Police report drug haul seizure worth up to £30 million in Brownhills, England

Monday, December 2, 2013

Police in the West Midlands in England today said nearly 200 kilograms worth of drugs with value possibly as great as £30 million (about US$49 million or €36 million) has been seized from a unit in the town of Brownhills. In what an officer described as “one of the largest [seizures] in the force’s 39 year history”, West Midlands Police reported recovering six big cellophane-wrapped cardboard boxes containing cannabis, cocaine, and MDMA (“ecstasy”) in a police raid operation on the Maybrook Industrial Estate in the town on Wednesday.

The impact this seizure will have on drug dealing in the region and the UK as a whole cannot be underestimated

The seized boxes, which had been loaded onto five freight pallets, contained 120 one-kilogram bags of cannabis, 50 one-kilogram bags of MDMA, and five one-kilogram bricks of cocaine. In a press release, West Midlands Police described what happened after officers found the drugs as they were being unloaded in the operation. “When officers opened the boxes they discovered a deep layer of protective foam chips beneath which the drugs were carefully layered”, the force said. “All the drugs were wrapped in thick plastic bags taped closed with the cannabis vacuum packed to prevent its distinctive pungent aroma from drawing unwanted attention.” Police moved the drugs via forklift truck to a flatbed lorry to remove them.

Detective Sergeant Carl Russell of West Midlands Police’s Force CID said the seizure was the largest he had ever made in the 24 years he has been in West Midlands Police and one of the biggest seizures the force has made since its formation in 1974. “The impact this seizure will have on drug dealing in the region and the UK as a whole cannot be underestimated”, he said. “The drugs had almost certainly been packed to order ready for shipping within Britain but possibly even further afield. Our operation will have a national effect and we are working closely with a range of law enforcement agencies to identify those involved in this crime at whatever level.”

Expert testing on the drugs is ongoing. Estimates described as “conservative” suggest the value of the drugs amounts to £10 million (about US$16.4 million or €12 million), although they could be worth as much as £30 million, subject to purity tests, police said.

Police arrested three men at the unit on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug. The men, a 50-year-old from Brownhills, a 51-year-old from the Norton area of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, and one aged 53 from Brownhills, have been released on bail as police investigations to “hunt those responsible” continue. West Midlands Police told Wikinews no person has yet been charged in connection with the seizure. Supplying a controlled drug is an imprisonable offence in England, although length of jail sentences vary according to the class and quantity of drugs and the significance of offenders’ roles in committing the crime.

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Fargo, North Dakota, prepares for record flooding

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Fargo, North Dakota is preparing itself for what could be its worst flood ever. Hundreds of high school and college students worked with two hundred National Guard soldiers Monday on the task of filling over a million sandbags in the effort to stave off the rising Red River. Classes at North Dakota State University were canceled in order to lend the assistance of its students and faculty.

The threat of further rainfall has increased the flood risk, with the river now predicted to crest as high as 52 feet (15.8 meters), over twice that of its lowest flood stage. An emergency levee south of town is also being hastily constructed. Three machines capable of filling 15,000 sandbags an hour are being used around the clock to keep up with demand.

Temporary dikes from Louisiana are being flown in. The dikes, 4 foot high interlocking containers filled with sand, were used during Hurricane Katrina. In Emmons County, several dozen homes were evacuated on Sunday, and families in the town of Beulah, North Dakota have also been forced to leave ahead of the rising waters.

The current scenario is a reminder of the record 1997 flood which inundated the Red River Valley. Fargo constructed a levee system following the disaster to help prevent future flooding. Up to 6000 homes are currently at risk, with many communities farther downriver also preparing for flooding.

The American Red Cross has sent over 20,000 prepackaged meals, along with cots and blankets. Its volunteers around the country have been put on standby, ready to travel to North Dakota if necessary.

All eyes are currently on the skies, as the fate of many communities will be determined largely by how much rain and snow falls over the next week.

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At least eight dead as building collapses during construction in China

Sunday, July 6, 2008

At least eight construction workers have died and thirteen more are injured after a building collapsed during construction in Qiuzhigou Village, a suburb of China’s Wuhan City. It is unclear how many more if any are trapped as the project’s coordinator fled and is being sought by police.

The collapse occurred at 5 p.m. local time yesterday and reduced the four-story structure to a five-metre pile of rubble. The building was a private residence and was illegal as authorities had not been informed of it. Its location in an area accessible only via narrow alleys is hampering search and rescue efforts as heavy equipment such as cranes is having difficulty reaching the scene.

Around 100 rescuers continue to pick through the rubble in the rain. An investigation has been launched.

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Five Unique Ideas For Making A 65th Birthday Party More Meaningful

By Douglas R. Williams

If you want to make a 65th birthday party more enjoyable, make a unique concept which the celebrant will like, arrange a musical lineup made up of the celebrant’s favorite songs, create an audio-visual demonstration that can be played throughout the celebration, create a scrapbook for the party attendees to write on, and create a tribute section.

Throwing an event is one of the best 65th birthday gifts you can provide to someone who has been endowed with 65 fruitful years. And there a variety of stuff you can explore to make the affair more memorable, interesting as well as special. Below are some tips you could do for the bday bash:

Think of a unique concept which the celebrant will love

Connect everything regarding the party with a distinctive concept. Ensure that the theme is a thing that the celebrant will enjoy or will revive fond reminiscences of his or her birthday celebration. The very first thing you can perform is to start out with a colour structure maybe applying the celebrant’s favorite color. And then you can imagine theme elements that you may build around that theme. One more fantastic idea will be to come up with a ‘period theme’ recreating the decade when the celebrant was born. For instance, if you need to recreate the nineteen fifties, visualize events, news, songs as well as movies that were well known throughout that moment and combine them for the occasion concept.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3PPFWIByB8[/youtube]

Schedule a musical lineup consists of the celebrant’s favourite songs

Discover what genre of music the celebrant likes listening to and if he or she is an enthusiast of a certain artist. Some individuals hire bands and also artists to perform throughout the occasion. If this is the case for the celebration you are organizing, be sure to provide them with a lineup of the celebrant’s favourite music. If you’ll not be having a band, you can simply down load the birthday boy or girl’s faves and play them during the special event. An additional wonderful idea for the songs will be to play songs which were well-known through the celebrant’s life-time.

Create an audio-visual presentation that could be played through the occasion

Collect images of the celebrant over the years. Inquire his relatives and buddies to provide a photo that they have. Check out all these and make an audio-visual display. Utilize the celebrant’s favorite tunes as the background music. Request family and friends to write a birthday message for the celebrant and incorporate these in the presentation. You may rent an LCD projector and play the demonstration throughout the occasion.

Make a scrapbook for the event visitors to write on

Provide the celebrant a heartwarming keepsake from the event by making a scrapbook which visitors could write on. Get several photos of the birthday boy or girl and fill the scrapbook using these. Decorate the scrapbook using stickers or perhaps pretty embellishments. Pass the scrapbook around to the friends during the party so they can write their well wishes and hello to the celebrant on it.

Organize a tribute part

Throughout the celebrant’s lifetime, she or he might have been an inspiration and also friend to other individuals. The party will be a fantastic chance to let those individuals show their love and also appreciation. Incorporate a tribute part throughout the party where all of the attendees can stand up and also honour the celebrant with a bday wish. They could also present the bday boy or girl with a gift item and share the meaning behind the object.

There are several approaches to make a 65th birthday party more meaningful. Be creative when you make plans and be sure to ask for suggestions from the celebrant’s family and friends.

About the Author: Written by Douglas R. Williams. For more suggestions on what 65th birthday gifts you could offer, check out http://www.lifeonrecord.com/Meaningful/Birthday/Gift/65th/Meaningful-65th-Birthday-Gift.htm

Source: isnare.com

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Facebook hired PR firm to discredit Google, reveals leaked correspondence

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Facebook hired a public relations firm to systematically discredit Google by paying two journalists to plant negative pieces in U.S. newspapers, leaked correspondence discloses. The new revelations are likely to increase tension between the two companies, which are already fierce rivals.

The social network has confirmed the validity of the leaked emails, seen by Wikinews, which suggest executives at the social networking giant hired Burson-Marsteller, a high profile PR and communications firm, to discredit Social Circle, a rival website run by Google. Burson-Marsteller then recruited two journalists — Jim Goldman and John Mercurio — to push editors at The Washington Post and USA Today to publish editorials criticising Social Circle over its privacy settings. The story was exposed after Burson-Marsteller approached a blogger to publish the propaganda, but the blogger posted the correspondence online.

Burson-Marsteller has been forced to apologize for taking on Facebook as a client, admitting the orders to discredit Google violated company policy. “The assignment on those terms should have been declined,” a spokesperson said. The revelations are likely to be incredibly damaging for the firm, who have represented a number of controversial clients in the past. Facebook, however, said the allegations against Google were valid, insisting there were genuine privacy concerns with Social Circle. Google has declined to comment on the issue.

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Canada’s St. Paul’s West (Ward 21) city council candidates speak

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is St. Paul’s West (Ward 21). One candidate responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include John Adams, Tony Corpuz, Joe Mihevc (incumbent), and John Sewell.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

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On the campaign trail in the USA, October 2016

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The following is the sixth and final edition of a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2016 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

In this month’s edition on the campaign trail: the Free & Equal Foundation holds a presidential debate with three little-known candidates; three additional candidates give their final pleas to voters; and past Wikinews interviewees provide their electoral predictions ahead of the November 8 election.

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Scholarships For Women Over 50 Years Old Women Free Money For School

Scholarships For Women Over 50 Years Old- Women Free Money For School

by

Megan Watson

Many women have found themselves putting their education on the back burner for many years as they got married, had children, raised those children and then had grandchildren. In recent years there have been brand new scholarships for women over 50 years old developed that are making this type of this a concern of the past. You no longer need to wait. You can get the financial help you need to get your degree today.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=546zAa57AJE[/youtube]

—-> Did you know that you can get a Free $10,000 scholarship for just registering? Just enter your name and email address. College scholarships for women over 50 are available and working to help thousands to go back to school and get that degree that they always knew they should get. You are never too old to finish what you started; no matter why you have not finished school until now you can start again and get it done this time with the financial backing of the government and big companies across the country. In many cases these scholarships for women over 50 years old

are not talked about because of all of the hype about scholarships for single mothers, scholarships for minorities and other similar scholarships. We are looking to increase awareness of these college scholarships for women over 50 so that we can help to improve the lives of women in our country.

College scholarships for women over 50 are allowing thousands of women in the United States to obtain not only the higher education they wanted but by extension a new lease on life and an improved self image. Educating women in the United States will make changes not only to the women themselves but also to their families and the community as a whole. Getting that education is a great way to keep that promise to yourself to be all you can be and do everything you can to love yourself today. Why wait? It\’s free money, all you need is the desire to be better.

Here is a

Free $10,000 scholarship

. This is a free service for women, just enter your email address.

After you register, you will see a comprehensive list of awards and more financial aid for women in your State in addition to your $10,000 scholarship. Click Here

to get free money for college.

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com

International arms dealer Viktor Bout arrested in Thailand

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Viktor Bout, an international arms dealer, has been arrested in Thailand. Bout was arrested by the Royal Thai Police on Thursday, after checking in at a Sofitel luxury hotel in the Si Lom district of Bangkok.

Viktor Bout is suspected of supplying arms to the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, FARC, as well as combatants on both sides of African civil wars. He has been dubbed the “Merchant of Death” by the press as well as the book Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes and the Man Who Makes War Possible by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun.

At a press conference held by Thai police they said that Bout is being investigated for “procuring weapons for terrorists and conspiring with terrorists.” According to Maj. Gen. Surapol Thuanthong, Bout said “The game is over” when he was arrested.

“This multi-country operation culminating in the arrest of Viktor Bout in Thailand is a model for how suspected dangerous international criminals need to be investigated, charged and brought to justice in the 21st century,” said Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble.

Federal prosecutors in the United States hope to get Bout extradited for prosecution on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The 2005 film Lord of War has been said to have been inspired by Viktor Bout.

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Car maker DeLorean dies at 80

Monday, March 21, 2005

Automobile industry pioneer, John DeLorean, died Saturday in a New Jersey hospital by complications from a stroke.

DeLorean was born in 1925 in Detroit, Michigan to European immigrant parents. He received an education in automotive engineering and quickly rose through the ranks of Packard and later General Motors (GM). DeLorean was credited with the development of the Pontiac GTO, which helped introduce the era of “muscle cars”. By 1965, DeLorean led the entire Pontiac division, and four years later was promoted to the prestigious position of leading GM’s Chevrolet.

In 1973, DeLorean quit General Motors and started his own company, the De Lorean Motor Company. The company’s product was the DMC-12, an unusual car featuring an unpainted, stainless-steel exterior and gull-wing doors. The company started production in 1981 but failed less than two years later, having produced under 9,000 vehicles. Despite the company’s failure and the car’s dismal sales, the car itself gained a cult following after the release of the 1985 movie Back to the Future which featured the car as a time-travel machine.

DeLorean himself was in nearly as much trouble as his company. In 1982 he was arrested for attempting to sell $24 million worth of cocaine to undercover police, and after his company’s failure, he became involved in a multitude of lawsuits alleging investor fraud. Though DeLorean successfully resolved the cocaine case after claiming entrapment, his other legal cases would drag on until 1999, when he declared bankruptcy.

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