No language can express
the power, beauty & heroism
of a mother's love.
~Edwin Chapin
http://leelavadeeflower.blogspot.com/2014/05/no-language-can-express.html
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~Edwin Chapin
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By Lama Hasan, ABC News
May 16, 2014
Lawyers for a pregnant Sudanese woman plan to appeal an Islamic judge’s decision that she be flogged with 100 lashes and then be hanged for marrying a Christian man and converting.
Amnesty International and Western embassies are expressing alarm over the harsh sentence meted out to Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag, who is eight months pregnant.
So far the only concession granted by the Islamic court is to wait until Ishag gives birth before carrying out the sentence.
Amnesty International called the court’s ruling “truly abhorrent.” The organization’s Sudan researcher Manar Idriss said that “adultery and apostasy are acts which should not be considered crimes at all. It is flagrant breach of international human rights law.”
This Is the Pregnant Woman Sudan Wants to Hang for Marrying a Christian (ABC News) |
Western embassies in Sudan including the U.S., Canada, the United
Kingdom and the Netherlands also echoing that sentiment issued a joint
statement expressing “deep concern” about the case and urged Sudan to
respect the right to freedom of religion.
Amal Habany, a
political activist in support of women’s rights, said “The court has no
appearance of justice or respect for freedom of choice in ones beliefs,
personally and individually.”
Despite the outrcy, the Islamic court has been unmoved.
The judge told Ishaq, “We gave you three days to recant, but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death.” Officially her crime is apostasy.
Ishaq replied, “I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy.”
The judge also ruled that her marriage to a Christian man was invalid and not recognized under Islamic law, which means that she had committed adultery. He ordered her to be flogged for that alleged offense.
After the sentence was decreed, the prosecutor’s spokesman Ahmad Hassan told the Associated Press that “they were given ample time to prove their innocence, but I for one believe in upholding our traditions and customs as Sudanese.”
Boldride By Zach Doell
May 17, 2014
Don’t be surprised if your city streets start looking like an episode of The Jetsons in 2017. Aerofex, a tech company based in California, has confirmed it will launch the Aero-X personal hovercraft in three years time, barring no hiccups with testing.
Personal flight has been attempted unsuccessfully many times before, but this hoverbike might actually catch on. The Aero-X rides like a motorcycle and features seating for an extra passenger with a combined carrying weight of 310lbs, so you’d better lay off the snacks if you’ve got a friend.
Power comes courtesy of a small naturally aspirated rotary engine, which drives the dual front and rear carbon fiber fan blades to produce lift. The engine runs on regular unleaded gasoline, and provides a maximum of 1.25 hours of flight per tank, which comes as one of the vehicle’s downsides.
On the plus side, riders can cruise around at heights of up to 12 feet off the ground and at speeds of up to 45mph. That might sound a bit adventurous; especially in the event that something goes wrong, which could happen. Luckily, the Aero-X features redundant control systems to land safely and reduce speed in the odd chance that the engine fails or you run out of gas.
The blades are housed in ducts to allow for focused airflow, but also to reduce accidental contact with hands, feet, faces, or really anything that might find its way into a quick-spinning blade.
The Aero-X reportedly won’t require a pilot’s license to operate, though individual states could require occupants to receive similar certification, in the same way that boaters need a boating license.
The price for all this Jetsonian wizardry – $85,000, but if you’re real antsy to get your hands on one, you can reserve an Aero-X for just $5,000 down.
Photo source: mirroruk
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Just four months later, scientists surveying the seafloor with an underwater robot found one of those lost containers nearly 4,200 feet (1,300 m) below the surface. They turned their chance discovery into an opportunity to study how aquatic life reacts to deep-sea pollution. Read full story
http://leelavadeeflower.blogspot.com/2014/05/what-happens-to-shipping-containers.html
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By JOVANA GEC and AIDA CERKEZ
Associated Press, May 17, 2014
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Record flooding in the Balkans has left least 20 people dead in Serbia and Bosnia and is forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes, authorities said Saturday.
Meteorologists say the flooding is the worst since records began 120 years ago and is due to a three-month amount of rain that fell on the region in just three days. Goran Mihajlovic from Serbia’s Weather Center told The Associated Press that such rainfall happens once in 100 years.
In the eastern Bosnian town of Bijeljina, some 10,000 people were being evacuated Saturday after the rain-swollen Sava River surged through flood defenses.
Officials in Bosnia say 12 people died and more bodies could emerge as the water recedes from dozens of cities flooded in the past three days. In some places, the water had reached the second floor of people’s homes and they had to be rescued by helicopter from their roofs.
Caption: A dog stands in a flooded street in the town of Obrenovac, east from Belgrade, May 16, 2014. The heaviest rains and floods in 120 years have hit Bosnia and Serbia, killing five people, forcing hundreds out of their homes and cutting off entire towns. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (SERBIA – Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS)
In Serbia, which saw eight deaths, emergency crews and soldiers were using boats and helicopters to rescue thousands trapped in the town of Obrenovac, near Belgrade. The overflowing waters there are now threatening Serbia’s biggest power plant.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a press conference that a new flood wave on the Sava River will hit Sunday evening.
Thousands of volunteers have responded to government’s appeal to help build up flood defenses around the towns along the Sava.