Russia warns West over Syria action

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West yesterday
against any unilateral action on Syria after President Barack Obama
said US forces could act if the Syrian leader deployed chemical
weapons againstrebels trying to topple him.
Lavrov met China's top diplomat and a Syrian government delegation
inwhat appeared to be a push to keep diplomacy going at a time when
fewer Western and Arab governments believe that a UN-backed peace plan
can end the violence in Syria.
Russia and China have opposed military intervention in Syria
throughout 17 months of bloodshed and have vetoed three UN Security
Council resolutions backedby Western and Arab states.
Lavrov spoke at a meeting with China's State Councillor Dai Bingguo
one day after Obama, in some of his strongest language yet, said US
forces could move against Syrian President Bashar Assad if he resorted
to chemical weapons against insurgents.
Russia and China base their diplomatic cooperation on "the need to
strictly adhere to the norms of international law and the principles
contained in the UN Charter, and not to allow their violation," Lavrov
said during his meeting with Dai.
"I think this is the only correct path in today's conditions," Lavrov told Dai.
Lavrov's remarks also underscored Moscow's wish to keep
internationalefforts to end Syria's crisis within the United Nations.
Obama said on Monday he had refrained "at this point" from ordering
military engagement in Syria. But when asked whether he might deploy
forces, for example to secure Syrian chemical and biological weapons,
he said his view could change.
Russia has also expressed concern about Syria chemical weapons,
sayingit had told Damascus that even the threat to use them was
unacceptable.
But Lavrov said on Monday that the Security Council alone could
authorise the use of external force against Syria, warning against
imposing "democracy by bombs."
To help counter Assad's superior firepower, Western powers are giving
non-lethal equipment to rebels and Saudi Arabia and Qatar are believed
to have funded arms shipments tothem.
After the talks with Dai, Lavrov met a Syrian government delegation.
Lavrov said he was interested in hearing"plans for further actions to
shift the situation into the channel of a political dialogue in order
for Syrians themselves to decide their fate without external
interference."
Lavrov said the path to a solution in Syria lay in thehalt to fighting
by both the government and its foes.

Power struggle: Egyptian wife wantsdivorce over energy crisis

An Egyptian woman filed for divorce this week in the city of Giza,
citing her husband's reaction to recent power outages, local media
reported Tuesday.
Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm said thewoman was fed up with her
husband's refusal to leave their densely-populated home district,
which has been hit by recurrent electricity cuts.
In the divorce filing, the woman reportedly cited unsuitable living
conditions, saying the area was not only prone to outages, but has
also become home to ex-convicts and unlicensed street hawkers.
When she insisted the family move house, her husband physically
attacked her in front of her children, the paper said.
She also reportedly said her husband could in fact afford a new house.
The family court based in Giza,near Cairo, has yet to rule on the
divorce request.
Several districts in the Egyptian capital of Cairo have had daily
power cutslasting several hours, while further south in the
governorates of Assuit, Sohag, al-Wadi al-Gadid, Minya, Fayoum, and
Beni Suef, power cuts have been lasting entire days.
The government has blamed the power shortages on spiraling consumption
rates and high temperatures.
Earlier this month, President Mohammed Mursi sought to calm Egyptians,
saying, "I am sorry for the power cuts. I have the same problem athome
and I promise it willbe solved as soon as possible," assuring that new
generation plants will be launched later this year.
Still, power cuts have driven Egyptians across the country to stage a
series of protests, some ofwhich blocked railway lines and highways,
while a number of hydro towershave reportedly been destroyed by
looters seeking electricity.

Vitamin C can cut harmful effects of airpollution

A diet rich in fruits and veggies may lessen the harmful effects of
air pollution for people suffering from chronic lung diseases,
researchers suggest.
Researchers looked at London hospital patients with asthma or chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and found that those with low
levels of vitamin C had an increased risk of breathingproblems on days
when outdoor air pollution levels were high.
"This study adds to a smallbut growing body of evidence that the
effects of air pollution might be modified by antioxidants,"said
Michael Brauer, an environmental health scientist at the University of
British Columbia in Canada.
Antioxidants, such as vitamin C, may protect the body from harmful
molecules called free radicals that damage cells. Free radicals can
form when air pollution enters the lungs, and evidence suggests they
play a role in heart disease, cancer and even respiratory ailments.
Antioxidants can bind to free radicals, counteractingthem before they
damage cells.
In the new study, researchers at Imperial College in London looked at
more than 200 patients admitted to the hospital for asthma or COPD,
along with the levels of air pollution on the days before and after
they entered the hospital. The majority of patients were between ages
54 and 74, though some were as young as 18. Many of them were former
smokers.
Specifically, the researchers looked at levels of "course particulate
matter," which is produced largely through the combustion offossil
fuels.
Results showed that with every increase in course particulate matter
of 10 micrograms per cubic meter (mcg/m3), there was a 35 percent
increased risk of hospital admission for people with asthma or COPD.
However, the risk of admission was 1.2 times greater among people with
low levels of vitamin C.
Study researcher Cristina Canova said, "The protective effect of
vitamin C was still present after excluding smokers and elderly
subjects, implying that the effect of this antioxidant was not
explained by smoking or age." However, the study noted that smokers
and older people tend to have lower levels of many nutrients than
nonsmokers.

5a] Is there anything in the Qur’aan or Sunnah about global warming?

5a]
which has the most rain and rivers on earth.
I said: Can you confirm that for us?
He said: Yes, this is an undeniable fact.
I said to him: Listen, who told Muhammad (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) of that? This is all mentioned in a hadeeth that
was narrated by Muslim; he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "The Hour will not begin until the land of the Arabsonce again
becomes meadows and rivers." Who told Muhammad (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) that Arabia was once meadows and rivers? He
thought, then he said: TheRomans. I said to him: And who told him that
Arabia would once again become meadows and rivers? He thought for a
moment and said: The One Who is above! Then I said to him: Write it
down. So he wrote in his own hand: I am astonished at the scientific
facts that I have seen in the Qur'aan and Sunnah, which we could not
prove until recently by modern scientific methods. This indicates that
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did
not attain this knowledge except by revelation from above.
By Allaah, I spent only two and a half hours withthis German until he
said all of that. This giant among scientists wrote that and approved
of it, which indicates that thereis one science, one truth, One God.

And Allaah knows best.