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Woman kept prisoner by husband for 50 years
A woman in Italy was kept a prisoner in her own home by her husband for 50 years. During her ordeal, she was only allowed out of the house when accompanied by her husband and was not allowed to speak with anyone else.
She managed to escape when she was admitted to a hospital at Trento, a few miles from her home in the nearby Val di Non in norhern Italy, for heart trouble. She told doctors that her jealous husband had kept her a prisoner in their home virtually since the day they married in 1958.
A police spokesman said: "It appears that the woman was kept a virtual prisoner in her own home for 50 years. She was only allowed out when her husband was with her and if he went out on his own he would lock all the doors and windows. At 5pm when he came back he would lock the place down, She was not even allowed to see her children and they were not allowed to visit. The TV was also forbidden and there were also times when he would beat her. It's a very sad story and the woman's life has been made a misery by her husband - if it wasn't for the fact she was admitted to hospital and bravely decided to speak out her ordeal would have continued."
The couple, who were not identified, are both in their seventies and are believed to have two grown-up children. A woman in Italy was kept a prisoner in her own home by her husband for 50 years. During her ordeal, she was only allowed out of the h... more -
Fighting the Taliban with cell phones
A radical new plan is being considered by the UK government to counter growing Taleban propaganda in Afghanistan, the BBC has learned.
The programme involves using new media like mobile phones and the internet to empower ordinary Afghans to contradict the prevailing Taleban message.
Non-governmental organisations would distribute mobile phones to Afghans so they can make their own video diaries.
Anti-Western films already circulate on Afghanistan's estimated 6m mobiles.
These films are also distributed among the country's half a million internet users.
The plan, devised by an outside consultant and said by the Foreign Office to "have merit," envisages having up to 100 short films made by Afghans ready in time for a film festival next summer.
Whitehall officials say the aim is to deprive the Taleban of its virtual monopoly on propaganda using new media.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said there is a growing realisation in Whitehall and Washington that the US-led coalition has been losing the propaganda war in Afghanistan to the Taleban.
The coalition's reputation was particularly damaged by the recent distribution of mobile phone footage showing the bodies of dozens of Afghan civilians killed in a US-led raid in August, our correspondent added.
-They're willing to give poor Afghans mobile phones while there is still a food shortage over there. This isn't exactly the way to win the war of "hearts and minds." A radical new plan is being considered by the UK government to counter growing Taleban propaganda in Afghanistan, the BBC has learned.... more -
Flowers bloom on glass
On October 4, China’s state-run website, Xinhuanet.com, carried a report stating a rare white flower—said to blossom every 3000 years—was again found blooming in China.
According to the report, 47 such little flowers were seen growing on the glass of an office building window in Qingdao City.
“It’s amazing that flowers can grow on glass, isn’t it!” marveled one of the company employees, who guessed they might be udumbara flowers
A reporter confirmed that little white flowers were standing on window glass on the east side of the company’s second-floor office. There were 47 of them, 1 millimeter in diameter and white in color, with bell-shaped flowers and wire-thin stems.
The flower stems were connected to the glass with no soil found in between.
One company employee said, “When we first saw them, we didn’t know what they were. We even thought they were dirt smear, and we almost wiped them off with a piece of cloth.” A manager, excited when seeing the flowers, said, “This is probably the legendary udumbara.”
The reporter covering the story searched online, finding that similar flowers were spotted in other places too. The flowers discovered at this company looked very similar to the photos of undumbara found elsewhere.
The Legendary Undumbara
Last year, Daqing Evening, a local newspaper in northeastern China, ran a special report on the findings of the flower, and invited specialists to authenticate them.
The author of the report said that several experts and scholars interviewed were unable to identify the origin and name of the flower. Through observation under microscope, specialists concluded that they were not worm eggs, as suggested by some media in China.
While specialists failed to come up with any explanation, documentations of the rare flowers appeared more than once in Buddhist sutras. According to one such ancient document, Fahuawenju/sishang, “undumbara is a miraculous flower which blossoms once every 3000 years, when the King of Gold Wheel appears.”
“Undumbara” is Sanskrit for “lucky flower” or “levitating flower.”
Undumbara in Recent Years
Photographers over the years have taken close-up shots of such flowers, and some even caught the petals in full blossom.
In October last year, a Houston resident, Mr. Lin, noted dozens of undumbara on the leaves of his red bamboo plants at home. With the help of a biologist, an Epoch Times photographer took a series of photos of the undumbara, in which the flowers’ petals and pistils were clearly visible.
In 2005, undumbara were first found in several temples in South Korea, and in the past two years, more were spotted in other places around the world
According to incomplete statistics, as of July this year, the flower was spotted blooming in 14 places, including Hunan Province and Chongqing City of China, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States. They were found growing on glass, steel tubes, and stems and leaves of other plants. On October 4, China’s state-run website, Xinhuanet.com, carried a report stating a rare white flower—said to blossom every 3000 years—... more -
The world’s most beautiful CG characters?
How real can we get?
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Thai protest leaders surrender - and are freed immediately
Leaders of the anti government protests in Thailand have surrendered to police on charges of inciting unrest but were immediately bailed and have vowed to continue their protest.
Seven leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) turned themselves in to police after charges of treason against them were quashed by the Court of Appeal on Thursday, but after 90 minutes they were freed.
Everything is done. There is no detention," Sondhi Limthongkul, the head of the PAD, told reporters after his release.
The original arrest orders for treason were issued on August 27, the day after PAD protesters armed with golf clubs, stakes and machetes stormed a state television station, broke into ministries and overran the prime minister's official compound. Leaders of the anti government protests in Thailand have surrendered to police on charges of inciting unrest but were immediately bail... more -
War on Marijuana is working...
In Washington's dreams...
The White House Office on National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) has failed on its own terms when it comes to marijuana policy, according to a pair of reports examining government data by a noted marijuana researcher.
Based on the government's own numbers, ONDCP has failed to achieve its stated 2002 goal of reducing marijuana use by 25% by 2007, Gettman found. According to the national survey, last year there were 14.5 million pot smokers, compared with 14.6 million in 2002.
From 2002 to 2007 annual use of marijuana declined slightly from 25.9 to 25.1 million. The number of Americans who have used marijuana at some point in their lives actually increased, from 95 million in 2002 to over 100 million in 2007.
It has not significantly reduced marijuana consumption despite constantly increasing annual arrest numbers and ongoing propaganda campaigns, while at the same time it twists and distorts figures on people in treatment for "marijuana dependency" in order to falsely claim that marijuana is a dangerous drug, while in reality, less than half of all people treated for marijuana even fit the standard criteria for substance abuse.
"The Bush Administration has failed to reduce or control marijuana use in the United States," Gettman concluded. "Marginal changes in marijuana and other drug use have been distorted to support false claims that incremental progress in reducing marijuana and other drug use has been achieved.
Marijuana use is fundamentally the same as when the Bush Administration took office and illicit drug use overall has increased. Drug use data do not support Bush Administration claims that its policies have had a significant impact on illicit drug use in the United States."
The stability -- not reduction -- in marijuana use comes despite at least 127 different anti-marijuana TV, radio, and print ads by ONDCP, in addition to at least 34 press releases focused mainly on marijuana and at least 50 reports from ONDCP or other government agencies on marijuana or anti-marijuana campaigns.
For ONDCP head John Walters, slight reductions in teen marijuana use meant that "teens are getting the message about the harms of marijuana and are changing their behavior -- for the better, as he noted in a September 2007 press release. Still, he was forced to admit in the next breath that "youth abuse of prescription drugs remains a troubling concern."
"The government's own statistics demolish the White House drug czar's claims of success in his obsessive war on marijuana," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, DC.
"The most intense war on marijuana since 'Reefer Madness,' including record numbers of arrests every year since 2003, has wasted billions of dollars and produced nothing except pain and ruined lives."
Much more in link... In Washington's dreams... ... more -
Deaf clubbers enjoy 'smell' of music
A deaf club night in Finland called SenCity is using scents, vibrating dance floors and sign language dancers to help its customers "translate the emotions" of music.
The scents – vapors from burning oils – are chosen to represent the moods of the songs being played; citrus smells, for instance, would be released during an upbeat, happy track. The club also plays host to "visual jockeys" who direct a team of signdancers who interpret the lyrics using a combination of sign language and dance moves. Clubbers can also feel the beat of the music thanks to a vibrating platform installed on the dancefloor. It has been fitted with a transmitter to enhance the intensity of vibrations.
Hokin Zerga, who travelled from France to attend the club night, said that she was impressed by the impact of the aroma jockeys. "While hard-of-hearing deaf people can enjoy lyrics, deaf people like myself can't, so smells help us identify the emotion and style of the music." A deaf club night in Finland called SenCity is using scents, vibrating dance floors and sign language dancers to help its customers &#... more -
Financial Crisis Mental Scars: WHO
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1221720654970&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
After knocking down global stock markets, the financial crisis risks taking its toll on the mental health of thousands of people worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday, October 9.
"We should not be surprised or underestimate the turbulence and likely consequences of the current financial crisis," Margaret Chan, the WHO director general, told a meeting of mental health experts.
The global financial crisis that has assaulted investment wealth and real estate values could cause depression, bi-polar disorders and despair to millions of people.
"It should not come as a surprise that we continue to see more stresses, suicides and mental disorders," said Chan.
A survey released by the American Psychological Association on Tuesday found that eight in 10 Americans say the economy is a major source of stress in their lives.
Thousands of Wall Street workers who fueled a luxury spending boom face job losses and deep cuts in their annual bonuses this year.
The WHO chief warns that people living in low and middle income countries are more vulnerable because access to mental health is often limited.
The financial firestorm swept the US last month after the demise of Lehman Brothers, one of the US’s largest investment bank.
It has since dragged most of the world stock exchanges down to its lowest level, forcing some of them to halt trading.
Suicidal
The WHO warned that economic hardships could push mental patients, irrespective of their financial statues, to commit suicide.
"There is a clear evidence that suicide is linked to financial disasters," said Benedetto Saraceno, the director of the WHO's mental health and substance abuse department.
"I am not talking about the millionaire jumping out of the window but about poor people."
A number of suicide attempts have been reported among Americans.
On Monday, Los Angeles police announced that a 45-year-old financial manager shot dead five members of his family before killing himself because of his economic woes.
In a letter to police, Karthik Rajaram, who has been unemployed for months, said he had been driven to murder after the Wall Street's collapse wiped out his remaining finances.
The case came a week after a 90-year-old woman in Ohio shot herself as she was about to be served an eviction notice on the home she has lived in for 38 years.
Depression and suicide rates tend to rise during hard economic times.
A study which looked at economic shifts between 1972 and 1991 found that suicides rose an average of 2 percent when the economy faltered. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1221720654970&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout ... more -
Why Laurent Nivalle interested in visual culture?
Check out the making of Citroën Hypnos and Laurent Nivalle.
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Italian PM: Berlusconi Says Leaders May Close World's Markets
Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world's financial markets while they ``rewrite the rules of international finance.''
``The idea of suspending the markets for the time it takes to rewrite the rules is being discussed,'' Berlusconi said today after a Cabinet meeting in Naples, Italy. A solution to the financial crisis ``can't just be for one country, or even just for Europe, but global.''
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much 8.1 percent in early trading and pared most of those losses after Berlusconi's remarks. The Dow was down 0.5 percent to 8540.52 at 10:10 in New York.
Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in Washington today, and will stay in town for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this weekend. European Union leaders may gather in Paris on Oct. 12, three days before a scheduled summit in Brussels, Berlusconi said today, while Group of Eight leaders may hold a meeting on the crisis ``in coming days,'' he said.
Berlusconi didn't give any details about what kind of rules leaders were looking to change, except to say that leaders are ``talking about a new Bretton Woods.''
The Bretton Woods Agreements were adopted to rebuild the international economic system after World War II in a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The aim of the agreements was to establish a monetary management system, initially by pegging currencies to gold. The IMF was set up later to help manage the international financial system. Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world�... more -
Venezuela shuts down McDonald's
Venezuela's government has shut all branches of restaurant chain McDonald's for 48 hours, citing tax irregularities, officials have said.
The head of the country's tax agency, Jose David Cabello, said the chain had inconsistencies in its accounts.
The 115 branches in Venezuela were closed from Thursday to Saturday. Venezuela's government has shut all branches of restaurant chain McDonald's for 48 hours, citing tax irregularities, officia... more -
Grrr! Russia's Putin gets tiger cub for birthday
"There's no doubt what Vladimir Putin's favorite birthday present is this year — a rare Ussuri tiger cub.
State television showed the Russian prime minister affectionately petting the two-month-old female cub on Friday. The tiger weighs only about 20 pounds and sleeps in a wicker basket at Putin's residence outside Moscow.
Putin says a good home will be found for the tiger, presumably in a zoo or wildlife preserve. He hasn't decided what to call her, but is leaning toward Mashenka or Milashka.
Putin refuses to say who gave him the cub for his 56th birthday, which was Tuesday.
The Ussuri tiger is also known as the Siberian, Amur or Manchurian tiger. Fewer than 400 are believed to survive in the wild." "There's no doubt what Vladimir Putin's favorite birthday present is this year — a rare Ussuri tiger cub. ... more -
Kosovo receives recognition boost
The governments of Montenegro and Macedonia have formally recognised Kosovo as independent following its secession from Serbia in February. The move leaves Bosnia-Hercegovina as the only component republic of former Yugoslavia withholding recognition.
Serbia reacted angrily to Montenegro's decision saying it jeopardised regional stability, and announced it was expelling the Montenegrin ambassador. Nearly 50 countries have recognised Kosovo's independence so far. Macedonia's Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said his government approved the move after parliament adopted a resolution by an overwhelming majority to make the recommendation. Montenegro and Serbia made up a single state until a referendum in 2006. Montenegro hopes to become a future member of the EU and Nato; its foreign minister said the decision was guided by his county's national interests and that an independent Kosovo was a reality.
The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Pristina says that recognition by its neighbours brings both psychological and practical trading benefits for Kosovo.
The small country of only two million inhabitants, of which 90% are Albanian, has often appeared isolated in the western Balkans, our correspondent says.
Serbian's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic described the decision to eject Montenegro's ambassador from the country as "proportionate". He told the state news agency, Tanjug, that "regional countries have special responsibility in preserving peace and stability in the Balkans".
Earlier, Serbia said it was reinstating its ambassadors to the US and other Western nations that had angered it by recognising Kosovo's independence. Serbia recalled many of its ambassadors in February from countries that backed Kosovo's unilateral declaration - a move that Serbia has condemned as illegal. In a statement, the Serb government said the decision was made because of "continued diplomatic activity to preserve Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty". It comes amid a week of both defeats and victories for Kosovan diplomacy.
On Wednesday, a substantial majority at the UN General Assembly agreed to allow Serbia to challenge the legality of Kosovan independence at the International Court of Justice. It followed an earlier announcement by Portugal that it had recognised Pristina. The governments of Montenegro and Macedonia have formally recognised Kosovo as independent following its secession from Serbia in Febr... more -
'Unbreakable' encryption unveiled
The world's first "quantum encryption" has been unveiled at a conference in Austria, in what is seen as a major step towards truly perfect security. The world's first "quantum encryption" has been unveiled at a conference in Austria, in what is seen as a major step to... more
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Author Le Clezio wins Nobel prize
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for Literature.
The 68-year-old has been honoured with the 10m kronor (£820,810) award for his distinguished life's work. The Swedish Academy describes him as "an author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy." It goes on to call him "an explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilisation." British author Doris Lessing won last year's prize.
Le Clezio's breakthrough as a novelist came in 1980 with Desert, a work the Swedish academy praised for its "magnificent images of a lost culture in the North African desert."
His most recent works include 2007's Ballaciner, a work the academy called a "deeply personal essay about the history of the art of film". The author has also included several books for children, among them Lullaby in 1980 and Balaabilou in 1985. He has won a number of literary honours in his native France, among them the Prix Larbaud in 1972 and the Grand Prix Jean Giono in 1997.
Born in Nice in 1940, Le Clezio spent two years as a child in Nigeria and has taught in universities in Bangkok, Boston and Mexico City. He will receive his prize medal alongside this year's other Nobel Laureates at a ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December.
Winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature traditionally deliver a lecture in the Swedish city before accepting their award. The first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 to the French poet and philosopher Sully Prudhomme. Writers recognised in recent years include V S Naipaul in 2001, J M Coetzee in 2003 and Harold Pinter in 2005. French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. ... more -
UN: smugglers force 100 overboard near Yemen
One hundred people are missing in the Gulf of Aden after smugglers forced them overboard off the coast of Yemen, a UN spokesman said Friday. The UN High Commission for Refugees in Yemen is taking care of 47 survivors, the spokesman said. The UN offered no additional details on the type of vessel or its route.
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond told The Associated Press in Geneva that about 32,000 people have arrived in Yemen on boats since the start of the year.
Many of them are fleeing violence and hardship in Somalia and other countries in the Horn of Africa, he said.
UNHCR estimates at least 230 people have died and 365 remain missing, including 100 from the latest incident. One hundred people are missing in the Gulf of Aden after smugglers forced them overboard off the coast of Yemen, a UN spokesman said F... more -
World's largest LED screen coming to Dubai
"Designed by UAE development company Tameer Holding, the 33-story high display will reportedly be "embedded on an intended commercial tower in the Majan district of Dubailand," where it will stand tall and blast out advertisements to onlookers some 1.5-kilometers away.
Dubbed Podium, the building will also house 33 levels of "premium commercial office space, two floors dedicated to retail and four floors for parking..." "Designed by UAE development company Tameer Holding, the 33-story high display will reportedly be "embedded on an intended c... more -
Sperm donor "impregnated 30 lesbians"
Overzealous sperm donors are impregnating whole networks of lesbian couples whose children socialise together, says a reproductive technology expert in Australia.
Dr Andrew Dutney stated that in one case around 30 lesbians were impregnated by the same man. Some of the mothers are friends and even have picnics together where the children mix, not realizing they are related.
Perceived homophobia in the medical system and strict South Australian regulations around fertility assistance are thought to be the main reason why lesbian couples seek help with making families outside the 'official' system, creating these issues, experts claim. Overzealous sperm donors are impregnating whole networks of lesbian couples whose children socialise together, says a reproductive tec... more -
World's university top 200 list out
Topping the list is Harvard (US), Yale (US), Cambridge (UK), Oxford (UK), and Caltech (US).
Did your alma mater make the grade?
*mine dropped to #66. I wonder how they feel about that... Topping the list is Harvard (US), Yale (US), Cambridge (UK), Oxford (UK), and Caltech (US). Did your alma mater make the grade? ... more -
Martti Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the selection on Friday, giving him the prize ``for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.'' The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the selection on Friday, giving him the prize ``for his important efforts, on several continen... more
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