WEB BUZZ MAFIA

Supporters of former Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko chant slogans during a protest in Kyiv on July 12. The imprisoned Tymoshenko has written an open letter to President Viktor Yanukovych accusing him of videotaping her every move as she serves a seven-year sentence for abuse of office. The presidential press service did not respond as of Oct. 25 to the allegations in the letter.  Imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko Editor’s Note: The following is an English-language translation of an Oct. 17 open letter written by imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to President Viktor Yanukovych.  The Presidential Administration on Oct. 29 responded to the allegations raised in the letter. Yanukovych’s press service said that the prosecutor general has ordered the state penitentiary service to conduct an internal investigation of Tymoshenko’s ward.  The press service

MQM Chief Altaf Hussain KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has urged the government and security agencies to devise a coordinated plan to rid Karachi of ‘extortion mafia’ . Addressing a reception from London by telephone on Monday, Mr Hussain said he had drawn the attention of Interior Minister Rehman Malik and President Asif Ali Zardari to the criminal activities of extortion mafia and incidents of kidnapping for ransom and urged them to take steps for protecting the life and property of citizens. While the MQM chief had on Saturday asked the establishment to “find out the elements within its ranks which were harbouring criminals”, he sent a message to the army, ISI, Rangers and police on Monday to “come forward and embrace us”. He asked the MQM coordination committee to seek permission from the government to set up a shelter home for those who were victims of karo-kari incidents. ALTAF-ZARDARI CONTACT: During a telephonic conversation,

Champion of the south ... Rosario Crocetta is congratulated as the results of the election come in. ROME: A gay man who shrugged off three mafia plots to kill him is poised to become Sicily's first homosexual governor in elections that show the centre left advancing at the expense of Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing party. Representing a coalition of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party and the Catholic UDC party, Rosario Crocetta is leading against the candidate of Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) and a contender representing the maverick movement of the comedian Beppe Grillo, who trailed in third place. After leaving prison in England, Oscar Wilde took refuge in Palermo.   With more than 50 per cent of votes counted, Mr Crocetta had 30.88 per cent of the vote, ahead of the PDL’s Sebastiano Musumeci with 24.90 per cent, robbing him of what was once the centre-right’s stronghold on the Mediterranean island.The outsi

ISLAMABAD: Despite remarkable cut in the prices of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), the transport fares could not be reduced in the country as transport mafia flatly disregarded the idea of Supreme Court to provide some relief to the masses. The Supreme Court’s Eid gift to the general public has been stolen by the transport mafia as transporters have not yet reduced its fares despite massive reduction in the prices of CNG last week. The commuters who were returning from their native lands to their places of duties/businesses paid high fares. Rickshaw and taxi drivers were also compelling the commuters to pay their demand fares, as they also want to make most on the eve of Eid at the cost hapless public. The general public has urged the government to take stern action against the transport mafia and force them to slash the transport fares in proportion to the low cost of CNG. They demanded that the Regional Transport Authorities and the Traffic police should be given clea

The openly gay, anti-mafia campaigner Rosario Crocetta took 31 per cent of the votes Former bastion of homophobia has overtaken north on equality, says Milanese newspaper. The stereotype of the macho southern Italian is fading fast. To the amusement of commentators in northern Italy, the victor in Sicily's regional election on Sunday was the openly gay, anti-mafia campaigner Rosario Crocetta. One of the oddest regional elections in recent times reflected the turbulent state of Italian politics. Apart from a gay winner in deeply conservative Sicily, the centre-right received a drubbing, almost half the population abstained, and the enormous protest vote will see dozens of people in the Five Star Movement, with no political experience, take up councillor seats in Palermo's Palazzo dei Normanni. Mr Crocetta, 61, who has an armed-escort because of his high-profile campaign against Cosa Nostra, said his victory meant "the Mafia can back its bags". The outg

For the past few weeks, phases V and VI of Defence have been facing an acute water shortage, a CBC official has said. Because of lack of water and a huge demand in these areas, residents are forced to call in a private tanker, which deliver water at the doorstep for Rs500 or 1,000 per trip. Recently, a five-day strike by the Karachi Water Tankers Welfare Association hit the area hard as the absence of tankers kept thousands of residents bereft of basic water for days. Cantonment Board Clifton member Aziz Suhrawardy has said that there is an acute problem in the area. He is of the view that the practice of taking help from “illegal water tankers” is not appropriate, but the job of the water board is to provide that service to people, which it is not. Specifically speaking about the Defence and Clifton areas, Suhrawardy says: “Collusion between power elements and corrupt staff in the water board [are] making millions of rupees and handing it over to tanker mafia

Lucknow : Attacking the Samajwadi Party government over the law and order situation in the state, BSP President Mayawati said the current regime has created massive insecurity and panic among the people. A BSP release quoting the former chief minister said that communal tension in different parts of the state has not only resulted in loss of life and property but has also harmed amity and brotherhood in society which is very unfortunate and a matter of grave concern. She said that crime control and law and order has been bad ever since Samajwadi Party came to power but now it is complete jungle and mafia raj in the state and the government appears to be totally inadequate to deal with it. Referring to clashes in Mathura, Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Faizabad in the recent past, she said, since these places are very sensitive, strict measures should have been in place in these districts. “But it is most unfortunate that the government remained impassive and lax on suc

Former politicians face charges for 'deal-making with Mafia' Palermo, October 29 - Highly anticipated hearings into alleged negotiations between Italian State officials and the Mafia were adjourned Monday until mid-November. Preliminary hearings for 12 defendants, which will be held behind closed doors despite strong public interest, were postponed to November 15 to deal with several procedural requests including a defence demand for time to review new documents filed by the prosecution. The complex case stems from an investigation by Antonio Ingroia, a deputy chief prosecutor in Palermo, into suspicions that high-ranking politicians and police negotiated with Cosa Nostra to try to stop a series of bomb attacks that claimed the lives of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.

President kept up to date on key international matters by Irish American experts Obama enjoying a pint in Ollie Hayes in Moneygall, County Offaly US President Barack Obama has a dependable 'Irish mafia' within the White House to advise him on key international matters, his anti-terrorism chief said this week. Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism, John Brennan, is one of the masterminds behind the assassination of Osama Bin Laden the Herald reports. President Obama views him as his right-hand man on international relations. Brennan's father is from County Roscommon and his mother from County Galway. Speaking in Dublin this week Brennan said it was an honor to address the Irish Institute of European Affairs. 'The national security team of Tom Donilon, Denis McDonagh, Mike Mullen, Bill Daley and the Mount Anville - educated Samantha Power are key advisors. They are proud Irish citizens. The 'Irish mafia'

KARACHI  - Taking serious notice of the activities of extortionists in Karachi, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad ordered stern action against the ‘parchi mafia’.Presiding over a high-level meeting in the Governor House, he said the curse of ‘parchi’ would not be tolerated in City. He asked that visible action should be taken against criminals without any fear or favour, so that the citizens should feel a sense of security in society. He said the prosecution department should be further strengthened to ensure that criminals get punishments as per law. Clifton Kidney and Dialysis Centre expands its services:  The Clifton Kidney and Dialysis Centre has expanded its services by adding nine more dialysis machines. This was stated by an official of the facility here on Friday. He said that the centre was established five years ago and that it offered free hemodialysis and medical care for under-privileged patients, who were unable to afford this expensive treatment. This

The officials were receiving Rs15,000 from a student to allow him to appear in the supplementary examinations Two Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) officials were arrested on Tuesday afternoon on charges of receiving a bribe. An anti-corruption team raided the BZU Controller’s Office under the supervision of Magistrate Muhammad Akbar and caught two officials. The officials were receiving Rs15,000 from a student to allow him to appear in the supplementary examinations. The men have been sent to jail on judicial remand. The complaint was lodged by Javed Iqbal, a Masters student, to Multan Anti-Corruption Director Dr Nasir Sayal. Javed Iqbal, a resident of Shujabad, told The Express Tribune that he had failed in one subject of his English Part II examination. He said he went to the Controller’s Office two months ago to submit an application to appear in the supplementary examinations. “Muhammad Najaf, who works in the Controller’s Office, approached me and took me to mee

There used to be a popular car sticker with the inscription, “Insured by the mafia. You hit me, we hit you!”, which seems to have vanished from our streets. The message therein is simple: It is based on a notion of equating vengeance with justice and the absence of proportion between offence and punishment. Unfortunately, that is the situation in our country today as more and more Nigerians boycott the court in favour of judicial black market where “justice” is swift and without mercy. It is then little wonder that almost every day comes with stories of killings, most of them based on revenge for real or perceived injury. If we will also be honest, our justice administration system has reached a point where it is almost impossible to secure conviction even for crime suspects caught in the act and for that reason, many Nigerians would rather take the laws into their own hands. Today, there are too numerous homicide cases that remain unresolved, and given our collectiv

Brainerd Lakes Fight Mafia members competed in the recent Full Nelson Promotions event at Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen. Gary Granholm defeated Marc Hummel by submission in the first round at 38 seconds, bringing the welterweight title back to Brainerd. It’s the Fight Mafia’s first title. Loren Jones was defeated by Jesse Wannemacher by submission (choke) at 2:06 in the first round. Heavyweight Matt Thurstin defeated Ryan Martine at 2:23 of the second round via knockout (headkick). Travis Sykes did not compete due to lack of an opponent. Next event by Full Nelson Promotions will be “Fight Night in Fergus Falls” Jan. 11, 2013.

“Well, well, look who's laundering...” The arrest of the “godfather” of the Chinese mafia in Spain in mid-October has lifted the veil on crime within the community and reflects the power, complexity and international cohesion of these criminal groups. Surely not in its worst nightmares could the Chinese community in Spain have imagined an event so damning to their image as Operación Cheqian-Emperador (Operation Emperor). For a group that makes discretion the bedrock of its way of life – and one of its strengths – the information that has been splashed across the headlines could not be worse: wild tales of how criminal gangs have allegedly defrauded the Spanish Treasury of 35,000 million euros, violent extortion by the gang headed by Gao Ping, corruption and businesses tied to prostitution and to drug-trafficking. Though one must not judge the whole Chinese community by its parts and not all the 170,000 Chinese living in Spain can or should be judged by the same y

In Palermo, police arrested 41 suspected members of the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian branch of the Italian mafia, on Tuesday. They are accused of involvement in extorsion, drug trafficking, illegal possession of firearms and other crimes. The producers of a television series filmed in Palermo were among the victims of the suspects, as well as businessmen and shopkeepers, police said, adding that several mafia-owned betting shops were raided in the same operation. In Turin, a judge ordered the arrest of 22 suspected members of the Ndrangheta, the branch of the mafia rooted in the southern region of Calabria but also present in the north of Italy, and the seizure of assets worth several million euros. The judge, Giuseppe Salerno, said that the Ndrangheta had managed to influence the result of last year's local elections in Chivasso, a town on the outskirts of Turin. According to investigators, the Ndrangheta controlled the votes of the third-placed candidate in the

One mobster hated Frank Sinatra so much that he wanted to kill the singer, according to secret tapes put forward as evidence at the trial of an alleged mafia "boss." The trial of Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, reputed head of the Philadelphia mob, began last Thursday after he was arrested on gambling and extortion charges in 2011. Prosecutors claim that Ligambi provided video poker machines and other illegal gambling devices to bars, restaurants and shops in Philadelphia. The prosecution wants to use tapes recorded by a mobster-turned-FBI informant to paint a picture of the violent past of the mob. However defense attorney Christopher Warren, who is representing Ligambi and another alleged gangster Joseph "Scoops" Licata, described the tapes to jurors as just a "bunch geriatric gangsters talking," according to philly.com. He said that the recordings were not relevant to his clients' trial. The tapes were made by mobster Nicholas &#

In many ways, Swedish House Mafia 's split couldn't have come at a better time. The collective - made up of progressive house DJs Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello and Axwell - led the charge of chart-friendly dance music, proving a cut above most with their credible beginnings rooted in the Ibiza rave circuit. Now, with dance on the decline, they are attempting to call an end to it all with their second and final compilation. Fortunately, they're doing so with a bang. Recent single 'Don't You Worry Child' topped the charts and showed they had perfected the balance between credible house and Oceana-raving pop, while previous and harder cuts 'Antidote' and 'Greyhound' served their purpose soundtracking this year's club 18-30s. There's little new to be found amongst the 22 tracks, with around two-thirds being the best of their individual work and remixes served up to other acts; ranging from an atmospheric re-swizzling o

MONTREAL - Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto had direct access to City Hall through two engineers who played golf with him at a Caribbean resort, a public inquiry heard Monday. Retired engineer Gilles Surprenant also intensified a political firestorm by claiming a colleague told him the city's executive committee took a 3% cut off of all excavation contracts. Surprenant, a longtime city planner, has already admitted to inflating contracts for a cartel of contractors who paid him $600,000 in bribes from 1990 to 2009. He told the Charbonneau Commission that contractor Tony Conte invited him and fellow engineer Luc Leclerc to the Dominican Republic to play a week of golf in 1996 or 1997. When the bureaucrats asked Conte about the identity of the fourth partner, he refused to say, but the partner's identity became clear prior to the flight. "We got to the airport, we got a surprise, we saw Mr. Rizzuto," Surprenant told the inquiry. "He was alone. All I ca

ISLAMABAD  - Land mafia and illegal land grabbers have again become active in Sector G-14 and resorted to aerial firing to terrorize the workers of the construction company appointed for the development of the sector, after which the uplift work has been halted. According to sources, some officials of district management, police and Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation were allegedly among the land mafia people and were backing such activities. According to sources, Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation gave contract to National Construction Company for the development work of sectors G-14/2 and 3. The construction company shifted the machinery to the sites, but the foundation did not establish a police post or deployed Rangers in the area, despite its promise to provide security to the company. In this regard, an employee of the construction company said that providing security to them was the responsibility of the housing foundation. Allot

Every day one comes across beggars at every traffic signal in Islamabad, some of them are handicapped, who obviously cannot reach the place without any help. It has been observed that have an organisation behind them that provides them with pick and drop facility. The handlers of this ‘profitable’ business provide these beggars with not only transport facility but also a kind of hostel to live in. This is a thriving business depending on large number of children being kidnapped from villages. No action has been taken in the last six decades to curtail beggary, which has been condemned by Islam, and Pakistan being a Muslim country should have abolished this. Sadly there is no expectation from this present government, which is already bent upon making the entire nation a beggar due to their begging bowl diplomacy. Lets hope that someone in the administration will take stock of the situation and brings an end to this exploitation of the poor.

Definition of Mafia It is difficult to define exactly, the single function, or goal, of the phenomenon of the Mafia. Until the early 1980s, mafia was generally considered a unique Sicilian cultural attitude and form of power, excluding any corporate or organisational dimension. Some even used it as a defensive attempt to render the Mafia benign and romantic: not a criminal association, but the sum of Sicilian values that outsiders never will understand. Leopoldo Franchetti, an Italian deputy who travelled to Sicily and who wrote one of the first authoritative reports on the mafia in 1876, saw the Mafia as an "industry of violence" and described the designation of the term "mafia" : the term mafia found a class of violent criminals ready and waiting for a name to define them, and, given their special character and importance in Sicilian society, they had the right to a different name from that defining vulgar criminals in other countries.

History The genesis of Cosa Nostra is hard to trace because mafiosi are very secretive and do not keep historical records of their own. In fact, they have been known to spread deliberate lies about their past, and sometimes come to believe in their own myths. Post-feudal Sicily Modern scholars believe that its seeds were planted in the upheaval of Sicily's transition out of feudalism in 1812 and its later annexation by mainland Italy in 1860. Under feudalism, the nobility owned most of the land and enforced law and order through their private armies. After 1812, the feudal barons steadily sold off or rented their lands to private citizens. Primogeniture was abolished, land could no longer be seized to settle debts, and one fifth of the land was to become private property of the peasants. After Italy annexed Sicily in 1860, it redistributed a large share of public and church land to private citizens. The result was a huge boom in landowners: from 2,000 in 1812 to 20,000