[An Nahar] Polish doctors say a 25-year-old man has undergone a three-hour operation to remove a screwdriver lodged about five centimeters (two inches) into his head.
Dr. Jan Kochanowicz, one of the doctors who treated the man in the Polish city of Bialystok, said the man apparently fell and lost consciousness, but does not remember that.
When he regained consciousness he was at first aware only of pain in a hand before realizing something else was wrong. He walked to his car, looked in a mirror and noticed the screwdriver, penetrating his forehead just above his right eye.
Kochanowicz told the station TVN24 the man smoked a cigarette before calling a neighbor who got him to the hospital.
The screwdriver did not damage the man's eyes or brain.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The screwdriver did not damage the man's eyes or brain.
No mention of the potential damage inflicted by the preoperative Lucky Strike. :-(
[Al Ahram] The Cairo headquarters of the privately owned Al-Watan newspaper were torched by unknown assailants early Saturday.
The newspaper's website said that at around 3am, about 40 people gathered in front of the newspaper's office in downtown Cairo, setting fire to the building's entrance and then storming and vandalising the paper's offices, causing "severe" property damage.
The website confirmed that there were no casualties in the attack and that the fire was quickly controlled by firefighters.
After the storming of the newspaper's offices, rumours circulated that the perpetrators belonged to the Ultras Ahlawy football fan group -- that they attacked the newspaper for publishing a news story about the hardcore supporters meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood's second-in-command, Khairat El-Shater, ahead of a contentious verdict in the Port Said football disaster trial.
At least 74 Ultras members were killed 1 February 2012 in after-match violence in Port Said following a football game between Cairo's Al-Ahly club and local Al-Masry club.
Members of the Ultras, hundreds of which gathered in front of Al-Ahly club Saturday morning ahead of the verdict, denied to Ahram Online any relation to the storming of Al-Watan's offices.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Tunisia's National Constituent Assembly (ANC) will vote on Tuesday on whether to approve the new government line-up unveiled by Islamist premier-designate Ali Larayedh, parliamentary spokeswoman Karima Souid said on Saturday.
"On Tuesday, vote of confidence in the ANC on the new government," Souid said on her Facebook page.
On Monday, the assembly's agenda must also be approved, she added, with dates then to be set for a vote on the new constitution, whose drafting has been deadlocked for months, and for parliamentary and presidential elections.
Several political timetables drawn up since Islamist party Ennahda's sweeping election victory in 2011, after the revolution that toppled ex-dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, have not been respected.
Larayedh, the outgoing interior minister who was tapped to form a new government last month, amid a political crisis triggered by the February 6 assassination of leftist leader Chokri Belaid, announced his line-up on Friday.
He said the new cabinet, in which key portfolios were entrusted to little known independent candidates, in a clear concession by the Islamists, would step down at the end of the year after elections are held.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Democratic Republic of Congo's defense minister on Saturday vowed to investigate allegations that soldiers committed rape during recent fighting in the east of the country and vowed there would be no impunity.
Alexandre Luba Ntambo said military inquiries were carried out in December and February following clashes pitting the army against the M23 rebel group that briefly seized the main eastern hub of Goma.
"Two hundred and two suspected rape victims have been heard, as well as 346 presumed looting victims. Given the high number of victims... further inquiries are needed," he told reporters in Kinshasa.
"When the investigation is completed, the responsibility of the suspected perpetrators will be established and I can assure you they will be severely punished," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Rival factions of Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... 's M23 rebel movement on Saturday clashed again in the country's volatile east after a week of calm, one of the sides said.
Fighting within M23 ranks first broke out in late February, after the dismissal of its political leader, Jean-Marie Runiga, when his supporters clashed with those of the movement's military chief, Sultani Makenga.
On Saturday, a front man for the Makenga faction told Agence La Belle France Presse that their rivals attacked their base in Rumangabo some 50 kilometers north of the regional capital Goma.
"We pushed back the enemy and are continuing to pursue them" toward their stronghold, the town of Kibumba near the border with Rwanda, said Vianney Kazarama.
Old rivalries between Makenga and Runiga have deepened since 11 countries on February 24 signed a UN-brokered framework accord for peace in the mineral-rich, strife-torn east of DR Congo.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The executions of seven Saudis sentenced to death by crucifixion and firing squad have been postponed
A Saudi security official says executions of seven Saudis sentenced to death by crucifixion and firing squad have been postponed for a week.
He said King Abdullah would review the sentences. He met families of the seven on Sunday.
The official said on Tuesday that the ruler of the southwestern province of Asir, Prince Faisal bin Abdel Aziz, ordered the postponement. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The seven were juveniles at the time they were tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... for armed robbery, a capital offense in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... . One told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone from prison that they were tortured to force confessions and barred access to lawyers.
Human rights groups called on the Saudi government to cancel the executions.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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The executions of seven Saudis sentenced to death by crucifixion and firing squad have been postponed
Gee, wonder why.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2013 12:26 Comments ||
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[FRANCE24] Residents of the Falkland Islands are set to hold a referendum on Sunday and Monday to demonstrate how and by whom they want to be governed. Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the islands, has declared the vote "illegal".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Voting for the Crown I'd wager, as long they don't have to return and live there.
Reasonably balanced piece from the Independent (I know, I know) about the economic prospects of much of Latin America. It even notices that Argentina continues to be boned because of Peronism and corruption, and that Chile, while conservative (gasp!) is thriving. Worth the read so as to note the trend in that continent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2013 10:42 ||
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#1
On balance I think a vibrant, prosperous Mexico would be a welcome change.
#3
It's almost entirely due to the rise in commodity prices. The moment prices stabilize, these countries will have problems servicing their debt. And when commodity prices fall, they will renege on their debt.
#4
..and then the banks and investment houses holding the debt will ask the government to bail them out again. Keeping those donations funneling into their Congresscritter reelection funds is real good insurance.
#5
..and then the banks and investment houses holding the debt will ask the government to bail them out again.
These days, it's mutual and pension funds doing the lending. The asset pools involved are so large and diversified that Latin America is just a pinprick. Ultimately, anyone who buys the BRIC myth deserves what he gets. The only letter in the mix that is somewhat self-sustainable is C. Of the rest of these countries, India makes Latin America look good, and Russia is Latin America with icy wastelands.
[FRANCE24] "The world needs more dictators like Hugo Chavez," Minister of Overseas France Victorin Lurel said on Saturday after attending the late Venezuelan leader's funeral.
Lurel described Chavez as a cross between Charles de Gaulle and reforming left-winger Léon Blum, who served three times as French prime minister.
"De Gaulle because he profoundly changed his country's institutions, and Blum because he fought relentlessly against injustice," he told RTL radio.
"I'll be criticised for saying this, but the world needs more dictators like Hugo Chavez, if it's a dictator that he actually was. He showed a strong respect for human rights."
Lurel described Chavez's funeral service as "moving", adding that "while not everyone can agree with all his policies and actions, the people here are very proud of what he accomplished in 14 years."
Some 32 foreign leaders attended the funeral in Cararacas on Friday at the city's military academy.
Embalmed and on display "like Lenin", Chavez's body will remain on public display for a week. Officials said his body would then be placed in a glass casket and housed at the military barracks where he plotted a failed coup in 1992.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Bravo Monsieur Lurel. Spoken like a true socialist. Too bad a high ranking appointee like yourself must get stuck with the funeral assignments. Perhaps your comments will give Hollande pause before sending you on another.
#3
Before you get all relieved about the post keep in mind -
The military is being downsized again, probably below the 9/11 numbers. That'll be several brigades worth of troops and equipment.
The persistence of the 'ancient regime' that constitutes the Army's senior echelon of policy makers and wanks still loves big armor and has wet dreams over WWII and Gulf War I. They will be dumping the MRAPs as quickly as they can get away with it. [Think of it like the love the Air Force fighter mafia has for the A-10]. Maintenance costs will figure big enough in the budgetary calcs that someone will figure its better to get rid of them.
That means those vehicles have to go somewhere. The Afghans can't maintain them, thus their love of the Toyota el al small trucks.
#6
$ It is expensive to wash and sanitize sufficiently to bring back without also bringing flora and fauna we don't want here.
For an administration set on granting a lot of fauna amnesty, I'm sure some waivers will be found somewhere. BTW, we repatriated a lot of equipment from Gulf War I exposed to icky environments [not to mention unknown substances when Iraqi munition dumps were exploded]
#3
Mark Kelly is a Navy pilot with 375 carrier landings, 39 combat missions during Desert Storm, a DFC, then a Space Shuttle pilot and commander. And then his wife got damn near got her brains blown out, in part because leftists destroyed the mental health system in the 1960s. He's obviously got some cognitive dissonance, for which I'd cut him a a lot of slack.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/10/2013 10:07 Comments ||
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#5
Congress should act to limit the sale of high capacity magazines, which are not needed for hunting or self-defense, but have proven very lethal. He said the purpose of an "assault weapon" is "to kill a lot of people very quickly and he lamented that such products were "too readily available."
First off Bub, its completely irrelevant what you, Senator Feingold, or anyone else thinks I need. Personally, I dont need a massive catapult. But if anyone wants one to chuck a pumpkin half a mile then god bless. What is relevant is there are currently millions of sporting rifles and tens of millions of 10+ magazines in circulation. And only a tiny minute fraction of those guns or magazines have ever been used in the commission of a crime much less a mass slaughter. This proves, beyond any doubt, there is a non-nefarious or common purpose for such items. Second, anyone with even the most casual of knowledge of firearms understands that so-called "assault weapons" are simply small-caliber semi-automatic rifles. Actually, these guns are less lethal than many of the big game hunting rifles you may find in grandpas cabinet. And with all due reverence, do you really think the horror (or body count) of the recent mass shootings wouldve been any less if the shooters used a pump action shotgun with a pocket full of buckshot? You know like the one VP Joe Biden likes to pine about. And finally, what pisses me off is I was shopping for those two exact weapons yesterday and the prices in last two years have fuckin sky rocketed! If only I was a former astronaut with a former congresswoman wife I could have afforded to leave with more than just a box of shells.
#6
Only takes 1 'close to home' incident to make a convert. In this case, very close. I expect he also has a new carry permit and will NOT be found unarmed in public.
#8
Senator John Kerry: 4 months in Vietnam, service in the Brown Water Navy.....Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts, plus a wounded VC kill with a Colt-1911.
Man men have letters after their names and fancy stuff in attic footlockers. Hardly passes the so what test of relevancy. Just my two farthings worth.
#11
I'll cut him some slack. If Kelly and wife stayed with friends and family in D.C. during their Hill anti-gun testimony, and pocketed the Per Diem, I have no problem with him spending it on guns and ammo. There, I said it!
#13
I'm with Darth. Backs down when he gets caught by the anti-self-defense whiny-assed media (who used his wounded wife to advance their non-Constitutional agenda, and slobbered all over the shooter, while not giving a rat's ass about her and the other victims).
Man up, Mr. Kelly. Tell them you bought the firearms, as is your RIGHT, and they can go f*ck themselves and MYODB.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/10/2013 12:17 Comments ||
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#16
Barb is quite cordial compared to what needs to be said.
I don't care if the whole can of alphabet soup follows this person's name. He is a liar who would have you DQ'd from your right to have firearms for being a liar. It is the immoral, small souls who create the problems and now he is armed, the very type of person he rails against. Wasn't going to keep them, what the hell, who was he going to give them to then?
And just as a point of order, if a person is going to qualify and emotive a tool by calling it an assault, one must concede that there is the opposite side of the, its shadow, a defense.
And if that isn't clear, when some peacocking gun grabber blabbers about making laws to disarm you while arming themselves, what other conclusion could a person come to; actually driven to that conclusion.
#17
Regarding cutting slack. A lot of folks have been cutting McCain slack because of his heroic record and instead of going away he's gotten worse. Perhaps cutting slack isn't always helpful and when someone acts like a duffus they need to be hammered down and mocked until they see the error of their ways. At that point they can have slack and forgiveness but not before.
#18
if he's buying it just to give it away to someone else, he's a classic "straw buyer" and should be prosecuted. Didn't think of that, Mark, you lying douchebag, didja?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2013 14:16 Comments ||
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#19
Cutting slack is for the guy venting at the bar, or who hasn't golfed in a while.
Conceding slack to somebody who would make critical decisions about you and your family is immoral. Bob Dole has a bum arm, I get that, but if the man himself knocked on my door and lectured me that he gave up his arm so I would not have to arm myself I'd throw the man himself, then throw him again.
#20
Those are some good points and righteous rants - I take it back. If Giffords had been hit by a drunk driver, he wouldn't be out there agitating to ban cars, or meekly surrendering his new car to the authorities after getting caught buying one. A discussion perhaps he and the missus should have had before using their visibility to promote an indefensible position.
#22
Oh, I don't know about that. He sort of seems like the type who likes the attention. He is a pilot and an astronaut after all.
He probably would try to ban cars, or drunks if his wife had been hit by a drunk driver, just for the spotlight.
And worse, he has never argued that He shouldn't have rights to carry a gun, only that you shouldn't. After all, he is a fighter pilot, and an astronaut, unlike you.
He gave you and I no quarter in his assault on our rights up until now, and he should expect none from us as we defend those rights. Therefore I say, "Thank you for your prior service Mr. Kelly. Thanks for letting your hubris beclown yourself. Please keep your big red clown nose in the spotlight as long as you like."
#23
Congress should act to limit the sale of high capacity magazines...
More people die on the highways. How about governors on cars that limit speeds below 80mph? Not that it would effect much of the DUI kills, but then again, neither will magazine capacity limits effect psych impaired individuals who steal their means of killing.
The high capacity is to keep the government in line, not hunting or everyday break-ins. That's what the founders fully intended in their writing of the Constitution, to which Mr.Kelly took an oath to uphold at one time.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[An Nahar] Polish doctors say a 25-year-old man has undergone a three-hour operation to remove a screwdriver lodged about five centimeters (two inches) into his head.
[Al Ahram] The Cairo headquarters of the privately owned Al-Watan newspaper were torched by unknown assailants early Saturday.
[Al Ahram] The executions of seven Saudis sentenced to death by crucifixion and firing squad have been postponed
[FRANCE24] Residents of the Falkland Islands are set to hold a referendum on Sunday and Monday to demonstrate how and by whom they want to be governed. Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the islands, has declared the vote "illegal".
[FRANCE24] "The world needs more dictators like Hugo Chavez," Minister of Overseas France Victorin Lurel said on Saturday after attending the late Venezuelan leader's funeral.
