Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Ibu kurung anak 4 tahun 6 bulan dalam almari
Seorang wanita ditahan polis selepas anak lelakinya yang berusia 14 tahun mendakwa dikurung di dalam almari pakaian selama empat tahun setengah, kata polis kelmarin.
Seorang pengawal keselamatan di sini menghubungi polis selepas remaja itu mendapatkan pertolongannya setelah berjaya melarikan diri dari rumah pada Jumaat lalu.
"Dia lapar, kotor dan mempunyai banyak kesan calar. Saya sangat sedih," kata Sarjan Gary Knight.
Remaja itu dihantar ke hospital untuk diperiksa sebelum diserahkan kepada Jabatan Perkhidmatan Kemanusiaan (DHS), kata Knight.
Tambah Knight, remaja itu berpindah ke Oklahoma dari New Jersey selepas ibunya dibebaskan dari penjara.
Remaja tersebut mendakwa dia melepaskan diri setelah berjaya menolak penghadang almari.
Polis pada Sabtu lalu menahan ibu remaja itu, LaRhonda Marie McCall, 37, dan rakannya, Steve Vern Hamilton, 38, atas 20 aduan kerana mengabaikan kanak-kanak serta penderaan.
Tuduhan rasmi masih belum dikemukakan tetapi kedua-dua suspek dikenakan bon AS$400,000 (RM1.4 juta), menurut sejumlah rekod penjara.
Gambar Datuk K pilihan Umie Aida
Pelakon terkenal, Umie Aida atau Umie Khalsum Rahmad, 36, selamat ditunangkan dengan jejaka pilihannya, Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan (gambar kecil) di kediamannya di Mont Kiara, Damansara malam tadi.
Umie yang anggun mengenakan busana Bill Keith menerima sebentuk cincin bertatah berlian jenama Chopard yang disarungkan oleh bakal ibu mertuanya, Balkish Ahmad.
Selain cincin yang ditempah khas oleh tunangnya itu, Umie turut menerima hantaran berupa tepak sirih, barang kemas dan coklat.
Majlis tersebut turut disaksikan oleh keluarga kedua-dua pasangan.
Mereka dijangka melangsungkan perkahwinan pada awal Januari tahun depan.
"Saya cukup gembira. Tak dapat nak gambarkan perasaan saya yang kini sudah menjadi tunangan orang,'' kata Umie yang melihat bakal suaminya itu yang juga seorang usahawan dari Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang sebagai lelaki yang lembut, ikhlas serta jujur.
Berpantang maut sebelum ajal
Seorang pemandu, Rosli Nordin, 35, nyaris maut apabila kenderaan pacuan empat rodanya terbabas dan jatuh dari jejambat setinggi kira-kira 30 meter di Lebuh Raya Utara-Selatan antara Kepala Batas dan Bandar Perda di sini semalam.
Dalam kejadian kira-kira pukul 10 pagi itu, mangsa yang dalam perjalanan ke arah Bukit Mertajam gagal mengawal kenderaannya sebelum melanggar penghadang jejambat dan terjunam ke bawah.
Semasa ditemui, Rosli yang juga kakitangan Bahagian Kesihatan, Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai itu berkata, ketika kejadian hujan agak lebat menyebabkan dia hanya memandu pada kelajuan sekitar 60 kilometer sejam.
"Tiba di tempat kejadian, secara tiba-tiba saya tidak dapat mengawal kenderaan, saya cuba tekan brek tetapi gagal disebabkan keadaan jalan licin lalu merempuh penghadang jejambat dan kenderaan terus terhumban ke bawah," katanya.
Berikutan kejadian, kenderaan jenis Toyota Hilux yang dipandunya remuk tetapi dia cuma mengalami calar di bahagian muka.
Kanser daripada sotong kering - Mengandungi logam toksik sama seperti bateri, plastik dan baja fosfat
Ramai mengetahui keenakan sotong kering ditambah lagi jika dimasak sebagai sambal.
Namun Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP) mendedahkan, tidak mungkin ramai pengguna sedar bahawa sotong kering kaya dengan logam toksik jenis kadmium, bahan yang sama digunakan dalam membuat bateri, plastik dan baja fosfat.
"Kesan pengambilan kadmium mendedahkan seseorang terhadap kanser payu dara, kanser prostat serta penyakit buah pinggang,'' kata Presidennya, S. M. Mohamed Idris pada sidang media di pejabatnya di sini semalam.
Menurutnya, selain sotong kering, makanan laut kering lain seperti tiram, ikan bilis dan udang juga mengandungi kadmium tetapi pada kadar yang lebih rendah.
"Hasil ujian yang dilakukan mendapati kandungan kadmium dalam sotong kering melebihi empat kali ganda had yang dibenarkan,'' ujarnya.
CAP membuktikan perkara itu melalui ujian rawak melibatkan enam sampel sotong kering dan hasilnya mendapati lima sampel mengandungi kadmium serta tiga daripadanya mempunyai kandungan logam itu secara berlebihan.
Tsunami: Ramai maut di Samoa
Sebuah bot dari Malaloa Marina kelihatan terdampar di pinggir jalan utama di sebuah kampung di Fagatogo, Samoa Amerika selepas ombak tsunami yang berpunca daripada gempa bumi kuat melanda Samoa dan Samoa Amerika awal pagi Selasa. Sekurang-kurangnya 34 orang dilaporkan terbunuh dalam bencana itu.--fotoAPKejadian tsunami melanda negara kepulauan Pasifik American Samoa dan Samoa Barat, hari ini dan memusnahkan perkampungan serta meragut banyak korban, dipercayai lebih 100 orang, manakala ratusan lagi cedera, demikian menurut agensi berita Reuters.
Amaran tsunami dikeluarkan selepas gempa bumi sekuat 8.0 berlaku di dasar laut dekat American Samoa, dengan laporan yang menyebut kesan tsunami itu juga sampai ke New Zealand, mengakibatkan peningkatan paras air laut di beberapa negara kepulauan Pasifik Selatan.
Pusat Amaran Tsunami Pasifik telah membatalkan amarannya, tetapi Agensi Kajicuaca Jepun mengeluarkan arahan tsunami bagi kawasan di pantai timur negara itu, dengan kemungkinan dilanda tsunami setinggi 50sm (2 kaki).
Tsunami besar berlaku di Lautan Hindi pada 26 Disember 2004 yang mengorban kira-kira 230,000 orang di 11 negara.
Sejurus selepas radio tempatan mengumumkan amaran tsunami, ombak besar melanda Pago Pago - ibunegara American Samoa, perkampungan serta tempat peranginan di pantai selatan kepulauan tersebut, kata saksi.
"Dipercayai mungkin hampir 100 terkorban," kata penolong pegawai eksekutif pejabat pengurusan bencana Samoa Barat, Ausegalia Mulipola.
"Kami masih melancarkan kerja-kerja mencari mangsa-mangsa lain di kawasan terbabit," katanya kepada Reuters, sambil berkata, pulau utama Upolu merupakan yang paling teruk dilanda tsunami.
"Terdapat laporan yang mengadakan ada perkampungan di mana rumah-rumah penduduknya dihanyutkan air laut," katanya.
"Manakala sesetengah tempat ranap dan tsunami turut membawa banyak pasir dari pantai. Jadi terdapat laporan yang mengatakan pasir menimbus mayat-mayat mangsa yang terkorban. Jadi kami memerlukan peralatan khas untuk mencari mayat-mayat yang tertimbus dalam pasir," katanya.
Di American Samoa, sebuah wilayah Amerika Syarikat (AS), jumlah kematian rasmi ialah 14 orang, tetapi menurut para pegawai, angka itu mungkin bertambah.
Lima ombak tsunami
Lima ombak tsunami merempuh Pago Pago, menenggelami pusat perniagaan di pelabuhannya serta memaksa lapangan terbang ditutup sementara.
Yachtsman Wayne Hodgins, yang kebetulan berada di pelabuhah Pago Pago harbour, berkata, beliau terdengar ada orang dihanyutkan tsunami.
Menurutnya, air yang besar dan ganas, datang dan surut dengan begitu cepat
Seorang pegawai pelancongan di American Samoa, David Vaeafe berkata, paras air naik tiga minit selepas amaran tsunami dikeluarkan dan memusnahkan kampung-kampung kecil di sekitar ibunegara itu.
"Akses ke Pago Pago telah ditutup. Paras air mencecah hingga ke tingkat satu. Stesen radio terpaksa dikosongkan, banyak kerosakan berlaku," kata Vaeafe yang bercakap dari Pago Pago kepada kepada Stesen Sky Televisyan Australia.
Terdapat laporan berlaku kejadian memecah masuk pasaraya di Pago Pago ketika orang ramai berpusu-pusu mendapatkan bekalan makanan.
Kejadian tsunami itu mengakibatkan paras ombak mencecah 1.5 meter di atas paras biasa di American Samoa, kata Pusat Amaran Tsunami Pasifik Barat di Hawaii. Bagaimanapun tiada laporan rasmi bahawa paras ombak mencecah lebih 4 meteri.
Beratus-ratus orang, termasuk pelancong, lari meninggalkan rumah mereka dan pusat peranginan berhampiran pantai, untuk menyelamatkan diri di kawasan tanah tinggi.
"Sehingga ini, setiap orang berada di kawasan tanah tinggi," kata Senetenari Malele, juruhebah sebuah stesen radio tempatan di American Samoa.
Beratus-ratus orang lagi mengalami kecederaan dalam kejadian tsunami tersebut.
"Mereka sedang dirawat oleh pasukan perubatan dan akan dibawa ke hospital utama, tetapi jalan dan komunikasi mengalami kerosakan," kata ketua pegawai perubatan Samoa Barat, Palanitina Toelupe kepada Reuters yang menghubunginya di wad kecemasan di hospital besar negara itu di Apia.
"Setakat ini, kami berusaha membantu mereka. Tetapi kita pasti memerlukan bantuan dari negara-negara lain," katanya.
Lost City
Nimrud in northern Iraq was once the capital of the Assyrian empire. Feared as bloodthirsty and vicious, the Assyrians arose around the 14th century B.C. and dominated the Middle East for a thousand years.
Nimrud and the Assyrian Empire declined rapidly around 612 B.C., after Nimrud's sister city, Nineveh, fell to the Babylonians.
Nimrud and the Assyrian Empire declined rapidly around 612 B.C., after Nimrud's sister city, Nineveh, fell to the Babylonians.
The ancient city of Persepolis in modern-day Iran was one of four capitals of the sprawling Persian Empire. Built beginning around 520 B.C., the city was a showcase for the empire's staggering wealth, with grand architecture, extravagant works of silver and gold, and extensive relief sculptures such as this one portraying envoys with offerings for the king.
The height of Persian rule lasted from about 550 B.C. until 330 B.C., when Alexander the Great overthrew the ruling Archaemenid dynasty and burned Persepolis to the ground.
The Anasazi arrived in the region as early as A.D. 550, building their homes and cultivating crops on the soaring mesa tops. Around 1150, though, they began to move their dwellings to the alcoves within the canyon walls. Most houses were quite small, but a few reached enormous proportions, housing up 250 people. Read More......
The Biggest Beasts of All Time
We all know about the size of dinosaurs, of course, but how about a rodent the size of a bull, a sea scorpion bigger than a man, a frog as large as a beach ball, a penguin the size of a small adult human, a 1,000-pound ground-sloth-like marsupial, and a shark that may have grown longer than 50 feet and weighed up to 30 times more than the largest modern great white?
All these titans existed, although not in the same place or period.
Read on for pictures and more about seven of the biggest animals of all time.
Biggest Snake Discovered; Was Longer Than a Bus
The world's biggest snake was a massive anaconda-like beast that slithered through steamy tropical rain forests about 60 million years ago, says a new study that describes the ancient giant.
Fossils found in northeastern Colombia's Cerrejon coal mine indicate the reptile, dubbed Titanoboa cerrejonesis, was at least 42 feet (13 meters) long and weighed 2,500 pounds (1,135 kilograms).
"That's longer than a city bus and … heavier than a car," said lead study author Jason Head, a fossil-snake expert at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and a research associate with the Smithsonian Institution.
Previously the biggest snake known was Gigantophis garstini, which was 36 to 38 feet (11 to 11.6 meters) long. That snake lived in North Africa about 40 million years ago.
Hans-Dieter Sues, associate director for research and collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, was not involved with the study but has seen the snake fossils.
Sues noted that humans would stand no chance against one of these giants, which killed their prey by slow suffocation.
In addition, the snake's heft indicates that it lived when the tropics were much warmer than they are today, a find that holds potential implications for theories of once and future climate change.
A one-ton "fossil rat" has been discovered in South America, scientists announced .
The prehistoric, bull-size creature—the world's largest recorded rodent—has been identified from a well-preserved skull.
The megarodent lived in lowland rain forests between two and four million years ago, perhaps using its massive teeth to fend off saber-toothed cats and giant, flightless, meat-eating birds, researchers say.
The newfound species, called Josephoartigasia monesi, is reported today in a study led by Andrés Rinderknecht of the National Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The rodent weighed about 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms), based on an analysis of its 21-inch-long (53-centimeter-long) skull, according to the study, published in the new issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: B.
Found by an amateur paleontologist in a cliff face along Uruguay's southern coast, the skull suggests that the species was twice as heavy as any other known rodent, Rinderknecht said in an email.
"The future can bring big surprises. But at present J. monesi is the largest recorded rodent," he said.
A relative of rats, mice, and guinea pigs, the creature measured some ten feet (three meters) long, nose to tail. The ancient animal looked a lot like the capybara, the world's largest living rodent, also from South America. (Watch video of an anaconda hunting a capybara.)
But the prehistoric mammal belonged to a rodent family with a single surviving member—the pacarana (see photo)—the study says. A rare species weighing up to 33 pounds (15 kilograms), the pacarana is confined to tropical forests in central South America.
J. monesi inhabited forests around river deltas or estuaries, the study suggests.
Fruit Feeder
"It probably fed on aquatic plants and fruits, because its molars are small and not good for grass or other abrasive [vegetation]," Rinderknecht said.
Giant "Frog From Hell" Fossil Found in Madagascar
Scientists working in Madagascar found what may be the largest frog that ever lived, National Geographic News reported a year ago.
The bad-tempered Beelzebufo, or "devil frog" was a "rather intimidating animal the size of a beach ball, 16 inches (41 centimeters) high and weighing about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms)."
Paleontologist David Krause of Stony Brook University in New York and his colleagues began unearthing the the 70-million-year-old frog as a specimen in bits and pieces more than a decade earlier. "Over the years a 75-piece puzzle emerged that was only recently put together by fossil-frog expert Susan Evans of University College London," National Geographic's story said.
Evans, lead author of a paper detailing the find, said that, like its closest modern-day relatives -- a group of big-mouthed frogs in South America called ceratophyrines -- the devil frog also probably had a very aggressive temperament."These ceratophyrines are really aggressive, ambush predators. They are round with big mouths, and they will sit there and grab onto anything that walks past."
"They're sometimes called Pac-Man frogs," she added, "and even the little ones will go for you. It's a frog with attitude, even today. And at two or three times the size of the largest living ceratophyrines, Beelzebufo would have had quite a lot more attitude."
The animal sported a protective shield and powerful jaws that may have enabled it to kill hatchling dinosaurs, National Geographic News reported.
Giant Penguins Once Roamed Peru Desert, Fossils Show
Penguins about the size of humans roamed South America some 35 million years ago, and they didn't need ice to survive.
That's the result of a new study by North Carolina State University paleontologist Julia Clarke and her colleagues.
The study, which appears in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, unveils two new species of giant penguins from fossils unearthed in Peru's Atacama Desert.
The discovery pushes the date of penguin migration to equatorial regions back more than 30 million years, to one of the warmest periods of the last 65 million years.
The find also casts doubt on climate as the main factor in penguins' choice of habitat through history.
"The public is very familiar with the image of penguins and icebergs," Clarke said.
Today's penguins are cold-adapted and therefore at grave risk from global warming, she said, but the new fossils suggest that hasn't always been true.
(Clarke's research was funded by the National Geographic Society's Expeditions Council. National Geographic News is a division of the National Geographic Society.)
People-Size Penguins
The new study describes two new species of penguins from fossils, including the first complete skull from an ancient giant penguin.
That species, which the authors say lived in Peru about 36 million years ago, is the third largest penguin known and stood about 4.5 feet (1.5 meters) tall.
The other, dating to 42 million years, was about three feet (a meter) tall, which is comparable to the today's second largest living penguin, the king penguin.
Giant Sea Scorpion Discovered; Was Bigger Than a Man
Scientists said this 18-inch (46-centimeter) fossil claw (bottom) belonged to the world's largest known bug: an 8.2-foot (2.5-meter), 390-million-year-old sea scorpion called Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, National Geographic News reported in November 2007.
"The size of a large crocodile, the 390-million-year-old sea scorpion was the top predator of its day, slicing up fish and cannibalizing its own kind in coastal swamp waters, fossil experts say," our report said.
Jaekelopterus rhenaniae measured some 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) long, scientists estimate, based on the length of its 18-inch (46-centimeter), spiked claw.
"The find shows that arthropods -- animals such as insects, spiders, and crabs, which have hard external skeletons, jointed limbs, and segmented bodies -- once grew much larger than previously thought," said paleobiologist Simon Braddy of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. "We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, supersized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies," he added. "But we never realized, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were."
The fossilized claw of the sea scorpion was uncovered in a quarry near Prüm in Germany.
Ancient Giant Shark Had Strongest Bite Ever, Model Says
Prehistoric megalodon—literally "megatooth"—sharks had the most powerful bite of any creature that has ever lived, according to a new model.
Its bite was strong enough to crush an automobile and far exceeded that of the great white shark and even Tyrannosaurus rex.
Known mostly from the large teeth it left behind, Carcharodon megalodon first appeared in Earth's seas about 16 million years ago (in the Neogene period) and dined on giant prehistoric turtles and whales.
"Megalodon's killing strategy was to bite the tails and flippers off large whales, effectively taking out their propulsion systems," said study leader Stephen Wroe of the University of New South Wales in Australia.
The prehistoric shark may have grown to lengths of over 50 feet (16 meters) and weighed up to 30 times more than the largest great white.
"A great white is about the size of the clasper, or penis, of a male megalodon," said Peter Klimley a shark expert at the University of California at Davis, who was not involved with the current research.
"Could Have Crushed a Small Car"
Wroe and his colleagues extrapolated the bite force of megalodon from data they collected from great whites.
The team created a computer model of a great white's skull, jaw, and head muscles from images generated by a computerized tomography (CT) scanner.
They then ran "crash test" simulations with the model to reveal the stresses and strains it could withstand and the strength of its bite.
The team estimated a great white could generate a maximum bite force of about 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms).
Because megalodon was much bigger than a great white, it might have chomped down on prey with a force of between 24,000 to 40,000 pounds (10,900 to 18,100 kilograms), the researchers say.
Giant Prehistoric "Kangaroos" Killed Off by Humans
Humans, not climate change, were responsible for the extinction of giant "kangaroos" and other massive marsupials in Tasmania more than 40,000 years ago, according to new research.
Hunting on the Australian island exterminated several prehistoric animals, including the kangaroo-like beasts, marsupial "hippopotamuses," and leopard-like cats, a team of scientists announced. (Learn more about the red kangaroos and hippos of today.)
The giant kangaroo-like Protemnon anak, a long-necked leaf browser, survived on Tasmania until at least 41,000 years ago—much later than previously believed and up to 2,000 years after the first human settlers are believed to have arrived—according to new radiocarbon and luminescence dating of fossils, some of which were accidentally found by cavers.
Previous studies had concluded that Tasmania's giant beasts had already disappeared by the time humans crossed a temporary land bridge to the island 43,000 years ago. These studies blamed the extinctions on climate change—including the last ice age—instead.
The new findings appear this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Marsupial Menagerie
Six other giant prehistoric Tasmanian species survived the climate change of the time and likely existed until the arrival of humans, although the animals' remains were not specifically dated to the time humans are believed to have been on the island, according to the study.
The other species include "three kangaroos that would have been in the 220-pound (100-kilogram) size range," said team member Tim Flannery of Australia's Macquarie University.
"There was a marsupial leopard, which was probably 100 to 220 pounds [50 to 100 kilograms] in weight," he said.
"There was also what I would call a marsupial ground sloth that weighed several hundred kilograms at least, and perhaps in excess of 1,000 pounds (500 kilogram).
"And then a thing that you might want to call a marsupial hippopotamus, or a marsupial tapir, which would have weighed about 1,000 pounds (500 kilograms)."
Studies have found that Tasmania and present-day Victoria state, on the nearby Australian mainland, shared a similar climate back then, Flannery said
Perjalanan panjang Mandela menuntut kebebasan
Nelson Mandela terkenal dalam perjuangannya untuk menghapuskan dasar Apartheid di Afrika Selatan. foto-AP NELSON Mandela dalam usia 91 tahun masih dilihat sebagai seorang negarawan ulung. Perjuangannya untuk menghapuskan dasar yang mendiskriminasi kaum mengikut warna kulit, iaitu Apartheid di Afrika Selatan penuh dengan pelbagai rintangan dan kepahitan.
Walaupun terpaksa meringkuk didalam penjara selama 27 tahun, tetapi akhirnya beliau berjaya menjadi Presiden kulit hitam yang pertama dan selepas itu sering terlibat dalam misi-misi pengaman di wilayah yang bergolak.
Tetapi sejak meletakkan jawatan sebagai Presiden Afrika Selatan pada tahun 1999, beliau giat menyertai kempen-kempen membendung penularan virus HIV yang menyebabkan penyakit Aids.
Nelson juga telah berkempen sehingga negaranya terpilih menjadi tuan rumah sukan paling berprestij di dunia iaitu hos pertandingan akhir Bolasepak Piala Dunia pada tahun 2010. Kejohanan ini dilangsungkan setiap empat tahun sekali.
Karisma, unsur lawak jenaka, tidak pernah menyimpan dendam dan perjalanan hidup penuh berliku, adalah faktor utama Nelson sentiasa di kenang sebagai tokoh terkemuka dunia.
Beliau telah menerima lebih daripada seratus anugerah sepanjang empat dekad lalu dan telah diberikan anugerah Nobel Keamanan pada tahun 1993.
Latar Belakang
Nelson meraikan ulangtahun harijadinya yang ke-91 Julai lepas di Houghton, Johannesburg. foto-AFP Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela dilahirkan pada 18 Julai 1918 di Mvezo, Eastern Cape, Afrika Selatan.
Beliau berasal dari suku kaum Madiba dan nama Madiba sudah sinonim dengannya kerana sering dipanggil dengan nama jolokan itu.
Nama Nelson merupakan nama yang diberikan oleh guru Bahasa Inggerisnya ketika beliau masih di bangku sekolah.
Beliau menamatkan pendidikan menengahnya di Healdtown Methodist Boarding School dan mendapatkan ijazah sarjana muda di bidang perniagaan di Universiti Fort Hare.
Sebagai salah seorang ahli Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP), Nelson bersama dengan mendiang Oliver Tambo pernah menentang apartheid dengan mogok pelajar dan akhirnya dibuang dari universiti tersebut pada tahun 1940.
Beliau kemudian melanjutkan pendidikan melalui program jarak jauh di University of South Africa (UNISA) di Johannesburg.
Setelah mendapat ijazah dalam bidang perniagaan, Nelson mendaftar dalam program LLB (Sarjana Muda Undang-Undang) di University Witwatersrand.
Ayahnya, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, merupakan Penasihat Pengadilan Tinggi di kawasan Thembu di bawah pemimpin tertinggi David Dalindyebo.
Selepas ayahnya meninggal dunia, Nelson dibimbing dan dididik oleh David Dalindyebo untuk menjadi seorang pemimpin.
Beliau berkahwin dengan Evelyn Mase, pada tahun 1944. Mereka bercerai pada tahun 1957 dan memiliki tiga orang anak.
Pada tahun 1958, Nelson berkahwin pula dengan Winnie Madikizela, yang kemudiannya memainkan peranan utama dalam kempen membebaskan suaminya ketika Nelson dipenjarakan.
Mereka bercerai pada tahun 1996 dan mempunyai dua orang anak bersama.
Winnie menjadi tumpuan ramai di seluruh dunia pada tahun 1985 apabila beliau sendiri membacakan teks ucapan Nelson yang menolak tawaran kerajaan Afrika Selatan pada masa itu yang mahu membebaskannya secara bersyarat.
Kemudian pada tahun 1998, Nelson berkahwin buat kali ketiga dengan Graça Machel iaitu seorang balu kepada bekas Presiden Mozambique yang juga sekutu kepada Parti ANC, Samora Machel yang terbunuh dalam satu kemalangan semasa menaiki kapal terbang.
Penglibatannya dalam politik bermula apabila Nelson menyertai Pertubuhan Kongres Kebangsaan Afrika (ANC) pada tahun 1943 sebagai seorang aktivisi biasa.
Tidak lama selepas itu beliau kemudiannya dilantik sebagai pengerusi pertama Liga Pemuda (ANC Youth League).
Kongres Kebangsaan Afrika (ANC)
Semangatnya untuk membebaskan golongan kulit hitam daripada penindasan langsung tidak luntur walaupun dipenjara selama 27 tahun. foto-AFP Pada tahun 1944, Nelson mengetuai Liga Pemuda Kongres Kebangsaan Afrika dimana segala kegiatannya telah ditetapkan oleh Jawatankuasa Induk ANC.
Beliau dilantik sebagai Ketua Sukarela Kebangsaan untuk program yang dikenali sebagai Kempen Penentangan (Defiance Campaign) pada tahun 1952.
Nelson telah menjelajah ke seluruh negara dalam usaha untuk menaikkan semangat penentangan orang-ramai terhadap undang-undang Apartheid Afrika Selatan.
Pada tahun itu juga, Nelson bersama Tambo mewujudkan badan ekonomi untuk kaum kulit hitam yang pertama di Afrika Selatan, bertujuan untuk membantu kaum kulit hitam yang dilayan secara teruk oleh undang-undang bersifat menindas pihak pemerintah yang dikuasai golongan kulit putih.
Penjara seumur hidup
Parti ANC diharamkan selepas satu protes yang dibuat di hadapan balai polis di Sharpeville pada tahun 1960, dan Nelson Mandela sebagai tokohnya ditangkap dan dipenjarakan pada tahun 1961.
Seramai 69 orang terbunuh ketika protes itu berlangsung, termasuklah lapan wanita dan 10 kanak-kanak manakala 180 yang lain cedera.
Namun semangat perjuangannya tidak padam dengan insiden itu. Sebaliknya beliau meneruskan perjuangannya dan menjalankan aktiviti bawah tanah sambil memimpin organisasi menuntut semangat kebangsaan yang baru.
Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), sayap bersifat ketenteraan parti ANC dibentuk pada tahun yang sama. Di bawah pimpinannya, Nelson melancarkan sabotaj terhadap pemerintahan dan ekonomi negara.
Setahun kemudian, Nelson meninggalkan Afrika Selatan untuk menjalani latihan ketenteraan di Algeria bersama-sama dengan ahli-ahli MK yang lain.
Setelah dia kembali, dia terus ditahan dengan alasan meninggalkan negara secara haram dan menghasut rakyat untuk mogok dan membuat kekacauan.
Beliau didapati bersalah dan dikenakan hukuman penjara selama lima tahun bermula Oktober 1962.
Sewaktu dipenjara, beliau didakwa sekali lagi dalam perbicaraan Rivonia, atas tuduhan mahu mengulingkan kerajaan, menyebarkan fahaman komunis dan mengancam keselamatan negara.
Pada mulanya beliau dikatakan akan dijatuhi hukaman mati tetapi ditukar kepada hukuman penjara seumur hidup selepas dikritik hebat oleh masyarakat seluruh dunia.
Nelson tidak pernah berkompromi dalam prinsip politiknya walaupun sudah bertahun-tahun dipenjarakan dan ia menjadi sumber kekuatan dan inspirasi tahanan yang lain yang juga anggota kumpulan ANC.
Pada tahun 70an, beliau menolak tawaran pengurangan hukumannya sekiranya mengiktiraf daerah Transkei sebagai sebuah penempatan dan bersetuju untuk tinggal di sana.
Manakala pada tahun 80an, beliau enggan menerima tawaran Presiden Botha untuk membebaskannya dari penjara sekiranya beliau tidak meneruskan perjuangannya.
Dalam satu pidatonya yang cukup memukau, Nelson berkata: "Sepanjang hidup saya, saya telah mendedikasikan diri saya dalam perjuangan membebaskan orang-orang Afrika dan mewujudkan satu semangat kebangsaan yang baru.
"Saya berjuang untuk menghapuskan dominasi orang kulit putih dan begitu juga dengan orang kulit hitam. Saya mengidam-idamkan satu masyarakat yang bebas dan demokratik di mana semua orang dapat hidup bersama dengan aman serta mempunyai hak sama rata.
"Selagi saya masih hidup selagi itulah saya akan terus memperjuangkan impian saya ini walaupun saya terpaksa bergadai nyawa."
Beliau dipenjarakan di pulau Robben selama 18 tahun lagi sebelum dipindahkan ke Penjara Pollsmoor di tanah besar Afrika Selatan pada tahun 1982.
Pembebasan dan berakhirnya dasar Apartheid
Berikutan keputusan perbicaraan di Rivonia, Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (PBB) sebulat suara bertindak mengecam tindakan itu dan kerajaan Afrika Selatan telah dikenakan sekatan dalam hal-hal tertentu termasuklah sekatan ekonomi.
Pada tahun 1980, bekas rakan seperjuangan Nelson, Tambo, yang hidup dalam buangan, melancarkan kempen besar-besaran untuk membebaskannya.
Setelah menolak beberapa tawaran bersyarat rejim Afrika Selatan, Nelson akhirnya dibebaskan pada 11 Februari 1990.
Akibat tentangan hebat parti ANC dan tekanan antarabangsa, Presiden F.W. de Klerk terpaksa akur dan membebaskan semua tahanan politik termasuk Nelson dan juga mengakhirkan pengharaman parti ANC.
Empat tahun selepas dibebaskan, pada 10 Mei 1994, Nelson Mandela dipilih sebagai Presiden kulit hitam pertama di Afrika Selatan.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
‘Wali termulia’ curi tongkat mimbar‘Wali termulia’ curi tongkat mimbar
MARANG - Misteri kehilangan 23 batang tongkat mimbar milik beberapa masjid di daerah ini sepanjang Ramadan lalu akhirnya terjawab.
Rupa-rupanya, kesemua tongkat itu dicuri oleh seorang warga emas berumur 55 tahun yang mendakwa berbuat demikian untuk meningkatkan ‘darjah keimanannya’.
Malah lelaki itu mendakwa menerima arahan daripada suara ghaib yang memintanya mencuri sebanyak 200 batang tongkat mimbar masjid bagi membolehkannya mencapai darjah keimanan yang dihajatkan.
Menggelarkan dirinya ‘wali termulia’, lelaki itu mengaku masuk ke masjid-masjid berkenaan sambil berpura-pura mahu bersembahyang sebelum membalut tongkat tersebut menggunakan serban yang dipakainya sebelum melarikan diri.
Namun, hasrat lelaki yang tidak mempunyai pekerjaan tetap untuk mengumpul 200 batang tongkat tersebut tidak kesampaian apabila dicekup polis kira-kira pukul 5.30 petang kelmarin.
Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah negeri, Asisten Komisioner Mohd. Fauzi Abduri berkata, lelaki itu ditahan apabila sekumpulan anggota polis dari Ibu Pejabat Polis (IPD) Marang menyerbu rumah suspek di Kampung Rhu Rendang di sini selepas mendapat maklumat daripada orang ramai.
“Hasil serbuan itu, polis berjaya menahan lelaki berkenaan dan menemui 23 batang tongkat mimbar masjid di rumah kedai yang didiaminya.
“Akhirnya suspek mengaku mencuri tongkat di beberapa buah masjid antaranya Masjid Haji Ahmad Ibrahim, Masjid Kelulut dan Masjid Kijing di Marang,” katanya ketika dihubungi semalam.
Mohd. Fauzi memberitahu, ketika serbuan, lelaki itu tidak melawan tetapi cuba menyembunyikan sebatang tongkat dibalut dengan sejadah hijau yang dipercayai paling disayanginya. -Kosmo
Read More......Extraordinary People
1. Kim Ung-Yong: Attended University at age 4, Ph.D at age 15; world's highest IQ
This Korean super-genius was born in 1962 and might just be the smartest guy alive today (he's recognized by the Guinness Book of World R ecords as having the highest IQ of anyone on the planet).. By the age of four he was already able to read in Japanese, Korean, German, and English. At his fifth birthday, he solved complicated differential and integral calculus problems. Later, on Japanese television, he demonstrated his proficiency in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, German, English, Japanese, and Korean. Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World R ecords under "Highest IQ"; the book estimated the boy's score at over 210.
Kim was a guest student of physics at Hanyang University from the age of 3 until he was 6. At the age of 7 he was invited to America by NASA. He finished his university studies, eventually getting a Ph.D. in physics at Colorado State University before he was 15. In 1974, during his university studies, he began his research work at NASA and continued this work until his return to Korea in 1978 where he decided to switch from physics to civil engineering and eventually received a doctorate in that field. Kim was offered the chance to study at the most prestigious universities in Korea , but instead chose to attend a provincial university. As of 2007 he also serves as adjunct faculty at Chungbuk National University .
2. Gregory Smith: Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize at age 12
Born in 1990, Gregory Smith could read at age two and had enrolled in university at 10. But “genius” is only one half of the Greg Smith story. When not voraciously learning, this young man travels the globe as a peace and children’s rights activist.
He is the founder of International Youth Advocates, an organization that promotes principles of peace and understanding among young people throughout the world. He has met with Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev and spoke in front of the UN. For these and other humanitarian and advocacy efforts, Smith has been nominated four times for a Nobel Peace Prize. His latest achievement? He just got his driver license.
3. Akrit Jaswal: The Seven Year-Old Surgeon
Akrit Jaswal is a young Indian who has been called "the world's smartest boy" and it's easy to see why. His IQ is 146 and is considered the smartest person his age in India —a country of more than a billion people.
Akrit came to public attention when in 2000 he performed his first medical procedure at his family home. He was seven. His patient — a local girl who could not afford a doctor — was eight. Her hand had been burnt in a fire, causing her fingers to close into a tight fist that wouldn't open. Akrit had no formal medical training and no experience of surgery, yet he managed to free her fingers and she was able to use her hand again.
He focused his phenomenal intelligence on medicine and at the age of twelve he claimed to be on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer. He is now studying for a science degree at Chandigarh College and is the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University Read More......
Super Taxis
Take a look at this Ferrari Enzo sporting, a new Arab taxi design. The $850,000 hypercar was spotted in Muscat, Oman, and also appears to have blacked-out rear lights.
Be gratefull with what you have
If this doesn't touch you and move you, I don't know what will. The power of the human spirit is shown at its mightiest by this one little girl. I salute her. Be gratefull with what you have
Extraordinary
The smiling crippled girl Qian HongYan lost her legs in an accident
Her family in China are poor and couldn't afford prosthetic legs, so she uses a basketball to help her move.
Qian uses two wooden props to drag herself, and never complains, even though she has worn through six basketballs.
She attends her class
She always smiles
Always smiling
Always cheerful
always positive.
Linkwith
