Saddam Hussein's Court Verdict

Saddam Hussein and his half brother were convicted and sentenced on Sunday to death by hanging for war crimes in the 1982 killings of 148 people in the town of Dujail, as the visibly shaken former leader shouted "God is great!" After the verdict was read, a trembling Saddam yelled out, "Life for the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!"

In addition to the former Iraqi dictator and Barzan Ibrahim, his half brother, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted and sentenced Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the head of Iraq's former Revolutionary Court, to death by hanging. Iraq's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Three other co-defendants were convicted of murder and torture and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. One defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. (source: Associated Press)

Pray that the court verdict will not cause further eruption of conflicts in Iraq.
Tags: Saddam Hussein, Iraq, Iraqi High Tribunal, Court

Magneto movie

An upcoming movie based on the marvel comic character of Magneto (left pic) will be filmed and released by 2009. But the best part of it is that the story could involve Malaysia's former prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, which was highlighted in Internet Movie Database's website. Must be someone who has a good sense of humour while writing the script.

There is a movie preview done by Yahoo Movies about the said movie.
Tags: Movie, Entertainment, Marvel Comic, Magneto, Mahathir, IMDB

Shakira & Ricky Martin

Looks like Shakira did quite well in the recent Latin Grammy Awards. Shakira dominated the Latin Grammy Awards as she won five trophies, including album of the year for "Fijacion Oral Vol. 1", song and record of the year honors for "La Tortura", the best female pop vocal album and the best engineered album.
Her smoldering duet with Alejandro Sanz, on Thursday night stole the spotlight at the event - gyrating her way through a rendition of "La Tortura".

Thursday's show was broadcasted by Univision (Latin website) television for the second straight year. Musicians from Puerto Rico earned 33 Latin Grammy nominations, including all the nominations for best urban music album and best salsa album.

As for Ricky Martin, he was accorded the 2006 Latin Recording Academy Person Of The Year Tribute in honour of his accomplishments as a world-renowned entertainer, consummate performer and passionate humanitarian. I did blog about Ricky Martin in an earlier blog of mine here.
Tags: Music, Entertainment, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, Latin Grammy Awards, Univision

China-Africa Summit 2006

China has pledged to double its aid to Africa and provide $5bn in loans and credits over the next three years as announced in a summit attended by nearly 50 African heads of state and ministers. The 3 days summit is focusing on business with more than 2,000 deals under discussion (WOW!).
China's drive to buy African oil and other commodities has led to a big increase in two-way trade, worth $42bn (£22bn) in 2005 with China importing 38 million tonnes of crude oil from the continent in 2005 and has made major investments in oil and gas projects in countries including Kenya, Angola and Nigeria. China needs Africa's ample/rich supplies of natural resources and raw materials to fuel its surging economy and in return, invests in African roads, railways and other infrastructure.
Often, Chinese money is funding projects that western investors had deemed too risky (source: BBC News & China Daily). When you are in Sudan, you could numerous number of people from China itself. China government-owned companies were already in Sudan since 1990s.

Five countries in the Africa continent, namely Gambia, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Swaziland and Sao Tome have formal links with Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway renegade province rather than an independent state. China has said that the five countries are welcome to send observers to the Sino-African summit, though they remain ineligible to join in the Sino-African strategic economic partnership as long as they continue to recognise Taiwan.
Tags: China, Africa, Business, Summit, Trade

Ironman Triathlon

If you are a triathlete, there is no bigger day in this sport than the Ford Ironman World Championship held in Kona, Hawaii recently. To get to the starting line in Kona, you must either be very lucky and get yourself a spot through the lottery, or very talented, and win yourself a qualifying spot at one of the qualifying events held around the world. Tens-of-thousands of triathletes try to get one of those coveted Ironman spots every year. Only 1,793 succeeded.

That means 1,793 "lucky" people get to test themselves on one of the biggest challenges the sports world has to offer ... 2.4-miles of swimming, 112-miles of biking, and a 26.2-mile marathon run through tough ocean waves, and challenging lava-covered terrain. If you don't complete the course within 17 hours, you will be considered as "Did Not Finish". After all the gruelling swim/cycling/running and you are considered DNF????????? This is crazy indeed! But I really marvel at all this tough guys/ladies, real strong determination.

Men's results:
1. Normann Stadler of Germany (Time: 08:11:56)
2. Chris McCormack of Australia (Time: 08:13:07)
3. Faris Al-Sultan of Germany (Time: 08:19:04)
.......... Malaysia's sole qualifier, Wong Ah Thiam, finished at no. 349 with a time of 09:57.

Women's results:
1. Michellie Jones of USA (Time: 09:18:31)
2. Desiree Ficker of USA (Time: 09:24:02)
3. Lisa Bentley of Canada (Time: 09:25:18)
Tags: Sports, Ironman, Triathlon, Kona

Saucy Jokes

Two men met while both where looking for their lost wives.
1st: How yours look like?
2nd: She is 5"7, 36-24-36, Fair, Black eyes. What about yours?
1st: Forget mine. Lets find yours!!
**********
Husband asks , "Do u know the meaning of WIFE??" Without Information Fighting Everytime" Wife replies," No, It means ,"With Idiot For Ever !!!"
**********
Women asked man who is traveling with six children, all these kids are yours???
No, I work in a condom factory & these are customer complaints.
**********
Mother to her teenage daughter: I think this is the right time we should talk about sex. Daughter (excitingly): Sure mom, tell me what do you want to know. Mother Faints...
Tags: Jokes, Funny, Humor

Moral Of The Story

the moral of this story says alot...................
A pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.
The local newspaper read: PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
The next day, the local newspaper headline read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The Bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.
The next day the paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.
The next day the headlines read: NUN ANNOUNCES...HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
The Bishop was buried the next day....

The moral of the story is....Being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery...and even shorten your life. So be yourself and enjoy life..... You'll be a lot happier and live longer!
Tags: Jokes, Funny, Moral, Humor, Ass, Donkey