Man stranded in desert builds motorcycle out of his broken car

According to Merriam-Webster, ingenuity can be defined as "skill or cleverness in devising or combining" or "cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance." We'd say that's an apt description of a Frenchman named Emile who reportedly found himself stranded in the deserts of Northwest Africa after breaking a frame rail and a suspension swingarm underneath his Citroën 2CV.

What to do? Why, disassemble the broken hulk and build yourself a motorcycle from its pile of parts, of course! As the story goes, Emile was able to use the inventive machine to escape the desert, though not before convincing the local authorities that he wasn't an insurgent and paying a fine for importing a non-conforming vehicle...

Since Emile was the only soul in the area, nobody has been able to confirm the veracity of the events that led to the little French runabout's conversion into a makeshift motorcycle. That said, judging by the images you can see here (apparently from the March 2003 issue of 2CV Magazine), this Citroën-bred two-wheeler does indeed exist, and it was definitely fashioned from parts scavenged from an old 2CV.

Emile, wherever you are, we take our hats off to your real-life MacGyver skills, sir.

Abu Yahya al-Libi was 'gatekeeper' for al-Qaeda leaders

Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi has been killed in a drone strike in Pakistan on Monday that killed 15 suspected militants, US officials have said. Al-Libi functioned as a "gatekeeper" between al-Qaeda's leader and operatives in the field, Seth Jones, senior political scientist at the Rand Corporation tells the BBC's Jane O'Brien. But Mr Jones warned that "there is very little history that precision strikes like this, by themselves, will defeat terrorist organisations".

Death toll from Nigeria passenger plane crash rises to 157

NIGERIAN rescuers have confirmed the first deaths on the ground caused by a devastating plane crash in the country's largest city, raising the toll to 157. More than 150 die in Nigeria plane crash Nigeria mourns air crash dead The death toll rose after rescuers confirmed the deaths of at least four people from a residential building in the Lagos neighbourhood where the Dan Air MD83 crashed on Sunday afternoon, in addition to the 153 crew and passengers, the official said. ''A couple died while their children survived, then a woman and her daughter,'' the official said today. The number of deaths could rise further as searches continue at the site near the airport, particularly amid the ruins of the two-storey residential building. Rains prevented work from resuming early today, with fears that the remains of the building could collapse. The victims include a number of foreigners, including six Chinese, an Indian and an unclear number of Americans. The pilot was an American and the co-pilot was Indian, the country's civil aviation chief has said. The plane, travelling from the capital Abuja to Lagos, had reported both of its engines having failed before it went down, according to the civil aviation chief. Rescue officials have said the body of a woman was discovered on Monday clutching her baby. The crash happened Sunday afternoon in Lagos' Iju-Ishaga neighbourhood, about nine kilometres from Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Fighting at Tripoli airport, gunmen surround planes

Clashes broke out between rival Libyan militias at Tripoli's international airport on Monday after gunmen drove armed pickup trucks onto the tarmac and surrounded planes, forcing the airport to cancel flights. In a fresh challenge to the interim government's weak authority, members of the al-Awfea Brigade occupied the airport for several hours demanding the release of their leader whom they said was being held by Tripoli's security forces. An Italian passenger who was due to fly out and later arrived at a Tripoli hotel described the situation as chaotic. "There were about 200 of them who came into the airport, they were armed. We were waiting to board our flight and we could hear noises, people shouting," he said. Leaders of militias which became part of the government's official security forces after the war which ousted Muammar Gaddafi said they had intervened to stop the fighting, in which they said 10 people were injured, without government leadership. Government spokespeople were not available for comment much of the day but later said the situation had been resolved. "The airport will resume operation within 24 hours. I heard there were some injured," government spokesman Nasser al-Manee told a late night press conference, without giving a number of those wounded in the clashes. Weeks before a planned election, Libya's new rulers are struggling to assert control over an array of former fighters who still refuse to lay down their arms after last year's war. STAND OFF AND NEGOTIATIONS In a dramatic move, 60-to-70 armed militia vehicles from the al-Awfea Brigade ambushed the airport's tarmac from adjacent open fields. Surrounding the planes, the militiamen forced some passengers off the planes, a brigade fighter said. A member of the Awfea militia, which came from the city of Tarhouna, 80 km southeast of Tripoli, said the militia believed their leader, Colonel Abu Oegeila al-Hebshi, had been detained by the Tripoli Security Committee on Sunday night. "We are protesting his kidnapping by coming to this airport," Anas Amara said. "We have one tank outside the airport and our cars are surrounding the airplanes so they don't fly." Violence later broke out when militia groups from Tripoli and the mountain town of Zintan arrived to try to get the Awfea militia to leave the airport. Hakim Buhagir, leader of a Tripoli brigade, said they persuaded the Awfea fighters to hand over their weapons. "We negotiated with them and promised them we would help find their leader within three days and they were convinced," he said. "We let them go after confiscating their heavy weapons and drafting a list of their names." NO GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION By nightfall former fighter brigades had helped to restore calm, but the airport remained non-operational. Eleven planes including Austrian Airlines and Alitalia aircraft stood vacant on the tarmac, and more than 30 pickup trucks fitted with anti-aircraft weapons stood idle nearby, securing the location. Fighters smoked and chatted near their cars, swinging their Kalashnikovs over their shoulders and sometimes firing anti-aircraft rounds into the air in celebration. "The revolutionaries of Libya freed the airport today, not the government," Essam al-Gatous, leader of one brigade, said. Monday's violence is the latest in a series of incidents as the North African country prepares for its first free polls for a national assembly since last year's war. Disgruntled former fighters have held regular protests that at times have turned violent. Last month, one person was killed and several were wounded when militiamen protesting outside the prime minister's office started shooting. In November, about 100 Libyans surrounded a Tunisian passenger aircraft at Tripoli's Mitiga airport, delaying its takeoff in an anti-government protest.