Lopes, 35, looking anguished in handcuffs as he was led to an armoured vehicle by heavily-armed police" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02052/antonio_2052152c.jpg" style="display: block; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /><div class="artImageExtras" style="font-family: arial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="ingCaptionCredit" style="padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span class="caption" style="color: #404040; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.38em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Rio de Janeiro’s most wanted drugs baron who controlled the drug trade in South America’s biggest favela with fear and intimidation for 30 years has been arrested after a high risk undercover police operation. </span> <span class="credit" style="color: #999999; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.38em;">Photo: AP</span></div><div class="ingCaptionCredit" style="padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></div><div class="ingCaptionCredit" style="padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Antonio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, known as Nem, was captured after being discovered hiding in the boot of a car stopped at a roadblock, as police surrounded the sprawling Rocinha shanty-town in an attempt finally to wrest back control of the area.</span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="mainBodyArea" style="color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="secondPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Pictures showed Lopes, 35, looking anguished in handcuffs as he was led to an armoured vehicle by heavily-armed police following his arrest at around midnight on Wednesday.</p></div><div class="thirdPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Brazilian police said the man driving the car had claimed to be a Congolese diplomat in an attempt to avoid the vehicle being searched before the occupants offered a bribe of one million Brazilian reais (£357,000) for police to let them go.</p></div><div class="fourthPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Residents of Rocinha and wealthy neighbouring districts alike were gripped by fear amid concerns that the operation could lead to open street battles between police and criminal gangs armed with machine guns, assault rifles and grenades.</p></div><div class="fifthPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Twelve families were reportedly forced from their houses in the night by gang members who wanted to use them as hideouts, while children who attend schools in the area were being excused from lessons.</p></div></div>

Rio de Janeiro’s most wanted drugs baron who controlled the drug trade in South America’s biggest favela with fear and intimidation for 30 years has been arrested

Rio de Janeiro’s most wanted drugs baron who controlled the drug trade in South America’s biggest favela with fear and intimidation for 30 y...

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Wife of murdered Liverpool gangster Colin Smith appeals for information four years on

<p> </p><p>THE wife of a Liverpool gangster who was shot dead outside a gym four years ago today called for his killers to be brought to justice. Caroline Smith made a public appeal for information on the anniversary of the death of husband and dad-of-six Colin Smith. He was gunned down as he left Nel’s Gym, in Alderwood Road, Speke, on Tuesday November 13, 2007. Caroline, who was with her husband for 13 years and had four sons aged between seven and 12 with him, said: “It has been four years since Colin was murdered and I cannot rest until the people who carried out this cowardly attack on my husband are caught and put before the courts. “I am convinced there are people out there who know who killed Colin and I cannot understand how they can stand by and say nothing. They are as cowardly as the person who pulled the trigger. “Our worlds were turned upside down the night Colin was killed and I ask anyone who has any information which could lead to the arrest of those responsible to contact the police, so we as a family can find some closure.” On the night of his death, 40-year-old Mr Smith, a passionate Evertonian, took his eldest son to football training. Police believe he was “lured” to the gym, in Alderwood Avenue, for the attack. As he left the gym at about 8pm to return to his black Ford Galaxy car, he was shot twice at close-range in the stomach. It was believed to be a gangland hit. Officers today appealed to anyone who was in the area at the time who may have seen anything which could help inquiries to come forward.</p>

Wife of murdered Liverpool gangster Colin Smith appeals for information four years on

  THE wife of a Liverpool gangster who was shot dead outside a gym four years ago today called for his killers to be brought to justice. Ca...

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UK border checks are 'a bad joke', whistleblower claims

<p> </p><p>Under-pressure staff are said to be relying on false data and "massaging" official figures to mask the full extent of the immigration chaos at Britain's borders. The whistleblower, a middle manager who does not want to be identified, said UKBA staff lack the resources to track down asylum seekers. As a result, it is claimed, complicated immigration cases are being abandoned to save time, while detention centres employ a "one in, one out" policy that sees low-risk detainees released to allow more dangerous foreigners to be locked up. The whistleblower said British border checks had become "haphazard" and "a bad joke". "The whole place is a basket case," he told The Sunday Times (£). "Asylum seekers run rings around us and we are virtually powerless to do anything about it. It is depressing."</p>

UK border checks are 'a bad joke', whistleblower claims

  Under-pressure staff are said to be relying on false data and "massaging" official figures to mask the full extent of the immigr...

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn has demanded to be questioned by judges investigating an alleged prostitution ring, after media reports linked him to the case.

<p><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="Dominique Strauss-Kahn " height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/11/11/1321026858821/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn--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 Medina/AFP/Getty Images</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;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">He is keeping a low profile in Paris, has grown a white beard, and polls show he is the least popular politician in France.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #005689;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Dominique Strauss-Kahn</span></span>, forced to quit as head of the IMF and shelve aspirations to become the next French president, had hoped to find solace in France after criminal charges were dropped against him in New York over the alleged attempted rape of a hotel cleaner. But he is dominating the front pages again after his name was linked to a high-profile investigation into an alleged <span style="color: #005689;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">prostitution</span></span> ring at a luxury hotel in Lille.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The Hotel Carlton affair centres on allegations of pimping at top hotels in the northern French city, where women from France and massage parlours in Belgium were allegedly supplied for hotel customers and local officials. Eight people are under formal investigation, including a senior police officer, a local barrister and businessmen. Five have been imprisoned as the inquiry continues.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The investigation raises questions about the links between police and business figures and the underworld of sex work in France and Belgium. Prostitution involving people over the age of 18 is not illegal in France but pimping and living off the benefits of it is.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The affair took a new turn after Strauss-Kahn's name came up in statements made to investigators, according to a series of leaked transcripts published in the French media in recent weeks.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Businessmen were alleged to have paid women to travel to Paris and the US to take part in "soirées" with Strauss-Kahn at his own request, including when he was head of the IMF and tipped to become the next French president. Le Monde reported that one senior French police officer had travelled twice to Washington DC last year with businessmen, including the head of a Lille-based construction firm, to accompany a group of women who worked in massage parlours in Belgium to see Strauss-Kahn. The former head of the IMF was said to have received three visits from the group in Washington. The last visit ended on 13 May, the day before he was arrested over the attempted rape of a hotel maid in New York.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The senior Lille police officer and two businessmen deny involvement in prostitution.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The first evening organised for Strauss-Kahn was said to have taken place at a luxury Paris hotel in 2009. One sex worker, whose testimony was published by the weekly Le Point, described being accompanied by businessmen on the train from Lille to Paris to meet Strauss-Kahn, who was wearing a bathrobe, and others in a duplex hotel apartment with a pool. She said she was paid €900 (£770) by a businessman on the way back to Lille that night. Other alleged encounters took place in 2010.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">A Belgian sex worker in her 30s, known as Jade, told the French newspaper, Nord Eclair, she was taken to Washington for an encounter with Strauss-Kahn in a hotel in January 2010 and paid by businessmen on her return to France. She said Strauss-Kahn showed her around the IMF building and posed for a photograph with her in his office the next day.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">But the saga took another twist this week when French media, including Liberation and Le Point, published text messages allegedly sent by Strauss-Kahn to a businessman in the case, which are being investigated by police. In one message, Strauss-Kahn, then head of the IMF, asked if the man wanted to accompany him to a "magnificent" swingers club in Madrid, suggesting he bring "material" – thought to mean women. In another, he said he was taking a girl, "<em style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">une petite</em>", to clubs in Vienna and would the man like to come with a "<em style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">demoiselle</em>", or "Miss". A few days later he asked if the "suite with pool" had been booked. The text messages do not explicitly refer to prostitution.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Strauss-Kahn issued a statement through his lawyers on Friday demanding to be interviewed by investigative judges in the case as soon as possible, and denouncing a "media lynching". The statement said Strauss-Kahn was ready to "explain himself" not before the tribunal of public opinion but "in front of those running the judicial inquiry". Last month, his lawyers urged judges to interview him so he could answer what he deemed "hasty and malevolent" accusations.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Henri Leclerc, told the Guardian he had no comment to make on the case. He said his client had not yet been interviewed by investigators.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">If Strauss-Kahn had consenting, paid-for encounters with sex workers aged over 18, it would not be a crime in France. But the publication this week of text messages to one businessman mentioning meetings with other top Socialists, raised questions about whether the men could expect political access or favours in exchange for providing what one had termed "girlfriends, meaning prostitutes" for him.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">One businessman in the case said he paid for flights and costs. He is believed to have spent thousands of euros of company money on organising soirées for Strauss-Kahn, putting receipts marked with the initials DSK through his expense accounts. He told investigators Strauss-Kahn had not paid for anything.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The French media questioned Strauss-Kahn's behaviour during a period in which he was tipped to become the next president of France. "The net is tightening around DSK," said the daily Le Parisien on Friday.</p></div></p>

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has demanded to be questioned by judges investigating an alleged prostitution ring, after media reports linked him to the case.

 Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images He is keeping a low profile in Paris, has grown a white beard, and polls show he is the least po...

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

<p> </p><p>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.</p>

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...

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

<p> </p><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 ...

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

<p> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"He further remarked that if Canada didn't have such high taxes, (he and his co-accused) could get legitimate jobs."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Martin and Beckman said their efforts to get repayment on several loans to the Stirlings were met with threats and harassment.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Both Martin and Beckman declined to comment to the Sun because their case is before the courts. Marlene Stirling did not return calls.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The neighbours fired back in a detailed defence filed Sept. 14, denying all the allegations and making a counter-claim.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They said that, unlike Stirling, they have no criminal record and no connection to the notorious biker gang.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They said Stirling warned them that he would go to court and ruin them if they didn't back off.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"The defendants have videotape evidence of the plaintiff John Stirling threatening to kill more than one person at gunpoint," the documents said.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">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."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p> </p><p> </p>

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...

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ARRESTED 60-year-old, who is originally from Blackpool, but has been living in the Marbella area of Spain

<div class="image-caption" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; font-size: 0.9em; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Armed Naval and Gardai personnel with cocaine which was seized from a yacht off the west coast of Ireland" class="editorialSectionImg" src="http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/webimage/pa_6531058_1_3959357!image/2485820488.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_595/2485820488.jpg" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /><p style="margin-top: 3px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 3px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; clear: left; float: left; width: 595px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Armed Naval and Gardai personnel with cocaine which was seized from a yacht off the west coast of Ireland</p></div><div class="editorialSectionLeft" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 430px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A BLACKPOOL man has been arrested for allegedly being part of a £250m international cocaine smuggling racket.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Police, acting under orders from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) – dubbed Britain’s FBI –swooped in the town to capture John Alan Brooks.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The 60-year-old, who is originally from Blackpool, but has been living in the Marbella area of Spain, was found at an address in Marton.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">His arrest comes as part of a major investigation which was launched in 2008 when a 1.5 tonnes shipment of cocaine was seized off the coast of Ireland.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The luxury yacht Dances With Waves was carrying drugs with an estimated value of 300m euros or £250m.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Naval officers boarded her after she got into trouble 170 miles off the south west coast of Ireland.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Brooks is known to have had addresses previously in both the Commonedge Road area of Blackpool and in Lytham and St Annes.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">It is believed he was visiting family members in Blackpool when police moved in.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A spokesman for SOCA confirmed: “A man allegedly linked to a plot to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cocaine into the UK on board the boat Dances with Waves was arrested as part of a Serious Organised Crime Agency investigation.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“John Alan Brooks has been charged with conspiracy to import cocaine.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“He is originally from Blackpool, but has been living in the Benahavis area of Spain,</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“He appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Monday. He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court this coming Monday.”</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The drugs seizure was reportedly the largest in Irish history when it was made in November 2008.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Dances With Waves – a 60ft ocean-going yacht – had set sail from Trinidad and was heading for the UK when it got into difficulties in stormy weather.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">It was reported 70 bales of cocaine were on the verge of capsizing when Naval officers moved in.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Authorities were forced to board the ship in “horrendous weather conditions” to prevent evidence being lost in the seven-metre swells.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Experts said although the yacht could travel at high speeds, it was not designed for rough weather.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Under armed guard, the crippled yacht was sailed to Castletownbere, west Cork, where plastic-wrapped bales which filled the hull were unloaded and stacked on the quayside.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">n Philip Doo, 52, from Brixham, David Mufford, 44, of Torquay, and Christopher Wiggins, 42, with an address in Spain’s Costa del Sol were arrested on the yacht.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">They later pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font: normal normal normal 100%/1.25 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 1.091em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">All received 10-year sentences at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in May 2009</p></div>

ARRESTED 60-year-old, who is originally from Blackpool, but has been living in the Marbella area of Spain

Armed Naval and Gardai personnel with cocaine which was seized from a yacht off the west coast of Ireland   A BLACKPOOL man has been arreste...

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Attacks on Montreal lawyers lead to mistrial in cabbie murder

<p> </p><p>Violent intimidation tactics targeting Montreal lawyers appear to be working. A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a murdered cab driver after the defence counsel suddenly quit. Joseph La Leggia, said to be despondent over the savage beating last Friday of fellow lawyer Gilles Dore, withdrew "for medical and personal reasons," Judge Michael Stober announced in court. La Leggia had himself been badly beaten outside his home last December, the third lawyer so targeted in the past 12 months. The lawyer represented Nigel John, accused of second-degree murder in the Nov. 2009 death of taxi driver Mohammed Nehar-Belaid. The judge discharged the jury when La Leggia's co-counsel said they couldn't continue in La Leggia's absence. "This is an exceptional situation," said Crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo. "We never expected that to happen in the middle of the trial, but there were no other options." The legal community has been on edge because of the three unsolved attacks. Last Friday lawyer Gilles Dore was beaten into a coma with a baseball bat outside his Montreal home. He represents three bikers facing trial for murder and gangsterism. Last month, the home of business litigation lawyer Thomas Kiriazi was targeted by Molotov cocktails. On Tuesday, someone left a suspicious package at the home of Montreal civil lawyer Bogdan Catanu. But fears were eased when police said the package was not meant as a threat and was simply an empty suitcase that had been dropped off by a bystander.</p>

Attacks on Montreal lawyers lead to mistrial in cabbie murder

  Violent intimidation tactics targeting Montreal lawyers appear to be working. A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a murde...

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Son of Mom Boucher back in jail after Joliette charges

<p> </p><p>Francis Boucher, the son of notorious Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher, is back behind bars after he is alleged to have violated his statutory release on a 10-year prison sentence. The younger Boucher, known by the nickname Le Fils when he was part of a Hells Angels underling gang, was sentenced in 2002 after pleading guilty to charges filed from Operation Springtime 2001, a major police investigation into the biker gang's Nomad chapter in Montreal. Boucher, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking and participation in a criminal organization. The charges involved crimes committed during a bloody conflict between the Hells Angels and other organized crime groups in Quebec from 1994 to 2002. Boucher was able to leave a federal penitentiary in 2009, after he reached the twothirds mark of his sentence. The Gazette has learned that he was returned to a penitentiary in Laval this year and is scheduled to have a hearing before the Parole Board of Canada in December. The board is to decide whether to revoke his statutory release officially. His release is believed to have been suspended when Boucher was arrested and charged on Aug. 31 in Joliette with harassment of, and threatening to kill or cause bodily harm to, a woman. According to court records, he has been detained since his arrest by Repentigny police. His next court date in that case is scheduled for Nov. 16. Maurice (Mom) Boucher is serving three life sentences for orchestrating the murders of two prison guards and the attempted murder of another.</p>

Son of Mom Boucher back in jail after Joliette charges

  Francis Boucher, the son of notorious Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher, is back behind bars after he is alleged to have violated ...

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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;"><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Century Schoolbook', 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;"><em><br /></em></span></span></h3><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U5031389375964OC"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><em>New Orleans</em></p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U5031389375960XE"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596OVC"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596KZG"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596ZF"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596WVH"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596GJD"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><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;"><p style="font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; color: #333333; 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></p></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><p class="targetCaption" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.2em; color: #333333; padding: 0px;">The French Quarter in New Orleans</p></div></div></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U5031389375965KG"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596GH"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596DAH"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U5031389375969GG"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596RRB"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596NLF"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596JE"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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."</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596OUB"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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?</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U5031389375964FD"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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."</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 1em; line-height: 10px;"><a name="U503138937596ZB"></a></span></span><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">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.</p></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...

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