GEORGE CROSS Britain's highest award..[ 751 ]

George Cross award for Army Afghanistan bomb heroes

Advertisement Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid's widow, Christina, received his posthumous George Cross citation BBC 21:31 GMT, Thursday, 18 March 2010 Two Army bomb disposal experts have been awarded the George Cross for their heroics in Afghanistan. A posthumous honour goes to Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, 30, who made safe 70 devices before his death in October while defusing a bomb near Sangin. The GC, one of the UK's highest awards for gallantry, was also conferred on his comrade in the Royal Logistic Corps, Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes, 30. Last August, he cleared a minefield to enable the rescue of five soldiers. His efforts were described in the Ministry of Defence citation as "the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan". 'Rare award' He dismantled seven linked Taliban bombs by hand without any protective clothing so the seriously wounded soldiers as well as the bodies of two dead comrades could be recovered. GEORGE CROSS Britain's highest award for gallantry, along with Victoria Cross It is the top bravery award that civilians can receive Also presented to members of the military for heroism not in the presence of the enemy Introduced in 1940 by Winston Churchill to recognise the courage of civilians during the aerial bombing of the UK The honour has been awarded 161 times Soldier killed defusing bomb Soldier's troops plea to minister 'I always wanted to save lives' The George Cross is the country's highest award for gallantry by civilians, or by military personnel not in the presence of the enemy. The George Cross has now been awarded a total of 161 times. At a ceremony in the City of London, Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said: "The actions of Staff Sgt Hughes and the late Staff Sgt Schmid meet this most demanding test in full measure. "Their selfless commitment, unswerving devotion to duty and unsurpassed courage are both awe-inspiring and humbling." Both recipients were deployed to Helmand Province as part of 19 Light Brigade. Their duties coincided with Operation Panther's Claw, a counter-insurgency operation which saw an increase in Taliban actvity. Staff Sgt Schmid, who had been in the Army for 13 years and was a member of the Oxfordshire-based 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, deployed to Afghanistan in June 2009. He was born in Cornwall, and lived in Winchester with his wife and five-year-old stepson. At the time of his death he was a week away from flying back to the UK for a two-week break. Staff Sgt Hughes was said to have defused 80 bombs He was killed last October during an operation during a day in which he had already dealt with three devices. His citation said his actions "probably saved the lives of his team". It added: "These occasions are representative of the complexity and danger that Schmid had faced daily throughout his four month tour. "His selfless gallantry, his devotion to duty, and his indefatigable courage displayed time and time again saved countless military and civilian lives and is worthy of the highest recognition." Staff Sgt Schmid's wife, Christina, was presented with his citation at the ceremony. She later paid tribute to the work of her husband and Staff Sgt Hughes and said she was "massively proud" of the awards. Jonathan Beale Defence Correspondent It was a simple, sober ceremony to honour two men of extraordinary courage. The Chief of the Defence Staff - Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup - summed it up describing both men as "the bravest of the brave". Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid and his good friend Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes had been doing the most dangerous jobs in one of the most lethal places on earth. As bomb disposal experts their actions saved many lives. It's worth remembering that IEDs, or roadside bombs, have been the single biggest killer of British troops in Afghanistan. The unseen weapon remains the Taliban's favoured method of waging war. Of the 275 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, 151 have died as a result of roadside bombs. Eight bomb disposal experts have also lost their lives. Olaf Schmid's wife Christina has kept his memory alive, and glowed with pride as she received his citation. There's no doubt that these bomb disposal experts are "the few" in this war. A record number of awards are being made this year to British soldiers - more than 150 medals. It's also a telling reminder that last year was the deadliest yet for British troops in Afghanistan. "They're usually under fire... they're absolutely working at such a tempo to keep our forces safe and moving around, and also for civilians," she said. Their George Cross medals will be presented at a royal investiture at a future date. Staff Sgt Hughes, from Telford, Shropshire, is credited with defusing 80 devices during his tour. On 18 August 2009, he was deployed to secure an emergency helicopter landing site south west of Sangin. Staff Sgt Hughes told the BBC he had "just being doing his job". "It was just a day that had an horrendous ending and we just cracked on and dealt with what we needed to do. "There were casualties, fallen soldiers, my rest and myself had to go and clear the injured soldiers and extract the fallen. In doing so, we came across a number of devices." In October, he made the news when he told Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, during a visit to Afghanistan, that more troops were needed on the ground. On Friday, more than 150 other medals are expected to be announced by the Ministry of Defence recognising the efforts of British service personnel in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world. Royal Marines reservist Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, who risked his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on a live grenade in Afghanistan in February 2008, was the last recipient of the George Cross.

Nigeria senator called Gaddafi a "mad man". [ 750 ]

Nigeria recalls Libya ambassador in Gaddafi row

Muammar Gaddafi's comments have sparked anger in Nigeria BBC,,18:30 GMT, Thursday, 18 March 2010 Nigeria has recalled its ambassador to Libya after leader Muammar Gaddafi suggested Nigeria be divided into two states - one Christian and one Muslim. The foreign ministry said the Libyan leader's statement was "irresponsible". Earlier in the week a senator had called Col Gaddafi a "mad man". Col Gaddafi had suggested the split to prevent any more bloodshed between rival groups in central Nigeria. Hundreds have died this year in ethnic and religious violence around Jos. Although the violence in Nigeria generally takes place between Muslim and Christian communities, the underlying causes are a complex mix of political, social and economic grievances. Nigeria is roughly split between its largely Muslim north, and a Christian-dominated south. In a statement, the foreign ministry said it was recalling its Tripoli ambassador for "urgent negotiations" because of the "irresponsible utterances of Colonel Gaddafi". "His theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious occasion have become too numerous to recount," said the statement. Col Gaddafi, until recently head of the African Union, praised the partition of India in 1947 as the kind of "historic, radical solution" that could benefit Nigeria. Splitting India in 1947 caused a breakdown of law and order in which at least 200,000 people died. Some estimates say one million people were killed. About 12 million people were left homeless and thousands were raped. An attempt by the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria to secede in 1967 sparked a war which left more than one million people dead.

Social Media a Tool in Crime-Fighting ..[ 749 ]

Caught Web-Handed: Social Media Become Valuable Tool in Crime-Fighting

By Diane Macedo

- FOXNews.com,,Updated March 18, 2010

Law enforcement agencies are increasingly using social media to fight crime – and some criminals are making that task very easy.

View Slideshow

Most people use social media sites to keep in touch with old friends and to make new ones. But more and more, law enforcement agencies are using them to fight crime – and some criminals are making that task very easy.

Chris Crego

Take Chris Crego, a fugitive on the run from police in New York. Police who arrested him in Indiana say he all but turned himself in by posting his workplace on his MySpace and Facebook pages.

• Take Robert Powell, a Florida man convicted of murdering of his friend Joseph Duprey. He posted pictures of Duprey on his MySpace page next to the words "rest in peace" and "live through me" -- hours before Duprey's death was even reported to police.

And it's hard to forget Jonathan G. Parker, a 19-year-old from Pennsylvania who was arrested and charged with burglary after a woman found her home ransacked and her jewelry stolen. Police say the woman found something else, too -- Parker's Facebook account open on her home computer.

Click here for more suspects caught web-handed.

The trend has authorities often skipping the squad cars for the keyboards in hopes of finding leads in investigations.

"People all the time brag about their exploits. You'd be surprise how many cases have been solved throughout the nation…where they've mentioned how they've successfully solved a crime using information retrieved off of a Web site," Jack Rinchich, President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, told FoxNews.com.

Rinchich of West Virginia says police around the country are finding success using social media as an investigative tool --even if they don't find a smoking gun.

"Sometimes it [the information] may not be incriminating enough to affect an arrest, but it supplies enough information from an investigator's standpoint that it points them in the right direction in terms of solving the crime or researching the crime," Rinchich said. "It can be a valuable tool in solving and preventing crime."

Michael Fertik, CEO and founder of ReputationDefender.org and an adviser to the FBI, says he hears stories like these from agents all the time.

"Basically they tell me that they sit on the Internet all day and look for information on suspects and potential suspects," Fertik told FoxNews.com.

FBI agents are even creating fake Internet identities to deceive suspected criminals into befriending them online in hopes that they'll disclose incriminating information, a new Justice Department document obtained by the legal advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation shows.

According to the document, agents scan suspects' profiles for helpful information such as location, potential motive to commit a crime, and photographs containing guns, stolen goods or any other evidence of criminal behavior. If they can't get to the suspect's profile, sometimes getting to their list of friends is enough.

Seattle bank fraud fugitive Maxi Sopo had a private Facebook page, but detectives found him anyway after he posted messages boasting about his new life in Mexico. Unfortunately for Sopo, one of his Facebook friends just happened to be a former Justice Department employee, who turned him in.

Fertik says social media have aided crime-fighting in the private sector, as well.

"Not only are law enforcement using it, not only can you count on law enforcement using it, not only are law enforcement delighted that these pieces of information, these bread crumbs, are being left everywhere, but also people can do it yourself now," he said. "People can use technologies to either make themselves vulnerable or help find the thief who's trying to do them harm."

Police say that's exactly what happened in the case of Daniel Gill, an Oregon man arrested on burglary charges after he allegedly tried to sell the equipment he stole from an Oregon extermination company on Craigslist.

"In this case it was one of the business owners that went on Craigslist and was shopping around to see if she could find her property on Craigslist, and lo and behold she found it," Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller told FoxNews.com.

Mueller says the owner's discovery enabled detectives to obtain a search warrant to search Gill's house, where they found even more than what they were looking for.

"We found all kinds of good stuff there out there -- that he'd been stealing not only from that neighbor but other neighbors as well!" he said.

Fertik calls cases like these the start of a "do-it-yourself movement" in busting criminals.

Pat Brosnan, a retired NYPD detective and the founder of the private security firm the Brosnan Group, agrees.

"We utilize data posted on blogs and various social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to validate and corroborate information we have developed regarding the target of an investigation," Brosnan told FoxNews.com. "…These sites are a potential treasure trove."

But Rinchich says people still have to remember not only to be careful about what they put on the Internet, but also about what they do with the information they find there.

"I wouldn't necessarily want to take it on the face of it as prime evidence, because sometimes people say things and they're boastful and they didn't really do it, they're just showboating for their friends," he said. "So you have to be really cautious… because you might get the wrong person."

Still, Rinchich says, if people are "dumb enough" to leave a criminal trail to their wrongdoings on the Internet, he's happy to pick up the pieces.

"If there's any technological resource that would benefit law enforcement, as long as it's legally achieved, I say go for it, utilize whatever resources necessary, to prevent and to solve crime."

Dubai kiss highlights culture clash[ 748 ]

Dubai kiss court case highlights culture clash

By Daniela Deane for CNN

March 18, 2010 7:35 a.m. EDT

An Emirati man riding a camel passes by foreigners sunbathing on a beach in Dubai last spring.

Use of the dress code and behavior there, considered "completely inappropriate" by local people.

The British couple at the center of the current case were dining with friends at Bob's Easy Diner, one of a stretch of cafes on a popular strip behind the city's Jumei

London, England (CNN) -- The locals wear long, all-covering robes. They pray five times a day in one of the city's many mosques. Each year, they celebrate Ramadan, fasting from dawn to dusk.

Many expatriates, instead, love to hang out at the beach, often in skimpy bathing suits making the most of the year-round sunshine. They go to beach-side cafes to drink and eat with friends, enjoying the tax-free lifestyle of the sunny sheikdom-by-the-sea.

Only rub is expatriates overwhelmingly outnumber locals -- by more than eight to one.

Welcome to Dubai, the tiny, sun-drenched, desert sheikdom where a whopping 85 percent of the population hail from somewhere else, demographics unheard of anywhere else in the world.

And although the unusual co-existence is largely peaceful, friction can bubble up, like in the recent case of a British couple facing up to a month in jail for kissing in public.

The local labor market cannot provide.
--Shahidul Haque, International Organization for Migration

The couple, a British man living and working in Dubai, and a British female tourist visiting the Persian Gulf city-state, were arrested in November accused of kissing and touching each other intimately in public -- violations of law against public indecency -- and consuming alcohol. The couple have been granted bail pending appeal. A hearing is scheduled for April 4.

Dubai's foreign population has soared in recent years as expatriates, courted by the country, flocked to the booming emirate to work.

"It's one of the countries in the world which has had the most rapid structural transformation we've ever seen for an economy," said Nasser Saidi, chief economist of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority. "If you look at it like that, you start to understand the dynamics of the economy, why you need to attract a vast population from across the world."

The population changes have challenged the now vastly outnumbered Emiratis, though, raising concerns among the local population that the breakneck modernization of the sheikdom threatens their deeply conservative social and religious identity.

The case is the third of its kind involving Britons in under two years. Expats who live in the emirate say authorities seem to be increasingly sensitive to such culture clashes.

"Expats need to know that no matter how modern and open-minded this country is, it's an Islamic country," said Heike Moeckel, a cultural consultant at Embrace Arabia, an Abu Dhabi-based, Emirati-owned company providing cultural training to expats and Emiratis alike.

Moeckel said "the amount of ignorance" by expats to Islamic traditions was the "biggest obstacle" in her work. She said there were beaches in Dubai where a local Emirati woman would not dare bring her children becarah Beach, when an Emirati woman with her family reported their behavior to police.

"It's very easy to make an economy out of different kinds of people with different religious backgrounds and nationalities," Shahidul Haque, regional representative for the Middle East for the International Organization for Migration, told CNN. "But it's often very difficult to develop a social fabric with the same populations."

"That's a huge challenge for any country," Haque said, adding that incidents like the couple kissing "happen for social and economic reasons," rather because of religious differences.

The economy of Dubai, a once tiny pearling village with limited natural resources, was built by expatriate labor. And the high number of expats needs to be maintained to ensure growth, experts say.

Oil sales account for less than five percent of Dubai's economy now. The majority of its income comes from service industries, retail, trade and tourism.

Asked if the Dubai economy could continue to grow without its large expat population, chief economist Saidi replied no.

"It's clear they need them," he said. Saidi said that although the population of the emirate is very young and growing fast, it will take "a couple of generations to build up the skills needed."

Until such point, Dubai continues to need -- and court -- its foreign workers, despite culture clashes like the one with the British couple.

"The local labor market cannot provide" what is needed, Haque said. "You either have to depend on foreign labor, or reduce the economy."

"And no country wants to shrink their economy.

Women with Oscar[ 747 ]

Donne con l'Oscar ma in amore quanta sfortuna...

Women with Oscar, but in love to much bad luck

L'ultima è Sandra Bullock ( The blind side ), a Kate Winslet è successo dopo The reader .
The last is Sandra Bullock (The blind side), Kate Winslet in The Reader has happened since.

E Julia Roberts si separò dal fidanzato dopo Erin Brokovich di ANNA ZIPPEL / I VIDEO
And Julia Roberts was separated from her boyfriend after Erin Brokovich ANNA ZIPPEL / VIDEOS