Tuesday, January 30, 2007

News of Note

Here we are, yet another day, this 30th day of January in the year 2007. Does the health of the world improve? Not that one might notice. There are times that when to turn the pages of the daily newspaper is guaranteed to induce one gigantic headache. There are too many such days. Simply recounting in brief or at length the improbable-but-likely manner in which people and countries go about their unsettling business to ensure grief and unhappiness be visited upon themselves and others with complete unconcern for the ultimate fall-out seems beyond belief, but is not. Try for some samplings?

Here they are, with a generous sprinkling of comic relief here and there. And we're the better for them.
  • Palestinian Militants Say Attack Meant to End Infighting - A Palestinian who yesterday carried out the first suicide bombing in Israel in 9 months had sneaked into the Jewish state from Egypt, Israeli intelligence sources said. The explosion, triggered by a bomber wearing a heavy belt of explosives, killed him and three Israelies in a small bakery in the first such attack ever in the southern resort town of Eilat.
  • African Union Snubs Sudan - Country denied chairmanship over Darfur bloodshed. The union, which includes all 53 countries on the continent, protested over the bloodshed in Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur by rejecting president Omar al-Bashir's bid to assume its rotating chairmanship.
  • Anti-Personnel Weapons Litter Lebanon - In a rare public split with Israel, the United States yesterday said that Israeli forces 'likely' violated arms agreements between the two countries when they dropped American-made cluster bombs on populated areas during the recent war in Lebanon.
  • $4-Billion Airport Begins Sinking Into Swamp - Bangkok's showpiece international airport, opened last year, appears to be sinking into the swamp on which it was built. The old airport will have to be reopened and some flights diverted here. The $4-B Suvarnabhumi airport was opened to great fanfare by then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra shortly before he was ousted by a military coup; it boasts the world's largest hangar and tallest control tower.
  • International Court To Hear First Criminal Trial - Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, accused of sending child soldiers to fight in a vicious tribal conflict, yesterday was ordered to stand trial, becoming the first suspect to face judgement before the International Criminal Court.
  • Elite Troops Use Photos of Slain Spy as Targets - Images of elite "Spetznatz" troops using photographs of murdered former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko for target practice prompted fresh accusations yesterday tha the Kremlin was behind his poisoning. The pictures were taken at a training camp outside Moscow, where 90 troops from the internatiol ministry's Vityaz (Hero) brigade were competing in a special forces exercise.
  • Titanium Girdle to Save Landmark from Collapse - One of Venice's most famous landmarks, the bell tower of St.Mark's, is to be shored up with a 'girdle' of titanium to ensure it does not collapse as it did about 100 years ago. Engineers said there was no immediate danger to the 100-metre structure, which towers above St.Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace at the entrance to the Grand Canal.
  • Oldest-Known Person Dies After Four-day Reign - Emma Faust Tillman, born to former slaves, died at a nursing home just four days after becoming the world's oldest-known living person. She was 114. Mrs. Tillman, who lived independently until she was 110, died in the company of family members.
  • Seven Deadly Sins Bedevil Beijing Games - Officials in charge of preparing next year's Beijing Olympics have been given a severe warning against indulging in the 7 deadly sins. Officials in the capital were guilty of gluttony, avarice and lechery to name but a few, according to the warning handed down by the president of the Olympic Organizing Committee. "After work, officials should not nonchalantly go to entertainment centres to eat, drink and pleasure-seek."
  • Don't Stash your Savings in His Sock - World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, was seen with holes in his socks, as he re-entered his shoes exiting the Ottoman-era Selimiye mosque in Edime, western Turkey on Sunday, during a two-day official visit.
  • "Hobbit" Skeleton is New Species of Human - A tiny skeleton discovered in Indonesia four years ago is definitely that of a new species of human, scientists say. The study by researchers at Florida State University compared the skull of the 3-ft.-tall Homo Floresiensis, discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores and ruled out the possibility of it being an underdeveloped example of Homo sapiens.
And ta-da! That's it folks, the good the bad, the ugly and the improbable for this day.

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posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, January 30, 2007

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