It's not every day that you meet someone who has set himself on fire. One reason for this is because it's pretty much the most awful and insane thing imaginable. Another reason is that people who light themselves ablaze usually die soon afterward. Surprisingly, it's not always the burns that kill them. Often, flames will enter a self-immolator's lungs through his mouth, causing him to asphyxiate.

On a recent trip to Bulgaria, I met not one but two people who had survived suicide attempts by fire. "Solving problems with gasoline has become the new trend," Georgi Kostov told me in the burn-victim unit of St. George hospital in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city. He was still in shock, so his wife, Donka, did most of the talking.

She explained how the couple were unemployed, in debt, and struggling to feed their children, when, two weeks before my visit, Georgi disappeared into his bedroom at their apartment in the industrial city of Dimitrovgrad. He came out doused in gasoline, convinced that the Mafia was outside his front door to collect on his debts and kill him. Standing in front of his family, he flicked on his lighter and burst into flames. Donka leapt onto him to put out the blaze while his sister threw water on him. They succeeded in saving Georgi, but his wife suffered third-degree burns all over her arms in the process. "He was so depressed," she said. "He didn't know how to make anyone notice our poverty. So he did this horrible thing."

Disturbing footage from Ukraine shows violence spiraling out of control during anti-government protests, with rioters attacking and capturing policemen standing their ground. The Interior Ministry has hinted at a tough response if the unrest continues.

Western media exploded with outrage at the abuse of a Ukrainian rioter who was stripped naked and mocked by the police for "particularly accurate" petrol bomb throwing. However, few outlets have highlighted the violence coming from those on the other side of the barricades.

On Saturday, protesters in the city of Vinnitsa occupied the city council building, breaking a feeble cordon of interior troops. A triumphant mob cheered and poured into the building as the doors flung open, only to find that more police were blocking the stairs to the upper floors.

A propane shortage is affecting millions of Americans this week as brutal cold exposes the vulnerabilities of a network responsible for heating homes, schools and businesses across wide swathes of the United States.

Prices of the fuel have rocketed to all-time highs in some regions, distributors are rationing supplies, and some schools have shut due to a lack of fuel during this year's second bout of Arctic weather.

The National Propane Gas Association said on Thursday the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri are worst hit and that it has heard that some retailers have run out of supplies.

Indonesians in Jakarta are still reeling from the massive flooding brought on by the rainy season. While logistics and food supplies are being distributed to evacuation sites, some evacuees in small shelters claim they are being left out.

Indonesians in the capital city of Jakarta are still reeling from the massive flooding brought on by the rainy season.

Home to nine million people, the capital has already seen some 62,000 being displaced.

While logistics and food supplies are being distributed to evacuation sites, some evacuees who have sought refuge in small shelters are claiming they are being left out.

One flood victim, Tuti Mahyanti and her family have been staying at a shelter in East Jakarta for the past week.

Living in close proximity to a river and having to seek temporary shelter from the floods is not her first experience.

But it is an experience one can never get used to.

For now, her family of four have to contend with sleeping on a small carpet laid out on a carton.

Texas - Another Dallas police officer is under investigation for shooting an unarmed man as he surrendered with both hands in the air.

Witness Scottie Smith II said he watched as a Dallas police officer shot carjacking suspect Kelvion Walker, 19, who had both hands in the air. The incident occurred on December 9th, 2013.

The officer was identified as Senior Cpl. Amy Wilburn, who was hired in 2001 and is a veteran officer. Walker was not charged with a crime and was put into critical condition at a Dallas hospital following the shooting.

The Dallas Police Department issued a news release late Tuesday about the shooting. The statement said that no weapons were found in the car. It also said police were reviewing dash cam video from the squad cars and were attempting to enhance the video in order to assist in the investigation.

The statement did say that investigators had spoken to an independent witness who told them that Walker had both his hands in the air.

"He was screaming," said Robert Rogers, who is representing Walker. "It was clear to her that there wasn't a threat once she could see both hands. He was obviously incapacitated."

In order to stop contaminated groundwater from leaking at the Fukushima nuclear power station, the Japanese are planning to use artificial permafrost there. They're going to drill 30-metre-deep pipes with liquid nitrogen. The construction of the huge underground fridge will start soon and is scheduled to end next year.

The situation with the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors still remains very serious. Three years have passed since the time when an earthquake and tsunami caused a disaster at the power plant, but a great deal of experts still describes the situation as a crisis which might transform into a catastrophe if continuous leaks of radioactive water are not stopped.

At the moment, the radiation level at the power station and in its neighborhood breaks all the records. In fact it's so high that can kill a person over a period of a few hours.

The amount of radioactive substances in water samples collected on January 17 from a well, situated on the territory of the second unit of the Fukushima power plant, exceeded 24 million Bq per liter with the standard of 150 million Bq per liter. In order to put an end to the leaks at the wrecked power station, Japanese want to freeze earth around all four damaged reactor buildings.

The ice wall will run circa 1.5 kilometers. Vertical pipes with coolant will be drilled into the radioactive ground. This technology is rather costly and hasn't been used on such a large scale ever, Oleg Dvoynikov, the editor-in-chief of Pro atom magazine, told the Voice of Russia.

"As far as the cooling of earth is concerned, surely, it's possible to do it from a technical point of view. But they will need a nitrogen unit, practically, a plant working non-stop. It's bad the Japanese won't let any foreign experts visit the station. And there were offers of help, not only from Russia but from many other countries too," he says.

At first it seems like there is no way the woman and child seen mown down in this video could possibly survive the incident.

In footage which played out on local Brazilian TV and has since been viewed thousands of times online, Vilma Nascimento and her five-year-old grandson Joao can be seen walking along the street hand-in-hand.

Up ahead of them a car tries to pull out of a side road at the same time as another vehicle comes speeding towards the camera - and as the two crash, the second is sent swerving out of control.

It crashes into a parked Chevrolet, making it plough strait into the woman and child as they try to run to the side.

Three people have been killed in a shooting at Columbia Mall in Howard County, Md. Saturday, police confirmed.

The suspect was among those found dead. His body was located near a gun and ammunition, police said. Three witnesses described the gun as a shotgun, though police have not yet confirmed the weapon used.

Police said they were "confident" that there was no other shooter involved in the shooting, which was first reported just after 11 a.m.

Two other people reportedly have been transported to hospitals with injuries that were not directly connected to the shooting, though they may have been related to the chaotic scene that followed.

The scene is now secure, though police are asking shoppers who took shelter in the mall to wait for police to evacuate them. There are believed to be "many, many people still in the mall," said Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon at a press conference this afternoon.

No other information has been released about the other victims. McMahon would not speculate on the shooter's motive and said he did not know how many total shots were fired, though none came from police.

Eyewitnesses described a nightmarish scene inside the popular mall, crowded with weekend shoppers. One woman said she heard what sounded like "something being dropped" and then realized the sound was gunshots.

eBay UK is to limit sales of bitcoin to its classified advertising platform from February 10, banning the currency from its auction and buy-it-now formats.

After the change comes into force, merchants will only be able to sell bitcoin through the classified ads format, which requires the buyer to contact the seller directly, without obligation.

"To promote a trustworthy marketplace and ensure compliance with applicable regulations, eBay is currently updating its currency policy," the site said in a statement. "The updated policy will clarify that listings for Bitcoin and other similar virtual currencies must be listed in the virtual currency category in the classified ad format.

"The virtual currency category is expected to be available on the UK site on February 10th."

Bitcoin transactions are unusual in that they are (comparatively) instantaneous and irreversible. Under eBay's normal auction rules, this could leave the site open to fraud, with a buyer purchasing bitcoins and then refusing to pay, or initiating a credit-card chargeback. By switching to the classified ads model, where users pay for an ad up front and eBay takes no part in settling the deal, the site removes itself from the risky end of the transaction.

Bitcoin is not currently covered by any of the site's policies, and since the site does not specify items which are allowed to be sold, only those which are prohibited or restricted from sale, that means that until now the currency has been traded relatively freely. One merchant is selling bitcoins in 0.02 BTC increments for £15.99; another, claiming to be the "cheapest on eBay", sells the same for £24.99.

A diet of bread and water is the punishment for dozens of Arizona inmates who allegedly defaced American flags placed in their jail cells.

The 38 male inmates are part of the Maricopa County jail system, which is under the control of controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio.

For their alleged unpatriotic acts, the sheriff said Thursday, they'll survive on bread and water for seven days.

"These inmates have destroyed the American flag that was placed in their cells," Arpaio said. "Tearing them, writing on them, stepping on them, throwing them in the toilet, trash or wherever they feel. It's a disgrace ... this is government property that they are destroying, and we will take action against those who act this way."

The flags are part of a push for patriotism in county jail cells that includes listening to the "Star-Spangled Banner" every morning and "God Bless America" every night over the intercom system.