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LAHORE, Pakistan — Saira Liaqat squints through her one good eye as she brushes a woman's hair. Her face, most of which the acid melted years ago, occasionally lights up with a smile. Her hands, largely undamaged, deftly handle the dark brown locks. A few steps away in this popular beauty salon, Urooj Akbar diligently trims, cleans and paints clients' fingernails. Her face, severely scarred from the blaze that burned some 70 percent of her body, is somber. It's hard to tell if she's sad or if it's just the way she now looks.

Vast Peat Fire May Burn for Months in North CarolinaWillie Drye for National Geographic NewsJune 13, 2008 About 450 firefighters are battling a 40,000-acre (16,000-hectare) blaze in northeastern North Carolina that could burn for months unless the drought-stricken region gets a downpour. The fire, which was sparked by a lightning strike on June 1, is currently the largest active wildfire in the United States. Containing and extinguishing the fire is posing a unique challenge, because it is burning in highly flammable peatland. Peat is partially decomposed plant matter formed in wetlands that can be harvested as fuel. It can be...

Hundreds of protesters in Indonesia have set fire to a mosque belonging to the minority Muslim Ahmadiyya sect. Police in the town of Sukabumi in western Java say nobody was injured but that many members of the Ahmadiyya community have fled the area. The hardline Islamist demonstrators believe the Ahmadiyya practice to be a deviant form of Islam that should not be allowed in Indonesia. A nearby religious school belonging to the group has also been vandalised. Around 300 people torched the mosque just after midnight on Monday. Many Ahmadiyya members have sought refuge with friends and relatives nearby....

4/11/2008 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- Since 3-year-old Al Amreeki left Balad Air Base, Iraq, with more than 45 percent of his body burned from a stove fire at his home, he has come a long way due to treatment from Airmen and medics throughout the world. The young boy's uncle brought him to the Air Force Theater Hospital in Iraq Jan. 25, and since then the boy has traveled aboard a C-17 Globemaster III to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and onto Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and finally arriving by commercial air bus to...

Nabokov wanted his final, unfinished work destroyed. Should his son get out the matches? Here is your chance to weigh in on one of the most troubling dilemmas in contemporary literary culture. I know I'm hopelessly conflicted about it. It's the question of whether the last unpublished work of Vladimir Nabokov, which is now reposing unread in a Swiss bank vault, should be destroyed—as Nabokov explicitly requested before he died. It's a decision that has fallen to his sole surviving heir (and translator), Dmitri Nabokov, now 73. Dmitri has been torn for years between his father's unequivocal request and the...

12/17/2007 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- When Army Cpl. Joseph Barzeski invited Staff Sgt. Tracy Davidson to tour the Convoy Support Center's burn clinic in Scania, Iraq, he didn't think she would be back. But she did come back, again and again. "I didn't think she was going to want to stay, but she wanted to help," said the corporal. "She just fell right into it." Since that day in mid-July, Sergeant Davidson has assisted nearly every day the clinic has been open. She's become a fixture at the facility as a care provider for families, and a...

A Syracuse man was charged with assault after he tortured his girlfriend by burning his name into her back with a heated knife blade, according to police. Marcel Tirado, 23, of 501 Seymour St., was charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment, both felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of a weapon, said Sgt. Tom Connellan, a police spokesman. "It's incredibly cruel," Connellan said. "It's beyond imagination what this woman was going through." The woman, whom police did not identify, also had scars she told police were from earlier encounters with Tirado, Connellan said. Police gave this account: Tirado...

SHERMAN OAKS, California (CNN) -- Youssif nervously scanned the doctor's examining room, his dark brown eyes darting around, from the floor to the wall to the ceiling. His mother stroked his hair and then his forehead to put him at ease before the doctor walked in to the room. A day earlier, the badly burned 5-year-old Iraqi boy had boarded a plane in Amman, Jordan, with his family, their first trip on an airplane. Now, more than 7,500 miles later, his mom, dad and 14-month-old sister were with him at the Grossman Burn Center in the heart of sunny Southern...

IP Tire Burn Stopped! VT and NY Breathe Easier...Published by jamiehenn, November 15th, 2006 After three years of public opposition, International Paper decided to abandon its efforts to burn tire derived fuel at its plant in Ticonderoga, New York. Huzzah! For the past two weeks, IP had been botching a test burn of the tires, hitting their maximum pollution levels burning only a fraction of the total amount of tires they wanted to. “I think that clearly the results demonstrated that there was a lot more pollution coming from the burning of tires than IP anticipated,” said Paul Burns, executive...

CAMP TAJI — Multi-National Division–Baghdad Soldiers provided healthcare to a badly burned Iraqi boy in northern Baghdad May 9, in a continuing effort to provide medical support to the Iraqi people. Elements of 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, were conducting operations near the town of Muhammad al’Abbas when a local woman approached requesting medical aid for her three-year-old son. The boy was involved in a hot water accident which caused second-degree burns on the child’s face and upper body May 7th. The injuries were severe enough for the boy to...

NEW DELHI (AP) - Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere on Monday after he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event. Photographs of the 57-year-old actor embracing Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi were splashed across Monday's front pages in India - a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo.(AP) Hollywood actor Richard Gere, left, hugs and kisses Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty during and event...

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — A 2-year-old boy was severely burned Saturday after he went down the slide at an elementary school playground. Someone had broken into the school, stolen several bottles of industrial-strength drain cleaner and splashed it all over the playground equipment, authorities said. Peyton Duschl was scheduled for surgery Sunday morning and likely will be hospitalized for several weeks, said Carol Duschl, the boy's mother. "I just don't understand what would draw somebody to do something like that," Duschl told WMAR-TV. "What kind of sick joke is that?" Peyton suffered second- and third-degree burns, mostly on his legs,...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, March 23, 2007 – When Army Sgt. Antonio Autrey was burned in Iraq by a blast that destroyed his Bradley fighting vehicle almost a year ago, all the former high school football receiver wanted to do was to be able to hold a football again. Army Sgt. Antonio Autrey checks out the weightlifting equipment at the Center for the Intrepid. Photo by Nelia Schrum  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Now, after almost a year in recovery at the Burn Center here, the 4th Infantry Division soldier has set his sights on bench pressing, with...

Democrat Anti-War Activists Burn US Soldier in Effigy,Burn US Flag and Deface Statue of Abe Lincoln in Portland Oregon Protest.    

Volunteers Spark Warmth at Burn Center Troops deployed to Afghanistan give there off time to help local burn victims. By Sgt. Victoria Willoughby 345th Mobile Public Affairs FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2007 -- An all too familiar call echoed through the Forward Operating Base Salerno burn clinic and medical staff and hospital volunteers scrambled to receive two young Afghan sisters badly burned in a heater explosion at their home. "A heater in their home had a malfunction and it exploded, burning all four of the children and burning down the entire house. Two of the children...

<p>French police are investigating a car crash involving a billionaire Russian parliamentarian who was critically injured when his Ferrari slammed into a tree on the Mediterranean seafront in Nice.</p> <p>Suleyman Kerimov, 40, a far rightwing member of the State Duma from Dagestan, was said by police to have lost control of the car as he sped on Saturday in rain along the Promenade des Anglais, the Riviera’s most celebrated thoroughfare.</p>

MIAMI -- Bacardi said its 151-proof rum was not the cause of burns suffered by three women who sued the spirits company and alleged that their injuries were caused when a bottle used to pour shots turned into a "flame thrower." Bacardi, in a motion to dismiss the women's' lawsuits, said their injuries were caused after a bartender poured rubbing alcohol on the bar of the "Secrets" adult club and ignited it as part of a promotion for flaming drinks in 2002. Quoting from Miami-Dade County police and fire reports, the company said another drunken patron placed a paper menu...

MEXICO CITY - Electoral officials said Tuesday that they will burn the ballots from the disputed presidential election despite calls from both candidates to spare them. Luis Carlos Ugalde, chairman of the Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, said in a letter to President-elect Felipe Calderon that a 1990 law clearly called for the burning of the ballots from the July 2 election. "The IFE is obliged to destroy electoral documentation once the electoral process is concluded," Ugalde wrote. No date was set for the burning. Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had asked that the ballots be saved, claiming fraud...

TV reporters 'helped protester burn himself to death' By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi (Filed: 18/08/2006) Indian police are investigating a group of television journalists for allegedly helping a man to burn himself to death and filming his agony for broadcast. Pictures of Manoj Mishra writhing in pain with his back on fire were shown in Bihar state on Tuesday. Mr Mishra later died in hospital from severe burns in the town of Gaya. "We have seized footage clearly showing a group of journalists handing over matches and some inflammable substance, which we later verified to be diesel, to the...

Rest in Peace, Matthew Wallace.

Soldier in need of prayer.

When writer Marcia Segelstein headed to the bookstore to scout out books for her 12-year-old, she wasn’t sure what to expect. But she certainly didn’t expect rampant drinking, drug use, profanity, and explicit descriptions of sex and nudity. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what she found. Segelstein’s daughter had been clamoring to read the Gossip Girl series, which “‘all’ of her friends were reading,” she said. After seeing what was in the books, Segelstein was floored. But a school librarian confirmed, “They’re very popular among sixth and seventh graders.” Even worse, the librarian added, “Some parents are so happy that their kids...

Five Rancho Sahuarita homes that were under construction were destroyed Friday night in what officials are calling suspicious fires. The Rural/Metro Fire Department began receiving multiple 911 reports just before 11 p.m. of several homes on fire off of South Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard, south of West Sahuarita Road, said Battalion Chief Rick Flores, a department spokesman. When firefighters arrived, they found five homes that were under construction fully engulfed in flames, he said. Officials suspect that the homes were set on fire one by one. It took more than an hour and a combined 40 firefighters from Rural/Metro and the...

Some Kashmir Quake Survivors Burned Books By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer Sun Dec 11, 4:18 PM ET MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan - When night fell after the Oct. 8 quake, many survivors burned broken furniture to stay warm. Some, however, stormed the shattered state-run Khursheed National Library, pulling out books and newspapers to make bonfires. An estimated 10,000 books went up in smoke that night. Three days later, half the library's books — including Qurans — had been turned into ashes, when the army stepped in and stopped it.Mohammed Hanif, a clerk at the library for 14 years, "did not believe...

A woman is suing the Pizza Hut in Lehighton, Pa., because the hot poppers she ordered as an appetizer were, well, hot and popped when she bit into them. Sorana Georgescu-Hassanin claims she may be permanently impaired because the ''excessively hot'' oil in the deep-fried, cheese-stuffed hot pepper severely burned her chin. Her husband, Hatem Hassanin, is suing for the loss of companionship and comfort of his wife. They are suing Pizza Hut for at least $25,000! each. The suit names the Dallas corporation and Richard Whitso n, who owns the Lehighton franchise and his company, QSM, LLC. It says...

FAITH UNDER FIRE Radicals threaten to burn Christians to death Warn of consequences if they don't reconvert to Hinduism by Sunday Posted: November 17, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com More than 60 Christian converts in northern India will be burned to death if they refuse to return to Hinduism by Sunday, a group of extremists has warned. The radical Hindus severely beat the converts' pastor, Feroz Masih, in a Nov. 4 attack in the state of Himachal Pradesh, accusing him of "forcibly converting" Hindus, reported Compass Direct, a news service that monitors persecution of Christians. Masih sustained internal...

November 11, 2005 -- Thousands of Arabs, outraged by the Muslim-vs.-Muslim bombings in Jordan, angrily rallied against al Qaeda yesterday as investigators arrested Iraqi suspects. "Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!" Jordanians chanted outside one of the hotels blasted by alleged supporters of al Qaeda's Iraqi chief. Click here for the rest of the article

Vermont may sue to stop tire burn November 6, 2005 By Darren M Allen Staff Writer MONTPELIER — If New York environmental officials choose to disregard Vermont's opposition to plans by International Paper Co. to burn up to 72 tons of shredded tires at its Ticonderoga, N.Y., paper mill for a two-week test, Vermont will likely take the matter to court. Gov. James Douglas and his administration, in cooperation with the Vermont Attorney General's Office, are prepared to exercise every legal avenue at their disposal, the governor's press secretary said last week. "Gov. Douglas has asked the Agency of Administration...

There simply wasn't enough room on the rocky hilltop above Gonbaz village in southern Afghanistan for the U.S. platoon and the corpses of the two Taliban fighters. The Taliban men had been killed in a firefight 24 hours earlier, and in the 90 degree heat, their bodies had become an unbearable presence, soldiers who were present have told TIME. Nor was the U.S. Army unit about to leave — the hilltop commanded a strategic view of the village below where other Taliban were suspected to be hiding. Earlier, Lt. Eric Nelson, the leader of B Company, I-508 platoon leader had...

FAIRFIELD, Ohio Two teenage boys charged with burning 20 small American flags set up in honor of a soldier who died from injuries sustained in Iraq have been sentenced to community service. A Butler County juvenile court judge ordered the two boys, aged 13 and 15, to complete 40 hours of community service at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post. The boys admitted to taking the flags from the yard and setting them afire under a car belonging to the soldier's sister-in-law. The vehicle was destroyed. The flags commemorated Army Private First Class Tim Hines of Fairfield, who died in...

On August 9 the California Teachers Association and its most famous employee, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, announced that they were suing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for $3.1 billion in money they think the public schools are owed under Proposition 98. The fees for the lawyers for both sides of this dispute will be paid for by the taxpayers, using money that could have been used to fix stopped-up toilets in our schools or buy textbooks for the kids. Prop. 98 was passed by telling the voters it set a minimum level of funding for K-12 public schools of...

A WOMAN WHO was branded with part of Con Edison's logo after falling onto a burning hot Manhattan manhole cover is suing the utility. A lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court accuses Con Ed of allowing the manhole cover at E. 13th St. and Second Ave., to become excessively hot through a buildup of steam under it. Elizabeth Wallenberg, 27, suffered "excruciating pain, disability and grotesque cosmetic disfigurement," according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages. The fall left Wallenberg with a "C" and "O" and part of the manhole grid burned onto her back, just above the buttocks,...

1GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- A man on house arrest suffered burns on 60 percent of his body Thursday after the tracking device on his ankle caught fire, authorities said. Witnesses said 25-year-old Jason McClaskey was engulfed in flames on his front porch just before 6 a.m. Firefighters found him in his bedroom with most of his clothing burned off, Assistant Chief Ray Ives said. McClaskey had lighter fluid on his leg and although he told officials he was trying to light his grill, that didn't seem likely since there was no charcoal on it, Police Chief Richard Carey said. McClaskey...

Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children's Culture The realm of human imagination is a God-given gift, a faculty of the mind that is intended to expand our understanding by enabling us to visualize invisible truths. In the modern era this zone of man's interior life has moved to the forefront of his experience. With the advent of film, television, and now the near-virtual reality of special-effects videos and other electronic entertainment, the screen of the imagination is stimulated to a degree (both in quantity and in kind) more than at any other period in history. This has prompted a...

BRYAN, Texas (AP) - An 18-year-old ice cream vendor has been charged with injury to a child after being accused of burning several children by having them hold dry ice in their hands, police said. Roberto Martinez Sanchez, who sold ice cream from his bicycle, had apparently told several kids on April 20 that he would give them the frozen dessert for free if they could hold a piece of dry ice in their bare hands for 10 or 15 seconds, according to investigators. Dry ice is so cold it can freeze flesh, causing a burn-like injury. It is usually...

Douglas and Clinton April 29, 2005 How delighted Jason Gibbs must have been to utter the following sentence: "Governor Douglas believes we need people in the United States Senate who understand how important it is to protect and improve our environment." Gibbs is Gov. James Douglas' principal spokesman, and he was responding to a letter from Sen. Hillary Clinton to New York environmental officials supporting a test burn of tires at the International Paper plant in Ticonderoga, N.Y. IP wants to conduct a two-week test burn at the plant, and Clinton weighed in on the company's behalf, saying the plant...

Douglas rips Sen. Clinton on endorsement of tire burn MONTPELIER, Vt. Senator Hillary Clinton is jumping the gun in endorsing a two-week test tire burn at International Paper's Ticonderoga mill. That's the word from Vermont Governor James Douglas in a letter to the New York Democrat today. Douglas says Clinton's timing was off when she sent a letter earlier this month to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation urging that it approve the test tire burn. The governor notes that International Paper has yet to file an application for a permit amendment. He says he hopes the company will...

Get on the Bus Caption Contest--post a comment or photoshop

She is a national hero in her homeland, hailed for plucking her little sister from their family home as it was consumed by flames. Now, Nastya Ovchar, her body burned extensively during the rescue of her sister, lies in a room at Shriners Burns Hospital Boston, half a world away from her home in the Ukraine. If they made a movie about Nastya, they could well call it ''The President and the Little Girl," for it was the intervention of a national leader who had endured his own share of physical suffering that assured the 5-year- old could receive lifesaving...

I think it would be a powerful visual for those of us attending peace rally's this saturday to burn the UN flag. I found a place that will overnight a flag, even on saturday's. Here is the link... http://www.united-states-flag.com/world-united-nation.html If you will order before noon today (friday) - they will send it to you saturday morning. Let's beat the hippies at their own game... Jenny Hatch Organizer of the Denver protest, and UN flag burner. PS - Before I burn the flag, I plan to stand on it while I protest the rally.

DETROIT -- A stray dog was found with a human leg in its mouth on Detroit's east side Tuesday afternoon. The remains may belong to Jalona Stafford, 19, whose body was found burned and dismembered inside an abandoned pickle factory last week, WDIV-TV reported. Neighbors said the dog was carrying a leg with the thigh attached to it, the station reported. "A dog was carrying the leg. He had to be chased," said Thelma Davis, who witnessed the animal coming from the building. Stafford was last seen by her family on the morning of Feb. 13 as she prepared to...

Activists burn Valentine's cards Monday, February 14, 2005 Posted: 1055 GMT (1855 HKT) NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Nearly 50 Hindu hardliners burned Valentine's Day cards and posters in the Indian capital, protesting the international day of love that they say imposes Western values on India's youth. There was no violence as policemen cordoned off the area and prevented the Shiv Sena activists from marching through the sprawling Delhi University campus Monday. In the past, Hindu nationalists have ransacked shops selling cards and harassed young lovers seen holding hands in public. On Monday, the protesters dispersed after chanting slogans. Jai...

Last week I suggested that the people Kerry hired to run his campaign were incompetent and/or probably do not want him to win. Most have strong Clinton loyalties. This week, we hear rumbles that heads are about to roll among the Kerry-Edwards campaign staff. Of course, there is no way I would believe Kerry reads my babble -- or would act on the information even if he did. But, I'll reiterate: Kerry couldn't be running a worse campaign if he tried. That's a problem for me, too, actually. Kerry is just too darn easy of a target. Look at it...

Five Cars Burn During Marlins Game Because of Tailgate Grill The Associated Press May 31, 2004 MIAMI (AP) - Five cars parked at Pro Player Stadium were destroyed by fire during the Florida-Cincinnati game on Monday, officials said. No one was injured. The fire apparently started because a pregame barbecue fire started by tailgaters before the game wasn't completely extinguished. Stadium officials helped fans whose cars were ruined find ways home, Marlins spokesman Steve Copses said. "Somebody neglected to put the fire out after tailgating," Copses said. Plumes of black smoke floated over the stadium in the third inning, before...

Troy Hurtubise says he doesn’t feel the heat, even with a 2000° C blowtorch flame blazing at his head. Hurtubise has invented a physics-defying substance called fire paste, which he claims eliminates the cross-transfer of heat and prevents anything coated in the substance from burning up. Not only does the paste stop heat from getting through, it cools to the touch within 20 seconds of the fire source being removed. When dry the paste, Hurtubise said, is non-toxic four times lighter than aluminum, more heat resistant than titanium, and costs only pennies to make. Don’t take his word for it...

Queen Mary ascended the throne of England in 1553. In subsequent years, she had at least two hundred people put to death (often by fire) for their religious convictions. To history she became known as "Bloody Mary," although, in truth, she killed far fewer people per year than her brutal father. The godliness of many of her victims made them stand out. Mary's father, King Henry VIII had separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic church, but he had not reformed the church's practices or doctrines. On Henry's death, his young son Edward became King. Many of Edward's...

Environmentalists burn while Bush promotes park plan By BILL STRAUB Scripps Howard News Service August 06, 2003 WASHINGTON - President Bush has issued his prescription for what ails the deteriorating national park system, but environmentalists and conservationists are becoming increasingly wary about his actions. Bush, in the midst of a month-long vacation at his ranch, will break away from the blistering Texas heat next week to visit the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area near Los Angeles. The administration says the spot has benefited from its National Parks Legacy Project. Later in the month, Bush will head to Oregon to...

WEST GLACIER, Mont. (AP) -- Firefighters set trees on fire Tuesday in efforts to prevent a major blaze from reaching the largely evacuated West Glacier and a nearby village in Glacier National Park. The work was aimed at creating a backfire that would remove 2,000 acres of fuel from the path of the approaching forest fire. "Tonight, right now what you see as green, will be gone," said Clinton Northway, the burnout supervisor. Even though small backfires the night before had turned the fire, officials were concerned that the blaze could make another run because humidity was extremely low and...

WASHINGTON (AP) - In what Democrats called an annual GOP rite of spring, the Republican-controlled House on Tuesday passed an amendment to the Constitution to criminalize flag burning for the fifth time in eight years. The one-line change to the Constitution - "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States" - was approved by a 300-125 vote as a pair of holidays approach - Flag Day on June 14 and Independence Day in July. Senate passage is less likely. The constitutional amendment needs a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate...

ISLAMABAD, 11 March 2003 — Pakistan’s chief intelligence agency, in an unprecedented briefing to foreign media, confirmed yesterday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he last met Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in December at an unknown location. “KSM (Sheikh Mohammed) confirmed he met Bin Laden in December,” a senior Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) official told some three dozen foreign correspondents at ISI headquarters in the capital Islamabad. However Khalid, who was captured in an ISI-led raid on a private home in the northern city of Rawalpindi on March 1, told interrogators that he did not know “the exact destination.” “I...