27/08/14

[Maik]

http://civilprotection.gr

[Maik]

Yesterday evening, Greece requested assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to fight forest fires raging in the central part of the country. France has responded in a matter of hours and its two fire-fighting planes are already on the way to Greece and will have reached the affected areas this afternoon.

http://www.trust.org/item/20140826145249-l6otd/

[Maik]

A grand prix in austerity-hit Greece could be on the horizon according to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

On May 30, Ecclestone's company Formula One Licensing registered the 'Formula 1 Mediterranean Grand Prix' as a trademark.

"The Greeks are keen," Ecclestone told CNN. "They want me to go and see the Prime Minister or the mayor," added Ecclestone, referring to Antonis Samaras and Georgios Kaminis respectively. "We will have to find out if they have got any money."

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/26/sport/motorsport/formula-one-greece-mediterranean-grand-prix/

[Maik]

A nine year-old girl in the US has killed her shooting instructor by accident while being shown how to use a high-powered submachine gun.

The instructor was giving the girl a lesson at a shooting range in Arizona when the recoil from the automatic fire caused her to lose control of the Uzi.

Charles Vacca, 39, was shot in the head and died after being airlifted to a hospital in Las Vegas.

The girl was at the shooting range with her parents, who filmed the lesson.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28948946

[Maik]

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been placed under formal investigation by French authorities for "negligence" in connection with a long-running fraud case.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/christine-lagarde-placed-under-formal-investigation-over-negligence-in-tapie-fraud-case-9693306.html

[Phil]

A nine year-old girl in the US has killed her shooting instructor by accident while being shown how to use a high-powered submachine gun.

I thought the incident was extremely disturbing. The USA has a H & S culture and a *blame and sue * culture. But none of it seems to apply to the use and ownership of weapons. Americans seem to want to preserve their rights of gun ownership.
I cannot understand why any parent would want to encourage their 9 year old daughter to use a sub-machine gun....... I'm speechless!

[TonyKath]

Bloody 'ell didn't know there was a vid to this story.  Would imagine none of the families of the participants would be happy about it being uploaded.

This is a particularly crass example but I understand several hundred children kill people with firearms every year - mostly accidentally.  Yo! The land of the free!! 

Tony

[Maik]

Well, I think the parents took the vid, so maybe they sold it to a news station.

Same vid clip but an interesting commentary, especially at the end:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/9-old-girl-shoots-kills-101400763.html

*JMO*, but guns don't kill people... people kill people. Easy access to guns just makes it easier.