At least 46 injured after Iran plane catches fire: report

Iranian firefighters work on a burned Russian-made Iranian passenger plane after its crash landing at Mashhad airport, northeastern Iran, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.

TEHRAN, Jan. 24 -- An Iranian passenger plane caught fire on Sunday when it was landing in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad, injuring at least 46 people on board, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"The (Russian-built) Tupolev 154 plane belonging to Taban Airline went off the runaway upon landing and about one third of its rear end broke away," said Avad Erfanian, head of disaster management of Khorasan Razavi province of which Mashhad is the capital.

"There were 157 passengers and 13 crew members on board," he said, "the accident caused no death and most of the injured passengers are in good condition."

The wounded have been transferred to three hospitals in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad, he added.

Local English-language Press TV said that the plane had departed from Iran's southeastern city of Abandan and its fuselage, one of the wings and the tail section has burned in the fire.



Iranian firefighters work on a burned Russian-made Iranian passenger plane after its crash landing at Mashhad airport, northeastern Iran, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.



Iranian firefighters work on a burned Russian-made Iranian passenger plane after its crash landing at Mashhad airport, northeastern Iran, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.



A firefighter looks into the burnt body of a plane that caught fire while landing in Mashad, 924 km (574 miles) northwest of Tehran January 24, 2010.



Firefighters put out remnants of fire in a plane that caught fire while landing in Mashad, 924 km (574 miles) northwest of Tehran January 24, 2010.
(Reuters)

Harjinder Singh Sandhu, 28, and Puneet Singh Chhina, 26, were killed here last May and their bodies were found in the trunk of their car

Harjinder Singh Sandhu, 28, and Puneet Singh Chhina, 26, were killed here last May and their bodies were found in the trunk of their car in Pickering city near Toronto. man has been arrested on charges of killing two Sikh men of the Toronto area last year.Police said Friday that they have arrested John Le, 38, of Durham on the outskirts of Toronto for allegedly killing the two men. He faces charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, forcible confinement and use of firearms in the crime, police said, adding that more arrests were likely soon. Though police said the killings had the pattern of a gangland-type hit, it is speculated that the Sikh men were killed over some unpaid cocaine debt. Investigations have revealed that the two men had gone together May 4 last year for a meeting in north Toronto where they were killed. Their bodies were dumped in the trunk of their car and driven to Pickering city outside Toronto. After leaving their bodies in the vehicle, the killers escaped in another vehicle. The bodies were discovered next day. Police were able to track the route taken by the killers from the cell phones of the victims. From the DNA of the alleged killer found on the bodies of the victims, police were able find clues leading them to the suspect last month. A possibly unpaid cocaine debt might have led to the crime because 28-year-old Sandhu was facing drug charges for smuggling 30 kg of cocaine – valued at $3.8 million – into Canada from the US in his truck in 2007. Chhina too was a truck driver but out of work at the time of his murder.
Their alleged killer was remanded to custody by court Friday.

The Greeks are known to have dealings with the Calgary chapter of the Hells Angels and a Kelowna chapter of the Hells Angels,

RCMP have accused a Vernon, B.C., lawyer of being involved with organized crime. Authorities arrested the lawyer Friday morning and charged him with participation in activities of a criminal organization. They say the lawyer was involved with "The Greeks," an Okanagan-based group that has five members in custody on three homicide charges. The Greeks are known to have dealings with the Calgary chapter of the Hells Angels and a Kelowna chapter of the Hells Angels, and are suspected of having ties to the UN gang in the Lower Mainland. William Mastop, 43, is scheduled to appear in court in Vancouver on Monday

The Greeks are known to have dealings with the Calgary chapter of the Hells Angels and a Kelowna chapter of the Hells Angels,

RCMP have accused a Vernon, B.C., lawyer of being involved with organized crime. Authorities arrested the lawyer Friday morning and charged him with participation in activities of a criminal organization. They say the lawyer was involved with "The Greeks," an Okanagan-based group that has five members in custody on three homicide charges. The Greeks are known to have dealings with the Calgary chapter of the Hells Angels and a Kelowna chapter of the Hells Angels, and are suspected of having ties to the UN gang in the Lower Mainland. William Mastop, 43, is scheduled to appear in court in Vancouver on Monday

23 inmates have been killed after a fight at a jail in Durango, northern Mexico

23 inmates have been killed after a fight at a jail in Durango, northern Mexico, officials say.Police believe the inmates were members of rival drugs gangs, Reuters news agency reported.But prison spokeswoman Carla Puente was quoted by the Associated Press as saying she did not know the cause of the fighting.Thousands of people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico over the past few years.
“There are 23 dead, all inmates,” Durango army head General Moises Melo Garcia told Reuters.He said the situation in the prison was “now back under control”.Ms Puente said some people had also been injured in the brawl, which was ended by prison guards and armed soldiers.The prison was reported to house more than 2,000 inmates.
War declaredThe state of Durango has been the scene of clashes between the rival Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels in recent months.The drugs trade in the region is controlled by the Sinaloa cartel, reportedly led by Mexico’s most-wanted man, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.At least 19 inmates died in another prison brawl in Durango in August 2009, which officials said had been sparked by gang rivalries.
President Felipe Calderon has declared war on the illegal narcotic organisations in Mexico, deploying 40,000 troops to fight the cartels.

Monro attempted to kill this victim by slitting his throat with a knife while positioning him head down to bleed him out.

convicted a gang member of holding the victim of a robbery upside and slitting his throat during a home invasion robbery.The victim survived to testify against Shawn Richard Monro, who turns 28 Friday. He will be sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 9 a.m.The trial took more than two weeks. The jury convicted the defendant of 18 felony counts including:
The charges stem from a series of robberies and the attempted aggravated murder of a Eugene man during a home-invasion robbery near Cal Young Middle School.
Monro attempted to kill this victim by slitting his throat with a knife while positioning him head down to bleed him out.
The trial included testimony witnesses who were Westside Gangsters and Gangster Disciple members at the time of the offenses, most of whom are currently serving prison sentences for their roles in these crimes and others. The crimes were investigated by a team led by Eugene Police Department detectives in the course of a multi-year investigation into related gang activities in October of 2006. Other participants in the Eugene home invasion robbery included Paul McCloskey, Robert Jablonski and Michael Vaughan. They are all serving Measure 11 prison sentences. This crime spree culminated in the gang related murder of Noah Thacker by Michael Anthony Vaughan. The day following the Eugene home invasion, Vaughan executed Thacker and then lit his body and apartment on fire. In 2008 Michael Vaughan pled guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Brothers Austin Cochran, 18, and Dylan Cochran, 17, both of Spartanburg, are members of the Gangster Disciple gang.

Brothers Austin Cochran, 18, and Dylan Cochran, 17, both of Spartanburg, are members of the Gangster Disciple gang. Investigators said the brothers and a third boy, not named because he is a juvenile, began threatening the boy who wanted to get out of the gang on New Year's EvJennifer Lynn Garcia is charged as a conspirator with the Cochrans and the juvenile.The mother of the boy went to deputies and told them that she had received several threatening phone calls from Austin Cochran's cell phone in which he said he would come to their home with a gun.The mother said on Jan. 1, the motion light on the front of her home came on, and when she looked out, she saw Dylan Cochran and Garcia parked in front of her home, causing her to fear for her family's safety.The woman said that on Jan. 5, as she and her boyfriend were going to pick up their son, Dylan Cochran and Garcia pulled up next to them and Cochran motioned with his hand as if to shoot the woman.Austin and Dylan Cochran are charged with gang-related soliciting, recruiting, coercing or threatening a person under 18 years. Garcia is charged with criminal conspiracy.