Whipping of Muslim model sparks controversy
Herald News ServicesJuly 27, 2009
An Islamic courts decision to have a Muslim model whipped for drinking beer at a pub has triggered controversy in Malaysia, a multicultural country where such convictions are extremely rare.
Last week, a sharia or religious court sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,412) after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in eastern Pahang state last year.
Her conviction created a furor in the nation, which is predominantly Muslim, but also home to large Indian and Chinese minorities. Alcohol is widely available in most parts of the country and Muslims are rarely punished for consuming it.
"The punishment of whipping is defined as torture and hence we should not in any way condone it," said Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Nora Murat.
"This is the wrong way to educate anyone about the religion. When the sin is between her and God, there is always an option of being repentant. It's up to God to decide on her faith, and not people," she said.
Most were stunned that whipping of women was permitted in Malaysias Islamic courts, which operate alongside civil courts under a dual-track system.
"It's not just unkind, it's unjust," leading women rights activist Ivy Josiah told the New Straits Times newspaper.
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AMAZING STORIES
Canada Post carrier admits stealing mail for seven years
Herald News ServicesJuly 29, 2009
A Canada Post employee has pleaded guilty to stealing mail for seven years and leaving it in the garage of a rented house in Saskatoon.
Sentencing was postponed for David Mah, 32, after the Crown could not say exactly what kind of mail filled the nine boxes, two garbage bags, six canvas mail bags, some bundles and a small freezer, all of which were enough to fill the back of a half-tonne truck, according to Crown prosecutor Shawn Moen.
The undelivered mail was found in June 2008 by the landlord of a house in central Saskatoon after Mah moved out. Postmarks on the mail were dated from July 2001, to June 2008, when Mah worked as a relief worker for carriers around the city who were on holidays or ill, Moen said.
"This was not an isolated incident," Moen said.
Mah told his employer he couldn't finish his routes because of knee problems, and was told he had to finish them if he wanted to keep the job, Moen said.
The breach of trust is an aggravating factor to consider in sentencing, Moen said.
Mah told the writer of a pre-sentencing report that he delivered mail that looked important, such as cheques. The Crown disagreed, and gave the judge photographs of the seized mail that included bank cards, drivers licences, letters and postcards.
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Herald News ServicesJuly 29, 2009
A Canada Post employee has pleaded guilty to stealing mail for seven years and leaving it in the garage of a rented house in Saskatoon.
Sentencing was postponed for David Mah, 32, after the Crown could not say exactly what kind of mail filled the nine boxes, two garbage bags, six canvas mail bags, some bundles and a small freezer, all of which were enough to fill the back of a half-tonne truck, according to Crown prosecutor Shawn Moen.
The undelivered mail was found in June 2008 by the landlord of a house in central Saskatoon after Mah moved out. Postmarks on the mail were dated from July 2001, to June 2008, when Mah worked as a relief worker for carriers around the city who were on holidays or ill, Moen said.
"This was not an isolated incident," Moen said.
Mah told his employer he couldn't finish his routes because of knee problems, and was told he had to finish them if he wanted to keep the job, Moen said.
The breach of trust is an aggravating factor to consider in sentencing, Moen said.
Mah told the writer of a pre-sentencing report that he delivered mail that looked important, such as cheques. The Crown disagreed, and gave the judge photographs of the seized mail that included bank cards, drivers licences, letters and postcards.
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Girl beheaded in ritual to spur male heirs
Agence France-PresseJuly 31, 2009
A rural Indian witch doctor beheaded a five-year-old girl as part of a bizarre ritual to help a villager produce healthy male heirs, police said Thursday.
Vandana Kumari was murdered on Tuesday in Lakhimpur Kheri district, 200 kilometres from the Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow, said police officer ravi srivastava.
Occult practitioner Mewalal chauhan recommended the "human sacrifice" when the child's neighbour ram niwas came to him for help, srivastava said.
"Ram Niwas had sons but none of them survived infancy," srivastava said.
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Agence France-PresseJuly 31, 2009
A rural Indian witch doctor beheaded a five-year-old girl as part of a bizarre ritual to help a villager produce healthy male heirs, police said Thursday.
Vandana Kumari was murdered on Tuesday in Lakhimpur Kheri district, 200 kilometres from the Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow, said police officer ravi srivastava.
Occult practitioner Mewalal chauhan recommended the "human sacrifice" when the child's neighbour ram niwas came to him for help, srivastava said.
"Ram Niwas had sons but none of them survived infancy," srivastava said.
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Beer-drinking model wants public caning
Herald News Services
August 21, 2009
A model who will be caned six times in Malaysia next week for drinking beer appealed Thursday for her punishment to be carried out in public to deter other Muslims.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was also fined the equivalent of $1,500 Cdn last month after she pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub in the eastern state of Pahang last year.
She will be the first woman in the multicultural country to be caned under Islamic law, with the punishment set to be meted out in a female prison.
But the Malaysian mother of two, who lives in neighbouring Singapore, said Thursday she wanted to be caned publicly.
"It will be a more effective way to educate Muslims not to drink if I am caned in public. I want to send this message to other Muslims and I am sincere," Kartika told Agence-France Presse. "I am willing to be caned publicly or in front of a mosque, but the prosecutor has told my dad today that this cannot be done. I also requested for journalists to witness the caning in prison, but it is not allowed."
Kartika said she had the support of her parents and husband to be publicly punished.
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*****
Qur'an filled with heroin nets arrests
Agence France-PresseAugust 21, 2009
Two Indonesians have been arrested for attempting to smuggle from cambodia heroin hidden inside a copy of the Qur'an, an official said Thursday.
Customs officers' suspicions were raised when a routine X-ray revealed holes in the book after it arrived at Jakarta's international airport Tuesday in the form of an express mail delivery.
"They hid four small plastic bags of heroin in the holes they made in the pages of the Qur'an," soekarno-Hatta airport customs office spokesman evy suhartantyo said.
He estimated the drugs were worth $65,000 dollars.
Under Indonesia's tough narcotics law, the alleged smugglers could be sentenced to death if found guilty.
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Herald News Services
August 21, 2009
A model who will be caned six times in Malaysia next week for drinking beer appealed Thursday for her punishment to be carried out in public to deter other Muslims.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was also fined the equivalent of $1,500 Cdn last month after she pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub in the eastern state of Pahang last year.
She will be the first woman in the multicultural country to be caned under Islamic law, with the punishment set to be meted out in a female prison.
But the Malaysian mother of two, who lives in neighbouring Singapore, said Thursday she wanted to be caned publicly.
"It will be a more effective way to educate Muslims not to drink if I am caned in public. I want to send this message to other Muslims and I am sincere," Kartika told Agence-France Presse. "I am willing to be caned publicly or in front of a mosque, but the prosecutor has told my dad today that this cannot be done. I also requested for journalists to witness the caning in prison, but it is not allowed."
Kartika said she had the support of her parents and husband to be publicly punished.
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*****
Qur'an filled with heroin nets arrests
Agence France-PresseAugust 21, 2009
Two Indonesians have been arrested for attempting to smuggle from cambodia heroin hidden inside a copy of the Qur'an, an official said Thursday.
Customs officers' suspicions were raised when a routine X-ray revealed holes in the book after it arrived at Jakarta's international airport Tuesday in the form of an express mail delivery.
"They hid four small plastic bags of heroin in the holes they made in the pages of the Qur'an," soekarno-Hatta airport customs office spokesman evy suhartantyo said.
He estimated the drugs were worth $65,000 dollars.
Under Indonesia's tough narcotics law, the alleged smugglers could be sentenced to death if found guilty.
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Villagers riot over ban on stone-pelting ritual in India
six injured as angry mob throws stones at police
Agence France-PresseAugust 22, 2009
Villagers in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh went on the rampage Friday as police tried to enforce a ban on a bizarre annual stone-pelting ritual that often leaves people dead or injured, a local official said.
Officers trying to uphold the ban in two villages in an impoverished central region of the country were subjected to a hail of stones and were forced to withdraw, Nikunj Srivastava, a district civil servant said.
The angry mob then got their way and the ritual went ahead as usual, causing at least two serious injuries.
"As soon as the festival started and villagers from both sides came to know that they would not be allowed to hurl stones at each other, they started pelting stones on the cops and their vehicles," Srivastava added.
Two police officers were injured and several police vehicles were damaged, he said.
"Our motive was not to suppress people going to participate in the festival but to reform them and educate them," said Srivastava.
"We have succeeded in the sense that the use of liquor by the participants was almost negligible and they did not use slings to pelt stones or the injuries would have been on a larger scale," Srivastava explained.
The annual Gotmar festival involves teams from the villages of Saargaon and Pandhurhna competing to capture a tree placed in a riverbed running between the two settlements.
Crowds pelt the participants with rocks and pebbles as they attempt to reach the target.
The origin of the custom is unclear, but many locals in Madhya Pradesh state believe it developed from a tale of two young lovers who lived on either side of the river and wanted to elope together.
As they tried to escape, residents of the two villages started throwing stones at each other and killed the couple.
The festival is held in their memory, according to the folklore.
In last year's clash, press reports said one person died and more than 400 were injured.
Attempts to replace the stones with rubber balls in 2001 and 2002 failed when villagers refused to use them.
Ramesh Baghel, a local eyewitness, said the police were forced to withdraw because of the anger provoked by the ban.
"The administrative officials including the police had to rush back as soon as the frenzied mob pelted stones at them injuring at least half a dozen cops," said Bagel.
"Who are they to interfere in our traditional rituals?" the eyewitness added.
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six injured as angry mob throws stones at police
Agence France-PresseAugust 22, 2009
Villagers in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh went on the rampage Friday as police tried to enforce a ban on a bizarre annual stone-pelting ritual that often leaves people dead or injured, a local official said.
Officers trying to uphold the ban in two villages in an impoverished central region of the country were subjected to a hail of stones and were forced to withdraw, Nikunj Srivastava, a district civil servant said.
The angry mob then got their way and the ritual went ahead as usual, causing at least two serious injuries.
"As soon as the festival started and villagers from both sides came to know that they would not be allowed to hurl stones at each other, they started pelting stones on the cops and their vehicles," Srivastava added.
Two police officers were injured and several police vehicles were damaged, he said.
"Our motive was not to suppress people going to participate in the festival but to reform them and educate them," said Srivastava.
"We have succeeded in the sense that the use of liquor by the participants was almost negligible and they did not use slings to pelt stones or the injuries would have been on a larger scale," Srivastava explained.
The annual Gotmar festival involves teams from the villages of Saargaon and Pandhurhna competing to capture a tree placed in a riverbed running between the two settlements.
Crowds pelt the participants with rocks and pebbles as they attempt to reach the target.
The origin of the custom is unclear, but many locals in Madhya Pradesh state believe it developed from a tale of two young lovers who lived on either side of the river and wanted to elope together.
As they tried to escape, residents of the two villages started throwing stones at each other and killed the couple.
The festival is held in their memory, according to the folklore.
In last year's clash, press reports said one person died and more than 400 were injured.
Attempts to replace the stones with rubber balls in 2001 and 2002 failed when villagers refused to use them.
Ramesh Baghel, a local eyewitness, said the police were forced to withdraw because of the anger provoked by the ban.
"The administrative officials including the police had to rush back as soon as the frenzied mob pelted stones at them injuring at least half a dozen cops," said Bagel.
"Who are they to interfere in our traditional rituals?" the eyewitness added.
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Muslims banned from Peas concert
ReutersAugust 28, 2009
Muslims in Malaysia have been barred from attending a concert by u. s. hip-hop band the Black eyed Peas sponsored by Guinness, which is owned by the world's biggest spirits group, Diageo.
The move comes after a Malaysian Islamic court sentenced a 32-year-old Muslim woman to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel and at a time when an opposition Islamic party has moved against beer sales.
The concert, part of celebrations marking Guinness's 250th birthday, asks on its website ( com.my)www."Areyouarthursday.anon-Muslim aged 18 years and above?" and if the response is no, access is not allowed.
Muslims account for 55 per cent of the 27 million people in this southeast Asian country and are barred from consuming alcohol, although the rules are regularly flouted, especially in big cities like the capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia's Guinness Anchor, which sells Guinness here, had sales of 1.2 billion Malaysian ringgit ($340.6 million) in 2008.
Earlier this week, the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party said it wanted Danish band Michael Learns to Rock banned from performing as it would cause immorality.
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*****
Malaysia lifts concert ban for Muslims
ReutersSeptember 4, 2009
Malaysia has reversed an earlier ban on Muslims attending a concert by U. S. hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas, saying it had no right to stop people from entertainment events.
The concert on Sept 25 is sponsored by Guinness as part of celebrations for the alcoholic brew's 250th birthday. Guinness is owned by the world's biggest spirits group, Diageo.
Information Minister Rais Yatim said it was up to the individual's "better judgment" to decide whether he should attend events organized by an alcohol company.
"We have no legal powers actually to bar people from attending functions," The Star newspaper quoted Rais saying on Wednesday.
Muslims account for 55 per cent of the 27 million people in this southeast Asian country and are barred from consuming alcohol, although the rules are regularly flouted, especially in big cities like the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
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ReutersAugust 28, 2009
Muslims in Malaysia have been barred from attending a concert by u. s. hip-hop band the Black eyed Peas sponsored by Guinness, which is owned by the world's biggest spirits group, Diageo.
The move comes after a Malaysian Islamic court sentenced a 32-year-old Muslim woman to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel and at a time when an opposition Islamic party has moved against beer sales.
The concert, part of celebrations marking Guinness's 250th birthday, asks on its website ( com.my)www."Areyouarthursday.anon-Muslim aged 18 years and above?" and if the response is no, access is not allowed.
Muslims account for 55 per cent of the 27 million people in this southeast Asian country and are barred from consuming alcohol, although the rules are regularly flouted, especially in big cities like the capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia's Guinness Anchor, which sells Guinness here, had sales of 1.2 billion Malaysian ringgit ($340.6 million) in 2008.
Earlier this week, the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party said it wanted Danish band Michael Learns to Rock banned from performing as it would cause immorality.
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http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/today ... story.html
*****
Malaysia lifts concert ban for Muslims
ReutersSeptember 4, 2009
Malaysia has reversed an earlier ban on Muslims attending a concert by U. S. hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas, saying it had no right to stop people from entertainment events.
The concert on Sept 25 is sponsored by Guinness as part of celebrations for the alcoholic brew's 250th birthday. Guinness is owned by the world's biggest spirits group, Diageo.
Information Minister Rais Yatim said it was up to the individual's "better judgment" to decide whether he should attend events organized by an alcohol company.
"We have no legal powers actually to bar people from attending functions," The Star newspaper quoted Rais saying on Wednesday.
Muslims account for 55 per cent of the 27 million people in this southeast Asian country and are barred from consuming alcohol, although the rules are regularly flouted, especially in big cities like the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
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Last edited by kmaherali on Fri Sep 04, 2009 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Pakistan in tree planting record
By Riaz Sohail
BBC Urdu service, Thatta
A team of volunteers in Pakistan has set a new world record by planting more than half a million trees in one day.
Guinness World Records confirmed that 541,176 trees had been planted in the southern province of Sindh on 15 July.
Some 300 volunteers, working in groups, planted mangrove saplings in the 750 acres of the Indus river delta region.
They beat the previous team record for tree planting which was set in India just last month when 447,874 saplings were planted in Assam state.
Pakistan's tree-planting marathon was witnessed by representatives of Guinness World Records and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Each group was issued saplings by a panel of experts which also monitored the planting process to ensure that standards set by Guinness World Records were met.
Aadil Ahmed, the Guinness representative, told the BBC he was there to ensure that no old plants were included in the count.
Pakistan's environment minister, Hamidullah Jan Afridi, said the event was part of a series of events being held to observe the national year of the environment.
"The government has set aside one billion rupees over a three-year period to protect these plants and help them survive," Mr Afridi said.
Mangroves grow in delta regions where the fresh waters of the river mix with sea water.
Experts say the new saplings will have difficulty surviving because of diminishing river water in the region.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/s ... 154120.stm
Published: 2009/07/16 16:30:27 GMT
© BBC MMIX
By Riaz Sohail
BBC Urdu service, Thatta
A team of volunteers in Pakistan has set a new world record by planting more than half a million trees in one day.
Guinness World Records confirmed that 541,176 trees had been planted in the southern province of Sindh on 15 July.
Some 300 volunteers, working in groups, planted mangrove saplings in the 750 acres of the Indus river delta region.
They beat the previous team record for tree planting which was set in India just last month when 447,874 saplings were planted in Assam state.
Pakistan's tree-planting marathon was witnessed by representatives of Guinness World Records and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Each group was issued saplings by a panel of experts which also monitored the planting process to ensure that standards set by Guinness World Records were met.
Aadil Ahmed, the Guinness representative, told the BBC he was there to ensure that no old plants were included in the count.
Pakistan's environment minister, Hamidullah Jan Afridi, said the event was part of a series of events being held to observe the national year of the environment.
"The government has set aside one billion rupees over a three-year period to protect these plants and help them survive," Mr Afridi said.
Mangroves grow in delta regions where the fresh waters of the river mix with sea water.
Experts say the new saplings will have difficulty surviving because of diminishing river water in the region.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/s ... 154120.stm
Published: 2009/07/16 16:30:27 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Freed Iraqi shoe-thrower likely to become a hero
Herald News Services
September 14, 2009
Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who became famous worldwide when he threw his shoes at then U. S. President George W. Bush, is thought likely to get a hero's welcome if he is freed from jail, as expected, on Monday.
In December 2008 Zaidi's actions toward Bush during the president's farewell visit to Baghdad captured many Iraqis' feelings of resentment following more than six years of bloodshed triggered by the U. S.-led invasion in 2003.
Condemned by the Iraqi government for his "barbaric act" during the news conference Bush held with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Zaidi was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting a visiting head of state. The jail term was later reduced, and Zaidi's family expects his release on Monday.
Zaidi's lawyer Dhiaa al- Saadi said he had no word yet on when Zaidi would be freed.
Millions of people across the world have watched Zaidi hurl his shoes at Bush and call the man who started the war in Iraq a "dog," both great insults in the Middle East.
Venezuela's anti-American President Hugo Chavez called him courageous; a Libyan group headed by Moammar Gadhafi's daughter gave him an award for bravery; fathers from other Arab nations have offered Zaida their daughters as brides.
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Herald News Services
September 14, 2009
Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who became famous worldwide when he threw his shoes at then U. S. President George W. Bush, is thought likely to get a hero's welcome if he is freed from jail, as expected, on Monday.
In December 2008 Zaidi's actions toward Bush during the president's farewell visit to Baghdad captured many Iraqis' feelings of resentment following more than six years of bloodshed triggered by the U. S.-led invasion in 2003.
Condemned by the Iraqi government for his "barbaric act" during the news conference Bush held with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Zaidi was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting a visiting head of state. The jail term was later reduced, and Zaidi's family expects his release on Monday.
Zaidi's lawyer Dhiaa al- Saadi said he had no word yet on when Zaidi would be freed.
Millions of people across the world have watched Zaidi hurl his shoes at Bush and call the man who started the war in Iraq a "dog," both great insults in the Middle East.
Venezuela's anti-American President Hugo Chavez called him courageous; a Libyan group headed by Moammar Gadhafi's daughter gave him an award for bravery; fathers from other Arab nations have offered Zaida their daughters as brides.
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Father terrorized daughter 30 years
Incest case likened to Austria's Fritzl
By William West, Agence France-presseSeptember 18, 2009
An Australian man raped his daughter almost daily for 30 years and fathered her four children, a report said on Thursday, drawing chilling comparisons with Austrian Josef Fritzl's incest case.
The man, aged in his 60s, began molesting his daughter in the 1970s when she was 11 and continued until 2007, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper said in an exclusive report.
Victoria police refused to confirm details of the case, saying it was under a court order banning reporting of proceedings and identifying the accused.
The Herald Sun said the daughter was kept a "virtual prisoner" in the family home about 100 kilometres east of Melbourne, without giving details.
Local media made immediate comparisons with the case of Fritzl, who was jailed for life in May for holding his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years in a cramped, windowless chamber and murdering one of their seven children.
The wife of the accused, also the victim's mother, denied any knowledge of the abuse, the Herald Sun said, adding neighbours and child welfare authorities also failed to act on suspicions about the man.
"We lived in a big house, so I wouldn't have known," she told the newspaper. "He had a very sharp tongue. He was a drinker."
Victoria state Premier John Brumby said "the full force of the law will be applied," acknowledging there would be questions about why the alleged abuse was not detected earlier.
"Obviously any crime of this type is one that is shocking and that is personally repulsive to me and to other Victorians," he told reporters.
"It's a terrible case. It brings to all of us, I think, the worst possible thoughts about families and what might occur there and what may have occurred."
Police will reportedly use DNA evidence to prove the man is the biological father of his daughter's children when the case goes before the courts in November.
The Herald Sun said all the victim's four children were born with birth defects in major Melbourne hospitals. One of them, a girl, died as a result of her health problems.
The victim's mother told the Herald Sun her daughter would "clam up" when questioned about who fathered her children, giving vague answers about meeting men at nightclubs.
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Incest case likened to Austria's Fritzl
By William West, Agence France-presseSeptember 18, 2009
An Australian man raped his daughter almost daily for 30 years and fathered her four children, a report said on Thursday, drawing chilling comparisons with Austrian Josef Fritzl's incest case.
The man, aged in his 60s, began molesting his daughter in the 1970s when she was 11 and continued until 2007, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper said in an exclusive report.
Victoria police refused to confirm details of the case, saying it was under a court order banning reporting of proceedings and identifying the accused.
The Herald Sun said the daughter was kept a "virtual prisoner" in the family home about 100 kilometres east of Melbourne, without giving details.
Local media made immediate comparisons with the case of Fritzl, who was jailed for life in May for holding his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years in a cramped, windowless chamber and murdering one of their seven children.
The wife of the accused, also the victim's mother, denied any knowledge of the abuse, the Herald Sun said, adding neighbours and child welfare authorities also failed to act on suspicions about the man.
"We lived in a big house, so I wouldn't have known," she told the newspaper. "He had a very sharp tongue. He was a drinker."
Victoria state Premier John Brumby said "the full force of the law will be applied," acknowledging there would be questions about why the alleged abuse was not detected earlier.
"Obviously any crime of this type is one that is shocking and that is personally repulsive to me and to other Victorians," he told reporters.
"It's a terrible case. It brings to all of us, I think, the worst possible thoughts about families and what might occur there and what may have occurred."
Police will reportedly use DNA evidence to prove the man is the biological father of his daughter's children when the case goes before the courts in November.
The Herald Sun said all the victim's four children were born with birth defects in major Melbourne hospitals. One of them, a girl, died as a result of her health problems.
The victim's mother told the Herald Sun her daughter would "clam up" when questioned about who fathered her children, giving vague answers about meeting men at nightclubs.
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Amazing 3 year old boy memorized the whole Holy Quran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_DYaQqajJk[/b]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_DYaQqajJk[/b]
Twenty-pound baby sets record
Agence France-Presse
September 24, 2009
An indonesian woman gave birth by caesarean section Monday to the country's heaviest newborn to date, an 19.2-pound baby boy, right.
Photograph by: Dede, AFP-Getty Images,
Agence France-PresseAn Indonesian woman has given birth to an 19.2-pound baby boy, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said Wednesday.
The unnamed baby is 24.4 inches long, was born by caesarean section on Monday at a hospital in North Sumatra province, a gynecologist who took part in the operation said.
"This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum's womb. His legs were so big," Binsar Sitanggang said.
The boy is in a healthy condition despite having to initially be given oxygen to overcome breathing problems, the gynecologist said.
"He's got strong appetite, every minute, it's almost nonstop feeding," he said.
"This baby boy is extraordinary, the way he's crying is not like a usual baby. It's really loud."
The boy's massive size was likely the result of his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes, Sitanggang said.
She had to be rushed to hospital due to complications with the pregnancy, which had reached nine months.
The baby, her fourth, was the only child not delivered by a traditional midwife.
When a diabetic mother's glucose level is high during pregnancy, the baby can receive too much glucose and grow too large, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Indonesia's previous heaviest baby, born in Jakarta in 2007, weighed 15.2 pounds, according to the Indonesian Museum of Records website.
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Agence France-Presse
September 24, 2009
An indonesian woman gave birth by caesarean section Monday to the country's heaviest newborn to date, an 19.2-pound baby boy, right.
Photograph by: Dede, AFP-Getty Images,
Agence France-PresseAn Indonesian woman has given birth to an 19.2-pound baby boy, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said Wednesday.
The unnamed baby is 24.4 inches long, was born by caesarean section on Monday at a hospital in North Sumatra province, a gynecologist who took part in the operation said.
"This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum's womb. His legs were so big," Binsar Sitanggang said.
The boy is in a healthy condition despite having to initially be given oxygen to overcome breathing problems, the gynecologist said.
"He's got strong appetite, every minute, it's almost nonstop feeding," he said.
"This baby boy is extraordinary, the way he's crying is not like a usual baby. It's really loud."
The boy's massive size was likely the result of his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes, Sitanggang said.
She had to be rushed to hospital due to complications with the pregnancy, which had reached nine months.
The baby, her fourth, was the only child not delivered by a traditional midwife.
When a diabetic mother's glucose level is high during pregnancy, the baby can receive too much glucose and grow too large, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Indonesia's previous heaviest baby, born in Jakarta in 2007, weighed 15.2 pounds, according to the Indonesian Museum of Records website.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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Saudi Arabia opens first co-ed university
Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:40:55 GMT
Saudi Arabia has inaugurated its first-ever fully integrated co-educational university with massive funds, seeking to propel the kingdom into the forefront of global technological research.
The multibillion dollar King Abdullah Science and Technology University (KAUST), built in the fishing village of Thwal -- some 80 km (50 miles) from Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia -- took just two years to be completed. It boasts state-of-the-art labs as well as one of the world's fastest supercomputers. Classes will be taught in English.
The religious police will not operate on-site. Women will be allowed to mix freely with men and drive on campus. Women will also not be required to wear veils in the coeducational classes.
"Humanity has been the target of vicious attacks from extremists, who speak the language of hatred," King Abdullah said at the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday. "Undoubtedly, scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists. And today this university will become a house of wisdom ... a beacon of tolerance."
At least 817 students representing 61 different countries have already enrolled in the research university on the Red Sea coast. However, 314 of the students are ready to begin their classes while the rest are scheduled to attend classes at the onset of 2010.
King Abdullah has promoted reforms since taking office in 2005 to create a modern Muslim state, keep Western criticisms at bay and slash oil-fueled coffers. He, nonetheless is confronted by conservative clerics and princes who favor austere interpretation of Islam and spearhead stifling innovation in the kingdom.
Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:40:55 GMT
Saudi Arabia has inaugurated its first-ever fully integrated co-educational university with massive funds, seeking to propel the kingdom into the forefront of global technological research.
The multibillion dollar King Abdullah Science and Technology University (KAUST), built in the fishing village of Thwal -- some 80 km (50 miles) from Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia -- took just two years to be completed. It boasts state-of-the-art labs as well as one of the world's fastest supercomputers. Classes will be taught in English.
The religious police will not operate on-site. Women will be allowed to mix freely with men and drive on campus. Women will also not be required to wear veils in the coeducational classes.
"Humanity has been the target of vicious attacks from extremists, who speak the language of hatred," King Abdullah said at the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday. "Undoubtedly, scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists. And today this university will become a house of wisdom ... a beacon of tolerance."
At least 817 students representing 61 different countries have already enrolled in the research university on the Red Sea coast. However, 314 of the students are ready to begin their classes while the rest are scheduled to attend classes at the onset of 2010.
King Abdullah has promoted reforms since taking office in 2005 to create a modern Muslim state, keep Western criticisms at bay and slash oil-fueled coffers. He, nonetheless is confronted by conservative clerics and princes who favor austere interpretation of Islam and spearhead stifling innovation in the kingdom.
U. S. woman with mistaken embryo gives birth to healthy baby boy
Newborn handed over to his biological parents
Agence France-Presse
September 27, 2009 8:00 AM
An Ohio woman who was implanted with the wrong embryo has given birth to a "healthy baby boy" and given him up to his biological parents, her family said in a statement.
Carolyn Savage, 40, and her husband Sean offered their "heartfelt congratulations" to Paul and Shannon Morell -- the boy's biological parents, according to the statement released late Friday.
The child was delivered at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday.
"We wish Paul, Shannon, their twin girls and their new baby boy the best, as they move forward with their lives together," the Savage family statement said.
They also asked for privacy, saying "our family is going through a very difficult time and requests privacy in the days ahead."
Savage learned of the mistaken medical procedure about two months into her pregnancy, but decided to give birth to the child anyway and hand over the baby to the Morells after delivery.
Such mistakes are rare, but have often ended with the birth mother going through an abortion or putting the child up for adoption.
Savage decided to go ahead with the pregnancy due to her Catholic religious beliefs.
She went public with her decision in the final weeks of her pregnancy, telling NBC television the decision would be a difficult one.
"Of course, we will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our life," she said.
"The hardest part is going to be the delivery," she said at the time. "I remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what I was envisioning and hoping for. I said, 'We want a moment to say hello, and goodbye.'"
Her husband, Sean, told the Toledo Free Press, "We didn't have to discuss it. We came to an instantaneous conclusion; this was the path that we had to go down."
The couple has three children. They resorted to in vitro fertilization after reproductive problems and a series of miscarriages.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 4&sponsor=
Newborn handed over to his biological parents
Agence France-Presse
September 27, 2009 8:00 AM
An Ohio woman who was implanted with the wrong embryo has given birth to a "healthy baby boy" and given him up to his biological parents, her family said in a statement.
Carolyn Savage, 40, and her husband Sean offered their "heartfelt congratulations" to Paul and Shannon Morell -- the boy's biological parents, according to the statement released late Friday.
The child was delivered at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday.
"We wish Paul, Shannon, their twin girls and their new baby boy the best, as they move forward with their lives together," the Savage family statement said.
They also asked for privacy, saying "our family is going through a very difficult time and requests privacy in the days ahead."
Savage learned of the mistaken medical procedure about two months into her pregnancy, but decided to give birth to the child anyway and hand over the baby to the Morells after delivery.
Such mistakes are rare, but have often ended with the birth mother going through an abortion or putting the child up for adoption.
Savage decided to go ahead with the pregnancy due to her Catholic religious beliefs.
She went public with her decision in the final weeks of her pregnancy, telling NBC television the decision would be a difficult one.
"Of course, we will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our life," she said.
"The hardest part is going to be the delivery," she said at the time. "I remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what I was envisioning and hoping for. I said, 'We want a moment to say hello, and goodbye.'"
Her husband, Sean, told the Toledo Free Press, "We didn't have to discuss it. We came to an instantaneous conclusion; this was the path that we had to go down."
The couple has three children. They resorted to in vitro fertilization after reproductive problems and a series of miscarriages.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 4&sponsor=
Father of 10 marries four at same time in South Africa
Canwest News Service
September 28, 2009
A South African man walked four brides to the altar, marrying them at the same time to save money and prevent cheating, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Although polygamy is legally recognized in South Africa, father of 10 Milton Mbhele was still unusual in organizing the weddings at the same time.
The 44-year-old local government employee from KwaZulu Natal pledged his undying and equal love at a lavish white wedding held in a giant marquee in a sports field.
"This is the day I've been waiting for all my life," said Mbhele before taking his multiple vows," reported the newspaper.
Mbhele, in a white linen suit, and his four brides, wearing white princess gowns and tiaras, arrived together at the ceremony in a limousine.
Mbhele, who has seven children with his four brides and three from previous relationships, cited his Zulu "culture" and economic reasons for the unusual wedding.
"It doesn't help to have one wife and have 30 girlfriends that drain you so much you end up with no money," Mbhele said.
He said he loved his brides equally and there was good competition among them.
Eight cows were to be slaughtered Sunday at the groom's home for the traditional part of the ceremony.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
Canwest News Service
September 28, 2009
A South African man walked four brides to the altar, marrying them at the same time to save money and prevent cheating, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Although polygamy is legally recognized in South Africa, father of 10 Milton Mbhele was still unusual in organizing the weddings at the same time.
The 44-year-old local government employee from KwaZulu Natal pledged his undying and equal love at a lavish white wedding held in a giant marquee in a sports field.
"This is the day I've been waiting for all my life," said Mbhele before taking his multiple vows," reported the newspaper.
Mbhele, in a white linen suit, and his four brides, wearing white princess gowns and tiaras, arrived together at the ceremony in a limousine.
Mbhele, who has seven children with his four brides and three from previous relationships, cited his Zulu "culture" and economic reasons for the unusual wedding.
"It doesn't help to have one wife and have 30 girlfriends that drain you so much you end up with no money," Mbhele said.
He said he loved his brides equally and there was good competition among them.
Eight cows were to be slaughtered Sunday at the groom's home for the traditional part of the ceremony.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
Air India suspends pilots, crew after mid-air brawl
Canwest News Service
October 5, 2009
Air India said on Sunday it was investigating allegations of a mid-air brawl in which pilots and cabin crew were reported to have exchanged blows in front of startled passengers.
The Times of India reported that crew members threw punches and hurled abuse at each other on the flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi after a female attendant accused the pilots of sexually harassing her.
The fight spilled out into the galley of the plane as about 100 passengers looked on, the newspaper said under the headline "Pilots, crew slug it out at 30,000 feet."
The cockpit of the Airbus A-320 was left unmanned at one point, and one of the pilots threatened to divert the plane to Pakistan, the newspaper alleged.
The 24-year-old female crew member and a copilot both suffered bruises in the incident on Saturday and police have registered a case against the pilots for "outraging the modesty of a woman."
"There are several eyewitnesses and we are recording their statements," the Times quoted police commissioner Satyendra Garg as saying.
State-run Air India said in a statement it had ordered an inquiry into what it described as a reported "scuffle," adding that two pilots and two crew members had been suspended.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 8&sponsor=
*****
Canadian pulls 188-tonne plane to set Guinness record
'Go big or go home,' says clergyman
By Jordana Huber, Canwest News Service
October 5, 2009
It started with a fire truck and a little curiosity. More than a decade later, Rev. Kevin Fast holds Guinness World Records for the heaviest vehicle pulled over 30 metres and, more recently, for the heaviest aircraft pulled by a human being.
"Go big or go home," Fast said recently from his home in Cobourg, Ont., about 115 kilometres east of Toronto. "That's the rule around our house."
When he is not overseeing his congregation of 120 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fast can be found at the gym, tending to his vegetable garden, and, when training for a world record, pulling his green pickup truck up hills.
Soft-spoken and sanguine, the 46-year-old married father of three said he has always been interested in strength events.
He started participating in Highland games in 1994 and two years later, when he saw competitors at the World's Strongest Man trying to pull a fire truck he wondered if he had what it took.
"I was just curious," said Fast, who stands five foot nine and weighs 280 pounds. "But I was able to pull it."
Two years later, he set his first Guinness record, pulling a 16-tonne truck for more than 30 metres.
Shortly after that, he lost the title to a man in the United States and decided he wanted it back.
In 2001, he pulled a 26-tonne fire truck to reclaim his record and since then has bested himself another four times, with the most recent record set in 2008 when he hauled a truck weighing 57.3 tonnes.
Fast holds nine world records, including one for pulling a seven-tonne truck with an arm wrestling move.
Last month, at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario, Fast pulled a 188-tonne CC-177 Globemaster for 8.8 metres, besting a record set in 1997 by an Australian man who pulled a Boeing 747-400 weighing just under 187 tonnes. Fast hasn't decided what his next world record attempt will be. He said he'll use his God-given gift as long as he can.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
Canwest News Service
October 5, 2009
Air India said on Sunday it was investigating allegations of a mid-air brawl in which pilots and cabin crew were reported to have exchanged blows in front of startled passengers.
The Times of India reported that crew members threw punches and hurled abuse at each other on the flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to New Delhi after a female attendant accused the pilots of sexually harassing her.
The fight spilled out into the galley of the plane as about 100 passengers looked on, the newspaper said under the headline "Pilots, crew slug it out at 30,000 feet."
The cockpit of the Airbus A-320 was left unmanned at one point, and one of the pilots threatened to divert the plane to Pakistan, the newspaper alleged.
The 24-year-old female crew member and a copilot both suffered bruises in the incident on Saturday and police have registered a case against the pilots for "outraging the modesty of a woman."
"There are several eyewitnesses and we are recording their statements," the Times quoted police commissioner Satyendra Garg as saying.
State-run Air India said in a statement it had ordered an inquiry into what it described as a reported "scuffle," adding that two pilots and two crew members had been suspended.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 8&sponsor=
*****
Canadian pulls 188-tonne plane to set Guinness record
'Go big or go home,' says clergyman
By Jordana Huber, Canwest News Service
October 5, 2009
It started with a fire truck and a little curiosity. More than a decade later, Rev. Kevin Fast holds Guinness World Records for the heaviest vehicle pulled over 30 metres and, more recently, for the heaviest aircraft pulled by a human being.
"Go big or go home," Fast said recently from his home in Cobourg, Ont., about 115 kilometres east of Toronto. "That's the rule around our house."
When he is not overseeing his congregation of 120 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fast can be found at the gym, tending to his vegetable garden, and, when training for a world record, pulling his green pickup truck up hills.
Soft-spoken and sanguine, the 46-year-old married father of three said he has always been interested in strength events.
He started participating in Highland games in 1994 and two years later, when he saw competitors at the World's Strongest Man trying to pull a fire truck he wondered if he had what it took.
"I was just curious," said Fast, who stands five foot nine and weighs 280 pounds. "But I was able to pull it."
Two years later, he set his first Guinness record, pulling a 16-tonne truck for more than 30 metres.
Shortly after that, he lost the title to a man in the United States and decided he wanted it back.
In 2001, he pulled a 26-tonne fire truck to reclaim his record and since then has bested himself another four times, with the most recent record set in 2008 when he hauled a truck weighing 57.3 tonnes.
Fast holds nine world records, including one for pulling a seven-tonne truck with an arm wrestling move.
Last month, at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario, Fast pulled a 188-tonne CC-177 Globemaster for 8.8 metres, besting a record set in 1997 by an Australian man who pulled a Boeing 747-400 weighing just under 187 tonnes. Fast hasn't decided what his next world record attempt will be. He said he'll use his God-given gift as long as he can.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
Saudi sex braggart gets 5 years in jail, 1,000 lashes
Herald News Services
October 8, 2009
A Saudi man whose televised boasts about his sex life outraged the country's conservatives was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes on Wednesday, his lawyer said.
Mazen Abdul Jawad, a 32-year-old airline sales clerk, was convicted by a Jeddah court on Sharia law-based charges relating to immoral behaviour, Sulaiman al-Jimaie told AFP.
Three friends who appeared on the show with him were given two-year terms and 300 lashes each, while a cameraman who helped film the episode was sentenced to two months in jail.
Jimaie said they would appeal, insisting that his client was a victim of the Beirut-based LBC satellite TV network, which broadcast the show in which he appeared.
"My client has been presented to the people as a scapegoat to cover up the real culprit, LBC," Jimaie said in a statement after the verdict was announced.
He also said his client's case had been hurt by heavy media coverage that sparked public anger over Abdul Jawad's behaviour.
Abdual Jawad was disappointed by the verdict, Jimaie told AFP, "but he is mostly worried about his mother, who is in her 70s and has heart problems."
He said they are suing LBC and that the case will open next month.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/today ... story.html
*****
Saudi female journalist to be flogged over TV show
Canwest News Service
October 25, 2009 8:04 AMBe the first to post a comment
A Saudi female journalist said a court has ordered her to receive 60 lashes for working at a television network that aired the sexual confessions of a man.
Rozana al-Yami said a judge in the Red Sea coastal town of Jeddah dropped all charges that she had been directly involved with the episode of a program on LBC, a Saudi-owned Lebanese network, in July.
However, Yami said the judge sentenced her to 60 lashes for having been a part-time employee for LBC's Saudi operations. The judge mentioned LBC had lacked the appropriate operating licence.
"It's a punishment for all journalists through me," said Yami.
"They just said the channel was illegal. But the Saudi minister of information himself appeared on LBC a couple of weeks ago."
Saudi judges base their rulings on strict Islamic sharia law, but it was not immediately clear how the judge in this case reached the verdict.
Yami, 22, said she did not know when her sentence would be carried out. She does not plan an appeal, saying she fears she could end up with a harsher sentence.
Her sentencing comes after Saudi airline sales clerk Mazen Abdul Jawad was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes for his appearance on the LBC show Bold Red Line, in which he talked about picking up girls and having sex with them.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Saudi+fema ... ostComment
*****
Saudi king pardons female journalist facing 60 lashes
Herald News ServicesOctober 27, 2009
Saudi Arabia's king has pardoned a woman journalist sentenced to 60 lashes for her role in a television program in which a Saudi man spoke about his sexual exploits, a government official said on Monday.
Like many Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia prohibits sexual content on television, newspapers, magazines and books.
A court sentenced Rosana Alyami, 22, on Saturday for helping produce a Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. show in which Mazen Abdul-Jawad spoke about his sexual adventures in the conservative kingdom.
"The king has vindicated me. I am satisfied with the king's order and I accept the decisions of the sovereign," Alyami told Reuters after being informed of the pardon.
Information Ministry spokesman Abdul-Rahman al-Hazzaa said the pardon meant the issue would be in the hands of the ministry for possible disciplinary action.
"They will transfer the case to the ministry of information. . . . In this case, the flogging has been dropped."
Earlier this month, Abdul-Jawad was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes. Abdul-Jawad spoke openly of his sexual experiences on the talk show, In Bold Red, in July.
Saudi Arabia courts, which implement a strict version of Islamic law, are controlled by clerics who have wide discretion in sentencing.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
Herald News Services
October 8, 2009
A Saudi man whose televised boasts about his sex life outraged the country's conservatives was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes on Wednesday, his lawyer said.
Mazen Abdul Jawad, a 32-year-old airline sales clerk, was convicted by a Jeddah court on Sharia law-based charges relating to immoral behaviour, Sulaiman al-Jimaie told AFP.
Three friends who appeared on the show with him were given two-year terms and 300 lashes each, while a cameraman who helped film the episode was sentenced to two months in jail.
Jimaie said they would appeal, insisting that his client was a victim of the Beirut-based LBC satellite TV network, which broadcast the show in which he appeared.
"My client has been presented to the people as a scapegoat to cover up the real culprit, LBC," Jimaie said in a statement after the verdict was announced.
He also said his client's case had been hurt by heavy media coverage that sparked public anger over Abdul Jawad's behaviour.
Abdual Jawad was disappointed by the verdict, Jimaie told AFP, "but he is mostly worried about his mother, who is in her 70s and has heart problems."
He said they are suing LBC and that the case will open next month.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/today ... story.html
*****
Saudi female journalist to be flogged over TV show
Canwest News Service
October 25, 2009 8:04 AMBe the first to post a comment
A Saudi female journalist said a court has ordered her to receive 60 lashes for working at a television network that aired the sexual confessions of a man.
Rozana al-Yami said a judge in the Red Sea coastal town of Jeddah dropped all charges that she had been directly involved with the episode of a program on LBC, a Saudi-owned Lebanese network, in July.
However, Yami said the judge sentenced her to 60 lashes for having been a part-time employee for LBC's Saudi operations. The judge mentioned LBC had lacked the appropriate operating licence.
"It's a punishment for all journalists through me," said Yami.
"They just said the channel was illegal. But the Saudi minister of information himself appeared on LBC a couple of weeks ago."
Saudi judges base their rulings on strict Islamic sharia law, but it was not immediately clear how the judge in this case reached the verdict.
Yami, 22, said she did not know when her sentence would be carried out. She does not plan an appeal, saying she fears she could end up with a harsher sentence.
Her sentencing comes after Saudi airline sales clerk Mazen Abdul Jawad was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes for his appearance on the LBC show Bold Red Line, in which he talked about picking up girls and having sex with them.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Saudi+fema ... ostComment
*****
Saudi king pardons female journalist facing 60 lashes
Herald News ServicesOctober 27, 2009
Saudi Arabia's king has pardoned a woman journalist sentenced to 60 lashes for her role in a television program in which a Saudi man spoke about his sexual exploits, a government official said on Monday.
Like many Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia prohibits sexual content on television, newspapers, magazines and books.
A court sentenced Rosana Alyami, 22, on Saturday for helping produce a Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. show in which Mazen Abdul-Jawad spoke about his sexual adventures in the conservative kingdom.
"The king has vindicated me. I am satisfied with the king's order and I accept the decisions of the sovereign," Alyami told Reuters after being informed of the pardon.
Information Ministry spokesman Abdul-Rahman al-Hazzaa said the pardon meant the issue would be in the hands of the ministry for possible disciplinary action.
"They will transfer the case to the ministry of information. . . . In this case, the flogging has been dropped."
Earlier this month, Abdul-Jawad was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes. Abdul-Jawad spoke openly of his sexual experiences on the talk show, In Bold Red, in July.
Saudi Arabia courts, which implement a strict version of Islamic law, are controlled by clerics who have wide discretion in sentencing.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
Last edited by kmaherali on Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Piano stairs - Rolighetsteorin.se - The fun theory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
JK Wedding Entrance Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
JK Wedding Entrance Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0&feature=fvw
-
From_Alamut
- Posts: 666
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:22 am
Kid dies on TV program
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuOXaav7qZU&NR=1
Also
check this Hilarious Martial Arts 'Accident'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrpawY6Pk7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuOXaav7qZU&NR=1
Also
check this Hilarious Martial Arts 'Accident'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrpawY6Pk7M
Pilgrims see Qur'an verses on skin of 'miracle' baby
By Amie Ferris-Rotman, ReutersOctober 22, 2009
A pilgrim shows off the leg of Russian "miracle" baby Ali Yakubov.
Photograph by: Amir Amirov, Reuters, Reuters
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
A "miracle" baby has brought a kind of mystical hope to people in Russia's mostly Muslim southern fringe who are increasingly desperate in the face of Islamist violence.
Hundreds of pilgrims lined up this week in blazing sunshine to get a glimpse of nine-month-old baby Ali Yakubov, on whose body they say verses from the Qur'an appear and fade every few days.
Pinkish in colour and several centimetres high, the Koranic verse "Be thankful or grateful to Allah" was printed on the infant's right leg in clearly legible Arabic script this week, religious leaders said. Visiting foreign journalists later saw a single letter after the rest had vanished.
"The fact that this miracle happened here is a signal to us to take the lead and help our brothers and sisters find peace," said Sagid Murtazaliyev, head of the Kizlyar region north of Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital on the Caspian Sea.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
By Amie Ferris-Rotman, ReutersOctober 22, 2009
A pilgrim shows off the leg of Russian "miracle" baby Ali Yakubov.
Photograph by: Amir Amirov, Reuters, Reuters
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
A "miracle" baby has brought a kind of mystical hope to people in Russia's mostly Muslim southern fringe who are increasingly desperate in the face of Islamist violence.
Hundreds of pilgrims lined up this week in blazing sunshine to get a glimpse of nine-month-old baby Ali Yakubov, on whose body they say verses from the Qur'an appear and fade every few days.
Pinkish in colour and several centimetres high, the Koranic verse "Be thankful or grateful to Allah" was printed on the infant's right leg in clearly legible Arabic script this week, religious leaders said. Visiting foreign journalists later saw a single letter after the rest had vanished.
"The fact that this miracle happened here is a signal to us to take the lead and help our brothers and sisters find peace," said Sagid Murtazaliyev, head of the Kizlyar region north of Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital on the Caspian Sea.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
-
From_Alamut
- Posts: 666
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:22 am
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A potential victim became a compassionate counselor during a recent robbery attempt, changing the would-be criminal's mind -- and apparently his religion.
Storekeeper Mohammad Sohail was closing up his Long Island convenience store just after midnight on May 21 when -- as shown on the store's surveillance video -- a man came in wielding a baseball bat and demanding money.
"He said, 'Hurry up and give me the money, give me the money!' and I said, 'Hold on'," Sohail recalled in a phone interview with CNN on Tuesday, after the store video and his story was carried on local TV.
Sohail said he reached under the counter, grabbed his gun and told the robber to drop the bat and get down on his knees.
"He's crying like a baby," Sohail said. "He says, 'Don't call police, don't shoot me, I have no money, I have no food in my house.' "
Amidst the man's apologies and pleas, Sohail said he felt a surge of compassion.
He made the man promise never to rob anyone again and when he agreed, Sohail gave him $40 and a loaf of bread.
"When he gets $40, he's very impressed, he says, 'I want to be a Muslim just like you,' " Sohail said, adding he had the would-be criminal recite an Islamic oath.
"I said 'Congratulations. You are now a Muslim and your name is Nawaz Sharif Zardari.'"
When asked why he chose the hybrid of two Pakistani presidents' names, the Pakistani immigrant laughed and said he had been watching a South Asian news channel moments before the confrontation.
Sohail said the man fled the store when he turned away to get the man some free milk.
He said police might still be looking for the suspect but he doesn't intend to press charges.
"The guy, you know, everybody has a hard time right now, it's too bad for everybody right now in this economy," said the storekeeper.
Reference : http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/02/new ... ber.mercy/
Watch its video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBk8Yj3xBiI&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmoCjjSNAus&NR=1
Storekeeper Mohammad Sohail was closing up his Long Island convenience store just after midnight on May 21 when -- as shown on the store's surveillance video -- a man came in wielding a baseball bat and demanding money.
"He said, 'Hurry up and give me the money, give me the money!' and I said, 'Hold on'," Sohail recalled in a phone interview with CNN on Tuesday, after the store video and his story was carried on local TV.
Sohail said he reached under the counter, grabbed his gun and told the robber to drop the bat and get down on his knees.
"He's crying like a baby," Sohail said. "He says, 'Don't call police, don't shoot me, I have no money, I have no food in my house.' "
Amidst the man's apologies and pleas, Sohail said he felt a surge of compassion.
He made the man promise never to rob anyone again and when he agreed, Sohail gave him $40 and a loaf of bread.
"When he gets $40, he's very impressed, he says, 'I want to be a Muslim just like you,' " Sohail said, adding he had the would-be criminal recite an Islamic oath.
"I said 'Congratulations. You are now a Muslim and your name is Nawaz Sharif Zardari.'"
When asked why he chose the hybrid of two Pakistani presidents' names, the Pakistani immigrant laughed and said he had been watching a South Asian news channel moments before the confrontation.
Sohail said the man fled the store when he turned away to get the man some free milk.
He said police might still be looking for the suspect but he doesn't intend to press charges.
"The guy, you know, everybody has a hard time right now, it's too bad for everybody right now in this economy," said the storekeeper.
Reference : http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/02/new ... ber.mercy/
Watch its video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBk8Yj3xBiI&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmoCjjSNAus&NR=1
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From_Alamut
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Russians flock to see 'miracle' babykmaherali wrote:Pilgrims see Qur'an verses on skin of 'miracle' baby
By Amie Ferris-Rotman, ReutersOctober 22, 2009
A pilgrim shows off the leg of Russian "miracle" baby Ali Yakubov.
Photograph by: Amir Amirov, Reuters, Reuters
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 7&sponsor=
A "miracle" baby has brought a kind of mystical hope to people in Russia's mostly Muslim southern fringe who are increasingly desperate in the face of Islamist violence.
Hundreds of pilgrims lined up this week in blazing sunshine to get a glimpse of nine-month-old baby Ali Yakubov, on whose body they say verses from the Qur'an appear and fade every few days.
Pinkish in colour and several centimetres high, the Koranic verse "Be thankful or grateful to Allah" was printed on the infant's right leg in clearly legible Arabic script this week, religious leaders said. Visiting foreign journalists later saw a single letter after the rest had vanished.
"The fact that this miracle happened here is a signal to us to take the lead and help our brothers and sisters find peace," said Sagid Murtazaliyev, head of the Kizlyar region north of Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital on the Caspian Sea.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7t6wnfx0E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVx2uqtCiG0&NR=1
Malaysia seizes 15,000 Bibles over use of word Allah
Agence France-Presse
October 30, 2009
Malaysian authorities have seized some 15,000 Bibles imported from Indonesia because they use the word "Allah" as a translation for God, which is banned here, a church leader said Thursday.
"The church uses the Bible and it is part of the worshipper's life. There is no reason why it should be confiscated," said Rev. Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia.
"The Bibles are used in the church," he said, dismissing suggestions by Islamic officials that they could be used to help convert Muslims who make up some 60 per cent of the 27 million population.
Shastri said the latest confiscation happened in September, when airport authorities in Sarawak state on Borneo island seized 10,000 copies of the Indonesianlanguage Bibles which feature the disputed word "Allah."
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 1&sponsor=
Agence France-Presse
October 30, 2009
Malaysian authorities have seized some 15,000 Bibles imported from Indonesia because they use the word "Allah" as a translation for God, which is banned here, a church leader said Thursday.
"The church uses the Bible and it is part of the worshipper's life. There is no reason why it should be confiscated," said Rev. Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia.
"The Bibles are used in the church," he said, dismissing suggestions by Islamic officials that they could be used to help convert Muslims who make up some 60 per cent of the 27 million population.
Shastri said the latest confiscation happened in September, when airport authorities in Sarawak state on Borneo island seized 10,000 copies of the Indonesianlanguage Bibles which feature the disputed word "Allah."
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 1&sponsor=
Senior passes driving test on 950th try
Herald News Services
November 9, 2009
Talk about persistence.
A 68-year-old woman in South Korea has passed the written test for her driving licence after an amazing 950 attempts.
Cha Sa-Soon finally scored the 60 per cent required after sitting the exam nearly every day since April 2005, said officials at the drivers' licensing agency in Jeonju, about 200 kilometres south of Seoul.
Yonhap news agency said Cha had spent more than $4,500 in the process.
But it's not over yet for Cha, who now has to take the road driving part of the test before she can be given a licence.
"I felt so ashamed of myself for failing so many times, but I simply could not give it up," Cha told Yonhap.
"My four children were overjoyed at the news that I finally passed it," she said with pride--and some relief.
"I still have to pass the real driving test, but I think it will be easier for me to pass than the paper test," she said, adding she needed a driver's licence for her vegetable-selling business.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 1&sponsor=
Herald News Services
November 9, 2009
Talk about persistence.
A 68-year-old woman in South Korea has passed the written test for her driving licence after an amazing 950 attempts.
Cha Sa-Soon finally scored the 60 per cent required after sitting the exam nearly every day since April 2005, said officials at the drivers' licensing agency in Jeonju, about 200 kilometres south of Seoul.
Yonhap news agency said Cha had spent more than $4,500 in the process.
But it's not over yet for Cha, who now has to take the road driving part of the test before she can be given a licence.
"I felt so ashamed of myself for failing so many times, but I simply could not give it up," Cha told Yonhap.
"My four children were overjoyed at the news that I finally passed it," she said with pride--and some relief.
"I still have to pass the real driving test, but I think it will be easier for me to pass than the paper test," she said, adding she needed a driver's licence for her vegetable-selling business.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 1&sponsor=
Meet the 10-yr-old who is CEO of two companies and a lecturer!
► Retweet
by ANI on November 11, 2009
in World
Kuala Lumpur, Nov 11 (ANI): A Malay boy, who is only 10 years old, has become the CEO of two companies and a lecturer who charges RM 6,000 per hour.
According to Sin Chew Daily and Nanyang Siang Pau, 10-year-old Adi Putra Abdul Ghani’s mother Serihana Alias operates the two companies, which sell vitamins under the brand Adi.
Adi Putra, who is supposed to be attending Year Four classes at his age, has stopped schooling, and he has now instead been invited to certain local universities to give lectures.
The Perak-born child genius, who moved to Selangor with his family a few years ago, was quoted as saying that he wanted to be a lecturer in Islamic studies.
Serihana said he keeps track of foreign stock markets via the Internet and studies at home.
“He’s interested in mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography and biology, but not so much in history and politics. He dislikes reading books but loves spending his time browsing the Net for study materials,” the Star Online quoted Serihana as saying.
► Retweet
by ANI on November 11, 2009
in World
Kuala Lumpur, Nov 11 (ANI): A Malay boy, who is only 10 years old, has become the CEO of two companies and a lecturer who charges RM 6,000 per hour.
According to Sin Chew Daily and Nanyang Siang Pau, 10-year-old Adi Putra Abdul Ghani’s mother Serihana Alias operates the two companies, which sell vitamins under the brand Adi.
Adi Putra, who is supposed to be attending Year Four classes at his age, has stopped schooling, and he has now instead been invited to certain local universities to give lectures.
The Perak-born child genius, who moved to Selangor with his family a few years ago, was quoted as saying that he wanted to be a lecturer in Islamic studies.
Serihana said he keeps track of foreign stock markets via the Internet and studies at home.
“He’s interested in mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography and biology, but not so much in history and politics. He dislikes reading books but loves spending his time browsing the Net for study materials,” the Star Online quoted Serihana as saying.
November 15, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
Triumph of a Dreamer
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Any time anyone tells you that a dream is impossible, any time you’re discouraged by impossible challenges, just mutter this mantra: Tererai Trent.
Of all the people earning university degrees this year, perhaps the most remarkable story belongs to Tererai (pronounced TEH-reh-rye), a middle-aged woman who is one of my heroes. She is celebrating a personal triumph, but she’s also a monument to the aid organizations and individuals who helped her. When you hear that foreign-aid groups just squander money or build dependency, remember that by all odds Tererai should be an illiterate, battered cattle-herd in Zimbabwe and instead — ah, but I’m getting ahead of my story.
Tererai was born in a village in rural Zimbabwe, probably sometime in 1965, and attended elementary school for less than one year. Her father married her off when she was about 11 to a man who beat her regularly. She seemed destined to be one more squandered African asset.
A dozen years passed. Jo Luck, the head of an aid group called Heifer International, passed through the village and told the women there that they should stand up, nurture dreams, change their lives.
Inspired, Tererai scribbled down four absurd goals based on accomplishments she had vaguely heard of among famous Africans. She wrote that she wanted to study abroad, and to earn a B.A., a master’s and a doctorate.
Tererai began to work for Heifer and several Christian organizations as a community organizer. She used the income to take correspondence courses, while saving every penny she could.
In 1998 she was accepted to Oklahoma State University, but she insisted on taking all five of her children with her rather than leave them with her husband. “I couldn’t abandon my kids,” she recalled. “I knew that they might end up getting married off.”
Tererai’s husband eventually agreed that she could take the children to America — as long as he went too. Heifer helped with the plane tickets, Tererai’s mother sold a cow, and neighbors sold goats to help raise money. With $4,000 in cash wrapped in a stocking and tied around her waist, Tererai set off for Oklahoma.
An impossible dream had come true, but it soon looked like a nightmare. Tererai and her family had little money and lived in a ramshackle trailer, shivering and hungry. Her husband refused to do any housework — he was a man! — and coped by beating her.
“There was very little food,” she said. “The kids would come home from school, and they would be hungry.” Tererai found herself eating from trash cans, and she thought about quitting — but felt that doing so would let down other African women.
“I knew that I was getting an opportunity that other women were dying to get,” she recalled. So she struggled on, holding several jobs, taking every class she could, washing and scrubbing, enduring beatings, barely sleeping.
At one point the university tried to expel Tererai for falling behind on tuition payments. A university official, Ron Beer, intervened on her behalf and rallied the faculty and community behind her with donations and support.
“I saw that she had enormous talent,” Dr. Beer said. His church helped with food, Habitat for Humanity provided housing, and a friend at Wal-Mart carefully put expired fruits and vegetables in boxes beside the Dumpster and tipped her off.
Soon afterward, Tererai had her husband deported back to Zimbabwe for beating her, and she earned her B.A. — and started on her M.A. Then her husband returned, now frail and sick with a disease that turned out to be AIDS. Tererai tested negative for H.I.V., and then — feeling sorry for her husband — she took in her former tormentor and nursed him as he grew sicker and eventually died.
Through all this blur of pressures, Tererai excelled at school, pursuing a Ph.D at Western Michigan University and writing a dissertation on AIDS prevention in Africa even as she began working for Heifer as a program evaluator. On top of all that, she was remarried, to Mark Trent, a plant pathologist she had met at Oklahoma State.
Tererai is a reminder of the adage that talent is universal, while opportunity is not. There are still 75 million children who are not attending primary school around the world. We could educate them all for far less than the cost of the proposed military “surge” in Afghanistan.
Each time Tererai accomplished one of those goals that she had written long ago, she checked it off on that old, worn paper. Last month, she ticked off the very last goal, after successfully defending her dissertation. She’ll receive her Ph.D next month, and so a one-time impoverished cattle-herd from Zimbabwe with less than a year of elementary school education will don academic robes and become Dr. Tererai Trent.
I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/opini ... nted=print
Op-Ed Columnist
Triumph of a Dreamer
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Any time anyone tells you that a dream is impossible, any time you’re discouraged by impossible challenges, just mutter this mantra: Tererai Trent.
Of all the people earning university degrees this year, perhaps the most remarkable story belongs to Tererai (pronounced TEH-reh-rye), a middle-aged woman who is one of my heroes. She is celebrating a personal triumph, but she’s also a monument to the aid organizations and individuals who helped her. When you hear that foreign-aid groups just squander money or build dependency, remember that by all odds Tererai should be an illiterate, battered cattle-herd in Zimbabwe and instead — ah, but I’m getting ahead of my story.
Tererai was born in a village in rural Zimbabwe, probably sometime in 1965, and attended elementary school for less than one year. Her father married her off when she was about 11 to a man who beat her regularly. She seemed destined to be one more squandered African asset.
A dozen years passed. Jo Luck, the head of an aid group called Heifer International, passed through the village and told the women there that they should stand up, nurture dreams, change their lives.
Inspired, Tererai scribbled down four absurd goals based on accomplishments she had vaguely heard of among famous Africans. She wrote that she wanted to study abroad, and to earn a B.A., a master’s and a doctorate.
Tererai began to work for Heifer and several Christian organizations as a community organizer. She used the income to take correspondence courses, while saving every penny she could.
In 1998 she was accepted to Oklahoma State University, but she insisted on taking all five of her children with her rather than leave them with her husband. “I couldn’t abandon my kids,” she recalled. “I knew that they might end up getting married off.”
Tererai’s husband eventually agreed that she could take the children to America — as long as he went too. Heifer helped with the plane tickets, Tererai’s mother sold a cow, and neighbors sold goats to help raise money. With $4,000 in cash wrapped in a stocking and tied around her waist, Tererai set off for Oklahoma.
An impossible dream had come true, but it soon looked like a nightmare. Tererai and her family had little money and lived in a ramshackle trailer, shivering and hungry. Her husband refused to do any housework — he was a man! — and coped by beating her.
“There was very little food,” she said. “The kids would come home from school, and they would be hungry.” Tererai found herself eating from trash cans, and she thought about quitting — but felt that doing so would let down other African women.
“I knew that I was getting an opportunity that other women were dying to get,” she recalled. So she struggled on, holding several jobs, taking every class she could, washing and scrubbing, enduring beatings, barely sleeping.
At one point the university tried to expel Tererai for falling behind on tuition payments. A university official, Ron Beer, intervened on her behalf and rallied the faculty and community behind her with donations and support.
“I saw that she had enormous talent,” Dr. Beer said. His church helped with food, Habitat for Humanity provided housing, and a friend at Wal-Mart carefully put expired fruits and vegetables in boxes beside the Dumpster and tipped her off.
Soon afterward, Tererai had her husband deported back to Zimbabwe for beating her, and she earned her B.A. — and started on her M.A. Then her husband returned, now frail and sick with a disease that turned out to be AIDS. Tererai tested negative for H.I.V., and then — feeling sorry for her husband — she took in her former tormentor and nursed him as he grew sicker and eventually died.
Through all this blur of pressures, Tererai excelled at school, pursuing a Ph.D at Western Michigan University and writing a dissertation on AIDS prevention in Africa even as she began working for Heifer as a program evaluator. On top of all that, she was remarried, to Mark Trent, a plant pathologist she had met at Oklahoma State.
Tererai is a reminder of the adage that talent is universal, while opportunity is not. There are still 75 million children who are not attending primary school around the world. We could educate them all for far less than the cost of the proposed military “surge” in Afghanistan.
Each time Tererai accomplished one of those goals that she had written long ago, she checked it off on that old, worn paper. Last month, she ticked off the very last goal, after successfully defending her dissertation. She’ll receive her Ph.D next month, and so a one-time impoverished cattle-herd from Zimbabwe with less than a year of elementary school education will don academic robes and become Dr. Tererai Trent.
I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/opini ... nted=print
Conscious man mistakenly believed in coma 23years
Canwest News Service
November 24, 2009
A man who literally spent half his life in a coma after a car accident-- but was actually conscious -- has spoken out about the 23 years he was "screaming" to doctors and those around him.
Rom Houben, 46, was left paralyzed after a 1983 accident, but told the U.K.'s Daily Mail that he "dreamed himself away."
Houben, with the aid of a computer he can communicate through, told the newspaper that he screamed, "but there was nothing to hear."
Doctors had said he was in a vegetative state based on testing through the Glasgow Coma Scale, the paper reported, but he repeatedly received incorrect grading through that system. New tests from the University of Liege in Belgium, which has a dedicated team of coma experts, determined he was fully paralyzed, but completely aware of his surroundings.
His story became public after a study was published by the University of Liege outlining his ordeal.
The Daily Mail reported that Houben is likely to spend the rest of his life in hospital, but can freely communicate with friends and family and read books.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
Canwest News Service
November 24, 2009
A man who literally spent half his life in a coma after a car accident-- but was actually conscious -- has spoken out about the 23 years he was "screaming" to doctors and those around him.
Rom Houben, 46, was left paralyzed after a 1983 accident, but told the U.K.'s Daily Mail that he "dreamed himself away."
Houben, with the aid of a computer he can communicate through, told the newspaper that he screamed, "but there was nothing to hear."
Doctors had said he was in a vegetative state based on testing through the Glasgow Coma Scale, the paper reported, but he repeatedly received incorrect grading through that system. New tests from the University of Liege in Belgium, which has a dedicated team of coma experts, determined he was fully paralyzed, but completely aware of his surroundings.
His story became public after a study was published by the University of Liege outlining his ordeal.
The Daily Mail reported that Houben is likely to spend the rest of his life in hospital, but can freely communicate with friends and family and read books.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
Ritual slaughter for 20,000 buffalo
Agence France-Presse
November 25, 2009
Up to a million Hindu devotees gathered tuesday in a village in Nepal to witness the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals in a mass sacrifice that has drawn widespread criticism.
Worshippers came from as far from neighbouring India to attend the two-day Gadhimai festival, which honours the Hindu goddess of power and happens once every five years in southern Nepal.
The crowd rushed to a nearby field where 250 sword-wielding butchers began the mass slaughter of around 20,000 buffalo, brought by devotees.
Animal rights activists have waged a vocal campaign to stop the festival, saying it is cruel.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 3&sponsor=
Agence France-Presse
November 25, 2009
Up to a million Hindu devotees gathered tuesday in a village in Nepal to witness the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals in a mass sacrifice that has drawn widespread criticism.
Worshippers came from as far from neighbouring India to attend the two-day Gadhimai festival, which honours the Hindu goddess of power and happens once every five years in southern Nepal.
The crowd rushed to a nearby field where 250 sword-wielding butchers began the mass slaughter of around 20,000 buffalo, brought by devotees.
Animal rights activists have waged a vocal campaign to stop the festival, saying it is cruel.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 3&sponsor=
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From_Alamut
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- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:22 am
Deer dashing through downtown Toronto Tasered
Much of downtown Toronto came to a standstill for hours this morning as Toronto Police, animal services and an emergency task force surrounded and Tasered a wayward deer that ran through the financial district.
After running past office towers and Union Station, the deer eventually took refuge on a grassy patch on the east side of a medical office building at the corner of Chestnut and Edward streets.Around 11 a.m., ETF officers moved their trucks closer to the animal, in an apparent attempt to create a barrier in which to contain it.
They shot the deer with a tranquilizer dart, prompting it to run north, where police were holding a large net. The deer then veered and launched majestically over a strip of yellow police tape.
An officer then jolted the deer with a Taser; it immediately crumpled on the sidewalk.
Photo gallery.
Supt. Hugh Ferguson, unit commander at 52 division, said police got a call at 6:45 a.m. about a wild deer on a patch of grass east of the professional building, which houses medical labs and dental offices, at 123 Edward St.
He said responders included a dozen primary control officers, one unit from the Emergency Task Force, plus two animal control teams and a Dr. Graham Crawshaw, a senior veterinarian from the Toronto Zoo.
"Our goal was first of all not to frighten the animal," said Supt. Ferguson."It was darted with a tranquilizer. At that point it was Tasered immediately. The officers held it to the ground until the tranquilizer took effect. The deer is now on its way back to the wild."
Police had blocked Edward Street from Elizabeth to Centre Street. Yellow police tape surrounds a small patch of grass upon which the brown deer sat behind a hedge, its head sticking up so as to give the about 75 people watching this drama unfold a glimpse of her.
‘‘We're actually watching the deer instead of working,’’ said foreman John Cardoso, part of a crew delivering water to the construction site for the YWCA Elm Centre. ‘‘My honest opinion as a hunter? It wouldn't be standing there.’’
A fellow worker added: ‘‘Come on guys, get 'er done.’’
‘‘I know eh?’’ said another. ‘‘We could have ribs.’’
The deer was bobbing its head, but appeared in no rush to leave the only sliver of green space in this busy sport across from the Toronto Bus Terminal.
Const. Tony Vella said Toronto police received a number of calls about a deer before 7 a.m., first at Union Station, then at York and Bay. Experts from the Toronto Zoo soon arrived on scene.
‘‘The main priority is the safety of the animal and pedestrians," Cont. Vella said before the deer was captured.
Before the morning's entertainment came to a dramatic end, OCAD student Amanda Seebeck, originally from Montreal, said: ‘‘Tellement mignon. She's so cute. I want to hug her.’’
Sympathetic tweets about the doe dominated Twitter, particularly after the animal was Tasered.
"This would never happen in the Disney version," one observer wrote.
Then the jokes began.
"Bear on Bay St. thought deer was brought in for a snack...... stocks plummet," another user wrote.
Photo by Brett Gundlock, National Post
Reference
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blog ... ronto.aspx
Check this video on Youtube based on that Deer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeBcCnNmYos
Much of downtown Toronto came to a standstill for hours this morning as Toronto Police, animal services and an emergency task force surrounded and Tasered a wayward deer that ran through the financial district.
After running past office towers and Union Station, the deer eventually took refuge on a grassy patch on the east side of a medical office building at the corner of Chestnut and Edward streets.Around 11 a.m., ETF officers moved their trucks closer to the animal, in an apparent attempt to create a barrier in which to contain it.
They shot the deer with a tranquilizer dart, prompting it to run north, where police were holding a large net. The deer then veered and launched majestically over a strip of yellow police tape.
An officer then jolted the deer with a Taser; it immediately crumpled on the sidewalk.
Photo gallery.
Supt. Hugh Ferguson, unit commander at 52 division, said police got a call at 6:45 a.m. about a wild deer on a patch of grass east of the professional building, which houses medical labs and dental offices, at 123 Edward St.
He said responders included a dozen primary control officers, one unit from the Emergency Task Force, plus two animal control teams and a Dr. Graham Crawshaw, a senior veterinarian from the Toronto Zoo.
"Our goal was first of all not to frighten the animal," said Supt. Ferguson."It was darted with a tranquilizer. At that point it was Tasered immediately. The officers held it to the ground until the tranquilizer took effect. The deer is now on its way back to the wild."
Police had blocked Edward Street from Elizabeth to Centre Street. Yellow police tape surrounds a small patch of grass upon which the brown deer sat behind a hedge, its head sticking up so as to give the about 75 people watching this drama unfold a glimpse of her.
‘‘We're actually watching the deer instead of working,’’ said foreman John Cardoso, part of a crew delivering water to the construction site for the YWCA Elm Centre. ‘‘My honest opinion as a hunter? It wouldn't be standing there.’’
A fellow worker added: ‘‘Come on guys, get 'er done.’’
‘‘I know eh?’’ said another. ‘‘We could have ribs.’’
The deer was bobbing its head, but appeared in no rush to leave the only sliver of green space in this busy sport across from the Toronto Bus Terminal.
Const. Tony Vella said Toronto police received a number of calls about a deer before 7 a.m., first at Union Station, then at York and Bay. Experts from the Toronto Zoo soon arrived on scene.
‘‘The main priority is the safety of the animal and pedestrians," Cont. Vella said before the deer was captured.
Before the morning's entertainment came to a dramatic end, OCAD student Amanda Seebeck, originally from Montreal, said: ‘‘Tellement mignon. She's so cute. I want to hug her.’’
Sympathetic tweets about the doe dominated Twitter, particularly after the animal was Tasered.
"This would never happen in the Disney version," one observer wrote.
Then the jokes began.
"Bear on Bay St. thought deer was brought in for a snack...... stocks plummet," another user wrote.
Photo by Brett Gundlock, National Post
Reference
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blog ... ronto.aspx
Check this video on Youtube based on that Deer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeBcCnNmYos
Giant of Lampung touted as tallest man
Agence France-Presse
December 3, 2009
Photo at:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
Suparwono, Indonesia's tallest man at nearly nine feet tall, says he eats three kilograms of rice and at least 15 eggs every day.
Photograph by: Supri, Reuters, Agence France-PresseA 25-year-old Indonesian labourer could be a contender for the title of world's tallest man, currently held by Turkish farmer Sultan Kosen, a local archivist said.
Suparwono, who like many Indonesians goes by just one name, stands 2.71 metres (8.89 feet) tall according to unofficial measurements, compared to Kosen's record height of 2.47 metres.
He shot to fame this week after one of his relatives in his home village of Tri Tunggal Jaya, in Sumatra island's southern Lampung province, invited neighbours to take pictures of him. Within days he was appearing on television talk shows in Jakarta as the "Giant of Lampung."
"Our team will name him today as Indonesia's tallest man, breaking a previous record of 2.21 metres," Indonesia's Museum of Records manager Ngadri said.
"We will make some approaches for him to be registered (with Guinness World Records) as the tallest man in the world," he added.
Suparwono said sometimes he felt "proud" of his height but "it also gives me problems because I can't live like normal people", citing the difficulty of fitting into public buses and finding large enough clothes.
"I started to realize my exceptional height when I was 10 years old. At that time, I was already the tallest at my school and in my village," he told AFP between television appearances. "I eat three kilograms (6.61 pounds)of rice every day and at least 15 eggs," he added.
One of five children, he hoped as a teenager to be a basketball star but his body couldn't stand the stress of elite sport, according to his former coach, Willy Winoto.
"After two years of training we found that he was unable to become a national athlete because of his bone problems. His anatomical structure isn't good enough to be an athlete," Winoto said.
Suparwono lives with his parents and earns money doing odd jobs around the village.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Agence France-Presse
December 3, 2009
Photo at:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
Suparwono, Indonesia's tallest man at nearly nine feet tall, says he eats three kilograms of rice and at least 15 eggs every day.
Photograph by: Supri, Reuters, Agence France-PresseA 25-year-old Indonesian labourer could be a contender for the title of world's tallest man, currently held by Turkish farmer Sultan Kosen, a local archivist said.
Suparwono, who like many Indonesians goes by just one name, stands 2.71 metres (8.89 feet) tall according to unofficial measurements, compared to Kosen's record height of 2.47 metres.
He shot to fame this week after one of his relatives in his home village of Tri Tunggal Jaya, in Sumatra island's southern Lampung province, invited neighbours to take pictures of him. Within days he was appearing on television talk shows in Jakarta as the "Giant of Lampung."
"Our team will name him today as Indonesia's tallest man, breaking a previous record of 2.21 metres," Indonesia's Museum of Records manager Ngadri said.
"We will make some approaches for him to be registered (with Guinness World Records) as the tallest man in the world," he added.
Suparwono said sometimes he felt "proud" of his height but "it also gives me problems because I can't live like normal people", citing the difficulty of fitting into public buses and finding large enough clothes.
"I started to realize my exceptional height when I was 10 years old. At that time, I was already the tallest at my school and in my village," he told AFP between television appearances. "I eat three kilograms (6.61 pounds)of rice every day and at least 15 eggs," he added.
One of five children, he hoped as a teenager to be a basketball star but his body couldn't stand the stress of elite sport, according to his former coach, Willy Winoto.
"After two years of training we found that he was unable to become a national athlete because of his bone problems. His anatomical structure isn't good enough to be an athlete," Winoto said.
Suparwono lives with his parents and earns money doing odd jobs around the village.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Faizal Khamisa: Story of Perseverance and Positive Attitude
January 9, 2010
Posted by ismailimail in Canada, Health, Ismaili Muslims in the News, North America.
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My name is Faizal Khamisa. I am an Ismaili Muslim from Mississauga, Ontario now 4th year at the University of Western Ontario studying Psychology and serving as campus jamati Mukhisaeb.
My story is that of perseverance. At the age of 16 in 2005, the summer before my grade 12 year, I was diagnosed with a form of cancer that caused me to miss 8 weeks of school consecutively. I was determined to continue my schooling through this illness in the hopes of showing people that obstacles arise, and they force you to continue living your life. Since the diagnoses, I had 2 years of chemotherapy and a number of setbacks. I was forced to have emergency double hip surgery at 18 years old because of the side effects of treatment, as well as shoulder surgery at 19, with all joints on the verge of collapsing.
This illness served as the perfect opportunity to reach out to the Community, especially the many young children I had worked with over the years, and show them through my experience that perseverance and a positive attitude are the most essential keys to your success and future. I tried to show that despite the severity of the situation at hand: you yourself have the ability to make the best from it.
I started my own Inspirational Speaking venture, called In Your Hands Inspirational Speaking (first speech video seen here–> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_35kJEmSr0), and have spread my word to over 5000 people in the last 4 years. I have also started my own motivational website – www.faizalkhamisa.com, hosted a charity soccer challenge in conjunction with the Childhood Cancer Foundation of Canada (www.iyhsoccerchallenge.com), and tried to spread my slogan of “Create A Good Day”.
Essentially, I am not attempting to promote myself, but the message of positive attitude and creating a good day, and I hope this forum can help spread the message through my story.
–
Note from Ismailimail: We found this story of perseverance and human aspirations to be overwhelmingly positive in Faizal’s own words, hence we have shared it as is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_35kJEmSr0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr_qNhnQd68
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... tent=Gmail
January 9, 2010
Posted by ismailimail in Canada, Health, Ismaili Muslims in the News, North America.
trackback
My name is Faizal Khamisa. I am an Ismaili Muslim from Mississauga, Ontario now 4th year at the University of Western Ontario studying Psychology and serving as campus jamati Mukhisaeb.
My story is that of perseverance. At the age of 16 in 2005, the summer before my grade 12 year, I was diagnosed with a form of cancer that caused me to miss 8 weeks of school consecutively. I was determined to continue my schooling through this illness in the hopes of showing people that obstacles arise, and they force you to continue living your life. Since the diagnoses, I had 2 years of chemotherapy and a number of setbacks. I was forced to have emergency double hip surgery at 18 years old because of the side effects of treatment, as well as shoulder surgery at 19, with all joints on the verge of collapsing.
This illness served as the perfect opportunity to reach out to the Community, especially the many young children I had worked with over the years, and show them through my experience that perseverance and a positive attitude are the most essential keys to your success and future. I tried to show that despite the severity of the situation at hand: you yourself have the ability to make the best from it.
I started my own Inspirational Speaking venture, called In Your Hands Inspirational Speaking (first speech video seen here–> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_35kJEmSr0), and have spread my word to over 5000 people in the last 4 years. I have also started my own motivational website – www.faizalkhamisa.com, hosted a charity soccer challenge in conjunction with the Childhood Cancer Foundation of Canada (www.iyhsoccerchallenge.com), and tried to spread my slogan of “Create A Good Day”.
Essentially, I am not attempting to promote myself, but the message of positive attitude and creating a good day, and I hope this forum can help spread the message through my story.
–
Note from Ismailimail: We found this story of perseverance and human aspirations to be overwhelmingly positive in Faizal’s own words, hence we have shared it as is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_35kJEmSr0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr_qNhnQd68
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... tent=Gmail