Witness: Galliano made racist remarks in Paris bar

Witness: Galliano made racist remarks in Paris bar - KansasCity.com: "A witness says an alcohol-fueled rant by famed fashion designer John Galliano against a couple at a trendy Paris cafe was laced with expletives, threats and apparent anti-Asian remarks.

Christian Dior SA suspended Galliano as creative director at Dior house following accusations that he made an anti-Semitic insult during the spat. It came nearly a week before Dior's fall-winter ready-to-wear show in Paris.

Witness Marion Bully said Saturday she sat nearby during Thursday's episode and heard Galliano angrily refer to the alleged Asian background of the man in the couple."

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: Britons return from 'living hell'

Britons return from 'living hell': "Passengers spoke of their relief at escaping the 'living hell' engulfing Libya as they arrived in Britain on a Government-chartered plane.
A total of 79 people, including Britons and Canadians, touched down at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex on board Flight YU005 following an arduous mission to escape the uprising.
Among them was Iftikhar Ulhak, 59, a chemical engineer who lives in Wimbledon, south London, who described chaotic scenes at Tripoli airport as people tried to flee.
Speaking at Gatwick's South Terminal, he said: 'There are so many people wanting to leave and Tripoli airport is simply not catered for it."

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Northumbria policeman accused of drug dealing remanded

Northumbria policeman accused of drug dealing remanded: "Northumbria Police officer and three other men accused of drug dealing have appeared in court.

Paul Clive Thompson, 42, of County Durham, is charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

He and three other men, charged with the same offences, appeared before North Tyneside magistrates on Saturday.

They were all remanded in custody and are due to appear in court next week at a date yet to be set.

The other men charged are Stephen Robert Wood, 47, of Northumberland, David Roy Wood, 51, of Newcastle, and Brian Thompson, 50, of Northumberland."

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Last UK rescue plane arrives in Tripoli

 Last UK rescue plane arrives in Tripoli: "government-chartered Boeing 737 has 148 seats - there are thought to be about 50 UK nationals in the city.

It is not certain how long the plane will be able to remain at the airport.

Foreign Secretary William Hague had earlier urged all Britons in Tripoli to go to the airport. Efforts are also continuing to rescue 200-300 British oil workers in remote locations.

A further 70 Britons arrived in Malta in the early hours of Saturday after being taken out of Libya by sea on HMS Cumberland.

They endured a 35-hour journey from the Libyan port of Benghazi on rough seas.

They were among a total of 207 people evacuated from the port by the British naval ship which Mr Hague said would return to Benghazi on Sunday to pick any others wishing to leave. A second warship, HMS York, is also being sent."

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Britain paid Libyan officials 'bribes' to allow rescue flights to land at Tripoli airport | Mail Online

Britain paid Libyan officials 'bribes' to allow rescue flights to land at Tripoli airport | Mail Online: "Britain has paid what one senior government figure called ‘bribes’ to Libyan officials in order to get British citizens home.

Officials were forced to hand over more than £11,000 of taxpayers’ money to Colonel Gaddafi’s government for every one of the rescue flights that have landed at Tripoli airport.

The cost to the public purse is already in excess of £70,000 and could rise to six figures as ministers race to pull out the remaining Britons before a full blown civil war erupts."

Man who murdered brother during 2006 gang brawl convicted

Man who murdered brother during 2006 gang brawl convicted (From Wandsworth Guardian): "A wanted man who fled to Pakistan for four years has been convicted of the murder of one of two brothers during a mass gang brawl in Tooting in April 2006.

Imran Aslam, 28 from Tooting, was found guilty of the murder of 28-year-old Hayder Ali, from Southfields but acquitted of the murder of his brother Mohammad Ali, 29, from Battersea.

The verdict was handed down at the Old Bailey yesterday.

More than 30 youths and men were involved in a “frenzied” clash in Fircroft Road, which saw knives, tools, metal poles, baseball bats and even a wooden board used to advertise a nearby Indian restaurant used as weapons."

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Revealed: Top 20 postcodes for car crime

Revealed: Top 20 postcodes for car crime | This is Money: "The research also revealed that a large number of postcode areas actually had no cars registered stolen or broken into last year.

Our car insurance postcode breaker will show you much you can expect to pay on average according to your postcode.

In terms for cars being stolen, the number one spot is a surprise: a rural Scottish postcode of AB34 in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire is a magnet for car thefts.

Completing the top three are B94 (Solihull, West Midlands) and CH64 (Neston, Cheshire)."

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Hunt goes on for three more suspects over Eccles shopworker killing

Hunt goes on for three more suspects over Eccles shopworker killing | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk: "Tanveer Akbar, 30, alleged to be a senior member of Bolton’s Castle Street gang, is believed to have ordered the shooting and to have orchestrated it from Amsterdam. He disappeared in the aftermath.

Car hire boss Gulfan ‘Gogo’ Khan, 36, believed by detectives to be a senior figure in Oldham’s underworld, is suspected of having played a key role in organising the shooting. His business partner was Hafiz. Khan disappeared while on bail after his brother was shot dead in an internal feud.

Mohammed Safdar, 30 – alleged to have links to both the Castle Street and Glodwick gangs – is also alleged to have organised the shooting while in Amsterdam. He also skipped bail. All three men are understood to be in Pakistan. Every port in Britain has been alerted that they are wanted – so GMP will know the moment they set foot back here.

The court heard the Castle Street gang turned to Oldham gangster Mohammed Hafiz and his Glodwick-based cohorts for help sending out a warning to their rivals."

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Supergran batters robbery gang with her handbag

Supergran batters robbery gang with her handbag  "AN angry gran shocks a gang of sledgehammer-wielding robbers – as she clobbers them with her handbag.

The brave woman in her 70s was captured on video yesterday running across a road to batter the thugs. Wearing a red coat, she hit three of the six robbers and one of them fell off his moped as he tried to get away.

He was held down by a member of the public until police arrived. Witness Sarah-Jane Brown said: “She was amazing. We were ­terrified but she ran down the road with her handbag in the air. She did not seem scared.”

The gang had tried to carry out a smash and grab raid at Michael Jones jewellers in Northampton but staff activated metal shutters to protect the windows. Five men have been arrested."

Malcolm Webster staged copycat plot car crashes to kill 2 wives for cash

Malcolm Webster staged copycat plot car crashes to kill 2 wives for cash | Mail Online: "A male nurse murdered his first wife then tried to kill his second wife in a copycat attack in a scheme to make hundreds of thousands of pounds, a court was told yesterday.

Malcolm Webster, 51, is alleged to have drugged first wife Claire Morris and staged a car crash.

It is claimed Webster torched the vehicle while the 32-year-old was unconscious inside before cashing in insurance policies payable on her death in 1994."

Scottish low-level offenders 'will do manual labour'

BBC News - Scottish low-level offenders 'will do manual labour': "A new law has come into force across Scotland which means low-level criminals can be ordered to do manual labour instead of serving time in jail.

From now on, courts will be encouraged to consider imposing a Community Payback Order as an alternative to jail terms of less than three months.

It means offenders can be tasked with removing graffiti or renovation work.

Labour said it was a 'dark day for justice' but ministers said jail was the right place for serious offenders.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: 'But at the other end of the scale, we need to address Scotland's appalling reoffending rate for low-level offenders.

'These offenders are going in and out of prison, time and time again and committing more crime in communities upon release."

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Are we ready for gangbos? « UK Human Rights Blog

Are we ready for gangbos? « UK Human Rights Blog: "Police and local councils gained new powers yesterday to deal with gang-related violence and crime.

The new ‘gang injunctions’, or “gangbos”, which can be sought in the county courts against adults suspected of gang involvement, function in a similar way to ASBOs (anti-social behaviour orders), although they aim to target people involved in shootings, knife crime and other serious violence rather than low-level anti-social behaviour. But will they be a helpful measure to curb gang violence, or an unnecessary restriction on liberty?

The injunctions are tailored to individuals and can involve being banned from entering certain areas, owning certain animals (such as dangerous dogs), wearing gang ‘colours’, or even using the internet. But the injunctions are not all about prohibitions; they might also impose requirements to take part in activities designed to break the individual away from gang culture, such as mentoring schemes.

The new powers were brought in by the previous government following Birmingham City Council’s failed attempt to get injunctions against suspected gang members (the Court of Appeal held that they needed to apply for an ASBO instead)."

Gang injunctions just criminalise poor communities | George Lavender | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Gang injunctions just criminalise poor communities | George Lavender | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "Gang injunctions are not solutions to social ills, nor do they make our streets safer' says Jerry Elster, a former gang member from South Central Los Angeles and an organiser with All of Us or None. 'What they are successful at is criminalising impoverished communities'.

This week, gang injunction powers similar to those in the US came into force in England and Wales. Introduced by the last Labour government, gang orders are civil orders that will be used by local authorities and police to restrict the freedoms of people they identify as members of 'gangs'. A lower standard of evidence for a civil order will make it easier to issue gang injunctions since identification of gang members can be based on no more than informal hearsay evidence from police officers.

Gang injunctions were first used in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Thirty years later, those original injunctions are still in force. They have become increasingly popular among local government and police, mainly in California but increasingly nationally as a way to get federal funding for extra policing and to push forward gentrification, under the guise of tackling street crime."

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UK Online Crime Map Crashes After Getting 18 Million Hits an Hour

UK Online Crime Map Crashes After Getting 18 Million Hits an Hour: "A British website showing block-by-block crime statistics crashed within a few hours of going online today after public interest overwhelmed servers.

The site, police.uk, crashed after receiving as many as 300,000 hits a minute, or 18 million an hour, The Press Association reported.

'Most popular gov website ever?' the British Home Office wrote on Twitter. 'Demand for new #crime maps at around 300k a minute, equivalent to 18m hits an hr. Working hard to make sure everyone can access.'

The site is intended to allow people to gauge levels of crime and police activity in neighborhoods in England and Wales. It breaks down crime into six categories: burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violence, other crime and anti-social behavior, BBC News said."

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Police hunt US-bought guns smuggled in hold luggage

BBC News - Police hunt US-bought guns smuggled in hold luggage: "Weapons smuggled into the UK from the US in hold luggage are being hunted by police, it has been revealed.

American Steven Greenoe, 37, is accused in the US of smuggling 62 guns into the UK, including Glock and Ruger 9mm pistols.

Police fear many were sold on to criminal gangs in north-west England.

Documents posted in US courts reveal US officials questioned Mr Greenoe about the dismantled guns in his luggage, but he talked his way on to a flight.

One of the weapons allegedly bought by Mr Greenoe has been linked to a drive-by shooting in Wythenshawe, Manchester, last October, in which a man was hit in the leg."

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Woman badly injured in dog attack

Woman badly injured in dog attack - Home News, UK - The Independent: "47-year-old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being attacked by a dog at a private address, police said today.

Officers said the condition of the victim, who suffered injuries to her arm and head in the incident in the Holmcroft area of Stafford, was not thought to be life-threatening.

A Staffordshire Police spokesman confirmed that a second woman, thought to be the owner of the Staffordshire bull terrier, was assisting with inquiries into the attack, which happened at about 5pm yesterday.

'The dog was seized by police and is being kennelled securely away from the public, pending the outcome of the investigation,' the spokesman added."

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Britain's most crime-ridden streets revealed by police map

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Brighton gangster jailed after kidnap and torture (From The Argus)

Brighton gangster jailed after kidnap and torture (From The Argus): "violent drug dealer who kidnapped and tortured his teenage girlfriends has been jailed indefinitely.

Steven “Dollar” Wilson is deemed so dangerous he will have to serve at least 10 years before he can even be considered for parole.

He will only then be released if he is no longer a danger to the public or the women whose lives he tried to control.

Baby-faced Wilson, 35, kidnapped both his victims and subjected them to vicious beatings during fits of drug-fuelled jealous rage.

One was snatched off the streets and bundled into a car outside Hove station in front of horrified witnesses when she was just 16."

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Yorkshire gangster's wife faces jail - Yorkshire Evening Post

Yorkshire gangster's wife faces jail - Yorkshire Evening Post: "The wife of a Leeds crime boss is facing jail after admitting laundering hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Maxine Valentine, 36, whose gangster husband Dennis Slade is serving life for robbery and conspiracy to murder, was told yesterday that prison was 'almost inevitable'."

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Asbos to be used against 2012 ticket touts

Asbos to be used against 2012 ticket touts - Crime, UK - The Independent: "Asbos will be among the battery of legal weapons to hit ticket touts and fraudsters targeting the London 2012 Games, Scotland Yard said today.

Talks have already begun for them to face tight bail conditions, possibly including a ban from the Olympic venues, and assets will be seized.

There are no guarantees that London 2012 will be a tout-free zone but 'we will put the fear on them using every possible legislation that we can', vowed Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the National Olympic Security Co-ordinator.

With 6.6 million Olympic tickets due to go on sale on March 15, touting is currently the top priority for Operation Podium, the police team set up to deal with serious and organised criminal networks looking to exploit the Olympics.

There have been 10 operations and 37 arrests, including for fraud offences, in the past six months.

The unit is currently running 16 operations aimed at frustrating criminals so much in the run-up to 2012, by preventing and disrupting their deeds, that they do not bother to target the Games."

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Romanian sex trafficking crime family jailed in UK | Catatanku

Romanian sex trafficking crime family jailed in UK | Catatanku: "A judge jailed a Romanian for 21 years and the man’s father for six years Wednesday for trafficking girls and women — including one of their own relations — into the UK to force them to become sex slaves, a spokeswoman for Manchester Crown Court said.

Marius Nejloveanu, 23, and his father Bogdan, 51, deceived at least five women, then aged between 15 and 23 years old, into coming to England and making them work as prostitutes in Manchester, Birmingham and on the continent.

“Each of them was identified as a potential victim either because they were young, could be isolated from their family, were low in intelligence or for some reason easily persuaded to come to the UK,” prosecuting lawyer Rachel Smith said during the trial."

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'Custody battle' gunman kills himself after 16 hour siege with armed police | Mail Online

'Custody battle' gunman kills himself after 16 hour siege with armed police | Mail Online: "The gunman who shot himself following a 16-hour siege in Luton had been denied access to his children by a girlfriend.

The man, whose name is believed to be Steven, was in the middle of a custody battle when he took his own life using a sawn-off shotgun this morning.

Police had been negotiating with the man on a football pitch, at Leagrave Common, in the Bedfordshire town, since 8pm last night.

But just before 12pm today, a shot rang out across the playing fields and he fell to the ground."

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Shot after ‘grass’ Facebook claim

Shot after ‘grass’ Facebook claim | The Sun |News: "A MAN was shot on a doorstep four hours after he was pictured and named as a police informant on Facebook.
Domenico Masciopinto, 30, had a bullet removed from his chest in hospital.

He is said to be 'critical but stable' after the attack eight days ago. He was named as a grass after records at a Bedford police station were doctored.

As rumours spread around the town, someone posted on Facebook what appeared to be a police computer screen grab with his picture, claiming he had been a grass since 2009. It is not known if he is an informant. Police said a 27-year-old civilian member of custody staff at the nick was charged with misconduct and neglecting to perform his duty.

He was remanded in custody to appear at St Albans Crown Court on February 1.

Another man was being questioned yesterday over the shooting and the doctoring of custody records. Malik Blackburn, of Bedford, will face Hatfield Magistrates' Court today.

Sources said police files would not reveal if anyone was an informant."

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Handguns are weapon of choice in gang murders - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

Handguns are weapon of choice in gang murders - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie: "Handguns were used in 19 gangland murders last year, new figures show.

Garda statistics reveal there were 54 murders committed in 2010, a drop of two on the previous year.

A shotgun was the chosen weapon in four of the fatalities, while there were 15 stabbings with knives, and one with a garden shears, which resulted in the death of troubled west Dublin youth, Daniel McAnaspie.

The detection rate for the gangland murders committed in 2009 was 29pc at the end of the year but has since increased to 41pc, while the corresponding rate for last year is currently 26pc.

The overall murder detection rate for 2010 is 67pc, compared with 68pc the previous year."

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Smugglers hid cigarettes from Eastern Europe to avoid £10m tax duty jailed | Mail Online

Smugglers hid cigarettes from Eastern Europe to avoid £10m tax duty jailed | Mail Online: "Nine members of a smuggling ring which helped the Italian Mafia flood Britain with millions of black market cigarettes were jailed for more than 30 years today.

The offenders teamed up with a notorious family to sneak contraband tobacco past customs inside consignments of pickled vegetables, dog food and orange juice.

Prosecutors estimate the gang ripped off the taxpayer by up to £10m by evading duty on the cheap imports from Eastern Europe.

Wine merchant Peter Vyse, who was described as the 'main organiser' was jailed for seven years for masterminding the scam - the maximum sentence available."

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Teenager hurt in suspected shooting

 Teenager hurt in suspected shooting: "18-year-old man has been taken to hospital after an incident which may have involved a firearm.
The teenager was taken by ambulance from Frith Road, Dover, Kent, to the William Harvey Hospital at 8pm on Monday.
The Dover Grammar School for Girls is located in the street where the incident happened.
A Kent Police spokesman would not confirm whether a firearm was involved in the incident, but said there was a 'spontaneous incident in Frith Road'.
A spokeswoman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said: 'We were called to that address at about 8pm and an 18-year-old male was conveyed to the William Harvey Hospital.
'We do not have any details of his injuries.'
The spokeswoman said she could not confirm whether a firearm had been involved in the injuries suffered by the man.
Jackie Bowles, landlady of The Louis Armstrong pub in nearby Maison Dieu Road, said: 'There's lots of police activity and helicopters.
'They've shut the end of Salisbury Road and Bridge Street. The main activity seems to be at the grammar school.
'The police are just saying they've had an incident, but the word on the street is there's been a shooting.'"

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Terror kingpin Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair is prime suspect as dodgy cigarettes flood Scotland - The Daily Record

Terror kingpin Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair is prime suspect as dodgy cigarettes flood Scotland - The Daily Record: "MOBSTER Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair can today be exposed as the top target for crime-busters probing a huge cigarette smuggling operation.
Police and Customs believe the convicted terror chief, whose paramilitaries were suspected of 40 murders, is now the Mr Big of a tobacco trafficking gang.
Crooks are doing a roaring trade at street markets across Scotland, selling tonsof cigarettesandrolling tobacco supplied by Chinese black marketeers.
And Customs men and police believe Adair's gang control the trade in Ayrshire, where he settled after his old UDA cronies hounded him out of Belfast.
A source said: 'Adair's name frequently crops up. They're known as Adair's gang.
'He is target number one. 'Given Adair's background in violence, murder and organised crime, some might see fake fags in Ayrshire as a form of semi-retirement. But the money to be made by those controlling the trade is massive.
'It's an attractive proposition to criminals, who risk much heavier sentences if they are caught dealing drugs.'"

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Government accused of cover-up after Ford Prison riot (From The Argus)

Government accused of cover-up after Ford Prison riot (From The Argus): "Government has been accused of staging a cover-up by refusing to publish a report into the New Year’s Day riot at Ford Prison.

The Ministry of Justice’s decision to keep the findings of its inquiry into the £3 million rampage under wraps has provoked criticism from prison officers and the community living near the open prison.

Burnt-out buildings at the prison, near Arundel, were being bulldozed (pictured) this week as independent monitors revealed the Prison Service had been warned about low staff numbers weeks before 40 inmates torched the prison’s B Wing.

Only two prison officers and four support staff were guarding about 500 men on the night of New Year’s Eve, when efforts to breathalyse inmates triggered a mutiny which lasted well into the following day."

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Forty new legal highs made in China are being sold in Britain - Telegraph

Forty new legal highs made in China are being sold in Britain - Telegraph: "Experts monitoring the appearance of so-called 'legal highs' in the UK, claim a new generation of drugs that circumvent the country's laws has been created in China by unscrupulous chemists and then exported to the UK.
Figures compiled by the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs reveal that 40 new synthetic drugs appeared on sale in the UK during 2010. In the previous year there were 24 new drugs identified. In 2008 there were just 13.
Drug treatment experts said that young people taking the drugs were playing 'Russian roulette' with their lives.
It comes after a row last year over the ban on one designer drug called mephedrone, or meow meow, when a leading Government drugs advisor warned the move would cause users to turn to other more dangerous synthetic alternatives.
Many of the new compounds are based on illegal drugs which have been tweaked so as not to be covered by the list of banned substances."

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7/7 hero jailed over £100 mln drug ring

7/7 hero jailed over £100 mln drug ring: "A firefighter honoured for his bravery during the aftermath of the July 7 bombings has been jailed for 14 years for smuggling 110 kg of cocaine into Britain.
Simon Ford, 41, won a London Fire Brigade Gold Award after risking his life to pull victims from the bus blown up in London's Tavistock Square in July 2005.
But the fireman was jailed last year after admitting he was a key player in a £100 million cocaine and money-laundering operation.
His conviction was revealed to the public for the first time on Wednesday after the 35th and final member of the gang was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court and reporting restrictions were lifted."