Word: makeshift
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ERIC BESSON, French Immigration Minister, on the Sept. 22 dismantling of a makeshift refugee camp in the northern city of Calais. Known as "the jungle," it housed hundreds of Afghans and Pakistanis...
...Amused Padang residents watch as orange-jumpsuited foreigners gently pour water over the dogs in a makeshift tub, whispering endearments at the animals. Hornisbesger says that when she worked in Turkey, some people threw stones at the dogs because they are considered unclean and unwelcome beasts by some Muslims. (Islamic tradition does not generally embrace keeping dogs as pets.) But she has been impressed by how welcoming Indonesians, living in a Muslim majority nation, have been of the Swiss menagerie. "Everyone has been very friendly and tolerant," she says. "I think they realize that these dogs may be the ones...
...Sept. 30, killing upwards of 1,100, according to the last U.N. estimate. But small signs of life are returning to the villages surrounding the town of Pariaman, where at least 234 people have been confirmed killed and another 400 are missing and presumed dead. Boys are using makeshift rackets to play badminton amid the wreckage of houses with walls peeled away or roofs pitched at impossible angles. In one community around 20 km (12.4 miles) from the quake's epicenter, a local entertainer gathered an audience by kerosene light for an impromptu magic show. For the first time...
...Manhunt Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) is a notoriously unstable chemical compound known among Palestinian militants as umm shaitan, or the mother of Satan. Many would-be bombmakers have suffered severe burns while trying to mix the explosive in makeshift laboratories. For terrorist groups, however, the risks of TATP are outweighed by the advantages. The white, sugarlike powder is lightweight and nearly odorless (the better to evade bomb-sniffing dogs) and contains no nitrogen (foiling scanners that detect nitrogenous bombs). Its basic ingredients - acetone, hydrogen peroxide and acid - are readily available in beauty supplies and home-improvement products. Al-Qaeda operatives have...
...plastic bags and other refuse led to roads becoming rivers and gardens lagoons. Video images of desperate people riding floating pontoons of garbage down inundated streets were a sign not just of the consequences of the flood, but also its causes. Many impoverished Manila residents live in makeshift settlements by rivers and creeks - the source of their drinking water - that overflowed and carried off their homes. "People have always been living on the edge," says Carlos Celdran, a popular Manila historian and performing artist. "It's amazing the city has actually managed to make it this...