Stockwell shooting victims remain in critical condition

five-year-old girl believed to be the youngest victim of London's escalating gang shootings has been named as Thusha Kamaleswaran. She was gravely injured on Tuesday night when shot in the chest by teenagers on bicycles who opened fire on a south London shop, while trying to kill two rival gang members hiding inside.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said her condition remains "critical but stable" in hospital.

A 35-year-old man, believed to live upstairs from the shop in Stockwell, south London, was also shot in the face and critically injured. Both victims are of Sri Lankan origin. The girl was visiting relatives at the shop with her family when the shooting started, just after 9pm.

Community sources say the area has been plagued by youth gang violence that has spiked in recent months. Police introduced hardline section 60 stop-and-search powers covering a large swath of the borough, meaning they can search somebody without suspecting an offence has been committed.

Police say two youths ran into the Stockwell Food and Wine shop seeking shelter from three boys pursuing them on bicycles. One opened fire, shooting into the shop with handguns, it is believed, and then fled.

Kirubakaran Nantheesparan, a family friend of the shop owners, saw the lead-up to, and aftermath of, the shooting. "They were screaming at each other and throwing bottles," he said. "Then I saw one pull out a gun and fire the shots. I saw the gun right next to me. I heard the shots fired and we all backed down.

"At first we thought they had been hit by bottles but there was too much blood.

"We didn't know that the girl had been shot. She was lying down in the shop in shock.

"The girl was lying on the ground and the mum ran over to her. She screamed: 'Call the police, call the police!' There was so much blood."

Mareh Silva, 34, who was coming out of the shop, said she saw three boys, aged between 14 and 17, drop their bikes outside. She said their faces were covered with black scarves and balaclavas and she could only see their eyes as they ran into the shop. "I looked in and saw a lot of blood on the floor but I didn't want to look at what had happened; I was very scared."

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Boughton urged the intended targets to come forward: "They are an important part in helping us understand exactly what was happening and should be able to direct us to those responsible."

A youth worker, who gave only the name Jason, said one of the targets was an 18-year-old man he knew. "It's just fights and retaliation. It's nothing to do with drugs. It's a back-and-forth dispute."

Community sources said the viciousness of the gang wars was shown by an incident last Thursday when a 16-year-old was stabbed in daylight in Brixton by up to 10 youths. The victim was wearing a stab vest and his attackers had plunged the knife into him about 20 times.

The three gangs involved in the violence in the borough of Lambeth include one called the GAS gang and another known as AMD.

Lee Jasper, an adviser on policing to former London mayor Ken Livingstone, said: "Lambeth is in the grip of a vicious war between three gangs. Every week there are casualties. This tragedy is the latest of a series of vicious attacks over the last month. Attempting to tackle this issue through enforcement alone will not work. That's been the main strategic approach of the last three years and we are still seeing a rise in youth violence, violence generally."

READ MORE - Stockwell shooting victims remain in critical condition

More than 500 violent crimes have taken place in the Russian army since January,

More than 500 violent crimes have taken place in the Russian army since January, the country’s military prosecutor-general has said, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Russian Service.

Two soldiers have been killed recently and more than 20 injured as a result of crime, Prosecutor-General Sergei Fridinsky said Friday, adding that 23 criminal cases, six of which were serious offenses, were initially covered up by army commanders.

A 16 percent increase in the rate of crimes related to hazing and violence in army barracks this year in comparison to 2010 is worrying, Fridinsky said.

Investigations have shown that some of the recent violence is ethnic-based, Fridinsky added.

READ MORE - More than 500 violent crimes have taken place in the Russian army since January,

National Transportation Safety Board said the veteran air traffic controller who was staffing the tower at Washington Reagan National Airport early Wednesday has admitted he was napping

National Transportation Safety Board said the veteran air traffic controller who was staffing the tower at Washington Reagan National Airport early Wednesday has admitted he was napping when two airplanes tried unsuccessfully to contact the tower.

Said the NTSB:

"The controller in the tower at the time of the incident, along with other FAA officials at DCA [Washington National], were interviewed by the NTSB today. The controller, who had 20 years' experience, 17 of those at DCA, indicated that he had fallen asleep for a period of time while on duty. He had been working his fourth consecutive overnight shift (10 pm - 6 am). Human fatigue issues are one of the areas being investigated."
Here's the timeline from the NTSB about the incident, which began late Tuesday and continued into early Wednesday:

• 11:55 pm - The tower controller's last radio transmission before the service interruption.
• 12:04 a.m. - FAA approach controllers at the regional TRACON facility told American Airlines Flight 1012, from Miami to Washington National, to contact the Washington tower. (The NTSB report says the flight was from Dallas/Fort Worth. We think it was coming from Miami.)
• American pilots made "numerous attempts to contact the DCA tower," then executed a missed approach. They then told the TRACON controllers than they couldn't make contact with the airport tower.
• TRACON controllers vectored the American plane back to the airport for another approach.
• TRACON personnel tried unsuccessfully to call the controller at Washington National by telephone, then advised the American crew to handle their landing as an arrival at an uncontrolled airport.
• 12:12 a.m. - The American pilots landed at the airport after again being unable to reach the controller.
• 12:22 a.m. - TRACON personnel informed pilots on United Airlines Flight 628T from Chicago O'Hare International Airport about the problem. The United pilots weren't able to raise the tower, either.
• 12:26 a.m. - The United flight landed at the airport after making position reports on the unresponsive tower frequency during its approach.
• 12:28 a.m. - The American pilots, with their airplane on the ground, established "contact with the tower controller."

The NTSB, in its update on the incident, noted that it had recommended Monday that the Federal Aviation Administration prohibit air traffic controllers from both supervising air controllers and handling air traffic at the same time.

READ MORE - National Transportation Safety Board said the veteran air traffic controller who was staffing the tower at Washington Reagan National Airport early Wednesday has admitted he was napping

Haiti-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has been released from hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound to his hand

Haiti-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has been released from hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound to his hand, his spokesman has said.

The shooting took place after 2300 local time on Saturday near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said Joe Mignon, senior programme director for Jean's Yele Foundation.

The shooting comes on the eve of presidential elections in Haiti.

Jean, 41, is supporting fellow musician Michel Martelly.

Jean's brother, Samuel, confirmed his sibling was shot but had no further details.

Jean's Twitter feed stated: "We have spoken to Wyclef, he is OK. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers - Management."

A spokesman for the Haitian National Police could not be immediately reached for comment.

The presidential election was originally scheduled for 2010, but was delayed due to the devastating earthquake that struck the country in January last year. It killed an estimated 230,000 people and left more than one million homeless.

Jean had intended last year to run for president but last August, Haiti's electoral council ruled that Jean was not eligible to run for president in his home country.

It was because he did not meet a requirement that presidential candidates maintain five consecutive years of residency in the country before running.

He withdrew his bid and said he planned to release an album, called If I Were President: The Haitian Experience, in 2011.

READ MORE - Haiti-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has been released from hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound to his hand

busted the world's largest internet pedophile group,

European Police Agency officials say that they've busted the world's largest internet pedophile group, which is thought to have over 700,000 members and span 30 countries. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the network ran through an online forum that led into a private channel, boylover.net, where participants shared photos and information about children. Over the past three years, authorities infiltrated the ring by posing as pedophiles. UK police say that 184 have been arrested through 'Operation Rescue,' and an additional 670 suspects and 230 victims have been identified across Australia, Italy, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand. According to the BBC, the 240 suspects named in the UK include "police officers, teachers and youth leaders," as well as one woman.

READ MORE - busted the world's largest internet pedophile group,

Fraud rings once active in China and Taiwan have relocated to Southeast Asian countries

Fraud rings once active in China and Taiwan have relocated to Southeast Asian countries after Beijing and Taipei reinforced cooperation in fighting cross-border crime, senior Taiwanese police officers said.
These criminal organizations swindled money from victims in Taiwan by calling them and “warning” them of “potential financial losses” because of supposed system failures.
However, many of these crime rings were driven from Taiwan to China after police intensified moves to crack down on telecommunications fraud, said a senior officer at the Criminal Investigation Bureau, who declined to be named.
Following the signing in April 2009 of an agreement between Taiwan and China to launch joint efforts to combat crime and provide mutual judicial assistance, fraud activities across the Taiwan Strait also dropped.
Citing data from Taiwan and China, the officer said that under the cross-strait cooperation pact, 218 fraud suspects were arrested in Taiwan and China in June last year.
Two months later, another 450 suspects were arrested, the police officer said.
As the crackdown on the fraud rings intensified, the bureau discovered that they were relocating to Southeast Asian cities, including Bangkok and Pattaya in Thailand, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.
He said these cities had become havens for criminals because of their geographic proximity to Taiwan and China and the presence of Chinese-speaking communities, which have the means to transfer money to or from Taiwan or China.
It is like “the relocation of an industry,” the officer said.
Bureau statistics show there were 2,070 fewer telephone fraud cases last year, with losses declining by NT$862.46 million (US$29.26 million).
Internet fraud also dropped, with 2,342 fewer cases last year than the year before, and losses declining by NT$392.59 million, data showed.
These efforts have not totally eradicated the problem, however, because of the increasingly sophisticated technology employed by criminals, police officers in the bureau’s crime investigation and prevention sections said.

READ MORE - Fraud rings once active in China and Taiwan have relocated to Southeast Asian countries

Thai court sentenced the operator of an anti-government website Tuesday to 13 years imprisonment on charges of defaming the monarchy and violating the computer crime act.

Thai court sentenced the operator of an anti-government website Tuesday to 13 years imprisonment on charges of defaming the monarchy and violating the computer crime act.

The action represented the latest challenge to online free speech during an extended period of political stress for the Southeast Asian country.


The Criminal Court gave Thanthawut Taweewarodomkul 10 years on a charge of defaming the monarchy, or lese majeste. He received another three years after being found guilty of breaching a broadly defined Computer Crime Act. He has denied the charges.

The 38-year-old ran a website affiliated with the anti-government Red Shirt movement whose aggressive street protests last year deteriorated into violence and were quashed by the army. The crackdown killed 91 people and injured 1,400.

Thanthawut was arrested at his home in a suburb of Bangkok last April while the protests were still raging.

Thailand's constitution guarantees freedom of speech but the government has blocked access to thousands of web pages it considers subversive, saying that defense of the monarchy is a priority.

The 2007 Computer Crime Act addresses hacking and other traditional online offenses, but also bars the circulation of material deemed detrimental to national security or that causes panic. It carries a penalty of up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 baht ($3,285).

The lese majeste law mandates a jail term of three to 15 years for "whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the regent."

Critics say it is mostly used as a weapon to punish political opponents, since almost any critical comment touching on the monarchy can be construed as disloyalty to the institution.

Sensitivity over criticism of the monarchy has increased in recent years as the poor health of 83-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej has elevated concern about a smooth succession. At the same time, sharp partisan political battles in the wake of a 2006 military coup have unleashed unprecedented questioning of established institutions, including the palace

READ MORE - Thai court sentenced the operator of an anti-government website Tuesday to 13 years imprisonment on charges of defaming the monarchy and violating the computer crime act.

Swedish tourist is in police custody in Phuket for the alleged theft of 85 Nokia mobile phones from a delivery vehicle in Patong.

Swedish tourist is in police custody in Phuket for the alleged theft of 85 Nokia mobile phones from a delivery vehicle in Patong.

Patong Police duty officer Weerapong Rakkittoo identified the suspect as John Redling, age 38.

The devices were reported stolen from a delivery vehicle in the basement parking lot of the Jungceylon shopping complex on March 3.

Following a one-week investigation, the Swede was arrested in his Nanai Road apartment on Thursday.

Suphon Tinphoe and Jiraporn Thonghoon of Nokia distributor Silk Telecom Co Ltd reported an unspecified number of telephones stolen from the cab of their delivery pickup on March 3, Capt Weerapong said.

The subsequent police investigation and stock check put the number of missing phones at 85, all Nokias.

Police said a call to one of the stolen phones was picked up by one Sinchai Ladleua, a resident of Kathu Municipality.

Police declined to say how they were able to call the mobile phone. Mobile phones are usually fitted with SIM cards after retail purchase in Thailand, allowing customers a selection of different numbers to choose from.

Capt Weerapong would only say that a “special police technique” allowed investigators to place the call.

Under questioning at Thung Thong Police Station, Mr Sinchai said he bought the telephone from Poramate “Karn” Deesamer, a 34-year-old resident of Nanai Road in Patong.

Another woman called in for questioning, Waraporn Jaidee, likewise reported having bought a phone from Mr Poramate.

Subsequent investigation led police to the home of Mr Poramate, where eight more phones were recovered.

Mr Poramate told police he bought the phones from Reuthairat Raksasin, a 29-year-old resident of Khon Kaen working in Patong.

Police set up a sting operation in which Mr Poramate called Ms Reuthairat to arrange an appointment to buy more mobile phones, Capt Weerapong said.

Police accompanied Mr Poramate to the Nanai Road apartment of Mr Redling, where Ms Reuthairat was also staying.

Twenty-four telephones matching the serial numbers of the stolen devices were found in the room.

Mr Poramate and Ms Reuthairat were charged with receipt and sale of stolen goods.

Mr Redling was charged with the theft of 85 mobile phones.

He denied the charges, however, telling the Phuket Gazette that he acquired the telephones “duty free” and gave them to Ms Reuthairat to sell because she was short of money.

Ms Reuthairat was not the only one in financial distress, however.

Capt Weerapong said his investigation revealed that the permit-to-stay in Mr Redling’s passport had expired 10 days earlier.

He was also two months behind in his rent and 20,000 baht behind on vehicle payments, he added.

Mr Redling told the Gazette he was a carpenter in Sweden and a regular visitor to Phuket.

He had been coming to Phuket annually for the past five years and planned to stay two weeks on his current visit.

Given the speed of the Thai criminal justice system, he now faces the prospect of a much longer stay.

Patong Police have thus far recovered 52 of the 85 missing telephones.

They are calling on members of the public who may have bought one of the phones to contact them so they can be returned to their rightful owner.

Mr Poramate sold the phones for as little as 500 baht each, Capt Weerapong said.

READ MORE - Swedish tourist is in police custody in Phuket for the alleged theft of 85 Nokia mobile phones from a delivery vehicle in Patong.

The mayor, Eddie Espinoza, allegedly served as a so-called straw buyer for 22 pistols, and he leased an apartment in a gated El Paso, Texas complex that was used to store weapons

The mayor, Eddie Espinoza, allegedly served as a so-called straw buyer for 22 pistols, and he leased an apartment in a gated El Paso, Texas complex that was used to store weapons, according to the indictment.

Police Chief Angelo Vega allegedly bought bullet-proof vests and other body armor to be smuggled, participated in a cash pickup in Albuquerque, and twice called federal agents to try to intercede on behalf of a village councilman, Blas Gutierrez, according to the indictment. Mr. Gutierrez is also accused in the smuggling scheme.

Lawyers for Mr. Espinoza and Mr. Gutierrez said they expected their clients to plead not guilty at Tuesday's arraignment. In the government indictment, the lawyers said, federal authorities presented neither an explanation of how the weapons were transported into Mexico nor their clients' involvement in any alleged smuggling operation.

Mr. Vega's attorney declined to comment in an email, saying that information about the case is still sparse.

The accused gun smugglers are deeply intertwined with the community. Roberto Gutierrez, who owns the local grocery store and is a village councilman, is now the acting mayor. He has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. Among those arrested were his brother-in-law—the mayor—as well as his son, the councilman, a daughter and a nephew.

"It's a very trying time for our family," Mr. Gutierrez said. He said he wasn't aware his relatives were allegedly involved in any illegal business.


"Under the law," he said, "you're innocent until proven guilty."

READ MORE - The mayor, Eddie Espinoza, allegedly served as a so-called straw buyer for 22 pistols, and he leased an apartment in a gated El Paso, Texas complex that was used to store weapons

Where’s Hoffa’s body?

. Where’s Hoffa’s body? Perhaps the longest-running mystery in modern times is the death and location of union boss Jimmy Hoffa. The American Labor Union leader disappeared in 1975 after arranging to meet two Mafia bosses in Detroit. Seems a pretty clear-cut story right? The Mafia making someone ‘disappear’? That’s right, but the mystery here isn’t who, but where and how Hoffa was killed. Upon investigation, the FBI determined that the two Mafia bosses weren’t even in Detroit at the time of the disappearance. The last person to see Hoffa was a truck driver who was nearly hit by a car pulling out of a restaurant parking lot. Hoffa was allegedly sitting in the back-seat of the car next to a shotgun. Theories abound as to the final resting place of the union boss including him being buried under a pool in Michigan, in concrete used to build the NY Mets’ stadium, and underneath the Giants’ Mettlands stadium. Sadly, the latter location was recently torn down and paved over with 12 feet of concrete, so it looks like we’ll never really know.

READ MORE - Where’s Hoffa’s body?

The tapes Frank Jr. recorded resulted in the 2007 "Operation Family Secrets" trial in Chicago. Fourteen members of the Chicago mafia were indicted for a variety of crimes, including 18 murders and one attempted murder.

When Frank Calabrese Jr. was a teenager, his father came home one night and took him into the bathroom for a chat.

"He used to like to talk in the bathroom with the fan going and the water running in case there was any kind of bugs in the house," says Frank Jr. "I could just see his adrenaline going. And he was telling me that they killed somebody, and the reason they did it was because the guy was dealing drugs and he was disobeying his boss. He's telling me this and I'm thinking, 'Is this what other kids hear when they come home and their father comes home from work?' "

But Frank Calabrese Sr. was no ordinary father. He was one of the central figures in the Chicago mafia, responsible for a series of loansharking and illegal gambling operations. He was also suspected of murdering several people — but the FBI didn't have the evidence to pin those crimes on him.

In 1997, Frank Sr. was sent to prison along with his brother Nick and Frank Jr. on a series of racketeering charges. The feds had enough evidence to keep him in jail for 118 months — meaning Frank Sr. would have been a free man when he turned 70.

But then Frank Jr. wrote a letter to the FBI, offering to help bring down his father's murderous Chicago crime family.

"[I wrote that] I didn't want immunity. I didn't want any kind of deal. I didn't want to lose any time, but I want[ed] to help [the government] keep my father locked up."

The reasoning, says Frank Jr., was that his father was dangerous and should never be a free man. He agreed to wear a wire while talking to his father in the prison yard about the Calabrese family's alleged crimes.

"I didn't push anything," he says. "And my father [had] taught me two ways to get a guy to talk: Either feed him a lot of liquor or get him mad. So we didn't have any liquor in jail, so I got my father mad. And the premise was that we were working on our relationship. So all this stuff he was talking about really wasn't forced."

During the recorded conversations, Frank Sr. admitted committing several murders "in great detail," says Frank Jr. He details his role in the sting that brought down his father in a new memoir, Operation Family Secrets.

The tapes Frank Jr. recorded resulted in the 2007 "Operation Family Secrets" trial in Chicago. Fourteen members of the Chicago mafia were indicted for a variety of crimes, including 18 murders and one attempted murder. Three defendants, including Frank Sr., were sentenced to life in jail. As part of the trial, Frank Jr. had to testify against his father. He says he felt confident the day he took the stand.

"I knew the day I wrote the letter that my life was going to change, and I knew that the day I did the letter that I would be sitting on the stand in the same room as my dad," he says. "What I never thought about was the emotion that would come over me as I walked in the courtroom after not seeing my dad. ... I wanted to run over and hug him. ... But after five minutes of being on the stand, it didn't take me long to have that love for my dad turn into hatred for my dad and remind me of what I [was] doing."

READ MORE - The tapes Frank Jr. recorded resulted in the 2007 "Operation Family Secrets" trial in Chicago. Fourteen members of the Chicago mafia were indicted for a variety of crimes, including 18 murders and one attempted murder.

A man was stabbed in the head at a gas station near Petaluma on Sunday night, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to an 8 p.m. report of a stabbing at a Gas Club
station at 4550 Redwood Highway South in unincorporated Sonoma County.

Arriving officers found a victim who had been stabbed several
times in the arm and once in the head near his left ear, investigators said.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment. The sheriff's
office has not released an update on his condition.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic man in his late teens or
early 20s, according to the sheriff's office. He was wearing a blue baseball
cap and dark clothing.

The suspect was a passenger in a maroon 1990s-model Toyota Camry
or Honda Accord that was occupied by at least two other males and a female.

READ MORE - A man was stabbed in the head at a gas station near Petaluma on Sunday night, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.