Maldives' Reesha happy as a sand girl

Aishath Reesha of the Maldives, who trains on a sand track in her tiny island nation, does not care that she was beaten by nearly a half lap on her Olympic debut in the women's 800 metres heats on Friday.

"I ran a personal best? Really? I am so happy," Reesha told reporters, wearing a huge smile.

Her time of 2:30.14, an improvement of almost three seconds, still left her the slowest in the heats by almost 10 seconds and she was nearly half a minute off the pace needed to reach the semi-finals.

"How can I compete with these professionals? I'm just a young girl," said the 19-year-old.

Her only complaint about the Beijing Olympics is that the track is hurting her.

"This track is so hard on my feet. I run on sand, we only have a sand track," Reesha said.

Source: Reuters

100 celebrity holiday favourites

Where do the stars go when they need to kick back and relax? Which restaurants, shops, resorts and hotels do they rate above all others? 100 of Britain’s best-known celebrities tell all.

Jade Jagger
“The Maldives. You’ve got the sand and the turquoise sea, although I could see myself going a little crazy if I stayed too long. My favourite hotel in the world is the Mercer Hotel (001 212 966 6060; www.mercerhotel.com) in New York, but Japan is tops for shopping.”

Michael Buerk
“Cocoa Island (00960 664 1818; www.cocoaisland.como.bz) in the Maldives. It’s as near to paradise as I’m every likely to get.”

Issy Van Randwyck

“The Taj Exotica Resort & Spa (00960 664 2200; www.taj.com) in the Maldives. It has to be in the most beautiful location in the world. “

Ian Marber

“An island resort called Dhonakulhi (www.island-hideaway.com) in the Maldives. I spent 10 days there last year and every day was a joy. My favourite restaurants are in London: St Alban (020 7499 8558; www.stalban.net) and The Wolseley (020 7499 6996; www.thewolseley.com).

read more about other celebrities

Watermelon May Have Viagra-effect

Watermelon May Have Viagra-effect:
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2008) — A cold slice of watermelon has long been a Fourth of July holiday staple. But according to recent studies, the juicy fruit may be better suited for Valentine’s Day. That’s because scientists say watermelon has ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body’s blood vessels and may even increase libido."

“The more we study watermelons, the more we realize just how amazing a fruit it is in providing natural enhancers to the human body,” said Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center in College Station.

“We’ve always known that watermelon is good for you, but the list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study.”

Beneficial ingredients in watermelon and other fruits and vegetables are known as phyto-nutrients, naturally occurring compounds that are bioactive, or able to react with the human body to trigger healthy reactions, Patil said.

In watermelons, these include lycopene, beta carotene and the rising star among its phyto-nutrients – citrulline – whose beneficial functions are now being unraveled. Among them is the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does.

Scientists know that when watermelon is consumed, citrulline is converted to arginine through certain enzymes. Arginine is an amino acid that works wonders on the heart and circulation system and maintains a good immune system, Patil said. read more

Domestic violence- Computer attack

Ok, so there was the hoax Benetton ad issue. But this one is, as far as I can tell, for real: computer ads featuring the victims of
‘computer attacks’.

There’s also a promotional video as part of the ad campaign. The campaign includes both men and women with ‘computer inflicted’ injuries.

There’s discussion of it here, by a blogger who finds it offensive, and a response from the makers of the ads. The maker insists that the adverts are simply too ’absurd’ to be offensive, but the blogger at ‘F-words’ (not to be confused with the F-word) writes that she finds the way that the ads appear to parody the domestic violence awareness adverts offensive.

I have to say, I don’t find the pictures, or the videos, particularly funny.

Related, news here of a Body Shop survey that suggests that attitudes amongst young people to violence in relationships are troubling -for instance, “1 in 10 teens think saying sorry makes it ok after they’ve hurt or forced a partner to do something. “

No laughing matter.

'Voice of India' Ishmeet Singh drowns in Maldives

'Voice of India' singing contest winner Ishmeet Singh Tuesday died under mysterious circumstances by 'drowning' in a swimming pool in Male, the capital of the Maldives.

The 19-year-old singer hailing from a middle-class of this industrial city of Punjab had gone to Maldives for a promotional event with the music company with which he had a contract.

Relatives at his residence here said the family was informed telephonically by the music company officials that Ishmeet died while swimming in a hotel pool in the Maldives.

'We are too shocked to react. We have no other information so far,' a shocked relative told IANS here while confirming the tragic news.

Relatives, friends and admirers of the singer made a beeline to his house even as his shocked parents tried to come to terms with the untimely tragedy. A pall of gloom descended on the locality.

The singer left here Tuesday morning for Maldives from Mumbai.

Ishmeet had Nov 26 last year won the 'Voice of India' singing contest, pipping his closest rival Harshit from Uttar Pradesh in a keen contest. He was given the winner's trophy by melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.

Supporters of the singer voted heavily for him from Punjab during the finals of the contest. Even though Harshit led the votes tally in most regions of the country, the final count went in Ishmeet's favour due to heavy voting from Punjab.

'He was like a brother to me. I cannot even comment on what has happened. I cannot believe that he is no longer with us,' fellow contestant Harshit told a TV news channel.
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Good news for 2100, a large crowd of ecological refugees like us, LILYPAD, A FLOATING ECOPOLIS FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES

Further to the anthropogenic activity, the climate warms up and the ocean level increases. According to the principle of Archimedes and contrary to preconceived notions, the melting of the arctic ice-floe will not change the rising of the water exactly as an ice cube melting in a glass of water does not make its level rise. However, there are two huge ice reservoirs that are not on the water and whose melting will transfer their volume towards the oceans, leading to their rising. It deals with the ice caps of Antarctic and Greenland on the one hand, and the continental glaciers on the other hand. Another reason of the ocean rising, that does not have anything to do with the ice melting is the water dilatation under the effect of the temperature.

According to the less alarming forecasts of the GIEC (Intergovernmental group on the evolution of the climate), the ocean level should rise from 20 to 90 cm during the 21st Century with a status quo by 50 cm (versus 10 cm in the 20th Century). The international scientific scene assets that a temperature elevation of 1°C will lead to a water rising of 1 meter. This increase of 1 m would bring ground losses emerged of approximately 0.05% in Uruguay, 1% in Egypt, 6% in the Netherlands, 17.5% in Bangladesh and up to 80% approximately in the atoll Majuro in Oceania (Marshall and Kiribati islands and step by step the Maldives islands).

If the first meter is not very funny with more than 50 million of people affected in the developing countries, the situation is worse with the second one. Countries like Vietnam, Egypt, Bangladesh, Guyana or Bahamas will see their most inhabited places swamped at each flood and their most fertile fields devastated by the invasion of salt water damaging the local ecosystems. New York, Bombay, Calcutta, Hô Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Miami, Lagos, Abidjan, Djakarta, Alexandria… not les that 250 million of climatic refugees and 9% of the GDP threatened if we not build protections related to such a threat. It is the demonstration inflicted to reluctant spirits by a climatological study of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and that challenges our imagination of eco-conception! read more