Medical tests Monday on Sarkozy's heart showed no signs of irregular heartbeat and no long term consequences for the president's heart. Doctors diagnosed Sarkozy with "lipothymic" discomfort due to overexertion at high temperatures in a "context of fatigue linked to a large workload," the statement said. …

"It's a little incident that could happen to anyone at some point in their life, above all ... to anyone who works a lot," said Patrick Devedjian, France's minister for economic recovery and a close friend of Sarkozy.

Granted, only the head of state would be rushed to the military hospital by helicopter – but since France has socialized healthcare, The Stiletto wondered whether Sarkozy was treated with greater alacrity and given more tests than the average homme dans la rue. Turns out that France has a sort of public-private hybrid system, according to Healthcare Economist:

France provides a basic, universal health insurances [sic] through large occupation-based funds. The General National Health Inusrance [sic] Scheme covers 83% of French workers, while other occupational specific (e.g.: for agricultural workers, for the self employed, for miners, etc.) cover the remainder. About 99% of individuals are covered by this universal health insurance system.

However, France utilizes more market-based ideas than most people realized. Copayment rates for most services are 10%-40%. About 92% of French residents have complementary private health insurance. ...

The government does not reimburse new technologies very generously and because of global budgets and fee restrictions, there is little incentive to make capital investments in medical technology.

France has generally avoided waiting lists, likely due to the fairly high coinsurance charges. Recent trends towards increased restrictions, reduced reimbursement rates, and rationing has increased wait times however. ...

Despite some problems, France has generally avoided the rationing inherent in other systems. However, the program is threatened by increasing costs and may be forced to resort to rationing in the future.

Good thing Sarko had his "vasovagal episode" before wait times for treatment increased. He’s also lucky that, as a member of France’s elite, he got the sorts of high-tech tests generally unavailable to his countrymen.

Turks Destroy Ancient Christian Shrines, Artifacts In Cyprus

Thousands of Orthodox icons, manuscripts, frescoes and mosaics have been looted from churches, chapels and monasteries in northern Cyprus, ending up on international auction blocks, says the document, the result of a lengthy investigation by the Helsinki Commission and titled "Destruction of Cultural Property in the Northern Part of Cyprus and Violations of International Law." …

Most of the ruined property belongs to the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, one of the world's oldest national Orthodox churches, with the rest belonging to Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Maronite and Jewish groups.

Thirty-five years of occupation of Northern Cyprus by Turkish forces have ruined "a plethora of archeological and religious sites," says the report, which adds that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been documenting the destruction since 1984.

According to the report:

† 500 Orthodox churches or chapels have been pillaged, demolished or vandalized.

† 133 churches, chapels and monasteries have been desecrated

† 15,000 paintings have disappeared.

† 77 churches have been turned into mosques, 28 are being used by the Turkish military as hospitals or camps, and 13 have been turned into barns. …

According to the report, the 77 churches converted into mosques have texts from the Koran inscribed where icons and paintings used to be; the St. Anastasia monastery is now a hotel with a swimming pool and casino; and the Byzantine-era monastery of Antiphonetes has had its icons and murals removed and sold to art dealers.

Predictably, Turkey claimed that “both sides” committed genocide, er, destroyed shrines and cultural artifacts – which doesn’t pass the smell test, considering that Turks (second item) and other Muslims have a long history of defiling and destroying Christian churches, cemeteries and artifacts.

Another case in point: A restoration project at the former Byzantine cathedral of Haghia Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul) has revealed the mosaic face of an angel that had been covered over with plaster along with other Christian mosaics since the city was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 and the cathedral was turned into a mosque, reports The Associated Press:

Haghia Sophia, also called the Church of Holy Wisdom, was built in 537 B.C. and remained a symbol of Byzantine grandeur until Istanbul was conquered by Muslim armies.

The structure was then turned into a mosque - minarets were added and crosses and other Christian symbols were defaced. It became one of the most renowned mosques of the expanding Ottoman Empire.

The site was later converted to a museum under the secular reforms of modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, attracting thousands of visitors each year.

Now that Haghia Sophia is no longer a house of worship, the Turkish government will allow the public to see the faces of the two seraphim when the restoration project is completed.

Liberian President Speaks Out In Support Of 8-Year Old Rape Victim In AZ

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, decrying reports that the parents of an 8-year-old Liberian refugee believe their family has been dishonored after the girl was gang-raped by four Liberian boys ages 9 to 14, in Phoenix, AZ, reports CNN:

"This is not a question of shame on the family. It is the question of an assault on a young child. That cannot be tolerated." …

"We are so saddened," Sirleaf said. "We are deeply distressed at this behavior on the part of our young Liberians and very saddened at this 8-year-old child who has been so victimized." …

Speaking from Liberia, Sirleaf said the family's reaction to the incident is wrong. "They should help that child who has been traumatized," she said.

She suggested the family members "need serious counseling because, clearly, they are doing something that is no longer acceptable in our society here."

She also called upon Phoenix authorities to counsel the alleged attackers. "They have to pay the penalty, but we also want to make sure that they are counseled ... that they will have an opportunity to change and become useful citizens, not only in the United States but when they return home."

Detectives said the girl was placed in the custody of Phoenix child protective services after the attack because of her parents' attitude toward her. …

Milton Barnes, Liberia's ambassador to the United States, said he also will step in to help the victim.

Our own president has not been moved to make a similar statement decrying the family’s outlandish cultrual attitudes that are implacably at odds with American mores and jurisprudence, but then he thinks it's perfectly fine for women to be subjugated for religious and cultural reasons even when they live in Western nations.

Marmotan-American Victim Of Police Brutality  

Decrying the killing of yet another young Marmota male by prejudiced police officers – or Sapien Supremacists (SS), to use the term coined by professor Henry Louis Gates, who is director of Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research – community activists are demanding that the officers be suspended until a thorough investigation is completed.

When asked about the Boonton incident at a press conference, President Barack Hussein Obama said: “I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, but I think it's fair to say that the police acted stupidly. We know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of Marmotan-Americans being killed by law enforcement officers disproportionately. That's just a fact. The more we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody's going to be.”