Bronx Gang Claim Gay Recruit Torture Was Forced by Leader - ABC News

Members of a Bronx gang who allegedly beat and tortured a new recruit they thought was gay along with two other men in separate attacks early this week are claiming that the gang's leader threatened them into participating in the assaults.

Police told the New York Daily News that several members of the gang, known as the Latin King Goonies, claimed that the gang's leader, Ildefonso (Cheto) Mendez, orchestrated the assault and told them that they would be slashed and beaten as well if they did not participate.

Eight members of the gang are being held on charges of burglary, robbery, assault, menacing, unlawful imprisonment and criminal sex acts, which are being added as a hate crime, police said. One suspect, Rudy Vargas-Perez, 22, is also being sought in the incident.

The alleged attacks came amid heightened attention nationwide to anti-gay bullying after a string of suicides last month were attributed to harassment they had suffered.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the first of the alleged assaults occurred at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.

In the first incident, gang members allegedly forced a 17-year-old potential recruit for the street gang to an empty apartment in the Bronx that they used for parties and sex, Kelly said.

"He was thrown into a wall, made to strip naked, hit in the head with a beer can, cut with a box cutter and sodomized with the wooden handle of a plunger," the commissioner said.

The alleged attackers, apparently angry he was gay, yelled anti-gay insults and questioned him about his contact with a 30-year-old man, according to police.

The teen was eventually released by the attackers and instructed not to tell anyone, police said. He then walked to a hospital where he was treated, but he reported that his injuries were from a robbery, according to police.

The gang members then attacked another 17-year-old also thought to have had a relationship with the 30-year-old and then the older man as well, police said. They allegedly lured both to the same apartment with a story that there was a party there.

The second teen was allegedly assaulted at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to police.

When the 30-year-old arrived about an hour later, the nine gang members allegedly stripped him to his underwear and tied him to a chair opposite the other teen, who they forced to burn the man with cigarettes, police said.

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The Most Disruptive iPhone Yet - msnbc.com

Remember when I said Verizonisn't ready for the iPhone? Forget it.

Citing an anonymous source in direct contact with Apple, The New York Times on Friday confirmed that the two companies plan to introduce an iPhone 4 for Verizon's network "early next year."

Crow, meet mouth. Mouth, crow. (Nom nom nom.)

So far, we don't have any of the details of the arrangements between Apple and Verizon. What we do know is that Verizon plans to roll out an initial version of its 4G network, built on a technology known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), in 38 cities before the end of the year. Denver, where I live and work, is one of those cities.

We also know that AT&T, demonstrating its affection for open relationships, plans to carry Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7. The former Ms. Bell has been carrying handsets based on Google's Android OS for months.

Timing is where this deal gets really interesting. The new iPhone should be out weeks after Verizon officially lights up its LTE network. Apple, in a coup, could have the first smartphone built for that network.

To be fair, it wouldn't be the first 4G smartphone. Samsung and HTC already have smartphones designed for Sprint's 4G WiMAX network, built in concert with Clearwire. But neither Samsung nor HTC has the brand allure of Apple, and neither of its smartphones is built for an LTE network.

We also know from surveys that iPhone users and wannabe buyers crave the opportunity to choose a carrier other than AT&T -- one that lacks a history of dropped calls. Unfair? No doubt. AT&T has made huge improvements, but as often happens in business, perception has become reality. For Apple and Verizon, that's a huge opportunity they'll soon be able to take advantage of.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Would you pay a premium for an LTE iPhone? Please vote in the poll below, and then leave a comment to explain your thinking.

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Kim Jong-un attends North Korean military parade - The Guardian

Kim Jong-un and his father, Kim Jong-il, watch the military parade in Pyongyang. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Kim Jong-il's heir apparent joined his father at a massive military parade in Pyongyang today, his most public appearance since being named as North Korea's next leader.

Dressed in a dark blue civilian suit, Kim Jong-un sat next to his father on an observation platform at Kim Il-sung Plaza as tanks carrying rocket-propelled grenades and long-range missiles rolled by as part of celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' party.

The event was broadcast live on state TV, giving North Koreans their first good look at the future leader. Days earlier, the world got a first glimpse of the son from photos published in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

There were cheers and some tears from North Koreans attending the parade. "Kim Jong-il! Protect him to the death!" "Kim Jong-il, let's unite to support him!" they chanted as the 68-year-old leader walked the length of the platform, appearing to limp slightly.

Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

The parade was said to be the nation's largest ever, an impressive display of unity and military might for a country known for its elaborately staged performances.

Thousands of troops from every branch of North Korea's 1.2 million-strong military, as well as from naval officers' academies and military nursing schools, goose-stepped around the plaza to the accompaniment of a brass band.

Tanks and trucks loaded with Katyusha rocket launchers and grenades rolled past. They were dwarfed by the series of missiles that paraded by, each larger than the last and emblazoned with: "Defeat the US military. US soldiers are the Korean People's army's enemy."

Ri Yong Ho, chief of the general staff of the North Korean army, said at the event: "If the US imperialists and their followers infringe on our sovereignty and dignity even slightly, we will blow up the stronghold of their aggression with a merciless and righteous retaliatory strike by mobilising all physical means, including self-defensive nuclear deterrent force, and achieve the historic task of unification."

The parade was probably less about showing off its military might than about introducing the heir to the North Korean people and building up his image as the next leader, according to Baek Seung-joo, a North Korea analyst at South Korea's Korea Institute for Defence Analyses.

Kim Yong-hyun, an expert on North Korea at Seoul's Dongguk University, said: "The parade served as a sign that the military has loyalty to the successor."

A select group of media outlets was allowed into the country to cover the festivities, and were given front-row seats at the two events where the Kims appeared: a performance of the Arirang mass games spectacle yesterday, and today's military parade.

The question of who will take over leadership of the nuclear-armed nation has been a pressing one since Kim Jong-il reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008. . Kim Jong-un won his first military post with a promotion to general late last month, and was appointed to the Workers' party's central military commission and the central committee, strong signs he was being groomed to eventually succeed his father.

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