Bucking the American rodeo tradition

By: Unknown on 1:48 AM

Oklahoma City, United States - The rodeo is an American tradition. It evolved from a leisure activity among cowboys who worked on cattle ranches when farming was king in the US, into the aggressive sports competition of today.

Rodeos - which attract and entertain huge crowds in the US - also play a role in preserving the tradition of the cowboy in modern society. Yet, this highly popular event has come under attack from animal rights groups who allege steers and broncos are harmed.

Recently, more than 2,000 people gathered at the state fairgrounds in Oklahoma City to watch cowboys and cowgirls compete at a rodeo in a range of events such as bareback bronc riding, saddleback bronc riding, bull riding, tie-down or calf roping, steer wrestling, and barrel racing.

It is that kind of activity for which People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) condemns rodeos, in what they call cruel treatment of the animals.

PETA accuses rodeos of using equipment such as bucking or flank straps and electric prods to agitate animals and make them behave aggressively.

The group claims the animals used in rodeos often suffer from injuries such as deep organ bleeding, haemorrhaging, ripped tendons and torn ligaments.

Professional rodeo organisers, however, refute the mistreatment allegations. The International Professional Rodeo Association, one of the largest sanctioning bodies in the US, insists rules and regulations are in place to prevent any wrongdoing.

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Volunteers open Jordan's first skate park

By: Unknown on 1:47 AM

Amman, Jordan - On a warm afternoon in downtown Amman, a Syrian refugee is cheered on via loudspeaker as he weaves his skateboard through a makeshift course of rain boots and traffic cones during a competition at the newly opened 7Hills skate park.

"In Syria, I couldn't go out and play because of the war, but in Amman I can enjoy my time, stay out late and make new friends at the skate park," nine-year-old Ahmed Rayen, who has been in Jordan for two years, told Al Jazeera.

Last December, 7Hills co-founder Mohammed Zakaria, 28, and other international and local volunteers raised $25,000 through crowdfunding to finance the country's first skate park. The site welcomed young skaters with donated skateboards and hosted competitions in January.

"Everyone is really hyped about the project," Zakaria said. "I think the park is a positive outlet for young people."

As neighbouring Syria enters its fourth year of conflict, Jordan has so far hosted at least 600,000 Syrian refugees, although unofficial figures put the number closer to 1.4 million. In a country where half the total population is under 25, young people face shrinking possibilities for employment and community spaces - and Zakaria hopes the park will be a small step towards changing that.

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Indian town where glass-making is a household craft

By: Unknown on 1:45 AM

Firozabad, India - Firozabad, a small industrial town located nearly 200km from India's capital, New Delhi, is known for its glass industry, particularly its famed bangles.

Chimneys bellowing black smoke from dilapidated glass factories show little sign of industrial modernisation as the traditional methods of glass-making are still largely prevalent.

Bangle-making is a household business with traditional technique being passed on through generations.

Firozabad has been producing glass bangles for more than 200 years now and is the biggest manufacturer of glass bangles in the world.

The bangle market in the town’s Gali Bohran has rows of colourful shops selling glittering, beautifully hand-crafted glass bangles.

But child labour and manpower exploitation is a sad reality as most of the factories are informally run by families or individuals.

"I have been working in the bangle industry since I was a child. These glittering bangles sold and bought without a thought are a result of our sweat and blood. Each bangles passes through at least 80 hands before it reaches the customer’s hand," said Babu Ram Mishank, 80, president of a labourers’ union.

"Half of the work is done in factories but the other half, which is the most important, is done in people’s homes. Every family member works on bangles in such homes.

"Most of the children in this city work and help their parents in this industry. Only 40 percent of them manage to go to schools."

Dijendra Mohan Sharma, a senior resident and journalist, told Al Jazeera that “about 90 percent of the population is directly or indirectly related to bangle industry”.

"There are more than 191 glass-bangle factories registered by government, and in a single factory around 200 people work," he said.

Sharma believes that an abundance of silica sand used in making glass and cheap labour have led to proliferation of glass factories.

A worker in a glass factory begins his day at 4am and ends at 7pm. They are paid about 80-90 Indian rupees ($1.5) for a day of hard labour.

Anuj Sharma, 32, a glass-bangle businessman, said children are preferred for work in the industry as they are paid much less than their adult counterparts.

"They are paid 60 Indian rupees (approx $1) for doing quality checks of 16,000 glass bangles in one day. The quality checks involves touching each bangle with a stone and deciphering the sound it makes while doing so to ensure that no cracked or broken bangle manages to reach the final box for packing," Sharma said.

The combination of chemicals, heat and glass used in this industry is a major health hazard for the workers who suffer from various medical disorders.

"I have been a doctor in this city for more than 30 years now. Most of the patients that I get for chest and lungs disorders are those who work in glass-bangle units," said Dr Surinder Pal Singh Chauhan.

"They mostly suffer from tuberculosis or other fatal infections of the lungs and chest. Skin burns, allergies and decline in vision is also very common in these workers."

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Berlin Film Festival: Panahi's Taxi wins Golden Bear

By: Unknown on 1:35 AM

The film Taxi by a dissident Iranian director has won the top prize at the 65th Berlin Film Festival.

Taxi is Jafar Panahi's third film since he was slapped with an official filmmaking ban in 2010.

Panahi was unable to be in Berlin for the ceremony but his niece, Hana Saeidi, was on hand for a tearful acceptance of the statuette.

"I'm not able to say anything, I'm too moved," said Ms Saeidi, who appears in the film.

In "Taxi", Panahi shares his thoughts on contemporary Tehran as he drives a yellow taxi, using a mounted dashboard camera to evade the scrutiny of the Iranian authorities.

The film was one of 19 films vying for the prestigious Golden Bear award.

The Berlin jury was headed by US director Darren Aronofsky.

"Limitations often inspire filmmakers to storytellers to make better work, but sometimes those limitations can be so suffocating they destroy a project and often damage the soul of the artist," he said.

"Instead of allowing his spirit to be crushed and giving up, instead of allowing himself to be filled with anger and frustration, Jafar Panahi created a love letter to cinema.

"His film is filled with love for his art, his community, his country and his audience."

Other films in contention included Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman as Gertrude Bell and Robert Pattinson as TE Lawrence.

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Actor Emile Hirsch charged with Sundance assault

By: Unknown on 1:30 AM

US actor Emile Hirsch has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly choking a female film executive at last month's Sundance Film Festival.

The star, who is best known for his roles in Into the Wild and Milk, faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

According to court papers, he assaulted the woman at a nightclub in Park City, Utah, in the early hours of 25 January.

Prosecutors named the woman as Daniele Bernfeld, an executive for Insurge Pictures, part of Paramount Pictures.

Police were called to the club after she reported being assaulted.

Ms Bernfeld told police that Mr Hirsch approached her and asked her why she looked "so tough", according to charging documents.

He also told the executive she was a "rich kid who should not be at Sundance", the documents said.

Mr Hirsch is alleged to have initially grabbed Ms Bernfeld before she pushed him away. The actor was then said to have grabbed her from behind.

'Blacked out'

The charging documents said Mr Hirsch put her in a chokehold, pulled her across the table and landed on top of her on the floor, putting his hands around her throat.

The alleged victim said she felt as though "the front and back of her throat were touching", adding that she may have temporarily blacked out.

Two bystanders apparently pulled Mr Hirsch away. A witness has backed up Ms Bernfeld's version of events, according to court documents.

Mr Hirsch told police he did not know the woman but was having an argument with her. He said he had had three or four drinks, and a police officer told prosecutors his balance was impaired and his speech slurred.

The actor has also been charged with a misdemeanour count of intoxication.

His agent Brian Swardstrom and lawyer Robert Offer did not immediately comment. The actor is due to appear in court on 16 March.

Mr Hirsch is best known for his work with Sean Penn. He took the lead role in Penn's 2007 film Into the Wild and starred alongside him in Milk. He also played the leading man in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock in 2009.

He was at Sundance for the premiere of the drama Ten Thousand Saints, in which he appears alongside Ethan Hawke and Asa Butterfield.

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Collider hopes for a 'super' restart..............!!!!!!!

By: Unknown on 1:28 AM

The LHC has been shut down since 2013 for a programme of upgrades and repairs

Continue reading the main story

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A senior researcher at the Large Hadron Collider says a new particle could be detected this year that is even more exciting than the Higgs boson.

The accelerator is due to come back online in March after an upgrade that has given it a big boost in energy.

This could force the first so-called supersymmetric particle to appear in the machine, with the most likely candidate being the gluino.

Its detection would give scientists direct pointers to "dark matter".

And that would be a big opening into some of the remaining mysteries of the universe.

"It could be as early as this year. Summer may be a bit hard but late summer maybe, if we're really lucky," said Prof Beate Heinemann, who is a spokeswoman for the Atlas experiment, one of the big particle detectors at the LHC.

"We hope that we're just now at this threshold that we're finding another world, like antimatter for instance. We found antimatter in the beginning of the last century. Maybe we'll find now supersymmetric matter."

The University of California at Berkeley researcher made her comments at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In the debris

Supersymmetry is an addition to the Standard Model that describes nature’s fundamental particles and their interactions.

Susy, as it is sometimes known, fills some gaps in the model and provides a basis to unify nature's forces.

It predicts each of the particles to have more massive partners. So the particle that is light – the photon – would have a partner called the photino. The quark, the building block of an atom’s protons and neutrons, would have a partner called the squark.

But when the LHC was colliding matter at its pre-upgrade energies, no sign of these superparticles was seen in the debris, which led to some consternation among theorists.

Now, with the accelerator about to reopen in the coming weeks, there is high hope the first evidence of Susy can be found.

The machine is going to double the collision energy, taking it into a domain where those theorists say the gluino really ought to emerge in sufficient numbers to be noticed. The gluino is the superpartner of the gluon, which "glues" the quarks together inside protons and neutrons.

The LHC’s detectors would not see it directly. What they would track is its decay, which scientists would then have to reconstruct.

But importantly, those decay products should include the lightest and most stable superparticle, known as the neutralino – the particle that researchers have proposed is what makes up dark matter, the missing mass in the cosmos that binds galaxies together on the sky but which cannot be seen directly with telescopes.

"This would rock the world,” said Prof Heinemann. "For me, it’s more exciting than the Higgs."

'The other side'

So, not only would supersymmetry proponents be elated because they would have their first superparticle, but science in general would have a firm foot on the road to understanding dark matter.

Dr Michael Williams, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: "We sometimes talk about the dark matter particle, but it’s perfectly plausible that dark matter is just as interesting as [normal] matter, [which] has a lot of particles that we know about.

"There might be just as many dark matter particles, or even more.

"Finding any particle that could be a dark matter candidate is nice because we could start to understand how it affects the galaxy and the evolution of the universe, but it also opens the door to whatever is on the other side, which we have no idea what is there."

Particle physicists have three major conferences in August and September, one of which is the main gathering of the supersymmetry community. All these meetings are bound to draw huge interest.

But Prof Jay Hauser, who works on the CMS detector at the LHC, added a little caution on timings. "Even if we did see something, remember it might be complicated enough that it takes us a while to explain it," he told reporters.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk an follow me on Twitter:@BBCAmos

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Adelaide prepares for Ind-Pak adrenaline rush

By: Unknown on 1:24 AM

India hold a 5-0 edge over Pakistan in World Cup matches [Getty Images]

Adelaide, Australia - The World Cup fever is high.

But if the overall fever is around 101 degrees – the temperature around a high-voltage, much anticipated India-Pakistan clash is four-times higher.

Adelaide is buzzing. There is no vacant hotel room and fans are forced to camp around the stadium, hoping they get a valid ticket and entry into the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

Tagged as ’20 minute city’ because of its small size, the buzz is more noticeable.

The parts of Adelaide which are famous for Indian and Pakistan expats - Medindie, Walkerville and Prospect - give a homely look to both sets of fans. Flags of both the countries fill up the windows and fly high on the roofs.

Head-to-head

ODIs - 126 India won - 50 Pakistan won - 72 NR - 4 Most runs - S Tendulkar 2,278 Most wickets - Wasim Akram 55

The Port Adelaide Cricket Club, which has a number of Pakistani and Indian players, has made special arrangements for screening the match for those who failed to buy tickets.

Those tickets were sold out in one hour.

Special plans

The Indian Chapati house and Urbanspoon restaurants have planned special dishes for fans who have flown into Adelaide since last week. Their charges look set to match the high scores expected in that vital clash.

With tempers expecting to reach and test limits, the city administration has issued an 85-point "code of conduct" for spectators - one that specifically bars religious messages and anti-national chants.

"The whole community has been waiting for the match," Rahul Mehta, who runs a sports shop in Adelaide suburbs, told Al Jazeera.

"This match will be a big test for the Indo-Pak community of Australia as well who otherwise live as friends."

Everybody hopes it starts as a cricket match and ends in a cricket match, whatever the result.

Keep emotions in check

On the field, meanwhile, Pakistan need to keep control of their emotions if they are to put an end to a string of World Cup defeats against India, captain Misbah-ul-Haq said.

Much to the dismay of their supporters, Pakistan have never won a match against their bitter neighbours at the World Cup, suffering five defeats dating back to 1992. That despite winning 72 of the other 121 One Day Internationals played against their old foes.

Adding to the pressure of the on-field rivalry will be the buzz around the game, with a 47,000-strong crowd presence at the Adelaide Oval Stadium and an expected television audience of over one billion.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has called on his under-fire bowlers to "drastically improve" their discipline.

India's bowling woes were well documented over the last three months in Australia as the team lost the Test series 2-0 and failed to win a single match in the following Tri-series, also featuring England.

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Bayern put eight goals past hapless Hamburg

By: Unknown on 1:22 AM

Bayern had won this fixture 9-2 two seasons ago [EPA]

Bayern Munich crushed hapless Hamburg SV 8-0 while Bas Dost scored four goals, including a stoppage-time winner, to give VfL Wolfsburg a 5-4 victory at Bayer Leverkusen on an unforgettable day in the Bundesliga.

Bayern, who stayed eight points clear of second-placed Wolfsburg, became the first team to win by eight goals in the league since their 9-0 rout of Kickers Offenbach in 1984.

Striker Dost became the first Dutchman to score four times in a Bundesliga game as Wolfsburg led 3-0 and 4-2 before Leverkusen, for whom Son Heung-min bagged a hat-trick, pegged them back to 4-4.

Thomas Mueller, Arjen Robben and Mario Goetze each scored twice for Bayern to sink sorry Hamburg who were beaten 9-2 in the same fixture two seasons ago.

The drama continued elsewhere as Granit Xhaka's last-gasp goal gave Borussia Moenchengladbach a 1-0 win over local rivals Cologne and Sebastian Rudy scored in stoppage time as Hoffenheim triumphed 2-1 against VfB Stuttgart who are now bottom.

Werder Bremen continued their revival with a 3-2 victory over Augsburg.

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Australia power to emphatic win over England

By: Unknown on 1:21 AM

Finch's 135 came off just 128 balls [Reuters]

Aaron Finch smashed a sparkling century as Australia dealt England a 111-run humiliation in their World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Dropped on the second ball he faced, opening batsman Finch blasted 135 at his home ground to lay the platform for victory as the co-hosts piled on 342-9, two runs shy of the venue's ODI record.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh then took a career-best 5-33 as Australia put on a ruthless Valentine Day's display in the field that amplified the abysmal nature of their opponents' earlier efforts.

Having reprieved bulky opener Finch, England let a string of chances go begging, dropping catches and missing run-out opportunities to set a miserable tone for the start of their campaign.

They had reduced Australia to 70-3 but released the pressure and Australia's formidable batting lineup duly went into punishment mode.

After stand-in skipper George Bailey (55) teamed with Finch for a 146-run partnership, pugnacious all-rounder Glenn Maxwell smacked 66 off 40 balls.

Ironically, Steven Finn, who like his colleagues had been thrashed to all corners of the ground, became the first England bowler to take a World Cup hat-trick by dismissing Brad Haddin, Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson in the last three balls of Australia's innings.

He finished with a hugely expensive 5-71 and seemed embarrassed by his achievement.

It was to be a brief moment of celebration for the English, who were all but beaten by the 18th over of their chase, when captain Eoin Morgan flailed at a slower ball and was well-caught by wicketkeeper Haddin.

Marsh, who had earlier dismissed opener Ian Bell (36), Joe Root (5) and Gary Balance (10), then completed his five-wicket haul when Steven Smith took an extraordinary catch at short cover to dismiss wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

The match ended in an odd manner, with Taylor initially given out lbw. He successfully had the decision overturned on review but was denied the chance of a century after a second review showed Maxwell had thrown down the stumps with James Anderson short of his ground.

Scorecard:

Australia 342-9 in 50 overs (Finch 135, Finn 5-71)

England 231 all out in 41.5 overs (Taylor 98*,  Marsh 5-33)

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Wardens raze 114 bomas, thousands stranded

By: Unknown on 1:07 AM

More than three thousand residents of Arash, Loosoito and Maaaloni   villages in Ngorongoro District have been left homeless after the Serengeti National Park security rangers burned 114 Maasai bomas leaving them without necessary supplies.

Journalists visiting the area yesterday witnessed groups of women and children moaning and showing fear as fully armed park rangers continued burning other bomas in nearby villages.

Narrating the ordeal to the press, traditional elders said burning of their homes is outrageous, irreparable losses in their lives, and the government should intervene immediately to save the situation.

 “This is our homeland. Our fathers were placed here after they were evicted from Serengeti in an agreement way back in 1959 between the colonial government and the community during the establishment of the Serengeti National Park. We have lost almost everything, ’’said Peter Meleton.

Meleton said the agreement stipulated clearly that the Maasai will not face any other evictions from their land and wondered why it is happening now.
 He blamed the park management for conducting the operation and treating common harmless citizens as criminals.

 “Those who showed signs of protest were forced to get out of their houses by force and at times pointing a gun and threatened to be killed if they refused to obey orders,” he elaborated.

 Another elder, Kantuli Lekakin said the exercise has been going on as a military operation, as we heard a lot of gunfire in the village for several hours yesterday.

Traditional leaders from three villages maintained that even though their homes have been turned into ashes, they will not leave the area because it is their heritage.

 “We will not leave, even by an inch. We are willing to die for our land; our community has lived in oppression, injustice and has continued to be poor. But enough is enough, no quitting,” insisted Kantuli.

 He said they are 5 to 10km away from the park border; however park authorities claim the villagers are living one kilometer into the park area.

For his part William Sayelek said his boma was torched with the entire food produce inside, and now his children have nothing to eat.

 “The operation was brutal. They sometimes shot into the air causing great confusion in the whole village. We need food, temporary shelters and medical services to survive,” he stated.

Families are now living under trees and children have started getting sick due to cold weather, the villager noted.

Speaking on behalf of women, Noorki Saruni, a resident of Arash,   said women and children are starving and facing health complications resulting from food shortages.

 "I lost seventy kilograms of maize, milk and bread dough. The situation is getting worse every minute. Our government should help us,” she said.

According to the Park rangers who could not avail their names to the media for fear of being victimised, the Serengeti National Park management is conducting the operation to remove villagers who have put permanent settlements near the border of the park.

However the Maasai were quick to refute the claims saying this is a government move to allocate their ancestral land to the Arab Emirate royal family for hunting. 

Serengeti chief park warden William Mwakilema told The Guardian on Sunday in brief responses by phone that the burned bomas were inside the Serengeti National Park.

“We have documentary evidence on what we did.  We are protecting the park; these pastoralists have been bringing large group of livestock to graze inside the park. We are clearing them out,” the warden affirmed.

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