The following are actual stories provided by travel agents:
I had someone ask for an aisle seats so that his or her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window.
A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, "Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?"
I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts. "Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, "Capecod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa." Her response ... click.
A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don't lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state."
I got a call from a man who asked, "Is it possible to see England from Canada?" I said, "No." He said "But they look so close on the map."
Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had a 1-hour lay over in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time."
A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am. I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of llinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that!
A woman called and asked, "Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who's luggage belongs to who?" I said, "No, why do you ask?" She replied, "Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?" After putting her on hold for a minute while I "looked into it" (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.
I just got off the phone with a man who asked, "How do I know which plane to get on?" I asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, "I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them."
A woman called and said, "I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes." I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, "Yeah, whatever."
A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. "Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those." I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, "Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express."
A woman called to make reservations, "I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York" The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: "Are you sure that's the name of the town?" "Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere." The customer retorted, "Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!" The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?" "That's it! I knew it was a big animal!"
Showing posts with label Regional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Regional. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, October 30, 2009
32 Bizarre and Fascinating Facts About Halloween
Halloween is one of the most exciting and captivating holidays celebrated by both the young and old. Every year we break out the costumes and the spooky decorations in October. We carve our pumpkins, we buy the candy. But how much about this frighteningly fun holiday do we really know? There are many fun and interesting facts about Halloween that many people are not aware of.
Enjoy these terrifyingly true trivia facts and impress your friends with your extensive Halloween knowledge. We cover everything interesting about Halloween from history facts to Halloween around the world. Keep reading for 32 of the most bizarre Halloween facts we could find!
Halloween History
1. The history of Halloween began in ancient times with the Celts living on the British Isles. The Pagan calendar had October 31st as the last day of the year called Samhain. Celtic priests honored their god of death, known as Samhain, on the night of the 31st. The Celtic people believed that the spirits of the dead rose on that night and so they wore costumes to scare them away.
2. After the rise of Christianity the first day of November was known as All Saints Day which was originally called All Hallows Day. That made October 31st All Hallows Eve. That is how Halloween got its name.
3. It is believed that the Irish began the tradition of Trick or Treating. In preparation for All Hallow’s Eve, Irish townsfolk would visit neighbors and ask for contributions of food for a feast in the town.
4. After the Roman Empire gained control of the British Isles, Samhain also became a harvest festival honoring Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees. Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from this harvest festival.
5. Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance, and tell fortunes. By the second half of the nineteenth century there was in influx of immigrants (particularly the millions of Irish fleeing the potato famine in Ireland) who helped popularize Halloween and make it the holiday it is today.
6. In the United States the first citywide Halloween celebration was held in Anoka, Minnesota in 1921. It is believed that the reason the townspeople decided to put on this celebration was to divert its youngsters from committing Halloween pranks. Anoka is now known as “The Halloween Capital of the World”.
7. The earliest known use of the words “Trick or Treat” did not occur until 1934, when a Portland, Oregon newspaper ran an article about how Halloween pranks kept local police officers on their toes. There would be sporadic instances of the phrase “Trick or Treat” used in the media during the 1930s. But the practice we see today, children dressed in costume, going house to house saying “Trick or Treat” did not really come about until the mid 1940s.
The Scoop on Pumpkins
8. A pumpkin is a berry in the cucurbitaceae family, which also includes melons, squash, cucumbers, and gourds. All of these plants are native to the Americas.
9. Pumpkins are 90% water and generally weigh between 15 and 30lbs. They are rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene, and potassium and their seeds provide iron and protein. Pumpkins also come in white, blue, grey, and green. Great for carving unique jack o
lanterns!
10. Jack o lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts. When they immigrated here they found that turnips were not as plentiful so they used pumpkins instead. Today, 99% of America’s pumpkins are used for Jack-o-lanterns.
11. Pumpkins originated in Central America. When Europeans arrived in the New World, they found that this plentiful food was often used in cooking by Native Americans. They took pumpkin seeds back to Europe where they quickly became very popular.
12. Growing giant pumpkins is a big time hobby with big time rewards. Top prize money for the biggest giant pumpkin can be as much as $25,000 at fall festivals. A new Guinness world record was set October 1, 2005 for the biggest pumpkin. This giant pumpkin weighed 1,469 lbs. and was grown by Larry Checkon of North Cambria, PA. Checkon’s pumpkin outweighed the 2004 winner by about 23 lbs.
Halloween Around the World
13. In Mexico, Halloween is called “Dia De Los Muertos” which means “Day of the Dead” in English. It is a joyous and happy holiday, a time to remember friends and family who have died. Mexicans have a 3 day celebration beginning on October 31st and ending on All Soul’s Day.
14. In Austria, some people will leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on the table before going to bed on Halloween night. The reason for this is because it was once believed such items would welcome the dead souls back to earth on a night which for the Austrians was considered to be full of strong cosmic energies.
15. In Czechoslovakia, chairs are placed by the fireside on Halloween night. There is one chair for each living family member and one for each family member’s spirit.
16. The Halloween celebration in Hong Kong is known as “Yue Lan” which translates to Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. This is a time when it is believed that spirits roam the world for twenty-four hours. Some people burn pictures of fruit or money at this time, believing these images would reach the spirit world and bring comfort to the ghosts.
17. In Belgium, on Halloween night the custom is to light candles in memory of dead loved ones.
18. In Germany, the people put away their knives on Halloween night. The reason for this is because they do not want to risk harm to the returning spirits.
19. In China, the Halloween festival is known as Teng Chieh. Food and water are placed in front of photographs of family members who have departed while bonfires and lanterns are lit in order to light the paths of the spirits as they travel the earth on Halloween night.
Modern Day Halloween Facts
20. Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first. Americans spend an estimated 6.9 billion dollars during Halloween on candies, costumes, decorations and parties.
21. Halloween is not just for children, adults love Halloween too! It is estimated that one-third of all adults wear costumes and join in the festivities.
22. Of all the candy sold annually in America, 1/4 of it is sold during Halloween time. The number one candy choice for Halloween is Snickers. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, Tootsie Rolls, and Nestle Crunch are the next most popular candies. Chocolate Candy bars are by far the number one choice for most households to give away to their trick or treaters.
23. 65% of people in North America decorate their homes and offices for Halloween, second only to Christmas. Pumpkins are the most common Halloween decorations followed by skeletons, scarecrows, and bats.
24. In modern times, Halloween is most popular in the United States and Canada. Both countries celebrate the same way with costumes, parties, and trick or treating. The popularity of this holiday in both countries has increased year after year.
Miscellaneous Trivia
25. Samhainophobia is an intense, persistent, and abnormal fear of Halloween. This time of year may also stir up other phobias such as the fear of: cats (ailurophobia), witches (wiccaphobia), ghosts (phasmophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), the dark (nyctophobia), and cemetaries (coimetrophobia).
26. The colors black and orange are widely associated with Halloween. Orange represents the Fall harvest and black represents death.
27. Black cats were once believed to work for witches by protecting their powers. It is often thought that it is bad luck if a black cat crosses your path.
28. The next full moon on Halloween night will be on October 31st, 2020. The last one was in 2001. Before that, there was a full moon on Halloween night in 1955.
29. The Salem Witch trials of 1692 are known for burning so-called witches at the stake. Actually, not one witch died by burning; most were put to death by hanging and several died in prison of natural causes.
30. Harry Houdini died on Halloween night in 1926 after collapsing onstage at a show in Detroit, Michigan.
31. “Trick or Treat for UNICEF” started in 1950 in Philadelphia, PA. A group of young trick-or-treaters, accompanied by their pastor, collected $17 for children in need. The money was sent to UNICEF and an American tradition was born.
32. Worldwide, bats are vital natural enemies of night-flying insects. Vampire bats really do exist, but they’re not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Faster troop withdrawal may save $1 trillion
A speedier withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan would shave $1.1 trillion off the budget in the next decade, a new congressional budget projection says.
That would be a sizeable cut in defense-related spending from 2010 through 2019, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates at $7.4 trillion.
The budget forecast, issued as Congress is about to return from a summer break and confront questions about budget priorities and deficit spending, says defense costs are uncertain because budget analysts cannot predict the number of deployed troops and the pace of operations.
The $7.4 trillion price tag is based on the number of deployed troops remaining at about 210,000, but looks at two scenarios for reductions:
• A sharp reduction in troops over three years, resulting in $1.1 trillion in savings. Under this projection, the number of deployed troops falls to 160,000 in 2010; to 100,000 in 2011; to 35,000 in 2012 and to 30,000 from 2013 to 2019.
• A more gradual decline that shaves $700 billion off the $7.4 trillion defense spending estimate. It assumes 210,000 deployed troops in 2010; 190,000 in 2011; 150,000 in 2012; 100,000 in 2013 and 75,000 in 2014 and beyond.
The report does not suggest what the money saved from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan should be used for, but the Defense Department surely would make a bid to keep at least some of it to pay for unfunded weapons modernization programs.
The budget and economic update notes that Congress has allocated $944 billion so far for Iraq and Afghanistan operations — $849 billion in direct spending by the Defense Department, $51 billion for diplomatic efforts, $42 billion to aid Iraq and Afghanistan police and military forces and $2 billion to cover costs such as increases in veterans benefits and services.
That would be a sizeable cut in defense-related spending from 2010 through 2019, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates at $7.4 trillion.
The budget forecast, issued as Congress is about to return from a summer break and confront questions about budget priorities and deficit spending, says defense costs are uncertain because budget analysts cannot predict the number of deployed troops and the pace of operations.
The $7.4 trillion price tag is based on the number of deployed troops remaining at about 210,000, but looks at two scenarios for reductions:
• A sharp reduction in troops over three years, resulting in $1.1 trillion in savings. Under this projection, the number of deployed troops falls to 160,000 in 2010; to 100,000 in 2011; to 35,000 in 2012 and to 30,000 from 2013 to 2019.
• A more gradual decline that shaves $700 billion off the $7.4 trillion defense spending estimate. It assumes 210,000 deployed troops in 2010; 190,000 in 2011; 150,000 in 2012; 100,000 in 2013 and 75,000 in 2014 and beyond.
The report does not suggest what the money saved from the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan should be used for, but the Defense Department surely would make a bid to keep at least some of it to pay for unfunded weapons modernization programs.
The budget and economic update notes that Congress has allocated $944 billion so far for Iraq and Afghanistan operations — $849 billion in direct spending by the Defense Department, $51 billion for diplomatic efforts, $42 billion to aid Iraq and Afghanistan police and military forces and $2 billion to cover costs such as increases in veterans benefits and services.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Source of Taliban Funding
Afghan Poppy is a Deadly Source of Taliban Funding, US and NATO Attempting to Stop Drug Trafficking
Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium poppies, about 93% is grown in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. Helmand is mostly a lawless region; it has no form of government and has been over-taken by the Taliban insurgents, who headquarter there. In Afghanistan, the poppies are not considered flowers; rather they are called crops, crops used to make the narcotic drug heroin.
It is no coincidence that the Taliban controls much of southern Afghanistan, where the poppy crop is farmed. These poppy farms keep the Taliban in control by providing it with crop sales. The sales of
the poppy crop produce enormous profits which are used by the Taliban insurgents to fight US troops by its purchase of expensive and sophisticated weaponry. The money is also used by the Taliban to recruit new jihadists or holy warriors. The Taliban is said to have control over the poppy farms by substantially taxing the farmers and taking control of the distribution of the final product.
For years, the US has attempted to eradicate the poppy farms in Afghanistan. However, this plan has backfired for the US because attempting to stop harvest and production by the Afghan farmers was only causing the farmers to join the Taliban. Why do farmers opt to join the Taliban instead of discontinuing production of the crop? While some farmers say that Taliban militants force them to grow poppies under threat of death, other farmers say that they are proud to be supporting “jihad” against Americans.
The US, concerned about the rising risk of insurgencies and weaponry in Afghanistan, are also concerned about the trafficking of this highly addictive substance. Large quantities of heroin have been spread all around Europe from Afghanistan after at stop in Iran. The drug has become widely available due to the Taliban farming and distribution. The drugs Heroin and Opium, both from the poppy, are considered to be dangerous narcotics, according to the World Health Organization which is also studying ways to prevent health risks from these drugs.
The US has been trying a dangerous new tact, the U.S. and NATO forces are attempting to stop the trafficking and warehousing of the drug before it leaves southern Afghanistan. The mission is top secret, the details are not being revealed by the Pentagon. But this might be the only way to stop the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and return it back to its people, according to a US Envoy in Afghanistan.
The poppy is widely used to make the drug heroin. However, the poppy has medical uses as well. It is used to make pain medicines such as morphine and codeine.
Poppies are a decorative flower that comes in many different colors. The seeds of the poppy are used for all sorts of culinary recipes. However, the drug is harvested from the milky latex sap of the mature seed bulbous capsule. When the pod is cut, the sap drips from the fresh cuts. Once the sap oxidizes in the air it turns black, the net result is the resin to make heroin.
Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium poppies, about 93% is grown in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. Helmand is mostly a lawless region; it has no form of government and has been over-taken by the Taliban insurgents, who headquarter there. In Afghanistan, the poppies are not considered flowers; rather they are called crops, crops used to make the narcotic drug heroin.
It is no coincidence that the Taliban controls much of southern Afghanistan, where the poppy crop is farmed. These poppy farms keep the Taliban in control by providing it with crop sales. The sales of
the poppy crop produce enormous profits which are used by the Taliban insurgents to fight US troops by its purchase of expensive and sophisticated weaponry. The money is also used by the Taliban to recruit new jihadists or holy warriors. The Taliban is said to have control over the poppy farms by substantially taxing the farmers and taking control of the distribution of the final product.
For years, the US has attempted to eradicate the poppy farms in Afghanistan. However, this plan has backfired for the US because attempting to stop harvest and production by the Afghan farmers was only causing the farmers to join the Taliban. Why do farmers opt to join the Taliban instead of discontinuing production of the crop? While some farmers say that Taliban militants force them to grow poppies under threat of death, other farmers say that they are proud to be supporting “jihad” against Americans.
The US, concerned about the rising risk of insurgencies and weaponry in Afghanistan, are also concerned about the trafficking of this highly addictive substance. Large quantities of heroin have been spread all around Europe from Afghanistan after at stop in Iran. The drug has become widely available due to the Taliban farming and distribution. The drugs Heroin and Opium, both from the poppy, are considered to be dangerous narcotics, according to the World Health Organization which is also studying ways to prevent health risks from these drugs.
The US has been trying a dangerous new tact, the U.S. and NATO forces are attempting to stop the trafficking and warehousing of the drug before it leaves southern Afghanistan. The mission is top secret, the details are not being revealed by the Pentagon. But this might be the only way to stop the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and return it back to its people, according to a US Envoy in Afghanistan.
The poppy is widely used to make the drug heroin. However, the poppy has medical uses as well. It is used to make pain medicines such as morphine and codeine.
Poppies are a decorative flower that comes in many different colors. The seeds of the poppy are used for all sorts of culinary recipes. However, the drug is harvested from the milky latex sap of the mature seed bulbous capsule. When the pod is cut, the sap drips from the fresh cuts. Once the sap oxidizes in the air it turns black, the net result is the resin to make heroin.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Italy's Mafia thrives in global financial meltdown
While businesses around the world are hunkering down for survival, the Italian mob is living a golden moment.
Italy's various organized crime syndicates — often lumped together colloquially as Mafia Inc. — are gobbling up gas stations, muscling in on supermarket franchises, making loans to cash-starved businesses, taking over trattorias and acquiring buildings in swank neighborhoods in Rome and Milan, investigators say.
These mobsters have lots of what is in short supply for many businesses these days — liquidity — as well as centuries-honed expertise in preying on the vulnerable, whose ranks are swelling in the current financial crisis.
It all means the mob is free to sink cash into two areas that lie at the heart of the global meltdown: real estate and credit markets.
The crime syndicates are flush with billions of euros from extortion rackets, drug trafficking and booming sales in fake designer clothing made in China expressly for the Italian mob — an increasingly lucrative trade as hard-hit consumers search for bargains, prosecutors and police said in recent interviews.
For the mob bosses, the global economic meltdown "is only an advantage," said anti-mafia prosecutor Franco Roberti, in his office in Naples, the chaotic port city that is home to the Camorra, one of the Italy's major crime syndicates.
Italy has scored some spectacular successes in its decades-long fight against the Mafia, capturing top bosses, persuading turncoats to testify, and encouraging ordinary citizens to resist shakedowns.
But the mob keeps growing — and its drive in recent years to grab chunks of legitimate business is paying off big time in the financial crisis.
In Rome, in the high-rent neighborhoods around the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain, mobsters are snapping up real estate, anti-Mafia prosecutor Giancarlo Capaldo said in a courthouse interview.
In probes of what Capaldo described as "indications" that mobsters have taken over hotels, restaurants and cafes in Rome, police seized assets of some of these businesses, although the establishments remain open.
"These places are well run because they want to make money," Capaldo said. He declined to identify the establishments because the probe is still being conducted, saying only that "you'll find some of them in tourist guide books."
Capaldo's office also confiscated auto dealerships in Rome from suspected Camorristi or their allies.
"The Camorra makes the money here in the south, but it invests it in legal activities up north," customs and tax police Gen. Giovanni Mainolfi said in his Naples office.
If the mobsters built posh places in the largely undeveloped south "they would stand out, but do it in Milan ... and they blend right in," Mainolfi said.
In an operation code-named "Easy Money," police this year seized a hotel in the exclusive Tuscan sea resort of Punta Ala, as well as a supermarket, two Ferraris, a gas station in the wealthy northern Reggio Emilia region and other properties, altogether totaling euro30 million (about $40 million). All were believed to be owned by the Camorra, flush with drug profits.
The revenues raked in by Italy's crime syndicates would be more than respectable for many a stock market-listed company these days — although, of course, the mobsters hardly issue annual reports.
The Rome-based Eurispes think tank has estimated that in 2008, "Mafia Inc." earned euro130 billion (then $167 billion), or about 8 percent of Italy's GDP, from its criminal activities, nearly half of that from drug trafficking.
Eurispes, which analyzes social, economic and criminal trends, said loansharking brought in an estimated euro12.6 billion ($17 billion) of that income. It calculated that some 180,000 merchants and other businessmen got their loans, directly or indirectly, through organized crime in Italy.
With much of the world financial crunch making its impact in Italy in the first months of this year, it's too early to tell how much more profit organized crime might make.
Government probes have found that as they launder illicit revenues, mob bosses are increasingly moving their money out of the underdeveloped south where the syndicates are rooted and into affluent central and northern Italy.
In March, Italy's intelligence services warned in a report that rising unemployment and the credit crunch could help crime syndicates tighten their tentacles around vast swaths of the nation's business sector, including supermarkets, real estate and tourism.
A main engine of the mob's recent strength — the age-old practice of loan-sharking — is thriving as banks hoard cash, allowing the Mafia to elbow in on legitimate businesses.
The mobsters are poised to "acquire control of businesses in difficulty, especially through their consolidated practice of loan-sharking," as well as to "snap up assets put on the market by enterprises experiencing liquidity crises," the intelligence report said.
The dire predictions seem borne out by businessmen's complaints.
SOS Impresa, an Italian business lobby dedicated to fighting organized crime, estimated in a report late last year that in the Camorra has "multiplied by 10, 100, perhaps 1,000 times, its penetration of the economic and social fabric, stepping up its business presence in our country, in Europe and the world."
In Rome, Camorra men or those in their employ have been spotted hanging out at pawnbrokers' auctions to learn which businesses might be in financial straits, said Carabinieri Lt. Col. Roberto Casagrande. Those businesses would then be approached — and offered a loan they could scarcely refuse.
The Camorra offers shaky businesses attractive interest rates, calculating that the businesses will end up part of its economic empire if the owner falls behind on payments, Roberti said. The mobsters sometimes leave the original owner as a figurehead to thwart suspicion, police said.
The 'ndrangheta crime syndicate — based in Calabria, the "toe" of Italy's boot — is also brazenly taking over struggling businesses and snapping up prime northern Italian property at a bargain during the real estate slowdown, investigators say.
Genoa Mayor Marta Vincinzi told a rally against organized crime in Naples late this spring that Mafia bosses, particularly from the 'ndrangheta, were "gobbling up entire neighborhoods" and pressuring merchants to pay "protection money" in the gritty, northwestern port city.
Investigators believe that flourishing ties with Colombian cocaine cartels have helped the 'ndrangheta to surpass Sicily's Cosa Nostra in international drug dealing.
Cosa Nostra has taken blows in recent years. Longtime fugitive bosses have been captured and a rebellion by island businessmen against paying "protection money" is starting to take root. But the anti-extortion revolt is not widespread enough to significantly reduce the Sicilian Mafia's coffers, the intelligence services' report noted.
Particularly tempting to the mob is Italy's recent explosion of supermarkets, a boon to consumers long frustrated by the often limited hours and selection offered by mom-and-pop stores.
In Sicily last year, authorities seized euro$700 million (then worth $900 million) in assets, including supermarket outlets, from a businessman who was known as the island's "king of supermarkets" and was suspected of letting Cosa Nostra use his businesses to launder money.
Prosecutors in Palermo said the owner's name turned up on handwritten notes scribbled by Bernardo Provenzano, the longtime fugitive "boss of all bosses" who was captured in 2006.
The intelligence services report predicts that mobsters would step up production of counterfeit name-brand goods given consumers' apparently increased appetite for fake designer items. The Eurispes think tank estimated this growing business earned the mob euro6.3 billion ($8.5 billion) last year.
Naples anti-organized crime prosecutor Roberti said the Camorra has pumped up what once was a kind of cottage industry, with crime clan bosses knitting closer ties with mobsters in China, where fake designer clothing, shoes and accessories are now churned out in factories for the mob.
Trafficking in fake designer goods — which investigators suspect the Camorra is also peddling in the United States, France, Britain and Germany — is now becoming more profitable for the Neapolitan syndicate that dealing in cocaine and hashish, said Mainolfi, the customs and tax police general.
He has calculated that for every euro it costs to manufacture the counterfeit designer goods, the Camorra earns 10 euros, while for every euro spent to run drug trafficking, it earns six or seven euros.
The fakes, sold in street stalls and clothing shops in the Naples and Rome areas, arrive by the tons in Naples' sprawling, chaotic port, where custom officials manage to check only some 5 percent of the shipping containers being unloaded, Mainolfi said.
Italy's various organized crime syndicates — often lumped together colloquially as Mafia Inc. — are gobbling up gas stations, muscling in on supermarket franchises, making loans to cash-starved businesses, taking over trattorias and acquiring buildings in swank neighborhoods in Rome and Milan, investigators say.
These mobsters have lots of what is in short supply for many businesses these days — liquidity — as well as centuries-honed expertise in preying on the vulnerable, whose ranks are swelling in the current financial crisis.
It all means the mob is free to sink cash into two areas that lie at the heart of the global meltdown: real estate and credit markets.
The crime syndicates are flush with billions of euros from extortion rackets, drug trafficking and booming sales in fake designer clothing made in China expressly for the Italian mob — an increasingly lucrative trade as hard-hit consumers search for bargains, prosecutors and police said in recent interviews.
For the mob bosses, the global economic meltdown "is only an advantage," said anti-mafia prosecutor Franco Roberti, in his office in Naples, the chaotic port city that is home to the Camorra, one of the Italy's major crime syndicates.
Italy has scored some spectacular successes in its decades-long fight against the Mafia, capturing top bosses, persuading turncoats to testify, and encouraging ordinary citizens to resist shakedowns.
But the mob keeps growing — and its drive in recent years to grab chunks of legitimate business is paying off big time in the financial crisis.
In Rome, in the high-rent neighborhoods around the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain, mobsters are snapping up real estate, anti-Mafia prosecutor Giancarlo Capaldo said in a courthouse interview.
In probes of what Capaldo described as "indications" that mobsters have taken over hotels, restaurants and cafes in Rome, police seized assets of some of these businesses, although the establishments remain open.
"These places are well run because they want to make money," Capaldo said. He declined to identify the establishments because the probe is still being conducted, saying only that "you'll find some of them in tourist guide books."
Capaldo's office also confiscated auto dealerships in Rome from suspected Camorristi or their allies.
"The Camorra makes the money here in the south, but it invests it in legal activities up north," customs and tax police Gen. Giovanni Mainolfi said in his Naples office.
If the mobsters built posh places in the largely undeveloped south "they would stand out, but do it in Milan ... and they blend right in," Mainolfi said.
In an operation code-named "Easy Money," police this year seized a hotel in the exclusive Tuscan sea resort of Punta Ala, as well as a supermarket, two Ferraris, a gas station in the wealthy northern Reggio Emilia region and other properties, altogether totaling euro30 million (about $40 million). All were believed to be owned by the Camorra, flush with drug profits.
The revenues raked in by Italy's crime syndicates would be more than respectable for many a stock market-listed company these days — although, of course, the mobsters hardly issue annual reports.
The Rome-based Eurispes think tank has estimated that in 2008, "Mafia Inc." earned euro130 billion (then $167 billion), or about 8 percent of Italy's GDP, from its criminal activities, nearly half of that from drug trafficking.
Eurispes, which analyzes social, economic and criminal trends, said loansharking brought in an estimated euro12.6 billion ($17 billion) of that income. It calculated that some 180,000 merchants and other businessmen got their loans, directly or indirectly, through organized crime in Italy.
With much of the world financial crunch making its impact in Italy in the first months of this year, it's too early to tell how much more profit organized crime might make.
Government probes have found that as they launder illicit revenues, mob bosses are increasingly moving their money out of the underdeveloped south where the syndicates are rooted and into affluent central and northern Italy.
In March, Italy's intelligence services warned in a report that rising unemployment and the credit crunch could help crime syndicates tighten their tentacles around vast swaths of the nation's business sector, including supermarkets, real estate and tourism.
A main engine of the mob's recent strength — the age-old practice of loan-sharking — is thriving as banks hoard cash, allowing the Mafia to elbow in on legitimate businesses.
The mobsters are poised to "acquire control of businesses in difficulty, especially through their consolidated practice of loan-sharking," as well as to "snap up assets put on the market by enterprises experiencing liquidity crises," the intelligence report said.
The dire predictions seem borne out by businessmen's complaints.
SOS Impresa, an Italian business lobby dedicated to fighting organized crime, estimated in a report late last year that in the Camorra has "multiplied by 10, 100, perhaps 1,000 times, its penetration of the economic and social fabric, stepping up its business presence in our country, in Europe and the world."
In Rome, Camorra men or those in their employ have been spotted hanging out at pawnbrokers' auctions to learn which businesses might be in financial straits, said Carabinieri Lt. Col. Roberto Casagrande. Those businesses would then be approached — and offered a loan they could scarcely refuse.
The Camorra offers shaky businesses attractive interest rates, calculating that the businesses will end up part of its economic empire if the owner falls behind on payments, Roberti said. The mobsters sometimes leave the original owner as a figurehead to thwart suspicion, police said.
The 'ndrangheta crime syndicate — based in Calabria, the "toe" of Italy's boot — is also brazenly taking over struggling businesses and snapping up prime northern Italian property at a bargain during the real estate slowdown, investigators say.
Genoa Mayor Marta Vincinzi told a rally against organized crime in Naples late this spring that Mafia bosses, particularly from the 'ndrangheta, were "gobbling up entire neighborhoods" and pressuring merchants to pay "protection money" in the gritty, northwestern port city.
Investigators believe that flourishing ties with Colombian cocaine cartels have helped the 'ndrangheta to surpass Sicily's Cosa Nostra in international drug dealing.
Cosa Nostra has taken blows in recent years. Longtime fugitive bosses have been captured and a rebellion by island businessmen against paying "protection money" is starting to take root. But the anti-extortion revolt is not widespread enough to significantly reduce the Sicilian Mafia's coffers, the intelligence services' report noted.
Particularly tempting to the mob is Italy's recent explosion of supermarkets, a boon to consumers long frustrated by the often limited hours and selection offered by mom-and-pop stores.
In Sicily last year, authorities seized euro$700 million (then worth $900 million) in assets, including supermarket outlets, from a businessman who was known as the island's "king of supermarkets" and was suspected of letting Cosa Nostra use his businesses to launder money.
Prosecutors in Palermo said the owner's name turned up on handwritten notes scribbled by Bernardo Provenzano, the longtime fugitive "boss of all bosses" who was captured in 2006.
The intelligence services report predicts that mobsters would step up production of counterfeit name-brand goods given consumers' apparently increased appetite for fake designer items. The Eurispes think tank estimated this growing business earned the mob euro6.3 billion ($8.5 billion) last year.
Naples anti-organized crime prosecutor Roberti said the Camorra has pumped up what once was a kind of cottage industry, with crime clan bosses knitting closer ties with mobsters in China, where fake designer clothing, shoes and accessories are now churned out in factories for the mob.
Trafficking in fake designer goods — which investigators suspect the Camorra is also peddling in the United States, France, Britain and Germany — is now becoming more profitable for the Neapolitan syndicate that dealing in cocaine and hashish, said Mainolfi, the customs and tax police general.
He has calculated that for every euro it costs to manufacture the counterfeit designer goods, the Camorra earns 10 euros, while for every euro spent to run drug trafficking, it earns six or seven euros.
The fakes, sold in street stalls and clothing shops in the Naples and Rome areas, arrive by the tons in Naples' sprawling, chaotic port, where custom officials manage to check only some 5 percent of the shipping containers being unloaded, Mainolfi said.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Romanian public television might stop broadcasting in Republic of Moldova
Citizens in the Republic of Moldova could stop receiving broadcasts of Romanian national public television TVR1 starting with fall 2007, a press release informs on Thursday.
The collaboration protocol between TVR1 and the authorities in Chisinau expired on June 13 and the retransmission tax has not been paid.
According to the press release, TVR1 is negotiating a new protocol. BBC informs that TVR risks of losing the broadcast frequency in the Republic of Moldova.
The frequencies are open to the market at the request of the Ministry in charge.
HotNews.ro, Aug 2, 2007
The collaboration protocol between TVR1 and the authorities in Chisinau expired on June 13 and the retransmission tax has not been paid.
According to the press release, TVR1 is negotiating a new protocol. BBC informs that TVR risks of losing the broadcast frequency in the Republic of Moldova.
The frequencies are open to the market at the request of the Ministry in charge.
HotNews.ro, Aug 2, 2007
Schools in Italy, Spain to teach Romanian language, culture and history
The Government approved on Wednesday the Education Ministry projects on teaching classes of Romanian language, culture and civilization in Spanish and Italian schools, mainly in regions where the Romanian communities are well represented.
The pilot projects will consist in introducing the educational offering for extra-curriculum classes, two hours per week, in all forms of education up to high-school.
The classes will teach basic notions of Romanian language, history and geography.
Education minister Cristian Adomnitei mentioned that the required personnel will be drafted from the very communities where the classes take place, if possible. However, Pedagogy high-school graduates will be elected for the primary school, while a specialized faculty is a must for teaching in the secondary schools.
The protocol for the initiative was already signed with the Spanish counterpart and it is expected for the Italians to join before the end of the month.
HotNews.ro, Aug 1, 2007
The pilot projects will consist in introducing the educational offering for extra-curriculum classes, two hours per week, in all forms of education up to high-school.
The classes will teach basic notions of Romanian language, history and geography.
Education minister Cristian Adomnitei mentioned that the required personnel will be drafted from the very communities where the classes take place, if possible. However, Pedagogy high-school graduates will be elected for the primary school, while a specialized faculty is a must for teaching in the secondary schools.
The protocol for the initiative was already signed with the Spanish counterpart and it is expected for the Italians to join before the end of the month.
HotNews.ro, Aug 1, 2007
Drought leaves Ankara and parts of Greece without water
Turkish authorities will rationalize the water consumption in the region of Ankara, after the high temperatures and the drought caused the severe diminishing of the available water resources. Starting on Wednesday, water provisioning will cease four days a week in each of the two sectors of the city, AFP informs.
A month ago, the car washing and the green space sprinkling were forbidden in the 3.9 million people capital.
In Greece, the authorities instated on Tuesday the emergency state in the Cyclades islands, well known as holyday destinations.
According to Reuters, the Interior Minister took the decision in order to force authorities to improve their water provisioning measures.
The Kimolos island governor, Theodoros Maganiotis, warned that the water supplies are exhausted and there are no good prospects for the following days.
Water shipments towards the Cyclades islands were also delayed, thus participating in the aggravation.
HotNews.ro, Aug 1, 2007
A month ago, the car washing and the green space sprinkling were forbidden in the 3.9 million people capital.
In Greece, the authorities instated on Tuesday the emergency state in the Cyclades islands, well known as holyday destinations.
According to Reuters, the Interior Minister took the decision in order to force authorities to improve their water provisioning measures.
The Kimolos island governor, Theodoros Maganiotis, warned that the water supplies are exhausted and there are no good prospects for the following days.
Water shipments towards the Cyclades islands were also delayed, thus participating in the aggravation.
HotNews.ro, Aug 1, 2007
Boy, 5, doused in gas, set on fire by masked men
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Five-year-old Youssif is scarred for life, his once beautiful smile turned into a grotesquely disfigured face -- the face of a horrifying act by masked men. They grabbed him on a January day outside his central Baghdad home, doused him with gas and set him ablaze.
It's an act incomprehensibly savage, even by Iraq's standards today. No one has been arrested and the motive remains unknown.
In a war-ravaged city torn by sectarian violence and marked by acts of vengeance, this attack's apparent randomness stands out as an example of what life has become in a place where brutality -- even against young children -- is a constant.
"They dumped gasoline, burned me, and ran," Youssif told CNN, pointing down the street with his scarred hands where his attackers fled.
It looks as though this boy's face melted and then froze into rivers cutting through swollen hard flesh. It's hard to see the energetic outgoing child his parents describe beneath the sullen demeanor that defines Youssif today.
"He's become spiteful, I am not sure why," said his mother, Zainab. "He is jealous of everyone. If I say the slightest thing to him, he cries. He's sensitive." Video Watch the mother describe how she cries at night wracked with guilt »
Even things like eating have become a chore. His face contorts when he tries to shovel rice into his mouth, carefully angling the spoon and then using his fingers to push the little grains through lips he can no longer fully open.
He has also become jealous of the baby sister he used to dote on. "I sit sometimes at night and cry," Zainab said, her voice heavy with guilt. "If only I hadn't let him go outside, if only I hadn't let him play."
It was on January 15 that masked men attacked her boy, their identities still unknown. Zainab said she was upstairs at the time.
"I heard screaming. I thought someone was fighting or something," she said.
She ran downstairs, saw her son and fainted. When she came to, she barely recognized her child. "His head was so swollen, you couldn't see his eyes, and his nose was pushed in."
"There was blood," she added, shuddering slightly. "The skin was melted off."
He spent two months in the hospital recovering from the severe burns. These days Youssif spends most of his time indoors, in front of the computer. It's only then that traces of the 5-year-old in him emerge. "He can't play outside with the other kids," Zainab said. "The other day they were playing, and he came in crying. I asked him, 'What's wrong?' and he said, 'They won't play with me because I am burned.'"
She said he once wanted to be a doctor and he loved kindergarten. "He used to be the one who would wake me up every morning, saying let's go to school," Zainab recalled.
She coaxed him to tell me the few words he knows in English. "Girl, boy, window, fan," he said, his voice barely audible, the words barely intelligible.
Doctors told the family there is little more they can do to help Youssif. The family can't afford care outside Iraq.
So Zainab has taken a massive risk by telling her story to the world. Her husband works as a security guard, and it's too dangerous for him to talk to the media.
"I'd prefer death than seeing my son like this," Zainab said.
All she wants is for someone to help her little boy smile again.
Source: www.cnn.com
Youssif was known for his bright smile before he was attacked by masked men.
In a war-ravaged city torn by sectarian violence and marked by acts of vengeance, this attack's apparent randomness stands out as an example of what life has become in a place where brutality -- even against young children -- is a constant.
"They dumped gasoline, burned me, and ran," Youssif told CNN, pointing down the street with his scarred hands where his attackers fled.
It looks as though this boy's face melted and then froze into rivers cutting through swollen hard flesh. It's hard to see the energetic outgoing child his parents describe beneath the sullen demeanor that defines Youssif today.
"He's become spiteful, I am not sure why," said his mother, Zainab. "He is jealous of everyone. If I say the slightest thing to him, he cries. He's sensitive." Video Watch the mother describe how she cries at night wracked with guilt »
Even things like eating have become a chore. His face contorts when he tries to shovel rice into his mouth, carefully angling the spoon and then using his fingers to push the little grains through lips he can no longer fully open.
He has also become jealous of the baby sister he used to dote on. "I sit sometimes at night and cry," Zainab said, her voice heavy with guilt. "If only I hadn't let him go outside, if only I hadn't let him play."
It was on January 15 that masked men attacked her boy, their identities still unknown. Zainab said she was upstairs at the time.
"I heard screaming. I thought someone was fighting or something," she said.
She ran downstairs, saw her son and fainted. When she came to, she barely recognized her child. "His head was so swollen, you couldn't see his eyes, and his nose was pushed in."
"There was blood," she added, shuddering slightly. "The skin was melted off."
He spent two months in the hospital recovering from the severe burns. These days Youssif spends most of his time indoors, in front of the computer. It's only then that traces of the 5-year-old in him emerge. "He can't play outside with the other kids," Zainab said. "The other day they were playing, and he came in crying. I asked him, 'What's wrong?' and he said, 'They won't play with me because I am burned.'"
She said he once wanted to be a doctor and he loved kindergarten. "He used to be the one who would wake me up every morning, saying let's go to school," Zainab recalled.
She coaxed him to tell me the few words he knows in English. "Girl, boy, window, fan," he said, his voice barely audible, the words barely intelligible.
Doctors told the family there is little more they can do to help Youssif. The family can't afford care outside Iraq.
So Zainab has taken a massive risk by telling her story to the world. Her husband works as a security guard, and it's too dangerous for him to talk to the media.
"I'd prefer death than seeing my son like this," Zainab said.
All she wants is for someone to help her little boy smile again.
Source: www.cnn.com
US college faulted over massacre
Lives might have been saved if Virginia Tech officials had acted sooner after student Cho Seung-hui's first killings, a state report into the shootings says.
"Warning students, faculty and staff might have made a difference," it says.
The independent panel also concluded that though Cho had demonstrated signs of mental instability earlier, college staff had not intervened effectively.
Cho killed 32 people and himself at the US university in April in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern US history.
The eight-member panel, appointed by Virginia governor Tim Kaine, said officials should have issued an alert or cancelled classes after Cho shot his first two victims - Emily Hilscher and Ryan Clark - in a dormitory just after 0700 on 16 April.
"The VTPD (Virginia Tech Police Department) erred in not requesting... a campus-wide notification that two persons had been killed and that all students and staff should be cautious and alert," the report said.
The campus police force initially suspected that Emily Hilscher's boyfriend was behind the shootings, believing it to be a domestic incident, and focused their efforts on finding him.
"Senior university administrators... failed to issue an all-campus notification about the West Ambler Johnston killings until almost two hours had elapsed," the report added.
More than two hours later Cho killed 30 students and teachers, plus himself, at the Norris Hall complex in another area of the campus.
Warning messages
At 0926 the university sent an e-mail to students and staff warning of a "shooting on campus" and urging caution.
However, while a lockdown might have helped protect some students and teachers it would have likely been ineffective in stopping Cho, who "had started on a mission of fulfilling a fantasy of revenge", the report said.
No-one knew all the information and no-one connected all the dots
Virginia Tech report
"From what we know of his mental state and commitment to action that day, it was likely that he would have acted out his fantasy somewhere on campus or outside it that same day," the report said.
The panel were also mindful of the fact that as a student himself, Cho would have had access to the same warning messages as everyone else and to the campus buildings.
In fact the report concluded that a complete lockdown of all 131 buildings in the Virginia Tech building was not feasible in the time available on the day, and that there was little the university could have done to secure the premises which would have halted Cho's attack.
"There does not seem to be a plausible scenario of a university response to the double homicide that could have prevented the tragedy of considerable magnitude on April 16," the report said.
Information gap
However, the report was critical of how campus officials had handled signs of Cho's mental illness.
"During Cho's junior year at Virginia Tech, numerous incidents occurred that were clear warnings of mental instability," the report said.
Police were aware that Cho, who moved to the US with his family from South Korea in 1992, had been admitted to a mental health unit in late 2005.
He was sent for evaluation after two female students made complaints against him, following a period of bizarre behaviour and concerns that he was suicidal.
But the information was never passed on to university officials because of a lack of resources, misinterpretation of privacy laws and passivity, the report said.
"Although various individuals and departments within the university knew about each of these incidents, the university did not intervene effectively. No-one knew all the information and no-one connected all the dots," the report said.
In the lull between killings, Cho sent a package to US network NBC containing 28 video clips, 1,800 words of text and 43 photos, 11 of them showing Cho aiming handguns at a camera.
Although his motives remained unclear, the report traced his fantasies to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two students killed 13 people.
The state governor said the purpose of the inquiry was not seek to lay blame, but ensure that such a tragedy could not happen again.
SOURCE: news.bbc.co.uk
Were you affected by the shootings at Virginia Tech? What is your reaction to the report? Send us your comments !
"Warning students, faculty and staff might have made a difference," it says.
The independent panel also concluded that though Cho had demonstrated signs of mental instability earlier, college staff had not intervened effectively.
Cho killed 32 people and himself at the US university in April in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern US history.
The eight-member panel, appointed by Virginia governor Tim Kaine, said officials should have issued an alert or cancelled classes after Cho shot his first two victims - Emily Hilscher and Ryan Clark - in a dormitory just after 0700 on 16 April.
"The VTPD (Virginia Tech Police Department) erred in not requesting... a campus-wide notification that two persons had been killed and that all students and staff should be cautious and alert," the report said.
The campus police force initially suspected that Emily Hilscher's boyfriend was behind the shootings, believing it to be a domestic incident, and focused their efforts on finding him.
"Senior university administrators... failed to issue an all-campus notification about the West Ambler Johnston killings until almost two hours had elapsed," the report added.
More than two hours later Cho killed 30 students and teachers, plus himself, at the Norris Hall complex in another area of the campus.
Warning messages
At 0926 the university sent an e-mail to students and staff warning of a "shooting on campus" and urging caution.
However, while a lockdown might have helped protect some students and teachers it would have likely been ineffective in stopping Cho, who "had started on a mission of fulfilling a fantasy of revenge", the report said.
No-one knew all the information and no-one connected all the dots
Virginia Tech report
"From what we know of his mental state and commitment to action that day, it was likely that he would have acted out his fantasy somewhere on campus or outside it that same day," the report said.
The panel were also mindful of the fact that as a student himself, Cho would have had access to the same warning messages as everyone else and to the campus buildings.
In fact the report concluded that a complete lockdown of all 131 buildings in the Virginia Tech building was not feasible in the time available on the day, and that there was little the university could have done to secure the premises which would have halted Cho's attack.
"There does not seem to be a plausible scenario of a university response to the double homicide that could have prevented the tragedy of considerable magnitude on April 16," the report said.
Information gap
However, the report was critical of how campus officials had handled signs of Cho's mental illness.
"During Cho's junior year at Virginia Tech, numerous incidents occurred that were clear warnings of mental instability," the report said.
Police were aware that Cho, who moved to the US with his family from South Korea in 1992, had been admitted to a mental health unit in late 2005.
He was sent for evaluation after two female students made complaints against him, following a period of bizarre behaviour and concerns that he was suicidal.
But the information was never passed on to university officials because of a lack of resources, misinterpretation of privacy laws and passivity, the report said.
"Although various individuals and departments within the university knew about each of these incidents, the university did not intervene effectively. No-one knew all the information and no-one connected all the dots," the report said.
In the lull between killings, Cho sent a package to US network NBC containing 28 video clips, 1,800 words of text and 43 photos, 11 of them showing Cho aiming handguns at a camera.
Although his motives remained unclear, the report traced his fantasies to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two students killed 13 people.
The state governor said the purpose of the inquiry was not seek to lay blame, but ensure that such a tragedy could not happen again.
SOURCE: news.bbc.co.uk
Were you affected by the shootings at Virginia Tech? What is your reaction to the report? Send us your comments !
FBI investigates string of store threats
NEWPORT, R.I. - Large grocery and discount stores across the country have been targeted by a caller who threatens to blow up shoppers and workers with a bomb if employees fail to wire money to an account overseas, authorities said.
Frightened workers have wired thousands of dollars — and in one case took off their clothes — to placate a caller who said he was watching them but may have been thousands of miles away. The FBI and police said Wednesday they are investigating similar bomb threats at more than 15 stores in at least 11 states — all in the past week.
"At this point, there's enough similarities that we think it's potentially one person or one group," FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said from Washington.
No one has been arrested, no bombs have been found, and no one has been hurt, though the calls have triggered store evacuations and prompted lengthy sweeps by police and bomb squads.
Law enforcement officials say the caller claims to have a bomb and orders the store to send money to an account through an in-store money transfer service such as Western Union. He often claims to be able to see inside the store, but officials believe he was making it up.
In Newport, employees at a Wal-Mart got three calls Tuesday morning and wired three payments totaling $10,000 to an account out of the country, Sgt. James Quinn said. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the company was assisting in the investigation, but offered no further comment.
The first of the threats that federal investigators are aware of came last Thursday at a Safeway in Sandy, Ore. The caller initially said he had a gun and was watching the store, but after meeting resistance to his demands he claimed to have a bomb, Sandy police Chief Harold Skelton said.
In Buchanan, Mich., on Monday, the caller directed employees of a Harding's market to lock the front doors, move to the front and told them not to call police, said Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey. The man claimed he could see some workers standing up, and ordered them to sit down.
"He's just ad-libbing," Bailey said. "He can't see anything."
Nonetheless, Bailey said, the employees were so afraid they wired the caller $3,000. The manager even hung up the phone when authorities called, saying a bomb would go off if he talked to them.
Bailey said that in a phone call with police, the man even offered to trade a "hostage" for a police officer to make his threat more believable.
The caller has not gotten every store he's called to give up money, but the FBI on Wednesday did not provide the total amount taken.
Also targeted were Dillons grocery stores in Hutchinson, Kan. At one store Tuesday, the caller ordered customers and employees to disrobe. Employee Marilyn Case told The Hutchinson News that store manager Mike Piros argued with the caller, but they relented when he continued to make threats and instructed them to "do it now."
He then demanded that one of Piros' fingers be cut off for every hour his demands were not met, and another employee got a butcher knife on his orders, Case said. Jim Peterson, a customer, told the newspaper that people became distraught.
"People came undone and started saying, 'No, no,'" he said.
Piros was not harmed. Police there initially said they were investigating whether the caller had hacked into the surveillance system, but later backed away from that possibility.
The calls continued Wednesday, with a threat at a Hannaford supermarket in Millinocket, Maine. An employee arrived to find the doors locked and employees and customers sitting inside in a circle, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Store maintenance associate Ivan Garay told the Bangor Daily News that store manager Michael Bennett told everyone to sit on the floor. Later, they were told there had been a bomb threat.
At a Safeway supermarket in Prescott, Ariz., a caller with an accent demanded $2,850 on Tuesday, according to police and city spokesman Kim Kapin.
"The maximum that Western Union can send through its service is $3,000," Kapin said. Wiring money also includes a $150 service charge, Kapin added. "This individual was obviously aware of that."
Initially, the caller led employees to believe he was observing them.
"After a while, it sounded like he was just taking a shot in the dark at what they might be doing, or what they looked like or how they were reacting to his call," Prescott police Lt. Ken Morley said.
Sherry Johnson, a spokeswoman for Englewood, Colo.-based Western Union, said the company was working with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service to trace the money sent through the service. It was also telling its agents to be on the lookout for the extortion plot. She declined to be more specific, saying "this is an ongoing law enforcement investigation."
A message seeking comment from another money-transfer service used, St. Louis Park, Minn.-based, MoneyGram International Inc., was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Kapin said the FBI found the call was made from a cell phone registered to a Los Angeles phone number but was leased out from a European company. Investigators determined the call had come from somewhere in Portugal.
Callers also tried to extort money with calls to a US Bank in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday morning; a Wal-Mart in Hutchinson, Kan.; bank branches at Wal-Marts in Salem, Va., and Fairlawn, Va., on Tuesday; to a Vons store in Vista, Calif., near San Diego, on Friday; and to two Giant Eagle grocery stores in the Pittsburgh area, authorities said. The FBI said it was also investigating similar incidents at a grocery store in Orem, Utah, on Monday and a store in McAllen, Texas on Saturday.
Separately, the FBI is looking into bomb threats on college campuses, including two in Ohio — the University of Akron and Kenyon College. No explosive devices have been found. Law enforcement officials said there was no evidence at this time linking the college bomb threats with those at grocery and discount stores.
Kenyon, in Gambier in central Ohio, received six separate bomb threats in a general admissions e-mail account between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday, college spokesman Shawn Presley said. Local and federal authorities determined the threats to be a hoax and the school was not evacuated as officials swept buildings searching for the bomb, he said.
The University of Akron closed classrooms, labs and offices in its Auburn Science and Engineering building on Wednesday, after a secretary in a dean's office received an anonymous e-mail that included a bomb threat.
___
AP reporters Matt Leingang in Columbus, Ohio, and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS that FBI is looking into bomb threats at 2 Ohio colleges).)
Source: news.yahoo.com
Frightened workers have wired thousands of dollars — and in one case took off their clothes — to placate a caller who said he was watching them but may have been thousands of miles away. The FBI and police said Wednesday they are investigating similar bomb threats at more than 15 stores in at least 11 states — all in the past week.
"At this point, there's enough similarities that we think it's potentially one person or one group," FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said from Washington.
No one has been arrested, no bombs have been found, and no one has been hurt, though the calls have triggered store evacuations and prompted lengthy sweeps by police and bomb squads.
Law enforcement officials say the caller claims to have a bomb and orders the store to send money to an account through an in-store money transfer service such as Western Union. He often claims to be able to see inside the store, but officials believe he was making it up.
In Newport, employees at a Wal-Mart got three calls Tuesday morning and wired three payments totaling $10,000 to an account out of the country, Sgt. James Quinn said. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the company was assisting in the investigation, but offered no further comment.
The first of the threats that federal investigators are aware of came last Thursday at a Safeway in Sandy, Ore. The caller initially said he had a gun and was watching the store, but after meeting resistance to his demands he claimed to have a bomb, Sandy police Chief Harold Skelton said.
In Buchanan, Mich., on Monday, the caller directed employees of a Harding's market to lock the front doors, move to the front and told them not to call police, said Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey. The man claimed he could see some workers standing up, and ordered them to sit down.
"He's just ad-libbing," Bailey said. "He can't see anything."
Nonetheless, Bailey said, the employees were so afraid they wired the caller $3,000. The manager even hung up the phone when authorities called, saying a bomb would go off if he talked to them.
Bailey said that in a phone call with police, the man even offered to trade a "hostage" for a police officer to make his threat more believable.
The caller has not gotten every store he's called to give up money, but the FBI on Wednesday did not provide the total amount taken.
Also targeted were Dillons grocery stores in Hutchinson, Kan. At one store Tuesday, the caller ordered customers and employees to disrobe. Employee Marilyn Case told The Hutchinson News that store manager Mike Piros argued with the caller, but they relented when he continued to make threats and instructed them to "do it now."
He then demanded that one of Piros' fingers be cut off for every hour his demands were not met, and another employee got a butcher knife on his orders, Case said. Jim Peterson, a customer, told the newspaper that people became distraught.
"People came undone and started saying, 'No, no,'" he said.
Piros was not harmed. Police there initially said they were investigating whether the caller had hacked into the surveillance system, but later backed away from that possibility.
The calls continued Wednesday, with a threat at a Hannaford supermarket in Millinocket, Maine. An employee arrived to find the doors locked and employees and customers sitting inside in a circle, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Store maintenance associate Ivan Garay told the Bangor Daily News that store manager Michael Bennett told everyone to sit on the floor. Later, they were told there had been a bomb threat.
At a Safeway supermarket in Prescott, Ariz., a caller with an accent demanded $2,850 on Tuesday, according to police and city spokesman Kim Kapin.
"The maximum that Western Union can send through its service is $3,000," Kapin said. Wiring money also includes a $150 service charge, Kapin added. "This individual was obviously aware of that."
Initially, the caller led employees to believe he was observing them.
"After a while, it sounded like he was just taking a shot in the dark at what they might be doing, or what they looked like or how they were reacting to his call," Prescott police Lt. Ken Morley said.
Sherry Johnson, a spokeswoman for Englewood, Colo.-based Western Union, said the company was working with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service to trace the money sent through the service. It was also telling its agents to be on the lookout for the extortion plot. She declined to be more specific, saying "this is an ongoing law enforcement investigation."
A message seeking comment from another money-transfer service used, St. Louis Park, Minn.-based, MoneyGram International Inc., was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Kapin said the FBI found the call was made from a cell phone registered to a Los Angeles phone number but was leased out from a European company. Investigators determined the call had come from somewhere in Portugal.
Callers also tried to extort money with calls to a US Bank in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday morning; a Wal-Mart in Hutchinson, Kan.; bank branches at Wal-Marts in Salem, Va., and Fairlawn, Va., on Tuesday; to a Vons store in Vista, Calif., near San Diego, on Friday; and to two Giant Eagle grocery stores in the Pittsburgh area, authorities said. The FBI said it was also investigating similar incidents at a grocery store in Orem, Utah, on Monday and a store in McAllen, Texas on Saturday.
Separately, the FBI is looking into bomb threats on college campuses, including two in Ohio — the University of Akron and Kenyon College. No explosive devices have been found. Law enforcement officials said there was no evidence at this time linking the college bomb threats with those at grocery and discount stores.
Kenyon, in Gambier in central Ohio, received six separate bomb threats in a general admissions e-mail account between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday, college spokesman Shawn Presley said. Local and federal authorities determined the threats to be a hoax and the school was not evacuated as officials swept buildings searching for the bomb, he said.
The University of Akron closed classrooms, labs and offices in its Auburn Science and Engineering building on Wednesday, after a secretary in a dean's office received an anonymous e-mail that included a bomb threat.
___
AP reporters Matt Leingang in Columbus, Ohio, and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS that FBI is looking into bomb threats at 2 Ohio colleges).)
Source: news.yahoo.com
Devastating fires in Spain and Portugal
Devastating fires continue to burn the woods in Southern Europe, the international press reports on Tuesday. Most affected countries are Portugal and Spain. In Gran Canaria, an island in the Canaries Archipelago, more than 4000 persons have been evacuated.
Both authorities and the population confronted the biggest fire in the history of the island that destroyed more than 50 households and 5000 acres of woods. The fire extended due to high temperatures and a violent wind.
200 persons among which firefighters, military personnel fought the fire with helicopters or planes.
The flames injured a 37 year old man who was supervising the woods.
In Tenerife, another island in the archipelago, the fire burnt 2600 acres and some 2000 individuals were forced to evacuate the area.
In Portugal, 150 firefighters were fighting on Monday with three fires in the center and the south of the country.
The biggest fire is located near Sabugal city where there are two fires.
European leaders expressed their concern regarding the fires in Europe. France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy talks on Monday with the Greek PM Costas Caramanlis to develop a common plan to counteract the fires.
HotNews.ro, Jul 31, 2007
Both authorities and the population confronted the biggest fire in the history of the island that destroyed more than 50 households and 5000 acres of woods. The fire extended due to high temperatures and a violent wind.
200 persons among which firefighters, military personnel fought the fire with helicopters or planes.
The flames injured a 37 year old man who was supervising the woods.
In Tenerife, another island in the archipelago, the fire burnt 2600 acres and some 2000 individuals were forced to evacuate the area.
In Portugal, 150 firefighters were fighting on Monday with three fires in the center and the south of the country.
The biggest fire is located near Sabugal city where there are two fires.
European leaders expressed their concern regarding the fires in Europe. France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy talks on Monday with the Greek PM Costas Caramanlis to develop a common plan to counteract the fires.
HotNews.ro, Jul 31, 2007
European Commission: problems in Romania regarding roaming tarriff cuts
The European Commission announced that by the end of the week it would make public the names of the telecom companies that did not adopt the European measures for roaming tariff cuts yet, Reuters reported on Monday. Sources say that Romanian operators are among the ones who did not implement the measures.
European Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding said that companies who did not implement the measures breach the EU treaty.
Other problem-causing countries, besides Romania, are Bulgaria, Cyprus, France and Belgium, according to a Reuters source.
On the other side of the spectrum, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland, Slovenia and Malta are applauded for the successful adoption of the European requirements.
EC imposed a tariff of maximum 49 eurocents for a roaming call in any one of the 27 EU member countries and a maximum of 24 eurocents for a received call.
Not all telecom operators complied with the deadline of July 30 and or publish the new tariffs.
So far, the main Romanian Telecom companies, Vodafone Romania, Orange Romania and Cosmote Romania announced the new tariffs and their implementation date.
HotNews.ro, Jul 31, 2007
European Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding said that companies who did not implement the measures breach the EU treaty.
Other problem-causing countries, besides Romania, are Bulgaria, Cyprus, France and Belgium, according to a Reuters source.
On the other side of the spectrum, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland, Slovenia and Malta are applauded for the successful adoption of the European requirements.
EC imposed a tariff of maximum 49 eurocents for a roaming call in any one of the 27 EU member countries and a maximum of 24 eurocents for a received call.
Not all telecom operators complied with the deadline of July 30 and or publish the new tariffs.
So far, the main Romanian Telecom companies, Vodafone Romania, Orange Romania and Cosmote Romania announced the new tariffs and their implementation date.
HotNews.ro, Jul 31, 2007
The European Commission to end abuses in real estate agencies
Real estate agencies will be forced by the European Commission to professionalize their services. According to analyst Radu Zilisteanu, quoted by the NewsIn news agency on Monday, the measure will lead to the disappearance of some 6,000 out of 10,000 real estate agencies in Romania as it imposes requirements for more specialized courses for agents.
Once the European standard is imposed, the market will be cleared of real estate agents by 60%.
The reglementation is proposed in a project supported by both the European Commission and the European Real Estate Confederation and is due to pass this year.
The project contains clearly identified requirements an individual needs to comply with in order to practice the job.
According to Zilisteanu, a real estate agent will be able to work in the field abroad due to the standardization imposed.
A Representative of the EuroMetrolopola real estate agency, Monica Marin welcomes the measure, adding that it will affect the market qualitatively.
George Dimitriu, PYF real estate agency director talks about loyalty problems on the market. He is quoted by NewsIn as saying that the real estate agent’s legal status is still unclear.
HotNews.ro, Jul 30, 2007
Once the European standard is imposed, the market will be cleared of real estate agents by 60%.
The reglementation is proposed in a project supported by both the European Commission and the European Real Estate Confederation and is due to pass this year.
The project contains clearly identified requirements an individual needs to comply with in order to practice the job.
According to Zilisteanu, a real estate agent will be able to work in the field abroad due to the standardization imposed.
A Representative of the EuroMetrolopola real estate agency, Monica Marin welcomes the measure, adding that it will affect the market qualitatively.
George Dimitriu, PYF real estate agency director talks about loyalty problems on the market. He is quoted by NewsIn as saying that the real estate agent’s legal status is still unclear.
HotNews.ro, Jul 30, 2007
British paper blames Romanians for carp and pike stealing
The biggest menace to the carps and pikes of Britain now comes from Eastern European migrants, claims the Daily Mail in its electronic edition on Monday. The British reporters found that the Poles, Romanians and Bulgarians consider the two fish species a delicacy and consequently the stealing grew in the last years.
The Times, in its electronic edition, reads that authorities will change the current legislation to stop the stealing.
The article does not mention official statistics but only estimations of almost 60 owners of fisheries from England and Scotland.
The survey, conducted by the Professional Association showed that 34 out of the 60 owners declared that the fish is being stolen and that things got worse in the last couple of years. Out of the 34, 25 think that the immigrants are to be blamed for it.
Peter Cliff, a spokesman for the Association, affirmed that the complaints are referring mostly to the East European immigrants. Moreover, he said that an official number could not be put forward but that according to estimations the scores amounted to a couple of thousands.
The owners of the fisheries invest more than 1000 pounds to obtain a carp of over 10 kg so that sports lovers can come and fish it on their property.
Daily Mail cites a member of a local association who says that their warnings are ignored and immigrants approached him and offered to bribe him to get his fish.
HotNews.ro, Jul 30, 2007
The Times, in its electronic edition, reads that authorities will change the current legislation to stop the stealing.
The article does not mention official statistics but only estimations of almost 60 owners of fisheries from England and Scotland.
The survey, conducted by the Professional Association showed that 34 out of the 60 owners declared that the fish is being stolen and that things got worse in the last couple of years. Out of the 34, 25 think that the immigrants are to be blamed for it.
Peter Cliff, a spokesman for the Association, affirmed that the complaints are referring mostly to the East European immigrants. Moreover, he said that an official number could not be put forward but that according to estimations the scores amounted to a couple of thousands.
The owners of the fisheries invest more than 1000 pounds to obtain a carp of over 10 kg so that sports lovers can come and fish it on their property.
Daily Mail cites a member of a local association who says that their warnings are ignored and immigrants approached him and offered to bribe him to get his fish.
HotNews.ro, Jul 30, 2007
Bulgarian traffic with newly-born flourishes
Bulgarian human traffickers put babies at sale and even promise to deliver them to any destination, BBC unveiled in an investigation conducted in Varna. According to the British station, a man calling himself Harry, admitting he’s a human trafficker, presented the reporters several babies he had at sale with 60,000 euros “a piece”.
The same source informs that the UK Interior Minister announced the arrest of three traffickers, including “Harry”, as a result of the investigation.
“The illegal traffic in Bulgarian babies is not a new phenomenon but previous cases involved pregnant women smuggled abroad to give birth and hand over their infants.
France convicted nine Bulgarians and dozens of French people in February over the sale of babies to French Roma (Gypsy) couples.
The couples are said to have paid up to $10,000 (£5,000) for each child”, BBC informs.
HotNews.ro, Jul 27, 2007
The same source informs that the UK Interior Minister announced the arrest of three traffickers, including “Harry”, as a result of the investigation.
“The illegal traffic in Bulgarian babies is not a new phenomenon but previous cases involved pregnant women smuggled abroad to give birth and hand over their infants.
France convicted nine Bulgarians and dozens of French people in February over the sale of babies to French Roma (Gypsy) couples.
The couples are said to have paid up to $10,000 (£5,000) for each child”, BBC informs.
HotNews.ro, Jul 27, 2007
New Zealand lifts visas for Romania citizens
Romanians will be able to travel to New Zealand without needing a visa, in case their trip takes three months or less, a Foreign Ministry release informed on Wednesday, quoting a recent governmental decision in the paradise - islands.
The obligatory visas will be lifted starting on July 30.
New Zealand becomes accessible for all purposes: tourism, visiting friends or relatives, business trips or sport events.
Visitors must only present their travel tickets, declare the purpose of the trip and prove their ability to support themselves during the trip.
HotNews.ro, Jul 26, 2007
The obligatory visas will be lifted starting on July 30.
New Zealand becomes accessible for all purposes: tourism, visiting friends or relatives, business trips or sport events.
Visitors must only present their travel tickets, declare the purpose of the trip and prove their ability to support themselves during the trip.
HotNews.ro, Jul 26, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Hungary to hold siesta referendum
The opinion of almost 8 million Hungarian citizens will be tested on whether they wish to legalize their siestas or not after the National Elections Committee decided the necessity of a referendum in this regard, Reuters informs on Monday.
Those proposing such a law needed 200.000 signatures in order to initiate a referendum on the theme.
The committee previously rejected a referendum proposal that suggested that beer should be free in restaurants. The reason behind the proposal was that this affects the market. Thus, Hungarian citizens are still paying for drinks.
Since the fall of the Communist regime in 1989 and the transition to democracy, Hungary proposed lots of referendums but only two of these got approved, namely those related to NATO and EU membership.
HotNews.ro, Jul 24, 2007
Those proposing such a law needed 200.000 signatures in order to initiate a referendum on the theme.
The committee previously rejected a referendum proposal that suggested that beer should be free in restaurants. The reason behind the proposal was that this affects the market. Thus, Hungarian citizens are still paying for drinks.
Since the fall of the Communist regime in 1989 and the transition to democracy, Hungary proposed lots of referendums but only two of these got approved, namely those related to NATO and EU membership.
HotNews.ro, Jul 24, 2007
Top 10 Worst Living Dictators
This is a list of the most evil currently reigning dictators in the world. It is amazing that these people continue to rule while we busy ourselves fighting in places that are ruled by far less dangerous men.
1. Kim Jong Il, North Korea (in power since 1994)
The amount of debate over the recent nuclear weapons development in North Korea has managed to deflect people from the fact that Kim’s government represses its people more completely than any other living dictator. North Korea has, for the last 31 years, been at the bottom of the Freedom House ranking for political rights and civil liberties. It is also ranks last in the Reporters without Borders ranking of press freedom. The US committee for Human Rights estimates that there are approximately 150,000 Koreans performing forced labour in prison camps for political dissenters and their families.
Contrary to popular belief, Kim Jong Il is actually a very clever and efficient manipulator of his people. He is also the author of the books On the Art of the Cinema, and On the Art of Opera.
2. Than Shwe, Burma (in power since 1992)
General Than Shwe has survived a power struggle to emerge as the sole leader of Burma’s military dictatorship. Because of his hard-line views, he has taken an already bad human rights situation to an even worse level. Burma has more child soldiers than any country in the world and the Burmese regime continues to kidnap citizens to force them to serve as porters for the military in conflicts against non-Burmese ethnic groups.
In 1990 the party of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi won 80% of the vote in an open election. The military cancelled the results. Suu Kyi has spent most of the years since then under house arrest. On May 31, 2003 hired thugs attacked Suu Kyi’s motorcade, killing several of her supporters and arresting dozens of others including Suu Kyi herself.
Shwe is a very private figure, preferring to work behind the scenes. Consequently, even the Burmese people know very little about him.
3. Hu Jintao, China (in power since 2002)
Trained as a hydrolic engineer, Hu Jintao joined the Communist Party in 1964 and spent the next 38 years working his way up the hierarchy. While serving as Party Secretary of Tibet, he did not hesitate to administer martial law and to oversee the killing of unarmed demonstrators. Now that he is General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Hu, although not all-powerful, is the leader of an unusually repressive regime. The communist party still controls all media, and uses 40,000 internet security agents to monitor online use. More than 200,000 Chinese are serving re-education sentences in labour camps and China performs more than 4,000 executions every year, more than all of the other nations of the world combined, and many of them are for non-violent crimes.
4. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe (in power since 1980)
Mugabe began his reign with widespread international and national support. After leading a successful anti-colonial war of liberation, he was elected independent Zimbabwe’s first president. But over the years he has displayed increasingly dictatorial tendencies. According to Amnesty International, in 2002 alone, Mugabe’s government killed or tortured 70,000 people. Unemployment is above 70% and inflation 500%.
Mugabe has been accused of blocking the delivery of food aid to groups and areas that support the main opposition party. He has continued to hold elections, but has restricted the opposition’s ability to campaign and has shut down media that do not support him. When opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 42% of the vote, Mugabe had him arrested and charged with treason. Mugabe has also confiscated farms owned by white people and turned them over to his supporters.
5. Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia (in power since 1995)
Crown Prince Abdullah has been the acting leader of Saudi Arabia since his half-brother, King Fahd, suffered a stroke in 1995. Saudi Arabia is one of the only nations that holds no elections whatsoever. The royal family has promised municipal elections soon but has not announced whether women will be allowed to vote. In fact, it is forbidden for unrelated Saudis of the opposite sex to appear in public together, even inside a taxi. Women are not allowed to testify on their own behalf in divorce proceedings and, in all court cases, the testimony of a man is equal to that of two women.
According to the US State Department, Saudi Arabia continues to engage in arbitrary arrest and torture. During a human rights conference in 1995, Saudi authorities arrested non-violent protesters who were calling for freedom of expression. Some were later flogged, the usual punishment for alleged political and religious offenses.
In a very unusual show of power, the religious forbade children from playing with Barbie dolls, which they dubbed ‘Jewish dolls’ that are ’symbols of decadence of the perverted West’.
6. Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea (in power since 1979)
This small West African nation (population 500,000) was a forgotten dictatorship until major reserves of oil were found in 1995. Since then, US oil companies have poured billions of dollars into the country. Although the per capital annual income is $4,472, 60% of Equatoguineans live on less than $1 a day. The bulk of the oil income goes directly to President Obiang, who has declared that there is no poverty in Guinea, rather that the people are used to living in a different way. In July, state radio announced that Obiang is “in permanent contact with the Almighty,” and that “He can decide to kill without anyone calling him to account and without going to Hell.”
There is no public transport, no newspapers, and only 1% of government spending goes to health care. When asked why so much of his nation’s oil money is deposited into his personal account at the Riggs Bank in Washington, DC, Obiang explained that he keeps total control of the money in order to ‘avoid corruption’.
7. Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan (in power since 1989)
Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is in the midst of a complex 20 year civil war that has claimed the lives of 2 million and uprooted another 4 million. Al-Bashir seized power in a military coup and immediately suspended the constitution, abolished the legislature, and banned political parties and unions. He has tried to negotiate a peace agreement with the main rebel group, but he insists that the nation be ruled according to Islamic Shari’a law, even in southern Sudan, where the people are Christian and animist.
His army has routinely bombed civilians and tortured and massacred non-Arabs, particularly in the oil-producing areas in the south. He has a long history of providing sanctuary for a wide range of terrorists, only to turn against them. He turned over the notorious Carlos the Jackal to France in exchange for financial and military aid and, in 1996, he tried unsuccessfully to sell Osama bin Laden to the US government.
8. Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan (in power since 1990)
Since taking charge of this former Soviet republic in central Asia, Niyazov has developed the world’s most extreme personality cult, challenged only by that of Kim Jong Il. Niyazov’s picture appears on all Turkmen money, there are statues of him everywhere, and he renamed the month of January after himself. His book, Book of the Soul, is required reading in all schools at all levels, and all government employees must memorize sections of it in order to keep their jobs.
Niyazov rules without opposition. As he put it, ‘There are no opposition parties, so how can we grant them freedom?’. In recent years Niyazov has cracked down on religious and ethnic minorities, including Russians, and has refused to grant exit visas for families for women under the age of 35. He has imprisoned political dissidents and subjected them to Stalinist-style show trials and public confessions.
The Turkmen constitution requires retirement at the age of 70, but Niyazov has ensured his own rule by creating a 2,507-member People’s Council which unanimously elected him Lifetime Chairman.
9. Fidel Castro, Cuba (in power since 1959)
The longest reigning dictator, Castro took advantage of the world’s preoccupation with the Iraq war in March and April of 2003 to carry out his biggest round-up of non-violent dissidents in more than a decade. He arrested 75 human rights activists, journalists, and academics, and sent them to jail for an average of 19 years.
Cuba remains a one party state with all of the power in the hands of Castro. The courts are controlled by the executive branch (in other words, Castro). He traditionally blames all of his country’s problems on the USA.
10. King Mswati III, Swaziland (in power since 1986)
Swaziland (population 1.2 million) is the last remaining absolute monarchy in Africa. Mswati III ascended to the throne when he turned 18, four years after the death of his father. Because he had been educated in England it was thought that he would modernize his kingdom. However, he has shown a liking for certain Swazi traditions. On September 15, 2002, he watched thousands of girls and young women dance bare-breasted in the annual Reed Dance and then chose one of be his tenth wife (his father had 100 wives). The girl’s mother filed a lawsuit against the king, charging him with abducting her daughter. Mswati, who rules by decree, then announced that the Swazi courts were forbidden from issuing rulings that limited the king’s power.
In an attempt to appease international opinion, Mswati approved the drafting of a new constitution to replace the one that his father had suspended 30 years earlier. However the new constitution bans political parties, allows the death penalty for any criminal offense, and provides for the reintroduction of debtors’ prisons.
Source: www.listverse.comA mafia family feud spills over
The killing of six Italians in the German city of Duisburg has thrust into the spotlight the shadowy world of the 'Ndrangheta, whose tentacles have spread far beyond their rural origins in Calabria, in southern Italy.
Women react as a police spokesman in Duisburg speaks to them
The mafia crime on German soil has shocked the country
The six men, one of whom was reported to be only 16 years old, were sprayed with machine gun bullets moments after they left a pizzeria in the western German city.
Based on the strong blood ties between interlinked families, membership of the 'Ndrangheta - which means "Honoured Society" - is believed to number in the tens of thousands.
"It is disturbing - firstly because of the sheer number of dead," the acting director of Italy's National Anti-Mafia bureau, Carmelo Petralia, told the BBC news website.
He said Italy had been aware for some time of how the 'Ndrangheta was using its business activities in Germany to launder the proceeds of its criminal activities at home, far from the prying eyes of the Italy's mafia investigators.
"We knew that the 'Ndrangheta had deep links to Germany and that these were connected to money laundering," Mr Petralia said.
Cigarettes and cocaine
The criminal organisation has interests in the illegal drugs trade as well as construction and infrastructure.
The bulk of Europe's cocaine is reported to pass through the channels it controls and the 'Ndrangheta has offshoots and links with crime groups in South America, Canada, Australia and eastern Europe.
Crime scene in Duisburg, Germany
The 'Ndrangheta often use restaurants to launder money
But the Duisburg murders are the latest twist in a bloody feud with origins in the Calabrian town of San Luca, whose houses hug the feet of a mountain known as Aspromonte - or harsh mountain.
It dates to carnival celebrations in 1991 when eggs and insults were thrown between rival clan members. A fight broke out which left two young men dead and another two injured.
The ensuing feud between the Pelle-Romeo and Nirta-Strangio families sparked a series of tit-for-tat killings.
It bubbled up again last year when, on Christmas day, 33-year-old Maria Strangio was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in San Luca.
But, according to Mr Petralia, there may be another explanation beneath the surface: "The feud... masks criminal clashes and a fight to gain hegemony over all the group's criminal activities," he said.
The pattern of killings, many of which have take place on Catholic feast days and celebrations - 15 August marks the feast of the assumption of the Virgin Mary - have left the Calabrian police bracing themselves for the next vendetta killing.
Different structure
The 'Ndrangheta's structure is both its weakness and its strength, says Mr Petralia.
Its family-based structure means that it is very difficult for the police to penetrate but also, that when feuds flare between rival families, they are difficult to extinguish.
"Traditionally, the Cosa Nostra is a hierarchy - a pyramid-shaped structure that reaches an apex.
Yet the two organisations, based on opposite sides of the Messina Strait separating the island of Sicily from the mainland, have collaborated and co-operated, developing different criminal specialities and avoiding treading on each other toes.
"The 'Ndrangheta began with the trafficking of contraband after the war and then this developed into kidnapping. There was a series of high-profile kidnaps in the 1970s. These were very lucrative and these funds were reinvested in drug trafficking," Mr Petralia said.
Italian investigators have already flown to Germany where they will be working closely with local officials, hoping to share their knowledge of a group whose influence extends far beyond Italy's borders.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Women react as a police spokesman in Duisburg speaks to them
The mafia crime on German soil has shocked the country
The six men, one of whom was reported to be only 16 years old, were sprayed with machine gun bullets moments after they left a pizzeria in the western German city.
Based on the strong blood ties between interlinked families, membership of the 'Ndrangheta - which means "Honoured Society" - is believed to number in the tens of thousands.
"It is disturbing - firstly because of the sheer number of dead," the acting director of Italy's National Anti-Mafia bureau, Carmelo Petralia, told the BBC news website.
He said Italy had been aware for some time of how the 'Ndrangheta was using its business activities in Germany to launder the proceeds of its criminal activities at home, far from the prying eyes of the Italy's mafia investigators.
"We knew that the 'Ndrangheta had deep links to Germany and that these were connected to money laundering," Mr Petralia said.
Cigarettes and cocaine
The criminal organisation has interests in the illegal drugs trade as well as construction and infrastructure.
The bulk of Europe's cocaine is reported to pass through the channels it controls and the 'Ndrangheta has offshoots and links with crime groups in South America, Canada, Australia and eastern Europe.
Crime scene in Duisburg, Germany
The 'Ndrangheta often use restaurants to launder money
But the Duisburg murders are the latest twist in a bloody feud with origins in the Calabrian town of San Luca, whose houses hug the feet of a mountain known as Aspromonte - or harsh mountain.
It dates to carnival celebrations in 1991 when eggs and insults were thrown between rival clan members. A fight broke out which left two young men dead and another two injured.
The ensuing feud between the Pelle-Romeo and Nirta-Strangio families sparked a series of tit-for-tat killings.
It bubbled up again last year when, on Christmas day, 33-year-old Maria Strangio was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in San Luca.
But, according to Mr Petralia, there may be another explanation beneath the surface: "The feud... masks criminal clashes and a fight to gain hegemony over all the group's criminal activities," he said.
The pattern of killings, many of which have take place on Catholic feast days and celebrations - 15 August marks the feast of the assumption of the Virgin Mary - have left the Calabrian police bracing themselves for the next vendetta killing.
Different structure
The 'Ndrangheta's structure is both its weakness and its strength, says Mr Petralia.
Its family-based structure means that it is very difficult for the police to penetrate but also, that when feuds flare between rival families, they are difficult to extinguish.
"Traditionally, the Cosa Nostra is a hierarchy - a pyramid-shaped structure that reaches an apex.
Yet the two organisations, based on opposite sides of the Messina Strait separating the island of Sicily from the mainland, have collaborated and co-operated, developing different criminal specialities and avoiding treading on each other toes.
"The 'Ndrangheta began with the trafficking of contraband after the war and then this developed into kidnapping. There was a series of high-profile kidnaps in the 1970s. These were very lucrative and these funds were reinvested in drug trafficking," Mr Petralia said.
Italian investigators have already flown to Germany where they will be working closely with local officials, hoping to share their knowledge of a group whose influence extends far beyond Italy's borders.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
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