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Unlikely weapon: petanque balls help disarm Paris attacker
PARIS (AP) -- They only went out to play a calm game of petanque and enjoy some late summer warmth by a Parisian canal. By the end of the evening, the three friends had neutralized a knife-wielding attacker who had stabbed seven people, with an unlikely weapon: the game's clanking -- and hefty -- metal balls.
Lobbing them in their dozens at the attacker and whacking him on the head with a wooden plank, they managed to bring the horror that befell the 19th district on Sunday night to an end. The attacker is now in custody and police are trying to piece together what happened and what the attacker's motivations for his bloody rampage were.
Without the bravery of the three friends, and the normally-slow-moving steel globes, it could have been a lot worse. The area, after all, was full of revelers from a popular cinema complex, tourists and families. Two British tourists were among those injured
Luckily for everyone there, petanque player Boudjema Hamani and his two friends were on hand and ready to wield their own weapons of choice.
Petanque, a typically Gallic pastime played by some 20 million French in which a ball is slowly rolled along the gravelly ground, is ubiquitous in Parisian courtyards in summer months. It's popular with the elderly, and does not have a reputation associated with danger, action or speed.
Until now.
In a surprise response at 11 p.m., the friends -- none of whom can be considered elderly -- chased the attacker, who officials believe is Afghan, down the street and showered him with their normally-peaceful steel spheres that can weigh almost a kilogram. Some 30 were thrown at the attacker as he was trying to stab people with a 40-centimeter (15-inch) kitchen knife. At least one struck his head.
Hamani, who helped disarm and arrest the knifeman, initially thought it was a normal commotion, perhaps a brawl, nothing especially out of the ordinary.
"But some young girls and young boys ran toward us, telling us 'careful, careful, he has a knife,'" Hamani told The Associated Press.
It was when the knifeman arrived on the Bassin de la Villette canal that Hamani and his friends started throwing their uncommon projectiles and anything else they could find, at him, until he lost his balance and fellow petanque player Reda Smain hit him on the head with a wooden plank.
Smain then managed to wrest the knife away from the attacker, as his friends were able to "block him on the ground," until plainclothes police arrived.
Smain told French network BFMTV that he struck the attacker's left arm, which was holding the knife. "I jumped on the knife, took it from his hand," he said. "Then I fell with him and knocked him out."
The Parisian petanque players were lauded for their bravery as French authorities opened an investigation into the attack. On Twitter, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb praised their "courage and reactivity."
Iraqi city of Basra seethes over water crisis, unemployment
BASRA, Iraq (AP) -- The brackish water pouring from the taps of homes in Basra has caused stomach ailments and skin rashes for thousands in the southern Iraqi city once famous for its network of freshwater canals that gave it the nickname the "Venice of the East."
The contaminated water, along with other failing city services and soaring unemployment in Basra, has fueled violent unrest since July in Iraq's oil-exporting capital.
During a week of demonstrations, protesters set fire to government buildings and offices of Iranian-backed militias that they blame for mismanagement and profiteering while residents struggle with poverty.
"We have a treasure trove of oil beneath our feet, so how is it possible we don't have drinking water?" said Zein al-Abedein Abdullah, a 19-year-old being treated at the overcrowded Sadr Hospital after the simple act of brushing his teeth with tap water at home.
The violence in Basra is threatening to spread to other cities in Iraq's southern Shiite heartland and the capital of Baghdad, where lawmakers are locked in a political struggle over who should be the next prime minister, with Iran and the United States each supporting rival factions.
There are concerns that sustained violence could also disrupt oil production in Basra, home to 70 percent of Iraq's petroleum reserves, and at the country's main seaport of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. That could lead to renewed chaos just as Iraq is emerging from a long and bloody fight against the Islamic State group.
At least 15 people were killed and 249 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces in Basra so far this week, health officials say.
Embattled Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, who has ordered an investigation into the violence, visited the city Monday, triggering renewed protests following a one-night hiatus. Hundreds of protesters gathered in a central square, chanting anti-government slogans, with some calling on him to leave. Their key demands have not been addressed, and it will be an enormous challenge for the government to turn around services that are in a state of disrepair after years of neglect.
At a minimum, it will take five weeks to bring potable water to central Basra, said Gov. Asaad al-Aidani on Sunday.
A combination of natural and manmade factors has created the crisis, shrinking the network of waterways that made Basra the "Venice of the East," and also diminishing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which nourished civilizations since antiquity and made Iraq known as the "Land Between the Two Rivers."
Streams and canals have become clogged with trash from dumping. A drop in seasonal rainfall, the use of upstream dams in Turkey, Syria and Iran, and a general crumbling of the country's infrastructure all have contributed to the acute lack of fresh water.
A salty tide from the Persian Gulf has advanced into the marshlands north from the Shatt al-Arab waterway -- the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers that Basra depends on -- and seeped into once-lush farmland.
Man arrested in extraordinary airport car chase
PARIS (AP) -- Pursued by police vehicles, a man smashed a stolen car Monday into security barriers at two airports in Lyon, southeast France, and then crashed through two glass doors of a terminal and sped onto the runway, before being arrested.
The dramatic car chase was captured on amateur video. It showed the car hitting a bump, going airborne and landing in a cloud of dust at Lyon's international Saint-Exupery airport. The driver jumped out while the vehicle was still rolling and sprinted off on foot, pursued by a police van.
Other police vehicles and officers on foot then tried to cut off his escape until one of them managed to catch up with the suspect and wrestle him to the ground, the video showed.
The man's motives were unknown and nothing was being ruled out, regional government press officer Christelle Monteagudo said.
Another official with direct knowledge of the investigation said there was no immediate evidence pointing to a terrorist motive. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the probe.
The man, aged 31 and believed to be French, was previously known to police only for traffic violations, in 2007 and 2009, the official said. The vehicle he used as a battering ram was stolen, the official added.
The man was first spotted driving the wrong way on the A43 highway that links Lyon to the Alps. Highway police and a police helicopter laid chase, the regional government said in a statement. Police fired shots during the pursuit, the official said.