Rich Egyptians weigh emigration as Islamists surge

 For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of moving abroad. Sporting the latest fashions and mingling in upmarket country clubs, Egypt's rich fear a victory for the Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafis in the first phase of parliamentary elections presages change ahead. "I hope they don't impose the veil and ban women from driving like in Saudi Arabia," said coquettish fifty-something Naglaa Fahmi from her gym in the leafy neighbourhood of Zamalek. In a nearby luxury hotel, Nardine -- one of Egypt's eight million Coptic Christians who are alarmed by the prospect of a new Islamist-dominated parliament -- is pondering a move aroad. "My father...

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confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs

 A confrontation between rival bikie gangs saw 12 members ejected from the Danny Green fight in Perth. West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan confirmed on Thursday two gang members were arrested, with one charged with assaulting a public officer. They were led out of Challenge Stadium by members of the Gang Crime Squad during the cruiserweight bout between Green and Poland's Krzysztof Wlodarczyk on Wednesday night. It is believed the initial confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs. "It's not an unusual occurrence at these sorts of events - it is one reason why we have such a large security response," Mr O'Callaghan sa...

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Hells Angel pleads not guilty in NV casino killing

 California member of the Hells Angels has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for his role in a September brawl at Nevada casino that erupted into a shootout that claimed the life of his San Jose chapter president. Cesar Villagrana of Gilroy, Calif., is accused of shooting two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang the night that his longtime friend Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew was shot to death on the floor of John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer on Thursday tentatively assigned him the same Jan. 17 trial date she earlier set for the Vagos accused of killing Pettigrew - Ernesto Gonzalez of San Francisco. But Villagrana's lawyer, Richard Schonfeld of Las Vegas, doesn't expect a trial before the end of 20...

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former full-patch member of the Hells Angels who was the bike gang's treasurer and top man in the Toronto area is in a fight to avoid deportation to Scotland.

 Mark Alistair Stables, who has no criminal record and has been living here for more than 40 years, was found inadmissible to Canada by an Immigration and Refugee Board for being a member of a criminal organization, the Hells Angels.He appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Canada, and two weeks ago that court ruled Ottawa can make plans to deport Stables even though he doesn't have a criminal record.The nine-year "full patch" member was a former Sergeant at Arms and president of the Hells Angels Ontario Corp., in which he acted as a treasurer for 10 chapters for seven years."He was very involved in many aspects of the Hells Angels activities," Judge Yves de Montigny said in his decision. The "positions would have given him a good knowledge about the organization's purpose, mandate,...

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Royal Navy comes to the aid of Spanish trawler under pirate attack

 The British Royal Navy has arrested seven suspected pirates after helping a Spanish fishing vessel which was being attacked in the Indian Ocean. The British Ministry for Defence said the Royal Auxiliary Fleet Ship Fort Victoria, carrying Royal Marines, carried out the rescue on the 28th of November between Somalia and the Seychelles. The RFA Fort Victoria is a stores ship with is designed to carry ammunition, food and explosives to replenish naval vessels at sea. The vessel’s navy helicopter fired shots at two suspected pirate vessels which were then searched by the marines. They pirates were taken to the Seychelles where the suspects will stand tri...

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Málaga port's new attraction closed after seven hours

 The new Muelle Uno has been closed as building works are continuingThe Muelle Uno development - EFE After much fanfare about the opening of Málaga port to the city, and the opening of the Muelle Uno on Tuesday, the Málaga City Hall decided to order the closure of the new street just seven hours after it opened to the public. A public statement was sent out which said that, for reasons of safety, and because the building work was still continuing, they were ordering the street to be closed and called on the tender owner to close the shops. Just five hours earlier the Mayor of Málaga, Francisco de la Torre, and several councillors went to the reception prior to the inauguration of the new attraction in the Marina de la Farola. The owner of the concession was reported to be considering...

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Three tons of cannabis seized from Alicante drugs yacht

 The haul has a street value of more than 5 million €A previous haul of cannabis resin .. Three tons of cannabis have been seized and four suspects have been arrested in a joint operation by the Customs Authority and National Police which took place off the coast off Alicante on Tuesday morning. The operation was on the high seas some 70 miles off shore, where a Customs patrol boat intercepted a yacht which was visibly sailing low in the water and was later found to be carrying 100 bales of cannabis. Diario Información puts its street value at more than 5 million €. The three crew were arrested and a fourth man was taken into custody on shore. It’s understood that three are Spanish and the fourth is a foreign national who has lived in Spain for some years. The operation remains open...

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British man dies, strangled in a ponche

 A 32 year old Briton died on Mallorca around 1730 on Wednesday afternoon in a domestic accident in a property in Cami de Son Choix de Lloret, Lloret de Vistalegre. He was strangled when a poncho he was wearing got caught in a generator which he had just started up. 061 emergency services arrived at the scene and found the man seriously injured, but there was nothing they could do to save his li...

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British paedophile arrested in Almería

 National Police have today arrested a 66 year old British man who is wanted on four charges of rape and on twelve counts of sexually abusing his step-daughter when she was nine to 13 years old, and then later the granddaughter when aged six. The arrest took place in Los Gallardos, Almería, and the man has been named as L. Morris. The search for him started in July 2010 when the granddaughter finally told her both that she had suffered abuse on two occasions, and an arrest order was then issued with the suspect fleeing to Spain. Meanwhile a man wanted in Sweden has been arrested in his home in Málaga province. J.F. Ask, aged 56, is wanted on tax evasion charges and is accused of not paying tax between 2001 and 20...

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Hundreds of metres under one of Iceland's largest glaciers there are signs of an imminent volcanic eruption that could be one of the most powerful the country has seen in almost a century.

 Mighty Katla, with its 10km (6.2 mile) crater, has the potential to cause catastrophic flooding as it melts the frozen surface of its caldera and sends billions of gallons of water surging through Iceland's east coast and into the Atlantic Ocean."There has been a great deal of seismic activity," says Ford Cochran, the National Geographic's expert on Iceland."There have been more than 500 tremors in and around the caldera of Katla just in the last month, which suggests the motion of magma. And that certainly suggests an eruption may be imminent."Scientists in Iceland have been closely monitoring the area since 9 July, when there appears...

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Venezuela arrests Colombian drug kingpin

 The arrest of Maximiliano Bonilla-Orozco at his home in Venezuela's third largest city of Valencia on Sunday was announced, perhaps not coincidentally, during a visit by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. After a five-hour meeting at the presidential palace, Santos thanked Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez for the "welcome gift" of capturing "a very high-value" drug trafficker "who has caused terrible damage to our country." Venezuelan Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami said Bonilla-Orozco, 39, would be extradited to the United States, where he was charged with drug trafficking in a 2008 indictment in a New York court. The United States accuses Bonilla-Orozco of trafficking several tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States, and transporting more than $25 million in drug-related...

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Police probe Gold Coast shooting

Police say a man shot at Robina on Queensland's Gold Coast had links to an outlaw motorcycle gang. A man fired several shots outside a house at Robina about 10:00pm (AEST) on Saturday night, injuring a 25-year-old man. The man was shot in the shoulder and is in the Gold Coast Hospital. Police say his injuries are not life-threatening. Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson says police are still searching for the assailant. He says some of the bullets struck cars and houses. "[The offender] was targeting a particular person, and that person received some injuries from the those gun pellets," he said. "The information we have from witnesses is that there were a number of shots fired. "The victim has an association with an outlaw motorcycle group but he's not a member himself. "At...

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SCOTLAND'S failure to tackle the scandal of sex trafficking is exposed in a damning report today.

Baroness Helena Kennedy believes sex-trafficking victims are being let down by Scots law The report demands a crackdown on the organised crime gangs behind the vile trade and lifts the lid on how the victims of trafficking and exploitation have been let down.Leading human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy, who wrote the report for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, is critical of the Scottish government, the police and other law enforcement agencies.The report looks into all aspects of human trafficking but focuses explicitly on "commercial sexual exploitation".A source close to the inquiry said last night: "This is Scotland's...

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Marvel character, Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, has apparently infringed the copyright of the King of Spain

Marvel character, Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, has apparently infringed the copyright of the King of Spain in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, with the Zarzuela Palace claiming the X-Men villain's alternate costume is identical to the military uniform worn by King Juan Carlos.Representitives for the Zazuela Palace have contacted the Spanish distributor of the game in the region, Koch Media, to warn them of possible copyright infringement.This isn't the first time the Spanish Royal's has stamped their feet over the strong resemblences, as Marvel faced a similar dispute when Magneto first donned the uniform in The Pulse: House of M Special X-Men ...

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New ecstasy fears after two dead and one seriously ill following club weekend

 The clubbers, aged 20 and 21, died within hours of each other at the same hospital after attending separate dance music events at Alexandra Palace in north London over the weekend. Another 20-year-old man, also thought to have attended an event at the venue, is also being treated at the same hospital where he is said to be in a serious but stable condition. Last night Scotland Yard issued a special appeal to any young people who may have taken drugs at or before either of the events to seek immediate medical attention amid fears dealers may have been peddling an ultra-strong batch. It comes just a week after the charity Drugscope, which monitors trends in underground the drug trade, warned of an alarming rise in the popularity of ecstasy which dominated the 1990s rave scene but fell...

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Ecstasy alert after club deaths

 wo young clubbers suspected of taking ecstasy died after separate dance music events at London's Alexandra Palace, police said. The men, aged 20 and 21, were admitted to a north London hospital on Sunday and were pronounced dead within seven hours of each other. The 21-year-old is thought to have attended an all-night party called Bass Culture, which started on Friday and continued into Saturday. The 20-year-old is believed to have attended a night called Epic, starting on Saturday night and running into Sunday. A second 20-year-old man who was also believed to have attended the event on Saturday night was admitted to hospital as well and remains in a serious but stable condition. The Metropolitan Police said the cause of the deaths and injury was yet to be established but confirmed...

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Man shot in Brunswick

 A gunman is on the loose after a man was gunned down in a busy Brunswick street late this afternoon. The man was shot several times outside a gym and then stumbled across the Brunswick shopping centre car park where he collapsed beside a vehicle, police say. At least six shots rang out at the Barkly Square Shopping Centre late this afternoon and the 37-year-old man was hit in the upper bo...

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Bali jails Australian boy over cannabis possession

 An Australian boy has been jailed for two months for possessing cannabis on the Indonesian island of Bali. The case sparked an outcry in Australia, where the media argued the 14-year-old was too young to be jailed. But Indonesian analysts hit back, criticising Australia for holding Indonesian youngsters in detention in people-smuggling cases. The teenager, who has not been named, will serve the rest of his sentence at an immigration detention centre. The jail term includes the time already served, so the boy, from New South Wales, is expected to be freed in two weeks' time. He will be deported to Australia at the end of his sentence. The boy bought a small amount of cannabis from a dealer on the island - a crime punishable by up to two years in jail. But the court treated him...

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Police were in dark over foreign axe killer living in UK

 COPS did not know an East European axe murderer was living in the UK until he caused a killer car crash, a court heard yesterday. Intars Pless, 34, hacked through a friend's throat in his native Latvia, then moved to Britain after he got out of jail. But Lincoln Crown Court heard police can only check a foreign national's record if they break the law here. So Pless's horrific crime came to light only after he drove into moped rider Valentina Planciunene, 37, while over twice the limit. Stuart Lody, prosecuting, told the court: "On the night of Valentine's Day he decided it would be a perfectly good idea to drink a very large quantity of whisky. Surprised "He and a friend spent a considerable period of time drinking whisky and driving around. "During the driving he was possibly...

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U.K. tax falls on overseas property investors

 Overseas property owners based in the UK are about to be targeted by a new HM Revenue & Customs "affluent unit", which has been set up by the British government to address what it sees as tax avoidance by the rich.Photo 20minutos.es What next I wonder?? A new team of 200 taxation investigators and specialists has been established by HMRC to identify wealthy individuals who, amongst other things, own land and property abroad … such as a holiday home. OPP understands that the tax attack unit will concentrate on overseas property assets first, and then switch its attention to UK-based commodity traders (who have been accused of helping to drive up food prices,) before looking into the number of UK residents who hold offshore investment accounts. HMRC says that it will be using...

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British woman falls off hotel balcony when having sex

 There has been another case of balconing in Spain, this time in Adeje, Tenerife, and with the twist that the victim was having sex with her husband at the time she fell. The British tourist who fell several metres then got her ankle caught between the bars of an internal staircase was left hanging there, head down and totally naked until the emergency crews arrived. 49 year old A.M.A.M. had been having sex with her husband against the railings on one of the public areas of the hotel and in the frenzy, the railings gave way. The husband called the emergency services and the local and national police arrived with a fire crew. After their initial surprise, the managed to release the woman’s trapped right leg, and she was taken for observation to the Hospitén S...

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

Photograph: Ismail Zitouni/ReutersThe man who led the fighters that captured Saif al-Islam has said that the late dictator's son tried to escape arrest by pretending to be a camel herder."When we caught him, he said, 'My name is Abdul Salem, a camel keeper,'" said commander Ahmed Amur on Sunday. "It was crazy."His unit, from Zintan's Abu Bakar al-Sadiq brigade, had been patrolling the vast southern desert of Libya for more than a month when it was given a tip-off late last week that Saif al-Islam was close to the town of Obari."We knew it was a VIP target, we did not know who," said Amur, who worked as a professor of marine biology...

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UK press in dock over phone-hacking, lawyer says

 Britain's entire press stands in the dock at an inquiry into media standards, said a lawyer representing victims of press intrusion and phone-hacking by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. David Sherborne, who is representing 51 "core participants" at an inquiry set up as the hacking scandal engulfed News Corp's British arm, said Wednesday that "tawdry" tabloids were guilty of blackmail, bribery and vilification. He said his clients had endured lies, harassment and other "despicable" actions from the press and that phone-hacking might only be the tip of the iceberg. "It is the whole of the press, and in particular the tabloid section of it, which we say stands in the dock," he said. "It is time we had change and by that I mean real change." The Leveson inquiry, due to last a year,...

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UK economy forecast: Eurozone crisis dampens Bank’s growth estimate

 THE Bank of England warned today that the eurozone debt crisis is the “single biggest risk” to the UK recovery as it forecast a dramatically increased threat of a double-dip recession next year. Its quarterly inflation report revealed a greater chance of the economy contracting in the first three quarters of 2012, compared with its August forecasts, as eurozone and banking concerns and squeezed household budgets continue to weigh on growth. The Bank slashed its central - or most likely - growth estimate to no more than 1 per cent in both 2011 and 2012 from previous forecasts of around 1.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. The worsened prospects for the UK economy mean inflation is likely to fall far quicker than previously estimated, hitting the Government’s 2 per cent target...

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

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang, a court heard yesterday. Adam Vincent, 33, was shot with air rifle pellets and savagely punched and kicked in the weeks before his gruesome death.  The gang then scattered his body parts in waterways across Lincolnshire, Sheffield Crown Court was told. Discovery: Adam Vincent's head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June, picturedHis severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes on March 3 this year. After...

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

“IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me.”These are the chilling words of a 19-year-old Birmingham gang member who once roamed the streets of Lozells, selling drugs and fighting with rivals over territory.He has since left that dark and dangerous life behind him and is on course to become a PE teacher.Now he has helped make an award-winning film aimed at warning the next generation of the dangers of gangs.It is being shown in schools across Birmingham to children the same age he was when he became involved.Today, the teenager lifts the lid on the...

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Police wrest control of Rio's largest slum

 Crack police forces were Sunday in full control of Rio's largest favela after launching a dawn assault to eject narco-traffickers who had been ruling the area for 30 years. "I have the pleasure to inform you that Rocinha and Vidigal (a neighbouring favela) are under our control. There were no incidents and no shots were fired. We don't have any information on arrests or weapons seized," Alberto Pinheiro Neto, chief of the military police, told a news conference. "The communities have been our control since (1900 AEDT) and we are withdrawing our armour and, in 45 minutes, we will reopen the streets," which had been closed since 0400 GMT ahead of the operation. Advertisement: Story continues below Built on a steep hillside overlooking the city and located between two wealthy neighbourhoods,...

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