A top surfer has been killed after a quick and brutal shark attack on the French-owned island of Reunion.

   Mathieu Schiller, 32, was dragged off his surfboard on Boucan Canot beach in the Indian Ocean by a man-eating tiger shark and quickly killed in an attack that lasted less than 30 seconds.Schiller, who was a European team body boarding champion in 1995, was one of a large group surfing in the area when the attack happened.Fellow surfers searched for the Frenchman's body but police later said it had been carried away by the waves."There were around 20 people in shallow water and about five surfers out deeper when it happened," a witness told a local news agency."We saw the shark’s nose emerge and then the man just vanished. It...

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Gunmen Dump 35 Bodies on Avenue

 Suspected drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major Gulf coast city as gunmen pointed weapons at frightened drivers. Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are examining surveillance video for clues to who committed the crime. Horrified motorists grabbed cell phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area near the biggest shopping mall in Boca del Rio, part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz city. The gruesome gesture marked a sharp escalation in cartel violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading...

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Celebrity Cruises Taps Top Chef to Join Culinary Team

 Known for its culinary leadership and commitment to offering guests a modern, luxurious experience during their precious vacation time, Celebrity Cruises has expanded its already robust culinary talent by naming 2010 James Beard Foundation "Rising Star Chef" nominee and 2007 "Rising Star Chef of American Cuisine" John Suley as its director of Culinary Operations. Tapped by Celebrity's charismatic Vice President of Culinary Operations Jacques Van Staden – himself a James Beard-nominated Master Chef – Suley is widely regarded as one of the country's top "up and coming" chefs. Prior to joining Celebrity, he worked in the star-studded, international dining scene as executive chef at the South Florida incarnation of three-time James Beard honoree Alfred Portale's famed "Gotham Bar &...

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Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power

 Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante gangs. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. The Rio de Janeiro state judge paid for that fearlessness: Acioli was shot to death in front of her house last month. And all of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked. While violence and impunity are common in Brazil, the brazen murder of Acioli was an especially heavy blow, a message of intimidation from the vigilante militias. The slaying was "a wound to the lawful state, to democracy; the figure of the judge is a symbol of justice," said Denise Frossard, a retired judge who presided over some of Rio's...

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Mexican Gulf Cartel gangster Manuel Alquisires Garcia paraded with his bling

Mexican marines have recaptured a fugitive suspected trafficker, who had been arrested 13 years earlier, along with the man who was to become the Gulf Cartel's top leader.Manuel Alquisires Garcia is the cartel's alleged finance officer, the Mexican navy said in a statement, and he was captured by marines on Saturday in the city of Tampico.Among the items seized allegedly from Manuel Alquisires Garcia included a gold plated pistol, wads of cash and jewellery.Recaptured: Mexican Navy marines escort Manuel Alquisires Garcia, alias 'El Meme,' during a presentation to the press in Mexico CityAlquisires, aka ‘El Meme’, was originally arrested in June...

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Millions of Hotmail users cut off by Microsoft 'cloud' failure

 As well as Hotmail, the outage affected Office 365 and the Skydrive online storage service. Microsoft said the cause appeared to be related to the Domain Name System, the computer network that ensures that web addresses are connected to websites. “Preliminary root cause suggests a DNS issue,” the firm said on its office 365 Twitter feed. The problems lasted for at least two-and-a-half hours, beginning at around 4AM British Summer Time. On a company blog, Microsoft said it had fixed the problem at 5.45AM, but the repairs took some time to “propagate” through the DNS network.  "We are working on propagating the DNS configuration changes and so it will take some time to restore service to everyone. Again we appreciate your patience," the firm said. For Office 365, Microsoft’s subscription-only...

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Cops make big arms find in Las Cuevas

 Police yesterday made a major discovery of 15 high-powered firearms and more than 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition—the largest since the state of emergency was declared two weeks ago. Officers, in search of marijuana, discovered a cache of arms buried two miles in the Rincon Forest, Las Cuevas. The guns, wrapped in plastic and newspapers, were greased. Detectives said the firearms belonged to a notorious gang leader. Officers of the North Eastern Division said they received a tip-off and headed to the forested area around 4 am. The exercise was headed by Supt John Daniel and included Sgts Stephen Dorridge, Daryl LaPierre, Cpls Dale Emmanuel, Andrew Stannisclaus and PC Goyton Ramcharan. Detectives said the firearms belonged to a “notorious” gang leader. They claimed that since the...

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Mexican helicopters flying over Texas

 Mexican military helicopters have been flying over Texas, a staging ground for missions into Mexico to fight drug traffickers, a Mexican official said. The San Antonio Express-News reports Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. said as many as 10 of the Mexican helicopters have been spotted flying over south Texas in daylight during the past 17 months. U.S. Federal and state agencies would not elaborate on the missions, the newspaper said. But a Mexican official with knowledge of the flights said, "Yes, I can tell you they exist, they are going on -- certainly for the last couple of years." Most of the helicopters have been sighted near Falcon Lake, where Mexican authorities are battling the Zetas cartel, the Express-News said. U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, who represents part...

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A Mexican death cult is fuelling America's anti-immigration backlash.

 In September 2008, 11 decapitated bodies were discovered in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. When police arrested the killers, they found an altar in their home dedicated to Santa Muerte – the patron saint of death for Mexican drug cartels. One year later, an illegal immigrant called Jorge Flores Rojas was arrested in North Carolina for running a sex ring. He, too, had built a shrine in his east Charlotte apartment to Santa Muerte. Flores forced his girls to have sex with as many as 20 men a day while he knelt in his living room praying to the skeletal figure of death. In August 2011, the Mexican army stumbled upon a tunnel that ran right under...

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Panama police arrest 80 members of cocaine ring

 Authorities in Panama say they have broken up a major cocaine trafficking organization that moved drugs from Colombia to Panama and then north to Mexico and the United States. Panama's Drug Prosecutor Javier Caraballo says 80 Panamanians and Colombians were arrested Monday in simultaneous raids across the Central American country. Caraballo says the group moved at least 18 tons of cocaine in the last two years mainly through the Caribbean and was led by alleged Colombian drug trafficker Jorge Indalecio Marmolejo. Caraballo said Tuesday the group distributed cocaine from gangs linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Drug gangs are increasingly using Central America to ship drugs and launder mon...

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Mexico Arrests US Man Suspected of Smuggling Grenades to Drug Gang

 Mexico's attorney general says police have arrested a U.S. man for allegedly smuggling grenade parts to a powerful and dangerous drug gang. Authorities identify the suspect as Jean Baptiste Kingery. Police arrested him last week. Kingery is suspected of smuggling grenade parts across the U.S.-Mexican border to the Sinaloa drug gang. He allegedly bought the weapons over the internet and in stores. Mexican drug gangs frequently use hand grenades in their battle with police and soldiers, who are struggling to destroy the drug trade. Turf wars between drug gangs and their fights with police have made northern Mexico an extremely dangerous place to live or vis...

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Giant saltwater crocodile weighing more than a tonne was captured in a remote Philippine village following a spate of attacks on humans

 Giant saltwater crocodile weighing more than a tonne was captured in a remote Philippine village following a spate of attacks on humans and livestock, officials said Tuesday.The 21-foot (6.4-metre), 1,075-kilogramme (2,370-pound) reptile may have eaten a farmer who went missing in July, along with several water buffaloes in the southern town of Bunawan, crocodile hunter Rollie Sumiller said.A crocodile also bit off the head of a 12-year-old girl in Bunawan in 2009, according to the environment ministry.Josefina de Leon, wildlife division chief of the environment ministry's protected areas and wildlife bureau, said it was likely the biggest crocodile ever captured."Based on existing records the largest that had been captured previously was 5.48 metres long," she told AFP."This is the...

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Gender crime seen in 2 Mexican women's deaths

Authorities are investigating the killings of two women as gender crimes after their bound, naked bodies were found in a Mexico City park, the capital's chief prosecutor said Friday.Mexico City law requires prosecutors to investigate such crimes involving women as gender-related, said Miguel Mancera.But investigators will not ignore other potential motives, including possible connections to a money-exchange business owned by one of the victims or the fact that both women had been journalists.Money exchanges at Mexico City's international airport have been targeted by thieves in the past.In an interview with MVS radio, Mancera did not say whether the women had been sexually assaulted. Autopsies showed that Rocio Gonzalez and Marcela Yarce were strangled with rope and later shot. Their hands...

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