It's the first book in the teen vampire trilogy. I'm almost done with it and I must admit I'm hooked. I just took a peek at the movie trailer and it looks good!! The book is not scary and I see why teens (and adults) are so fascinated by it. It's kind of like "The Breakfast Club" for dead teens. LOL! Has anyone else been reading this?

http://arabia.msn.com/News/MiddleEast/AFP/...90.aspx?ref=rss


US embassy seeks Iraqi fans on Facebook


Released on - Thursday,21 January , 2010 -21:29 In what could be seen as a new front in cyber diplomacy or a naive gesture, depending on your point of view, the US embassy in Baghdad launched a Facebook page on Thursday to "reach out to Iraqis."


The page opened with a video posting by ambassador Christopher Hill, who spoke of his high hopes for the forum where "fans" will be encouraged to follow embassy news and learn more about American culture and society.


"This is something new we are trying," said Hill, who delivered his opening address from a sofa where he sat dressed casually in a blue cardigan and white shirt.


"We'd like to be able to <b>reach out </b>a little better to the Iraqi people, especially young people who know about Facebook and know how it all works."


A statement announcing the page launch promised fans would receive a news feed highlighting news and events of interest, photo albums, as well as audio and video clips.


An "English-language corner" will also be updated every week with American expressions and "useful grammar and vocabulary hints," it said.


In the one minute and 13 second long video, Hill said the face of America was going to be changing in Iraq with soldiers being replaced by outreach programmes and cultural exchanges.


"There's gonna be less military, more civilians," he said, alluding to a withdrawal of US combat troops by August 31 and of all other soldiers by the end of 2011.


"So, this is our way of reaching out to people, understanding what Iraqi problems are, what Iraqi concerns are and we hope you all will be able to reach out to us a little better," he added, urging people to become fans of the page.


More than 800 people had signed up by 9.30 pm (1830 GMT).

Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum,


They wants to kill <i>thier enemies</i> using weapons that carry Biblical references... is this a Christian Holy War against Islam and Muslims?


<b>Don't forget to watch the video on that link...</b>


YahooNews


Salam


Wael.

Assalam O alaikum


bros and sisters


hope this finds u in best of health and faith Insha Allah.....


My elder brother "Mohsin Siddique" is very very sick... he is suffering from Alsar


and his condition since last week is un-explainable


he had been admitted in the hospital since 4 days.....please make special dua for my brother that May Allah cure him.ameen


and do remember all the muslims around the world in ur duas too.


May Allah always keep us under his loving care and cure all the sickones around the world.Ameen


Jazak Allahu Khayran


ws wr wb


ur sister


Juwayriah Haani

<b>Ban on Youth Converts to Islam?</b>


Not exactly all converts - only the minors.


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Pressure from minority religions (Hindu, Christians, etc.) on the government could force a ban on...


...religious conversion of minors by one parent without the spouse's consent — a source of several interfaith disputes in this Muslim-majority nation.


A meeting of Malaysia's king and state sultans decided late Monday that they would consult Islamic authorities before deciding whether to approve a proposed amendment banning such conversions without both parents' consent.


The proposed amendment to the law was aimed at appeasing non-Muslim minorities, who feel their rights have come under threat and that they lose out in conversion disputes.


The hereditary monarchs have a largely ceremonial role in Malaysia but they are seen as the guardians of Islam, the official religion, and are revered by Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the country's 28 million people.


The endorsement of the monarchs is necessary before the government can push any change in religion-related laws through Parliament.


Debate over conversions of minors flared again earlier this year when a Hindu man converted himself and his three young children to Islam and claimed custody in a Shariah court despite his Hindu wife's objection.


Malaysia has a two-tier court system — Shariah courts handle civil matters for Muslims, while secular courts rule on those for Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and other religious minorities, who make up 40 percent of the population.


It is unclear which court has the ultimate jurisdiction in disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, and non-Muslims claim they often lose out.


IslamNewsRoom

Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.


In the two parts video attached, you will see a proclamation of a Christian missionary who is addressing his huge congregation and informing them that Pork is prohibited according to the Christian scriptures.


Anyone against what he says?


Salam


Wael.




Part_1.wmv

Part_2.wmv

Attached Files

  Part_1.wmv (Size: 1.9 MB / Downloads: 8)
  Part_2.wmv (Size: 1.86 MB / Downloads: 7)

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/201...bai-launch.html





World's tallest building set to open in Dubai


Last Updated: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | 12:29 PM ET Comments171Recommend97CBC News


The Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, officially opens its doors Monday evening amid tight security, including plainclothes police. (Kamran Jebreili/Associate Press)


There's a lot of security and secrecy around the opening of the world's tallest free-standing structure in Dubai, due to be officially unveiled on Monday.


The Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower) is expected to measure more than 818 metres.


Bill Baker, the structural engineer from Chicago-based company Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill, says he wasn't sure just how high they would make the building, saying it was "a kind of exploration."


Toronto's CN Tower, at 553 metres, retains its Guinness World Record as the world's tallest tower. Guinness defines the Toronto landmark as a building in which less than 50 per cent of the construction is usable floor space.


By that definition, the Burj is definitely not a tower. Underway since 2004, it already boasts the most storeys and highest occupied space of any building in the world.


Emaar Properties, the Burj's developer, has kept quiet about the building's launch Monday evening.


Local reports say more than 1,000 security personnel will be on hand, including plainclothes police.


The opening comes at a poor time in Dubai's economy. Property prices have plummeted during Dubai's recent financial turmoil.


In late November, the investment arm of the Dubai government, Dubai World, defaulted on $59 billion US in debt and asked lenders for a reprieve on repayment until May. In mid-December, neighbouring Abu Dhabi threw it a $10 billion US lifeline.

Taken From ( http://www.vivapalestina.org/home.htm )


New Year Emergency Appeal


31st December 2009


On 6th December 2009 the third Viva Palestina international aid convoy set off from London. Over the next few weeks it traveled almost three thousand miles through 9 countries gaining support as it went. By 24th December, Christmas Eve, when it reached the post of Aqaba in Jordan it had grown to almost 500 people in 250 vehicles - carrying much needed medical aid for the besieged people of Gaza.


And there its journey could have come to an end. The convoy was refused passage across the Red Sea to the Sinai by the Egyptian authorities - gatekeepers of the Rafah crossing into Gaza. The convoy would only be allowed to enter Gaza if it landed at the port of Al-Arish on the Mediterranean coast.


The convoy was forced to turn around and head back through Jordan and Syria to take ship from there to Egypt. But this solution, imposed by the Egyptian authorities, has come at a cost. Viva Palestina and our partners will need to charter three ferries and a plane to move our vehicles and convoy members from Syria to Egypt. And we need to raise the money to pay for this.


So we are asking our friends and supporters to dig deep in their pockets and make an emergency donation towards the costs now facing the convoy. With your help we will once more deliver aid to the people of Gaza - and once more demand the end to this in human siege.


Thanks you for your support and may we wish everyone a Happy New Year.


TO MAKE A DONATION PLEASE VISIT (CURRENCIES ACCEPTED ARE BELOW)


http://www.vivapalestina.org/emergency.htm


New Year Emergency Appeal


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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleea...1947605152.html


Activists reject Egypt's Gaza offer


Protesters have stages a series of rallies around Cairo [Middle East Children's Alliance, via Flickr]


Members of an international group gathered in Cairo to protest against the siege of Gaza have rejected an Egyptian offer to allow 100 of them entry into the Palestinian territory.


Organisers of the Gaza Freedom March (GFM), which is comprised of 1,300 people from 42 different countries, declined the offer on Wednesday, saying "we refuse to whitewash the siege of Gaza".


Egyptian authorities had initially said the group would not be allowed to cross the border, citing security reasons and a "sensitive situation".


The activists were hoping to march into Gaza on the anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive on the territory as a sign of solidarity with its people, carrying with them aid and supplies.


Egypt's Rafah border crossing point is the only entrance point into the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel.


However, both it and the Israeli-controlled border points have largely remained sealed since 2007, when Palestinian faction Hamas took full control of the territory after brutal infighting with rivals Fatah.


Cairo concession


March organisers had called the Egyptian government's concession a "partial victory" but said the offer was not sufficient.


Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada and a participant in the march, posted to his blog, saying that "it's not enough and the pressure and protests should be kept up".


"This is not about getting some or even all into Gaza, its building global support and pressure to end the siege of Gaza"


Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada


"However, getting 100 or 1,300 into Gaza does not end the siege by itself. This is not about getting some or even all into Gaza, its building global support and pressure to end the siege of Gaza," he said.


Roqayah Chamseddine, a US student attending the march, told Al Jazeera: "Our mission is not to be divided and sending only 100 of over 1,300 would be doing just that.


"For anyone to claim that Egypt was doing us a favour by offering to allow 100 GFM members to go is asinine and baseless.


"Those borders must be opened and as long as Egypt continues to seemingly aid Israel in subjugating the people of Palestine we will also continue to resist an protest."


Gaza Freedom March members have held multiple small protests in Cairo, as well as on Tuesday joining Egyptian activists to demonstrate against a one-day visit by Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister.


Earlier on Tuesday, around 40 US citizens marching to their embassy in the Egyptian capital were met along the way by riot police, who corralled them into groups of 10 before allowing them access, participants said.


On Sunday and Monday, about 80 people held a sit-in oustide the French embassy to try to rally international support for the movement.


Others, such as US citizen Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, have gone on hunger strike to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow the march to proceed.


Viva Palestina


A separate aid convoy, which had been trying to reach Gaza by way of Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba, has meanwhile agreed to travel via Syria instead.


The Viva Palestina convoy, carrying 210 lorries full of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, crossed into Syria on Tuesday after spending five days in Jordan, negotiating with the Egyptian consul there.


It is now expected to set sail from the Syrian port of Latakia to the Egyptian port of El Arish on the Mediterranean, and then cross through Rafah into Gaza from there.


A statement from the Egypt's ministry of information said that George Galloway, the British member of parliament leading the convoy, had been told by November 10 that the group had to travel through El Arish, even though it is not the most direct route

Bismillah


assalamualaikum wr wb


"A Muslim lady who wanted respect for her religion and religious bliefs was killed in a courtroom by a maniac in Germany.


Marwa Sherbini,32,was stabbed 18 times by Axel W,who is now under arrest in Dresden for 'suspected'murder.Marwa's body has been taken back to Egypt


for burial.Her husband,Elwi Okaz,was also critically injured while trying to save his wife from the lunatic,is currently in Hospital.


Alex W,was convicted of insulting her for wearing the islamic headscarf,calling her a terrorist.


German prosecutors have that Alex W had a deep hatred of foreigners and Muslims that prompted him into this action.


Medics were not able to save Marwa who was three months pregnant with her second child.Her three-year-old son was with family in the court when she was killed.Egyption journalists have expressed their outrage at how could such a heinous crime take place literally under the nose of the law.Marwa has been hailed asShaheedatul Hijaab "The Martyr of the Hijaab".


Like always ,Muslim countries leaders will simply twiddle their thumbs and wait for a similar incident to happen in,say,France now......


take care bros and sisters....


wassalam wr wb


Juwayriah Haani