He is being hailed on the Internet as the nonchalant vigilante with nerves of steel.
A cyclist was caught by security cameras handing out some rough street justice when he saw two bag-snatchers making a quick getaway.
The riders apparently snatched a purse from a woman in the streets of Wenzhou, China, who ran after them shouting the Chinese equivalent of 'Stop thief!'.
Rather than turn around and give chase, the cyclist calmly stepped off his bike, and stood by it, waiting patiently.
When the robbers - fleeing the scene on a moped - reached him, he nonchalantly picked his bike up, and threw it at them - bringing them down to earth in a shower of sparks. Perhaps feeling a little like Clint Eastwood after his heroics, the cyclist then took a slow, menacing walk up to the bag-snatchers.
But when they scrambled to their feet and lunged at him, he quickly changed his mind, and promptly ran off - without his bike.
The CCTV footage, taken on December 20, shows the cyclist passing by the front of a hotel. According to website nowpublic.com, the thieves tried to chase down the biker but gave up and started running the other way.
But his bike-throwing tactic bought security guards enough time to arrive and capture the thieves - and one can be seen rugby-tackling one of the men at the end of the tape.
Although not captured on tape, the stolen red bag was returned to its owner - and the bike thrower left the scene quietly with his distorted bicycle.
2) With a move that would do Superman proud, he launches the bike
3) The thieves are brought to the ground, and are arrested seconds later
1) The cyclist sees the scooter coming towards him, and gets off his bike
Thai police officers and soldiers surround a suspect foreign-registered cargo plane to make a search at Don Muang airport Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. Five foreigners were detained and their foreign-registered aircraft impounded after it landed in the Thai capital Saturday with tons of war weaponry on board that originated in North Korea, Thai media quoted officials as saying
Detained foreigners who declined to give names are led by a Thai police officer, left, to the interrogation room at the crime suppression division office Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. Five foreigners, four Kazachstan citizens and a man from Belarus, were detained and their foreign-registered aircraft impounded after it landed in the Thai capital Saturday with tons of war weaponry on board that originated in North Korea, Thai officials said
Five foreigners who crewed an aircraft carrying about 35 tons of weapons originating in North Korea have been charged with illegal possession of arms in Thailand, police said Sunday.
The men — four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus — were detained when an Ilyushin 76 transport plane, carrying explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles, was impounded Saturday during a refueling stop at Bangkok's Don Muang airport, Thai officials said.
Thai authorities took the action because of a United Nations resolution banning the transport of certain weapons from or to North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said.
Police Col. Supisarn Pakdinarunart said the men denied the arms possession charges and were refused bail. They will appear in court Monday.
Air Force spokesman Capt. Montol Suchookorn said the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea's capital Pyongyang and requested to land at Don Muang airport to refuel.
There were differing local media reports about the plane's destination with some saying it was headed to Sri Lanka and others saying Pakistan.
"I cannot disclose the destination of their plane because this involves national security. The government will provide more details on this," Supisarn said.
North Korea has been widely accused of violating United Nations sanctions by selling weapons to nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The latest U.N. sanctions were imposed in June after the reclusive communist regime conducted a nuclear test in May and also test-fired ballistic and other missiles. The sanctions were aimed at derailing North Korea's nuclear weapons program, but also banned the North's sale of any conventional arms.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said Thailand made the seizure because of the U.N. resolution.
"Once further details have been finalized, and all the proper checks have been made we will report all details to the United Nations sanctions committee," he said.
Local press reports said Thai authorities were tipped off by their American counterparts about the cargo aboard the aircraft. U.S. Embassy spokesman Michael Turner said the embassy would not comment on the incident.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said it would take several days to obtain details on the incident, which would be reported to the United Nations, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
"People should not be alarmed because the government will ensure that the investigation will be carried out transparently. The government will be able to explain the situation to foreign countries," Suthep said.
Thai authorities said the weapons were moved by trucks amid high security Saturday night from the airport to a military base in the nearby province of Nakhon Sawan.
Experts in Seoul, South Korea, noted that the seizure came days after President Barack Obama's special envoy made a rare three-day trip to North Korea on a mission to persuade Pyongyang to rejoin six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
Envoy Stephen Bosworth said the two sides had reached common understandings on the need to restart the talks.
"There is a possibility that the incident could have a negative effect on moves to get the North to rejoin the six-party talks and a U.S.-North Korea dialogue mood," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.
Baek Seung-joo of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said the seizure demonstrated a U.S. intention to continue to enforce sanctions on the North while also engaging in dialogue.
Arms sales are a key source of hard currency for the impoverished North. Baek said the North is believed to have earned hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries like Iran, Syria and Myanmar.
In August, the United Arab Emirates seized a Bahamas-flagged cargo ship bound for Iran with a cache of banned rocket-propelled grenades and other arms from North Korea, the first seizure since sanctions against North Korea were ramped up.
- Flashback: HMS Cornwall crew members, including Faye Turney, centre, were paraded on Iranian TV during their 2007 hostage ordeal. Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said the two incidents are not linked
Hostages: Oliver Young (right) and Luke Porter pictured together earlier this year
Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver Young - four of the Britons seized as they sailed in the Gulf
Held: Dave Bloomer, a DJ for Radio Bahrain, has been named as a captive
September 2008 photo released by Team Pindar of the race yacht Kingdom of Bahrain sailing at an unknown location. Britain's Foreign Office says that the yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain and carrying five U.K. nationals has been stopped by Iranian naval vessels, and they are now in Iran. Government officials said Monday November 30 2009 that the yacht may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters when it was stopped last Wednesday en route from Bahrain to Dubai to take part in a race.Racing yacht: The Kingdom Of Bahrain (pictured) may have 'inadvertently strayed' into Iranian territorial waters
November 2008 photo released by Team Pindar of the race yacht Kingdom of Bahrain off the coast of France. Britain's Foreign Office says that the yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain and carrying five U.K. nationals has been stopped by Iranian naval vessels, and they are now in Iran. Government officials said Monday that the yacht may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters when it was stopped last Wednesday en route from Bahrain to Dubai to take part in a race.
In this undated photo released by the Friendshiparabia.com website via APTN, "Kingdom of Bahrain" crew member David Bloomer is seen at an unknown location in Jordan. Iran is holding five British sailors, including David Bloomer, after stopping their racing yacht in the Persian Gulf, the British government said Monday,
Iran warned on Tuesday that it will take strong action against five British sailors detained by the Iranian navy after their racing yacht was stopped last week in the Persian Gulf if it is proven they had "bad intentions."
The detention could heighten tensions between Iran and major world powers, including Britain, that are demanding a halt to Tehran's controversial nuclear program. It could also flare up the longtime rivalry between Iran and Bahrain, since the yacht was the pride of a high-profile racing program sponsored by the Arab Gulf nation's king.
The British government said Monday that Iran is holding the five British crewmembers after their yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, was stopped last Wednesday after straying inadvertently into Iranian waters while en route to Dubai to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Britain has been in touch about the case with Iranian counterparts and hoped the matter would be resolved soon. Speaking Tuesday to BBC, Miliband described the issue as a "purely consular matter."
"There's certainly no confrontation or argument," Miliband said. "As far as we are aware, these people are being well treated, which is right and what we would expect from a country like Iran."
But the head of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's said Iran will prosecute the Britons if they intended to "violate the national security" of Iran.
"Naturally if bad intentions on the part of these individuals are proven, there will be a serious and strong attitude toward them," Esfandiar Rahim Mashai said, according to the Fars news agency. "The decision will be up to the judiciary, which is independent from the administration."
The five were detained by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, Fars reported. The Guard, which runs its own naval forces, has the responsibility of protecting Iran's Persian Gulf waters. The Guard's navy chief, Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, said that if the five were stopped in the Gulf it would be by the Guard — though he did not confirm the detention.
Iran has taken a tough line with previous cases of Westerners entering its borders. It detained three young Americans who strayed across the border from northern Iraq in July. Despite U.S. insistence that they were innocent hikers who accidentally entered Iran, Tehran has accused them of espionage — a sign that they could be put on trial.
Miliband insisted that the five Britons were civilians who "were going about their sport."
"It seems they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. We look forward to the Iranian government dealing with this promptly," he said.
Sail Bahrain's Web site identified the yacht as the "Kingdom of Bahrain" and said it had been due to join the 360-mile (580-kilometer) Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which was to begin Nov. 26. The event was to be the boat's first offshore race, the Web site said, adding that the vessel had been fitted with a satellite tracker.
British media identified the five as Oliver Smith, Sam Usher, Luke Porter, Oliver Young, and David Bloomer.
The detention of the British would not be the first of foreign nationals by Tehran.
Fifteen British military personnel were detained in the Gulf by Iran under disputed circumstances in March 2007. Iran charged them with trespassing in its waters, and the Iranian government televised apologies by some of the captured crew.
All were eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters, where they were authorized to be.
The crew were named as Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver Young - and David Bloomer, who works as a radio presenter in Bahrain.
The Government has known about the incident, which was made public yesterday, since last Wednesday – but details were kept private so that negotiations could take place.
It appears that the high-tech yacht was swept towards Iran by strong winds after its propeller was damaged.
Last night 21-year-old Mr Porter's mother Beverley said her husband Charles had spoken to their son on his mobile phone.
She said the sailors had strayed into Iranian waters by only 500 yards, but were now being held somewhere off Iran. Mrs Porter, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, said: 'They didn't know that they had strayed over this imaginary line.
'Apparently they are fine and being well-looked after but are most of all frustrated. They have been allowed from time to time to use their mobile phones.
'They don't know when they're going to be released because of the religious festival that is going on over there.'
Her 48-year-old husband added: 'From what we understand, there was an oil field on their charts - which is a restricted area - so they chose to go one side of it.
'In doing so they strayed too close to a small island called Sirri. I assume that is when they were picked up. They're miffed that they are being cooped up and a race was going on.'
Mr Porter added: 'Luke is a very resilient chap. I'm sure he'll deal with things very well but obviously we are very worried about him.'
He said the four sailors had done thousands of miles together over the last three years.
Mr Bloomer had been due to report on the sailors' progress in the 360-mile Dubai-Muscat race.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a Volvo 60 - the Formula One car of racing yachts.
It is operated by Team Pindar, an international racing team owned by British multi-millionaire Andrew Pindar, who received an OBE from Prince Charles in June for his services to business. It is one of only 19 such yachts in the world.
Diplomats say they have been in 'indirect contact' with the hostages and that they are confident they are being well treated.
Privately the officials are furious that the news broke. They had hoped to keep the incident secret in order to avoid a new diplomatic incident with Iran.
The worst case scenario would see the sailors charged with espionage, handing the regime in Tehran another international propaganda coup. Iran's foreign ministry is expected to make a statement on the sailors today.
'The Iranians know that they are not British naval personnel,' said one diplomat. 'We've explained that to them very clearly. Whether they chose to hear is another matter.' The fear is that the hostages have been taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard - the powerful hardline group behind Iran's nuclear weapons programme - which held the Navy personnel two years ago.
Senior government officials admitted negotiations with the Iranians were proving difficult since the country has been celebrating the annual Muslim festival of Eid.
Ultimately their fate of the hostages is in the hands of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: 'I hope this issue will soon be resolved. We will remain in close touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families.'
The kidnap comes at a time of growing tensions with Iran over its nuclear weapons programme.
Earlier this year President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed that Britain was a worse enemy of Iran than the United States.
This image provided by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office shows 47-year-old Phillip Arnold Paul. Phillip Arnold Paul, a killer committed to a mental institution has escaped during a field trip to the Spokane County Interstate Fair, in Spokane, Wash
An insane killer who slipped away from the staff of a mental institution at the Spokane County International Fair has been recaptured without injury in the in Goldendale in south-central Washington.
Spokane County sheriff's Capt. Dave Reagan says 47-year-old Phillip Arnold Paul was nabbed by Deputy Roger Knight — the same deputy who arrested Paul and was injured by him after an escape in 1991.
Reagan says Paul was trying to elude a search helicopter and walked to a road to try to hitch a ride just as Knight arrived at the scene.
An insane killer who slipped away from the staff of a mental institution on a field trip Thursday to the Spokane County Interstate Fair was recaptured Sunday without injury more than 180 miles away in south central Washington state. "He came out of the brush, onto the roadway, as law enforcement officers were going by," said Klickitat County Sheriff Rick McComas. Phillip Arnold Paul, 47, was committed to Eastern State Hospital after he was diagnosed as schizophrenic and acquitted by reason of insanity in the slaying of an elderly woman in Sunnyside in 1987. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said one of the officers involved in Sunday’s arrest also nabbed Paul after he gave personnel the slip during a 1991 field trip.
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Philip Arnold Paul a criminally insane convict was taken to the Spokane county fair, where he escaped. --------------
Two U.S. journalists pardoned and freed by North Korea did cross illegally into that country, the sister of one of the women said.
"She did say that they touched North Korean territory very, very briefly," Lisa Ling, sister of Laura Ling, told CNN on Thursday.
"It was something that they were never planning to do originally," Lisa Ling said. "I mean, I said this before, when they left U.S. soil, they never intended to cross into North Korea. She said it was maybe 30 seconds. And then, you know, everything just sort of got chaotic."
Ling said her sister intends soon to fully tell her tale.
"Again, it's a very powerful story," Lisa Ling said. "And she does want to share it. But I just really want to let her do that."
Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee, both working for California-based Current TV, were arrested in March while reporting from the border between North Korea and China. They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.
"We've talked very briefly about it, and she definitely wants to divulge exactly what happened, and I think she's going to write an editorial very, very soon addressing it," Lisa Ling said.
The two journalists arrived home Wednesday after former President Bill Clinton journeyed to North Korea at the behest of the women's families and former Vice President Al Gore, who co-founded Current TV. The reclusive communist nation pardoned the two women and released them to Clinton.
Lisa Ling said her sister, exhausted from her ordeal, has been "incredibly emotional."
"She's been in relative isolation for months and months and, you know, she doesn't even like to be alone," Lisa Ling said. "Yesterday she was so exhausted and she wanted to take a quick nap. She kept asking me: 'Are you going to be here when I come back?"
Lisa Ling said emotions have run high, too, in Lee's home.
"I hear from Euna's husband, Michael, that Hana, their 4-year-old daughter, has not wanted her mother to leave her sight," Lisa Ling said. "She just keeps following her around from room to room because she doesn't want her mom to leave."
The women’s return to the United States on Wednesday was set in motion by former president Bill Clinton, who traveled to the reclusive country earlier this week to negotiate their release with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. During his meeting with Mr. Kim, Mr. Clinton apologized for Ms. Ling’s and Ms. Lee’s actions, prompting Mr. Kim to grant them a pardon. But until Thursday, it was unclear whether the women had actually crossed the border into North Korea or had simply been captured on the Chinese side.
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Former President Bill Clinton describes his role in bringing the freedom of two U.S. journalists held captive in North Korea. ---------------
This video frame grab taken from a Taliban propaganda video released Saturday, July 18, 2009 shows an American soldier who went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan June 30 and was later confirmed captured. The soldier, whose identity has not yet been confirmed by the Pentagon pending notification of members of Congress and the soldier's family, says his name, age and hometown on the video, which was released Saturday on a Web site pointed out by the Taliban. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the video is the captured soldier.
The American soldier who went missing June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed to have been captured, said in a video posted by the Taliban that he's "scared I won't be able to go home.
Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the video posted Saturday on the Internet is the captured soldier, but the Defense Department has not released his name. The video provided the first glimpse the public has had of the missing soldier.
The soldier is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Early in the video one of his captors holds the soldier's dog tag up to the camera. His name and ID number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting cross-legged.
Asked how he was doing, the soldier said on the video:
"Well I'm scared, scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner."
He later chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.
"I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America. And I miss them every day when I'm gone," he said.
He is also prompted by his interrogators to give a message to the American people.
"To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it's like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home," he said. "Please, please bring us home so that we can be back where we belong and not over here, wasting our time and our lives and our precious life that we could be using back in our own country. Please bring us home. It is America and American people who have that power."
"I'm glad to see he appears unharmed, but again, this is a Taliban propaganda video," she said. "They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law."
Afghan Police Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said the soldier went missing in eastern Paktika province near the border with Pakistan from an American base. The region is known to be Taliban-infested.
Afghans in contact with the Taliban told The Associated Press that the soldier was held by a Taliban group led by a commander called Maulvi Sangin, who operates in the area where the American went missing. They said the fighters initially planned to smuggle the soldier across the border into Pakistan but ruled that out because of U.S. missile strikes and Pakistani bombing attacks against militant targets in the area. Instead, they decided to move him north into Taliban-controlled areas of Ghazni province.
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