World View: Egyptian Protesters Defy Morsi's 'State of Emergency' Curfew

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Iran announces a new finger-amputating machine for thieves
• Greek statistics official charged with colluding with EU and IMF
• Smog smothers Greece as homeowners burn wood to stay warm
• Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi’s ‘state of emergency’ curfew
• U.S. military plans to set up drone base in Niger on Mali border

Iran announces a new finger-amputating machine for thieves

Iran’s new finger-amputating machine (Fars/IRNA)

Iran’s official government news service Fars/Irna has unveiledsomething that could be out of Edgar Allan Poe’s horror stories: Amedieval-looking contraption that amputates fingers. Official photosshow two masked men, dressed entirely in black, hold a blindfoldedman’s hand in a vice while another turns a wheel that operators arotary blade that performs the amputation. Historically, amputating afinger is the standard punishment for thieves. Independent (London) and Fars ISNA

Greek statistics official charged with colluding with EU and IMF

It’s almost impossible, these days, for any crooked governmentofficial in any country, perpetrating even the most massive of crimesdefrauding the public, to be investigated and charged, but AndreasGeorgiou, head of Greece’s Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT),has managed to find a way. This is really mind-boggling. Accordingto the charges, Greece’s budget deficit should have been computed as4% of GDP in 2009. But, the charges continue, Georgiou colluded withthe EU and the IMF to fudge the figures so that the budget deficitcame out at 15.6% of GDP — higher than Ireland’s at 14.3% — in orderto justify the May 2010 bailout and its drastic austerity measures.Some Greek commentators and politicians have seized upon theseallegations as evidence of a wider plot against Greece or proof thatthe country was a victim of sinister forces from within and abroad.Kathimerini

Smog smothers Greece as homeowners burn wood to stay warm

A steep increase in the cost of heating oil is causing many people inGreece to switch to wood-burning, at half the cost, to keep warmduring the cold winter months. The vast appetite for wood hasencouraged extensive illegal logging – by local residents for privateuse but also by organized gangs. Forestry workers have even beenattacked by illegal loggers wielding axes or guns, creating a “FarWest-style situation.” However, the wood-burning is creating a severehealth hazard, because of heavy smog that contains not only woodparticles, but also particles of noxious varnishes and syntheticcoatings from burnt furniture. Kathimerini

Egyptian protesters defy president Morsi’s ‘state of emergency’ curfew

Protesters torched police vehicles in downtown Cairo on Monday, and onMonday evening, the three Suez Canal cities — Suez, Ismailia and PortSaid — witnessed mass demonstrations in defiance of the state ofemergency curfew announced by president Mohamed Morsi on Sunday. Manyshops and street cafes remained open after the curfew, and inIsmailia, residents organized football (soccer) games in front ofgovernment headquarters in a show of defiance. Violent clashes arecontinuing, but the army is not interfering or trying to impose thecurfew. Al-Ahram (Cairo)

U.S. military plans to set up drone base in Niger on Mali border

The United States and Niger signed an agreement on Monday that pavesthe way for a U.S. military drone base in the country, near the borderwith Mali, allowing for up to 300 military service members andcontractors in the base to operate the drone aircraft. The new basewill permit monitoring of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), andwill gather intelligence for French warplanes targeting strikesagainst jihadists in Mali. AFP

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