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Guantanamo agents 'used torture'

published by You on 14 January, 2009 - 13:46

Guantanamo agents 'used torture'

US agents at Guantanamo Bay tortured a Saudi man suspected of involvement in the 11 September attacks, the official overseeing trials at the camp has said.

Susan Crawford told the Washington Post newspaper that Mohammad al-Qahtani had been left in a "life-threatening condition" after being interrogated.

She said Mr Qahtani had been subjected to sustained periods of cold, isolation and sleep deprivation.

Mr Qahtani remains at Guantanamo, but all charges against him were dropped.

He had been facing trial on counts of conspiracy, terrorism, and murder in violation of the laws of war.

'Overly aggressive'

MP brands dyslexia a 'fiction'

published by You on 14 January, 2009 - 13:36

MP brands dyslexia a 'fiction'

A Labour MP has claimed dyslexia is a myth invented by education chiefs to cover up poor teaching methods.

Backbencher Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley, describes the condition as a "cruel fiction" that should be consigned to the "dustbin of history".

He suggests children should instead be taught to read and write by using a system called synthetic phonics.

But Charity Dyslexia Action said the condition was "very real" to the 6m people in the UK affected by it.

Writing in a column for website Manchester Confidential, Mr Stringer said millions of pounds was being wasted on specialist teaching for what he called the "false" condition.

Man City in talks over (around €100m) Kaka deal

published by You on 14 January, 2009 - 13:25

Man City in talks over Kaka deal

Manchester City have opened talks with Italian side AC Milan over the possible transfer of superstar playmaker Kaka.

A City delegation has been in Milan and reportedly made a bid in the region of 100m euros, with a weekly wage of £500,000 on offer for the Brazilian.

A report on the website of Mediaset, a TV company owned by Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi, suggested City want the 26-year-old "at all costs".

The Eastlands club has so far refused to comment officially on the story.

A City spokeswoman told BBC Radio Manchester: "We have been linked with in excess of 70 names that could have been coming in this transfer window...

Lack of sleep 'raises cold risk'

published by You on 14 January, 2009 - 02:36

Lack of sleep 'raises cold risk'

Sleeping for under seven hours a night greatly raises the risk of catching a cold, US research has suggested.

A team from Carnegie Mellon University found the risk was trebled compared with those who slept for eight hours or more a night.

It is thought that a lack of sleep impairs the immune system and the body's ability to fight off the viruses that cause colds and flu.

The study appears in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Read More @ BBC News

Buff enough for Bollywood

published by You on 14 January, 2009 - 01:03

Buff enough for Bollywood

With one eye on muscle-bound Bollywood megastars, young Asian men are increasingly hitting the gym in pursuit of the body beautiful.

Deepak Harbias from Hounslow is typical of the trend.

"I come to the gym about five times a week, I don't have any fast food any more. I'm taking protein shakes and protein bars," he says.

"After I left college I was at home for 10 months and put on weight. I knew I had to do something."

Bulking up

One of the UK's biggest suppliers of training supplements, Essex based Bulk Supplements Direct, says it is seeing a massive rise in the number of Asian men taking them up.

Teen killed mother in Halo 3 row

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 21:35

Teen killed mother in Halo 3 row

A US teenager killed his mother and wounded his father in revenge after they took away his violent computer game, a judge has ruled.

The defence team for Daniel Petric, 17, had argued his addiction to the Halo 3 game, in which players shoot invading aliens, had made him insane.

But the judge rejected this, saying he had planned revenge for weeks.

Petric, of Ohio, was tried as an adult and faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole.

On the night of the shooting in October 2007, Petric used his father's key to open a lockbox and remove a 9mm handgun and the game, the court heard.

Brit loonies adventurers headed to Timbuctoo by 'flying car'

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 20:21

Brit loonies adventurers headed to Timbuctoo by 'flying car'

An adventurous office developer and "extreme golfer" who was the first man to circumnavigate the UK by jetski now plans an expedition to Timbuctoo in a combination motorised parachute and dune buggy. The "Skycar" vehicle is described as "the world's first bio-fuelled flying car".

Flying car

Neil Laughton is a modern British adventurer of the usual sort, having undertaken dozens of corporately-sponsored desperate ventures around the world in aid of good causes. Like many of his wilderness-prowling colleagues he is a regular on the after-dinner speaking circuit, on top of his day job as chairman of an office development firm.

US teen clocks up 14,528 text messages in one month

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 20:10

US teen clocks up 14,528 text messages

Greg Hardesty of the Orange County Register has described himself as "speechless" after his 13-year-old daughter "racked up 14,528 text messages in one month", as the shaken dad himself put it last week.

Hardesty, 45, explains that offspring Reina achieved the impressive SMS tally between 27 November and 26 December. Her 22-year-old sister Hana managed a "comparatively modest" total of 7,101 messages, while sibling Marina, 24, trailed with just 700.

Why are Muslims so nice and friendly, yet so unsuccessful?

published by Ya'qub on 13 January, 2009 - 19:08

Salam,

I got an email with a bunch of statistics, and it basically made me feel that, as a Muslim, I am a complete failure (in the Dunya, anyway).

Why is this so?

We always talk about how successful previous generations of Muslims were, how they led the world in science and technology, human rights, equality etc.

Yet, NOW... Muslim-majority countries are amongst the crappest to live in in the whole world.

The answer I've heard many, MANY times is one, simple world: Colonialism. Basically because the countries of the Western Europe ruled the Muslim-majority countries for many years and, when they finally left, they supported corrupt leaders in these countries who have oppressed the general population.

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