Crucial bridge along East Coast interstate closes indefinitely
over leaning columns ADVERTISING Crucial bridge along East Coast interstate closes indefinitely
over leaning columns WILMINGTON, Del. — Highway engineers say a crucial bridge on the Eastern Seaboard’s interstate highway system could
Crucial bridge along East Coast interstate closes indefinitely
over leaning columns
WILMINGTON, Del. — Highway engineers say a crucial bridge on the Eastern Seaboard’s interstate highway system could imperil drivers if traffic is allowed back on it.
The bridge, near Wilmington, Delaware, was closed Monday when its support pillars were found to be tilting. The Interstate 495 bridge won’t reopen anytime soon, highway officials said Tuesday, and the 90,000 vehicles that cross it every day are being diverted onto the main north highway, I-95, further overloading one of the most crowded arteries in America.
Engineers say ground under the columns moved and caused the supports to tilt. Officials said they believe the mile-long bridge over the Christina River is not in any danger of collapsing under its own weight. But out of concern for public safety, they do not want to allow traffic back on it until they find out more about what caused the pillars to shift.
Strong support for Assad as Syrians vote during civil war in election derided as sham
DAMASCUS, Syria — Against a backdrop of civil war, tens of thousands of Syrians voted in government-controlled cities and towns Tuesday to give President Bashar Assad a new seven-year mandate, with some even marking the ballots with their own blood.
The carefully choreographed election was ignored and even mocked in opposition-held areas of Syria where fighting persisted, with some rebels derisively dropping their shoes in a phony ballot box in a show of disgust. Western leaders also called it a sham.
A victory for Assad is likely to bolster his base of support at home and provide further evidence that he has no intention of relinquishing power, making a protracted conflict the likely outcome in fighting that has already lasted three years.
Fears that the rebels would rain down mortar shells on government-controlled territory did not materialize, but fighting persisted.
State-run media reported that voting closed on midnight Tuesday, and election officials began the process of checking the number of votes against lists of registered voters to ensure numbers matched. In one central Damascus voting booth, 2,196 people cast their ballots — all but two were for Assad, counted an AP reporter who watched representatives of each presidential candidate tally votes.
‘Hunger Games’
salute flashed in
protest in Thailand; arrests threatened
BANGKOK — The three-finger salute from the Hollywood movie “The Hunger Games” is being used as a real symbol of resistance in Thailand. Protesters against the military coup are flashing the gesture as a silent act of rebellion, and they’re being threatened with arrest if they ignore warnings to stop.
Thailand’s military rulers said Tuesday they were monitoring the new form of opposition to the coup. Reporters witnessed the phenomenon and individuals were captured on film making the raised-arm salute.
“Raising three fingers has become a symbol in calling for fundamental political rights,” said anti-coup activist Sombat Boonngam-anong on his Facebook page. He called on people to raise “3 fingers, 3 times a day” — at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. — in safe public places where no police or military are present.
The gesture emerged over the weekend as protesters joined small flash mobs, or stood alone, flashing three fingers in the air.
“We know it comes from the movie, and let’s say it represents resistance against the authorities,” Col. Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak, a spokesman for the junta, told The Associated Press.
By wire sources
