Records, photos of famed US WWII bombers go online
Santa Fe: Thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean, the bullets were coming fast and the flak was flying. Japanese fighter planes whizzed around like bees as the American forces in their lumbering B-24 bombers tried everything to reach their targets, save fuel and stay airborne for the long trip home. Tom Pelle, a 20-year-old tech sergeant, was pulling double duty as a machine gunner that October day.
That was 70 years ago, but he remembers the battle like it was yesterday. “They hit every one of us. They shot down seven, and we were almost number eight,” said Pelle, who lost his right leg in the battle. Now Pelle and the few other remaining members of the 13th Air Force’s famous 307th Bombardment Group, their family members and Ancestry.com’s military records site Fold3 are working to keep alive the group’s memory by collecting and digitizing thousands of photographs, military orders and other memorabilia. The records are being posted online as part of a searchable database.
The effort is taking on particular urgency because only a handful of the veterans known as the “Long Rangers” are still alive today. Most of them, like Pelle, are around 90 years old. Historians say the experiences of the 307th Bombardment Group are priceless. Thousands of men were part of the group, including Louis Zamperini, whose story of survival after being shot down over the Pacific is the subject of a best-selling book and Angelina Jolie’s new movie “Unbroken”, coming out in December.
Pelle barely survived the battle on October 3, 1944. By the time it was over, his plane had 420 holes in it. He nearly bled to death after having his leg shot off. With each beat of his heart, blood from what was left of his limb squirted onto the side of the plane. Between throwing up and passing out, he could see his crewmates working to save his life, using their belts as tourniquets. (AP)
Greek man ‘hoarded thousand coins of historical significance’
Thessaloniki (Greece): An elderly Greek man was arrested for illegally obtaining a host of antiquities including more than a thousand coins of historical significance, police said on Tuesday.
Inside the 72-year-old man’s house in Alexandria, a village in northern Greece, police found 1,061 copper coins, a thousand of which date from the Hellenistic period (third to first century BC), the Byzantine period (330-1453) and the Ottoman Empire. Police said they were seized yesterday, as well as 30 silver coins of the same periods, 16 copper rings and other jewellery of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine era. The antiquities were examined by archaeologists who concluded that they are subject to the law protecting antiquities and the cultural heritage of Greece. An arsenal of 16 revolvers and rifles was also found as well as numerous metal detectors.
The man has been charged in the past for illicit antiquities trafficking, authorities said. Antiquity smuggling is a common problem in Greece and Greek police have made dozens of arrests in recent years. (AFP)
Man dies two years after being struck by stray bullet
Santiago: A 23-year-old Chilean man died after two years in a persistent vegetative state as a result of being shot in the head unintentionally by a law enforcement officer during a student protest in October 2012, his family said Monday.
Angelo Estrada, who died Sunday at his home in Peñaflor, 40 km southwest of Santiago, was hit by the stray bullet while observing the conflict in the street from his fourth-floor apartment in downtown Santiago.
Estrada, a physical education student, died from the stray bullet fired that day by Jorge Retamal from inside a van of the Gendarmeria prison guard service, which was driving around the area to disperse the young protesters who at that moment were clashing with police. Estrada’s parents consider the shot a regrettable accident, and say that Retamal was always concerned about the state of their son’s health. Following the fatal outcome of the shooting, the charge pending against Retamal is expected to be changed to involuntary manslaughter. (IANS)
98,000 denied Makkah entry for Haj
Saudi Arabia has barred 98,000 people from entering Makkah because they did not have Haj permits, me dia reported Tuesday. The authorities also did not allow 25,216 vehicles to enter into the holy site because they were not licensed to carry pilgrims, Arab News reported. Police seized 85 vehicles for violating other Haj-related regulations. Makkah Governor Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah inspected checkpoints and checked the operations at other major entry points to the city.
Last year, 4,000 people who tried to enter Makkah without Haj permits were denied entry. They were deported and banned for 10 years. Their Saudi drivers were imprisoned and had their cars confiscated. (IANS)
Online abuse of women in Pak turns into real-world violence
ISLAMABAD: Internet abuse of women in Pakistan is triggering real world violence against them, but large social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, are moving too slowly to stop it, internet rights group Bytes for All said. Women face online threats globally, but they run a unique risk in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where there is a tradition of men killing women seen as having injured a family’s honour, besides punitive laws against blasphemy. With law enforcement too weak to fight the violence sparked by online campaigns, activists want giant internet firms to roll out greater protection for users, from streamlining how they tackle complaints to faster action against threats of violence. “These technologies are helping to increase violence against women, not just mirroring it,” said Gul Bukhari of Bytes for All, and the author of a report released this week as Pakistan experiences a surge in sectarian hatred, attacks on minorities and blasphemy quarrels. (Reuters)
Belgian police waive traffic fines in protest over pensions
BRUSSELS: Belgians who drive a bit over the speed limit, forget to buckle their seat belts or park illegally can breathe easier this week as police turn a blind eye in protest against plans to raise their retirement age. The country’s police are up in arms over plans by the incoming government to raise their pension age to 62 from 58 as part of its efforts to cut the federal budget. Some 40,000 officers demonstrated against it in Brussels two weeks ago. They began the next step in their protest today by going easy on minor infractions for the next week. “Clearly this wouldn’t cover major offences, such as reckless or drunken driving,” said Vincent Houssin, deputy chairman of the 18,000-member VSOA police union. (Reuters)
Massive 4 kg hairball removed from teenager’s stomach
London: In a life-saving surgery, doctors in Kyrgyzstan have removed a massive 4 kg hairball from a teenager’s stomach. The hairball was formed because the 18-year-old girl chewed the tips of her hair, and even ate hair and bits of wool she found on the carpet at home, doctors said. Ayperi Alekseeva from Batken Province in Kyrgyzstan, had to be transported to a hospital in the capital city of Bishkek for treatment after she could not even drink water without being sick. Medics treating Alekseeva found a massive hairball blocking her digestive system, ‘metro.co.uk’ reported. The girl needed emergency surgery, or she would have died from extreme dehydration and malnourishment, doctors said. (PTI)
“The parents brought her in after she started losing weight, and she couldn’t eat anything. By the time we got her, she could not even drink water. We realised we needed to operate immediately,” said Bahadir Bebezov, who performed the surgery. “It was actually the only alternative, nothing else would solve the problem. In fact, her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out soon as the wall of the stomach was cut,” Bebezov said. Doctors said Alekseeva was psychologically healthy and has promised never to chew her hair again. PTI RCL AKJ RCL 09301453