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The huge extent of damage and vandalism caused in nearly a week of nightly riots in France has been dramatically underlined with a summary of recorded burnings so far, with the toll running to thousands of vehicles and buildings. Ministry of the Interior figures taking account of damage to people and property during the now six nights of riots triggered by the shooting death by a police officer of an Algerian heritage teenager in a Paris suburb at a traffic stop reveals there have been 5,662 vehicle fires so far, reports Le Parisien.

Strapped to wooden chairs and burnt alive: Two men are fatally punished by furious Mexican villagers after alleged car theft Angry villagers beat and then burnt two men to death on the streets of Mexico after accusing them of trying to steal a car. The men were grabbed by the 200-strong mob in the town of San Juan Chamula on Monday, according to a civil defense official, and strapped to wooden chairs before they were lynched. The official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said the men had been turned over to police in the southern state...

Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, wants his employees to talk to the customers about race relations in America, which makes as much sense, I suppose, as a bank instructing its tellers to inquire after your faith. In other words, Schultz and his people have gotten so full of themselves that they actually believe a barista can engage a customer in a meaningful conversation about race, even though the customer might want only a latte and not chatter. Or else they believe that coffee, by virtue of its stimulants, is an elixir that can close the great divide, if there...

"Our Dharamshala (community centre) has been gutted and the temple has been partially damaged. All the statues have been destroyed by the attackers," Kalpana Devi, chairperson of the local Hindu committee, told Reuters. Hundreds of students from local Islamic seminaries attacked the temple holding batons, one witness, Javed Shah, said. Police arrived quickly to protect Kumar from the angry crowd. "They acted smartly and took him out after making him put on a police uniform to save him from the wrath of the crowd," said Shah. "It took nearly 20 minutes to break down the doors (of the temple) before...

A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) uncovered 14 large pithoi-style bulk storage jugs filled with the wheat inside what was a storage room in a monumental, palace-like building from the Canaanite period (2,000-3,000 BCE), the INPA said on Monday. After the jars are fully exposed the researchers will transfer them to conservation and restoration laboratories. Afterwards, the palace will be covered up again until the next excavation season. Archeological excavations at Hatzor have been conducted by Hebrew University in cooperation with the INPA for the past couple of decades. In...

At least 11 people including 10 civilians were killed and several injured Saturday when Muslim militants attacked a village in southern Philippines... About 70 Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels swooped down at dawn on the village of Tubigan in Maluso town in Basilan province, 900 km south of Manila... 'Among the fatalities were a government militiaman and four children,' he said. 'Some of the injured were in serious condition.' the guerrillas burned down six houses and targeted the house of the village chieftain. Basilan Catholic Bishop Martin Jomoad said villagers had fled their homes for fear the guerrillas would return and...

"We are in deep s--- if we lose on Tuesday," a Democratic operative said. A new poll out of Public Policy Polling on Monday underscored the depth of Coakley's challenge. The poll showed Brown leading 51-46 overall, 64-32 among independents and winning 20 percent of the vote from those who backed Obama in 2008. On the flip side, the survey showed Coakley pulling just 4 percent of the vote from those who backed John McCain, in the 2008 presidential race. And the poll reflected the enthusiasm gap from which Coakley suffers. Eighty percent of Brown supporters said they were "very...

The mayor of the small Italian town of Cervino, north of Naples, has been found burnt alive in his car, in a Mafia-style killing.Police quoted by Italian media say Mayor Giovanni Piscitelli, 52, was shot and wounded and his feet bound with wire. Then his car was set alight. Reports said Mr Piscitelli had recently acted against some municipal staff and the dispute had been featured on TV. Police have not yet named any suspects in the case. Mr Piscitelli's charred body was found next to his car - apparently after he had managed to open a door to...

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...

AN elderly Indian husband and wife were burnt to death after villagers accused them of practising black magic, tied them together on a pyre and set them on fire. “The aged couple died screaming for help,” police superintendent P V KuMarch said. Sayanna, 70, and his 61-year-old wife, Pochamma, were set ablaze after being doused with kerosene. Both were farm labourers near the southern city of Hyderabad who also practised traditional medicine. Police have arrested six villagers for the incident.

A NAKED man suffered burns to one-fifth of his body when he tried to burn a spider at a NSW nudist resort yesterday. The Sydney man, 46, tried to kill what he thought was a funnel-web spider by pouring petrol down its burrow and igniting it with a match, the NRMA CareFlight service said. But the fuel exploded, scorching the man's upper leg and buttocks.

Ancient earrings discovered at Burnt City disprove ornament theory Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN -- Archaeologists have found a pair of silver earrings in a grave of a woman in the 5200-year-old Burnt City which disproves the theory that the inhabitants of the city never used earrings, the director of the Iranian archaeological team working in the region said on Tuesday. A skeleton of a woman with one circular silver earring on each side of her skull was unearthed during the last days of the excavations at the cemetery of the Burnt City, Mansur Sajjadi added. The Burnt City is...

Franco Aleman, of Barcepundit.com, provides us shocking suggestive evidence that the massive fire which destroyed a thirty-two story skyscraper in Madrid may have been the result of foul play. A videotaper caught what appears to be people with flashlights on lower floors of the building as the fire burned above. While far from conclusive evidence, this would be consistent with arsonists doing their work. The building housed the biggest accounting firm in Spain and a prestigeous law firm, so it might be a target for anti-capitalist thugs.

12/27/04Human Sacrifice Was Common in Burnt City Tehran (Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency) -- According to archeological research in the 5000-year-old burnt city, in eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, sacrificing human beings was a common practice in ancient times. After excavating a number of graves in the cemetery of the burnt city, the Iranian archeological team came across signs of murder and generally beheaded bodies.“During excavations in the burnt city cemetery, we came across a grave with only one skull buried along with gifts and personal items needed for the afterlife. There was also another grave in the form of a...

5000 Years Ago, Women Held Power In Burnt City, Iran Dec 23, 2004, 11:34 CHN According to the research by an archeological team in the burnt city, women comprised the most powerful group in this 5000-year-old city. The archeological team has found a great number of seals in the women's graves. In ancient societies, holding a seal was a sign of power, and was of 2 kinds: personal and governmental. The burnt city ancient site located in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran, dates back to between 2000 and 3000 BC. "In the ancient world, there were tools used as a means...

The self-centered, egotistical John Kerry obviously wanted to look his best for the debate. That is, after being told that his ship was sinking with the distaff set, Johnny thought he had better skuzzy himself up for the TV cameras. Unfortunately, the instant tan preparation the rich boy used gave him the burnt-orange look of an over-baked pumpkin pie. That's about how most things have been going for Kerry lately. George Bush campaigns before huge, happy crowds. Kerry speaks before "groups" who often look like they might have been paid to be there and resent the imposition. Can Kerry live...

N.C. GOP bans gay party members from opening booth at convention 5-19-04 From Staff Reports Posted 2 p.m. RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina's Republican party has banned gay members from setting up a booth at this weekend's state GOP convention. "I am extremely disappointed that the leadership of the North Carolina Republican Party is attempting to so narrowly define who can be a Republican," Ed Farthing, a retired Hickory lawyer who requested the booth. "It appears to be you must be a white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant and married for the Republican Party to pay any attention to you. I think that...