Athens Night club damaged by bomb blast

But "criminal extortion groups" are suspected, not anarchists...

Narcofootball

article on drug money and football in Colombia...more to be said about many other countries.

Kosovo's Organized Crime Burden

An overview of the role of organised crime in Kosovo, referring to several other sources en route.

Girl gang's grip on London Underworld revealed

new book out "Gangs of London" by Brian MacDonald. This being the Guardian, theyve concentrated on the distaff side. Apparently a female gang called "Forty Elephants" was operational in South London from the late 1700s to the 1950s. It would be interesting to know what the rest of the book is about. Maybe another newspaper will review it in the near future. It isnt clear from the review if it is out yet.

Broadside fired at al qaeda leaders

Is this akin to a Menshevik rebellion against al Q Bolsheviks? Demands for greater participation and less authoritarianism?

Al Qaeda finds new friends

This is a must read. Asian perspective on the changing nature of al Q and perhaps an insight into the quandries of the ISI.

Note particularly the claim that the insurgency in Kashmir a nexus of local mafias and the underworld ensured logistical support. Then note that graduates from this system have been given command of al Q operations in the West.

Dutch prosecutors release five suspected Somali terrorists

Twelve men were arrested in Rotterdam before Christmas. These five are now considered to have had nothing to do with terrorism.

Christmas bomb plotters were radicalised in jail

Major source for this article appears to have been a neighbour of the men arrested in Cardiff. The allegation add a bit of colour to the post earlier on the charging of nine men. Twelve were originally arrested.

Bomb found at Greek Embassy in Italy

Useful account of what appears to be a campaign by Greek anarchists and allies, that started in Athens in early November.

Nine charged with conspiracy after UK terrorism raids

Three from Cardiff, two from East London and four from Stoke on Trent. We will have to wait for the trials to discover what they are alleged to have been up to. West Midlands the lead counter-terrorist organisation in this case.

CCTV "helps solve 6 crimes a day"

and how many crimes a day are there...and how much does the CCTV system cost? and how much would it cost to get the police a better public image so that the public come forward with evidence? and how many crimes a day does a detective solve? Note also the weasel word "helps"...

Judge slams BAE Systems plea deal

Judge surprised by grant of blanket immunity in return for payments to US department of Justice and unspecified institutions in UK.

British courts flooded with trivial extraditions, report finds

Fair Trials International [who they? article doesnt say] claim UK receiving lots of ridiculous requests under EAW

Three in court after £2m heroin haul

In Edinburgh. Biggest seizure ever in Lothian and Borders. All the accused got bail...unlike Mr. Assange

Berlin blocks Bulgaria, Romania from Schengen

Article suggests France agrees.

Kosovo PM is head of human organ and arms ring, Council of Europe reports

The Kosovo Liberation Army has long been accused of involvement in organised crime. Now it may have won the election...

"Prepare for all-out cyber-war"

Your blogger has been in Catania, in a workshop with other SGOC members on human rights, legitimacy and the EU response to organised crime. He has returned home to find the UK press has gone mad. Nevertheless, this piece of scaremongering had better be published, just in case. I like the idea that Whitehall is operating an outdated version of Internet explorer, which in fact, makes everything possible to the hacktivists.

WikiLeaks cables portray Saudi Arabia as a cashpoint for terrorists

Some interesting stuff on terrorist funding in this piece. Rich individuals in the Middle east and kidnapping are pinpointed.

Wikileaks cables condemn Russia as "Mafia state"

Your blogger has been in Madrid for a conference. Yes, it was cold, thank you. During his absence, Wikileaks has released a number of documents about american diplomatic cables. Nothing terribly new about them. "Everyone" knew about US criticisms of Russia and the tenacity of Spanish judges. But this is a good source for all the allegations in one place.