Jenjie

Or this one:

Or how about this one? I forgot to write the source down when i was reading through the newspapers on Mon. It would be one of these: Iran Daily, Tehran Globe, Jerusalem Post, Israeli Insider, Israel National News, Palestine TImes

You've then got the article about Iranians & Israelis learning to get along: Rest of the article here

Wow!! this debate has gone off while I've been away!! There are two sides to every story. From our position in the west, with the media, politicians etc that we see, we're given one set of ideas. If we were in the East, we would be given another set of opinions. How you see the world all comes down to how you were raised and your moral, social and ethical values, ie culture. I'm going to paste an opinion piece from the Palestinian Times. I've got another piece which goes in a different direction which I'll post later. http://www.ptimes.org

sounds like there could be trouble ahead

Silent Hill 5/10 That was a very weird film. i came out of it thinking it was complete bollocks, but the more I think about it the more the concept seems like a good idea. the storyline was kind of cool, and i think I get what was going on (not going to say anything because I think it'd spoil it for anyone who's not watched it). I didn't find it very scary though which intrigued me because i am a complete and utter wimp when it comes to horror films & blood & gore. The first bit where it went dark and the nasty flaming shrieking things came got to me, but after that it didn't do much at all.

The first episode was definitely better than the second. I got fed up of the repetition in the second episode. Still very good though. Can't wait for next tues

i have it because it reminds me of being litle. My Mum had a large one which she'd had since she was little. The one in the pic is the same colours 7 pattern as that one. When Mum went to Denmark last year, they had some small ones and she bought me a little one. I think they're ace!! i love all the bright colours and patterns on them.

crikey!! she'll have lost the film deal as well then. think it was Dreamworks had bought the rights

I see Mourinho was telling porkies!! Interesting rest for the Chelsea boys, Joe Cole played for 27 mins and Frank Lampard played the full 90 mins. More points for my team :D

what a waste of money!!

toooooooooooooo maaaaaannnnnnnny questions!!! my head hurts!! thank god for E4, can watch episode 3 later :D

8 mins to go, I'm off to get my seat sorted :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

On first glance the house at 610 North Buchanan Boulevard does not stand out. Like the other properties on the eastern edge of Duke University's campus, it has a prime location looking out over the oak and magnolia trees beneath which pass a constant stream of joggers. A little closer inspection suggests that this particular house has long been rented out to students rather than being occupied by loving owners: the paint is peeling and there is a general dishevelled air. It was at this house that a black 27-year-old stripper was allegedly gang-raped by members of the university's almost exclusively white lacrosse team at a late night party at which she and another black woman, Kim Roberts, had been hired to perform. The alleged incident has created a storm, not just within the university, but across the country, highlighting some of the nation's more obvious faultlines and triggering a re-examination of the issues of race, class and gender. The alleged attack took place six weeks ago and yet the controversy has barely been out of the headlines. Two players - Reade Seligmann, 20, and 19-year-old Collin Finnerty - have been charged with raping the single mother-of-two and released on bail. This week the controversy will intensify. The prosecutor, Mike Nifong, has indicated that he expects to charge a third member of the 46-strong squad. In addition, any day will see the publication of an investigation commissioned by the university into the lacrosse team. It is expected to highlight some of factors that could lie behind this incident. "People have been trying to deal with the battle of good liberals fighting with themselves in believing [the allegations of] the rape victim or else believing in rights of the defendants," said Jacob Remus, 25, a post-graduate history student who had just walked past No 610. "There is also a disagreement about what lens to see this through - race, privilege, class or culture ... [i think] it's all of the above." Those who seek to frame the incident as a simple clash between black and white, privileged and dispossessed, do not have to work hard. Duke University, a private college where students pay annual fees of $32,409 (£17,720) and where 71 per cent are white, has long been considered a bastion of privilege (The rest of the article is at The Independent)

The US media industry is targeting universities in the latest wave of its campaign against illegal file-sharing. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have sent letters to 40 US universities. They want the colleges to filter traffic to stop what they describe as an "ever evolving problem". The RIAA and MPAA has been involved in a long-running battle to stem the sharing of copyrighted files online. Campus networks In the latest stage of their campaign, the two industry bodies have written to 40 universities in 25 states highlighting what they called "piracy problems" on their computer networks. Both the RIAA and the MPAA acknowledged that the colleges have made efforts to curb illegal file-sharing on local area networks (Lans), but said more action was needed. "Campus Lan piracy is not new, yet the problem has taken on new urgency," said RIAA President Cary Sherman. "As we prioritise our focus on campus Lan piracy in the coming year, we hope administrators will take this opportunity to fully evaluate their systems and take action to stop theft by all means." The RIAA and the MPAA urged universities to consider the use of filtering technologies to stop students illegally sharing music and movies. This is not the first time that campus networks have been in the crosshairs. In April 2003, the RIAA mounted legal action against the student operators of four campus networks at three schools. Since then, it says universities have taken down at least a dozen campus servers where illegal file-sharing was prevalent. In November, a file-swapping superfast network popular with US students closed down following repeated legal pressure from the entertainment industry. The i2Hub network took advantage of the Internet2 research network which connects some 207 US universities. http://www.bbc.co.uk

Considering the debate we've got going on in the other thread, thought this was an interesting article.

The BBC fails to always give a "full and fair account" of the Israeli Palestinian conflict but is not deliberately biased, a report has said. The BBC governors asked an independent panel to scrutinise its output. Its report said the BBC was committed to being fair, accurate and impartial and UK viewers regarded it as unbiased. But coverage was not consistently full and fair and "in important respects, presents an incomplete and in that sense misleading picture", it found. The panel, chaired by British Board of Film Classification president Sir Quentin Thomas, examined only the corporation's UK domestic public service output. Sir Quentin said: "What the BBC does now is good for the most part - some of it very good. "But it could and should do better to meet the gold standard which it sets itself in its best programmes." The report said: "Apart from individual lapses, sometimes of tone, language or attitude, there was little to suggest systematic or deliberate bias. "On the contrary, there was evidence, in the programming and in other ways, of a commitment to be fair, accurate and impartial." The report also said: "There is high quality reporting from location, some outstanding current affairs programmes and the website provides much valuable historical and other context." But there were gaps in analysis, context and perspective as well as a failure to consistently uphold editorial standards, it continued. Broadcast news lacked historical background, stories were often not put in the wider context and there was insufficient analysis and interpretation of important events and issues, the report said. The range of stories and perspectives was too narrow and reporters' use of language was often inconsistent, it decided. That included the use of the words "terrorism" and "terrorist". The BBC advises its journalists to avoid the latter because it can be "a barrier to understanding". But the panel said the BBC should use "terrorism" to describe violence against civilians with the intention of causing terror for ideological objectives, "whether perpetrated by state or non-state agencies". "It seems clear that placing a bomb on a bus used by civilians intending death or injury in supposed furtherance of a cause is a terrorist act and no other expression conveys so tersely and accurately the elements involved." 'Reassuring' BBC chairman Michael Grade responded to the report by saying the finding of no deliberate or systematic bias was "reassuring". "The panel found much to praise, but it also identified some shortcomings in the BBC's coverage," he said. "We have asked BBC management to consider the panel's recommendations and respond to us at our June board meeting." He added the corporation must continually demonstrate its efforts to meet the highest editorial standards because impartiality was the most important safeguard of the BBC's editorial independence. A statement from BBC News management pointed to "recent developments to strengthen performance" such as the appointment of Jeremy Bowen as Middle East editor and a major training programme. "We are pleased the panel commends the quality and authority of our reporting from the Jerusalem bureau," it said. "We agree there is more we can do to provide greater context and understanding for audiences on the conflict. "We are confident we have the right editorial structures and processes in place to provide high quality, impartial journalism and to ensure we continue to make progress in developing the authority and comprehensiveness of our output." "Their contribution will assist the BBC in providing the best possible news coverage for licence fee payers." BBC executives will now prepare a plan for the governors detailing how they intend to implement "appropriate recommendations". http://www.bbc.co.uk

A Chinese businessman has bought an old MiG-21f fighter jet for nearly $25,000 (£14,000) on eBay to decorate his office, a Chinese newspaper reports. Zhang Cheng bought the Soviet-made jet from a seller in the United States, where it is said to be in excellent condition though last flown in 1995. "I have the buying power and my company has an empty space where I can display the plane," he told the Beijing News. But it was not immediately clear if Mr Zhang needed a permit to import it. According to the new owner, the jet was retired by the Czech air force. "I don't know if this jet plane is a banned item," Mr Zhang said, adding that one Chinese company had bought a retired Soviet aircraft carrier to convert into a theme park. A note on the eBay site said the plane, which is currently located in Lewiston, Idaho, had been inspected by a museum and found to be in excellent condition. The first MiG-21 prototype flew in 1956 and came into service with the Soviet air force in 1959, becoming one of the most mass-produced combat aircraft since World War II. The name of the seller was not given. http://www.bbc.co.uk

That's horrible. That was one of the bits of Final Destination 3 that I foudn really difficult to watch. Poor woman.

Woman burned by collapsed sunbed A woman suffered 65% burns when a faulty sunbed collapsed trapping her for more than two-and-a-half hours. Melanie Wraith had hired the sunbed from Supertan, run by 35-year-old Terrence Howells from his home in Rose Street, Northwood, Stoke-on-Trent. When she went to use it the canopy fell on her arm and knocked her unconscious for hours, magistrates heard. She came round when she vomited and was taken to hospital. Howells admitted two safety offences and could face jail. The court heard, that Ms Wraith, from Leek in Staffordshire, had set the timer for the sunbed for 12 minutes, when it came on giving her an electric shock. She stopped breathing in the ambulance to hospital and had to spend two days at Birmingham Burns Unit. "Ms Wraith was in shock, she was given morphine for her pain and had to have a catheter inserted in her bladder," Nicolas Cole, prosecuting for Staffordshire County Council, told Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. "Her body was swollen and she had a loss of feeling in her right hand caused by the electric shock. Warnings removed An examination of the sunbed showed warnings had been removed, live parts of the machine were not protected, and a spring had been removed which prevented the canopy from falling too low, the court heard. Howells pleaded guilty to charges relating to Electrical Equipment Safety Regulations 1994 and section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Sentencing was adjourned for reports.

Its the ordinary people working for the Palestinian government who haven't received any wages since March. The people of Palestine democratically voted Hamas in to government, and now those people are suffering because some of the world doesn't agree with their choice.

Politicians are being urged to act against Japan which has banned poultry imports from Britain after an outbreak of bird flu at three Norfolk farms. Japan said it was acting to stop bird flu spreading to its domestic bird population, even though it is the relatively harmless H7 virus. Norfolk's Labour MEP Richard Howitt said the ban was illegal. He has urged European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to take action against Japan over the ban. Mr Howitt's urgent parliamentary question tabled in Brussels on Tuesday called on Mr Mandelson to challenge the legality of the Japanese ban under international trade rules. He said he wanted Mr Mandelson to step in before other countries followed Japan's lead. "We must challenge this ban now to stop other countries following suit," he said. "We know how long the beef ban took to lift. If we don't nip this in the bud we could find ourselves denied access to valuable markets for many years to come." He added: "Any ban appears totally unjustified under World Animal Health Organisation guidelines. "The Norfolk outbreak has been confirmed through rigorous testing as the low pathogenic H7N3 strain rather than the more dangerous H5N1 bird flu." 'Protect industry' Local veterinary and health officials had fully complied with European Commission biosecurity requirements in dealing with the outbreak, said Mr Howitt - and now the region expected Commission support in protecting a vital poultry industry worth £1 billion a year and that supported about 30,000 jobs in Norfolk. British government officials are also expected to question the validity of such a ban under World Animal Health Organisation guidelines. There was an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in poultry in Japan in 2004, and of a less deadly H5 variant on farms near Tokyo last year.

Hamas is trying to ease a crisis over the salaries of Palestinian government workers by paying them directly with funds donated by the Arab League. Arab funds sent to ease the crisis have so far not reached workers because of banks' fears that the US will punish them for doing business with Hamas. The US and EU have frozen donations to the Palestinians, demanding Hamas drops calls for the destruction of Israel. Many Palestinian government workers have not been paid since March. The Palestinian Authority employs some 165,000 people and the UN estimates a quarter of the Palestinian population relies on government salaries. The world body has warned that the humanitarian and security situation will deteriorate rapidly if Palestinian salaries go unpaid for much longer. Western donations to the Palestinian Authority have been largely suspended since Hamas militants - branded terrorists by the US and Israel - came to power in elections earlier this year. French proposal The plan to transfer Arab League funds directly to public sector workers' accounts - without filtering them through the government - is designed to sidestep US threats against banks that do business with Hamas. Palestinian officials told the Reuters news agency the Hamas-run Finance Ministry had sent a list of government employees' names and bank details to the Arab League. "I can say that very, very soon we will have begun ending the crisis of the salaries," Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya told the agency. But BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston says that it is not clear if the strategy will work. The Arab League has said only that it is considering the plan, and there are reports that the Americans are working to block it. The Palestinian Authority's monthly wage bill runs to about $116m. The Arab League has so far committed to delivering $55m monthly. Even this has not been shifted by banks fearful of possible US sanctions. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said any new funding strategy should ensure that those implicated in terrorism did not benefit. The US has not formally responded to the plan to pay Palestinian employees directly. French President Jacques Chirac has meanwhile argued for the creation of a World Bank fund to pay Palestinian Authority workers. The proposal has been welcomed by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction. Hamas has said it would consider the idea. 'No starvation policy' In another development, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn has stepped down from his role as economic co-ordinator for Gaza. Tasked with overseeing the development of Gaza's economy after Israel withdrew from the territory last year, Mr Wolfensohn said he had made "quite a lot of progress". But, he added, the election of a Hamas government in January had made it very difficult to "to be able to try and negotiate any independent type of arrangements". He said "the political events are such that I think the issues are above my pay grade". According to the AFP news agency, he also said the West was not trying to force the Palestinians into submission by starving them of funds. "I don't think anyone... believes that to be the policy - although, sometimes, it is made to appear that that is what it is," he said. http://www.bbc.co.uk

A teenage Somali boy has stabbed to death his father's killer in a public execution ordered by an Islamic court. Large crowds gathered at a Koranic school in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, to watch Mohamed Moallim, 16, stab Omar Hussein in the head and throat. Hussein had been convicted of killing the boy's father, Sheikh Osman Moallim, after a row about Mohamed's education. Islamic courts have brought a semblance of order to Mogadishu, imposing Sharia law after years of rule by warlords. Under Sharia law those who commit murder are punishable by death. Keeping the peace Hussein was tied to a stake and had his head covered by a bag ahead of his execution. He shouted "There is no God but Allah" as Mohamed Moallim stepped up to take his revenge. Speaking afterwards, the boy said he felt satisfied that Hussein was dead. "I am happy now because I killed the man who killed my father," he told the Reuters news agency. The execution marked the first time the local court in the Bermuda district of Mogadishu had handed down a death penalty, local media reported. Residents in the nearby area have reported a drop in robberies, murder and general lawlessness since the court began its work, Radio HornAfrik said. http://www.bbc.co.uk

A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father, who was a Minister, if they could discuss his use of the family car. His father took him into his study and said, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study the Bible a little, get your hair cut and then we'll talk about it." After about a month, the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss his use of the car. They again went into the father's study where the father said, "Son, I've been very proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied the Bible diligently, but you didn't get your hair cut." The young man waited a moment and then replied, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that. You know Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair." The Minister said, "Yes, and everywhere they went, they walked."