Nick Clegg and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka Set Out Their Vision Before a Forthcoming UN Summit Standing on the podium at the United Nations in New York in June 1998, Kofi Annan declared: "It is time for all nations to say 'yes' to the challenge of working towards a drug-free world!" The leaders assembled at that meeting agreed: illegal drugs were to be eradicated from the face of the planet. They even set a deadline: 10 years to rid the globe of this scourge. A drug-free world by 2008. [continues 979 words]
Attempted murder, deceit, collusion, perjury, obstructing justice and something else that won't be revealed until a disciplinary tribunal in March. These are your cops, Toronto. "It certainly has been an anomaly week for our service," said Police Chief Mike Saunders, confirming the latest charges Thursday. And you've got to feel some sympathy for the guy, who's barely had a moment's peace since he got the top job. Const. James Forcillo: Guilty of attempted murder in the six rounds he fired at the already dying teenager Sammy Yatim. [continues 1110 words]
Four officers charged with perjury, obstruction of justice TORONTO - Four Toronto police officers have been charged with obstruction of justice and perjury after allegedly providing false testimony in court. Police Chief Mark Saunders says the officers face a total of 17 charges and have all been suspended with pay as the case plays out in court. Saunders says a team from the force's professional standards division will investigate other cases the officers have worked on. "Anything that questions the integrity of any member of the Toronto Police Service concerns me," Saunders said at a news conference Thursday morning. [continues 592 words]
Gangster Warlords, by Ioan Grillo, Allen & Unwin, $32.99 In May 2010 a state of emergency was declared in the Jamaican capital of Kingston. Schools and businesses were closed as armed vigilantes were seen patrolling the ghetto streets. In Tivoli Gardens, a west Kingston housing estate, gang members stockpiled weapons to prevent the arrest of their leader Dudus (Michael Christopher) Coke, revered locally as a Robin Hood figure but reviled in the US as a master of drug cartels. Ioan Grillo's exploration of the drug trade in the Caribbean, Central and South America, a follow-up to El Narco (2011), charts the rise of newlook drug barons such as Dudus, who see themselves partly as combatants in a war zone, partly as an alternative state-within-a-state. [continues 460 words]
