French police arrested two suspected ETA members Unai Fano and María Lizarraga Merino in central France

French police arrested two suspected ETA members in central France Tuesday, a day after the Basque terrorist group killed a Spanish army officer in one of three car bombings in the Basque Country and Cantabria during the weekend.Authorities identified the two suspects as Unai Fano and María Lizarraga Merino, both thought to be part of ETA's logistics division. They had guns, false identity documents and cash when they were stopped near the town of Prelion in France's Loire region.Neither is considered directly connected with the 21 September bombings, one of which killed Luis Conde, a 46-year-old non-commissioned officer. Conde's funeral was held hours after the arrests, at his military base in Segovia.

French police arrested two suspected ETA members Unai Fano and María Lizarraga Merino in central France

French police arrested two suspected ETA members in central France Tuesday, a day after the Basque terrorist group killed a Spanish army officer in one of three car bombings in the Basque Country and …

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Spain claims that the treasure, which experts value at EUR 500 million, came from the “Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes”,

Spain said Tuesday that it presented "abundant and definitive" evidence to support its claim to half a million gold and silver coins gathered from an Atlantic shipwreck by US salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2007.<br />In a statement, the Culture Ministry argued that the booty, which Odyssey recovered in May 2007, forms part of Spain's national heritage and therefore should be returned to the country. <br />Spain claims that the treasure, which experts value at EUR 500 million, came from the “Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes”, a Spanish warship sunk by a British fleet off the coast of Portugal in 1804. The case is currently in court in the US state of Florida where Odyssey has its headquarters.Odyssey never confirmed the identity of the ship, which it code-named the “Black Swan”.

Spain claims that the treasure, which experts value at EUR 500 million, came from the “Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes”,

Spain said Tuesday that it presented "abundant and definitive" evidence to support its claim to half a million gold and silver coins gathered from an Atlantic shipwreck by US salvage company Odyssey M…

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Francesco Pelle is believed to head the Pelle-Vottari clan of the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia from San Luca in Calabria

Francesco Pelle is believed to head the Pelle-Vottari clan of the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia from San Luca in Calabria which has become Italy's most powerful crime syndicate, dominating Europe's illegal drugs trade. police officers entered a clinic disguised as doctors and arrested the suspected head of a mafia clan linked to the murder of six men in Germany.He was arrested late on Wednesday after having surgery in a private clinic in Pavia, northern Italy, to try to recover the use of his legs after an attack which left him unable to walk. Police dressed up as doctors out of fear Pelle would resist arrest, but he turned out to be unarmed. He is suspected of ordering the murder of a rival clan leader's wife at Christmas 2006 in revenge for the attack on him. A feud that began in 1991 over an egg-throwing incident during carnival has grown into a drugs turf war. The murder triggered a bloody escalation in rivalry that police believe led to the shooting of six Italian men outside a pizzeria in Duisburg, Germany, in August 2007. The six were linked to the Pelle-Vottari clan and about 30 people have since been arrested in connection with the attack.

Francesco Pelle is believed to head the Pelle-Vottari clan of the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia from San Luca in Calabria

Francesco Pelle is believed to head the Pelle-Vottari clan of the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia from San Luca in Calabria which has become Italy's most powerful crime syndicate, dominating Europe's illegal d…

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Nick Rizzuto, along with Paolo Renda, Francesco Arcadi, Lorenzo Giordano, Francesco Del Balso and Rocco Sollecito will be sentenced on October 16

84-year-old Nick Rizzuto, and five of his associates pleaded guilty Thursday to gangsterism, extortion, and importing and trafficking drugs.The six men were arrested in a police dragnet in November 2006 and faced more than 60 charges backed by a mountain of evidence.Police said they recorded more than one million of their conversations by wiretap and on 191 occasions photographed them dividing up bundles of cash at a cafe in Montreal's north end where Rizzuto and his captains held court.<br />Rizzuto, along with Paolo Renda, Francesco Arcadi, Lorenzo Giordano, Francesco Del Balso and Rocco Sollecito will be sentenced on October 16.His son Vito Rizzuto, once believed to be Canada's top mafioso, was arrested in 2004 and is serving a 10-year sentence in the United States for his role in the murders of three captains in the notorious Bonnanno clan of New York, in 1981.The elder Rizzuto came to Canada in 1954 from the Sicilian town of Cattolica Eraclea. During a criminal underworld power struggle in the late 1970s, he was forced into exile.He returned to Canada in 1993 after serving a sentence for cocaine possession in Venezuela.

Nick Rizzuto, along with Paolo Renda, Francesco Arcadi, Lorenzo Giordano, Francesco Del Balso and Rocco Sollecito will be sentenced on October 16

84-year-old Nick Rizzuto, and five of his associates pleaded guilty Thursday to gangsterism, extortion, and importing and trafficking drugs.The six men were arrested in a police dragnet in November 20…

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seized more than a quarter of a ton of cannabis with a street value of million, Brian Deans,was being held along with 41-year-old Dean Hinton,

Costa Blanca. Brian Deans, 45, of Dundee, was being held along with 41-year-old Dean Hinton, of Northampton.The pair were arrested by detectives in the small resort of Oliva on the Costa Blanca.Officers also seized more than a quarter of a ton of cannabis with a street value of more than £1million.Deans's family in Dundee were shocked after the news of his arrest was broken to them by the Record.They claimed the former jute factory worker - who has been married and divorced three times - had never been involved in drugs.Youngest sister Karen Bruce, 41, said: "I haven't seen Brian for five or six years. We didn't fall out or anything - he just moved away from Dundee to Salou and he must have ended up in Costa Blanca."She added: "This is a huge shock. I hadn't heard anything about Brian being arrested."He's never been involved with drugs. As far as I know, he's never touched the stuff."He is a good person and this is worrying."Both men were taken to Alicante for questioning.<br />Police sources said the swoop was linked to the seizure in July of five tons of cannabis worth £15million in the city.Alicante is regarded as the drugs capital of Spain and gateway to Europe for smuggling drugs from Morocco.

seized more than a quarter of a ton of cannabis with a street value of million, Brian Deans,was being held along with 41-year-old Dean Hinton,

Costa Blanca. Brian Deans, 45, of Dundee, was being held along with 41-year-old Dean Hinton, of Northampton.The pair were arrested by detectives in the small resort of Oliva on the Costa Blanca.Office…

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Andy Kershaw says he is on the run and is sleeping on friends' floors to avoid arrest by the police.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KXO11NC4kLwxVJg6mR_8w6uHvqYdxK3XKIJeUFL9LjcSCg4YskWpD5rcmrQcHJbg_82teiI8fQeiTg_mhB0pk7c021z6ZTo8pD3zOF_Ht1PnlqWuVDvUput0VgBkG4VYH1IK8ONoRw4/s1600-h/1596380.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242519646500068226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KXO11NC4kLwxVJg6mR_8w6uHvqYdxK3XKIJeUFL9LjcSCg4YskWpD5rcmrQcHJbg_82teiI8fQeiTg_mhB0pk7c021z6ZTo8pD3zOF_Ht1PnlqWuVDvUput0VgBkG4VYH1IK8ONoRw4/s400/1596380.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br />Andy Kershaw says he is on the run and is sleeping on friends' floors to avoid arrest by the police.Troubled Kershaw, who grew up in Oldham, has been arrested on a number of occasions and has already served a prison sentence for breaking an order banning him from contacting his former partner, Juliette Banner.<br />Father-of-two Kershaw had been with Juliette for 17 years, until they split in 2006. And in 2007 she won a restraining order against him.In January he served 44 days of a three-month prison sentence for breaking the terms of the order on the Isle of Man, where the couple had made their home.<br />And now he claims he is living away from the island in the knowledge that the police from the Isle of Man have a warrant out for his arrest.During the 90s Kershaw became one of the country's most respected broadcasters. And after the couple moved to the Isle of Man in 2006 - amid worries about the standards of schools close to their former north London home - he continued to broadcast his show and brought performers to the island for a series of concerts.But shortly after the move, Kershaw says Juliette discovered he had had a fling while in London, after reading a text message stored on his phone.After Juliette moved out in October 2006, Kershaw repeatedly tried to convince her to return. But by July 2007, by which time Juliette had a new partner, there had been a number of disagreements between them and Juliette obtained a restraining order against him.After a series of breeches of the order, Kershaw was sentenced to three months in prison in January, of which he served just over half.Speaking of his time in prison on the Isle of Man, he is reported to have said: "It would have made Charles Darwin wince. The place was full of heroin.<br />"I feel no bitterness or hostility towards the officers in that jail, the majority of whom were very nice and sympathetic. Just about every officer and prisoner said I shouldn't be in there. The majority were in there for drugs offences.<br />"I was with heroin dealers and men of violence. They realised I was a regular bloke and that I was in there for an enormous injustice."The main problem that I had was the sheer, crushing boredom. I read 32 books in 47 days. Unless you go in there you won't understand how boring it is. You are locked up for 22 hours a day.<br />Just days after his release Kershaw was arrested for breaching the restraining order and at a court hearing he was given a one-year jail term, suspended for two years.<br />Now he is living in a secret location - reportedly sleeping on friends' floors and sleeping rough - amid fears that the police in the Isle of Man have a warrant out for his arrest.At one point he was reported as a missing person by his sister. And after contacting police in Derby, in order to be taken off the Missing Person's Register, he says police from the Isle of Man made an attempt to arrest him.In the interview Kershaw, who says he now has a new partner, says he intends to seek legal advice later this month in order to take the matter forward.

Andy Kershaw says he is on the run and is sleeping on friends' floors to avoid arrest by the police.

Andy Kershaw says he is on the run and is sleeping on friends' floors to avoid arrest by the police.Troubled Kershaw, who grew up in Oldham, has been arrested on a number of occasions and has already …

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Richard Lambot, 61, a Belgian citizen who was living in Senegal, and Moustapha Gueye, 63, a Senegalese were convicted of “gross indecency and marriage

Richard Lambot, 61, a Belgian citizen who was living in Senegal, and Moustapha Gueye, 63, a Senegalese were convicted of “gross indecency and marriage against nature” their lawyer told a British-based African publication this week.<br />Attorney Seyni Ndione told IC Publications that neither man is gay and that Gueye was Lambot’s “domestic helper.”According to Ndione, Lambot had married Gueye only to help him relocate to Belgium so he could continue working for Lambot.The men were detained by authorities when they stepped off a plane from Belgium and the marriage license was discovered in their luggage. They had returned to the country to begin preparations to move back to Lambot’s homeland.“This marriage was only intended to help Mr. Gueye,” Ndione said.But police claim a subsequent search of Lambot’s home in Dakar, the capital, turned up “evidence of homosexuality.”Predominantly Muslim, Senegal is one of the few Francophone African countries that penalize homosexuality. Gay sexual acts are punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of up to $3,000. In February five men were arrested on charges of homosexuality after pictures purportedly of a gay wedding appeared in a popular Senegal gossip magazine.Following an international outcry the five were released. But the dropping of charges outraged Muslims.Several hundred people gathered outside Dakar’s main mosque despite the refusal by police to issue a permit for the protest.Garbage bins were set on fire as organizers in front of the Grande Mosquee de Dakar demanded that all homosexuals in the country be rounded up and jailed.When police ordered the protestors to disband some in the crowd began throwing stones. Police fired teargas into the crowd to quell the riot.

Richard Lambot, 61, a Belgian citizen who was living in Senegal, and Moustapha Gueye, 63, a Senegalese were convicted of “gross indecency and marriage

Richard Lambot, 61, a Belgian citizen who was living in Senegal, and Moustapha Gueye, 63, a Senegalese were convicted of “gross indecency and marriage against nature” their lawyer told a British-based…

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Haydn Charles Ledger will face a District Court trial over his alleged role in a heist worth nearly half a million dollars

Police have charged Haydn Charles Ledger will two counts of receiving stolen goods after detectives seized three bobcats valued at $137,000 from his Malaga property last month. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDDZpx9BMgwj-PVlZXUNV7qTmOVKbBKD253wg-qGm7pz_5qu7HzYvk6S2UZ1ekLtLNDkRUt00mqEGLGt6GFF5r-cI-po7k9qPV8VJJvxAG0ds8xF-jfZgX5uTGwUWqDvv2YbuHE67gm4/s1600-h/heath.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238776477853422274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDDZpx9BMgwj-PVlZXUNV7qTmOVKbBKD253wg-qGm7pz_5qu7HzYvk6S2UZ1ekLtLNDkRUt00mqEGLGt6GFF5r-cI-po7k9qPV8VJJvxAG0ds8xF-jfZgX5uTGwUWqDvv2YbuHE67gm4/s400/heath.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br />uncle of late actor Heath Ledger will face a District Court trial over his alleged role in a heist worth nearly half a million dollars, a Perth magistrate ruled today.Two of the three bobcats, worth a total of $112,000, and a $300,000 truck were allegedly stolen in July, the Midland Magistrates Court heard. The other bobcat, worth $25,000, was taken from a Lockridge property on June 1. A second man has been charged over the alleged offences but the person who carried out the burglary has not been found, the court heard. Today Mr Ledger, 52, of Woodbridge in Perth's north-east, failed to avoid having the charges dealt with by a higher court, where he could face 14 years' jail. His lawyer George Giudice argued that the case should remain in the magistrates court – where the maximum penalty is two years jail or a $24,000 fine – as the alleged crime was not so serious as to warrant committal to the District Court. But police prosecutor Sgt Bob Rundle told the court the penalties in the lower court were inadequate. Magistrate Colin Roberts agreed, saying he could not “turn a blind eye” to the fact that the charges were linked to an “almost half a million dollar heist’’ and that he gave strong consideration to another matter which was subject to a suppression order. Mr Ledger, who has not entered a plea to the charges, was released on bail ahead of his next court appearance on September 26. <br />In March, Mr Ledger controversially suggested that his famous nephew could have fathered a child. He said Heath was a 17-year-old schoolboy when he had an affair with an older woman who is thought to have discovered she was pregnant only after their relationship ended.

Haydn Charles Ledger will face a District Court trial over his alleged role in a heist worth nearly half a million dollars

Police have charged Haydn Charles Ledger will two counts of receiving stolen goods after detectives seized three bobcats valued at $137,000 from his Malaga property last month. uncle of late actor Hea…

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Going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using ... a rifle ... sighted at 750 yards (metres)

A Denver-based CBS television station reported the man, one of three arrested by authorities, said they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using ... a rifle ... sighted at 750 yards (metres)".FBI is investigating whether a man arrested in Denver with rifles, ammunition and drugs in his pick-up truck has made threats against Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama.The shooting was supposed to happen on Friday (AEST) when Obama will accept the nomination as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate for the November election, the television station reported."It's premature to say that it was a valid threat or that these folks have the ability to carry it out," said one US government official familiar with the investigation.FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright confirmed the FBI was investigating the reports but declined to elaborate.Tharin Gartrell, 28, was arrested during a traffic stop early Sunday by police in the eastern Denver suburb of Aurora.In his truck, officers found two rifles, including one with a scope; a bulletproof vest; boxes of ammunition; walkie-talkies; and suspected narcotics, said Aurora police Detective Marcus Dudley.Police alerted federal authorities, who soon arrested Nathan Johnson, 32, at a hotel in Denver, Dudley said. A third man, Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, was arrested at a suburban Glendale hotel, Dudley said.Adolf allegedly tried to escape from officers by jumping from a sixth-floor window. He was hospitalised and was being held on $US1 million ($A1.2 million) bond for several outstanding warrants involving drug charges.Johnson also was being held on drug charges and his bond was unknown, Dudley said.Dudley didn't say what tied the men together but that more arrests were possible. One of the rifles was stolen, and authorities had traced it to Kansas, Dudley said. He declined to say to whom it belonged.Aurora police alerted federal officials because of heightened security surrounding the Democratic convention, Dudley said."Clearly we found there are federal implications - otherwise we would not have notified them," he said.<br />"The weapons clearly would cause great concern."US Attorney Troy Eid said the case was under investigation."We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado," Eid said in a statement.Officials with the FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Aurora police have announced a news conference for Tuesday.Authorities in Denver are trying to find out whether the reported threats to Obama were valid.<br />"It could also turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth-heads," one US government official said.

Going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using ... a rifle ... sighted at 750 yards (metres)

A Denver-based CBS television station reported the man, one of three arrested by authorities, said they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using ... a rifle ... sighted at 750 yards …

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Floridian fallout: alligators, snakes and other critters driven from their swampy lairs into flooded streets, backyards and doorsteps.

Floridian fallout: alligators, snakes and other critters driven from their swampy lairs into flooded streets, backyards and doorsteps. A small row boat with fishing gear and an oversized teddy-bear belonging to Eddie Loftus, not shown, is seen near his Merritt Island, Fla., home.National Guardsman Steve Johnson was wading through hip-deep water Wednesday night when his flashlight revealed an alligator drifting through a neighborhood of flooded mobile homes.“I said, ’The heck is that?’ and there was an alligator floating by,” Johnson said. “I took my flashlight and was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, a big old alligator swimming around here.” ’The erratic and stubborn storm has dumped more than 2 feet of rain along parts of Florida’s low-lying central Atlantic coast this week. The system continued its slow, wet march Thursday by curving back from the ocean to hit the state for a third time.As for Western North Carolina, the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay might bring light rain early next week. “There is a chance you might see some showers,” said Paul Speranza, a Hendersonville weather expert.The storm has wandered along the Florida coast and is now predicted to hug the southern gulf coast. It has dumped nearly two feet of rain in some areas of the state.<br /> Earlier in the week, the National Weather Service had forecast the tropical storm would hit Western North Carolina directly. But a high-pressure system developed over the mid-Atlantic, preventing the storm from traveling northward.“She’s taking the southern route, and that is not very beneficial to us,” Speranza said.<br /> Western North Carolina’s forecast includes has a 30 percent chance of rain Monday, a 40 percent chance Tuesday, a 40 percent chance Wednesday and a 30 percent chance Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. “We have several days where we have a chance to get considerable rainfall,” Weather Service Meteorologist Neil Dixon said.The region needs the rain, as Western North Carolina is in an extreme drought. River levels are at record lows, and the soil has limited moisture. Asheville Regional Airport has normally recorded 2.76 inches of rain in late August. This year, the airport has only received a scant .4 inches of rain for the month. For the year, the region is 11.11 below normal.“Every day we don’t get rainfall we increase the deficit,” Dixon said.Tropical Storm Fay’s exact course is still not known. She is predicted to head north into Alabama and Georgia over the weekend and early next week, but a lot depends on the high pressure, Dixon said.<br /> “It’s too early to say how much rain (the region will get),” he said, but added that some models look good for the area. “Henderson County is looking quite good because it is on the windward side of the mountains.”<br /> Alligators live in all 67 Florida counties, and state officials say they receive more than 18,000 alligator-related complaints each year. But the floodwaters heighten the risk of an encounter with people because the creatures search for a safe place to wait out the storm.“They are trying to find dry land, someplace to hide,” said officer Lenny Salberg of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.The threat of alligators, snakes and other creatures is one more problem confronting weary residents as they clean up their waterlogged homes. At least two alligators were captured in residential neighborhoods, and several others were spotted near homes.In Carla Viotto’s backyard in Indialantic, outside of Melbourne, snakes were swimming around in 4 inches of water.“It looked just like a junk yard,” she said.Flooding was especially acute along the Atlantic coast from Port St. Lucie to Cape Canaveral, with water reaching depths of 5 feet in some neighborhoods. Gov. Charlie Crist visited the area Thursday and President Bush issued a federal disaster declaration for the affected parts of Florida to help with the storm’s costs.Brevard County officials estimated building damage would cost $12 million, mostly from flooding, and $2.6 million in damage from beach erosion.<br /> “This is the worst I’ve absolutely ever seen it,” said Mike White, 57, who was rescued by the National Guard as water crept up to the door of his mobile home.Fay, which was responsible for at least 23 deaths in the Caribbean and two in Florida, is just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the Florida peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times. The most recent was Hurricane Donna in 1960, according to Daniel Brown, a specialist at the National Hurricane Center.Police said an Indiana tourist drowned after going swimming in rough waters churned up by the storm at Neptune Beach. To the south in Volusia County, authorities reported a second woman also drowned in Fay-generated waves.Flooding was also possible in Georgia, where the southern half of the state’s Atlantic coastline was under a tropical storm warning. Some parts of Georgia could get up to 6 inches of rain.In the town of St. Marys, Mary Neff watched the rain from the Spencer House Inn, which she owns with her husband.“We’re pulling in our plants and porch furniture, making sure we have our supplies and gas for the generator,” said Neff, who had three couples cancel weekend reservations. “I still think we all need to stay on our toes.” Fay hovered for hours just off the Florida coast on Thursday before creeping ashore again. At 8 p.m. EDT, the storm was located just west of Flagler Beach and was moving west at about 2 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It still had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph but was forecast to gradually weaken.A tropical storm watch was posted for the Gulf coast of Florida from the Suwannee River to Indian Pass, in case the storm emerges over water again.With the rain moving to the north, the sun began to dry out some Florida neighborhoods hit by floods earlier in the week. The mood was considerably brighter for many residents who were finally able to get out of their homes.“I’m ready to get back to work. This is insane. It’ll drive you nuts being stuck like this,” said Barry Johnson, 44, of Port St. Lucie.

Floridian fallout: alligators, snakes and other critters driven from their swampy lairs into flooded streets, backyards and doorsteps.

Floridian fallout: alligators, snakes and other critters driven from their swampy lairs into flooded streets, backyards and doorsteps. A small row boat with fishing gear and an oversized teddy-bear be…

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The Hellfire Pass Memorial, 80km from Kanchanaburi, is about the railway, rather than soldiers' individual stories, Beattie explains. It's also quite remote and many veterans can't get there, so (naturally) he decided to build a museum in Kanchanaburi.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDc4sCNiLMJGXEIOTVZpdH-TYeZs0zXrJiZjf9EeE6UopJVapfZGaPoBzsOkznup8_uKvnnyWOt_BbX3lRHOCDTERHtECP1attVqC-pnchGr2Q67RWvicWi4nEW_ce2BqyYmCGBEcJxLU/s1600-h/345437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fd="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2FzGj9ZEf309gcT74spp-4_T4MGUcbHRIfA1n3zlmpBBDCAFbBtQtz87cAP4VxEy0EjkWO-FzmLiKiiOqn22D-F_sF010VZpPn2qRZa0uyPGyfcjYVbx-CRo2h6ZR1dZ1_zfp_Hi6ak/s200-r/345437.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Many</span> expat Australians gradually abandon their native land, adopt local customs and drift into an easy life. Not Rod Beattie. This outback type (born in Gympie) has lived for 13 years in Kanchanaburi, Thailand 128km west of Bangkok and the site of the Bridge on the River Kwai. But see the weathered face of the khaki-clad bloke talking to visitors at his Thai-Burma Railway museum, and you could be in any Queensland country town. Let him fix you with his strangely hypnotic eyes and launch into a story and you are lost, captive to an unlikely Scheherazade. He always has one more story to tell about the Japanese ''Death Railway'' and the allied prisoners who built it under such appalling conditions.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSpBgHfL3fOzPOdcSK5OMSYn3hBD-vcsd-eqUYoOXOCe2exRjZRANoV1ZBSvhsdYKlfdrR36MME7KKUmmosFMb1Fl8RL4C-ZAXTZLefhQO61DtjUX3_gcfpRuAd-P1TLAOzgRdRpvTK8/s1600-h/345438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fd="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5HaJBhzexEMIYg0nKFyF9q1yY1qv-i5QU-dNJoHS32y1BCq2hQwk69WMwPMPlP26oPUH6L_nj3Ngv6HNIPojoAS-zVuwuOrR-Aw15Wx7OGlhWhYzNa_A9_-UwnrmpuDsUFjCmz-zZbD8/s200-r/345438.jpg" /></a></div>Beattie first came to Kanchanaburi as a sapphire mining consultant, but became engrossed by the railway. Exploring Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, he met Australians trying to trace mates or relatives. Moved by their attempts, and intrigued by their lack of solid information, he decided to help. Not content to make a few queries or check out the odd dusty diary, in 1995 Beattie set off to walk the entire unmapped 415km length of the railway, battling through overgrown jungle and over mountain passes. In all, he spent five years tracing the railway through Thailand and Burma, locating campsites where Australian soldiers worked and frequently died of disease or exhaustion. When he set off, little was known about the fate of many of these soldiers, but by the end of Beattie's determined trek, he had accounted for every one of the 2661 Aussie casualties, finding the place and cause of death for all but three. Beattie downplays this achievement, citing his background as a civil engineer and onetime soldier, but how hard was it, really? ''Very,'' he admits. ''The records are scattered all over the place. It was a case of creating two lists, one of prisoner of war deaths from original wartime records and another of present-day burial or commemoration sites. The two had to be compared and combined so I now have a record of [every] Australian reported as dying on the railway.''<br /> While many Aussies harbour vague plans to visit the place where a relative served or died overseas. Melbournian Doug Ogden, whose father died on the Thai-Burma border, actually did it in 1995, with Beattie's help. It wasn't easy, he concedes. ''Most of my life I couldn't talk to anybody about my father. I couldn't hear The Last Post without almost gagging, choking. There's a lot of fear about going back to where your father died, because you're going where your father was treated badly. It's like visiting a crime scene.''<br /> Ogden had got as far as Kanchanaburi when he encountered Beattie. Even then Beattie knew the area better than anyone, says Ogden. ''It's his passion in life; actually, 'obsession' is a more accurate description. Rod's determined to ensure that this part of Australian history is never forgotten and to this end he works like a man on a mission. Rod can talk on a range of subjects but always before long he is back to 'the railway'.''<br /> Beattie took Ogden into the jungle himself. ''It was only with Rod's local knowledge that we came upon what we believe was Kami Sonkurai, where my father died. This was very emotional. To imagine my father may have been on this ground and that he may have even touched some of the sleepers still remaining, caused great elation and sadness. It will always be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.''<br /> Ogden returned with other 2/29 Battalion families for a memorial dedication, with Beattie as guide.<br /> As Ogden says, ''The families had to go, to find out, because no-one told them anything about their fathers. It's important for people to actually touch the ground, see where their father spent the war, or died. Even if he came back, often he wouldn't talk about it. They had to understand their father's behaviour some people got back to society, but they were not part of society, some became a bit violent, or drank.''<br /> Beattie often meets people like Ogden. ''The other day I spotted someone showing a piece of paper to my head gardener [Beattie works part-time for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Kanchanaburi] so I went to help him. I asked the relationship and was told 'my father'''. The man had known little of his father's fate. He knew he died in the Far East, and recently he found on the CWGC website that he was commemorated in Kanchanaburi.''I was able to tell Peter that his father died a few hundred metres from where we were standing. By the time I took Peter across to the museum and copied the wartime documents recording his father's movements on the railway, his death and burial, he was stunned into silence. The reaction of people I take to the actual camps or cemetery sites is even more emotional.''<br /> Beattie clearly finds this work satisfying but it wasn't enough. <br /> The Hellfire Pass Memorial, 80km from Kanchanaburi, is about the railway, rather than soldiers' individual stories, Beattie explains. It's also quite remote and many veterans can't get there, so (naturally) he decided to build a museum in Kanchanaburi. Undaunted by broken promises of government assistance, Beattie went it alone, adding galleries and displays as money trickled in. He insisted on authenticity. He makes the point that the precisely-scaled model of the railway mirrors the railway's actual compass orientation and the rocks and rails in the construction displays are real. The 2cm-high diorama figures are individually sculpted from Dutch POW drawings. All diaries and personal effects on show are genuine, found by Beattie or donated. <br /> And help has come form some unlikely quarters. Japanese engineer Major Renichi Sugano (who carried a secret camera while working on the building of the railway) has visited the museum three times and donated 300 photographs. He has told Beattie that he feels the museum gives a balanced account. Japanese visitors do come to the museum, though not in great numbers. Beattie says those who do come are shocked, sometimes in tears, when they learn what happened here. ''We have a book specifically for Japanese visitors to record their thoughts. Some write half a page or more. The basic theme of the comments is 'We had no idea this happened. We are so sorry'.''What strikes you on meeting Beattie is his passion for the cause and his concern for the people he helps. And his sheer intensity, as Doug Ogden testifies. ''One time we were staying with him the night before Anzac Day. It got to be 12o'clock and my son said, 'Mate, I've had enough, I'm going to bed' because we all had to be up at 3am for the dawn service. But Rod is still bashing on and then it is 2am, and then the next thing you know, it's 3o'clock and Rod is still talking.''<br /> Intense, maybe, but this man Beattie and his museum are the real thing. Beattie is a link between visitors and their comrades or relatives, between Japan, Australia and Thailand and between the past and the present. In fact, he is a far more authentic bridge than the better-known edifice outside, which is there to satisfy tourists. Not even the river is really called Kwai, but that's another story.Thirteen years on, he remains a quintessential Queenslander. Straight up. No bull. He deflects all talk of persistence or obsession and insists that the motivation for his work is just ''giving peace of mind to people.'' Which he does. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznMg0zW1HuF071SvKLYhT0VQuptyf9Mwy3t8EvH-3hA5IFQd0Coc0zAXt9aLGaUDnN2KFPHTZV_8MI6aDM-zEc4fMTBuGUVNoRADt0SI5s8LFLRyOYnvdEVdn1zSuhcNqxDUJLZ39hvQ/s1600-h/345439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fd="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9stD43b7KuunZVuIY6L8KWiW3GujKhv7ZLNqHQz-JjBN5UNy5GckubWm6tzCeJqoO92QokOuDC7-0N8VmlYEn1ex0yi2ER-xA6ZNTYmgqwldx1hsx0i1ZO9Yi4Kr1QdSwWpD-2LIum_s/s200-r/345439.jpg" /></a></div>

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The Hellfire Pass Memorial, 80km from Kanchanaburi, is about the railway, rather than soldiers' individual stories, Beattie explains. It's also quite remote and many veterans can't get there, so (naturally) he decided to build a museum in Kanchanaburi.

Many expat Australians gradually abandon their native land, adopt local customs and drift into an easy life. Not Rod Beattie. This outback type (born in Gympie) has lived for 13 years in Kanchanaburi,…

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killer of late rocker John Lennon has provided new insights into the murder of the former Beatles

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34JS_w9HMVufhUxqdPE5TGY1Zm_sn8zF_VItPHk1btg_IEVjUVTDqtNNX17UEyXnWB8i9BOgRLxl8Ket7dnwGP3_YZuLtvKkP_5Iwvxu5cw7KGOdGSu3h3FoOzreJkke7EaWoovvhER8/s1600-h/john-lennon-180308_21082008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fd="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVqmK-5xVHWGUL6YGsvBx5fQNUklVBTihZrkC1u_luhA8n2KSuiD5NJMgJTdAPxLbLnoMucftkeFe3GK1VdKGiaTF2AkD6_lDYwg0zCyHfpTXEkUv1XDomcrNk2S6EoA9rhLLXi_PyYg/s320-r/john-lennon-180308_21082008.jpg" /></a></div>"I just saw his face and it seemed like it all came together, the solution to my problem of being confused and feeling like a nobody," he said. "And I said, 'Wouldn't it be something if I kill this individual? I would become famous, I would be something other than a nobody.' And that was my reasoning at the time. I perceived him at the time, and wrongly judged him to be a phony. Here he is at this ritzy building and he had been singing of love and other things at that time, it angered me," he added.<br /> <br /> The killer of late rocker John Lennon has provided new insights into the murder of the former Beatles. During his parole hearing, Mark David Chapman admitted that contrary to reports in the media, he did not call Lennon's name before shooting him, according to the transcripts.<br /> "I don't recall saying, 'Mr. Lennon'," Telegraph quoted him, as saying. "I think that was something the press elaborated on. That didn't happen. He didn't turn. I shot him in the back," he added.<br /> The 53-year-old former maintenance worker, who said that he is ashamed of slaying the legendary rocker, had started planning the shooting three months earlier after seeing Lennon on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

killer of late rocker John Lennon has provided new insights into the murder of the former Beatles

"I just saw his face and it seemed like it all came together, the solution to my problem of being confused and feeling like a nobody," he said. "And I said, 'Wouldn't it be something if I kill this in…

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Armed robbery gangs in Sarawak six cases of armed robberies were reported.

Armed robbery gangs in Sarawak are back in business with a vengeance.After a lull of three months, these gangs went on a robbery spree in Kuching and Sibu in the past three days.On Wednesday alone, six cases of armed robberies were reported.The latest victims were a doctor, a shop manager, two families who were at home, a tourist couple from Perak and several individuals.On Tuesday, Sebuyau state assemblyman Julaihi Narawi and his family of eight were robbed inside their house in Kuching in the wee hours of the morning.At least three masked robbers, believed to be foreigners, were involved.Three months ago, the Sarawak police shot and killed three wanted robbers in Sibu.That shooting forced armed robbers throughout Sarawak to lay low.It is believed that more youths are being lured into robbery because they are facing hard times due to the rising cost of living."Police have discovered cases of labourers in the day becoming armed robbers at night. These people are desperate for money and they will resort to crime as an easy way to get money," said a CID officer here.<br /> There are still several high-profile robberies involving VIP victims that have yet to be solved in Sarawak.On April 1, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam was robbed inside his residence in the state capital.Former state minister Datuk Sharifah Mordiah Tuanku Fauzi and Semarian state assemblywoman Sharifah Hasidah were also robbed in their house in Kuching on April 19.The culprits are still at large.

Armed robbery gangs in Sarawak six cases of armed robberies were reported.

Armed robbery gangs in Sarawak are back in business with a vengeance.After a lull of three months, these gangs went on a robbery spree in Kuching and Sibu in the past three days.On Wednesday alone, si…

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Envelope of files discussing a classified computer database run by Environment Canada was found on an Ottawa street corner.

Envelope of files discussing a classified computer database run by Environment Canada was found on an Ottawa street corner. "It's a disturbing pattern developing about the accountability and administration of confidential documents," said NDP MP Pat Martin, vice-chair of the Access to Information Privacy and Ethics committee. "It's either a cavalier and sloppy disregard for privacy issues or incompetence and neither bodes well for the government's image," said Martin who will ask his committee to probe the matter when it next sits. The envelope was turned into reporters at the CBC who reported that the papers were a risk assessment of Environment Canada's classified NEMISIS database. NEMISIS is used by officials to track and prosecute people or companies who break the law by polluting the environment. According to the CBC, the assessment described in precise detail how hackers or organized crime could attack the database. The papers also explained that such a breach would impede the government's ability to enforce the law. Environment Minister John Baird told reporters yesterday the incident was "certainly bizarre" but dismissed suggestions that secret government information had been compromised. "I'm told two things: that it's neither classified nor secret and that it's stuff that could be available under access to information," Baird said. Nevertheless, Baird said his department takes document security seriously and he's asked officials to find out how this 131-page document came to be found by a passerby on a street in a rain-stained, tire-marked, brown envelope. "It's a bit of an odd story for someone to find something like that on the side of the road, " Baird said. In March, a document containing what appeared to be blueprints for a building at the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit under construction at Canadian Forces Base Trenton turned up in a recycle bin in Ottawa. In May, Maxime Bernier was forced to resign as Foreign Affairs minister after it became known that he left sensitive documents at the apartment of his then-girlfriend Julie Couillard who had ties to the Hells Angels biker gang. <br /> "One of the basic attributes of government is that information remains secure," said Liberal Environment Critic David McGuinty. "This is part of a pattern and yet another incident of people wondering if they now have to be more concerned than they were before."

Envelope of files discussing a classified computer database run by Environment Canada was found on an Ottawa street corner.

Envelope of files discussing a classified computer database run by Environment Canada was found on an Ottawa street corner. "It's a disturbing pattern developing about the accountability and administr…

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