FROM THE ROAD.
The ten biggest robberies in history
Trying to appropriate what does not belong to us has always been a characteristic of human beings. Moreover, ever since banks were invented, even violent robberies have been the order of the day.
Let's forget Clooney and Brad Pitt in Ocean's Eleven, some criminals have really tried, to rob millions of dollars from the world's safest banks, to some these have even succeeded, securing a huge fortune after taking great risks.
The magazine Focus has created a ranking of the ten biggest and most profitable robberies in history. Some of them have secured staggering sums of money for the robbers.
Central Bank of Iraq (March 18, 2003 - about $1 billion)
Baghdad (Iraq) - Before the U.S. invasion, former dictator Saddam Hussen had his son withdraw about a billion dollars from his (state-owned) bank to put them "in a safe place" away from the enemy. They ended up in the walls of one of his palaces.
Dar Es Salaam Bank (July 11, 2007 - about 282 million euros)
Baghdad (Iraq) - A group of guards inside the financial institution thought up this robbery. How the money was transported, to this day, remains unknown.
Knightsbridge Security Deposit (July 12, 1987 - approximately 220 million)
Knightsbridge (United Kingdom) - Author of the theft was the Italian Valerio Viccei. Pretending to be interested in purchasing a safe deposit box, he had himself escorted inside before leveling his weapons and having the vault opened.
Schiphol Airport (Feb. 25, 2005 - about $120 million)
Amsterdam (Netherlands) - This was a robbery in which two men disguised as vigilantes managed to intercept a truck carrying diamonds.
British Bank of the Middle East ( January 20, 1976 - about $120 million)
Beirut (Lebanon) - It was organized by a terrorist group linked to the OLP. This is a "Old School" robbery, where they forced their way in with weapons, explosives and locksmiths skilled in opening locks.
Harry Winston Diamond (Dec. 5, 2003 - approximately $110 million)
Paris (France) - Douadi Yahiaoui was the leader of a gang of four robbers who entered the jewelry store dressed as women. Personally threatening the sales clerks, whose names they knew, they took everything without using violence.
Antwerp Diamond Center (Feb. 16, 2003 - about 100 million euros)
Antwerp (Belgium) - This robbery was very skillful, led by the Italian Leonardo Notarbartolo. The gang managed very skillfully to evade cameras, heat sensors and other security systems, emptying the vault after guessing the combination.
Senado Federal - Wikipedia.org
Banco Central (Aug. 6-7, 2005 - about 71.5 million)
Fortaleza (Brazil) - This robbery sounds like a movie. A 25-member gang dug an 80-meter tunnel, posing as gardeners, all the way into the bank vault.
East House Archive - Wikipedia.org
Securitas Depot (Feb. 21-22, 2006 - about $65 million)
Tonbridge (United Kingdom) - This was a violent robbery. A gang of a few members took the family of the depot manager hostage, forcing him to open safes, and then escaping in a white van.
United California Bank (March 24, 1972 - 60 million)
Laguna Niguel (USA) - Amil Dinsio led a gang of robbers in looting this California warehouse. To this day, the exact dynamics remain unknown.
From the Road
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Prisons are one of the sad institutions on which, unfortunately, modern society is based. Removing individuals who are dangerous to the community, and enclosing them all together in one place for the purpose of surveillance and re-education, is one of the ways our ancestors found to ensure the safety of the population.
They remain places, albeit atrocious, that are nonetheless fascinating because of the peculiarity of their rules, the micro-world they inhabit, and also because of the many fictional works, films, books and many others, that have prisons as their main setting.
But which are the most famous prisons in the world? Among the largest, the most luxurious and the bloodiest, one can really find all possible and imaginable types.
Natural Events
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A meteorite crater (also called astroblem, impact crater or basin) is a circular-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite, asteroid, and in general a celestial body, on the surface of a planet.
Evidence of many of these craters, which have impacted our planet over geological eras, can be found on planet Earth. One of the most famous, for example, is the one believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs (called the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction).
Some of these craters can be found underground today, or at least the traces they left behind. Others have become beautiful lakes, others are still desolate and remote places today. But which are the largest in the world by diameter?
Home page
07/06/2024
We are all realising that our way of life, the one our parents, who were born and raised especially after the Second World War, taught us, is no longer sustainable. There are too many of us in this world now, and nature can no longer provide us with everything we need.
Capitalism, or consumerism for short, is forcing us to submit to environmentally worn-out logics that would not be sustainable even in the long run, but are even less so in the short time we have left before everything falls apart. Our way of life must change radically if we are to allow the survival of mankind. For example, the introduction of the law in Europe allowing the sale of insect meal aims at exactly that, at sustainability.
Therefore, it is necessary for all of us, while there is still time, to change certain behaviours to help the world. Here, then, are some tips for leading a greener and more sustainable life.
From the Road
06/06/2024
According to theMain Streets Across the World 2022report, which analyzes the main shopping areas of 92 cities around the world, New York Fifth Avenue is the most expensive route in the world followed by Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui. Post pandemic, the most expensive street in Hong Kong loses the top of the ranking and records the worst drop ever, -41%.
In detail, with an average annual fee of 14,547 euros per square meter, the Via Montenapoleone in Milan ranks ahead of New Bond Street in London and Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris, respectively in fourth and fifth place in the global ranking of the most expensive streets in the world.
Via Montenapoleone in Milan, has earned the title of the most expensive shopping street in Europe and the third overall worldwide, with a jump of two positions compared to the last research of 2019.