Welcome to Oculto Café – Cordoba’s infamous Satanic saloon.

 GLASSES shoot across tabletops, busty vamps serve blood-red cocktails, and twisted locals raise a toast to an image of Aleister Crowley. Welcome to Oculto Café – Cordoba’s infamous Satanic saloon. The bar is situated in a maze of narrow, winding streets in the ancient ‘Old Town’ district. Stepping outside for a Marlboro, I scan my surroundings. It’s a chilly, moonlit night and the streets are deserted. Strain your ears, however, and you’ll hear muffled voices coming from dark balconies. It’s like a scene from Interview with the Vampire. As I re-enter, the room falls silent. A cross-eyed chap stares at me… well, I think it’s me… it’s hard to tell. Had my gothic guy-liner run, or had he caught a whiff of fresh meat? In this insular atmosphere, I feel as welcome as Gary Glitter at Tivoli...

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Body found in boot of crashed car on Alicante motorway

 Firemen called out to an accident on the A-31 Alicante-Madrid motorway early on Monday found an unidentified body in the boot of a car which had crashed into the central reservation at Sax and then burst into flames. The body was partially burnt but appears to be that of a man. Reports indicate that the deceased had been tied up and gagged. No other occupants were found at the site and the Civil Guard are now trying to identify the victim and the cause of dea...

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Hells Angels have had a rough year in California.

 The Hells Angels have had a rough year in California. Three Northern California members have died violently in the last month amid a turf battle with a rival biker gang. And law enforcement officials on both ends of the motorcycle club's home state are pursuing and jailing members, with 26 Angels and their associates arrested recently in San Diego. The violence spilled into public view in the unlikeliest of places two weeks ago when thousands of Harley-Davidsons rolled up to a San Jose cemetery on a sunny Saturday afternoon to bury a Hells Angels leader who was gunned down weeks earlier in a Nevada casino. A Hells Angel allegedly shot and killed a fellow member at the cemetery and fled — the latest sign of the in-fighting and violence that has plagued the gang in recent months. And if...

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10,000 border arrests due to screening system

 10,000 criminals including rapists and murderers have been held at the UK border thanks to a screening system begun in 2005, a minister has said. Air and sea carriers using UK ports and airports submit passenger and crew details electronically to the e-Borders screening system, prior to travel. It results in about 52 weekly arrests, Immigration Minister Damian Green says. He praised the UK Border Agency and police for the scheme, which covers up to 55% of journeys to and from the UK. "By checking passenger and crew information before travel, law enforcement agencies can apprehend those trying to evade justice," Mr Green said. "From 2013 the new dedicated Border Policing Command, part of the National Crime Agency, will further strengthen security at the border, providing leadership...

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charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000 into Britain.Former US gang member Derrick ‘Anthony’ Mitchell was held at Heathrow this month after UK Border Agency officers allegedly discovered 3kg of drugs in his luggage. Mitchell, 37, is a duty manager at the South London-based Kids Company founded by charity boss Camila Batmanghelidjh. She set it up in 1996 to care for abused, neglected or  abandoned children in London’s inner-city communities. She has been described as ‘Britain’s most colourful charity leader’ because of...

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Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

 2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug is cheap, and it's attracting users everywhere including some who are very young. Today's heroin can be snorted or smoked -- not just injected -- and that's led to a change in the typical user. Increasingly, today's addict is young, female and from the suburbs. And the roots of their addiction can be found in their family's medicine cabinet. For many, the road to dependence begins at independence --one of a handful of West Side exits off the Eisenhower serve as the gateway to the nation's busiest heroin corridor. "The ride there you're just anxiety, just, 'Oh I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to feel better,'" said...

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Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

PHOTO BY MICHAEL PATRICK, COPYRIGHT © 2011 // BUY THIS PHOTOMichael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles.PHOTO BY SOURCE: U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSEEffects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those...

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Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

  Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but become themselves susceptible to addiction (the glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress).  But even more remarkable, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa and colleagues were able to reverse all the abnormalities  (including the addictive behavior) by giving the animals dopamine (a neurotransmitter/ brain chemical).  The study has several implications – for a start it alerts for the dangers of high levels of stress during pregnancy, but - since GC are often prescribed as an anti-inflammatory or to help organ maturation during pregnancy...

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UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

 Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to new treatments for individuals who struggle with addiction. By measuring the neural activity of macaque monkeys, researchers were able to pinpoint the two specific ways the brain makes decisions, which they explained in a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They now understand that neural activity in the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex determines the value of decisions, while neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex evaluates the difference between expectations and results, which is responsible for future behavior. “The brain is basically a computer, and the neuron is taking information and then giving information that...

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Funeral held for Hells Angel killed at fellow biker's burial begins

 The only gunfire at the funeral of Hells Angel Steve Tausan on Saturday came as a salute from the U.S. Marine honor guard. The former Marine, professional boxer and legendary biker was memorialized Saturday morning at Jubilee Christian Church before being buried at Oak Hill Memorial cemetery in San Jose -- exactly two weeks after he was shot and killed at the funeral of another member of the motorcycle club. Although about 1,000 bikers rumbled in from all quarters, there was no trouble, dissension or arrests. There were only bear hugs, tears and memories of the Santa Cruz "enforcer" who called himself Mr. 187, after the penal code for murder. On top of Sunrise Hill they buried his red-and-white casket in the Hells Angels tradition -- by shovel. Sonny Barger, a founding member of the...

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Boy, 17, shot in back in Poplar, east London

 teenager has been shot in the back in east London. The 17-year-old boy was wounded in East India Dock Road, Poplar, in the early hours of the morning. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 17-year-old male had a gunshot wound to the back and is in hospital in a serious condition." The attack happened just before 01:00 GMT, police said. Any witnesses to the shooting should call the Metropolitan Poli...

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Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates, David Cameron announced today.A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become 'a complete stain on our world'.He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.Under the...

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Drug That Killed Michael Jackson "Was Self-Injected"

 The jury hear evidence that MJ had also taken a large number of sleeping pills… 08:42, Sunday, 30 October 2011 The last defence witness in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician, has told the courtroom that he believed the star was responsible for his own death.   Dr Paul White told jurors that the most likely cause of death was self-injection of a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol, after Murray had already administered a small amount. "With the administration of the additional 25 milligrams that we're speculating was self-injected by Mr Jackson, the level increases rapidly and at the time of death would be almost identical to the level found in the urine at autopsy," Dr White said. He revealed that the superstar also appeared to have taken...

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The Italian ship Montecristo, which was hijacked by Somali pirates before being stormed by British commandos

 Photo: REUTERS9:45AM GMT 30 Oct 2011A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become "a complete stain on our world".He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed...

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The Occupy London Stock Exchange protest encampment outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty ImagesChristian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, should an attempt be made to forcibly remove them.As the storm of controversy over the handling of the Occupy LondonStock Exchange demonstration deepened on Saturday, Christian activists said it was their duty to stand up for peaceful protest in the absence of support from St Paul's. One Christian protester, Tanya Paton, said: "We represent peace, unity and love. A ring of prayer is a wonderful symbol."With senior officials at St Paul's apparently intent...

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Two British tour operators who come to Spain go bust

 Two British tour operators who bring tourists to Spain have gone bust. Romano Travel ceased operations on October 26, a day after Airborn Limited. Romano Travel specialized in package holidays to Spain and Turkey and had been operating for 30 years. There were no more than half of dozen or so pending bookings from the Buckinghamshire firm which was fully protected with an ATOL licence and was a member of ABTA. Airborn Limited operated as Airborn Direct and Holiday Hero, and was based in Romford, Essex. It sold packages to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey, and sold its products to other operators. The CAA says there are many clients who have purchased flights with the firm using a credit card, and these flights should be operating normally. If in doubt passengers can confirm with the airli...

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Spain no longer the main destination for Brit's second homes

 A new survey carried out by the HomeAway holiday rentals company and real estate group Savills International has concluded that Spain is no longer the first choice among the Brits for their second residence. 1,700 British property buyers were questioned. More Britons now prefer France because of its better economic stability and the moderation in its house prices. 40% of Brits who buy in Spain later rent out the property, sometimes obtaining an income of as much as 34,500 € a year, but 24% still say that Spain is the place they have chosen for retirement. Despite the change away from purchasing a second home, Spain continues to be the most popular holiday destination for the Brits. In France, Italy and Switzerland the British purchasers usually opt for restored old properties, while...

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Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, in the Southern Spanish region of Andalucia, was the city you avoided

The city of Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, in the Southern Spanish region of Andalucia, was the city you avoided. An industrial port encircled by a tired ring of Franco-era low-rise apartment buildings, it was always the city tourists dashed by on their way to Torremolinos or Marbella further down the Costa Del Sol.Being out of favor from the 1970s onwards – when torrid overbuilding ruined the Spanish coast – has served Malaga well, and the tired city around the old port has gone through a revival in recent years: The pedestrian-only squares and streets are washed clean, filled with a mix of fashionable shops selling Ermenegildo Zegna suits...

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