Security News

Australian amateur prospector finds massive gold nugget

janvier 17, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

An amateur prospector in the Australian state of Victoria has astonished experts by unearthing a gold nugget weighing 5.5kg (177 ounces).

The unidentified man, using a handheld metal detector, found the nugget on Wednesday, lying 60cm underground near the town of Ballarat.

Its value has been estimated at more than A$300,000 ($315,000: £197,000).

Local gold experts say gold has been prospected in the area for decades, but no such discovery had been made before.

« I have been a prospector and dealer for two decades, and cannot remember the last time a nugget over 100 ounces (2.8kg) has been found locally, » said Cordell Kent, owner of the Ballarat Mining Exchange Gold Shop.

« It’s extremely significant as a mineral specimen. We are 162 years into a gold rush and Ballarat is still producing nuggets – it’s unheard of. »

A video of the Y-shaped nugget was posted on YouTube on Wednesday by user TroyAurum.

He wrote that the man who found it had said it « sounded like the bonnet of a car through the headphones.

« It was lying flat (broad side up) and he carefully dug it up. »

Apartment building collapses in Alexandria

janvier 17, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A block of flats has collapsed in the coastal Egyptian city of Alexandria, killing at least 25 people.

Others were injured as the eight-story building collapsed, reports said. The cause of the collapse is not yet clear.

The incident came a day after 19 conscripts were killed when a military train carrying new recruits derailed south of Egypt’s capital, Cairo,

That accident sparked several protests accusing the government of failing to overhaul Egypt’s aged public services.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt because of lax building standards, analysts say.

The collapse happened in the early hours of Wednesday when most tenants were thought to be at home, reports said.

Alexandria’s security chief, police Maj Gen Abdel-Mawgood Lutfi, said the 24-flat block was built five years ago.

Two die in London when helicopter crashes into crane accident

janvier 16, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Two people were killed and 12 were hurt when a helicopter crashed into a crane on a building in central London.

The helicopter hit the crane on top of The Tower, One St George Wharf beside the Thames at about 08:00 GMT.

Cars and two buildings caught fire after the burning wreckage fell into Wandsworth Road in South Lambeth. Eighty firefighters tackled the blaze.

The pilot, Capt Pete Barnes from charter firm Rotormotion, was killed, along with a person on the ground.

Mr Barnes, 50 and from near Reading, Berkshire, had asked to be diverted to a nearby heliport because of bad weather.

Metropolitan Police Commander Neil Basu told BBC News it was « miraculous » the crash was not much worse.

US gun debate: Obama unveils gun control proposals

janvier 16, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

President Barack Obama has unveiled sweeping gun control proposals, setting the stage for a showdown with firearms rights advocates.

Mr Obama called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and wider background checks on gun buyers.

The Democratic president also signed 23 executive-order measures, which do not require congressional approval.

Mr Obama said gun-control reforms could not wait any longer, after last month’s school massacre in Connecticut.

« While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, » he said, « if there’s even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try. »

Foreigners abducted by Islamist militants in Algeria

janvier 16, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Two foreign nationals, one of them British, have been killed and several abducted in an attack by Islamist militants on a gas facility in eastern Algeria, state media report.

Several people were also wounded when a bus carrying workers from a gas facility near In Amenas was targeted.

After being repelled, the militants travelled to the facility, taking an unknown number of workers hostage.

Militants linked to al-Qaeda claim to have been behind the incident.

They initially said they were holding six people hostage, but an alleged spokesman later told two Mauritanian news websites they were holding 41 foreigners, including US, French, British and Japanese citizens.