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August 30, 2009

Second biggest aquarium


The giant Kuroshio Sea tank in Japan provides living space for 3 full-sized Whale Sharks.

Collection of diagonaluk


the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. It is located in the north of Okinawa, near the city of Nago. The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is apparently the 2nd largest aquarium in the world.

There is a giant tank of fish, including whale sharks and giant manta rays. The tank holds almost 2,000,000 gallons of water.
Source :teachenglishinasia.net

I thing it is good for education, another thing it is sad to the whale shark, she used to travel thousands of miles in the open sea- rad

Glaciers melt around world due to global warming


Splinters of ice peel off from the front of the Perito Moreno Glacier into the Lago Argentino, in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Los Glaciares National Park), 80 km (50 miles) west of El Calafate city, in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, in this March 25, 2007 file photo. Moving on from the risk of global warming, scientists are now looking for ways to pinpoint the areas set to be affected by climate change, to help countries plan everything from new crops to hydropower dams.


Hikers make their way in front of the Ried Glacier and the Dom mountain in the Swiss Alps, near Zermatt, September 12, 2007. Switzerland has been particularly hard hit by a warming climate, with ski resorts often short of snow cover and potential water supply problems as sources melt away.

Source :news.xinhuanet.com
Editor: Sun Yunlong
Photos by Xinhua/Reuters Photo

August 29, 2009

Love Story from Gaza

Romance outlives Israeli blockade of Gaza
by Fares Akram


For Hamoudi Gharib, time ticked too slowly on a June day as he was waiting for his Canadian would-be wife to cross into the besiege Gaza, nearly eight years after they first met over the internet.

He strolled back and forth at the Gaza border, hard to cover up the longing and strain that hit him when he was about to meet his fiancee Linda Todd, who took the adventure into Gaza by joining a group of international campaigners on a lifesaving mission.



"It was overwhelming, I can't describe it," the Gaza journalist said about his feeling at that moment. "I was happy and nervous all at the same time. I was feeling my destiny was three seconds away."

"My dream was becoming more and more real as the bus approached," he added.

Finally, the bus appeared driving from the Egyptian side and the once-very-active Hamoudi froze in his place, looking at the activists stepping out one by one.

When he saw Linda, he rushed and hugged her with the eyes of Hamas security men gazing in wonder.

Her colleagues applauded and cheered joyfully before the press men turned their cameras to Hamoudi and let his story hit the headlines, predominating over the news of the pro-Palestinian delegation that came in solidarity with the Gaza Strip.

Hamoudi's story goes back to the year of 2001 when the couple met on the internet and started chatting on-line for several hours each day, trying to know more about each other's worlds which were quite different.

"I loved that person for caring so much about me," Hamoudi said, speaking about how an ordinary chat conversation developed into a love story. "Two nights after we met, she called me and we talked over the phone for hours," he recalled.

Being a Gaza resident, it means traveling out from Gaza requires clearance from Israel, the Palestinian National Authority(PNA), Egypt and finally Hamas, the Islamic movement which seized control of the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007.

And for Linda, entering Gaza was not easy either.

"Every time we would think that maybe this time we got together either there was something wrong on my side, or suddenly the borders were closed, or suddenly there was something going on like too much violence," the new bride said in an interview at her husband's family house.

Linda joined an international delegation called Code Pink which, after four months of preparations, decided to visit Gaza after Israel ended its three-week major military offensive against the blockaded coastal territory in January.

The peace mission was miraculously permitted to enter Gaza through Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

Linda's friends said seeing the two united and married made them forget all the hard times they experienced during their trip, especially the three-day waiting in Egypt.

The newly wed are now happily living together in Gaza spending their honeymoon in the Gaza City that has been experiencing the most tragic and unprecedented ordeal in its history.

"Patience had been the biggest lesson," Linda said.

But the happy life the two are living now is mixed with worry about separation. Linda, who took a vacation from her work, has to go back to Canada and Hamoudi will "most probably try to follow her," she said.

Since Gaza blockade has been tightened by time, Hamoudi is afraid it will take him years to rejoin with his wife, but the couple are determined to overcome the siege. "We promised each other not to give in under any circumstance."

Travel restriction on the Gazans was first applied at the beginning of the Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000. But it started to take the toll on the public in 2006 when Hamas captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid near Gaza.

Israel ended its occupation of Gaza in 2005 and withdrew from settlements, handing it over to native Palestinians. In June 2007,Hamas militants, which rejects peace with Israel, wrested control of the territory from the Fatah group which is seeking a peace deal with the Jewish state.

As a result, Egypt and Israel maintained a full closure of their borders with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Egypt opens Rafah crossing point, Gaza's only gateway bypassing Israel to the outside world, for humanitarian cases for two days per month. Hundreds of Gazans have died due to the siege over the past couple of years.

Prospects of lifting the Israeli embargo hinge on healing the Palestinian split between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatahparty, but so far talks towards this goal have made no substantial progress.

Egypt said it would open Rafah crossing regularly if the Palestinian groups reconciled through a Cairo-hosted dialogue, but recent gun battles in the West Bank between Hamas and Palestinian security forces loyal to Abbas fueled speculations that the dialogue was not going to succeed.

Editor: Yan
Source :chinaview.cn 2009-06-05
Photo :horiwood.com

August 28, 2009

UFO hovers over Chongqing, China for half an hour


At about 10 pm on the evening of August 23, a UFO appeared in the sky above Beibei Binjiang Road in Chongqing. (Photo: People Daily Online/Chongqing Evening)


At about 10 pm on the evening of August 23, a UFO appeared in the sky above Beibei Binjiang Road in Chongqing. (Photo: People Daily Online/Chongqing Evening)

BEIJING, Aug. 27 -- At about 10 pm on the evening of August 23, a UFO appeared in the sky above Beibei Binjiang Road in Chongqing. The UFO was "V" shaped and its color changed in the order of red, blue, green, yellow and white at short intervals. Hundreds of people watched but no one heard any sound produced by engines or propulsion equipment.

During the half hour that the UFO appeared, a civil airplane passed by. Witnesses compared the civil airplane to the UFO and discovered that the UFO was obviously flying at a higher attitude.

After hovering for about half an hour, the periphery of the UFO began to twinkle and then it disappeared in the night sky.

Editor: Sun
Source: People Daily Online
My source :xinhuanet.com

August 25, 2009

Redang Island, Terengganu, Malaysia

Pulau Redang Sea Turtle


Redang Island

Collection of ywlock

View from Laguna Redang Resort

Collection of teahaf

Whale Shark Encounter: Redang, Malaysia

Collection of juzkian

Diving @ Pulau Redang

Collection of jkrk13

The moral is every place in any part of this world actually beautiful until man makes them unbeautiful. Don't throw away rubbish as we like if we really love beauty.

August 24, 2009

DINOSAURS ALIVE

Switzerland - The Panorama







The Moral from the above videos : take care of old building or what ever heritage left to us by previous civilisation because if we ruin the heritage means our culture ruin too.

The world's most unusual animal friendships


Kes, a Palomino pony, with a lamb he adopted on Fentongollan Farm
near Truro, Cornwall.(Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Five week-old Anastasia, a Siberian eagle
owl crossed with a Turkmanian eagle owl,
and four week-old fluffy white barn owl, Pudge,
are inseparable at Silverwings Falconry at Haytor,
Devon.(Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Usually prey for these tawny owl chicks, this thrush has
been accepted as their pal.(Photo Source: CCTV.com)

A lewd lemur sticks his tongue out at a parrot in Hamburg,
Germany.(Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Anjana, a two-and-a-half year-old chimpanzee, looks after his new
best friend, a 21 day old white tiger cub, at T.I.G.E.R.S (The
Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species), in Myrtle
Beach, South Carolina.(Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Eight-month-old orphan elephant Themba, whose name means 'hope' in
Xhosa, who has struck up a friendship with a sheep called Albert
at the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa.(Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Bea, a three-year-old giraffe, and Wilma, an ostrich, have become
the best of friends at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Florida (Photo Source: CCTV.com)

Source & for more photo story :news.xinhuanet.com

Rad- Animal can get to know each other from difference species and they did it well. How about human ?

August 18, 2009

Perseid meteor shower


A meteor streaks past stars in the night sky at the Mont-Tendre near Montricher in the Jura, north of Geneva, late August 12, 2009. The Perseid meteor shower is sparked every August when the Earth passes through a stream of space debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. This picture was taken using a long exposure and a fisheye lens. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

BEIJING, August 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The Perseid meteor shower, an annual event being tracked by astronomers for centuries, peaks this week.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Perseids may be the best meteor watching event of the year, according to news reports on Thursday.

The phenomenon, which happens each summer as the Earth's orbit takes it through debris scattered by the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, had been due to reach its peak early Thursday morning.


A meteor streaks past stars in the night sky at the Mont-Tendre near Montricher in the Jura, north of Geneva, late August 12, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
The meteors appear to come from a point called a "radiant" in the constellation of Perseus -- therefore it is named Perseid.

No special equipment was needed to watch the shower, which occurs when Earth passes through a stream of dusty debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle.

Amateur astronomers worldwide showed their passions for the greatest concentration of Perseid meteors on Twitter, the networking website, where astronomers posted their sightings. One lucky England stargazer in Chelmsford, Essex, reported seeing 20 meteors in 40 minutes.

(Agencies)


A meteor from the Perseid shower (L) streaks past stars in the Los Padres National Forest in Frazier Park, California August 12, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Source :news.xinhuanet.com
Editor: Wang Guanqun

August 17, 2009

H1N1 : Serious matter and take care of ourselves


Tun Mahathir: take H1N1 as a serious matter and take care of ourselves



H1N1: Disabled child latest death

2009/08/16

SERDANG, sun: A six-year-old child with Down's Syndrome and a hole in the heart is the latest of three deaths resulting from complications due to influenza A (H1N1).

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the child who died on Thursday of "pneumonia with underlying Down's Syndrome and Pulmonary Hypertension" was admitted to the hospital on Aug 9 after suffering for two days of H1N1 symptoms.

He said another three-year-old also succumbed to H1N1 complications after being admitted to the hospital on Aug 1 for fever and cough and suffering breathing difficulties for five days.

"The child died on Friday due to severe pneumonia," he said after launching the Serdang Lifelong Health Carnival at SRJK (C) Serdang Baru 1 here.


Liow said the third death was a 50-year-old man who died on Friday after he was warded on Aug 3 due to fever, diarrhea, vomiting and breathing difficulty.

He said the man died of "septicemia with severe pneumonia".

He said the three deaths raised the H1N1 death toll in the country to 62, while 238 new cases brought the number of H1N1 infections to 3,857 cases, so far.

Liow said to date, 213 patients were being treated at the normal wards while 33 more were at the Intensive Care Unit, 16 of whom had risk factors such as chronic illnesses (7), asthma (3), obesity (2), mental illness (2), pregnancy (1) and post-delivery (1).

He said the Health Ministry found many of those infected with H1N1 did not cooperate well in controlling the pandemic.

He reminded the public to promptly seek treatment at nearby clinics or hospitals if they had H1N1 symptoms and reminded doctors to not postpone antiviral treatments to patients.

He said under Section 12 (1) of the Infectious Diseases Control Act 1988, anyone who knows of a disease that can spread to the public and purposely ignore quarantine warnings and infect others will be fined RM2,000 or a maximum penalty of RM10,000 or two years of imprisonment or both. -- BERNAMA

August 13, 2009

Romania - Bears roam on the road


A brown bear and her cub play on the road on the outskirts of Sinaia, 140 km (87 miles) north of Bucharest, June 15, 2009. Local authorities and members of the Forestry Institute started an operation to capture and relocate about 25 bears after many started to roam in the town in search of food. With half of Europe's brown bears - roughly 6,000 - living in the Carpathians mountains, environmentalists and authorities are struggling to keep the wild animals and residents in mountain towns safe from each other. [Agencies]


A gendarme distracts the attention of a brown bear and her cub from a tourist vehicle on the road


A brown bear cub plays on the road


Members of the Forestry Institute measure the teeth of a brown bear after it was captured


A brown bear is measured after it was shot with a tranquilizer dart


George Sirbu from the Forestry Institute carries a brown bear cub to a cage after it was shot with a tranquiliser dart in the outskirts of Sinaia, 140 km north of Bucharest, June 15, 2009. [Agencies]

Source & for complete photos : english.peopledaily.com.cn

August 12, 2009

China - Shenzhou 7 Safely Return to Earth



August 11, 2009

Jimmy Carter - Palestine Peace Not Apartheid





Ex- President Mr Jimmy Carter on his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid

The answer for the cause of what they called terrorist attacks

Islamic morality and today’s world


Islamic morality and today’s world

Islamic morality and today’s world

IN case you hadn’t noticed, we live in very dangerous times. No doubt there are many areas where this statement applies. The proliferation of wars, civil strife, economic sanction, takeovers and forced expulsion, genocide, natural disaster, environmental pollution, political oppression, street crime, you name it.

At this time however, we would like to offer a few words on a dangerous situation regarding one of the most fundamental aspects of human behaviour that if abused can lead to an insidious form of genocide. Namely,the destruction of people through immoral sexual relationships. This is a vast topic indeed, so we will not in any way attempt to give it a full treatment. We hope now only to make several points by looking at what the situation is today and how Islam and Muslims are viewed with regards to it.

It can neither be denied that any given society may undergo trends nor that these trends usually have an underlying cause or source and they don’t just suddenly “turn up” but rather develop over time. In the West in particular, sexual relationships are generally viewed as the private preference of each individual. No one has the right to determine with whom, or how one conducts one’s sex life. What occurs between consenting adults, no matter what sex or how many, is usually condoned. We believe that these beliefs and principles (along with others) have chiefly contributed to the following realities of today’s world.

The current reality

Premarital sex between heterosexuals is considered quite acceptable, normal, well within the bounds of morality, and indeed desirable. It has been this way for a long time and could honestly be said to be part of the “American Way”. Dating begins at a very young age and every socially well-adjusted youngster is expected to have several girlfriends and boyfriends by a certain age. Couples are expected to live together and getting married has long ceased to be considered as a major aim in life.

Those who grow up in the West are weaned on sex in both subtle and not so subtle ways. It is quickly learned through TV shows, commercials, movies, advertisements, songs, you name it, that being sexy is a desired goal and aim in life. Even comic books abound with superheroes and heroines with fantastically well-proportioned bodies and they lead sexually active private lives where little is left to the imagination. Animated cartoon characters from Betty Boop to Jessica Rabbit make the message crystal clear about what makes a female desirable. The top selling video and computer games feature female characters with sexy bodies whose biggest audiences are adolescent boys and young men.

Females are intensely focused on being sexually attractive and are conditioned to be so from the time they get their first Barbie. This is what makes the fashion, cosmetic and entertainment industries thrive. Countless young girls admire and aspire to be ‘superstar’ beauty queens, models, singers, or actresses.

There is a phenomenal proliferation of ‘fan’ or entertainment magazines that feature the hottest entertainment stars who are known precisely for their sex appeal. Romance novels (some affectionately termed “bodice rippers”) are the number one sellers among young women around the world and have made many a writer rich even before they have sold the film rights.

The most popular “rap artistes” regularly feature sexually explicit ‘lyrics’ in their ‘songs’ that would disgust some of the crooners of love songs in the ‘old days’ (the 70’s & 80’s). The highest rated TV talk shows are those that commonly feature people who expose their most intimate and outlandish sexual behaviour.

Fashion, health, and women’s magazines must feature tips on how to be a master of all things. In Middle Eastern countries, newsstands and bookstores are filled with magazines with covers featuring the faces of gorgeous Arab (dare we say Muslim) women in the latest fashions, not to mention what is within the pages.

In the US alone, pornography of all types and levels is a multi-billion dollar industry having increased in leaps and bounds within just the last decade. The amount of sexual activity that the average person, including children, may view on prime time national television is far above that which one may have had to search for less than a decade or two ago.

Sexual innuendo or titillating banter is ever present in situation comedies and other dramas and films. Daytime soap operas make their ratings on the number of affairs the characters are having and how sexually bold the beautiful, young and restless co-stars are on screen. Cable television is full of sexually explicit programming that can be seen at nearly all times.

Video stores are stocked with plenty of films. The latest compact disks are easily available, as are satellite dish transmissions of the same fare in many Muslim countries. Indeed, satellite broadcasts feature music videos, films, models and everything else from Hollywood to Bollywood that sends a clear message that being desirable, attractive and sexy is of paramount importance.

The destructive consequences

After all that liberation, a woman’s worth is still tied to her level of physical beauty which is still considered her greatest asset and one to be exploited in the worst way. Males are increasingly judged in this way but not to the degree as are females. Even the modern ‘super-woman power-executive’ who is supposed to be respected for her intellect and authority still wears a mid-thigh skirt. She expects... no demands, to be viewed as absolutely equal to her male counterpart, yet does she really believe that when dressed this way her worth is not at all being judged based on her looks by even the unemployed vagrant she passes by on the way to work? Indeed, it is commonplace, normal and in no way embarrassing for a woman to wear the tightest and most revealing clothing in public and walk virtually nude at public beaches and swimming pools.

People are not at all embarrassed or inhibited with public displays of sexual passion. Prostitution in all its forms is increasingly open and given a “blind eye” by law enforcement who have their hands full with “real” crimes. It is even legal in some countries despite what would seem the relative easy availability of sex otherwise.

There are places that are world famous for their open markets of female, male and child prostitutes. Legal statutes forbidding sex between minors, or certain other sexual practices are often not applied until and unless a formal complaint is brought against one party by another and may then even be found to be so outdated that they are wiped out completely.

Adultery and fornication are no longer viewed as the deadly crimes and sins they really are and are in fact commonplace. Married men are expected to have several mistresses in some places. Condoms are being handed out for free in several public school systems. A heavy price is being paid in unwanted unmarried teenage pregnancies, ‘fatherless’ children and resultant economic, health and psychological problems.

Homosexuality has now become accepted by a large number of people particularly in the West as well as in other circles that are “Westernised”. An indication of this changed attitude is the fact that homosexuals are no longer portrayed as they stereotypically were in past Hollywood films and television as ‘flaming faggots’ who were silly, lisping, cowardly weaklings or sexually promiscuous. That is and was considered offensive by homosexuals and is now ‘politically incorrect’ among the ‘mainstream’ heterosexual populace. Recent portrayals are now often of the homosexual as sensitive, level-headed and responsible members of society. Perhaps it could be accurately stated that homosexuality is accepted by a majority of Americans and Europeans even if they personally do not practice it. Accepted in so much as no one will report or condemn or discriminate against a homosexual in most areas unless they are flagrantly offensive in their mannerisms and behaviour.

This in no way implies that there aren’t many people who still find homosexuality abhorrent and even react violently to it. However, it is considered absolutely politically incorrect in ‘mainstream’ circles to imply that homosexuals are any less moral and have any less right to practise what they practice than any heterosexual.

Even worse are reports in recent years that it has been statistically proven that a staggeringly high percentage of American females have been and can expect to be not only harassed but sexually assaulted in their lifetimes - even by family members! Violent sexual crimes are no longer shocking and rapists are given relatively light sentences if convicted. Child sexual abuse and “date rape” is a major problem and who knows how many incidences go unreported?

“Stalking” is another type of crime that an amazingly high number of women have experienced and more can expect. Even wealthy and powerful men face being sexually assaulted or threatened. Every man, no matter how rich or powerful faces a high risk of being accused of being a perpetrator of sexual harassment or even assault. Literally millions of people, especially women, are victims each year of sexually related disasters from rape and assault to divorces and crimes of passion, and from sexually transmitted diseases to psychological and emotional disorders.

Refusal to face the need for change

Even in the face of this staggering toll in human suffering and degradation, the disbelievers and doubters in Islam still incredulously ask: You Muslims say that Islam wants women to be all covered up?! They can’t wear whatever they please shouldn’t go out perfumed?! The opposite sex shouldn’t even shake hands with those who are not their close relatives or spouses nor should an unrelated man and a woman be in a room alone together even if they are engaged?! You’re not supposed to go out on dates? You shouldn’t listen to music, especially the romantic, sexy, and sexually explicit songs? No swimming or visiting the public beaches in the summer?! Not even the same sex should see each other in scanty, skin-tight, or see-through clothing or even shower together at the gym?! You’re against co-educational institutions?! You’re supposed to lower your gaze when the opposite sex comes along and if you must speak to them it should be in a no-nonsense tone?! You really place great value on chastity, modesty and virgin until marriage?! You encourage that men be jealous for and protective of their wives?! Premarital sex is a punishable crime and adultery is a capital offence?! No sex unless you are married to your partner?! You can marry up to four women?!!!

They call the genuine, devout, practising Muslims extremists (equating them with terrorists in the mind of the average person), yet they don’t (or refuse to) recognise the ugly realities described earlier as outrageous and extreme!

They label Muslims fundamentalists, but they don’t admit that the present situation calls for a major and fundamental revision of their principles!

They say we are strange but we don’t mind. As the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:

Islam began as something strange and it will again become something strange. Therefore, may Allah bless the strangers!

Source http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/

August 9, 2009

Special anti-war event

Simulating victims of atomic bombing



A protestors simulates the victims of the atomic bombing in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay, on Aug. 6, 2009, during an anti-war event to mark the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima of Japan by U.S. forces during the World War II. -Xinhua/Ubaldo Gonzalez

Source :http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/07/

A kampung in Belfast


Belfast is a small city with a ‘community’ feel

2009/08/08

NURJEHAN MOHAMED

Malaysian students feel right at home in Queen’s University Belfast, writes NURJEHAN MOHAMED

THE smell of curry and fried chicken would almost make you think you were back in Malaysia, if not for the fact that it is a cool 20°C and home is about 10,000km away.

Welcome to Belfast, the Malaysian way.

The host is Taufik Hairudin, a fourth-year medical student at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Taufik is also president of the Queen’s Malay Club (QUC).

For students leaving home for the first time to pursue tertiary studies, homesickness is a phase that is unavoidable. But it helps to have a friendly face to ease your transition.


“QUC watches over the welfare of Malaysian Malay students in Belfast.

“We pick new students up from the airport, help them with accommodation and point out where the mosque and halal food outlets are,” says Taufik.

QUC was initially an Islamic society but because the university does not provide funding for religious or political-based clubs, it became the Malay Club instead.

It organises events for festivals celebrated in Malaysia, a number of which are Islamic, and groups for religious studies and prayers.

When there are other activities, such as celebrations for public holidays and sporting events, it would collaborate with the university’s Malaysian Society and invite Malay students from other countries to join in.

“The Malaysian Malay community in Belfast is small, about 60 to 80 students. It is a small city so we all know each other,” adds the 24-year-old.

Computer Science PhD student Edzreena Edza Odzaly, 31, says being small in number makes Malaysian Malays more united.

“There are more Malaysian Malays in Manchester but they would not necessarily know each other,” she says.

She adds that the support found in Belfast helps new students adapt quicker to the foreign environment.

This togetherness also enables students to get a sense of home despite being half a world away from Malaysia.

There are a few “Malaysian Malay houses” — homes occupied solely by Malay students — in Taufik’s neighbourhood, which is a 10- to 15-minute walk from campus.

Nik Amalina Nik Saidina Omar, 24, another fourth-year medical student, says walking is the favoured way to get around.

“At first, we found it difficult to walk all over the place because we’re not used to doing so in Malaysia.

“But now, even a half-hour walk is a normal thing,” she says, adding that students sometimes walk to the city centre — which is about 20 minutes’ away from the university.

It helps that the weather is conducive for the activity; the 18oC to 20oC weather a few weeks ago was considered quite balmy by residents.

“We were initially concerned about studying in Belfast because of horror stories we heard about how Westerners treated Muslims after 9/11,” says Taufik.

But in the time he has been in Belfast he has never felt threatened or marginalised as a Muslim from a predominantly Malay country.

“Like all cities, there would be areas that you avoid for your own safety but overall Belfast is a safe city,” says Nik Amalina.

The hospitality of the people also makes students feel at ease.

“I was walking down a street with a friend from Dublin and everyone we passed greeted us.

“When my friend commented at how I seemed to know many people in Belfast, I said they were all strangers who were just being friendly,” says Taufik.

“The hospital where we do our medical attachment in the third year also has a good working environment and we feel at ease approaching anyone, even a senior consultant,” says Nik Amalina.

Being a small minority, not many Irish know about Malay and Muslim customs.

But, as Taufik explains, after he told his Irish friends about his dietary restrictions, they invite him out to a cafe for coffee rather than a pub for drinks.

“Halal food is not impossible to get here but it isn’t as easy as in a place where there is a large Muslim population.

“And some of the hospitals also provide halal food because they have Muslim staff,” says Taufik.

As students, Taufik says it is important to have an environment conducive to learning and the small Northern Ireland city provides just that — good weather, clean surroundings, efficient services and friendly people.

While the students miss Malaysia, especially Malaysian food — including fast food, which is not halal in Belfast — the community they have in Belfast helps them feel at home.


The favoured mode of transport in Belfast is your own two feet

Source :http://www.nst.com.my/

Kampung - Village

Jalan Tebing Bukit - Street Canyon


Jalan yang sesuai untuk belajar memandu
Suitable road to learn driving

Source : email from friend, may be he got from yahoo.

August 7, 2009

Muhammad Ali - during a ceremony honoring him



Former boxing great Muhammad Ali waves to the crowd during a ceremony honoring him before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees August 6, 2009 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 13-6. - AFP
Aug 7, 2009 12:20 pm

Source :http://www.nst.com.my/

Haze - related illnesses soar among children



By Annie Freeda Cruez

KUALA LUMPUR: The haze has brought about an increase in the number of children seeking treatment for respiratory problems and chest infections especially in the Klang Valley.

According to Kuala Lumpur Hospital consultant pulmonary and critical care physician Datuk Dr Jeyaindran Sinnadurai, the situation was still manageable but could worsen if the haze worsened.

He said those with underlying respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis should not forget their medication.

He added that if the illness worsened, they should seek immediate medical attention.

"The haze can cause upper and lower respiratory tract infections, conjunctivitis or 'red eye' and sore throat. This is due to dust particles and the presence of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide."


He said both coarse and fine particles could irritate the eyes and respiratory tract, causing runny nose, phlegm, coughing and wheezing.

"Air pollution can lead to a runny nose. Throats get dry and itchy and mucus develops. It could end up clogging the respiratory tract, leading to infection."

Serdang Hospital head of paediatric department Dr Norrashidah Abd Wahab said the hospital had seen an increase in the number of children aged 5 and below coming in with upper and lower respiratory tract infection since early this month.

She said their two paediatric wards, each with 28 beds, were now fully occupied, with 80 to 90 per cent of admissions due to haze- related problems.

"We are seeing a 20 to 30 per cent increase in admissions since the second week of the month."

Paediatric neurologist Dr Malinee A.Thambyayah of Pantai Hospital said she had handled children coming in with complaints of allergic rhinitis, tightness in the chest, clogged noses and dust allergy.

"My own daughter is suffering from throat irritation," she added.

The doctors advised Malaysians not to stay outdoors for long periods and to wash their hands and face as soon as they came indoors.

The public should also:

- bathe regularly to get the dust out of the face and body;

- reduce outdoor activities, including physical exercise; and,

- drink plenty of fluids.

Source :http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/7haze/Article/
Photo by rb

August 6, 2009

Micheal Jackson in Memory


- BeforeAndAfterTV




RB- May God bless U, amiin.


- historytourmunich

August 5, 2009

Thief thanks cops for rescuing him


Thankful ... an Italian thief was beaten by tae-kwondo trained Korean tourists who he had just robbed before he was saved by police. Pic: Reuters


from corresondents in Rome, Italy Agence France-Presse
August 04, 2009 09:42am

AN Italian thief thanked police officers for arresting him and putting an end to a beating from Korean tourists whom he had robbed in Rome, police say.

"I must thank you; they were massacring me,'' the 48-year-old criminal told police after he was arrested near the Theatre of Marcellus, one of the monuments in Rome's historic centre.

The thief, from the northern region of Liguria, stole a handbag from a Korean family when they were not paying attention.

He threatened the family with a knife when he was spotted and then tried to flee.

Two men from the family, in their 20s, chased him for several hundred metres before they got him down with tae-kwondo moves.

They disarmed the thief and continued to beat him.

A patrolling police officer intervened, separated the three and arrested the thief.

"Normally tourists will just call us and report the incidents,'' the officer said.

"In this case, the two got really excited and could have seriously injured the thief.''

The young Koreans left after they got the handbag back. The thief was transferred to a prison in Rome and will face robbery charges.

Source :http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25879841-5014090,00.html

Canadian - made HIV vaccine close to human trial


A researcher extracts fluid from a vial at the AIDS Vaccine Design and Development Laboratory in New York City.
Photograph by: Chris Hondros/Getty Images,


It has been 20 years in the making but researchers at the University of Western Ontario say they’re confident their HIV vaccine is only months away from being approved for human trials.

Lead researcher Dr. Chil-Yong Kang said Thursday the approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can come as soon as two or three months.

“We’ve been working on the HIV virus since 1987. This is a very important day for us,” Dr. Kang said while attending a conference in South Korea. “It is a very important milestone for us, this vaccine.”

The SAV001-H vaccine has already been tested on monkeys and rats with no side effects.

Dr. Kang, a London, Ont. virology professor, said human DNA is similar to that of these animals, so researchers are optimistic the same vaccine would not produce any adverse effects in humans.

The vaccine was submitted recently to the U.S. for approval because that country already has established systems in place to check out vaccines, Dr. Kang said. If approved there, he added, worldwide acceptance of the drug will quickly follow.

There are also more HIV-positive patients in the U.S. than in Canada, which will make it easier to do a human trial comparing how the vaccine attacks the virus in volunteers.

Dr. Kang, 65, admits that it will still “take years” before results from human trials can be completed.

A South Korean drug research company and its Canadian subsidiary, Sumagen Canada, have obtained patents already for the vaccine in 70 countries.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus -- or HIV -- attacks the immune system and results in a chronic illness that may lead to the disease known as AIDS.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says that, on average, it takes 10 years before HIV infection progresses into AIDS.

The virus can be transmitted into the bloodstream through unprotected sex, sharing of needles and pregnancy.

It is estimated that as many as 60,000 Canadians live with the HIV virus.

AIDS was first recognized worldwide in 1983. No proven vaccine has ever been produced.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Source :http://www.canada.com/health/Canadian+made+vaccine+close+human+trial/1752375/story.html

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

ER nurses have been assaulted

By Erin Thompson, USA TODAY
More than half of nurses who work in emergency departments report they've been physically assaulted on the job, according to an online survey of more than 3,000 ER nurses by the Emergency Nurses Association.

Responding to the 69-question survey, the nurses said they have been spit on, hit, pushed, shoved, scratched or kicked by patients while on duty.

The incidents are partly a result of the nature of the job and the fact that emergency rooms accept all comers, association president Bill Briggs says.

"It's the safety net when you can't get help anywhere else," Briggs says. "Every type of patient comes to the emergency department.

"We accept patients under the influence of drugs and alcohol, (and) psychiatric patients. … It's very unpredictable."

Other precipitating factors: a shortage of ER nurses, patient crowding and prolonged wait times. One in four nurses reported experiencing assaults more than 20 times in the past three years, and one in five said they had experienced verbal abuse more than 200 times during the same period.

The incidents have led one in three nurses to consider leaving their department.

"The public wants a safe place to go and get help in an emergency, and that's what we want," Briggs says. "The Emergency Nurses Association wants to promote a safe working environment … safe for patients and visitors and staff members, and we're looking for ways to do that."

Laws protecting emergency department nurses vary widely by state, and some states have no laws. The nurses association plans to work with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to make safety precautions a requirement in all states.

"Every emergency department should have its own plan in place," Briggs says. To start, he says, hospitals should have more security available, alarm buttons and a security committee to assess the ER and create a plan for a safe environment.

"I've had bumps and bruises and, certainly, it has an emotional impact," says Briggs, a nurse for 30 years. "I've wondered, do I want to stay? How often do I want this to happen?

"Most people enter the profession to help people, not to get beat up and not to see your co-workers get beat up."

The survey's findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Nursing Administration.

Source :http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-04-nurses-assault_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip