LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We are in a country without courts of law and a president with all the powers in his hands. This is a clear-cut dictatorial climate.”
Negad Borai,
an Egyptian private law firm director and rights activist Article, 1A
Tunnel collapse kills 9 in Japan
TOKYO - Concrete ceiling panels fell onto moving vehicles inside a Japanese highway tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work Monday.
Two people suffered injuries in the collapse. Officials said it’s not clear whether there are other survivors.
The search was suspended Monday morning while the highway operator worked to support the remaining ceiling panels, said an official at the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
It’s expected to resume by afternoon.
Disabled people protest in Madrid
MADRID - People with disabilities took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to protest against government austerity measures that reduce services, close disability centers and force care workers from their jobs.
More than 10,000 people, many in wheelchairs or led by guide dogs, demonstrated with the slogan “SOS Disability: Save our Rights, Inclusion and Welfare.”
Health-care spending falls to regional governments, many of which are in debt.
Luis Cayo, president of the Spanish committee that represents people with disabilities, said regional governments are about $390 million in arrears to care workers and associations responsible for the needs of disabled people.
“To some, this ... may not be huge, but for us it’s everything,” Cayo said.
Italy’s center-left candidate chosen
ROME - Pier Luigi Bersani, the head of Italy’s main center-left Democratic Party, won a runoff Sunday to be the main center-left candidate for Italy’s 2013 general elections - a vote that polls indicate the Democratic Party could win.
Preliminary results gave Bersani 60.8 percent to Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi’s 39.1 percent, with 66 percent of the votes counted.
Renzi conceded the victory to Bersani in a Twitter message: “It was the right thing to try, it was beautiful to do it together. Thank you all from the heart.”
The primary had been closely watched since the Democratic Party has a significant lead in the polls over former Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom party.
The 2013 general election is expected in March or April.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 12/03/2012