[HOSTED.AP.ORG] A staggering 40 million euro ($53 million) worth of diamonds and other jewels was stolen Sunday from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, in one of Europe's biggest jewelry heists in recent years, police said. One expert noted the crime follows recent jail escapes by members of the notorious "Pink Panther" jewel thief gang. "Hmmm... And what do you make of it, Inspector Camembert?"
The hotel in the sweltering French Riviera was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. "There is only one person who could have done this! John Robie, the Cat!"
A police front man said the theft took place around noon, but he could not confirm local media reports that the robber was a single gunman who stuffed a suitcase with the gems before making a swift exit. The front man spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record. "But inspector, John Robie is dead!"
The luxury Carlton hotel is situated on the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette that stretches a mile and a half along the French Riviera, and is thronged by the rich and famous throughout the year. The hotel's position provides not only a beautiful view of the sea but also an easy getaway for potential jewel thieves along the long stretch of road. "Two men, then."
"It's a huge theft. Anytime you talk about a heist with many millions of dollars it turns heads and feeds the imagination," said Jonathan Sazonoff, U.S. editor for the Museum Security Network website and an authority on high-value crime.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Call in Inspector Cleauseau.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/29/2013 12:10 Comments ||
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#2
Fox just said 153 million or 100 mil more then this title.
[SOWETANLIVE.CO.ZA] A black couple told this week of their shock and mystification when their son was born with white skin and blond hair.
Francis Tshibangu admitted: 'My first thought was "Wow, is he really mine?".' "Francis, I hate to tell you this, but you're not the father."
Congo-born Francis and his wife Arlette already have a two-year-old boy, Seth, whose features reflect his African parentage.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Play a little accordion music, check for reaction, if reaction is positive try a few binomial equations on the tyke. Then the Twinkie test just to make sure.
#4
On the other hand, my dad had a brother 4 years younger than he, who resembled him strongly, same build, facial features expressions, with one difference. Dad had brown eyes, black hair & dark-complected, he was nicknamed "Indian" for this, although he was Polish. His brother had blue eyes, blond hair & fair skin. The basic difference in their appearance was the color scheme, otherwise they strongly resembled each other.
[BLOOMBERG] Publicis Groupe SA (PUB) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction to create the world's largest advertising company with $23 billion in revenue, toppling market leader WPP Plc. (WPP) Ah, yes. Single point of failure when it's most needed.
It's advertising. The ambitious young things who don't quickly make partner or whatever it's called will wander off to set up boutique shops and siphon off client.
Shareholders of Paris-based Publicis and New York-based Omnicom will each hold about 50 percent of the new entity, Publicis Omnicom Group. Publicis Chief Executive Officer Maurice Levy and John Wren, his counterpart at Omnicom, will be co-CEOs as they unveiled the agreement at a press conference in Paris today. Pending regulatory and stockholder approvals, the creation of an industry powerhouse with $35 billion in market value is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2014.
The alliance will bring under one roof agencies including Omnicom's BBDO Worldwide and Publicis's Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi, extending their presence in every major market. The merger will also give the owners more clout to negotiate for their clients better ad rates for media placements on television, the Internet and in print, as the global advertising industry has started to show signs of a recovery.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/29/2013 1:39 Comments ||
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#2
Cameron could reduce the need for Muslim divorces by legalizing polygamy. Cameron is pro-gay marriage. If gays can marry, why can't a man marry multiple women? At least the latter has the virtue of thousands of years of tradition.
MOSCOW - Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a 3.4 billion ruble ($103 million) contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant to upgrade three Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, Tupolev said Friday. The delivery date for the supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber is December 31, 2015, the company said.
The ministry said last year at least 10 of the Russian Air Force's Tu-160 bombers will be modernized by 2020, after which the upgraded aircraft will remain in service until a new-generation strategic bomber known as PAK-DA is developed.
The Tu-160, which entered service in 1987 and remains the largest supersonic aircraft in the world, is designed to engage strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons.
#3
F-14Ds? Dear Ship, the anti-Grumman Light Attack Mafia had all the tooling cut up as part of the Lawn Dart One Size Fits All invasion back in the late 90's. and any Tomcats in Davis-Mothan were also cut up so as to prevent any of the parts from falling into 'enemy' hands ( either Iran or anti-hornet forces, you decide)
biased? not me.....i love ths sound of Growler freedom over scenic Whidbey Island...
[Al Ahram] Turkish police tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! three people on Sunday after a group of protesters tried to hold an Islamic fast-breaking meal in a park in central Istanbul that has been the flashpoint for anti-government demonstrations.
At least four more people were detained a few hours later following the iftar, the dinner held each evening during the holy month of Ramadan, which was organised by protesters on a street nearby, witnesses said.
They said police backed by armoured vehicles approached the crowd in order to disperse it, and people began shouting slogans.
The iftar, attended by hundreds of people, was supposed to be have been held at Gezi Park, the green space where protests first erupted in May, but police blocked the main entrance to the park.
Gezi re-opened earlier this month after authorities cleared out thousands of protesters who had occupied it in June to prevent its demolition and the construction of a replica army barracks that were originally to house a mall.
The small environmental movement quickly mushroomed into the largest demonstrations Turkey has seen in three decades, and five people were killed in festivities with police.
Protesters were angered by what they saw as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's authoritarian style and increasing religious conservatism after his party spent 10 years in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... 's choice for NA-71 faces a certain by-election ban after the Election Commission and the Rawalpindi Education Board raised doubts over her high school degree.
Ayla Malik was scheduled to run in the by-elections on Imran's home seat in Mianwali, NA-71, after Imran vacated the seat to keep his Rawalpindi seat.
Malik, who is the niece of former President Farooq Leghari, was scheduled to run for by-elections in Mianwali but her candidacy was challenged by political opponent Obaidullah Shadikhel of Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N).
On Saturday, the election tribunal of the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi heard the arguments of Shadikhel's counsel. He argued that Malik should be barred from contesting elections.
Rawalpindi Education Board and Election Commission also filed their replies before the tribunal, claiming that Malik was awarded no degree by the Rawalpindi Board. A Board reply stated that the degree submitted by Malik before the Election Commission was found to be of another candidate, Imdad Hussain, who had failed his intermediate examination.
The Election Tribunal reserved its ruling for July 29.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Chief of the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... said on Sunday that his party would have boycotted the upcoming presidential election, had the party candidate, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmad, not requested for the PTI's participation in the presidential race, DawnNews reported.
Khan said he agreed with the stance of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) but his party was participating in the presidential elections under protest.
Addressing a presser in Lahore after attending a party meeting, the PTI chief reiterated his stance that a closed-door session between himself, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and the Army chief should precede a public forum such as the APC to curb militancy and address the overall law and order and security situation in the country.
Khan said that he would not particpate in an APC if the closed-door session was not held prior to it.
Moreover the PTI chief also claimed that arrangements for rigging of the local body elections were taking place on the same scale as the rigging that took place during May 11 general elections this year.
He also indicated full-fledged protests would be staged on the roads and streets in order to save democracy.
Later, talking to DawnNews Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervez Rasheed said that the government was willing to hold a closed-door session with Imran Khan and the Chief of Army Staff and expressed hopes that that PTI chief would participate in the APC convened by the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Islami Jamaat Tulaba ...the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami... Sialkot President Shan Khan and JI activist Rao Ehsan drowned in the Upper Chenab Canal near Head Marala on Saturday.
Shan Khan and Rao Ehsan went to the deep while bathing and drowned in the canal. The Rescue 1122 divers were searching for the bodies till last reports came in.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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The January grounding of the minesweeper USS Guardian in a Philippine coral reef was caused in large part by a National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) map that was, quite simply, wrong by eight nautical miles, Breaking Defense has learned.
That seems like rather a lot. Still, didn't they recently discover that some islands most definitely on the map don't actually exist in the analog world?
"It really was just a terrible fluke that caused the error," NGA spokeswoman Christine Phillips said in a frank discussion of the incident and its aftermath.
The Sulu Sea grounding prompted NGA to order an agency-wide review of the nautical charts detailing the entire surface of the earth covered by the oceans. Also, NGA and the Navy have convened a team of maritime experts to take "an exhaustive look to make sure we are as sound as we can be," Phillips told me.
The error boiled down to someone at NGA failing to update a map with corrected data after cartographers discovered an inaccuracy. Tragically, the two other maps to which the crew had access -- but did not use -- presented the correct information, Phillips said.
At the time of the grounding, environmentalists criticized the US Navy for damaging Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Those opposed to America's close relationship with the Philippines pointed to the grounding and subsequent legal defense of the crew by the Philippine government as proof of the inequitable -- dare one say neo-colonial -- relationship between the two countries. And old salts wondered just what the hell the ship's captain had done.
#1
IF memory serves, this is the same agency responsible for theoutdated maps used by the marines when their EA-6B slashed the cablecar line in Italy sending many to their deaths and the aircrew was professionally ruined, not to emtnion the witch hunt that charged them with dereliction of duty (among others).
#2
As I recall, this grounding cost the Captain his job, Now that they KNOW give him his job back with an apology, (I Think he was also fined the repairs)
(Yeah sure, the Navy doesn't make mistakes, now does it)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/29/2013 2:02 Comments ||
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You can't live by GPS. Someone on the bridge should have noted the charts were wrong and noted that there was a damn big reef right over there. Granted, the grounding happened at night so maybe that was not possible. Still, the photographs from the scene show white water over the reef.
Also: the hull panks on that ship were gorgeous. Some shipyard still knows the secrets evidently.
#5
Then there was the sub making a high speed run and bumping into an undersea mountain. Only one guy killed and the boat could be repaired.
At some point, the captain has to substitute his judgment for the map. You don't plan the map, you plan the terrain, they told us at Bennning. Still, if the Navy tells you there's nothing there, and if it doesn't show as you approach....
But there are those other charts mentioned.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/29/2013 8:51 Comments ||
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Tragically, the two other maps to which the crew had access -- but did not use -- presented the correct information, Phillips said.
Career killer part.
Unlike too many other federal agencies, DoD occasionally holds people accountable with consequences. The "pour encouragement de les autres" practice, rightly or wrongly, does get people's attention.
A captain has two maps, one says the reef (or mountain) is here; one says the reef (or mountain) is there. What should he do? Is there a protocol for him to decide or should he stop completely and go in a whole nother direction?
#8
A captain has two maps, one says the reef (or mountain) is here; one says the reef (or mountain) is there. What should he do?
You err on the side of caution. Which chart has the newer revisions? Which has the hazard closer to you? In this case, there were three charts. The navigator and his team should have reviewed them sometime prior.
If you're in doubt while underway and you come to your scenario, you figure out where you're at. There is GPS, but if you're smart, you back that up with more traditional methods. The ship is equipped with a depth finder. If it's shallow enough, an MCM can use its sonar. Providing on how close the ship is to land, one can take radar fixes and/or visual fixes. Even something as basic as looking at the color of the water.
At worst, you stop. Ascertain the situation. Changing course is not a career killer.
#9
Thank you Pappy. I'm a great fan of the Patrick O'Brien novels. Their detailed descriptions of navigation circa 1812 are fascinating but I thought that there were no such issues today.
#11
It does seem like an unfortunate series of events. Being more familiar with Army stuff, how often would the bridge crew check their heading, depth, and position against the reference chart? I doubt the bad chart was bad in only that one spot.
#12
how often would the bridge crew check their heading, depth, and position against the reference chart?
Depends on a lot of factors. Whether the ship is in open or restricted waters, visibility, weather conditions, CO's standing orders, etc.
Thing is, the ship's Combat Information Center (or equivalent) is supposed to be backing up the bridge. The Officer of the Deck is also supposed to be running checks of the ship's position based on what the quartermaster(s) produce for position data.
Most of all, it depends on the crew's sailing experience. If I had to hazard an opinion, I'd day that they had experience - in Japanese and perhaps Korean waters. Places they operated in on a regular basis.
I guess we'll have to wait until the inquiry is completed. Suffice it to say, even if the chart was wrong, and it was an "unfortunate chain of events", the CO is still at fault. Tough, but that comes with accepting the position.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[HOSTED.AP.ORG] A staggering 40 million euro ($53 million) worth of diamonds and other jewels was stolen Sunday from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, in one of Europe's biggest jewelry heists in recent years, police said. One expert noted the crime follows recent jail escapes by members of the notorious "Pink Panther" jewel thief gang.
[SOWETANLIVE.CO.ZA] A black couple told this week of their shock and mystification when their son was born with white skin and blond hair.
[BLOOMBERG] Publicis Groupe SA (PUB) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction to create the world's largest advertising company with $23 billion in revenue, toppling market leader WPP Plc. (WPP)
Nawaz Sharif
[Dawn] A one-year-old girl was diagnosed with type P1 of the polio virus in Bara's Malik Dinkhel area of Khyber tribal region.
