Thursday, November 17, 2005
WHAT THE FUCK
Fears for Indian 'marathon tot' | |||||
Budhia Singh, who recently ran 60km (33 miles) in six and a half hours, has appeared in a spate of TV commercials. The state government says it also fears the long distances may be damaging the boy's heart and lungs. His mentor, Biranchi Das, dismissed the fears, saying Budhia had regular medical check-ups. Orissa's sports minister, Debashis Nayak, said the government would not be a mute spectator to the exploitation and would intervene, if necessary, to "save his future". Budhia recently ran non-stop from the holy town of Puri to Bhubaneswar, a distance of 60km (37 miles). A few days before that, he ran non-stop from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack - 35km. During a recent visit to Orissa, former top Indian runner, PT Usha, also said running for 50 to 60km so frequently could have disastrous long-term consequences for Budhia's health. Scolded But Budhia's mentor, Mr Das, is undeterred by the criticism. "A team of three doctors conducts regular check-ups on Budhia to find out if anything is wrong with him. "I don't know why these people are so concerned." The state government has announced a monthly stipend of 500 rupees ($12) for Budhia but Mr Das said: "The amount would not be enough to meet the expenses for even two days." Mr Das, a judo coach, noticed Budhia's talent when scolding him for being a bully. "Once, after he had done some mischief, I asked him to keep running till I came back," Mr Das said. "I got busy in some work. When I came back after five hours, I was stunned to find him still running." Budhia had been sold by his poverty-stricken mother to a man for 800 rupees. Mr Das summoned the man who had bought Budhia and paid him his money back. He then started a strict diet and exercise regimen that saw Budhia adding a few kilometres to his running every few days.   LINKS TO MORE SOUTH ASIA STORIES | | ||||
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
15 times? sounds like diallo...
Israeli Cleared in Death of Arab Girl
JERUSALEM, Nov. 15 - An Israeli military court on Tuesday cleared an Army captain of accusations that he shot repeatedly, and from close range, at a 13-year-old Palestinian girl who already had been shot, apparently fatally, by soldiers under his command.
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Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
Iman al-Hams, 13, was fatally shot in 2004 by Israeli soldiers who suspected a bomb was in her bag.
The officer, identified only as Captain R, was acquitted of charges that included illegally firing a weapon and conduct unbecoming an officer in the death of the girl, Iman al-Hams.
According to a Palestinian doctor who examined Iman, she was shot at least 15 times on Oct. 5, 2004, near an army outpost along the southern border of the Gaza Strip, near the town of Rafah.
Soldiers said they had opened fire from an observation post because they had suspected the girl was carrying a bomb in her bag, but no weapon was found.
After she fell to the ground, Captain R approached her and repeatedly fired at or near her body, according to news media reports in Israel, where the case received widespread attention.
The girl's family denounced the ruling.
"We were not expecting much from this court," Muhammad al-Hams, an uncle of the girl, told The Associated Press. "It is another indication of how cheap the life of an innocent girl is to an Israeli judge."
Iman's family said she had been on her way to school. But the military said she was not traveling in the direction of a school, and was in an extremely tense area that the military had declared off limits to Palestinians. Gunmen frequently fired at Israeli soldiers from the surrounding area.
In a statement, the military said the court had accepted Captain R's testimony that he had fired not "with the intent of hitting the deceased but rather as a means of deterrence to secure a dangerous area."
Soldiers in Captain R's company testified that his shots had struck the girl, not the ground. The court rejected their testimony as unreliable, saying the soldiers had wanted Capt. R removed from his post.
