Crikey!

Convert now or forever hold your sins. A man calling himself Assam the American called on the US and many non-muslims to convert. As long as Americans are ignorant to Islam, they will accept and even applaud wars and conflicts in Palestine and Lebanon by Israel, according to Assam. He also stated "To Americans and the rest of Christendom we say, either repent [your] misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself", according to the BBC. Assam the Americans' real name is believed to be Adam Gadahn and he is wanted by the FBI for questioning.

Not only does Sudan reject the UN resolution to put Peacekeeping troops on the ground, it also told the African Union, which does have troops there, to leave. Since 2003, fighting between the pro-government military and rebel factions has caused thousands to die, millions to go homeless and suffer hellish conditions. This may indicate that Sudan plans to handle the rebels with military strikes. The AU has reported that rebel held villages in Darfur are already being attacked by troops. Sudan has given the 7,000 strong AU troops till the end of September to leave.

Qatar is sending up to 300 troops to help in Lebanon.

Fresh fighting in the Philippines between Abu Sayyaf rebels and Filipino troops, has claimed five Filipino soldiers and several rebels. The Abu Sayyaf are a militant Muslim terrorists with alleged links to al-Qaeda. According to the BBC, "Troops have been fighting Abu Sayyaf rebels on the remote southern island of Jolo since late July in a bid to flush out leader Khadaffy Janjalani."

India is dealing with floods in two of the strangest places: Rajasthan and Kashmir. Neither know floods intimately. Rajasthan is the Thar Desert, in fact, and usually knows drought. But it was recently flooded by immense monsoon rains and 135 people lost their lives. In Kashmir, 1 person has died after being swept away while 200,000 are effected by the flooding. As many as 200 villages have been "marooned". Villagers are reluctant to leave their homes despite the water. Southern Kashmir and Jammu are the worst effected.

A fire at a chemical plant in the Galicia region in Spain last week, resulted in a highly toxic petroleum spill that is slowy creeping down the Umia river to the Atlantic ocean. Water supplies to residents have been cut off form the river and shell fishing industries have been closed for the interim. In the meantime, the government is trying to prevent the pollution of the Ocean by rigging dams to stop the spill.

Sri Lankan troops have taken control of an area near Trincomalee, a town held by Tamil Tiger rebels. A cease-fire had been declared in 2002 but conflict was sparked earlier this year and continues to excalate.

Two hostages have been taken by inmates in a Russian prison in Moscow. The prison is a pre-trial center. The head of the center is believed to be one of the hostages. The inmates have not made any demands yet

A bomb has gone off at a bar in Bujumbura, Burundi, on the eve of talks reconvening. The National Liberation Forces (FNL) has not signed the peace deal and is the last group. Four people were killed and twelve injured in the explosion.

In Somalia, the provisional government took control of the Baidoa from clan militias. The clans were exacting taxes of $20 on every passenger and $100 on every plane using the airport. After some policement were trying to leave for Kenya for training, conflict broke out. Six died while seven more were left wounded.

In Hyderabad, India, a 60-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her daughter-in-law. Laxmi, the daughter-in-law, supposedly smashed H. Ramabai, the mother-in-law, in the head with a boulder while she slapt. The woman admitted to the Saroornagar police that she had done the deed over criticism on trivial matters. There may have been another motive. Laxmi apparently was having an affair and the older woman discovered it. Desperate Housewives: India?

Gene Therpay has cured two men of skin cancer and may be a highly feasible method of conquering cancer. The method uses T-cells from patients, modifies them and retransfuses them. The cells attack tumor cells rather than ignore them.

Today, Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter, died after being stung by a Sting ray in the shallow waters off Port Douglas, Australia. Reportedly, a barb from the sting ray punctured his heart. Paramedics rushed to the scene but were unable to do anything for the wildlife enthusiast. He is survived by his wife Terri and their two children, Bindi Sue and Robert "Bob" Clarence. He was 44.

On this day back in 1781, Los Angeles was founded by the Spanish.

On this day in 1888, George Eastman registered his Kodak camera that used rolls. It would be 100 years and then some before the next big innovation in cameras: Digital.

34 years ago, Mark Spitz won his seventh gold medal in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. He set a record that still stands today. Many a male swimmer contends to break this record. In 2008, will it be Phelps or Thorpe?

Iran, Russia and a Mexican Hurricane

Why must I always write about Iran? They always seem to come up somehow. There was a fire on a plane in Mashhad, Iran today. Eigthy people died, none of whom were crew members. The plane was carrying 147 passengers. The plane in question is a Russin Tupolev 154. Incidents with planes, whether crashing or what not, are a common occurrance in Iran. Economic sanctions make it very difficult for the country to import the spare parts it needs.

Regions in Russia are making Russian Orthodoxy a subject in school. The Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga and Smolensk regions will make it compulsory while 11 other regions will make it an optional course. The curriculum stresses history rather than theology. However, opponents point out that the Russian constitution clearly states that there is a seperation of church and state. Moreover, the Muslim minority, who constitute at least 10% of the federation, are feeling slighted. They say that the same measure should be extended to Muslim students with Islamic history an optional subject.

The European Union apparently is growing faster economically than Japan or the good ole USA. However, their ability to create jobs is less than stellar. It is expected to lessen somewhat as we go into the end of the year. Another African country banning homosexual parties, Ghanian Information Minister Kwamena Bartels noted that since it is illegal to by gay in Ghana, there shouldn't be a conference for homosexuals there. The conference is set to take place next month. My question is why they choose Ghana, a place that does not accept Homosexuals in the first place, for that kind of party?

Tropical Storm Ernesto came ashore at Long Beach, North Carolina. It is now headed northward. Norfolk, Virginia better look out.

Hurricane John is a Category 3 storm and headed for Baja California. Cabo San Lucas is in the bull's eye.

I'll have more later.

More People walking Free

If you don't follow the news and are unaware of two journalists that were kidnapped in Gaza two weeks ago, you have now been informed. Fox News journalists Steve Centanni, of the US, and Olaf Wiig, of New Zealand, have been released just after the deadline their captors set for releasing detainess in Guantanamo Bay (or as we in the Navy called it, Gitmo). They were dropped off at Beach-Front hotel in Gaza after being held by the relatively unknown Holy Jihad Brigades (I'd link them but there isn't a good link about them to be found). The two were forced to convert to Islam and gunpoint but were unharmed during their captivity. They're happy to be free and American Steve Centanni stated "I hope that this never scares a single journalist away from coming to Gaza to cover the story because the Palestinian people are very beautiful and kind hearted". I'm glad that turned out all right since so often things in the Middle East do not.

Latvia: Making snacking safe for schoolkids one school at a time. Well, not really one school at a time but you get the picture. Latvia's government made the decision earlier this week to ban the nutritionally poor snacks from schools because they set bad examples. It may imply that junk food is endorsed by authorities which it is not. Elsewhere, reports in Britain estimate the 1/3 of all British men will be obese by 2010. Here in the US Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary of State, has been pleading with fizzy liquid maker Coca-Cola over regulation. Even Bill Clinton is in one this with his Healthier Generation. All I can say is I could've used them when I had to sit around after school for activities and all to be gotten were zebra cakes and Dr. Pepper.

Local news for me: We had tornadoes in this here state! On Thursday a line of very intense storms wreaked havoc in the Southern portion of the state affecting places like Cleveland, Nicollett and Northfield. There was one fatality: Thomas O'Brien, 90, passed away after a tree struck his home at Lake Emily. Several tornadoes were sighted including a multi-vortex tornado. Hail was reported at grapefruit size. I've even heard there may have been softball sized hail. Local Weather guy and geek Paul Douglas runs a blog (look for August 25) on TV station WCCO. It must be read. We have had little severe weather, let alone rain, this summer so I guess this made up for it. We got hammered here!

Video to the above story can be found here and here.

A plane crashed in Kentucky at 0619 EDT today. There were 46 passengers, an off-duty crew member and three crew members. At this time there is one survivor. Delta flight 5191 crashed a mile from the runway just after taking off at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington and currently there is some speculation that it took off from the wrong runway which would have been too short. The lone survivor is crew member and first officer James M. Polehinke. Please pray for his survival as he remains in surgery and in critical condition. Please pray for the souls of the 49 aboard who perished in the crash. Turn to CNN, the BBC, MSNBC, CBS or even the Scotsman for more on this developing story.