82-year-old Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak is dying from terminal cancer in his stomach and pancreas, according to a report by Eli Lake in The Washington Times, who quotes US and European intelligence officials.
A senior Egyptian government official has denied Mubarak is ill, describing the reports as “without any factual basis whatsoever.”
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(0)Six fibre-optic lasers with a combined 32 kilowatts of power destroyed four airborne drones (UAVs) in tests by the US Navy off the coast of California.
An electronic solid-state laser will never run out of ammunition as long as it has power, according to Mike Booen of Raytheon, the US weapons systems company developing the new technology.
There are disadvantages with lasers such as high costs, and legal restrictions under existing treaties, says former Air Force chief scientist Mark Lewis, now at the University of Maryland.
(0)Dislikes(0)High heels shorten calf muscles and make Achilles tendons thicker and stiffer, according to a report by team of researchers led by Marco Narici, Professor of the Physiology of Ageing at Manchester Metropolitan University in UK.
“Wearing high heels places the calf muscle-tendon unit in a shortened position. As muscles and tendons are highly malleable tissues, chronic use of high heels might induce structural and functional changes in the calf muscle-tendon unit,” says the report.
“So should women give up wearing high heels?” asks writer for The Journal of Experimental Biology, Kathryn Knight. “Narici doesn’t think so, but suggests that fashion addicts may want to try stretching exercises to avoid soreness when they kick off their heels at the end of the day.”
(0)Dislikes(0)A Maldivian woman, Aminath Zahida aged 30, has died in Malaysia, reports Haveeru. Her body was found at the bottom of a ventilation duct in the Desa Kiara condominium at Damansara west of Kuala Lumpur.
Suicide is suspected to be the cause of death, but police are conducting a postmortem and the Maldives High Commission will receive a report soon.
Zahida, mother of two children, arrived in Malaysia about two weeks ago to be with her husband who is studying there. He was taken to hospital after the incident, and the Maldives High Commission is monitoring the family closely, according to Haveeru.
(0)Dislikes(0)The skull of a creature the size of a baboon and living in a warm forest 28-29 million years ago in western Saudi Arabia, is being described as one of the most significant fossil finds in decades “because it illuminates a critical moment in evolution when ancient primates split into two separate lineages,” reports the Guardian’s Ian Sample.
Few such fossils have been found of this period of life on earth. It has been named Saadanius hijazensis.
(0)Dislikes(0)The main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), People’s Alliance (PA), Jumhoory Party (Republican Party) and Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) began a series of “continual protests” on Friday night against the detention of Mulaku MP Abdulla Yameen by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
DRP MPs as well as senior officials of the minor parties addressed a large crowd of supporters outside the DRP office near the artificial beach area, calling for the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed and accusing the government of targeting political opponents.
While participants held “Free Yamin” placards, the opposition politicians vowed to continue the protests until the PA Leader was released.
Gemanafushi MP Ilham Ahmed, deputy leader of the DRP, told reporters at a press conference to announce the protests that the party considered public demonstrations a measure of last resort.
Ilham warned that Monday’s sitting of the People’s Majlis could not take place in the absence of the MP for Mulaku.
Galolhu South MP Ahmed Mahlouf meanwhile criticised police for their handling of violent protests outside PA MP Ahmed Nazim’s residence, which caused damage to private property.
A short distance from the DRP office, the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has been conducting its “continual protests” behind the Dharubaaruge convention centre as part of its “People’s Court” that was opened on Thursday.
Meanwhile, local media reports that crowds demanding the arrest of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed were dispersed by police outside his residence last night.
(0)Dislikes(0)An unmanned Zephyr solar plane has flown for 7 days non-stop and is still in the air, according to the BBC’s Jonathan Amos.
The Zephyr is being tested at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, and will be brought down after it has flown for two weeks.
“Zephyr is basically the first ‘eternal aircraft’,” says project manager Jon Saltmarsh.
(0)Dislikes(0)“Many people around the world have criticised their leaders for behaving like children. But perhaps our critics give us too much credit. If we took 191 children from each corner of the globe… if we explained the climate crisis to these children, I suspect they would act more sensibly than we do,” said President Nasheed at the ‘Cartagena Group / Dialogue for Progressive Action’ being held on Saturday and Sunday at Bandos Island resort near the Male’.
“I cannot accept that the Maldives must disappear, so others can carry on polluting,” he said.
“Deep divisions” obstructed progress at Copenhagen, Nasheed claimed. “[We] must start in Cancun by reaching agreement across all core issues, especially the inter-related issues of mitigation, finance, and monitoring, reporting and verification.”
Nations need to change the way they present the issue of climate change action to their domestic electorates, according to the President.
“Cutting carbon should not be considered a burden that will destroy jobs and hamper economic growth,” he said. “Instead, going green should be seen as the greatest economic opportunity since the Industrial Revolution.”
Transcript of President Nasheed’s speech
(0)Dislikes(0)“Many people were ready for direct action to show the level of their disapproval of corruption,” said President Nasheed today in his weekly radio address. “Government, therefore, is forced to take swift measures, and do whatever possible to find a solution for corruption.”
The President was commenting on the recent political turmoil in Male where senior opposition figures in the Majlis were charged with bribery and treason, and then released by Supreme Court judges. A Criminal Court judge suspended the police prosecutors.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Maldivian Democratic Party, of which Presdient Nasheed is a leading member, staged demonstrations in the capital calling for an end to corruption, and condemning the decisions of the judges.
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