Word: flours
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Meanwhile, he does what he can. He has befriended District Commissioner Mullah Abdul Raziq, and is encouraging him to take a stronger leadership role. He gives Raziq money, flour and oil to pass out to the villagers that have returned. Today, he has asked Raziq to convene a shura, or meeting, with the village elders. En route to the gathering, Shervington encounters another farmer tending to his opium harvest. "Last time you brought us shoes as gifts and it made big problems for us," Ghulam Madin tells the major. "The Taliban came and took them away. We had to promise...
...Raziq hugs old friends as he arrives for the shura in the mosque courtyard where some 30 men wait under shade trees. They are happy to see him, but wary too, having been warned by the Taliban to stay away. But these are hungry times, and the promise of flour draws them anyway. Shervington tells the gathered men, "I know you are scared of the big guns up on the hill. If the Taliban come here and fire at me, I promise I will not fire back into your village. But I also need your help to defeat the Taliban...
...long white beard responds. "I have heard from the Taliban commander that you British soldiers have come to kill civilians." Before Shervington can answer, a rocket-propelled grenade whistles over the gathering. He dives to protect Raziq, while the soldiers take cover. The villagers, unperturbed, gather around the flour-laden truck to get their rations; then they disappear. The RPG had come from a compound further south, aimed not at the shura, but at the British forces waiting on the road. Unable to spot the insurgents, the soldiers are prevented from returning fire...
...wasn't the running, per se, that got the Harriers in trouble. Police suspected that the baking flour the runners used to mark their route was a toxic powder. After the run ended, they were taken into custody and interviewed for several hours while police conducted forensic tests on the flour. At 4 a.m. they were finally allowed to go home. The experience was particularly unsettling because there was nothing unusual about the Harriers' event - the group has been gathering for runs in Beijing since the 1980s. So why did police decide to pay such close attention now? "Paranoia," says...
...Growing up in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe where day-to-day items like gasoline and flour are considered luxuries, taught Mudzingwa the importance of recognizing his blessings...