Maksharip Aushev was killed at about 9:30 a.m. Moscow time (6:30 a.m. GMT) on Sunday when a black VAZ car came under automatic fire near the village of Nartan in the Chegem district in western Kabardino-Balkaria, the police source said.

Aushev who was driving the car was killed while a passenger inside the car was wounded and taken to hospital, the police source said.

Aushev was an associate of Ingush opposition journalist Magomed Yevloyev, the owner of the Ingushetia.ru opposition website, who was killed in police custody in August 2008 from what the police said was “an accidental gun shot,” which led to large scale protests in the republic.

Aushev ran the Ingushetia.ru website for some time before quitting opposition activity and engaging in business.

Source RIA Novosti

Net News Publisher

Police in the US state of Minnesota are planning to auction off a specially modified and motorised lounge chair whose owner crashed it while drunk.

Dennis LeRoy Anderson, 62, pleaded guilty last Monday to driving the La-Z-Boy while drunk in August last year.

The chair was impounded after he smashed into a parked car as he returned from a bar in Proctor.

The chair comes with a stereo, nitrous oxide booster, parachute and a “hell yeah it’s fast” sticker.

Local police chief Walter Wobig told Agence France-Presse news agency the chair would be posted on eBay next week with no reserve price.

Minnesota police can auction off vehicles seized in drink-drive cases or keep them for official use.

The blue and black chair’s other attractions include headlights and a steering wheel in the style of a drag-racer. It can reach up to 20mph (32km/h) with its lawnmower-powered engine.

Mr Anderson, who was not badly injured in the accident, was found to have three times the legal limit when arrested. He said he had drunk eight or nine beers.

Mr Anderson was sentenced to 180 days in jail, suspended pending two years of probation.

The only problem I can see is that the author of this report failed to appreciate the geography of the situation. According to the map provided on the Web page, Proctor is significantly north of Minneapolis, right on the westernmost tip of Lake Superior. Thus, while trying to be thorough about all of this chair’s features, the reporter neglected to mention whether or not it comes with a set of custom-made tire chains!

I was also amused that the police chief was interviewed by Agence France-Presse. For all I know, this was the only interview he gave. When other reporters approached the press liaison officer for the Proctor Police Department, they were all greeted with the same terse message, “Wobig gone!”

Posted by Stephen Smoliar

Net News Publisher for World News

Parishioners who gathered for Mass on Sunday discovered the body of Guenther Link. The 45-year-old recently got stuck in an elevator and prayed for release.

After he was rescued, Link went to the church to thank God, and apparently embraced a stone pillar, causing the huge gravestone to fall and crush him.

Local police confirmed that Link’s fingerprints were found on the stone. An investigation is underway.

Source RIA Novosti

Net News Publisher