Face-off growing sharper in Egypt

Face-off growing sharper in Egypt

cairo

The face-off between Egypt’s new Islamist president and the old-guard military sharpened Tuesday, with parliament defying orders to disband and the highest court slapping back at Mohammed Morsi in what has become an early glimpse into how he may flex his power.

Morsi’s rapid-fire moves against Egypt’s entrenched institutions show he is willing to push back against the establishment left over from the era of deposed President Hosni Mubarak. But — so far at least — he and his Muslim Brotherhood allies also have displayed restraint and appear intent on avoiding a collision course during a sensitive transition period.

Alligator bites off teen’s arm in Fla.

moore haven, fla.

An alligator at least 10 feet long lunged at a teenager swimming in a river and bit off the teen’s right arm below the elbow, state wildlife officials said Tuesday.

Kaleb Langdale, 17, survived the encounter Monday in the Caloosahatchee River west of Lake Okeechobee. Wildlife officers who caught and killed the alligator retrieved the arm, but doctors were unable to reattach it.

The teen was in good condition Tuesday at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers.

Since 1948, 224 people have suffered major alligator bites, including 22 fatal bites, according to June 2011 conservation commission data.

Warlord sentenced to 14 years in prison

johannesburg

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a Congolese warlord to 14 years in jail for using child soldiers — a punishment meant to bring justice for his victims, to signal a warning to others and to act as a potential landmark in the struggle to protect children entangled in wars.

Thomas Lubanga was found guilty in March of recruiting, kidnapping and abusing children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia — sending them to kill and be killed during tribal fighting over land and resources in Congo’s northeast Ituri region in 2002-03.

Firefighters win federal insurance

denver

President Barack Obama will make federal health insurance available to about 8,000 temporary wildland firefighters, a White House official said Tuesday.

Despite the grueling and dangerous work they do, the 8,000 firefighters aren’t covered by federal health insurance because they are temporary seasonal employees. Under federal personnel rules, such employees can’t buy into federal health insurance plans.

UK police: Heir’s wife is found dead

london

One of Britain’s richest women, American-born Eva Rausing, was found dead in her west London home and a man was arrested in connection with the case, British police said Tuesday, adding that an autopsy had failed to uncover a formal cause of death.

Rausing, 48, was the wife of Hans Kristian Rausing, heir to the TetraPak fortune his father built by creating a successful manufacturer of laminated cardboard drink containers.

Both Rausing and her husband have had long- running and often public battles against addiction.

British police said they had arrested a 49-year-old man Monday on suspicion of drug possession and a subsequent search of an address in London’s tony Belgravia neighborhood related to that arrest turned up Rausing’s body later that day.

Associated Press