A British grandmother has been sentenced to death by firing squad for smuggling almost 5kg of cocaine into Bali.
Lindsay Sandiford was arrested in May last year after she tried to enter the Indonesian holiday island with illegal drugs worth £1.6 million hidden in her suitcase.
Local prosecutors had called for the 56-year-old housewife to be jailed for 15 years. But today there were gasps in the Bali courtroom when a panel of judges announced Ms Sandiford would be executed for drug trafficking.
As the shock verdict was announced, Ms Sandiford, from Gloucestershire, slumped back in her chair in tears before hiding her face with a brown sarong as she was led out of the courtroom.
FBI reportedly probed more than 100 people within the US military, who were suspected of Islamic extremist sympathies. About a dozen of those are considered serious “insider threats” demonstrating a strong intent to attack military targets. The latter cases require full formal investigation, says National Public Radio. The probe covered active and reserve military personnel as well as civilians with access to military sites, including contractors and family members of servicemen, the report says. Officials would not comment on the report or confirm the numbers, which are the first figures of their kind to be made public. NPR says the numbers were voiced at a House-Senate committee hearing in December, citing three sources close to the investigation. Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security stopped short of confirming the numbers, but told NPR that he was “surprised and struck” by them and that they were larger than he expected. "This number speaks not only to the reality that there is a problem of violent Islamic extremists in the military, but also that the Department of Defense and the FBI since the Nidal Hasan case are working much more closely together," said Lieberman. The senator war referring to the November 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood processing center, which left 13 people dead. Prosecutors say US Army Major Nidal Hasan, the man charged with the killings, was displaying signs of increased radicalization before going on the rampage, but the changes were not properly reported. The man’s court-martial is set to begin in late August and may end with a sentencing to death. The Fort Hood shooting is considered the worst terrorist attack on US soil since the September 2001 attack.
Several thousand critics of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gathered outside "Tent City" Saturday night for a rally calling for the closure of the sheriff's complex of canvas jail tents. Organizers say conditions at "Tent City" complex are inhumane. The sheriff has said he doesn't see any problems with housing inmates in tents and often points out that some members of the U.S. military live in tents. "We are with you," protesters chanted in both English and Spanish, in hopes that inmates could hear them. Most protesters held candles and wore yellow T-shirts that read "Standing on the side of love," a slogan of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which was holding its annual convention in Phoenix this weekend. The rally was the latest effort by the association to promote social justice, association spokesman John Hurley said. The Unitarians organized the rally along with the immigrant rights group Puente Arizona. The Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, attended the rally and was among a group that accompanied Arpaio on a tour of Tent City. In 2010, Morales was arrested at a protest in Phoenix over Arizona's immigration law. Rachel Walden, who works at the Unitarian Universalist Association headquarters in Boston, said the group also gathered Saturday to protest the immigration law. "We wanted to stand in solidarity with the immigration groups," she said. "We just wanted to be there to have a big presence and say this is wrong." Arpaio is a national political fixture who built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents during Phoenix's triple-digit summer heat, dressing inmates in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can go to confront illegal immigration.
The school bus driver beaten into a coma by another motorist earlier this month has died, NBC 4 New York has learned. Juan DelValle's devastated family, who had stood watch by his bedside since the assault, made the decision to take him off life support Friday evening, a hospital spokesperson told NBC 4 New York. Follow @msnbc_us He died at 6:19 p.m., his sister said. DelValle was severely injured June 11 when he was knocked to the pavement following a minor traffic accident in the Bronx, according to authorities. Advertise | AdChoices The 65-year-old brother, father and grandfather was attempting to navigate a school bus through a narrow and crowded Anthony Avenue and clipped a mirror on a double-parked car, authorities said. When DelValle exited the bus to survey the damage, the driver of the car allegedly began yelling at him. Surveillance video captured the car driver then punching DelValle so forcefully he was sent flying backward before his head slammed on the road. The other driver fled the scene. He was later arrested. See original story, video on NBCNewYork.com DelValle never regained consciousness. His family says a funeral will be held in about two weeks after the medical examiner completes an autopsy. DelValle had been driving a school bus for 10 years and was preparing to retire at the end of this school year, according to his sister. He'd already submitted his papers. Atlantic Express, the bus company DelValle worked for, said it was deeply saddened by his death, calling him a gentle man who did his job professionally, with great dedication and compassion. "The career of a school bus driver is a demanding one with great responsibility, but it should never be one where hard-working, honorable people are subjected to vicious and senseless violence," the company said in a statement. "We must all stand together to ensure that violence against school bus drivers will not be tolerated and demand the maximum sentence against the perpetrator of this heartless crime which was witnessed by special education students."
14-year-old Phoenix boy shot an intruder who broke into his home while brandishing a gun as the teenager watched his three younger siblings, police said. The teen and his brothers and sisters were at home alone at their residence at 55th Avenue and Baseline when a woman rang the doorbell Friday. The teen didn't open the door because he didn't recognize her, Police Officer James Holmes said Saturday. Soon after, the teen heard a bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent's bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man breaking through the front door and point a gun at him. The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who is in critical condition but expected to survive and be booked into jail. Holmes said the suspect did not get a shot off. He declined to release his name until he is booked into jail. The woman who rang the home's doorbell got away. Holmes hailed the teen's actions and his parents for teaching the kids to never open the door to strangers. "The police and indeed our community does not ever want to see a situation where a teenager of that age has to take a weapon to protect his family ... but this young man did exactly what he should have done," he said. "I'm not sure he gave full thought about what he had to do. He just acted." Holmes said that the gun the teen grabbed was his father's, but did not know whether the boy had been trained to use it. He said the family, whose names were not released, is declining to speak to reporters about the ordeal, saying that they "are all pretty traumatized." "The dad was pretty much out of his mind with distress, officers couldn't even talk to him," Holmes said. "It's going to take them a while to recover mentally." He said police don't yet know what the suspect's intentions were and that will be one of the first questions they ask him when he is well enough to talk. "This was mid-block in a neighborhood, at 4:30 in the afternoon in summertime and children are there," he said. "They just took a heck of a gamble for this particular house, and we've got to try to figure out why." Holmes added that the family is lucky that the teen acted so swiftly and effectively. "As ugly as this is, and as much as this family is going through, we don't have injured children on our hands," he said.
Wildfires moved in on some of Colorado's most popular summer tourist destinations over the weekend, demolishing nearly two dozen homes near Rocky Mountain National Park and emptying hotels and campgrounds at the base of Pikes Peak. A wildfire near Colorado Springs erupted and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles early Sunday, prompting the evacuation of more than 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists. On Saturday, a blaze destroyed 21 structures near the mountain community of Estes Park, where many visitors stay while visiting the park. All of this came just a week before the Fourth of July, a key time for family vacations to national parks and other destinations. A statewide ban on open campfires and private fireworks has been in place for more than a week. With Colorado midway through its worst wildfire season in a decade, travelers have seen some of their favorite sites closed to the public, obscured by smoke and haze. "We're used to flooding and tornadoes, nothing like this," said Amanda Rice of Rock Falls, Ill., who evacuated a Manitou Springs hotel late Saturday with her husband, four children and dog. Some travelers were awoken with evacuation orders. Rice, scared when she saw flames, took her family to the evacuation center before she was told to go. "It was just this god-awful orange glow. It was surreal. It honestly looked like hell was opening up," Rice said Sunday. Plumes of gray and white smoke poured from the mountains Sunday, obscuring at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the nation and inspiration for the song "America The Beautiful." Winds were pushing smoke away from Colorado Springs, but residents and tourists watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak. Families planning whitewater rafting trips or visits to the stunning red-rock formations in Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs were instead spending their vacations passing out bottled water and setting up cots in evacuee centers. They included Mark Stein of Morristown, N.J., whose family arrived after midnight Sunday at their Manitou Springs hotel for a week of whitewater rafting and sightseeing. "We were sleeping for 15 minutes when they started knocking on the door — a day from hell," Stein said of the day of travel. With his wife and two sons, Stein spent the first night of his vacation setting up cots for more than 200 evacuees who slept at the school. "I think it's the best vacation ever. This is what the real world is about. There's a lot of people that need help," Stein said. Also Sunday, a brushfire that began near Elbert, about 50 miles southwest of Denver, quickly spread to about 60 acres, forcing the evacuation of about 100 residents. Half the nation's firefighting fleet is now battling fires in Colorado, said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. He said C-130 military transport planes from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs would begin assisting on Monday. With eight wildfires burning, including a fire that has scorched more than 118 square miles and destroyed at least 191 homes near Fort Collins, Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade. "People recognize this is going to take a big push" to extinguish, Hickenlooper said Sunday from a Colorado Springs grocery store, where volunteers were passing out burritos, sandwiches and drinks to 350 firefighters working near Pikes Peak. The wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park destroyed vacation cabins and closed the most commonly used entrance to the park. Clouds of smoke blew toward the 102-year-old Stanley Hotel that inspired Stephen King to write "The Shining." Carolyn Baty and her husband, Darrell, vacationing from Fort Worth, Texas, were evacuated from their cabin Saturday afternoon. "I smelled smoke coming from both directions, and then I heard the knock on the door," Darrell Baty told The Denver Post. A fire burning near Fort Collins has scorched more than 118 square miles, destroying at least 191 homes. Though some evacuees were allowed home Sunday, that blaze has become among the largest and most expensive in Colorado history. Elsewhere in the West, firefighters made progress against wildfires in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and California. — In Utah, a 12.5-square-mile blaze around Fountain Green in Sanpete County was threatening 200 homes in four rural subdivisions, forcing 800 people to 1,000 people to flee. BLM says the human-caused fire erupted Saturday afternoon and is 4 percent contained. Officials report progress on a 9-square-mile wildfire around Saratoga Springs, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. — In California, a wildfire about 60 miles north of Los Angeles triggered evacuations of campgrounds around an off-road recreation area on Saturday. Officials said the fire has blackened at least 1,000 acres in the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area, along the Interstate 5 corridor in Gorman. — In New Mexico, a lightning-caused wildfire that destroyed 242 homes and businesses is 90 percent contained. The 69-square-mile fire near Ruidoso began June 4. Meanwhile, the largest wildfire in state history was 87 percent contained, having burned more than 464 square miles after two blazes merged on May 16. — In Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service said Sunday that containment against the Pecos Fire, just outside of Young, is up to 50 percent and remains under 12,000 acres. Officials say many of the firefighting resources are being released to their home units or to other fire assignments.
Governor Mitch Daniels, a Republican, has authorized changes to a 2006 legislation that legalizes the use of deadly force on a public servant — including an officer of the law — in cases of “unlawful intrusion.” Proponents of both the Second and Fourth Amendments — those that allow for the ownership of firearms and the security against unlawful searches, respectively — are celebrating the update by saying it ensures that residents are protected from authorities that abuse the powers of the badge. Others, however, fear that the alleged threat of a police state emergence will be replaced by an all-out warzone in Indiana. Under the latest changes of the so-called Castle Doctrine, state lawmakers agree “people have a right to defend themselves and third parties from physical harm and crime.” Rather than excluding officers of the law, however, any public servant is now subject to be met with deadly force if they unlawfully enter private property without clear justification. “In enacting this section, the general assembly finds and declares that it is the policy of this state to recognize the unique character of a citizen's home and to ensure that a citizen feels secure in his or her own home against unlawful intrusion by another individual or a public servant,” reads the legislation. Although critics have been quick to condemn the law for opening the door for assaults on police officers, supporters say that it is necessary to implement the ideals brought by America’s forefathers. Especially, argue some, since the Indiana Supreme Court almost eliminated the Fourth Amendment entirely last year. During the 2011 case of Barnes v. State of Indiana, the court ruled that a man who assaulted an officer dispatched to his house had broken the law before there was “no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers.” In turn, the National Rifle Association lobbied for an amendment to the Castle Doctrine to ensure that residents were protected from officers that abuse the law to grant themselves entry into private space. “There are bad legislators,” the law’s author, State Senator R. Michael Young (R) tells Bloomberg News. “There are bad clergy, bad doctors, bad teachers, and it’s these officers that we’re concerned about that when they act outside their scope and duty that the individual ought to have a right to protect themselves.” Governor Daniels agrees with the senator in a statement offered through his office, and notes that the law is only being established to cover rare incidents of police abuse that can escape the system without reprimand for officers or other persons that break the law to gain entry. “In the real world, there will almost never be a situation in which these extremely narrow conditions are met,” Daniels says. “This law is not an invitation to use violence or force against law enforcement officers.” Officers in Indiana aren’t necessarily on the same page, though. “If I pull over a car and I walk up to it and the guy shoots me, he’s going to say, ‘Well, he was trying to illegally enter my property,’” Sergeant Joseph Hubbard tells Bloomberg. “Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law.” “It’s just a recipe for disaster,” Indiana State Fraternal Order of Police President Tim Downs adds. “It just puts a bounty on our heads.”
After the recent stream of disturbing news reports of people eating others' flesh, Hornaday Manufacturing has released bullets that promise to ‘make dead permanent.’
The ammunition, branded as Zombie Max offers Proven Z-Max bullets, is live ammunition, but is actually only intended for use on targets – not people.
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The Walking Dead: Hornady Manufacturing has started selling Zombie bullets, 'just in case'; it is live ammunition
Attacks: Carl Jacquneaux, left, who was arrested for allegedly biting another man's face and Brandon De Leon, right, who allegedly tried to bite two policemen while threatening to eat them
Hornaday spokesman Everett Deger told WWJ Newsradio 950 that the company’s president has a love of zombie culture – including popular shows like the Walking Dead – and was inspired to make the bullets in honour of the cultural phenomenon.
ON CLOUD NINE: BATH SALTS BY ANOTHER NAME... WITH STRONG COMPULSIONS TO REDOSE
The 'bath salts' sold under the name Cloud Nine are likely to be stimulant drugs such MPDV or ephedrine.
'Bath salts' does not refer to a single chemical, but instead to a range of synthetic drugs that can be sold legally in the U.S. as long as they are not marked for human consumption – hence the misleading name.
Drugs such as MPDV are highly potent stimulants, similar to some amphetamines, and in MPDV's case particularly, cause a strong compulsion to 'redose' with more of the drug.
In high doses, such drugs can cause violent and unpredictable behaviour, and terrifying hallucinations – and the compulsion to take more of the drug continues, even once the 'high' has begun to make the user feel bad.
Various different compounds use the name 'Cloud Nine', and it's still not confirmed which exact chemical was in the drug reported to have caused these attacks, but some reports have pointed the finger at MPDV.
The chemical is already illegal in Florida – although other 'bath salts' remain perfectly legal in the state.
‘We decided just to have some fun with a marketing plan that would allow us to create some ammunition designed for that…fictional world,’ he told the radio station.
Mr Deger noted that the bullets are some of the ammunition company’s most popular products.
The news comes as two more cannibal attacks have been reported in the US as police warn of a dangerous new mind-altering drug called Cloud Nine.
Last week Rudy Eugene - who is believed to have taken the over-the-counter ecstasy-like drug - growled at officers as he chewed off most of a homeless man's face before being shot dead by Miami police.
Since then two further incidents have been linked to the substance, which is part of a new line of 'bath salts'.
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Revealed: The videos 'Canadian cannibal' sent to his 'fans' while on the run from police - and one of them contains infamous song from American Psycho
The second occurred on Saturday when a snarling homeless man, identified as Brandon De Leon, threatened to eat two officers, echoing the Miami attack.
A third incident took place in Louisiana where Carl Jacquneaux, 43, bit off a chunk of his victim's face. Miami police have issued a warning about Cloud Nine and told their officers to exercise extreme caution when dealing with homeless men who appear to be acting unusually.
Police investigating the case of Rudy Eugene, who ate the face off a homeless man, say as well as being naked, he was carrying a bible.
Some pages had been ripped out of the book and were found close by, according to CBS Miami. A preliminary toxicology examination has also found that the 31-year-old had been smoked cannabis shortly before the incident.
They were forced to fit 21-year-old De Leon with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask after he was arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami Beach. When put in a police cruiser De Leon slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted at officers, 'I'm going to eat you', NBC Miami reported.
He then growled, gnashed his teeth and tried to bite the hand of an officer attempting to treat his head wounds.
'Brandon growled and opened and closed his jaw, slamming his teeth like an animal would,' the report said. Miami police said they believe he was on a cocktail of drugs, including Cloud Nine.
In a second case Carl Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after he became upset following a domestic issue.
Victim: Todd Credeur, though in shock, managed to spray his attacker in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face
Scene: Todd Creneur was attacked while working on the yard outside his home in Scott, Louisiana
KATC reported that Mr Credeur was working in his front yard when he was attacked.
Scott Assistant Police Chief Kert Thomas said: 'During the attack, the suspect bit a chunk of the victim's face off.'
Mr Credeur reportedly managed to spray Jacquneaux in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face.
Jacquneaux then allegedly left the home and went to another man's home where he held him at knife point and stole a hand gun. This is where police found him and arrested him.
A friend of the victim said she believes Jacquneaux was under the influence of Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene.
Eugene ate the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo in Miami last week and a police memo to officers has highlighted the dangers surrounding the drug's use.
It warned the De Leon case 'bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man's face'.
'Please be careful when dealing with the homeless population during your patrols.'
Police have suggested Eugene was under the influence of the synthetic stimulant usually sold in drug paraphanelia shops.
Cloud Nine is 'addictive and dangerous', the memo said, part of a 'disturbing trend in which new drugs are sold in the guise of household products'.
The drug, which is also as Ivory Wave in the U.S., comes in harmless-looking packets, police said, adding that it is illegal in Britain and Australia.
Crazed attack: Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene (left) when he savagely attacked 65-year-old Ronald Poppo (right)
The potentially addictive drug stimulates the central nervous system and symptoms include heart palpitations, nausea, hallucinations, paranoia and erratic behaviour.
The series of shocking incidents began on May 26 when a naked Eugene encountered his victim, 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, who was sleeping in the shade on elevated train tracks.
In surveillance footage from the nearby Miami Herald building, Eugene was seen struggling with the naked homeless man, throwing him to the ground and then tearing into his face with his teeth as cars and bicycles sped by.
About 18 minutes into the attack, an officer appeared on the scene and yelled at Eugene to stop, but the 31-year-old just growled at him and continued chewing Poppo’s face.
The officer then opened fire on Eugene, shooting him to death.
Enlarge
Horrific attack: The spot on MacArthur Causeway when a man was killed after chewing the face off a stranger
Disfigured: Poppo, here on a stretcher, miraculously survived the attack, but was left without a nose, mouth or eyes
Poppo remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital with his nose, mouth and eyes torn off. He faces months of treatment to rebuild his features and psychological care.
Controversially this week the scene of the attack on Poppo has been Miami added to sites visited by a tourist tour's itinerary.
The famous Miami Mystery & Mayhem: Crime Tour tour led by Miami-Dade College professor Dr Paul George will stop on the road that connects downtown Miami to popular South Beach.
Dr Paul told the South Florida Business Journal: 'Horrible as it was, it is part of our history. Currently, our tour takes us over the causeway right past the site, so this fits well.'
In a completely separate case not involving the drug, Canadian Luka Rocco Magnotta has been sent back to his country from Germany after an international manhunt.
He is alleged to have killed his partner, Jun Lin, before eating parts of his body then chopping it to pieces that were then posted to different authorities. Mr Lun's head has not yet been found.
'ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE': RECENT CANNIBAL ATTACKS ACROSS AMERICA
Since Rudy Eugene attacked and ate the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo on May 26 in Miami, Florida, while allegedly high on 'bath salts' there has been a spate of similar attacks.
The 'Miami Cannibal' case shocked the nation after police had to shoot dead Eugene when he refused to stop eating his victim's face off. Poppo is now recovering in hospital with horrific injuries.
Brandon DeLeon, 21, was high on drugs and drunk on Four Loko on June 2 when he tried to bite off a police officer’s hand after he was arrested for disturbing customers in a Miami fast food restaurant.
The homeless man repeatedly banged his head against the patrol car’s Plexiglas and yelled, ‘I’m going to eat you.’
At the police station, De Leon tried to bite the officer who was taking his blood pressure and tending to his self-inflicted wounds. The police report noted that he 'growled and opened and closed his jaw slamming his teeth like an animal would.'
Carl Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after he became upset following a domestic issue.
Mr Credeur reportedly managed to spray Jacquneaux in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face.
A friend of the victim said she believes Jacquneaux was under the influence of Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene.
Alex Kinyua, 21, a college student, used a knife to carve up Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, 37, before eating his heart out and parts of his brain.
He then took to his social networking site to boast about it to his friends saying: 'Are you strong enough to endure ritual HBCU mass human sacrifices around the country and still be able to function as human beings?'
He referred to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech and 'other past university killings around the country' and warned 'ethnic cleansing is the policy, strategy and tactics that will affect you, directly or indirectly in the coming months.'
Narcotic Cloud Nine was blamed for the attack when Rudy Eugene ate 75% of homeless man Ronald Poppo’s face in Miami last month.
Horrific images surfaced of the attack that only ended once police shot and killed 31-year-old Eugene.
Mr Poppo is still recovering from his injuries in hospital.
Police are now warning people to stay away from Cloud Nine – also known as ‘bath salts’ - after two similar attacks were reported.
The most recent prompted an internal memo to police warning officers the case “bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man’s face”.
The memo called the synthetic drug “addictive and dangerous” and said it was part of a “disturbing trend in which new drugs are sold in the guise of household products”.
It added: “Please be careful when dealing with the homeless population during your patrols.”
Rudy Eugene, 31: Ate 75% of a man's face in Miami before being shot dead
AP
Brandon De Leon, 21: Tried to bite two police officers after he was arrested in North Miami BeachCarl Jacquneaux, 43: Bit a man's face in Scott, Louisiania. Wasp spray was used to end the attackAlex Kinyua, 21: Accused of eating the heart and brain of friend in Maryland
Splash
Horror: Film cannibal Hannibal Lecter
Channel 5
During the latest attack homeless Brendon De Leon threatened to eat two Miami police officers and had to be fitted with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask to prevent him carrying his threats out.
He had been arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami Beach while high on drugs and put in a police cruiser when he slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted: “I’m going to eat you” to officers before growling and baring his teeth.
Miami police said they believe he was on a cocktail of drugs including Cloud Nine.
In another case, Carl Jacquneaux, 43, was accused of attacking Todd Credeur in his front garden in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after being upset over a domestic issue while under the influence of what is said to be bath salts.
Jacquneaux bit Mr Credeur before being sprayed in the face with wasp spray.
Scott Assistant Police Chief Kert Thomas said: “During the attack, the suspect bit a chunk of the victim’s face off.”
Jacquneaux was then said to have left the property and gone to another man’s home where he held him at knife-point and stole a handgun before being apprehended by police.
The drug, which is also known as Ivory Wave, was blamed for several deaths in Britain during 2010 before being banned. It is also illegal in Australia.
The potentially addictive drug stimulates the central nervous system and symptoms include heart palpitations, nausea, hallucinations, paranoia and erratic behaviour and is often sold in plain packaging with the contents purporting to be harmless.
Luka Rocco Magnotta was arrested in Berlin Monday after a four-day international manhunt that spanned three countries. The 29-year-old Canadian wanted over a horrific Montreal ice pick murder and decapitation of a Chinese student that he allegedly filmed and posted to the Internet, was arrested in or near an Internet cafe, Berlin police said. Montreal police confirmed they are aware of the reports that Magnotta was arrested, but said they are still in the process of contacting their Berlin counterparts. The arrest comes after French authorities said they were investigating a tip that Magnotta travelled from Paris to Berlin via bus on the weekend. “Somebody recognized him and (then) all the police recognized him,” Berlin police spokesperson Stefan Redlich told CP24 Monday. Handout (Click to enlarge) Magnotta's alleged victim is Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Concordia University student from Wuhan, Hubei, China. He was last seen on May 24, police said, and reported missing on May 29. Redlich said police were called in by a civilian who spotted Magnotta and he was arrested after police asked for his identification at about 2:00 p.m. local time in Berlin. Reuters is reporting it was an employee of the cafe, Kadir Anlayisli, that recognized Magnotta. The cafe is on Karl Marx Strasse, a busy shopping street filled with Turkish and Lebanese shops and cafes in the Neukoelln district of Berlin. German television quoted the owner of the cafe saying Magnotta was surfing the Internet for about an hour before his arrest. Redlich said Magnotta has been taken into custody without incident and will go in front of a judge Tuesday. Canadian officials are expected to start the extradition process for Magnotta in the near future.
The intriguing the list includes obvious choices such as 'attack', 'Al Qaeda', 'terrorism' and 'dirty bomb' alongside dozens of seemingly innocent words like 'pork', 'cloud', 'team' and 'Mexico'.
Released under a freedom of information request, the information sheds new light on how government analysts are instructed to patrol the internet searching for domestic and external threats.
The words are included in the department's 2011 'Analyst's Desktop Binder' used by workers at their National Operations Center which instructs workers to identify 'media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities'.
Department chiefs were forced to release the manual following a House hearing over documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit which revealed how analysts monitor social networks and media organisations for comments that 'reflect adversely' on the government.
However they insisted the practice was aimed not at policing the internet for disparaging remarks about the government and signs of general dissent, but to provide awareness of any potential threats.
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As well as terrorism, analysts are instructed to search for evidence of unfolding natural disasters, public health threats and serious crimes such as mall/school shootings, major drug busts, illegal immigrant busts.
The list has been posted online by the Electronic Privacy Information Center - a privacy watchdog group who filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act before suing to obtain the release of the documents.
In a letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence, the centre described the choice of words as 'broad, vague and ambiguous'.
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Threat detection: Released under a freedom of information request, the information sheds new light on how government analysts are instructed to patrol the internet searching for domestic and external threats
They point out that it includes 'vast amounts of First Amendment protected speech that is entirely unrelated to the Department of Homeland Security mission to protect the public against terrorism and disasters.'
A senior Homeland Security official told the Huffington Post that the manual 'is a starting point, not the endgame' in maintaining situational awareness of natural and man-made threats and denied that the government was monitoring signs of dissent.
However the agency admitted that the language used was vague and in need of updating.
Spokesman Matthew Chandler told website: 'To ensure clarity, as part of ... routine compliance review, DHS will review the language contained in all materials to clearly and accurately convey the parameters and intention of the program.'
Grafitti saying 'Z 100%', referring to the Los Zetas cartel, near to where 49 mutilated bodies were found in Northern Mexico. Photograph: Miguel Sierra/EPA
Investigators are questioning Mexico's former deputy defence minister and a top army general for suspected links to organised crime, in the highest level scandal to hit the military in the five-year-old drug war.
Mexican soldiers on Tuesday detained retired general Tomás Angeles Dauahare and general Roberto Dawe González and turned them over to the country's organised crime unit, military and government officials said.
Angeles Dauahare was number 2 in the armed forces under President Felipe Calderón and helped lead the government's crackdown on drug cartels after soldiers were deployed to the streets in late 2006. He retired in 2008.
Dawe González, still an active duty general, led an elite army unit in the western state of Colima and local media said he previously held posts in the violent states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua.
An official at the attorney general's office said they would be held for several days to give testimony and then could be called in front of a judge.
"The generals are answering questions because they are allegedly tied to organised crime," the official said.
Angeles Dauahare said through a lawyer that his detention was unjustified, daily Reforma newspaper reported.
If the generals were convicted of drug trafficking, it would mark the most serious case of military corruption during Calderón's administration.
"Traditionally the armed forces had a side role in the anti-drug fight, eradicating drug crops or stopping drug shipments," said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst who formerly worked in the government intelligence agency.
"After 2006, they were more directly involved in public security, putting them at a higher risk of contact [with drug gangs]," he said.
About 55,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the past five years as rival cartels fight each other and government forces.
Worsening drug-related attacks in major cities are eroding support for Calderón's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, ahead of a 1 July presidential vote.
Over the weekend, police found 49 headless bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, the latest in a recent series of brutal massacres where mutilated corpses have been hung from bridges or shoved in iceboxes.
Opinion polls show Calderón's party is trailing by double digits behind opposition candidate Enrique Peña Nieto from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which says the government's drug strategy is failing.
Traditionally, the military has been seen as less susceptible to cartel bribes and intimidation than badly paid local and state police forces, who are often easily swayed by drug gang pay offs.
But there have been cases of military corruption in the past. Angeles Dauahare himself oversaw the landmark trial of two generals convicted of working with drug gangs in 2002.
Those two generals were convicted of links to the Juárez cartel once headed by the late Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who was known as the Lord of the Skies for flying plane load of cocaine into the United States.
Since then, the Sinaloa cartel - headed by Mexico's most wanted man Joaquín "Shorty" Guzmán - has expanded its power and is locked in a bloody battle over smuggling routes with the Zetas gang, founded by deserters from the Mexican army.
The trading losses suffered by JPMorgan Chase have surged in recent days, surpassing the bank’s initial $2 billion estimate by at least $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the losses. When Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, announced the losses last Thursday, he indicated they could double within the next few quarters. But that process has been compressed into four trading days as hedge funds and other investors take advantage of JPMorgan’s distress, fueling faster deterioration in the underlying credit market positions held by the bank. A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment, although Mr. Dimon has said the total paper trading losses will be volatile depending on day-to-day market fluctuations. The Federal Reserve is examining the scope of the growing losses and the original bet, along with whether JPMorgan’s chief investment office took risks that were inappropriate for a federally insured depository institution, according to several people with knowledge of the examination. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way. The overall health of the bank remains strong, even with the additional losses, and JPMorgan has been able to increase its stock dividend faster than its rivals because of stronger earnings and a more solid capital buffer. Still, the huge trading losses rocked Wall Street and reignited the debate over how tightly giant financial institutions should be regulated. Bank analysts say that while the bank’s stability is not threatened, if the losses continue to mount, the outlook for the bank’s dividend will grow uncertain. The bank’s leadership has discussed the impact of the losses on future earnings, although a dividend cut remains highly unlikely for now. In March, the company raised the quarterly dividend by 5 cents, to 30 cents, which will cost the bank about $190 million more this quarter. A spokeswoman for the bank said a dividend cut has not been discussed internally. At the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Mr. Dimon did not definitively rule out cutting the dividend, although he said that he “hoped” it would not be cut. John Lackey, a shareholder from Richmond, Va., who attended the meeting precisely to ask about the dividend, was not reassured. “That wasn’t a very clear answer,” he said of Mr. Dimon’s response. “I expect that shareholders are going to suffer because of this.” Analysts expect the bank to earn $4 billion in the second quarter, factoring in the original estimated loss of $2 billion. Even if the additional trading losses were to double, the bank could still earn a profit of $2 billion. And many analysts and investors remain optimistic about the bank’s long-term prospects. Glenn Schorr, a widely followed analyst with Nomura, reiterated on Wednesday his buy rating on JPMorgan shares, which are down more than 10 percent since the trading loss became public last week. What’s more, the chief investment office earned more than $5 billion in the last three years, which leaves it ahead over all, even given the added red ink. But the underlying problem is that while these sharp swings are expected at a big hedge fund, they should not be occurring at a bank whose deposits are government-backed and which has access to ultralow cost capital from the Federal Reserve, experts said. “JPMorgan Chase has a big hedge fund inside a commercial bank,” said Mark Williams, a professor of finance at Boston University, who also served as a Federal Reserve bank examiner. “They should be taking in deposits and making loans, not taking large speculative bets.” Not long after Mr. Dimon’s announcement of a dividend increase in March, the notorious bet by JPMorgan’s chief investment office began to fall apart. Traders at the unit’s London desk and elsewhere are now frantically trying to defuse the huge bet that was built up over years, but started generating erratic returns in late March. After a brief pause, the losses began to mount again in late April, prompting Mr. Dimon’s announcement on May 10. Beginning on Friday, the same trends that had been causing the losses for six weeks accelerated, since traders on the opposite side of the bet knew the bank was under pressure to unwind the losing trade and could not double down in any way. Another issue is that the trader who executed the complex wager, Bruno Iksil, is no longer on the trading desk. Nicknamed the London Whale, Mr. Iksil had a firm grasp on the trade — knowledge that is hard to replace, even though his anticipated departure is seen as sign of the bank’s taking responsibility for the debacle. “They were caught short,” said one experienced credit trader who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the situation is still fluid. The market player, who does not stand to gain from JPMorgan’s losses and is not involved in the trade, added, “this is a very hard trade to get out of because it’s so big.” He estimated that the initial loss of just over $2 billion was caused by a move of a quarter percentage point, or 25 basis points, on a portfolio with a notional value of $150 billion to $200 billion — in other words, the total value of the contracts traded, not JPMorgan’s exposure. In the four trading days since Mr. Dimon’s disclosure, the market has moved at least 15 to 20 basis points more against JPMorgan, he said. The overall losses are not directly proportional to the move in basis points because of the complexity of the trade. Many of the positions are highly illiquid, making them difficult to value for regulators and the bank itself. In its simplest form, traders said, the complex position assembled by the bank included a bullish bet on an index of investment-grade corporate debt, later paired with a bearish bet on high-yield securities, achieved by selling insurance contracts known as credit-default swaps. A big move in the interest rate spread between the investment grade securities and risk-free government bonds in recent months hurt the first part of the bet, and was not offset by equally large moves in the price of the insurance on the high yield bonds. As the credit yield curve steepened, the losses piled up on the corporate grade index, overwhelming gains elsewhere on the trades. Making matters worse, there was a mismatch between the expiration of different instruments within the trade, increasing losses. The additional losses represent a worsening of what is already the most embarrassing misstep for JPMorgan since Mr. Dimon became chief executive in 2005. No one has blamed Mr. Dimon for the trade, which was under the oversight of the head of the chief investment office, Ina Drew, but he has repeatedly apologized, calling it “stupid” and “sloppy.” Ms. Drew resigned Monday and more departures are anticipated.
The US treasury department has put two sons of Mexico's most wanted man Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman on its drugs kingpin blacklist. The move bars all people in the US from doing business with Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, and freezes any US assets they have. Joaquin Guzman, on the list since 2001, runs the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. Mexico has seen an explosion of violence in recent years as gangs fight for control of trafficking routes. The US administration "will aggressively target those individuals who facilitate Chapo Guzman's drug trafficking operations, including family members," said Adam Szubin, director of the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control . "With the Mexican government, we are firm in our resolve to dismantle Chapo Guzman's drug trafficking organisation." Ovidio Guzman plays a significant role in his father's drug-trafficking activities, the treasury department said. Ivan Archivaldo Guzman was arrested in 2005 in Mexico on money-laundering charges but subsequently released. As well as the Guzman brothers, two other alleged key cartel members, Noel Salgueiro Nevarez and Ovidio Limon Sanchez, were listed under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. They were both arrested in Mexico in 2011 and are still in custody. Under the Kingpin Act, US firms, banks and individuals are prevented from doing business with them and any assets the men may have under US jurisdiction are frozen. More than 1,000 companies and individuals linked to 94 drug kingpins have been placed on the blacklist since 2000. Penalties for violating the act range include up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $10m (£6m). The US has offered a reward of up to $5m a for information leading to the arrest of Joaquin Guzman, who escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001.
Eduardo Ravelo, born on October 13, 1968 was added as the 493rd fugitive to the FBI 10 most wanted list on October 20, 2009. He is originally from Mexico, however he holds permanent residency status in the United States which gives him free movement across the border. An FBI informant and former lieutenant in the Barrio Azteca, a prison gang active in the U.S. and Mexico, testified that Ravelo told him to help find fellow gang members who had stolen from the cartel. In March 2008, he became the leader of the gang shortly after betraying his predecessor, stabbing him several times and shooting him in the neck. (Eduardo Ravelo: Wikipedia) Eduardo Ravelo was indicted in Texas in 2008 for his involvement in racketeering activities, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and conspiracy to possess heroin, cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute. His alleged criminal activities began in 2003. He is believed to be living in an area of Cuidad Juarez controlled by the Barrio Ravelo, with his wife and children just across the border from El Paso, Texas. He is also said to have bodyguards and armored vehicles to protect him from rival gangs as well as rival cartels.
A US drone strike has killed at least nine suspected militants in the volatile tribal areas of north-west Pakistan, say Pakistani officials. The drone fired missiles at a suspected militant compound in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, officials said. Drones often target Pakistan's tribal areas, thought to be the hub of Taliban cross-border insurgent activity. Pakistan has previously complained that such attacks violate its sovereignty. Security officials in North Waziristan told the AFP news agency that that the compound, which militants were using as a training centre, was completely destroyed. The US does not normally comment on individual drone operations, which have killed hundreds of people in recent years In January, President Barack Obama confirmed for the first time that the covert programme targets militants on Pakistani soil. Those killed in the drone operations often include senior al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, as well as civilians and other militants. In US officials' first detailed comments on drone strikes, President Obama's counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said last month that the attacks were helping to win the war on the militant network. But he also conceded that there had been civilian deaths as a result of some strikes. The frequency of the attacks rose after Mr Obama took office in 2008. More than 100 raids were reported in the area in 2010, and more than 60 took place last year.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks are to be charged by a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. An earlier attempt was halted three years ago when President Barack Obama tried to shut Guantanamo down. New rules for Guantanamo trials have been since introduced, including a ban on evidence obtained under torture. However, defence lawyers still say the system lacks legitimacy, because of restricted access to their clients. President Obama's efforts to hold Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial in New York foundered in the face of political and public opposition and it will now be held at a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, as previously planned. A small number of victims' relatives have arrived at the military complex to attend the arraignment.
Eight American soldiers died of overdoses involving heroin, morphine or other opiates during deployments in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, according to U.S. Army investigative reports. The overdoses were revealed in documents detailing how the Army investigated a total of 56 soldiers, including the eight who fell victim to overdoses, on suspicion of possessing, using or distributing heroin and other opiates. At the same time, heroin use apparently is on the rise in the Army overall, as military statistics show that the number of soldiers testing positive for heroin has grown from 10 instances in fiscal year 2002 to 116 in fiscal year 2010. Army officials didn't respond to repeated requests for comment on Saturday. But records from the service's Criminal Investigation Command, obtained by the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, provided glimpses into how soldiers bought drugs from Afghan juveniles, an Afghan interpreter and in one case, an employee of a Defense Department contractor, who was eventually fired. The drug use is occurring in a country that is estimated to supply more than 90% of the world's opium, and the Taliban insurgency is believed to be stockpiling the drug to finance their activities, according to a 2009 U.N. study. While the records show some soldiers using heroin, much of the opiate abuse by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan involves prescription drugs such Percocet, the Army documents show. Judicial Watch obtained the documents under the Freedom of Information of Act and provided them to CNN. Spokesman Col. Gary Kolb of the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led command in Afghanistan, verified the documents to CNN on Saturday. One fatal overdose occurred in June 2010 at Forward Operating Base Blessing, after a soldier asked another soldier to buy black tar opium from a local Afghan outside the base's entry control point. The first soldier died after consuming the opium like chewing tobacco and smoking pieces of it in a cigarette, the documents show. The reports even show soldier lingo for the drug -- calling it "Afghani dip" in one case where three soldiers were accused of using the opiate, the Army investigative reports show. The United States has 89,000 troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. death toll since the September 11, 2001, attacks that triggered the war has risen to more than 1,850, including 82 this year, according to the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said his group was interested in soldiers' drug use partly because the risk was present during the Vietnam War. "You never want to see news of soldiers dying of drug use in Afghanistan," Fitton said. "Our concern is, will the military treat this as the problem that it is, and are the families of the soldiers aware of the added risk in this drug-infested country? "There is a dotted line between the uses. Prescription abuse can easily veer into heroin drug use," Fitton added. "Afghanistan is the capital of this opiate production and the temptation is great there and the opportunity for drug use all the more." The group is concerned that "there hasn't been enough public discussion, and we would encourage the leadership to discuss or talk about this issue more openly," Fitton said. In one case, a soldier bought heroin and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax from five "local national juveniles at multiple locations on Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan, and consumed them," one report states. Soldiers also distributed heroin, Percocet and other drugs among themselves, according to the reports. Another soldier fatally overdosed in December 2010 after taking several drugs, including morphine and codeine, though the drugs were not prescribed for him, the Army documents show. One female soldier broke into the Brigade Medical Supply Office at Forward Operating Base Shank and stole expired prescription narcotics including morphine, Percocet, Valium, fentanyl and lorazepam, the documents show. The investigative reports show soldiers using other drugs, including steroids and marijuana, and even hashish that was sold to U.S. servicemen by the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police personnel, the reports state.
Verna Deann McClain, a 30-year-old mother of three who had told relatives she was about to adopt a baby, will face capital murder charges, the district attorney for Montgomery County, Texas said.
In dramatic scenes in the quiet Houston suburb of Spring on Tuesday afternoon, McClain allegedly gunned down 28-year-old Kayla Marie Golden, firing up to seven shots at close range.
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Arrested: Verna Dean McClain (pictured right with her sister Corina) admitted to shooting a new mother and snatching her three-day-old son, police said. She had told her sister she was about to adopt
Taken: Keegan Schchardt (left) was snatched after his mother Kayla Golden, 28, (right) was fatally shot
Witnesses said a man then threw the baby in a light blue Lexus, which struck Golden as it made its escape. Golden screamed out 'My baby! My baby!' as it drove away and died soon after.
Police were led to the Fawndale Apartments in Houston, where sources told ABC Newsthat a SWAT team found a woman inside speaking to another woman on the phone.
Authorities then tracked the other woman to a house in north Harris County, where they found the unharmed baby boy, Keegan Schuchardt.
Speaking on Good Morning America, district attorney Brett Ligon admitted it was 'unusual' to find the child and suspect so quickly after a murder, and credited the county's authorities.
Once seized, McClain admitted to shooting the young mother and taking the baby to her home in Harris County, ABC reported.
An affidavit from the Montgomery County police adds that the suspect's sister, Corina Jackson, said McClain, whose children are 16, 10 and six, had said she was about to adopt a baby.
Search: Officers enter an apartment where they found a woman speaking to the suspect on the phone
Closing in: Officers had tracked the blue Lexus used as a getaway car back to the apartment
Officers take cover behind a car at the apartment complex while SWAT team members broke down the door
After the shooting, McClain told her sister she had the baby.
Ligon said authorities 'believe this was an intentional act on her part, not that Ms. Golden was targeted specifically, but that this was part of a plan to kidnap a child'.
He added:'She's given a full statement to the detectives with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. We did charge her in the early hours of this morning with capital murder.'
McClain has no previous criminal record and has been a licensed vocational nurse registered in California since 2008. She is being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond.
Montgomery County police said another person of interest is being questioned.
Ms Golden was walking to her pick-up truck after a check-up with little Keegan, when a woman in a Lexus parked in the adjacent spot starting fighting with her, police said.
Sheriff's Lt Dan Norris said the woman pulled out a pistol and repeatedly shot Ms Golden at close range. Witnesses reported hearing up to seven shots.
Caught: McClain (pictured right with her sister Yoki) has three children and is a registered nurse
Proud: Golden with Keith Schuchardt, Keegan's father. He announced the birth of his son on Facebook
A witness said a man in the car then picked up the infant and put him in the Lexus. Ms Golden tried to reach into the car and take him back as the car sped away, but the driver ran her down.
The shooting happened just after 2pm outside the Northwoods Pediatric Centre in Spring, 20 miles north of Houston, Texas. Keegan was wearing a green-and-white outfit reading 'handsome'.
Joshua Jesson said he was in the clinic with his girlfriend when he heard gunshots.
He said he saw the Lexus next to the pick-up truck, then later looked back and saw the car was gone and a woman lying in the spot where the Lexus had been parked.
'I thought she just passed out. Then somebody ran in here and said, "Somebody got shot,"' he said.
Police surrounded the parking lot with crime-scene tape. The clinic is in an area thick with strip malls. Golden's red truck sat next to yellow markers where spent ammunition cartridges were found.
It was not immediately clear how authorities had been led to the apartment block in Houston, where officers were seen wielding guns and riot shields.
Collecting evidence: Ms Golden's sandals sit beneath her pickup truck at the pediatrician's office where she was gunned down
Crime scene: Miss Golden's car red pickup truck sits in the parking lot of the pediatric clinic, its doors still open
Ms Golden's husband, Keith Schuchardt, took to Facebook on Saturday to report the birth of his son: 'baby keegan is here. born 4/14/12 6 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long.' he wrote. 'Looks like me lol.'
He arrived with Keegan's grandmother Linda Golden and other family members at Conroe Police Department last night to be reunited with the infant.
But theHouston Chronicle reports that police want to carry out a series of investigations on family members before he is released.
Linda Golden said: 'My daughter was brutally murdered protecting her baby. I think the baby should be given back to us. We've had enough today. We would just like our baby back.'
Friends and relatives have expressed their shock at the senseless crime. Friend Jennifer Hartis told KPRC: 'She never did anything wrong. She's just a mom doing her best to take care of her kids.
'Keegan is only three days old. He's needs to know his mom and he can't do that now.'
Henry Schuchardt, Keegan's paternal father, told the affiliate he was searching for answers. 'I wished I knew, I wished I knew,' he said. 'I don't know how they could do this?'
jailed British terrorist has had his sentence cut by two years in a supergrass deal after giving evidence about an al Qaeda-linked “martyrdom” plot in New York, it was revealed today. Former teacher Saajid Badat was jailed for 13 years in 2005 for plotting with shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a transatlantic airliner in 2001 in what an Old Bailey judge said was a “wicked and inhuman” plot. He has now had his term reduced by two years under the first “supergrass” deal involving a terror convict, after providing intelligence to US prosecutors investigating an alleged plot to blow up the New York subway on the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. Details of the deal — kept secret for more than two years — were revealed today by the Crown Prosecution Service as a trial of the alleged al Qaeda plotters began in New York. Defendant Adis Medanjanin, a 27-year-old Bosnian-born US citizen, is charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing “material support” to al Qaeda. He is said to have had terrorist training in Pakistan in 2008 and then returned to begin a plot to use beauty parlour chemicals to blow up the subway. Badat, from Gloucester, joined Reid’s shoe bomb conspiracy but pulled out at the last minute.
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