David Radcliffe To Play American Crime Reporter in 'Tokyo Vice'

The Hollywood Reporter offers a report on David Radcliffe starring in a film based on Jake Adelstein's Tokyo Vice.

TOKYO – Daniel Radcliffe will take another step away from the boy wizard when he tackles the role of an American journalist who covered the crime beat in Japan, including the notorious yakuza mafia, in Tokyo Vice.

 

Tokyo Vice covers the adventures of Jake Adelstein, a crime reporter on the Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest newspaper in the world by circulation, from his beginnings as the first westerner in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club to his expose on a yakuza boss given a liver transplant in California.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/daniel-radcliffe-play-american-crime-450405

And you can read my review of Tokyo Vice via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/03/tokyo-vice-american-reporter-on-police.html 

Manhunt: CIA Women Who Hunted Bin Laden In The Spotlight In HBO's Documentary

Rowan Scarborough at the Washington Times offers a piece on the new HBO documentary on the CIA officers who hunter Osama bin Laden.

The look at those who hunted Osama bin Laden begins with the sisterhood — a collection of female CIA analysts who became somewhat obsessed with al Qaeda and its leader.

They now are talking on camera for the HBO documentary "Manhunt," which debuted Wednesday night, two years after the terrorist mastermind was killed and weeks after another jihadist attack on America at the Boston Marathon.

The film, which HBO is showing throughout May, is not about the raid that killed bin Laden but the inside story of the CIA's bin Laden hunters — their frustrations, guilt, joy and, for one, a violent death.  

“The night of the raid, I just had this gut feeling that there was a deeper, darker, richer story other than just the story of the raid itself,” said Greg Barker, a journalist and the director of "Manhunt."

“It’s about an intelligence story that spoke to the decisions made in secret inside our government that led us to Abbottabad.”

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/1/cia-women-who-hunted-bin-laden-in-the-spotlight/?page=all#pagebreak

The Best Of The Saint

Allan Massie at the British newspaper the Telegraph offers a piece on the return of the "Saint," Leslie Charteris' fictional character.

Nostalgia, nostalgia, there’s nothing like nostalgia. This, or something like it, will be the reaction of many elderly , or indeed middle-aged, folk to the news that Hodder is bringing Simon Templar, alias “The Saint”, back to life, or at least back into print. Admittedly, the Saint was himself middle-aged, even if also ageless, when we first read him as schoolboys, or when Roger Moore played him with effortless charm on television.

He belongs to the Twenties, to the gentlemen-adventurers who went about biffing baddies and righting wrongs in light-hearted but also ruthless manner. There is a touch of Wodehouse’s Psmith in his persiflage, a touch too of Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion (at least as Campion appeared in Allingham’s early novels). But it is in the company of Sapper’s Bulldog Drummond and Dornford Yates’s Jonathan Mansel and Richard Chandos that he really belongs.

...The Saint is wholly preposterous; that is part of the charm. His creator, Leslie Charteris, must have known this but, at least in the early books, he delighted in his creation, and wrote with an infectious exuberance, often wittily.

You can read rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9668777/The-absurd-irresistible-Simon-Templar-lives-on.html

Hodder & Stoughton, publisher of The Best of the Saint, Volume 1, offers a a selection of the very best of the Saint stories from the early years and an introduced by Ken Follett.

'I am the Saint - you may have heard of me. Just a twentieth-century privateer. In my small way I try to put right a few of the things that are wrong with this cock-eyed world' Simon Templar, aka the Saint.

On the side of the law and yet outside it, the Saint, exciting, debonair and very slightly disreputable, lives for adventure. Here he is at his ebullient best, spreading terror among London's drug dealers, rescuing a lady crook from distress and much, much more.

Leslie Charteris was born in Singapore and moved to England in 1919. He left Cambridge University early when his first novel was accepted for publication. He wrote novels about the Saint throughout his life becoming, alongside Agatha Christie and Ian Fleming, one of the 20th century's most prolific and popular authors.

Note: I'm a fan of the Saint. Although I'm not fond of Roger Moore's portrayal of James Bond, I grew up in the 1960's watching Moore as the Saint on TV. I later saw the older films with George Sanders as the Saint and read the Leslie Charteris' novels. 

Roger Moore and his son are producing a new TV series on the Saint with a young actor portraying Simon Templar. You can read about Moore and the new series via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/02/roger-moore-patron-saint-of-smooth.html 

Joanne Chesimard, Convicted Murderer And Fugitive, Named To FBI Most Wanted Terrorist List, With $1 Million FBI Reward Offered For Information Leading To Her Capture And Return

The FBI released the below information today:

Today, on the 40th anniversary of the cold-blooded murder of a New Jersey State Trooper, the fugitive convicted of the killing, Joanne Chesimard (seen in the above FBI photo), has been named a Most Wanted Terrorist by the FBI. Chesimard is the first woman ever to make the Bureau’s list of top terrorists. Aaron T. Ford, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark Division, and Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, made the announcement this morning, noting that a reward of up to $1 million is being offered by the FBI for information leading to the capture and return of Chesimard.

In addition to the reward currently offered by the FBI, New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa announced an independent reward of $1 million being offered by the state of New Jersey for information leading to the capture and return of Chesimard. This additional reward money will be funded by the state of New Jersey’s forfeiture funds, bringing the total reward to a maximum of $2 million.

Chesimard was an active, prominent member of the Black Panther Party and later the Black Liberation Army, which was described as one of the most violent militant organizations of 1970s. During this same time, the Black Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the murder of several police officers throughout the United States. On May 2, 1973, Chesimard and two accomplices were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike by Troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster for a motor vehicle violation. All three subjects possessed fictitious identification, and, unbeknownst to the troopers, all three were armed with semi-automatic handguns. From the front passenger seat, Chesimard fired the first shot, wounding Trooper James Harper in the shoulder. As Harper moved for cover, Chesimard exited the car and continued to fire at both troopers until she was wounded by Harper’s return fire.

The rear seat passenger, James Coston, also fired at the troopers and was mortally wounded by Trooper Harper. Trooper Werner Foerster was engaged in a hand-to-hand combat with the vehicle’s driver, Clark Squire. Foerster was severely wounded in his right arm and abdomen and then executed with his own service weapon on the roadside. Chesimard’s jammed handgun was found at Foerster’s side.

The three assailants returned to their car and drove down the road approximately five miles before abandoning the vehicle. Within half an hour, Chesimard was arrested by New Jersey State Troopers. Coston was found to have died near their vehicle, and Squire was found 40 hours later within a mile of their car.

Chesimard and Squire were charged, convicted, and sentenced for the murder of Trooper Werner Foerster, as well as on additional charges. Squire remains in jail. In 1979, Chesimard escaped with help from a coalition of radical, domestic terror groups who took two guards hostage during an armed assault at the facility where she was being lodged. She later fled to Cuba. Since this time, she has been classified as a federal fugitive and the subject of an unlawful flight to avoid confinement warrant.

Now known as Assata Shakur, the 65-year-old Chesimard is believed to be living freely in Cuba. She has been living in Cuba since mid-1984, where she attends government functions and her standard of living is higher than most Cubans.

“Since the moment Trooper Foerster was murdered and Trooper Harper was shot in a gun battle started by three armed domestic terrorists, the New Jersey State Police have sought justice. Chesimard’s escape to Cuba has only increased our resolve to bring her back to finish her prison term,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

“Joanne Chesimard is a domestic terrorist who murdered a law enforcement officer execution-style,” said Aaron T. Ford, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark Division. “Today, on the anniversary of Trooper Werner Foerster’s death, we want the public to know that we will not rest until this fugitive is brought to justice.”

“Justice has no expiration date, and our resolve to capture Joanne Chesimard does not diminish with the passage of time. Instead, it grows ever stronger with the knowledge that this killer continues to live free,” said Attorney General Chiesa. “We honor Trooper Foerster, a true hero, by keeping the focus on this fugitive, and we hope that this augmented reward will spur action that will bring Chesimard back to face the justice she has evaded for far too long.”

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Eric D. Welling of the FBI’s Newark Division, who heads the Joint Terrorism Task Force; U.S. Marshal Juan Mattos, Jr.; and other law enforcement representatives were at today’s event to lend their critical support to this fugitive investigation.

Individuals with information concerning Joanne Chesimard are asked to contact the FBI’s tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Information can also be provided to the nearest FBI field office, American Embassy, or Consulate. A tip can also be submitted electronically at https://tips.fbi.gov.
Chesimard’s Most Wanted Terrorist poster has been prepared in English and Spanish and can be viewed at http:/www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists.

Note: You can watch a video clip on Joanne Chesimard via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4mziCJheiw

Three Arrested In Connection With Boston Marathon Bombing Investigation

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information today:

BOSTON – Three men were arrested and charged today in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings investigation.   

 

Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, both of New Bedford, Mass., were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to obstruct justice by conspiring to destroy, conceal and cover-up tangible objects belonging to suspected Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, namely a laptop computer and backpack containing fireworks.  A third man, Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, Mass., was charged with willfully making materially false statements to federal law enforcement officials during a terrorism investigation.  According to the affidavit accompanying the complaint, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who entered the United States on student visas.  Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $250,000 fine.  Phillipos, a U.S. citizen, faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

 

U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the FBI, announced the charges today.  This investigation was conducted by the FBI's Boston Division, the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police and member agencies of the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of more than 30 federal, state and local enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Secret Service; the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority; and others.  In addition, the Watertown, Mass., Police Department, the Cambridge Police Department, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Police Department, the Boston Fire Department, the National Guard and police, fire and emergency responders from across Massachusetts and New England played critical roles in the investigation and response. 

 

The charges contained in the criminal complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

'Ndrangheta: Exploring The Calabria Mafia's Underground World

John Dickie at the BBC News offers an interesting piece on organized crime in

The biggest cocaine smugglers in Europe are the 'Ndrangheta, a mafia from the "toe of Italy", Calabria. They may not be as well known as their Sicilian counterparts but their drugs and extortion business is worth billions of euros. When cornered their bosses hole up in secret bunkers.

I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see sunlight. Since dead of night I had been crawling through tunnels strewn with rat excrement, personal effects and the paraphernalia of the cocaine business.

The dust and damp were choking. How long had I been underground? Four hours? Five? Eight? Then at last, filthy, tired, and disorientated, I surfaced into a gorgeous mountain landscape, and a breeze bearing the perfume of wild oregano.

I felt as if I had just escaped a brush with insanity, with evil.

The tunnels were in the town of Plati, on Aspromonte, the "harsh mountain" that dominates the landscape at the very toe-tip of Italy's boot.

Plati has been notorious for a century as a stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia.

Its bosses are among the world's leading cocaine traffickers, and they have particularly strong links to the 'Ndrangheta's outposts in Australia.  

You can read the rest of the piece and watch a clip from the BBC documentary via the below link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22315469

John Le Carre's Latest Spy Thriller Is Ponderous, Heavy-Handed And Obvious

Michiko Katutani offers an interesting review in the New York Times of John le Carre's latest spy thriller.

“A Delicate Truth,” John le Carré’s new thriller, is anything but delicate: it’s ponderous, heavy-handed and obvious — everything that his wonderful early Smiley novels, which traded in moral ambiguity and psychological nuance, were not.

Although Mr. le Carré hit his stride again in 2010 with "Our Kind of Traitor," this new novel resembles two preachy recent books of his, "Absolute Friends," (2004) and "A Most Wanted Man" (2008). It is so hobbled by ideological fervor — a detestation for the way the United States and Britain have waged the war on terror — that it rapidly devolves into a didactic and ungainly pitting of good against evil with an utterly predictable story line.       

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/books/a-delicate-truth-by-john-le-carre.html?_r=0