Word: mortars
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...trench. Down below the ridge, plum orchards in spring bloom conceal the Muslim lines. Exploding artillery shells trigger small avalanches along the rain-loosened earth walls. A young Serb slides into the trench, out of breath from his dash across a meadow of buttercups pocked by mortar craters. He has a question to ask that is important enough to risk his life. "Why does the world want to destroy us?" he wants to know. "We are victims...
Biological wizardry of a different sort is responsible for the ruggedness of abalone shells, which under high-powered microscopes resemble elaborately constructed stone walls. In this case, crystals of calcium carbonate, siphoned from seawater, serve as the stones, while a slurry of protein and complex sugars acts as the mortar between them. "The ingredients themselves are not at all impressive," marvels Princeton University materials scientist Ilhan Aksay. "Yet the shell is as strong as the most advanced man-made ceramics." And if a simple stone-and-mortar design can turn an intrinsically chalky substance into a tough coat of armor...
Bush landed just four days after Somalia's two top warlords staged a splashy joint appearance to announce the opening of the "green line" dividing Mogadishu's northern and southern sectors. But only a few hours later, warring clans exchanged unusually heavy mortar and artillery fire...
Arriving in Lusaka today, a visitor might think Zambia is a country emerging from war. Stretches of road in the capital look as if they have been under mortar bombardment. Buildings are dilapidated, vehicles rattletrap. Thousands live in tin-shelter shantytowns. Unemployment and crime are running high. Zambia has become one of the poorest nations anywhere, with one of the world's highest per capita foreign debts -- nearly $1,000 for each of its 8 million people; average annual income per person is less than $290. As in many African countries, a small layer of extremely wealthy people flourishes above...
When a British Hercules transport plane heading away from Sarajevo was tracked by ground-based radar, U.N. peacekeepers on the ground responded by closing the airport. It reopened two days later but closed briefly on Saturday after mortar fire hit the U.N. headquarters...