Drinking while on bactrim

Couples kiss during a mass wedding ceremony to mark Valentine’s Day in Taiwan
Around 25 couples tied the knot together on Monday with Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin as the witness for the ceremony. REUTERS/Nicky Loh Copyright © 2011 euronews

Activists try to stop German nuclear waste train
Hundreds of anti-nuclear protestors have tried to stop a shipment of toxic waste in the last stages of its journey across Germany by train. Sixty tons of material are making their way from the western city of Karlsruhe to Lubmin, the main processing facility in eastern Germany. Some activists argued with police. Others even chained themselves to the tracks. Hundreds of police officers travelled in the wagons themselves to keep the train on the rails. There are regular nuclear shipments across Germany. Campaigners say they have been fired up by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent decision to prolong the life of the country’s 17 nuclear power plants. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Japanese parts shortage closes GM plant in US
General Motors is to temporarily close one of its US factories due to a shortage of parts that are made in Japan. It is a sign of the growing effects on the industry from the Japanese earthquake one week ago. The GM plant in Shreveport, Louisiana makes pick-up trucks and will close from 21 March. Analysts said production of cars worldwide is likely to be affected unless Japanese suppliers revive their plants and start sending parts soon. Tim Denoyer, an auto industry analyst with Wolfe Trahan & Co said infrastructure issues in Japan threatened to extend the time these plants are idled. He said Honda is still not in touch with 44 of its 113 suppliers in the quake zone. Nissan’s Senior Vice President Andy Palmer commented: “It only takes one supplier to stop a car plant.” GM said it had “sufficient” vehicles to meet consumer demand and that it hoped to open the Shreveport plant as soon as possible, although it did not specify a timeframe. The largest US carmaker confirmed that its other North American plants are operating normally. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Protests in Tunisia continue to have an effect
Ongoing protests in Tunisia are continuing to wield an effect. The interim government has legalised a moderate Islamist group which was banned under former President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali. Legalisation was one of the protesters’ key demands, and paves the way for the group, Ennahda, to form a political party to take part in elections. Meanwhile, new Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi is to announce the creation of a new council responsible for rewriting the constitution ahead of the next elections. Many who helped oust Ben Ali have continued to protest, angry that some of his former allies were included in the interim administration. Two more ministers quit on Tuesday, meaning five senior figures including the former Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi have left so far this week. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Staying power of Yemen’s Saleh
Ali Abdallah Saleh has been in power in Yemen for 32 years, but how much longer can he hang on? A military man, the Yemeni President is increasingly isolated in the face of growing protests. He has made a series of concessions to the opposition while pursuing a violent crackdown on demonstrators. He famously observed that ruling Yemen was “like dancing on the heads of snakes”, and despite having promised to step down in 2013, he has threatened to wage civil war in the country rather than leave power any sooner. The history of Yemen is marked by divisions. The 1962 coup in which Saleh took part resulted in a civil war which lasted until 1970. During the same period, a rebellion was sparked against the British who controlled the strategically important port of Aden. The UK relinquished the territory in 1967 and subsequently a republic was established in the south of the country, with strong leanings towards Soviet Russia. Saleh was named President of the north of Yemen in 1978 and president of the whole reunited country in 1990. He put down an insurrection in the south of the country in 1994. He managed to get tribal and religious leaders on board by offering them seats in the government and distributing subsidies. In 1999, he won a landslide victory in the first ever presidential elections, with 77% of the vote, and repeated the same feat in 2006, to win a term which in theory will run until 2013. He perhaps did not see the domino effect of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions coming. The population of Yemen, 23 million, suffers 35 percent unemployment, rising to 50 percent among young people. Their oil has all but run out, the country is short of water and other resources, and the people have had enough of President Ali Abdallah Saleh. Copyright © 2011 euronews