Brazil's bid to win a sixth World Cup has suffered a devastating blow after Neymar was ruled out of the rest of the tournament after fracturing a bone in his back during the quarter-final victory against Colombia.
Iron cramps and bars intended to strengthen it were also corroding and fracturing the stone.
For whatever the establishment now is, the idea of a black, British star transmitting an embittered, alienated slang that graphically illustrates urban blight, that draws unnerving attention to a tense, endlessly fracturing racial divide, is deeply unwelcome.
Being by its nature an insular sort of campaign it doesn't seem to have noticed that there is already an EU Referendum Campaign or that the EU may be busily fracturing under centrifugal financial pressures caused by the eurozone's flawed monetary union.
This frontline at Mariam Bek marks the new 1,000km faultline along which Iraq is fracturing.
And then there are geopolitical concerns: Angela Merkel the German chancellor, is said to be among those who fear the consequences of a fracturing Europe when Russia is menacing its neighbours.
He died in 2013.In this section On borrowed time Feeling very mellow Tropic of Copenhagen Dilma changes course ReprintsWithout Chávez's charisma and oil-fuelled largesse to hold it together, Mr Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is fracturing.
The outcome will be a government whose legitimacy is seriously wounded from the outset; and a country in renewed danger of fracturing along ethnic and tribal lines.In parts of the south and east, where the insurgency by the Taliban and other groups is strongest, no more than 5-10% of voters managed to cast their ballots.
While the surface is fracturing, the force remains constant, and small filaments of polymer are torn off.
Clearly, he is concerned that Mr Ozawa might direct a stealth attack on his government during the DPJ's leadership elections in September.Concessions to Mr Ozawa's camp could be smart if they prevent the DPJ from fracturing.
Only one thing seems assured: Spanish politics is fracturing.
