6. april 2003

Massacre in Congo Survivors of a massacre in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo tell that nearly 1,000 civilians were slaughtered in a killing spree that lasted for three hours last Thursday. News about the tragedies in Africa south of Sahara is always underreported in the west, and especially now when the Iraq war is taking all the headlines. Cenrtal Africa has been the centre of a war that can be compared to World War I in Europe, and hardly anybody here knows much about it. 9:39:46 PM    comment []

US plane lands in Baghdad "The first US military aircraft - reportedly a C-130 cargo plane - lands at Baghdad's airport, US military officials say." (BBC News) I'm looking forward to the Iraqi minister of information taking foreign journalists to a tour of the airport they still claim to hold. 9:13:32 PM    comment []

Killing & maiming, Russian style Tim at For Whom the Blog Tolls has updated again, giving the first part of his experiences learning Russian martial arts. It also includes a picture of himself. I'm not sure he's the kind of guy we'd want to learn martial arts. 8:58:26 PM    comment []

More about Basra push For a bit of details about the attack on Basra, check out a BBC News interview with the commanding officer of the Scots Dragoon Guards, Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Blackman. 8:38:50 PM    comment []

Words from war Wars have often brought military terminology into the mainstream language, ranging from the blockbuster bomb of WWII to Saddam's "mother of all" anything from Gulf War I. Here's an interesting Slate article about a number of these terms.  5:01:57 PM    comment []

British troops storm Basra British troops attack the centre of Basra, Iraq's second largest city, in three large armoured columns. They are met with only light resistance, and reports claim that the troops are met with cheering and waving civilians. 2:29:09 PM    comment []

Internet toilet roll A toilet roll with an Internet connection (guess how you print out!) is one of the weirder gadgets at the Ideal Home Show, running in London until today. 2:25:22 PM    comment []

Does this site ever work? Yesterday the rcs server was dodgy, making the site inaccessible half of the day, both for updates and readers. Today doesn't start very well. Can't upstream because "The server, rcs.salon.com, returned error code 4: Can't find a sub-table named "item #1"." This message doesn't really mean what it says. It means that my changes doesn't reach the recently updated list, so nobody knows I have updated my blog. 11:52:55 AM    comment []

US bombs own convoy A convoy of Kudish civilians and US special forces have been bombed in northern Iraq. The convoy also contained BBC's John Simpson, who himself suffered minor injuries. He reported seeing at least 10 bodies, and among the injured was a senior Kurdish political figure. This may be the worst "friendly fire" incident so far. Update: You have to read this dispatch from the scene, really bringing home the terror and confusion. 11:29:05 AM    comment []

A speech by Saddam Hussein CNN has translated a number of news reports in the Arab world, including this statement by Saddam Hussein "or a man who looked like him": You are now, dear people of Baghdad and Iraq, you are the symbol of dignity and with God's help you will be victorious and they will be, God willing, defeated, overcome and cursed. God is great, dignity belongs to God and victory belongs to Iraq. God is great. Long live our nation. Long live Iraq. Long live Iraq. Long live Palestine. Come to jihad. Their dead are in hell and their living will be living in humiliation. Our dead will be in paradise and those living will have dignity and honor. You have dignity, oh you Iraqis of Baghdad and Iraq. God is great and let the criminals lose. I sure hope this sounds less infantile and stupid in Arabic than it does in translation. 1:22:49 AM    comment []

Microwaves against HIV Controversial tests are underway in Durban, South Africa, to find out whether it is possible to "nuke" the HIV virus to disrupt it and make it unable to reproduce. Some studies have suggested that specific non-ionising radiation can have this effect. The tests are not without risks, and skeptics question whether the method has any merit. 12:26:13 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2003; 02:58:57.