Sunday, January 15, 2006

The King is Dead


Swiped (and annotated) off Yahoo News. Note the bit about me suddenly having three days off after exactly ONE day at work. (Sorry to hear about the colon problems. Am I the only one who is disturbed by too much detail about the health of world leaders?)

KUWAIT CITY - Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, the emir of Kuwait who survived an assassination attempt in the 1980s and a decade later escaped Iraqi troops invading his oil-rich Persian Gulf state, died Sunday, state television announced. The sheik, who had been ailing since suffering a brain hemorrhage five years ago, was 79.

Crown Prince Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, a distant cousin chosen by the emir as his heir apparent in 1978, takes over as ruler of the tiny oil-rich country — a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. He is 75 and has colon problems.

The government announced a 40-day period of mourning and said government offices would be closed for three days beginning Sunday.

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