Tuesday, July 31, 2012
2012 NBA Dunk Contest: Lakers' Darvin Ham unenthusiastic
In Brazil, a billionaire's reality check
SAO PAULO, Brazil — For a man who had just lost $6 billion in less than 24 hours, Eike Batista was curiously upbeat. Brazil's richest man took to Twitter, as he is wont to do, to send a message to his almost 1 million followers.
Public pension finances rebound slightly: Census
Adelanto school parents seek charter operator
Mojave Desert parents who led the state's first successful petition campaign to transform their school under the landmark parent-trigger law began soliciting proposals Friday for a charter operator to take over their failing campus.
Taiwanese vegetable vendor among Asia's Nobel winners
Irish Post Punk Gets Its Time To Shine
Monday, July 30, 2012
Gang plots crime spree in Bristol and steals... a torch
A BUNGLING gang of Scousers who drove to Bristol for a crime blitz managed to steal just a torch and some cigarettes, a court heard.
The men stole a Vauxhall Vivaro van from Bolton on May 7 and also took a Ford Fiesta which had been parked in Portishead, Bristol Crown Court was told.
They then attempted to rob White Cot Stores in Portishead and Tinknell Country Store Ltd in Congresbury, but only snatched £3,000 worth of tobacco in the first raid and a torch in the second.
When police gave chase the gang drove up the wrong side of the M5, with police looking on as they drove alongside them on the right side.
The gang ejected bags of garden waste and "metallic objects" from the van before stopping and fleeing into woods, where they were rounded up by a police dog.
Five men pleaded guilty to two burglaries on May 9.
They were: Daniel Ryan, 24, of Prescot, Merseyside, who was driving the van, and Kirby men Kevin McCabe, 19, Anthony Keating, 24 and Kevin Burke, 25.
The fifth gang member was Jordon Lytollis, 18, of no fixed abode.
All pleaded guilty to taking the Ford Fiesta without authority on May 9.
Ryan pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and driving the Vauxhall Vivaro dangerously on the A38, Portway and M5, and driving while disqualified on May 9.
Lytollis, McCabe, Keating and Burke pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking of the Vauxhall Vivaro, being carried as passengers.
The recorder Mr Michael Parroy QC sentenced teenagers Lytollis and McCabe to two years each in a young offenders' institution.
He jailed each of the older men for three and a half years.
He said: "To describe this as an utterly horrendous event is something of an under-statement. You tried to get away. Thankfully, you did not."
Ryan was banned from driving for ten years.
Julian Howells, prosecuting, said witnesses disturbed by an alarm saw the gang outside the first shop, from where they forced their way in and grabbed cigarettes.
CCTV captured the masked intruders before they drove off in the Fiesta, abandoning the car elsewhere in Portishead.
Half an hour later the gang managed to steal a torch from the second shop, having failed to snatch an angle grinder, and were seen once again as they drove off in the Vauxhall.
Mr Howells said police liaised with the force helicopter as they pursued the gang.
He told the court: "A stinger device was deployed but the van was able to avoid it. They went on towards Avonmouth, through a red light, and went on the wrong side of the dual carriageway, the wrong way round a roundabout and the wrong way up the M5."
The court heard at one stage the van collided with a police car and a hammer smashed the windscreen of another.
After some 20 miles police instigated a controlled stop of the van and cordoned off an area between the M5 and Cribbs Causeway before a dog tracked the gang down, Lytollis having to be zapped with a stun gun.
Charlotte Kenny, defending McCabe, Lytollis and Burke, said all three men had drug habits and conceded they had travelled south to commit crime.
Daniel Travers, defending Ryan and Keating, said Ryan's drug misuse had led him to offend. He said Keating was in a relationship with a dentist who was attempting to make him lead a decent, law-abiding life.
Opticians see advertising gold in Korean flag flap
Make a Summer Beach Wreath
Romney takes hard line on Iran in Israel speech
JERUSALEM — On a day that mixed religious symbolism, courtship of financial donors and tough rhetoric, Mitt Romney on Sunday declared in his most aggressive tones to date that the U.S. should stand firmly behind Israel if it chooses military action to thwart Iran's progression toward a nuclear weapon.
Study: Exposure to artificial light at night may cause depression
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Another Theft in the Rigged Game of Politics
Euro zone crisis heads for September crunch
London itself is something of an Olympic Village
LONDON — The last time this city hosted the Olympics, in 1948, the French team was so skeptical of what war-weary, cuisine-challenged Britain had to offer that it brought its own wine.
Mazda recalls Tribute SUV to fix throttle problem
10 things to do in Bristol this week – July 30-August 3
1. On Monday you can see Bristol jazz outfit Cass Caswell's Allstars at the Old Duke in King Street. No ticket needed, and the music starts at 8.30pm. 2. On Wednesday Bristol-based pop singer Ollie Garland is playing the O2 Academy in Frogmore Street at 1.30pm. Tickets cost �7. 3. On Thursday, The Pantaloons will be putting on some outdoor theatre – a production of the Grimm fairy tales, at Tyntesfield , Wraxall. The show starts at 6.30pm. 4. On Friday The Corinthian Casuals Classic blues-rock covers band are playing Beeses Bar and Tea Garden in Wyndham Crescent, Broom Hill. It's free to get in and the gig starts at 8pm. 5. Also on Friday it is the Bristol Cider Festival – according to organisers on of the largest gatherings of real ciders and perries in the West. It is being held at Brunel's Old Station in the Old Clock Tower, Temple Meads and there are three sessions across Friday and Saturday. Tickets �7 in advance or �8 on the door – call 01225 330304. 6. Some Cajun music will be on offer from the Bayou Brothers & Sisters Zydeco Louisiana Band at 7.30pm on Friday at The Tunnels in Temple Meads. Tickets �8 in advance. 7. Further afield at St Augustines Farm , in Arlingham, Gloucestershire, you can visit Georgia and Gina – two baby pygmy goats and the newest arrivals at the working dairy farm. There are newborn ducklings, calves and pigs all making noises at St Augustines after a cold and wet spring. 8. Pub of the week to try: The Grain Barge, Mardyke Wharf, Hotwell Road. 9. Restaurant of the week to try: The Pump House, Merchants Road, Hotwells. 10. Recipe of the week to give a go if you decide to eat in: Beef biryani. And if you need some ideas for the weekend, check back at ThisisBristol later in the week.
