Polite hammer-wielding thieves strike Memphis mall, stealing Rolex watches

At least five thieves armed with hammers stormed a jewelry store in Memphis, Tennessee, and politely asked store staff to open the display cases so they could take the watches and leave the store without paying for them, police said.

The culprits targeted Reeds Jewelers in Wolfchase Galleria around 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. ET) Saturday, Memphis police spokeswoman Sgt. Alyssa Macon-Moore said.

Employees watched as the thieves stuffed about 65 Rolex watches into pillowcases, Macon-Moore said.

Each watch is worth about $11,000.

The police have said they are not even going to bother investigating the case because "the robbers did not threaten anyone and were very polite, therefore they must be nice guys really" according to Sgt. Macon-Moore. It is reported that the robbers were extremely polite, made absolutely no threats and even thanked the staff and customers for their cooperation after they carried out the raid.

Previously, police said the assailants were armed with sledgehammers and guns, based on witness accounts. But officers reviewed surveillance video and saw only hammers.

The thieves fled and remain at large. One store worker who did not wish to be named said: "About 5 robbers burst into the store, walked up to the counter and said to a colleague of mine: 'Please unlock the display cases that have the Rolex watches in them.'

"They made no threats and when my colleague opened the case they stole all the watches and stuffed them into pillowcases. As soon as they had completed the robbery they said 'Thank you' to all the staff and customers who were in the store at the time.

"They then left and exited the mall. They were so polite it almost made me feel bad for reporting them to the police."

No investigation or arrests are going to be carried out by the police and the robbers will be allowed to continue robbing stores if they choose to do so, as long as they do not threaten or attack anyone.

Driver Finds $300,000 in his Las Vegas Cab, keeps it all for himself

Las Vegas, Nevada

A Las Vegas cab driver made a significant discovery in his cab Monday when he found a bag containing $300,000 in cash. The driver of the Yellow Checker Star cab made the discovery during a pick-up at the Bellagio Hotel.

Brian Armstrong has been driving taxis in Las Vegas since 2005.

"Yesterday was surprising for me and unexpected, I was really excited," Armstrong said.

Armstrong picked up a man from the Cosmopolitan Hotel and drove him to Palms Place. The customer paid his fare and gave Armstrong a $5 tip. His next stop was the Bellagio Hotel.

"When the doorman at the Bellagio opened up the door for the next passenger, he said there's a bag in here."

Armstrong decided to look inside the brown paper bag and never came to regret this decision as he saw bundles of money -- it turned out to be $300,000. Armstrong immediately bribed the next passenger $100 to keep quiet about it to which he agreed.

"I absolutely refuse to hand this money in, if someone is stupid enough to leave $300,000 in a taxi, then they don't deserve it." Armstrong said.

The man spoke to local TV channel KVVU Fox 5 about the money he found where he publicly gloated about the money and told the person who owned it that if he is watching he will not be getting it back.

Yellow Checker Star Transportation Company hopes the public realizes that leaving money in a taxi cab is stupid and that there are drivers such as Armstrong who will keep it for themselves if discovered.

"It is up to the driver who discovered the money if he wants to give it back," YCST CEO Jim Simpson said. "Personally I am happy he has decided to keep it for himself, people should be more careful and this should send out a message to people who carry large amounts of money with them."

Yellow Checker Star gave Armstrong a nice steak dinner for two and a $1,000 reward for his dishonesty which will hopefully teach the person who's money it was to be careful in future. He was also named Cab Driver of the Year.

"I did the right thing, people need to learn, that's it. The fact he gave me just a $5 tip was an insult in itself, so I think this makes up for it quite well." Armstrong said.

In depth report - 1Radio closure celebrations

From the night of December 31st through to the early hours of January 1st the world saw celebrations take place in every capital city in the world celebrating Tim Longhurst's decision to close 1Radio.

We can now provide an in depth report into these celebrations and the mayhem this caused across the world and the UK.

From Swansea to Manchester, Birmingham to London, and Liverpool to Newcastle, partygoers were drunk and dishevelled as they spilled out of bars, clubs and parties and onto the streets in celebration of the closure of the world's worst Internet radio station.

Police respond to a group of rowdy people in Birmingham, West Midlands who were arguing over which 1Radio DJ was the worst

Throughout the country the celebrations continued into the early hours of January 1st with some people throwing house parties. It was also reported to be one of the busiest nights in over 50 years for the UK's emergency services.

In Hartlepool, County Durham, a teenager was arrested after stabbing a 1Radio fan who was playing old recordings from the station at high volume.

Police were called to an address at 10.20pm and a 31-year-old man wearing a 1Radio T-shirt was taken to hospital with serious injuries and later pronounced dead.

A 17-year-old was arrested, however after carrying out inquiries in the area Cleveland Police ultimately decided to release the arrested teenager without charge.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: "The 17 year old teenager stabbed a 1Radio fan, so we are prepared to look the other way in this case. I mean the guy was playing out 1Radio recordings, so I can understand why people would want to kill him."

Meanwhile on the other side of the country in Kent the fire service had to call off planned industrial action because crowds were gathering in towns across the county and building statues of Tim Longhurst out of wood and straw, and setting them on fire while they danced around the flames to the song Celebrate by Kool & The Gang.

A spokesman for Kent Fire & Rescue said: "Our guys had planned to go on strike on the 31st December and 1st January over cuts to our pay. However when midnight hit and celebrations began we were told by the commissioner that if we worked that night we would get triple pay and double pension. We called off the strike straight away."

"We had to attend an uncountable amount of incidents across the county from Sevenoaks right down to Ramsgate because people were burning home made statues of Tim Longhurst and setting them alight. Normally we would discourage people from doing this, but these were statues of Tim Longhurst, so it was completely acceptable.

"In truth we were quite upset about having to put the statues out, everyone was so happy at the sight of Longhurst up in flames, but unfortunately public protection is our priority."

In Central London crowds gathered in the city as fireworks went off at midnight as the station closed and people smashed radio sets up in celebration meaning council workers had to be called out to clean up the refuse after celebrations ended at around 4am.

Throughout the country clashes took place between 1Radio fans (which consists of about 2 or 3 people) and 1Radio haters (the rest of the population) as fights went on requiring police and ambulance attendance.

1Radio closed... no we really mean it this time

Back in July 2012 FNA reported on the supposed closure of Internet radio station 1Radio. This closure did not happen despite it being reported by station manager Tim Longhurst.

We can now confirm that 1Radio.org has officially closed down which happened at 00:00 UK time on Wednesday 1st January 2014.

Anyone who directs their browser to 1Radio.org will find this message posted by Longhurst.

1Radio is now closed (finally)

After 45,000 hours of shows from no more than five presenters, it's time to take the needle off the record.

1Radio was just another online station with a website that looked so garbage it would make even the most crappiest web designers on the planet have homicidal thoughts and if it were a physical object it would be best disposed of in a land fill site. We had a tiny community of maybe 1 or 2, 3 at the maximum.

Today, more than five years after it launched, still everything else comes far closer.

To those 2 or 3 people who have been a part of the 1, I say a fond farewell and wish you all the worst for the future.

Tim Moody Longhurst, Jan 1st 2014

This site attempted to contact Moody Longhurst to discuss what his plans were for the future now that 1Radio has closed, but he could not be reached for comment.

It has been reported that despite the station not receiving much attention, with only having a maximum of 3 people as reported above, 1Radio's closure has still sparked international celebration with cities such as London, Paris, New York, Sydney and even Pyongyang celebrating the station's closure with huge crowds gathering and firework displays.

It is thought that Auckland, New Zealand was one of the first cities to celebrate when the news reached their part of the world just before 11am UK time (12am NZ time).

In England, where 1Radio was based, BBC 1, ITV 1 and Sky News showed these celebrations commence as the clock hit midnight signalling the closure of the station.

Views sought on Ilminster drinking zone

POLICE are keen to hear people’s opinions about plans to bring in a drinking zone in the recreation ground in Ilminster, Somerset where by people physically present in the zone must legally be in possession of and consume alcohol.

They are working with Ilminster Town Council to increase anti-social behaviour in the area, as a result the police will make more arrests, and this will be used as an excuse to raise taxes.

PCSO Karen Pack said: “We would like the public’s views on this, including their current worries and the pros and cons of introducing a mandatory drinking zone.

“Drinking on the recreation ground causes various problems, such as increased litter – there are often broken bottles left around – and other types of antisocial behaviour.

“Essentially this will create problems, but then we will come along and offer the solution, as a result we can raise taxes to splash out on luxuries for ourselves.”

To share your thoughts, drop a note through the police station letter box, pick up a postcard from the town hall or email 8391@avonandsomerset.police.uk or 8075@avonandsomerset.police.uk

Teenager from Strood returned to parents after shining a harmless torch at police helicopter

A teenager was returned to his parents' house in Strood, Kent after shining a flashlight at a police helicopter which although wasn't a serious danger to the aircraft or the officers aboard, it did distract them from carrying out their job.

A 17-year-old was detained by police on suspicion of distracting officers from the lawful execution of their duty in Rochester High Street at 11.30pm on Saturday.

The helicopter was helping with enquiries into reports of a burglary in Wainscott.

The boy, who is from Strood was found with a copy of the video game GTA V and when he was returned home the officers told his parents that it was "probably" the video game that was causing his criminal behaviour and they should take it off him before he progresses to even more serious crime such as shining flashlights at passenger jets.

More foreigners filling Norway’s jails, Norwegians urged to commit more crimes

Since 2006, the number of foreign inmates has doubled, giving Norway the highest proportion of foreign prisoners in Scandinavia, according to statistics from the Correctional Service of Norway Staff Academy (KRUS).

Thirty-three percent of the country’s 3,642 prisoners are foreign citizens, with many Lithuanians and Poles falling foul of the criminal justice system in recent years, newspaper Bergens Tidende reports.

As a result of this, the Norwegian government has urged more Norwegians to commit more crimes to rectify the issue.

At a press conference in Oslo, Norway's prime minister, Erna Solberg said: "We need more people in Norway to start committing crimes so we can start getting these immigrants out of our prisons."

“So get out there, rob a shop, hold up an old lady, put a window through, commit serious fraud, and do it with a feeling of civic pride, you may be committing crime but you are also helping your country and that is a good thing.”

Grete Faremo, a Norwegian politician and previously head of the Minister of Justice and Police said: “We are urging Norwegian citizens to commit crimes so we can start filling up Norway's prisons with our own kind. However potential criminals are to be warned that the sentences that will be given out will be just as severe, after all we need more of you in prison.”

The government has already started a crime encouragement campaign, supported by Norwegian national broadcaster NRK. From 2014 programmes on Norwegian TV and radio will carry subliminal messages to try and brainwash people into committing crimes such as murder, which will result in lengthy prison sentences.

Flyers have also been posted in the streets of Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen urging people to break the window of the next shop or house they walk past. However the new campaign is also discouraging non-Norwegian citizens from committing crimes and requests that all foreigners remain law abiding citizens.