The brother of former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie has been arrested after a headless torso believed to be missing 29-year-old was dragged from a canal in east London, Sky News understands. Tony McCluskie remains in custody at an east London police station, sources say. Police have not yet confirmed the identity of the suspect The limbless body was discovered near to the Broadway Market stretch of Regent's Canal in Hackney at 2.40pm yesterday. "Police were initially contacted by a member of the public who had noticed something suspicious floating in the water," the Met Police said in a statement. "The torso was recovered by divers from the Met's Marine Support Unit and additional searches are due to be carried out in the water." Relatives and co-stars of 29-year-old Miss McCluskie were said by sources to be "fearing the worst", as Scotland Yard carried out forensic tests on the remains. Miss McCluskie starred in the soap as Kerry Skinner on more than 30 occasions in 2001. Her character arrived in Walford as a friend of Zoe Slater and the great niece of the late Ethel Skinner. She briefly dated Robbie Jackson and got him to propose to her. Brooke Kinsella turned to Twitter to appeal for help in finding Miss McCluskie Miss McCluskie disappeared from Bethnal Green, east London, last week. Friends had been carrying out searches in the area and handing out leaflets. Co-stars Brooke Kinsella and Natalie Cassidy both appealed for help finding her on Twitter. Kinsella, who has become a prominent anti-knife crime campaigner since her brother Ben was murdered in 2008, had tweeted: "Gemma McCluskie has been MISSING from Bethnal Green since Thursday please get in touch if you have seen her." Cassidy, who played Sonia in the soap, also posted on the website: "Gemma McCluskie, missing since Thurs, if u have sn her/have any info PLS contact @CarlyKarma ... #FindGemma." Officers believe they know the identity of the victim but are awaiting further forensic tests before formal identification can take place. The man being questioned by police is understood to be known to Miss McCluskie. He remains in custody at an east London police station. Detective Inspector John Nicholson, who is leading the murder inquiry, has appealed for witnesses.

 Comment By Professor Alan Stevens Drug gangs report blasting UK cities as dangerous is too confusing The problems are nowhere near as deep in Manchester or Liverpool as they are in Rio de Janeiro – or even San Francisco A masked municipal policeman stands outside a shopping mall in MexicoAP On one hand it is right to state that there are communities in British cities suffering from social exclusion and marginalisation and that this contributes to their drug and crime problems. But on the other, these ­problems are nowhere near as deep in Manchester or Liverpool as they are in Rio de Janeiro or Ciudad Juarez – or even San Francisco or Los Angeles. The problem with the INCB report is that the wording is unclear. It gives the impression that its comments on no-go areas could apply equally to all of these cities. But it should have been more careful in specifying which ones it was referring to. The cities in Central and South America have more extreme ­problems which come from bigger social inequalities. They are dramatically more affected by crime and health problems. For example, in the past few years in Rio there have been repeated attempts to crack down on the areas controlled by violent drug markets. For a while these places were no-go zones. But authorities have acted in a militaristic fashion in the past year as they prepare for the World Cup.

British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control, a United Nations drugs chief said yesterday. Professor Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), said there was “a vicious cycle of social exclusion and drugs problems and fractured communities” in cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The development of “no-go areas” was being fuelled by threats such as social inequality, migration and celebrities normalising drug abuse, he warned. Helping marginalised communities with drugs problems “must be a priority”, he said. “We are looking at social cohesion, the social disintegration and illegal drugs. “In many societies around the world, whether developed or developing, there are communities within the societies which develop which become no-go areas. “Drug traffickers, organised crime, drug users, they take over. They will get the sort of governance of those areas.” Prof Ghodse called for such communities to be offered drug abuse prevention programmes, treatment and rehabilitation services, and the same levels of educational, employment and recreational opportunities as in the wider society. The INCB’s annual report for 2011 found persistent social inequality, migration, emerging cultures of excess and a shift in traditional values were some of the key threats to social cohesion. As the gap between rich and poor widens, and “faced with a future with limited opportunities, individuals within these communities may increasingly become disengaged from the wider society and become involved in a range of personally and socially harmful behaviours, including drug abuse and drug dealing,” it said.

After eight years running a bar, Laura Maggi suddenly found men beating a path to her door.

Not for the quality of her coffee  and aperitifs, but because she had started appearing for work in highly revealing outfits.

Hundreds of male customers flocked there day and night, leaving their cars double parked in the surrounding streets.

Congestion became such a problem that the lady mayor announced she was considering an emergency bylaw to limit traffic in the area.

Causing controversy: Laura Maggi, 34, who runs a bar called Le Cafe, has dominated newspapers and TV chat shows, after pictures of her dressed in barely anything appeared on the internet

Pulling more than a pint: The women folk of Bagnolo Mella, near Brescia, which is where Manchester City ace Mario Balotelli is from, are up in arms and said that they had banned their partners from going to Le Cafe

Main attraction: On the walls of Le Cafe there are pictures of Laura, dressed in a bikini on holiday - while in other snaps she is wrapped in an American Stars and Stripes flag. Yet more pictures of her, semi-naked, have been turned into a calendar

You're not going anywhere: Bagnolo's mayor Cristina Almici has also banned her husband from going to Laura's bar and said: 'We have received several complaints from women in the town about the bar'

Now women in the small northern Italian town of Bagnolo Mella have declared Le Cafe out of bounds to their menfolk – and 34-year-old Miss Maggi has become a national celebrity.

Yesterday she was a guest on the Italian equivalent of This Morning and said: ‘I don’t see what the problem is – it’s just a bit of harmless fun. 

‘If the guys come here what can I do?

'I know I have upset the women but that’s not my problem.

'It’s not my fault if guys want to come and have a drink in my bar.’

She added that some customers were travelling up to 70 miles just to have a coffee in her bar.

On the walls of Le Cafe are pictures of Miss Maggi in a bikini on holiday. 

She has 5,000 new friends on Facebook while a local poll found that 46 per cent of respondents said partners of her male customers should be ‘asking themselves why their partners prefer Laura to them’.

Several wives from the town have been on TV to complain. One said: ‘It is outrageous and should not be allowed.

‘This town is quiet and respectable. Now we are known across the whole country because of the little amount of clothing this barmaid is wearing to serve drinks. 

‘The women in town are not very happy and we have complained to the council.’

Enjoyment: 'I don't see what the problem is - it's just a bit of harmless fun. I like to dress in an attractive way and I like to have fun,' Laura said on an Italian TV show

Selling point: 'If the guys come here, what can I do? I know I have upset the women but that's not my problem,' said the bar owner

Bagnolo’s mayor Cristina Almici said: ‘We have received several complaints from women about the bar and we are looking at what we can do with regard to public order.

‘There has been a huge influx of traffic into the town since the news of Laura started to spread and this has led to incidents of bad parking and some minor acts of vandalism.

‘We can’t stop people from going to her bar and I know it is very popular with men in the town – personally I don’t see any problem with how she looks or dresses. 

'If anything, it’s the men who go there who have a problem.’

She added, however: ‘My husband is certainly not allowed to go there.’

Crowd pleaser: 'People have been turning up from 70 miles away just to have a drink here,' says the proud bar lady

No blame: 'It's not my fault if guys want to come and have a drink in my bar,' says the owner 

Quiet town of Bagnolo Mella: An online poll in the local Brescia newspaper asked readers what their opinion was and the majority, 46%, said that women should be 'asking themselves why their partners prefer Laura to them'

 Add to those a snail-paced justice system and, a law society in Malaga that fails to scrutinize bent lawyers, and things start to look distinctly cloudy. Consider too that last week Spain’s top anti-corruption lawyer, Baltasar Garzon, was suspended from his post for illegally tapping the phones of lawyers, and most will come to the same conclusion. “Yes, corruption is certainly endemic in Spain,” says Gwilym Rhys-Jones, an Estepona-based financial expert. “Sadly there is a tradition of it and it became institutionalised since the late 1980s as nobody was dealing with it from the top down.” There is certainly nowhere better to highlight the problem than here on the Costa del Sol, where in Marbella for over two decades you could only get anything done if you were prepared to pay for it. Under the current Malaya corruption trial, centred around Marbella Town Hall, which has been going for over a year. Over a hundred councillors, mayors, businessmen and civil servants are currently on trial for taking backhanders totalling up to 2.4 billion euros. And sadly, the same state of affairs was taking place at hundreds of town halls around the country, with a central government apparently prepared to turn a blind eye. It led to hotels and golf courses being built in national parks, developments installed in river flood plains and hundreds of thousands of illegal – and unsellable – homes around the country. It comes as no surprise then that Transparency International has listed Spain as more corrupt than Uruguay, Chile and Qatar, and almost on a par with of Botswana – quite a feat for the fourth richest nation in the European Union. And while some might like to point the finger at the right or the left, the range of cases shows that bending the rules for personal gain goes right across the spectrum. The Conservative PP party has often been in the spotlight – most recently thanks to the Gurtel case, in Valencia – but the PSOE socialist party, particularly with the ERE pension scandal in Andalucia, certainly takes some beating. Even the royal family may have dipped its toes in the murky waters, with King Juan Carlos’ son-in-law about to stand trial for a misuse of public funds and embezzlement. So where did it all begin? Franco regarded it as the ‘necessary lubrication for the system’, according to historian Stanley Payne. While central government appears to be largely free of endemic corruption, in the regions it is quite a different story. In Andalucia, for example, UGT trade union leader Manuel Pastrana believes as many as 75 per cent of the region’s town halls are corrupt. This is partly down to the fact that much of Spain’s corruption is linked to illegal planning, which is said to be more profitable than drug dealing – mainly because tourism is the biggest earner on the Costa del Sol. It’s a simple tale, and sadly all too common. Developers purchase non-urban, rural land for knock-down prices, then pay corrupt town hall mayors to reclassify the land as available to develop. This leaves the developers to build whatever they like – and it is arrangements like this that explain the illegal 411-bedroom Algarrobico hotel in Almeria’s Cabo de Gata natural park – which will thankfully be demolished any day now. The question is, why are so many mayors and councillors tempted to the dark side, considering the possible environmental and criminal consequences? Aside from describing Spain as having the ‘slowest justice system in the known world’, investigator Rhys-Jones argues that it is human nature to be tempted by money once it’s dangled in front of you. “When people see a massive amount of money, they can’t help but steal it. It’s human nature,” he says, using the unscrupulous former Marbella mayor Jesus Gil as his example. Jesus Gil was described as the bad apple that spoilt Marbella’s bunch “Gil was a crook, but he started out with good intentions. Marbella was a mess in the 1980s. Property wasn’t selling. It was a dump filled with drugs and hookers. So Gil started a political party, the GAL, to try and sort it out.” But this apparent do-gooder turned resident evil, with many describing Gil – who was convicted in 2002 – as being the bad apple that spoiled Marbella’s bunch. Either way his legacy was a disaster and has led to the following three mayors – as well as his main cohort, planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, who became the svengali of the operation – all facing prison. Much of the corruption comes down to backgrounds and a lack of education, believes Marbella-based lawyer Antonio Flores. “A lot of mayors have previously had rural-based jobs, without the ability to make any money,” he explains. “The moment they have responsibility, the temptation to make money becomes too great. After four years in power, they’ll often have to go back to their tractors,” he says. A classic example of a rags-to-riches mayor is Julian Munoz, also heavily implicated in the Malaya case, who worked as a waiter before running Marbella Town Hall in 2002. Roca, too, had been on the dole before going on to pilfer 30 million euros. Planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, the main man in the Malaya case Flores compares town hall councillors with more prominent politicians in central government who are less reliant on get-rich-quick methods: “It’s not so difficult to get another job when you’re in a higher political position,” he says. The good news is that most commentators agree that corruption in Spain is on its way out. “The Malaya case was where the mentality changed,” estimates Flores. “It was a turning point for corruption and the Marbella run by thugs completely collapsed when they were all arrested. “As Spain becomes more civilised, we are slowly getting rid of corruption,” he continues. “But it has definitely not gone completely,” argues Rhys Jones. “That will take quite a few more decades.” As for shamed Judge Garzon, opinion remains firmly divided on whether he too was a man who let power corrupt him… or whether he has been silenced by a country whose corruption will be harder to iron out than some may hope. Big cases Malaya Planning chief Juan Antonio Roca is at the heart of this 2.4 billion euro scandal in Marbella. The unelected Roca operated a cash-for-permissions scheme, which saw over 18,000 homes built illegally. Gurtel Businessman Francisco Correa gave money to PP bosses in Valencia in return for lucrative contracts with the regional government. ERE The Junta is being investigated in a 647m euro retirement scandal, where posts were created in non-existent companies in order to defraud public funds. Ballena Blanca One of the largest money laundering cases in Europe, with 21 people accused of investing proceeds from drug trafficking and prostitution in property via over a thousand companies.

The European Commission is to consider setting up an ombudsman to help expat victims reclaim against unregistered financial firms. It comes after a local pressure group, that represents over 1,000 victims, sent a dossier of information to Brussels. The Costa del Sol Action Group demanded action against the advisers who, it claims, have lost their clients over €120 million (£102 million). “It is good news as something has to be done about this bunch of rogues,” said group founder David Klein. “The current Spanish regulatory system is totally inadequate and ineffective. Dealing with the authorities is a constant game of ping-pong. Anyone can come to Spain and be a financial adviser; they could have been selling fish before they came here for all anyone knows." This situation could soon be coming to an end, after the European Commission confirmed it was to begin "a preliminary investigation of the problem". Foreign Office plans evacuation of expats 18 Dec 2011 It has asked for more information and the action group has called on all victims to write to the European Parliament outlining their experience. “This problem is causing untold stress and heartache in the expatriate community and it cannot be allowed to continue,” explained Klein. The European Commission is to study how investors would be able to make an official complaint against Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs). At present, there is no effective means for victims to make a complaint against product providers who work with unregistered IFAs. The group was also highly critical of the local media for its willingness to accept adverts from unregulated financial firms in a bid to maximise advertising revenue. To highlight the problem, the group included testimonials by members who were allegedly defrauded by one specialist investment brokerage, which it claims is "not regulated or registered". It said the company was able to trade, "collecting unsuspecting clients who are soon relieved of their money". One Costa del Sol-based financial adviser, Richard Alexander, said he was pleased with the EU’s response. “Bring on the review,” he said. “I have seen too many sad stories of people being turned over, badly advised or grossly over-charged by unregulated independent financial advisors in Spain. "It is entirely possible to provide professional, quality advice without the client losing out.”

I see so many lonely women out here in the world today. Of course, there are lonely guys as well. But, in my opinion men react and respond differently to their problems. We almost never actually admit that we are alone, except when our self-esteem is compromised. We just go with the flow. But for women, it is a totally different story. “I am so alone,” was what she would say. I hear this all the time from the opposite sex. Why is this so in the modern-day world? Are we men not doing our jobs?   This brings me to the recent lonely end of soul-siren Whitney Houston and UK Amy Winehouse in 2011 respectively, whose public battles with drugs and alcohol often overshadowed their music success. May their musical souls rest in peace! These are glaring examples of lonely women. It is an open secret that Whitney had been a ‘druggy’ for years, which had become more pronounced after her tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, whom she divorced before her death. Rumours had it that Amy was killed by lack of love, not a drug addiction. I think this is probably true. Another example is that of Lady Gaga, who recently admitted in an interview, “Yes I’m lonely, but I’m married to my loneliness.” It is quite interesting to know so much about her. She has said loneliness is the only thing she loves the most. Nevertheless, I wish her good luck! Now, you may wonder what the situation is Namibia?  One of the most well-known examples of this ‘loneliness phenomenon’ is the infamous middle finger gesture employed by a well-known personality in Namibia’s showbiz last year.    Was that a sign of loneliness?  Well, without risking my poor miserable life I’ll leave that to the reader to figure out. Today, with the advent of equal opportunities and interventions, our ladies in the ‘Land of the Brave’ have made great strides in business, politics, TIPEEG, BEE, Namdeb, highly skilled professions and the list goes on, which makes them wealthy but ‘lonely.’ You will agree with me that successful women are multiplying in Namibia, but sadly, success has been unsettling for some as they are struggling to keep their ‘unemployed’ boyfriends or husbands, who feel that they can’t compromise on their self-esteem and would leave relationships in which they can’t cope with the rich lifestyle of their girlfriends or women – and therefore rendering many women lonely. I know many of them. Rich women have difficulties managing fulfilling relationships and therefore end up being lonely. My advice to these lonely Eves is simple; do not pride yourself in intimidation, aggression and power. No man will accept to be controlled by a wife just because he is poor. Instead, a rich wife must remain strong but be humble and respect her husband to make him stronger. No matter how much wealth a woman can attain, she will still long for a person she can share her life with; not to mention her wealth with. Although money can be friendly, rich women still need someone who will be there for them and just simply love them. We do not want a Whitney or Amy Winehouse situation to play off in our country or do we?. Until then, Eewa!

Oscars organizers have warned flamboyant British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen not to try to pull a stunt at this weekend's Academy Awards show, but said he is not banned from attending. The Hollywood Reporter cited sources as saying the star has told Paramount, the studio behind his latest movie "The Dictator," that he plans to turn up on the Oscars red carpet in full bearded, uniformed character Sunday. Reports suggested that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had banned the "Ali G," "Borat" and "Bruno" star altogether, but a spokeswoman denied this Thursday. "The Academy would love to have Sacha at the show. We've let him know how we feel about using the red carpet for a movie stunt and we're waiting to hear from him," she told AFP. Baron Cohen, who is in Martin Scorsese's 11-times Oscar-nominated movie "Hugo," has a history of colorful stunts: in 2006 he turned up at the Toronto film festival in a cart pulled by a "peasant woman" to promote Borat. At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, he descended from the ceiling on a harness dressed as an angel, eventually crashing into Eminem's lap, his buttocks in the rapper's face. Eminem voiced outrage, although it later emerged that the two men had organized the stunt in advance. In "The Dictator," due out in May in the United States, Baron Cohen plays the lead role in "the heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed." A representative for Baron Cohen did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the story.

Jamaica is developing a new policy to battle crime as gang violence drives the homicide rate higher, the country’s top security official said Tuesday. National Security Minister Peter Bunting said 165 killings have been reported by police so far in 2012, compared to 135 slayings during the corresponding period last year on the Caribbean island of 2.8 million people. Violent gangs are deeply entrenched in Spanish Town, just west of Kingston, and in some residential sections of the northwestern parish of St. James, which includes the resort city of Montego Bay. Fighting between the gangs for control of drug trafficking and extortion rackets has long been blamed for the majority of Jamaica’s homicides. Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said at a news conference with Bunting that much of the security forces’ resources are now focused on trying to contain 42 active gang conflicts. Ellington told reporters that the Shower Posse gang, which was controlled by convicted drug kingpin Christopher “Dudus” Coke from his slum stronghold of Tivoli Gardens, has been significantly hobbled since his capture in June 2010 but remains an active gang in West Kingston. Bunting said Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s nearly two-month-old government intends to fast-track anti-gang legislation and is crafting a new security policy meant to reduce crime to “First World levels” by 2017, when he hopes to have a maximum of just 321 killings. A UN study on the Caribbean released earlier this month said Jamaica has had the world’s third-highest murder rate over the past decade, with about 60 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Jamaica loses some $529 million a year due to crime, according to the report. Last year, Jamaica had 1,125 slayings, a roughly 22 percent drop from the 1,442 killings in 2010. A record 1,683 people were killed in 2009. Bunting said a major goal is to target gang kingpins and facilitators for organised criminal networks, not the people lower down the chain. Many of those arrested in previous years have been underlings who had little connection to gang leadership. Such workers are easily replaced. “We don’t always want to be chasing out the symptoms, we want to get to the infection,” he told reporters at the prime minister’s offices. Bunting intends to create a task force to identify and arrest crime facilitators, such as accountants, real estate brokers, lawyers and corrupt public officials. He also hopes to give courts greater power to seize their assets. He also said Jamaican society must undergo “mental reconditioning” to encourage more people to report crimes. Those who live in Jamaica’s slums are deeply distrustful of the police and authorities, and an anti-informant culture is widespread. National Security Minister Peter Bunting said 165 killings have been reported by police so far in 2012, compared to 135 slayings during the corresponding period last year on the Caribbean island of 2.8 million people.

DETECTIVES will quiz up tonine doctors they believe could have supplied Whitney Houston with a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs. The superstar singer died in her hotel bath on Saturday after taking a host of powerful sedatives. And last night, sources claimed her drug taking had spiralled out of control in recent months, turning her into a virtual “zombie”. The 48-year-old had become a tortured recluse, regularly spending most of the day in bed before emerging in the evenings to party. Police are now anxious to find out how a recovering crack addict with a long history of drug and alcohol abuse was able to get hold of such a vast quantity of pills. A source said: “The only way Whitney could function was on a cocktail of different drugs – uppers, downers, sleeping pills, painkillers, a whole medicine cabinet. “She was living like a zombie – always on medication. The more she took, the more she needed. “With alcohol in the mix, this was a tragedy waiting to happen. But she needed quite a network to obtain drugs in that kind of number.” Officers will begin their probe at the infamous Mickey Fine pharmacy in Beverly Hills, where Michael Jackson got his prescription drugs. It’s believed at least some of Whitney’s medication was obtained there. Bottles of Lorazepam, Valium and Xanax were found in her suiteat the Beverly Hilton Hotel. All three are used to treat anxiety disorders, while Valium can also ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms and muscle spasms. It’s thought Whitney was also taking painkillers and sleeping pills. Police and the LA county coroner are working on the premise that a combination of drugs and alcohol caused the star to become heavily sedated or overdose – ultimately leading to her death. It’s also possible that she suffered a heart attack caused by an adverse reaction to her medication. An autopsy was performed on Sunday but officials said they wouldn’t have any definitive answers until drug tests are completed in several weeks. Another theory was that the singer took sedatives, fell asleep and drowned in the tub. Police say Whitney was found underwater and unconscious. But the coroner told her family there was not enough water in her lungs to conclude that she had drowned. Detectives are expected to treat the investigation the same way they handled Michael Jackson’s death. They discovered dozens of doctors were supplying the King of Pop with different prescription drugs. Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray – who administered the fatal dose of hospital anaesthetic Propofol – was later found guilty of manslaughter. Yesterday, it emerged that Whitney had visited a doctor at a private clinic in Beverly Hills just two days before she died. US X Factor winner Melanie Amaro revealed that she bumped into Whitney at the surgery on Thursday. Whitney is also known to have visited other private clinics on February 7 and February 2 – and it’s possible that she visited other doctors as well. It’s thought police will also probe whether she used friends, staff or hangers-on to get prescriptions in their own names and then hand over the pills. Detectives are piecing together Whitney’s physical and emotional state before she died. She seemed to have slid back to the days when she and husband Bobby Brown regularly abused drugs and alcohol in week-long party binges. On Thursday night, Whitney looked wild-eyed and dishevelled as she left Hollywood’s Tru nightclub, where she joined revellers at a bash thrown by American singer Kelly Price. She had scratches on her wrist and blood running down a leg and witnesses say she reeked of booze, sweat and cigarettes. Whitney downed tequila at the party and went berserk when she saw her on-off toyboy lover, singer and actor Ray J, 31, talking to another girl. One witness said the former powerhouse vocalist who sold more than 170million albums worldwide seemed “wasted”. A music industry source said: “It looks as though Whitney had got to a stage where she was using Xanax like clockwork. “Mixed with alcohol, it is known to be a killer. It’s the same deadly combination that killed Heath Ledger.”

The shooting of a bikie gang member and his club president father has been declared a major crime as the South Australian police minister says some outlaw gangs have no regard for the law or the community. Giovanni Focarelli, 22, is dead and his father, Comanchero club president Vince Focarelli, is in Royal Adelaide Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds after the shooting on Sunday night. Police Minister Jennifer Rankine said the state has tough laws to deal with the "scourge" of outlaw motorcycle gangs but some just shun the law."I am sure the police are as frustrated as what I am about what is occurring," she told ABC radio.

Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs, flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale, police say. The RCMP have seized tonnes of illicit synthetic drugs that include Ecstasy and methamphetamine being shipped abroad after being “cooked” in make-shift labs in apartments, homes and businesses in the GTA. Police are now seizing more chemicals and synthetic drugs, which they say is favoured by young people, at Canadian border checks rather than the traditional cocaine, heroin or hashish that officers call drugs of “a last generation.” Most of the Ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), meth or ketamine, a hallucinogenic used in “drug cocktails,” are smuggled from Canada by trucks, air cargo, human couriers or courier services to a network of traffickers. The U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are the world-wide targets of these highly organised criminal syndicates, the Mounties said. Two Japanese students were arrested at Vancouver International Airport in 2009 after 47,000 Ecstasy pills with the “Chanel” logo were seized from their luggage. And, in November that year 400,000 tablets and 45 kgs of pot were seized in Michigan as it was being transferred from a small Canadian aircraft to a vehicle. The RCMP is working to stamp out the problem and have created a Chemical Diversion Unit (CDU) to target “rogue chemical brokers” who import and sell chemicals to organized crime cells to “bake” synthetic drugs for export. The force also created a Synthetic Drug Operations (SDO) whose members target clandestine drug labs in the GTA that are operated by crime cells and traffickers. “We execute search warrants once we locate a clandestine lab,” said SDO Sgt. Doug Culver. “These labs are dangerous with toxic chemicals and our members are specially trained to handle them.” His officers use hazardous material suits to enter a suspicious lab to ensure it is safe from corrosive chemicals before uniformed officers can enter. Police said an Ecstasy tablet, that usually features a harmless-looking logo, is sold for up to $15 each at Toronto nightclubs and the potency can last for about 10 hours. The tablets used to sell on the street for about $40 each two years ago. Supt. Rick Penney, who is in charge of an RCMP-GTA Drug Squad, said tonnes of chemicals and synthetic drugs are being seized by his officers. “We are talking tonnes and not kilograms,” Penney said. “This is becoming a matter of routine for us and it concerns me.” Penney said Canadian-made Ecstasy and meth are popular in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.S. and some European countries. “Canada is a player on the global market,” he said. “We see a lot of synthetic chemicals passing through the Canadian border or going out of province.” He said some of the chemicals are purchased by criminals on the Internet from suppliers in China or India. “The majority of the drugs we seize in Ontario are for export,” Penney said. “This is a global problem and Canada is a big player.” The drug officers said Canada exports as much Ecstasy and chemical drugs as Colombia ships out cocaine. Police said synthetic drugs are the choice of young people because it is cheap, with a pill being made for 50-cents and sold for up to $15; lasts a long time; can be easily hidden and a tablet appears relatively harmless with a “cute” imprinted logo. Sgt. Brent Hill, of the Chemical Diversion Unit, said rogue brokers use fake names, companies or addresses to import the chemicals into Canada. Some use the name of legitimate companies and give fake delivery addresses, he said. He said the imported chemicals are resold by rogue brokers at exorbitant profits to organized crime groups originating from China, Vietnam and India, including criminal bike gangs in Canada. The chemicals are “cooked” into synthetic drugs. The CDU monitors more than 100 chemicals entering the country. Some are for legitimate industrial uses ranging from industrial cleaners to pharmaceutical products. Others are strictly for “baking” drugs. Hill shows a make-shift laboratory that was seized in a 2007 Scarborough bust in which three people were arrested. Officers seized two million units of Ecstasy and bags of chemicals at a residence on Pipers Green Ave., in the Brimley Rd. and Finch Ave. E. area. Jian Yao Quan, 24, and Yan Shi, 46, both of Scarborough, and Wan Shun Ling, 55, of Brooklyn, New York, were convicted of drug-related offences and will be sentenced on Feb. 14. A warrant has been issued for Wei Quan Ma, 43, of Toronto, who’s believed to have fled to China. During that raid, police found a 22-litre round-bottom heating mantle filled with chemicals being baked as vapors flowed through a hose taped at the top of the container to a large can filled with cat litter, that helps to absorb toxic gases to avoid leaving smells behind, police said. Hill said the mixture leaves a cloud of corrosive chemical hanging over the area that is harmful to people and is the reason why officers wear haz-mat suits to enter drug houses. “These labs pose a serious threat to the safety of the public and emergency first responders such as police, fire and ambulance workers,” Hill said. “Most chemicals in a clandestine drug lab are highly toxic, corrosive, explosive or flammable “ He said some unsafe labs can cause a fire or explosion that can lead to environmental pollution. Police said its common to find an Ecstasy pill containing a combination of controlled substances including methamphetamine or other controlled or non-regulated psychoactive substances. Some doses can be lethal and kill users. Officers point to the deaths of five B.C. young people since last August from Ecstasy laced PMMA, the same lethal chemical linked to deaths in the Calgary area. There have been about 18 Ecstasy-related deaths in B.C. in two years. “Some of these drugs are dangerous cocktails,” Hill said. “Crime groups are putting more addictive chemicals in some of the mixtures to get kids coming back for more. “These brokers are aggressively targeting the legitimate chemical industry. They continue to expand in a highly-lucrative market selling legal chemicals, regulated precursors and non-regulated psychoactive substances.” Officers said some unscrupulous brokers establish fake front companies, or claim to be legitimate companies to import chemicals into Canada. They fill out paperwork required by the Canada Border Services Agency but usually provide false information, police said. “The acquisition of chemicals is the choke point,” Hill said. “We are fully engaged with the legitimate Canadian chemical industry and monitor suspicious chemical transactions.” He said its a crime under Bill C-475 to possess, produce, sell or import “anything” if the person involved knows it will be used to produce methamphetamine or Ecstasy. “Crime groups with links to south-east Asia continue to dominate chemical-brokering operations,” the Mounties said. “There are criminal enterprises including individual operators and semi-legitimate companies that are brokering or procuring chemicals for synthetic drug production.” Police said some chemical shipments imported into Canada for industrial use are stolen by crime gangs to produce drugs. “Global demand for Ecstasy remains high,” Hill said. “Ecstasy continues to be the most sought-after and widely available controlled synthetic drug in the Canadian illicit market.”

Since 2002 the number of people dying from heart attacks in England has dropped by half, the study conducted by Oxford University found. But within that, regional data revealed there was a 'blip' in London that corresponded to the financial crash in 2008 and continued through 2009. Heart attack deaths have dropped due to better prevention of heart attacks in the first place with fewer people smoking and improvements in diet through lower consumption of saturated fat. The treatment of people who do suffer a heart attack has also improved leading to fewer deaths with faster ambulance response times, new procedures to clear blocked arteries and wider use of drugs such as statins and aspirin. The research published in the British Medical Journal showed around 80,000 lives have been saved between 2002 and 2008 as deaths from heart attacks declined.

A CAREER criminal branded as “extraordinarily dangerous” has been jailed for four years after being caught with heroin worth £50,000 during a police raid. Detectives believe that Ronald Aldred was peddling the Class A drug in Edinburgh and West Lothian after recovering the stash kept at his Kirkliston home. The 44-year-old was jailed for 12 years in 2002 as the ringleader of a gang that took part in a campaign of kidnapping, assault and extortion, which a judge described as being like “something out of a 1930s Hollywood gangster movie”. Aldred had been hired by dealers to recover a kilo of stolen cocaine, and at one point the gang tried to put a loaded gun into a victim’s mouth during a vicious interrogation. In 1992, he was jailed for nine years for two attempted murders after launching an attack with a sword and knife at The Royal Nip pub in Albert Street, Leith. Detective Sergeant Jim Robertson, from the force’s Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), worked on the drug investigation against Aldred, which saw him jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday. DS Robertson said that Aldred was caught with half a kilo of heroin at his home in Marshall Road, Kirkliston. Aldred, who has a total of five previous convictions, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin on October 6 last year, and prosecutors have already begun steps to seize his assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Police raided his home after a tip-off and found five packages of heroin along with phones, scales, sandwich bags and more than £700 in cash. Prosecutors said that if the heroin had been broken down and sold on as “tenner bags” then it had the potential value of £50,000. His defence counsel, Frank Gallagher, told the court that during his last period in prison Aldred had developed a drug problem and built up debts. Mr Gallagher said that his client agreed to the drugs being in his home in return for the debt being reduced. DS Robertson told the Evening News: “This conviction shows our commitment to tackling serious and organised crime. The drugs were being stored at that address and we’re confident Aldred was involved in dealing. “We welcome this four-year sentence, both as a deterrent to Aldred and to anyone else involved in drug dealing.” In early 2002, Aldred’s gang was recruited to hunt down stolen cocaine, abducting one man from outside a Scottish court who was handcuffed and forced to hand over £7000. Sentencing them for that offence, Lord Dawson told Aldred and his two accomplices: “I regard all three of you as extraordinarily dangerous men against whom the public must be protected.” But Aldred’s 12-year sentence was later cut to eight years by appeal judges. In May 1992, Aldred was found guilty after a five-day trial for attempting to murder two men and seriously assaulting two others. Aldred attempted to murder Thomas Brown by stabbing him with a knife and striking him with a sword, and assaulted Thomas Monaghan with the sword in The Royal Nip in September 1991. He also attempted to murder David McKinlay with a knife in Ardshiel Avenue, Drumbrae, on October 19, 1991 and struck Kevin Smith on the head with a knife in Easter Road on August 3, 1991.

Two-thirds of smokers in the UK, approximately six million people, will try and quit the habit in January, but half of them will fail within a week, new research suggests. According to the study, commissioned by Pfizer Limited in support of its Don't Go Cold Turkey disease awareness campaign, one in ten of these attempts will not last beyond 24 hours. Typically, smokers admit to having unsuccessfully attempted to quit three times before, with 51 per cent confident they can kick the habit in the next six months. Some 45 per cent say they attempt to quit by 'going cold turkey' or giving up the immediately and relying on willpower, however only three per cent of these people are found to be smoke free after a year. Nearly a quarter of former smokers recommend that people trying to quit consult a healthcare professional. Dr Sarah Jarvis, BBC medical correspondent and practising GP, said: "Even a brief conversation with their healthcare professional or local stop smoking service can increase [a smoker's] chances of success by up to four times, compared to going 'cold turkey'. "People should consider how they can positively influence their chances of quitting." According to Cancer Research UK, 86 per cent of lung cancer deaths are caused by tobacco smoking.

Raúl Régulo Garza Quirino, a reporter for the weekly La Última Palabra in Cadereyta, in the northeastern state of Nuevo León, became the first Mexican journalist to be killed in 2012 when he was gunned down after a car chase on 6 January. Garza was also a Cadereyta municipal employee. “We hope the number of Mexican journalists killed in the space of a decade does not reach the grim total of 100 in 2012, an election year,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Mexico could prevent this from happening by taking measures to combat impunity for those responsible for violent crime against journalists. “That was the message that we and the Centre for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET) tried to transmit when we gave the families of slain and disappeared journalists a platform in the capital on 10 December. “The current show of good intentions by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) and its head, Gustavo Salas Chávez, must be rapidly translated into reinforcement of its personnel and clarification of its jurisdiction. If the senate approves the bill that the lower house adopted on 11 November making attacks on freedom of information a federal crime, the FEADLE must have enough resources to handle all these cases.” Garza was driving his car near his home when he found himself being pursued by gunmen in another car. He was gunned down when he tried to seek refuge in a garage owned by relatives. Sixteen impacts from 16 mm bullets were found at the scene. Investigators have so far not suggested any motive for the murder. Located 37 km from Monterrey, the state capital, Cadereyta is home to one of northern Mexico’s biggest oil refineries and is rife with contraband in stolen petroleum products as well as drug trafficking. It is a stronghold of Los Zetas, a paramilitary group that worked for the Gulf Cartel before becoming an independent criminal organization. A total of 38 employees of the state oil company PEMEX have been reported missing in the region in recent months. It was in this area that radio journalist Marco Aurelio Martínez Tirejina was kidnapped and killed in July 2010 in a still unsolved murder. According to the Reporters Without Borders tally, 80 journalists have been killed in the past decade and 14 others have disappeared. Most of these killings have gone unpunished.

identified a suspect in the slaying of a high-ranking member of the Hells Angels who was shot and killed at a funeral for another member in Northern California. San Jose police say Steven Ruiz, also a member of the motorcycle gang, shot and killed 52-year-old Steve Tausan on Saturday during a fight at the funeral for Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew. About 3,000 people attended the ceremony at Oak Hill Memorial Park. On Tuesday, police said Ruiz was fighting with a member of the gang when he was knocked to the ground. Tausan apparently became involved and Ruiz drew a handgun and shot Tausan. Ruiz is now missing. Investigators say they dug up Pettigrew's grave to see if Ruiz may have been killed and buried there, but didn't find anything.

A man associated with the Hells Angels motorcycle club was found guilty Monday of vehicle theft, Ventura County prosecutors said. Aaron McIntosh, 39, of Ventura stole the motorcycle of a former Hells Angels member from the backyard of his home, authorities said. He committed the theft on behalf of the Hells Angels to punish the former member, authorities said. McIntosh also was convicted of a count of committing a criminal felony while participating in a criminal street gang, authorities said. McIntosh faces a maximum sentence of 13 years and eight months in prison. A sentencing date has yet to be set.

Authorities who feared quick justice among bikers dug up the grave of a Hells Angels member to look for the body of a Northern California man suspected of killing another gang member during a shootout at a weekend funeral, a police spokesman said Tuesday. San Jose police have an arrest warrant for Steven Ruiz, a member of the Hells Angels' Santa Cruz chapter. He's suspected of fatally shooting Steve Tausan after a fight broke out at Saturday's funeral for Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, who had been the president of the gang's San Jose chapter. Ruiz and Tausan disappeared from the Oak Hill Memorial Park cemetery shortly after the Saturday afternoon shooting, which sent thousands of mourners fleeing in panic AP San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore, right, and... View Full Caption Tausan was taken by a private vehicle to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses saw Ruiz bundled into a car and driven away from the cemetery, but police haven't been able to locate him and his Harley Davidson motorcycle was left behind hours after the last mourner left the cemetery, San Jose police spokesman Jose Garcia said. Police obtained a warrant to dig up Pettigrew's grave in search of Ruiz's body and other evidence, Garcia said. A backhoe was used to remove a large cement fixture over the grave and the soil above the coffin was removed, he said. When nothing was found, the grave was refilled and the cement slab affixed over the site. "The grave was not desecrated," Garcia said. Police felt it necessary to search the grave because Hells Angels members, relatives and others poured dirt over the casket rather than the cemetery staff, which is the usual custom, Garcia said. The investigation was hindered even more by the scrubbing of the crime scene of blood. In addition, no bullet casings were found. "The crime scene was washed down with water," Garcia said. Authorities named Ruiz a suspect on Tuesday and said they would continue searching for him. Pettigrew was shot and killed last month during a brawl with a rival biker gang at a Nevada casino.

34 year old British man has been arrested at the Los Rodeos Tenerife North Airport after found to be carrying 75 capsules of heroin inside his body. News has just been released of the arrest which took place last Wednesday afternoon, and a statement from the Guardia Civil says the total weight of the drug recovered was 913 grams. Apparently when stopped by customs officials on arrival from the Spanish mainland, suspicions were raised when the Briton was unable to give a clear explanation as to the reason for his visit to Tenerife. The man, who has not been named in reports, was subjected to medical and police surveillance in the Canaries Universitario Hospital until all the capsules had been passed. That was checked by x-ray.

What a difference a few years make.

A tattoo-faced sex offender living in Springfield, Missouri may win the prize for scariest mugshot ever with this menacing photo.

Michael Campbell, 36, has been in and out of jail since the mid-nineties but as his 2008 mugshot shows, he still has found time to get his entire face etched in ink - including a pentagram emblazoned on the centre of his forehead.

Before and after: Convicted Missouri sex offender Michael Campbell's booking photos in 2003 and 2008 show two very different looking men

The before photo was snapped following an arrest in 2003 for theft in Jefferson County, Colorado and shows Campbell sporting three facial tattoos, including Pit bull dog in the centre of his neck.

Five years later, following a second arrest in Jefferson County, he appears as a completely different looking man - with a mosaic of demonic markings on his face. 

A pentagram etched on his forehead, and the markings of a skeleton on his nose are frightening additions, along with the surprisingly whimsical addition of a polka dot bow tie tattooed in the centre of his neck.

Campbell, a Colorado native, has been in and out of jail for over a decade. In 1995, at age 20, he was convicted for the attempted sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. 

Most recently he was arrested for going within 500ft of a playground or public pool. Campbell was booked on Sunday and later released.

According to the Missouri sex offender registry, Campbell also has tattoos on his back, left and right arms, chest and abdomen.

But he is not alone in the competition of scariest mugshots.

Caius Veiovis, 31, has undergone extensive implants to create horns on his head and had the number of the devil - 666 - tattooed on his forehead.

Veiovis' terrifying mugshot was released last month when he was arrested as part of a gang who are said to have kidnapped and murdered three Hells Angels. The horn-headed Satan-worshipper is said to have drank the blood of one of his victims.

And in June, the mugshot of 26-year-old Randon Reid, arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, showed a man with manic eyes and a scary gurning smile taken into custody after shots were fired at a grounded plane parked at Deer Valley Airport.

A Chinese man has been arrested on suspicion of killing two nightclub hostesses and keeping another four women as sex slaves in a basement dungeon, according to police. Reports said that Li Hao, a 34-year-old former firefighter who is married and has a son, allegedly held the women for years in a 20-square-metre (215-square-foot) underground prison he built in central China's Luoyang city. The Southern Metropolis Daily said he had confessed to buying the basement four years ago and spending nights digging the prison four meters (13 feet) under the basement, where he spent two weeks a month with his captives. Li had told his wife he had a night job as a guard, the paper said. He was caught earlier this month when one of his captives escaped and went to the police. "Li has been arrested and brought to justice," a police officer in Luoyang told AFP by telephone. "We are still on the case and investigations continue," added the officer, who declined to give his name. The Global Times English-language daily quoted local resident Tian Yichen as saying that the case had "shocked the whole city". "The building is in the downtown area, and only three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from the Luoyang public security bureau." A preliminary investigation reportedly showed that the two bodies the police found in the dungeon on September 6 had been killed within the last year. Journalist Ji Xugang of the Southern Metropolis Daily, the first newspaper to report the case, told the Global Times he was interrogated by local police over his story. "They believed that the report tarnished their image. But this is a typical crime. The public needs to know the truth," he said. The case is the second sex slave scandal to hit China since February, when a 40-year-old man was sentenced to death for kidnapping, beating and raping two teenage girls in an underground cell in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province. Though the court stated Zeng had "exerted an extremely negative influence on society," he later won an appeal and his death sentence was stayed in July, state media reported. It is unclear what has happened to him since then. The cases recall a number of horrific cases in other countries that have horrified the world in recent years. Austrian Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter Elisabeth as a sex slave in a cramped windowless dungeon for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, was jailed for life on rape and murder charges in March 2009. Also in Austria, Natascha Kampusch was kidnapped at the age of 10 and held captive in a tiny cellar for eight and a half years until she escaped in August 2006.

Two men took their friend's corpse on a night out with them to a strip club so they could use his ATM card to buy drinks, police claim.

Robert Jeffrey Young, 43, and Mark Rubinson, 25, discovered their friend Jeffrey Jarrett dead but delayed reporting the find to police so they could first have a free night out.

While keeping Mr Jarrett's body in their car, they stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Denver, used their friend's ATM card and withdrew $400 at a strip club before finally reporting him dead.

With friends like these: Robert Jeffrey Young, left, and Mark Rubinson allegedly delayed reporting the find to police so they could first have a free night out

The men, who are now free on bond, have been charged with abusing a corpse, identity theft and criminal impersonation.

It's unclear how Mr Jarrett died, but the men have not been charged with his death.

The bizarre scenario is reminiscent of the 1980s movie Weekend at Bernie's, in which two men discover their friend dead and maintain a façade that he's still alive while staying at his home for the weekend.

Boys night out: The men visited Shotgun Willie's strip club, pictured

Strip off: The two men went to a strip club, using their dead friend's money

One of Mr Jarrett's relatives, who asked not to be named, told the Denver Post Mr Jarrett had invited Mr Young, a former college friend, to stay with him for a few months while he had money struggles.

It is thought that on August 27, Mr Young arrived home at about 11pm and found his friend unresponsive.

Rather than call authorities, however, he went to see Mr Rubinson at a restaurant where he works to tell him about the find.

The pair then went back to Mr Jarrett's home, loaded him into Mr Rubinson's car and took the body with them to Teddy T's bar and grill, where they drank on his tab while the body was hidden in the vehicle.

'Young stated ... that it was obvious Jarrett was dead while all three are at Teddy T's,' Denver Detective Ranjan Ford wrote in the affidavit.

Weekend at Bernie's: The allegations are similar to the premise of the 1980s movie

The went on to eat at Mexican restaurant Viva Burrito and withdrew $400 on their dead friend's card at strip bar Shotgun Willie's, where they stayed until closing time.

Only then did the pair report their friend dead by flagging down a police officer at 4am.

'This is a bizarre and unfortunate crime,' Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson told the Denver Post. 

'This isn't anything you want to have happen to a loved one. You want them treated with respect in death.'

The relative of Mr Jarrett, a father who sold real estate, added: 'We just want to make sure they're prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'

The sun rarely shines on the kingpins of California's prison gangs. To stop them from orchestrating mayhem on prison yards and neighborhoods across the state, prison officials condemned hundreds of reputed gang members to years of isolation in windowless cells. For five years, the tough strategy worked, wardens insist. Quarantined crime bosses lost contact with their followers. No one could hear what they had to say. At least, not until July 1, when some of the most securely held prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison stopped eating and broke through their shuttered lines of communication with a mass hunger strike that spread into prisons across the state. "Am I an innocent lamb? By no means, but I can tell you this: I never deserved to be locked up in a dungeon for seven years just because they allege I'm a gang member," said Ronnie Yandell, one of the leaders of the hunger strike that lasted three weeks and spread to 12 other prisons with promises of more strikes to come. Now, as a court-ordered mandate forces California to reduce the number of low-level criminals in its overcrowded prisons, protests of inhumane conditions for the most hardened, violent criminals are forcing the state to rethink another problem: How can powerful and savvy prisoners be stopped from directing violence on the outside without their rights against cruel punishment being violated on the inside? Life in 'The SHU' Yandell and the other 1,110 men in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit -- known as "The SHU" -- spend at least 22 1/2 hours each day in their concrete, bathroom-size cells. Some inmates have a cellmate and some do not. Prisoners can have TVs but little human interaction. Their daily outing is a solitary 90-minute break in a barren exercise pen lined with 15-foot-high concrete walls and a limited view of the sky. Hearing about the hunger strike through a network of family members and activists, more than 6,000 inmates across California joined in. The prisons weighed each hunger striker daily, finding only about 11 percent of Pelican Bay's protesters lost weight during the 21-day strike. One lost 30 pounds. No one died, but after weeks of unwanted attention and a legislative hearing in late August, top prison officials now say they are reviewing how long and why they segregate and isolate some inmates in the state's harshest cellblocks. "Everything we're doing with these men is lawful and constitutional," said Pelican Bay Warden Greg Lewis. "I really didn't see the need to negotiate anything. On the other hand, in the department, we need to evolve and change with the conditions that are going on." Dogged with mistreatment complaints and lawsuits since its inception, Pelican Bay's conditions were found by a federal judge in 1995 to "hover on the edge of what is humanly tolerable." But judges have also repeatedly upheld California's practice of confining inmates in isolated conditions, and in March commended Pelican Bay for improving conditions. Still, experts say, the prison realignment prompted by the court order to reduce prison populations offers an opportunity to reconsider the practice of isolating criminals. "There's a growing consensus that these ultra-isolation prisons are a bad mistake," said criminologist Barry Krisberg, director of research at UC Berkeley's Earl Warren Institute. "The theory behind these prisons was we'll collect all the worst people in one place and that will make the rest of the prisons safer and easier to manage. But they weren't necessarily the most dangerous, violent criminals. " And the levels of violence in the other places didn't really go down." 'Living like dogs' Prisoners promise another fast could begin next week inside the remote facility, just south of the Oregon border, if their demands for better conditions and an easier path out of isolation are not met. Prison officials said the strikes are a dangerous, costly and ineffective way for prisoners to voice their complaints. Yandell said it is the only way anyone will pay attention. "We're tired of living like dogs," the former Contra Costa County resident wrote in a handwritten letter to this newspaper, one of several interviews conducted between the newspaper and self-defined leaders of the strike. "Not even terrorists at Guantánamo Bay are treated like this." Convicted of killing two men in El Sobrante a decade ago during a drug deal, Yandell was placed in Pelican Bay's SHU -- the oldest and biggest of three similar units around the state -- after prison officials designated him a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white-only gang. The only way out of solitary confinement was to "debrief" -- to convincingly denounce his gang affiliation and ideology and name former collaborators. But many prisoners never find their way out of the SHU; the average time spent inside the state's isolation units is 6.8 years, and some prisoners have been there for decades.

Drug Enforcement Cell (DEC) of the Pakistan Customs’ Model Customs Collectorate of Preventive, Karachi airport on Monday recovered and seized 73.5 kilogrammes of fine quality heroin concealed in a huge consignment of herbal medicines. In pursuance of an authentic information passed on by the Additional Collector of Customs, Jinnah International Airport, Manzoor Hussain Memon to the effect that an attempt would be made to smuggle contraband heroin powder out of Pakistan under the garb of medicines in commercial quantity in connivance with Customs officials, a surveillance team under assistant collector, Jinnah International Airport, was constituted for mounting discrete watch over all the outgoing passengers and their baggage. During the course of surveillance, the team intercepted a Pakistani passenger Ghulam Mustafa in the early hours on Aug 21, with his four suitcases when he entered the customs departure hall to take Qatar Airways flight QR-319 for Dhaka via Doha (Qatar). Initial scanning of his baggage indicated the presence of medicine boxes inside all four suitcases. He was, therefore, detained and his baggage was thoroughly examined. Upon examination, the suitcases were found to contain heroin in huge quantity (735 packets) of herbal medicines packets kept beneath a small quantity of mixed allopathic medicines for deceiving the law enforcement staff. As per labels on the packets the herbal medicines were ought to be in paste form. However, when unpacked all the packets were found to contain off-white heroin powder of fine quality instead of herbal medicine pastes. The heroin powder, so recovered, was found to be 73.5 kilogrammes upon weighment. It is worth mentioning here that in the recent years, this is the biggest haul of the heroin recovered from the accompanied baggage of an outgoing passenger at Jinnah International Airport. Another aspect of the case is that the passenger had not only taken a deceptive route to Dhaka via Doha despite availability of daily direct fights to Dhaka from Karachi to hoodwink the customs staff. He entered the departure hall at Sehri time when a number of the law enforcement officers were busy in taking Sehri. Moreover, scrutiny of the passenger’s travel documents reveals that he is in fact a Bengali holding Aliens Registration Card as well as a Computerised National Identity Card that stands expired in 2009. Consequent upon recovery and seizure of contraband narcotics, the accused passenger, as well as two customs officials, who were facilitating in clearance, has been arrested and a prosecution case under Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997 has been registered. Third customs official involved in the case is absconding. Efforts are being made to arrest him also. Further investigations are in progress. staff report

Police arrested two Troy men found with drugs Monday evening. An officer stopped a car on 4th Street, just north of Congress Street, around 5:45 p.m., and found the driver, Kevin Peters, 25, did not have a license. The passenger, Shawn Maple, 33, provided a false name. Police say when the officer went back to his patrol car, Peters and Maple took off, but the officer pulled in front of their vehicle to cut it off. When they seized the car, police say they found 45 grams of crack cocaine, 15 grams of heroin, and a large amount of cash. Peters was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, aggravated unlicensed operation and unregistered motor vehicle, and improper or unsafe turn. Maple is also facing several charges, including criminal possession of a narcotic with intent to sell, and false personation. Police did not make it known when Peters and Maple will be back in court.

Brazilian-born rapper and former contestant on I'm a Celebrity has been charged with raping two women. Aggro Santos, 22, of Bickersteth Road, London, is accused of raping a woman in Chichester, West Sussex, on 7 May. He is also accused of raping another in Yeovil, Somerset, between 25 and 26 September last year. Another man, Tyrelle Ritchie, 21, of Vauxhall Road, London, has been charged with one count of rape in Chichester on the same date, Sussex Police said. Mr Santos, whose real first name is Yuri, and Mr Ritchie have been bailed to appear at Chichester Magistrates' Court on 19 September. Mr Santos's debut single, Candy, featuring former Pussycat Dolls singer Kimberly Wyatt, shot to number five in the UK charts last year. But he became more popularly known through his appearance in last year's series of ITV's reality game show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in which he reached the last six.

erstwhile associate kinesiology professor at California State University at San Bernardino remains on the lam after police raided his home last week and found a pound of methamphetamine and a cache of guns. Police are charging that Stephen Kinzey, who had been on the San Bernardino faculty for a decade, was leading a double life: teaching and researching by day; directing the local chapter of an outlaw biker gang, and its drug business, by night. Not long after the manhunt began, Albert Karnig, the university’s president, emphasized that no one on the Southern California campus saw this coming: “To our knowledge, this is the first notice that anyone on our campus has had regarding this situation,” Karnig said. “…If the allegations are indeed true, this is beyond disappointing.” newspaper accounts described neighbors, students, and even Kinzey's father as having little or no sense of the professor's alleged outside activities. The Contra Costa Times quoted Kinzey's father as saying that he knew that his son belonged to a motorcycle gang and was not "thrilled" about it (the father taught him to ride). But Hank Kinzey also described his son as "a good Catholic boy" and a Republican, and added: "Everybody's always in denial when it's something to do with their family, but this is really surreal," he said. How could a full-time college professor run a drug ring on the sly without tipping his hand? Tom Barker, a professor of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University and leading scholar on outlaw biker gangs, says it is not hard to imagine. “It’s not uncommon for leaders or members of motorcycle gangs to hold down seemingly legitimate lives,” says Barker, even if part of their responsibility is to oversee an illegal drug business. “A college professor could easily pull it off.” Barker says he knows of at least two other college professors who are members of outlaw biker gangs, though he would not disclose their names because he says it could cost him his life. If Kinzey is the kingpin that police suspect he is, “he’s not actually that much involved in actual delivery of drugs,” says Barker. “He’s probably setting up the networks, and he can do that in the way he’s away from the classroom very easily.” In such crime organizations, most of the number-crunching falls to the secretary-treasurer, Barker says. The actual distribution falls to the members and their associates, the enforcer handles the dirty work, and the president’s leadership duties can be delegated to the vice president when necessary. While the chapter head is like the CEO of a small company, the illegal nature of the business means “there’s not a lot of paperwork,” says Barker. Barker says he is familiar with the Devil’s Diciples [sic], the gang Kinzey is alleged to have been running. And while he does not know specific details about the San Bernardino chapter, he says that the president of that chapter would have been in charge of anywhere between seven and 25 full-fledged gang members and a broad network of associates and business partners. He guessed the president of the chapter would personally pull in about a million dollars per year. As an associate kinesiology professor at San Bernardino, Kinzey was probably making around $70,000, according to the annual data produced by the American Association of University Professors. So if Kinzey was indeed the head of a lucrative drug ring, why continue to teach? Barker says that it may have been a fallback in case the kinesiology professor ever wanted to get out of organized crime. Heading the Devil’s Diciples might pay well, but it lacks the stability and retirement benefits of a state teaching job, Barker says. Another theory, he adds, is that Kinzey just loved to teach. Terry Rizzo, the chair of the kinesiology department at San Bernardino, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview; neither did Kinzey’s other colleagues. But student reviews on RateMyProfessors.com suggest that Kinzey had been popular among many students and passionate about his work. “Dr. Steve Kinsey is an amazing [professor], who helps his students in every situation, including in their greatest need,” wrote one student in 2007. “He is a good friend of mine and we continue to get together on a quarterly basis to catch up on life. Thank god for him, because I wouldn't be a graduate without him!!!!!” “He's so awesome!” wrote another, later that same year. “He has a passion for everything he does and it shows in his desire for students to succeed and understand.” More recent reviews paint a less flattering portrait, however. Kinzey “seems like he does not care anymore,” reported one reviewer in 2008. “im sure he is good at what he does he just isnt clear at all. talks all class and does not get anything done. kinda unorganized, but nice enough.” In 2010, a student wrote: “the professor sucks, he comes in late and doesn't care, if he try's to help you he'll end up rambling about himself.” And the last review before Kinzey became a fugitive, written last May, depicts a perpetually distracted instructor: “He's a really good guy and would give you the shirt off his back,” the reviewer wrote. “But something serious must have happened to him because he shows up late, and rambles on about random and controversial topics. He lost his focus & passion for teaching. His behavior lately makes it seem like he wants to get fired.” “Sad,” the student added, “because I really enjoyed all of his classes.”