London, England (CNN) — Procter & Gamble is recalling Vicks Sinex nasal spray in the United States, Britain and Germany after finding it contained bacteria, the company said.

Procter & Gamble said it announced the voluntary recall after finding the bacteria in a small amount of product made at a plant in Germany.

There have been no reports of illness from the bacteria, but it could cause serious infections for people with weakened immune systems or those with chronic lung conditions such as cystic fibrosis, Procter & Gamble said late Thursday.

The bacteria poses little risk to healthy people, the company said.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Procter & Gamble said it detected the problem during routine quality control at the plant. Analysis so far shows the problem is limited to a single batch of raw material mixture involving three lots of product, which were sold only in the three countries affected by the recall, the company said.

In the United States, the recalled product is Vicks Sinex Vapospray 12-hour Decongestant Ultra Fine Mist with lot number 9239028831.

In Britain, the company is recalling Vicks Sinex Micromist Aqueous Nasal Spray with lot number 9224028832.

In Germany, the recalled product is Wick Sinex Schnupfenspray Dosiersystem with lot number 9224028833.

All recalled products are in the 15-milliliter size.

Lot numbers are listed on the outer carton and the bottle, the company said.

Consumers with the product should discard it, and they may call the company for a replacement coupon or refund, the company said.More information is at the company’s Web site, www.pg.com.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — It’s 1p.m. and squeals of delight reverberate off the apartment complex walls.

A half dozen children are kicking an old soccer ball back and forth in a three-car parking lot.

They are not supposed to be here. They are supposed to be in school.

“I am a student in a school but the schools are off because of brain influenza,” second grade student Ahmad Mujtaba Habibi said.

He is painfully shy and has not yet grasped the name of the deadly flu that has caused authorities to shut down every school in Afghanistan for weeks.

But his schoolmates at the sandy, crumbling playground down the street have it memorized.

//

Video: Swine flu outbreak in Afghanistan//

// “I have this mask because there is swine flu in Afghanistan.”

Ramin Nudratt talks through a disposable medical mask. He is 11 and was in the middle of doing the thing he says he enjoys second most in life. Riding his bike.

His first love: school.

“We get to learn something and to do our homework. It is very good to be in school,” Nudratt said. His favorite subject is English.

“My name is Nudratt,” he said slowly and deliberately.

But Nudratt and all the other children of Afghanistan won’t be able to go to school for at least three weeks. The government declared a public health emergency after the country reported its first death from H1N1. A 35-year-old engineer died in Kabul last week. By this week, seven more were confirmed dead by Afghan officials.

The ripple effect: 8 million students and teachers across the country will have to find another way to spend their days.

“The government and the Ministry of Health have decided to give off weeks despite that it is not good for students education,” said Haji Habibi, a father of six. He vowed to use whatever time he has to teach his son at home.

We need at least 3.3 million doses of Tamiflu.
–Dr, Amin Fatemie, Minister of Public Health

//

 

RELATED TOPICS

• // Swine Flu
• // Afghanistan
• // Vaccines
• // Elementary and High School Education

“Prevention is better than a cure,” Habibi said. “We prefer life over death.”

But there is great fear that there will be more deaths. The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Amin Fatemie, bowed his head saying he has had “many sleepless nights” since the outbreak.

“We need at least 3.3 million doses of Tamiflu,” Dr. Fatemie said. Right now the ministry estimates they only have 51,000 doses, which is why prevention is key. Authorities are handing out face masks. They’re also asking people not to have traditionally large Afghan weddings in enclosed places.

In some parts of the country where security issues trump all else, getting the message out about prevention is not going all that well, but in Kabul, a glimpse at a playground gives you the sense people are taking action.

You can only sees the eyes of just about every other child on the playground because green tinted disposable medical masks are covering most of their faces.

An eight-year-old swings with the kind of enjoyment only a child can experience. She is wearing her mask as if it has always been a part of her wardrobe.

“I don’t want to become sick,” she said.

It is my 12 birthday today. I am so excited to receive presents and cards from my family and friends! I wonder what’s going to happen today…

As my father’s friend came to Malaysia my father took him to Cameron Highland on the 11th of October. We followed too. First, we went to fetch my father’s friend from SuCasa at one o’clock  in the evening. (My father’s friend’s name is Uncle Osman, his wife is Aunty Yemen and his daughter is Sister Arwa. Uncle Osman is my father’s friend when my father studied in the United States.) On the way, we saw lots of limestone hills. There were also limestone caves. When we were already on the mountain, my father (with the idea of Uncle Oman) slide the windows open, switched off the air-conditioner and we felt the cool air coming in. We also saved energy by doing it so. My sister and little brother was sleeping at that time.

When we reached Cameron Highland, The temperate had lowered down to 19*C  and me and my little sister, Anisah zip up our sweaters as Anisah was shivering cold. We saw lots of strawberry farms, vegetable farms and flower gardens too. We reached Tanah Rata and we searched for the hotel we were going to stay at, Strawberry Park Resort.  We saw lots of strawberry things such as strawberry umbrellas, strawberry caps, strawberry bags and many more. Strawberry Shortcake became a  popular character there because of the strawberry.

We reached the hotel at 6 o’clock in the evening. First, my father and Uncle Osman check in. We went to room 214 as Uncle Osman and his family headed to room 225. We got a room with a mini dining room together with a mini living room and three bedrooms with a toilet. Me, my sister and Anisah slept together in a room while my little brother and my parents slept in another room. We first of all went to have dinner at Marrybrown. On the way back to the hotel, we stop at a night market. My mother went there and bought some fried bananas and some keropok lekors to eat. We went out to look for stars as there was no city light and it will be wonderful as at my house there are too many city lights and it cause  a light pollution. So, we zipped up our sweaters, put on our socks, put our shoes on, rushed outside and look up at the sky. There were billions of stars, I can’t count! How glad I was.

On the next day at dawn, the temperature had lowered down to 17*C. We woke up for Fajr prayers and went out to

The Beautiful Sunrise

the balcony to look at the sunrise. But well, we wanted a better look. So out my sister, Anisah and I went with our sweaters on and ponder at the wonderful sunrise. As the sun had rised, we went to the playground nearby and had fun. It was not like any ordinary playground. It only got railings and ladder to go all around the playground. There’s also a tire swing and a strange slippery slide. We then went to the cafe house to have breakfast. We took a balcony seat as we enjoyed the view of the mountains, the nature and the natural, cool air. I enjoyed my breakfast very much.

Later, we went back to our room and started to pack our things. After we finished packing up, my father went to sign out with Uncle Osman, my little brother, and Uncle Osman’s family by car. While my mother, my sisters and I walk to the car through a beautiful garden. There were gigantic hibiscus, orchids and lots more. As we were approaching the car, Sister Arwa said that she wants to go to the garden to. So, we went again into the garden looking at the flowers.

After that, we went to a strawberry farm. We didn’t went there to pick the strawberries as we had to pay RM20 per person so we just had a look at the mini shop which looks more like a garden. There were all kinds of cactus, colourful sunflowers, gigantic hibiscus and lots more colourful flowers. I can’t remember some of the flowers and the rest I don’t know what type it is. Later, we went to a market selling all kinds of things, from vegetables to fruits, from caps to bags. We bought some roasted corns and sweet potatoes to eat. We also bought 7 strawberry juice ice-cream for me, my sister, my little sister, my little brother, my mother, Aunty Yemen and Sister Arwa. We all love it. We also stop by a  stall  and bought  a few packets of dried hibiscus and a bottle of concentrated strawberry juice which can also be used as jam. Then we went to a tea shop named Cameron Valley Tea Shop. We bought a few boxes of sachets of tea powders. Then, my father drove us off to Penang. “Goodbye Cameron Highland!” I said. “Hope I could come here again!”

AP – In this image rendered from video and released by KMGH-TV in Denver, a hot-air balloon is seen over Colorado, …

• Slideshow:Boy said to be in runaway balloon found
• Play Video Video:Copter 4 Captures Dramatic Balloon Landing CBS4 Denver
• Play Video Video:Missing Boy’s Family Has Storm Chasing Background CBS4 Denver

By P. SOLOMON BANDA and IVAN MORENO, Associated Press Writers P. Solomon Banda And Ivan Moreno, Associated Press Writers – 2 mins ago

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A 6-year-old Colorado boy feared to have floated off in a helium balloon was found safe at his home Thursday, hiding in a cardboard box in the garage attic.

Sheriff Jim Alderman turned to reporters during a news conference and gave a thumbs up and said, “He’s at the house.” Alderden said an investigator on the scene saw the boy and he was fine, and had apparently been in the attic the whole time.

The giant silvery helium balloon floated away from the family’s yard late Thursday morning, sparking a frantic rescue operation after the boy’s brother said he saw 6-year-old Falcon Heene get into the balloon.

The flying saucer-like craft, shown live on television nationwide, tipped precariously at times before gliding to the ground in a field, the culmination of a two-hour, 50-mile journey through two counties.

With the child nowhere in sight, investigators searched the balloon’s path. Several people reported seeing something fall from the craft while it was in the air, and yellow crime-scene tape was placed around the home.

It was not clear why the boy’s brother reported seeing Falcon getting into the balloon.

Kevin Kuretich, of the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, said the craft had some kind of electric power unit which was run by double-C batteries. He said the balloon did seem to be big enough to carry a 6-year-old.

Jason Humbert saw the balloon land. He said he had gotten a call from his mother in Texas who told him about the balloon. He said he was in a field checking on an oil well when he found himself surrounded by police who had been chasing the balloon, which came to a rest 12 miles northeast of Denver International Airport.

“It looked like an alien spaceship you see in those old, old movies. You know, those black-and-white ones. I came down softly. I asked a police officer if the boy was OK and he said there was no one in it,” Humbert said.

Neighbor Bob Licko, 65, said he was leaving home when he heard commotion in the backyard of the family. He said he saw two boys on the roof with a camera, commenting about their brother.

“One of the boys yelled to me that his brother was way up in the air,” Licko said.

Licko said the boy’s mother seemed distraught and that the boy’s father was running around the house. The Poudre School District in Fort Collins, where the boys attend, did not have classes for elementary schools Thursday because of a teacher work day.

In a 2007 interview with The Denver Post, Richard Heene described becoming a storm chaser after a tornado ripped off a roof where he was working as a contractor and said he once flew a plane around Hurricane Wilma’s perimeter in 2005.

Pursuing bad weather was a family activity with the children coming along as the father sought evidence to prove his theory that rotating storms create their own magnetic fields.

Although Richard said he has no specialized training, they had a computer tracking system in their car and a special motorcycle.

The Heene family appeared twice on the ABC reality show “Wife Swap,” most recently in March.

“When the Heene family aren’t chasing storms, they devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm,” it says.

While the balloon was airborne, Colorado Army National Guard sent a UH-58 Kiowa helicopter and was preparing to send a Black Hawk UH-60 to try to rescue the boy, possibly by lowering someone to the balloon. They also were working with pilots of ultralight aircraft on the possibility of putting weights on the homemade craft to weigh it down.

But the balloon landed on its own in a dirt field. Sheriff’s deputies secured it to keep it in place, even tossing shovelfuls of dirt on one edge.

After the boy wasn’t found, a Kiowa helicopter was being equipped with an infrared camera to fly at 1,000 feet and help search the area where something reportedly fell from the balloon, Army National Guard Capt. Michael Odgers said.

The episode led to a brief shutdown of northbound departures from one of the nation’s busiest airports, said a controller at the Federal Aviation Administration’s radar center in Longmont, Colo.

FAA canceled all northbound takeoffs between 1 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. MDT, said Lyle Burrington, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association representative at the center. The balloon was about 15 miles northwest of the airport at that time.

Before the departure shutdown, controllers had been vectoring planes taking off in that direction away from the balloon, Burrington said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency tracked the balloon through reports from pilots.

Neighbor Lisa Eklund described seeing the balloon pass.

“We were sitting eating, out looking where they normally shoot off hot air balloons. My husband said he saw something. It went over our rooftop. Then we saw the big round balloonish thing, it was spinning,” she said.

“By the time I saw it, it traveled pretty fast,” she said.

(CNN) — Scientists at NASA have discovered a nearly invisible ring around Saturn — one so large that it would take 1 billion Earths to fill it.

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted a massive, nearly invisible ring around Saturn.

The ring’s orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet’s main ring plane. The bulk of it starts about 3.7 million miles (6 million km) away from the planet and extends outward another 7.4 million miles (12 million km).

Its diameter is equivalent to 300 Saturns lined up side to side. And its entire volume can hold one billion Earths, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said late Tuesday.

“This is one supersized ring,” said Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Verbiscer and two others are authors of a paper about the discovery published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The obvious question: Why did it take scientists so long to discover something so massive?

The ring is made up of ice and dust particles that are so far apart that “if you were to stand in the ring, you wouldn’t even know it,” Verbiscer said in a statement.

Also, Saturn doesn’t receive a lot of sunlight, and the rings don’t reflect much visible light.

But the cool dust — about 80 Kelvin (minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit) — glows with thermal radiation. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, used to spot the ring, picked up on the heat.

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One of Saturn’s moons, Phoebe, orbits within the ring. As Phoebe collides with comets, it kicks up planetary dust. Scientists believe the ice and dust particles that make up the ring stems from those collisions.

The ring may also help explain an age-old mystery surrounding another of Saturn’s moons: Iapetus.

Astronomer Giovanni Cassini, who first spotted Iapetus in 1671, deduced the moon has a white and dark side — akin to a yin-yang symbol. But scientists did not know why.

The new ring orbits in the opposite direction to Iapetus. And, say researchers, it’s possible that the moon’s dark coloring is a result of the ring’s dust particles splattering against Iapetus like bugs on a windshield.

“Astronomers have long suspected that there is a connection between Saturn’s outer moon Phoebe and the dark material on Iapetus,” said Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland in College Park — one of the three authors reporting on the findings in the journal Nature.

“This new ring provided convincing evidence of that relationship.”

(CNN) — Stonehenge, an enigma to visitors and scientists alike for so many years, became less of a mystery after a discovery announced to the world this week.

A stone circle discovered near Stonehenge may suggest the prehistoric monument was part of a funeral route.

Archaeologists have unearthed a new stone circle near Stonehenge that lends credence to the theory that the famous prehistoric monument in Britain was part of a funeral complex.

University of Bristol archaeologist Joshua Pollard described the new find as “incredible” because it establishes Stonehenge as part of a larger ceremonial complex linked to the nearby River Avon.

“No one could have predicted there was another stone circle so close by,” said Pollard, co-director of the excavation project that began in 2004.

This, he said, changes the perception of the popular tourist destination 90 miles west of London.

The new find, dubbed “Bluestonehenge” after the color of the 25 Welsh stones of which it was once composed, sits along the Avon a mile away from its famous sister circle, Pollard said.

Neolithic peoples would have come down river by boat and literally stepped off into Bluestonehenge, Pollard said. They may have congregated at certain times of the year, including the winter solstice, and carried remains of the dead from Bluestonehenge down an almost two-mile funeral processional route to a cemetery at Stonehenge to bury them.

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“It could be that Bluestonehenge was where the dead began their final journey to Stonehenge,” said Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at the University of Sheffield who co-directed the project with Pollard.

“Not many people know that Stonehenge was Britain’s largest burial ground at that time,” he said. “Maybe the blue stone circle is where people were cremated before their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself.”

Proof of life artifacts — pottery, animal bones, food residues and flint tools used in the Stone Age — are decidedly absent at Stonehenge but were found upstream in a village discovered by the excavation team in 2005, leading researchers to believe that Stonehenge was indeed a burial ground.

But people have debated the purpose of Stonehenge for decades.

Known for its orientation in relation to the rising and setting sun, the circle of stones represented a prehistoric temple to some. Others argued it was an astronomical observatory. Or that it was a marker of time.

But Pollard is sticking to his theory. He said others have not based their suppositions on archaeological finds.

Archaeologists began the latest excavation with the hope of tracking the course of the avenue that led to Stonehenge. They had no idea they would stumble upon a second circle that would help uncover the mystery of Stonehenge.

The stones at Bluestonehenge were removed thousands of years ago, Pollard said, but the sizes of the remaining pits, about 33 feet in diameter, point to giant blue stones from the Preseli Mountains of Wales, about 150 miles away.

Pollard said that Neolithic people dragged the pillarlike blue stones along the processional route to Stonehenge to incorporate them in a major rebuilding that took place around 2500 B.C. Archaeologists know that after 2500, Stonehenge consisted of about 60 Welsh stones and 83 local sarsen stones.

Some of the blue stones that once stood on the river’s edge probably now stand within the center of Stonehenge, Pollard said. Scientists plan to use radiocarbon dating techniques to better understand the history of the entire site.

Stonehenge remains as striking as ever. But with each new find, the enigma fades just a little.

PADANG, Indonesia (CNN) — Hundreds remained missing Sunday beneath mud and debris in Indonesian villages from a pair of devastating earthquakes that struck the country at its center.

Rescuers search for victims in a collapsed building in Padang, Indonesia, on Friday.

Some 800 people are missing, and another 602 are dead, said Priyodo Kardono of Indonesia’s national disaster management agency.

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck Sumatra on Wednesday, and a 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Thursday morning in the same region.

Wednesday’s quake reduced buildings to rubble in the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra.

As many as 4,000 people could be buried under the rubble, U.N. officials said Saturday. U.N. estimates of missing ranged higher than those by local authorities.

People used hammers, chisels and bare hands to dig through debris for survivors and belongings. Hospital staff treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed buildings as bodies lay in makeshift morgues.

Earlier U.N. figures that put the death toll at 1,100 were just estimates, said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, a U.N. humanitarian coordinator.

Wednesday’s quake reduced buildings to rubble in the city. People used hammers, chisels and bare hands to dig through debris for survivors and belongings. Watch CNN’s Arwa Damon report on search-and-rescue efforts »

Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.

An area that now looks like a flattened mess of destruction was, just days ago, a group of three villages.

Officials believe 90 percent of the residents — as many as a few hundred people — were buried, just one piece of the devastation from two large earthquakes that struck Indonesia in as many days.

The stench of dead bodies fills the air.

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The West Sumatran capital, Padang, with about a million residents, is near the epicenter.

CNN’s Arwa Damon spoke with a few dozen survivors from these villages in the area, most of whom only made it through because they weren’t home during the quake. They remained huddled together in a tent, in shock over what had happened.

One older woman said eight of her family members were buried. She had been buried up to her chest and had to dig herself out.

Another survivor, a 27-year-old man, told CNN four of his family members were killed. His home used to be on top of a cliff in the area. Now, there is only mud.

Search and rescue teams are working with the military, but so far, only 25 bodies have been recovered.

With each passing day, the scope of the devastation grows. Watch aftermath at house leveled by quake »

President Obama spoke with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday after trying several times to reach him, the White House said.

Obama received an update on the situation on the ground from Yudhoyono in the five-minute call.

The White House statement says Obama “offered, on behalf of the United States, to do everything we can to help alleviate the suffering and provide assistance to the relief operation.”

The U.N.’s Holmes told reporters Thursday that hundreds are believed to be injured. “These numbers, I fear, will rise as more information becomes available,” he added.

Telecommunications are difficult in the region, roads are cut off, and the hardest-hit area, including Padang, lacks power and other services, Holmes said. In addition, heavy rainfall has hindered search and rescue efforts.

Some have suggested the damage may be worse than that of a 6.3-magnitude quake centered in the central Java city of Yogyakarta in May 2006, Holmes said. That temblor killed more than 5,000 people and triggered fears of an eruption from a nearby volcano.

Many people wandered the streets of Padang stunned and dazed. Some searched the rubble for survivors.

Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.

Several of the hospital’s buildings were severely damaged. Damage in the town itself was spotty; some buildings remained intact near others in ruins.

“Aftershocks can be just as devastating as the initial quake,” said Adjie Fachrurrazi, emergency response coordinator in Indonesia for the CARE aid organization, in a statement. “After an earthquake of this size, we know the immediate needs are going to be getting safe water, food and emergency supplies to the survivors. The question now is: How bad is it? We’re hoping for the best, but the information so far is not looking good.”

Amelia Merrick, the operations director for World Vision Indonesia, described the situation as “quite devastating.”

“Bridges have gone down, phone lines are in total disrepair,” she said. “It’s difficult for us to assess the situation.”

Earlier this month, an earthquake in West Java killed 57 people.

ROME, ITaly (CNN) — The death toll from the mudslides on the Italian island of Sicily now stands at 21, the head of Italian Civil Protection said Saturday.

An aerial view shows an emergency center set up near Messina.

Guido Bertolaso said about 30 people were still unaccounted for in the mudslides, which occurred after a heavy downpour hit Sicily two days ago.

Messina, which sits along the strait separating Sicily from mainland Italy, was one of the worst-hit areas. Mudslides blocked roads, with some of the towns near Messina reachable only by sea or on foot.

The Italian government declared a state of emergency, and Italian fire brigades and the army launched rescue operations.

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines (CNN) — Typhoon Parma crossed the northern tip of the already storm-battered Philippines over the weekend, triggering landslides that killed at least 12 people, local media reported Sunday. At least three other deaths related to the storms were confirmed earlier.

A NASA satellite image shows Typhoon Parma as it headed toward the Philippines on Friday.

1 of 2

//

Among the latest victims were children ages 8 and 10, a local reporter who was at the scene of both landslides told CNN.

The storm is expected to stall for at least three days north of Luzon dumping more rain on the island nation still reeling from a typhoon last week, said CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.

Heavy rains will remain, but wind will not be much of a factor, Cabrera said.

At 11 p.m. ET on Saturday, Parma had maximum sustained winds of 120 kph ( 74 mph), Cabrera said.

Parma, known locally as Typhoon Pepeng, made landfall Saturday afternoon in a rural region of fishermen and farmers in Luzon, the largest of the Philippine islands. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes for safer shelter.

Winds whipped the coastline and felled power lines in northernmost Cagayan Province. Debris littered the roads, making evacuations more difficult.

Parma avoided a direct hit on heavily populated Manila.

The typhoon is expected to dump as much as 8 to 20 inches of rain in areas still water-logged from last week’s Typhoon Ketsana. That storm resulted in the heaviest rainfall in 40 years and at one point, 80 percent of Manila was submerged.

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Ketsana, which swallowed whole houses and buses, killed 246 in the Philippines. It later strengthened into a typhoon. An additional 38 are missing, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said. The storm affected nearly 2 million people.

World Vision, the Christian humanitarian organization, was planning to launch relief operations Saturday evening in Isabela Province, one of the areas slammed by Parma. The group also plans assistance for nearby Cagayan province, whose capital, Tuguegarao, is being hit hard by Parma’s strong winds.

Arturo Fidelino, a telecommunications executive in Manila, described panicked people rushing to stock up on essential goods — drinking water, canned food and electrical supplies.

“We had a traumatic experience when we had Ketsana,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen again.”

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country “under the state of calamity.”

Macapagal-Arroyo said disaster-relief crews in vulnerable areas must be equipped with life-saving kits, boats, portable generators and trucks.

Michael Jackson , who is known as King Of Pop, has died yesterday. Yesterday, I watch some of Michael Jackson’s songs in YouTube. Some of the songs are “Thriller” and “Billie Jeans”. I knew this news because I saw my father reading the news in CNN. Below is the news from CNN.

(CNN) — Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums — including “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad” — and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time, died Thursday, CNN has confirmed.

Michael Jackson, shown in 2008, was one of the biggest pop stars in history.

He was 50.

He collapsed at his residence in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, California, about noon Pacific time, suffering cardiac arrest, according to brother Randy Jackson. He died at UCLA Medical Center.

Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy would probably be done on the singer Friday, with results expected that afternoon. Watch crowds gather at Jackson’s hospital »

“Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said. “To say an ‘icon’ would only give these young people in Harlem a fraction of what he was. He was a historic figure that people will measure music and the industry by.”

Jackson’s blazing rise to stardom — and later fall from grace — is among the most startling of show business tales. The son of a steelworker, he rose to fame as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, a band he formed with his brothers in the late 1960s. By the late ’70s, as a solo artist, he was topping the charts with cuts from “Off the Wall,” including “Rock With You” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” Watch Jackson perform at a 1988 concert »

In 1982, he released “Thriller,” an album that eventually produced seven hit singles. An appearance the next year on a Motown Records 25th-anniversary special cemented his status as the biggest star in the country. Timeline: The life of Michael Jackson »

For the rest of the 1980s, they came no bigger. “Thriller’s” follow-up, 1987’s “Bad,” sold almost as many copies. A new Jackson album — a new Jackson appearance — was a pop culture event. iReport: Share your memories of Michael Jackson

The pop music landscape was changing, however, opening up for rap, hip-hop and what came to be called “alternative” — and Jackson was seen as out of step.

His next release, 1991’s “Dangerous,” debuted at No. 1 but “only” produced one top-ranking single — “Black or White” — and that song earned criticism for its inexplicably violent ending, in which Jackson was seen smashing car windows and clutching his crotch.

And then “Dangerous” was knocked out of its No. 1 spot on the album charts by Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” an occurrence noted for its symbolism by rock critics.

After that, more attention was paid to Jackson’s private life than his music career, which faltered. A 1995 two-CD greatest hits, “HIStory,” sold relatively poorly, given the huge expense of Jackson’s recording contract: about 7 million copies, according to Recording Industry of America certifications.

A 2001 album of new material, “Invincible,” did even worse.

In 2005, he went to trial on child-molestation charges. He was acquitted.

In July 2008, after three years away from the spotlight, Jackson announced a series of concerts at London’s O2 Arena as his “curtain call.” Some of the shows, initially scheduled to begin in July, were eventually postponed until 2010. Watch the reaction to Jackson’s passing

Rise to stardom

Michael Jackson was born August 29, 1958, to Joe Jackson, a Gary, Indiana, steelworker, and his wife, Katherine. By the time he was 6, he had joined his brothers in a musical group organized by his father, and by the time he was 10, the group — the Jackson 5 — had been signed to Motown. Watch Michael Jackson’s life in video

He made his first television appearance at age 11.

Jackson, a natural performer, soon became the group’s front man. Music critic Langdon Winner, reviewing the group’s first album, “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5,” for Rolling Stone, praised Michael’s versatile singing and added, “Who is this ‘Diana Ross,’ anyway?”

The group’s first four singles — “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” — went to No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart, the first time any group had pulled off that feat. There was even a Jackson 5 cartoon series on ABC. Watch reaction from Motown Studios »

In 1972, he hit No. 1 as a solo artist with the song “Ben.”

The group’s popularity waned as the ’70s continued, and Michael eventually went solo full time. He played the Scarecrow in the 1978 movie version of “The Wiz,” and released the album “Off the Wall” in 1979. Its success paved the way for “Thriller,” which eventually became the best-selling album in history, with 50 million copies sold worldwide.

At that point, Michael Jackson became ubiquitous.

Seven of “Thriller’s” nine cuts were released as singles; all made the Top Ten. The then-new cable channel MTV, criticized for its almost exclusively white playlist, finally started playing Jackson’s videos. They aired incessantly, including a 14-minute minimovie of the title cut. (“Weird Al” Yankovic cemented his own stardom by lampooning Jackson’s song “Beat It” with a letter-perfect parody video.)

On the Motown Records’ 25th-anniversary special — a May 1983 TV extravaganza with notable turns by the Temptations, the Four Tops and Smokey Robinson — it was Michael Jackson who stopped the show.

Already he was the most popular musician in America, riding high with “Thriller.” But something about his electrifying performance of “Billie Jean,” complete with the patented backward dance moves, boosted his stardom to a new level. Watch Jackson perform “Thiller” »

People copied his Jheri-curled hair and single-gloved, zippered-jacket look. Showbiz veterans such as Fred Astaire praised his chops. He posed for photos with Ronald and Nancy Reagan at the White House. Paul McCartney teamed with him on three duets, two of which — “The Girl Is Mine” and “Say Say Say” — became top five hits. Jackson became a Pepsi spokesman, and when his hair caught fire while making a commercial, it was worldwide news.

It all happened very fast — within a couple years of the Motown special. But even at the time of the “Motown 25″ moonwalk, fame was old hat to Michael Jackson. He hadn’t even turned 25 himself, but he’d been a star for more than half his life. He was given the nickname the “King of Pop” — a spin on Elvis Presley’s status as “the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” — and few questioned the moniker.

Relentless attention

But, as the showbiz saying has it, when you’re on top of the world, there’s nowhere to go but down. The relentless attention given Jackson started focusing as much on his eccentricities — some real, some rumored — as his music.

As the Web site Allmusic.com notes, he was rumored to sleep in a hyperbaric chamber and to have purchased the bones of John Merrick, the “Elephant Man.” (Neither was true.) He did have a pet chimpanzee, Bubbles; underwent a series of increasingly drastic plastic surgeries; established an estate, Neverland, filled with zoo animals and amusement park rides; and managed to purchase the Beatles catalog from under Paul McCartney’s nose, which displeased the ex-Beatle immensely.

In 1990s and 2000s, Jackson found himself pasted across the media for his short-lived marriages, the first to Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie; his 2002 claim that then Sony Records head Tommy Mottola was racist; his behavior and statements during a 2003 interview with British journalist Martin Bashir done for a documentary called “Living With Michael Jackson;” his changing physical appearance; and, above all, the accusations that he sexually molested young boys at Neverland. Watch report on legacy on Michael Jackson »

The first such accusation, in 1993, resulted in a settlement to the 13-year-old accuser (rumored to be as high as $20 million), though no criminal charges were filed, Allmusic.com notes.

He also fell deeply in debt and was forced to sell some of his assets. Neverland was one of many holdings that went on the block. However, an auction of material from Neverland, scheduled for April, was called off and all items returned to Jackson.

Interest in Jackson never faded, however, even if some of it was prurient. In 2008, when he announced 10 comeback shows in London, beginning in July 2009, the story made worldwide news. The number of concerts was later increased to 50.

Seventy-five thousand tickets sold in four hours when they went on sale in March.

However, when the shows were postponed until 2010, rumors swept the Internet that Jackson was not physically prepared and possibly suffering from skin cancer. Watch discussion of his tough life, brilliant career »

At the time, the president and CEO of AEG Live, Randy Phillips, said, “He’s as healthy as can be — no health problems whatsoever.”

Jackson held open auditions for dancers in April in Los Angeles.

He is survived by his three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

Other Posts From My Blog About Michael Jackson

UPDATE: Many have asked concerning the below. I heard the report on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer’s show “The Situation Room”. He briefly mentioned it during the coverage of Michael Jackson.

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Al-Hamdulillah, CNN reported that the Jackson family is meeting with an imam to make the funeral arrangements for the janazah (Muslim funeral prayer) for Michael Jackson. I pray that Allah will have mercy on his soul and grant the family some privacy as they make the plans for a Muslim funeral. I ask Muslims to reserve their judgement and pray for him and his family. Please send your condolences: http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=5875644172354 .

I pray that Muslims will respond to this loss our brother in every loving way possible. I do not know when and were the prayers will be. I trust that the masjid that Jermaine Jackson attends will handle the prayers and preparation. The West Coast Muslims in LA and Imam Zaid Shaker or Sheikh Hamza are hopefully in the loop? May Allah help them. We have not had a major figure in the pop world pass away before Micheal Jackson. I pray that we will do our best and that Allah will have mercy.show

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• Michael Jackson Has Died

Other News/Posts From My Blog About Michael Jackson

By Todd Leopold
CNN

(CNN) — Will Michael Jackson stop the world?

Fans have set up impromptu shrines to Michael Jackson, including this one at his family’s house.

Thousands are expected to swamp Los Angeles, California, to mourn him Tuesday at the Staples Center, and the accompanying media crush will be enormous.

The tribute to the King of Pop at Harlem’s Apollo Theater earlier this week drew coverage from all over the world, along with a public turnout in the thousands.

Given the feverish interest in all things Jackson, the Los Angeles memorial could be one of the most-viewed events of all time.

“This will obviously be a huge media event, and with Web streams of the funeral, it may be impossible to say for sure how many people watched once all is said and done, because there’s still no comprehensive way to measure Web viewing,” said Toni Fitzgerald, of Media Life, in an e-mail interview.

A handful of events have earned the kind of worldwide coverage to put the world on pause, if only for a moment. The 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy “had the nation locked in a trance for two or three days,” recalled TV critic Ed Bark of UncleBarky.com.

The world audience for the Apollo 11 moon landing has been estimated in the hundreds of millions. The BBC estimated 2.5 billion people watched the 1997 funeral of Princess Diana. Watch Jermaine Jackson talk about his brother’s legacy »

Don’t Miss

• Cemetery staff ‘working’ with Jackson family, police confirm
• Read Michael Jackson’s will (pdf)
• Jacksons rely on strength of family
• Complete Michael Jackson coverage

The numbers are easily exaggerated — nobody knows how many people are watching in groups or in public places — and the Web has complicated matters further. But in a multichannel, satellite TV, computer-and-cell phone world, the Jackson memorial could have an audience in the hundreds of millions.

It was first believed the event would take place at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. But the family announced Thursday that it will hold a private ceremony Tuesday, and then a massive public memorial service at the Staples Center. Fans had until 6 p.m. Saturday to register for free tickets to the memorial service. Organizers used a computer to choose 8,750 names from 1.6 million who registered since Friday. Watch a tour of Neverland »

“You have to go back to the Beatles, the death of John Lennon perhaps, and the death of Elvis Presley to find a comparable figure in, not just pop music, but pop culture,” said Entertainment Weekly critic-at-large Ken Tucker. (EW, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.) “And Jackson so self-consciously turned himself into not just an American pop icon but a global pop icon. I think this does have worldwide implications and interest.” See how interest in Jackson’s music has skyrocketed »

The circumstances of Jackson’s death have led to comparisons with Presley’s in 1977, but in terms of coverage, the two can’t compare. The news wasn’t even the top story on CBS’ “Evening News,” Bark recalled, and there certainly wasn’t wall-to-wall nationwide live coverage of his funeral. A public viewing drew about 30,000 fans; the funeral, two days after his death, was held in Graceland’s living room.

But Bark said there are parallels, at least in terms of coverage, with the Kennedy assassination.

“These days it’s so much harder to get a bulk audience on any given venue the way the [broadcast networks] did back then, but still the enormity [of the event] — it’s the syndicated tabloid shows … and TMZ and all the cable networks devoting lots of attention to it, [and] the broadcast networks can’t seem to do enough specials in prime time,” said Bark. “I do think it’s comparative but in a very different way.”

Officially, the sorts of events that have attracted the largest mass audiences have been scheduled entertainment or sports programs. Sixty percent of America watched the 1983 “M*A*S*H” finale; more than half watched the 1980 “Who Shot J.R.” episode of “Dallas” and the 1977 “Roots” conclusion.

The Beatles’ first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 drew about 45 percent of the country. The Super Bowl is routinely the year’s most watched program, with audiences north of 80 million — about 40 percent of U.S. television households.

Although interest in Jackson has been high, the number of viewing choices (and, perhaps, the traditional decline in summer viewing) has kept the ratings for individual Jackson-oriented shows down.

“Jackson’s death came up in just about every conversation I had from Thursday to Sunday, and yet only 5 million people tuned in to some of those broadcast specials,” Media Life magazine’s Fitzgerald observed.

Still, the public memorial service might be different.

“I expect you’ll see very big tune-ins on the cable news networks and on BET, if they cover it; they had huge numbers for their BET Awards focused on Jackson over the weekend,” Fitzgerald said. The BET Awards was watched by 10.7 million, the most ever for a cable awards show.

“With the celebrity factor thrown into the funeral, who’ll be there, who’ll talk, I would guess tens of millions in the U.S. will watch it on TV,” she said.

It is certain is that the news media will be there in force.

“I guess we’re all going to wait and see what the spectacle is,” Bark said. “There may be no precedent for this.”

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• Imam Visits Michael Jackson’s Family to Discuss Funeral Arrangements

• Michael Jackson Has Died

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Katherine addressed mourners at the Staples Center on Tuesday, tearfully telling them her father was “the best father you could ever imagine.”

Paris Katherine Jackson, 11, said goodbye to her father at the close of the memorial service.

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“Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine,” the 11-year-old said. “And I just wanted to say I love him so much.”

Jackson’s children, who often have been hidden by veils or blankets when seen with their father, were sitting in the front row at the Staples Center as their father’s life and music were remembered.

Jackson’s remains were nearby in a closed, rose-draped, bronze casket. His brothers, who served as pallbearers, wore single white sequined gloves, a tribute to their brother’s signature look of the 1980s.

“Michael, when you left us, a part of me went with you,” brother Marlon Jackson said. “And a part of you will live forever within me, but also a part of you will live forever within all of us.”

Marlon Jackson said the world could not understand what his brother endured “being judged and ridiculed.”

“How much pain can one man take,” Marlon Jackson asked. “Maybe now, Michael, they will leave you alone.”

Before the final words Jackson’s band members, family, children and celebrities filled the stage to sing Jackson’s “Heal the World.”

The song followed a performance of “We are the World,” the 1985 hit written by Jackson and Lionel Richie to raise money for African famine relief. Watch a star-studded performance of ‘We are the World’ »

“The more I think and talk about Michael Jackson, I feel the King of Pop is not big enough for him,” said Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records. “I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived.” Gordy: Michael was ’special’ »

Several of Jackson’s older brothers carried his casket — bronze with 14-karat gold-plate handles, according to the manufacturer — to the front of the stage, which resembled a church sanctuary with a stained-glass backdrop. The Andrae Crouch Choir sang the hymn “Soon and Very Soon.”

Mariah Carey was joined by Trey Lorenz singing The Jackson 5’s 1970 hit “I’ll Be there” as a montage of Jackson photographs appeared on arena screens.

Queen Latifah, saying she was on stage to represent “millions of fans inspired by Michael,” said “Michael was the biggest star on earth.” Lionel Richie then performed the song “Jesus is Love.” Watch Richie perform for Jackson »

Stevie Wonder took the stage next.

“This is a moment that I wished that I didn’t live to see come, but as much as I can say that and mean it, I do know that God is good,” Wonder said. “And I do know that as much as we may feel, and do, that we need Michael with us, God must have needed him more.” Photos: Celebrities remember Jackson »

Wonder then delivered an emotional version of his 1971 song “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer.”

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who spoke along with former Lakers legend Magic Johnson, said Michael Jackson set a world record for the “most charities supported by a pop star.”

Johnson said he met Jackson when the singer was a Lakers’ season ticket holder.

“I truly believe that Michael made me a better point guard and basketball player as I watched him be so great and be the greatest entertainer ever,” Johnson said.

Singer Jennifer Hudson sang Jackson’s song “Will You Be There.” Hudson sings in tribute »

The Rev. Al Sharpton also addressed the crowd and spoke of Jackson’s contribution to the music world.

“When Michael started, it was a different world, but because Michael kept going, because he didn’t accept limitations, because he refused to let people decide his boundaries, he opened up the whole world in the music world,” Sharpton said. “He put on one glove, pulled his pants up and broke down the color curtain.” Watch Sharpton’s powerful tribute to Jackson »

Sharpton then addressed Jackson’s children.

“There wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy,” he said. “It was strange what your daddy had to deal with, but he dealt with it.” Watch Paris Jackson give a tearful goodbye »

John Mayer played lead guitar on the song “Human Nature,” from Jackson’s “Thriller” album.

An emotional Brooke Shields, who was 13 when she became close friends with Jackson, said they bonded “because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very, very young age.” Watch Shields smile through her tears »

“What we did do was laugh,” she recounted. “It was always a competition to see who could make the other one laugh more or be sillier.”

The service turned to tears, though, as Jackson’s brother Jermaine sang “Smile,” a favorite song of Michael’s. Watch Jermaine Jackson’s emotional performance »

Two of Martin Luther King Jr.’s children, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, also spoke about the King of Pop.

Usher later sang “Gone Too Soon,” as he walked toward Jackson’s casket. Watch Usher choke up during his performance »

Smokey Robinson joked about his reaction when 10-year-old Michael recorded a song Robinson had written.

“I quickly went over to him, because I wanted to see his birth certificate,” Robinson said. “I didn’t believe that someone that young could have a lot of know. You have to have a lot of know to sing that song.”

Earlier in the memorial Robinson read personal messages from several of Jackson’s celebrity friends who did not attend.

“Michael was a personal love of mine, a treasured part of my life, part of the fabric of my life, in a way that I can’t seem to find words to express” Diana Ross said in a message read by Robinson.

Robinson also read a message from former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, saying they had grown close after trips and performances in South Africa.

“We had great admiration for his talent and that he was able to triumph over tragedy on so many occasions in his life,” Robinson said, relaying the message.

The public memorial followed an earlier gathering by Jackson’s family and closest friends at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.

The final resting place for Michael Jackson is still unknown at this time. After his memorial at Staples Center, Jackson’s casket, adorned with red roses, was taken to an ambulance, which was accompanied by a Hummer. But the destination is unknown at this point.

The Jackson family went to the Beverly Wilshire after the memorial, since going back to their Encino home was probably out of the question with the amount of fans who have gathered there.

LAPD said today that there won’t be a motorcade back to Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where the private funeral was held earlier today.

There has been speculation that Neverland Ranch is in the running as Michael’s final resting place. But William Boyer, communications director for Santa Barbara County, “We have not been contacted by the Jackson family or any of their representatives about a burial or a funeral service at the Neverland Ranch.”

“Because this would be on private property they would actually have to go to the state department of consumer affairs. We would know about it because part of the permitting process is the state goes through a checklist of things they would need to do…local jurisdiction would have to be asked. We have not received any contact from the state.”

Where do you think Michael Jackson should be buried? At Forest Lawn amongst so many other late celebrities, or at his former home Neverland?

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Michael Jackson’s sister, LaToya Jackson, told a London newspaper she suspects her brother was “murdered” in a conspiracy by “a shadowy entourage.”

Michael Jackson “was surrounded by a bad circle,” LaToya Jackson told a British newspaper.

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London’s Daily Mail newspaper paid for the interview, according to a source close to the Jackson family and another source familiar with the interview arrangements. The amount of money paid was not disclosed.

LaToya Jackson was “very candid” throughout the four-hour interview, which took place in Los Angeles, California, last Thursday, said Caroline Graham, the Daily Mail reporter who conducted the interview.

Jackson cited no evidence of a murder conspiracy, Graham said, but she did tell the paper the family has seen results from the private autopsy it ordered. She would not reveal the findings, Graham said.

“There indeed had been concern among several family members about the circumstances around Michael’s death,” said Bryan Monroe, the last journalist to interview Michael Jackson. “Some folks have hesitated to go as far as saying it was murder.”

The Los Angeles coroner could release his autopsy report on Jackson within a week, according to assistant chief coroner Ed Winter.

Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton told CNN last week that he was waiting for the coroner to determine the exact cause of Jackson’s death. “And based on those, we will have an idea of what it is we are dealing (with),” he said.

Don’t Miss

• Complete Michael Jackson coverage

The Jackson family knows that the probe into his June 25 death might turn into a criminal case, a source close to the family told CNN last Thursday. “The family is aware of a potential criminal prosecution,” said the source, who did not want to be identified.

“I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start,” the paper quoted LaToya Jackson as saying. “Not just one person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people.”

Graham said LaToya Jackson’s choice of words “stopped me dead in my tracks.”

“I asked her, ‘Are you sure the word “murder” is what you want to use,’ ” Graham said. Jackson told her she chose that word purposely.

“He was surrounded by a bad circle,” Graham said Jackson told her. “Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that. People fought to be close to him, people who weren’t always on his side.”

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles coroner’s official says toxicology reports that may determine the cause of Michael Jackson’s death could be completed this week.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Monday that some results from tests to determine what substances Jackson had in his body when he died are in. The remaining results are expected at the end of this week or early next week.

Winter said his office would announce when all the tests are done, then publicly release the results the next day.

Jackson died June 25.

Authorities are investigating claims the pop star consumed large amounts of prescription medications. The powerful sedative Diprivan, normally only administered in hospitals, was among items found in his home.

I got this post from: http://imamjohari.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/michael-jackson-reportedly-will-be-buried-in-muslim-traditions/

As-Salaamu alaikum,

I just got the link to this story.  I am glad to here the news, although it has been reported Michael Jackson will have a view of the body – which is not an Islamic tradition.  Please stay tuned.

Check this link:  http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00025411.html

A source close to the Jacksons has exclusively revealed to X17 Online that family will likely have a traditional Muslim burial for late Michael Jackson. “The family is considering following the Muslim burial traditions because they believe Michael would have wanted to be laid to rest in keeping with his new-found religious beliefs,” says the source.

“Michael’s brother Jermaine is educating the family as to the special rites because he feels it’s important to bury his brother according to the Muslim way,” adds the source. Despite earlier reports that both public and private memorial services for the late music performer have been set to be held this week, there has been no official confirmation just yet from Michael’s family on the location where his body will be laid to rest.

Michael Jackson was reported converting to Islam in late 2008, years after expressing his interest to join the faith. He later on changed his name into “Mikaeel”, which was meant as a reference to the name of one of Allah’s angels.

In Muslim burial, per X17 Online, someone’s body “has to be cleaned, but ideally not embalmed, and wrapped in a white sheet, and it must be buried facing Mecca. The Koran also dictates that the body be buried as close to the place of death and as soon after death as possible. There should be no tombstone near the grave.”

http://imamjohari.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/michael-jackson-reportedly-will-be-buried-in-muslim-traditions/

E! Online – Michael Jackson’s Dermatologist Gets Visit From Coroner’s Office; Toxicology Report Due Next …

Breanne L. Heldman Breanne L. Heldman – Tue Jul 14, 6:42 pm ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) – City employees paid Michael Jackson’s dermatologist a visit late this morning…and it wasn’t for crank calls or a checkup.

Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter arrived at Dr. Arnold Klein’s Beverly Hills office just before noon today with his badge and a large envelope.

“We are continuing with our investigation,” Winter told reporters upon leaving a little more than an hour later. “Dr. Klein is cooperating with it. There’s been rumors that Dr. Klein is not cooperating, but that’s not true.”

Yeah, but when will we actually know something, and what does it have to do with M.J.’s kids’ probably-not-biological dad?

“There’s a security hold on the case and I can’t comment any further,” Winter added, though he did say that the findings of the hotly discussed toxicology report are expected to be announced in the middle of next week.

Winter, who also had nothing to say about La Toya Jackson’s recent pointed comments, was accompanied by Klein’s attorney, Brad Boyer, on his way out of the office.

“There will be no further comments on behalf of Dr. Klein at this time, as we want to allow the coroners to complete their inquest,” Boyer said.

Winter also asserted that his visit was in search of medical records, which he recovered. No actual medications were sought or recovered.

“We are not investigating the doctors, we are investigating Mr. Michael Jackson’s death,” Winter said.

Meanwhile, the DEA’s quest for answers regarding Jackson’s death have led them to the makers of Diprivan, one of the drugs the star is rumored to have taken.

A representative for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries confirms to E! News that the DEA has contacted them about a lot of Propofol (aka Diprivan) in relation to their investigation.

Denise Bradley, senior director of corporate communications for the company, says that a recall of two separate lots of the drug has also taken place. The lots were reportedly recalled after it was discovered that they contained elevated levels of endotoxins.

“The batch that the DEA contacted us about relating to their investigation is not associated with the lot numbers that are being recalled,” she says.

Propofol, a powerful sedative, has been reported as one of the drugs seized from Jackson’s Holmby Hills mansion.

E! News is awaiting comment from the CDC, FDA and DEA for further details on the recall of the drug and investigation. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, an international company headquartered in Israel, recalled the drug voluntarily.

(CNN) — Michael Jackson’s upbringing was shaped by two very different parents.

An image of Michael Jackson and his parents was on the big screen during his funeral in Los Angeles.

His mother, Katherine Jackson, has been portrayed by her children as the loving glue that bonded the family together, while her husband, Joe, was the harsh disciplinarian whose iron hand not only shaped one of the most successful musical families in the world, but also elicited enough fear in his superstar son that it sometimes made him ill.

Now the couple of 60 years stands at the center of a custody drama surrounding their grandchildren.

Michael Jackson’s will, filed in 2002, designated his mother as caregiver for Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and “Blanket,” 7.

It is the latest installment in the many trials that have tested the Jackson family, not least of which has been the unexpected loss of its most famous member.

“[Katherine's] taking it real hard,” Joe Jackson told ABC News about his wife’s coping with their son’s death. “When you start talking about Michael, she starts crying.”

By many accounts, Katherine Jackson, 79, shared a special bond with her second-youngest son.

In a 1993 interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson spoke glowingly of the matriarch.

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• Debbie Rowe’s lawyer: No deal in Jackson case
• LaToya Jackson makes stark allegations in brother’s death
• In Depth: Jackson Remembered

“My mother’s wonderful,” he said. “To me, she’s perfection.”

According to a biography posted by A&E Networks, Katherine Jackson was born Kattie B. Screws in 1930 in Barbour County, Alabama.

Her family reportedly relocated to East Chicago, Indiana, when she was 4, and her name was changed to Katherine Esther Scruse. A childhood bout with polio left her with a permanent limp.

She was a teenager when she met Joe Jackson, an aspiring musician and a boxer whose first marriage dissolved. Katherine said it was love at first sight.

“I just had a feeling that he was going to be my husband,” Katherine Jackson said in an interview shot last year by Xonger Global Entertainment Networks for a planned reality show about the family. The video was obtained by ABC News. “The first time I saw him, I fell in love with him.”

Together, they raised 10 children in a modest Gary, Indiana, home, while Joe worked as a crane operator, according to the A&E biography.

A devout Jehovah’s Witness, Katherine nurtured the children’s love of music by singing with them, made her sons’ costumes as their father booked local gigs, and served as the family’s backbone.

“As best as I could tell from both talking to [Michael] and my observations of the family throughout the years, Katherine was the one that had really unconditional love for Michael and was always there, was always supportive and was always comforting,” said journalist and CNN contributor Bryan Monroe, who conducted the last major interview with Michael Jackson. “It was the epitome of a mother’s love.”

Joe Jackson’s relationship with his famous son was a bit more complicated.

Monroe said the hard taskmaster — who Michael said sometimes held a belt in his hand as he and his brothers rehearsed — evoked mixed emotions from the singer.

“In my interview with him, [Michael] spoke almost in the same breath of the fear he had of Joseph’s sternness … and at the same time the respect he had for Joseph’s work ethics and his teachings,” Monroe said. “He said [Joseph] taught him and his brothers an awful lot about discipline and performance.”

According to the biography posted by A&E Networks, Joe Jackson was born in Arkansas in 1929 and pursued fame early on, first as a Golden Gloves contender and later as a member of The Falcons, a band he started in the mid-1950s.

When he noticed musical talent in his brood, he formed the Jackson Brothers with his three oldest sons and served as their manager.

The group later became The Jackson 5, with young Michael serving as lead singer, and shot to superstardom.

Psychotherapist Daniel Aferiat, who never treated any Jackson family members, said such an awesome responsibility for a young Michael Jackson could account for the conflicted emotions he expressed in his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “I just wish I could understand my father,” he told her.

“If as a small child Michael Jackson was involved in making business decisions and had to have the burdens in some ways of the financial responsibility for the family, then it can turn around who’s the caretaker and who’s being taken care of,” Aferiat said.

Aferiat said children identify with their parents and learn how to operate in the world based on how they are treated by their parents. The drive for stardom and perfection that Joe Jackson reportedly instilled in his children would have long-lasting effects, Aferiat said.

“People are complicated, and while we all would like to think in more black-and-white terms — someone’s good and someone’s bad — [Michael Jackson] had a very complicated, very difficult and, what I would unequivocally say from what I’ve heard in the news, a traumatic life,” Aferiat said. “If you are a child and you have to give up your childhood, it’s not like a pair of shoes that you just get to replace at a later time. You don’t get that back.”

By many accounts, Katherine Jackson tried to keep her children’s lives as normal as possible given their fame, even during their adulthood.

Author Richard Hack co-wrote the 1995 book “Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness” with Margaret Maldonado, the mother of two of Jermaine Jackson’s children. He said Katherine Jackson was “like Mother Earth” to her family.

“She kept everyone pretty well grounded because she didn’t buy into all of the publicity and a lot of the glitz,” said Hack, a noted biographer who has written 17 books. “Mind you, she did drive around in a Rolls Royce, but she still knew how to make a meal. She would get into the kitchen and bring the family together.”

Back then, Hack said, most of the family lived together in the Encino compound. These days, Katherine still resides in California, while her husband reportedly has relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We’re not together all of the time,” Katherine Jackson said in footage from the planned reality show. “We stayed together for many, many years.”

“But we see each other all the time,” she added. “I go to Vegas and he’ll come here.”

Their living arrangement could become an issue during a custody hearing.

Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship of the children by a judge several days after her son’s death.

It is still unknown whether Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of two of the children, will seek custody. Watch opinions on who should get the kids »

While Katherine is the only parent seeking legal custody of Michael Jackson’s children, his father has been quoted by ABC News as saying he believes the two of them are ideally suited to take care of and raise the children “to be strong Jacksons.”

Hack, the co-author of “Jackson Family Values,” said that in the past Joe Jackson’s children viewed him as the “instigator and dictator” who no longer managed their careers but still viewed himself as their voice.

A bit of that behavior was on display last year when the elder Jackson returned to Gary, Indiana, and endorsed a planned family museum.

The Post-Tribune newspaper reported that he didn’t believe the city needed to gain his famous children’s approval to build the project.

“I’m Joe Jackson,” he was quoted as saying. “I don’t need them to approve anything.”

But when it comes to Michael Jackson’s children, the court will have the final say.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — A hearing to consider who will raise Michael Jackson’s three children has been delayed another week, while lawyers work to avoid a court battle over custody.

Debbie Rowe said she married Michael Jackson to avoid the taboo of having childrien out of wedlock.

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The delay — the third one this month — was announced Friday afternoon by a Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesman.

Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife and mother of his two oldest children, has not publicly revealed whether she will challenge Katherine Jackson, his 79-year-old mother, for custody or visitation rights. Katherine Jackson gained temporary guardianship of her son’s children soon after his death last month.

The two women have been working to “privately and amicably resolve” the matter since Jackson’s death, a Jackson family lawyer said.

Rowe’s lawyer said this week that she was not asking the Jackson family for more money in exchange for dropping a possible custody challenge.

A close friend of Rowe said she has been grieving Jackson’s death — grief made more painful by paparazzi hounding her and media reports vilifying Rowe by depicting her as a heartless woman who would trade her kids for cash.

“Debbie’s a very caring, wonderful, warm person,” said Marc Schaffel, who met first met Rowe when he worked for Jackson. “She’s a very humble person. People, you know, don’t give her credit that she was a friend of Michael’s for over 30 years.”

Jackson and Rowe met when she was working as a nursing assistant in the Beverly Hills office of Jackson’s dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein.

Rowe said in a 2003 interview, later obtained by ABC News, that she became closer to Jackson in 1996 when she consoled him after his brief marriage to Lisa Marie Presley ended.

“He was upset because he really wanted to be a dad,” Rowe said. “I said, ‘So, be a dad.’ He looked at me puzzled. That is when I looked at him and said. ‘Let me do this. I want to do this. You have been so good to me. You are such a great friend. Please let me do this. You need to be a dad, and I want you to be.’”

She told the interviewer they married in 1996 only to “prevent some of the taboo of a child out of wedlock.”

While Schaffel would not say if their relationship was sexual, he said Rowe had “a true, true love there for Michael.”

Their first child, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., was born in February 1997. A daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, was born the next year.

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Details of how the children were conceived and who was the biological father have been closely guarded amid much public speculation.

The couple divorced in 1999 with Rowe giving Jackson full custody while she got a $8.5 million settlement, according to court documents. Jackson later agreed to additional support.

Rowe gave up parental rights to Jackson in 2001, but she changed her mind more than two years later and sought temporary custody of the children. A California appeals court later ruled her rights were improperly terminated, opening the door to a possible custody battle.

Rowe claimed in the 2003 interview that she still had “some influence” over how Jackson raised the children, citing his practice of covering their faces in public as her idea.

“That was my request, not his,” she said.

“I am the one who’s terrified. I am the one who’s seen the notes that someone’s going to take his children,” she said.

She said the children don’t call her “mom” because she did not want them to.

“It’s not that they’re not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father,” she said.

Rowe, 50, lives on a farm in Palmdale, California, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles, where she breeds horses and dogs.

“She spends time with all of her horses and her dogs,” Schaffel said. “If one of her horses is sick, Debbie will stay up all night long caring for them. She’ll sleep on the floor in the barn with a horse if he’s not well.

“Debbie doesn’t run out to all of the social events,” he said. “You don’t see her shopping on Rodeo Drive. She’s not hitting the hot spots. She’s not trying to be in the limelight. Debbie is just as happy at home in her very modest, humble, horse ranch.”

When Hollywood’s paparazzi surrounded her outside a restaurant near her ranch earlier this month, she showed flashes of anger and frustration.

“Are you ready to fight for your kids?” a photographer repeatedly shouted.

“Are you ready to get your butt kicked?” she replied, as she walked through the swarm.

Schaffel said Rowe wants privacy and she’s “just trying to go on with her life.”

“She doesn’t react well with the paparazzi,” he said.

Rowe’s lawyers have stepped up their efforts to bolster her public image by firing off warning letters and demanding retractions when they see reports they think are wrong.

One letter sent Tuesday demanded the New York Post retract its report that Rowe had agreed to drop her custody claims for $4 million.

“Ms. Rowe has not accepted — and will not accept — any additional financial consideration beyond the spousal support she and Michael Jackson personally agreed to several years ago,” Eric George said in the letter.

“Among the several contenders for overzealous and inaccurate sensationalism, the New York Post has now seized top honors,” George wrote to the paper. “It would be easier to identify those few background facts that are accurate than to catalog the number of blatant falsehoods in your story.”

“The Post stands by its story,” New York Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan told CNN.

Rowe also filed a lawsuit this week against a woman who claimed in a TV interview to have e-mails from Rowe saying she didn’t really want to raise the children. The suit asked that Rowe be given any money paid to the woman for the interview.

AP – FILE – In this June 13, 2005 file photo, Michael Jackson and his mother, Katherine, leave Santa Barbara …

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson’s mother asked for a judge’s ruling Friday on whether she can challenge the authority of two men named in her son’s will as executors of his estate without being disinherited.

The filing does not formally challenge the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain as executors of Michael Jackson’s estate.

But a favorable ruling could pave the way for 79-year-old Katherine Jackson to seek control of her son’s estate, which has an estimated value of more than $500 million.

A judge granted her temporary control over roughly 2,000 items taken from her son’s Neverland Ranch and slated for auction, but her authority expired and was given to Branca and McClain. She had sought to control Jackson’s estate, but that was before the singer’s 2002 will was filed in Los Angeles.

It names Branca and McClain as Jackson’s choice for co-executors of the will, and states his estate should be placed in a private trust.

Jackson’s trust included a “no contest” clause that calls for anyone who challenges the will to be disinherited. Katherine Jackson, her three grandchildren and unnamed charities are beneficiaries of the estate.

The filing states that Katherine Jackson’s attorneys continue to confer with attorneys for McClain and Branca and no final decisions have been made.

“Mrs. Jackson and her counsel have not yet decided whether to object to the appointment of the named executors or to suggest an alternate appointment,” the filing states.

A phone message left after business hours Friday for Paul Gordon Hoffman, an attorney representing Branca and McClain, was not immediately returned.

The filing was first reported by RadarOnline.com.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff will consider how to handle the filing at a hearing on Aug 3. Lingering issues about Jackson’s estate could be decided then, and the hearing will also focus on whether Katherine Jackson will be allowed to keep custody of her son’s children, who range in ages from 7 to 12.

Los Angeles (E! Online) – The choice of a new generation is…voyeurism?

In the wake of footage surfacing online showing the filming of the infamous 1984 Pepsi commercial in which Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire, the bottling company released a statement wondering aloud what the fascination about it is other than morbid curiosity.

“We don’t know how the footage became available. Twenty-five years later, we’d question why anyone would want to share such frightening images. It was a terrifying event that we’ll never forget,” spokeswoman Nicole Bradley said.

And undoubtedly akin to something out of his Thriller video.

In the video promoting the soft drink, Jackson performs a retooled version of “Billy Jean” before 3,000 screaming fans (among the extras were comedians Kathy Griffin and Jon Lovitz—before they were famous) at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium.

But on the sixth take, as Jackson struts down a staircase onto a stage, the background fireworks explode early. The singer starts making his way down the steps, but doesn’t realize his hair has suddenly caught fire until he reaches the bottom and goes into his spin. Only then did he touch his head and realize his scalp was burning.

Stagehands gathered around Jackson and quickly doused the flames. But the Moonwalker was taken to a hospital with second- and third-degree burns on his head and face, an injury that required skin grafts.

It’s now being speculated that the incident may have led to his dependence on prescription pain medication, an addiction he allegedly battled for the rest of his life. Pepsi later aired a version of the ad without the hair-raising moment and paid Jackson $1.4 million for his pain and suffering, but the music legend ended up donating the money to a burn victim center.

Since Jackson’s fiery performance bubbled up over the Internet and cable news two days ago, Pepsi initially declined to catch the wave and comment on it. But the company chose to speak out now not only to criticize the release of such imagery (and incidentally the public’s grotesque obsession with it), but also to pay tribute to the late King of Pop, with whom it had the good fortune of working during his 1980s peak.

“We were grateful for Michael’s recovery and for the chance to continue working with him on a number of successful projects,” Bradley added. “As for Michael as an artist, his music helped us define a generation and, like everyone else, we’re deeply saddened by his passing.”

The rep also said Pepsi has no intention of pursuing legal action to stop the burn footage from airing and, in fact, isn’t even sure who owns the rights.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — A previously unreleased video of Michael Jackson’s hair catching fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984 was posted online by Us magazine Wednesday.

Michael Jackson, shown here in the mid-’80s, was involved in a accident while filming a commercial.

The onstage mishap 25 years ago, in which Jackson’s scalp was burned, has been blamed for leading the entertainer to prescription pain medications.

A publicist for Us magazine said the publication would not comment on how the video was obtained.

The dramatic footage shows pyrotechnics exploding near Jackson and yellow flames immediately erupting on his black hair. The pop star continues to dance down stairs for about 10 seconds before stage hands rush to him to douse the fire that has covered his scalp.

A bald spot is clearly seen at the top of Jackson’s head as he stands up. Still wearing his trademark sequined glove, Jackson grabs his head with his hands as he is led offstage. Watch the accident unfold »

Miko Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando and Jackson’s close friend, was the first person seen reaching Jackson.

The video — posted at usmagazine.com — also shows early takes of the commercial in which the fireworks were triggered several seconds after Jackson began dancing down the stairs, putting him well away from the blasts.

The commercial was filmed in Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium before a live audience on January 27, 1984.

It was part of Jackson’s groundbreaking Pepsi sponsorship, near the height of his popularity.

Jackson, in a video statement released in 1993 to address child molestation allegations, talked about how the accident led to a painkiller addiction:

“As you may already know, after my tour ended I remained outside the country undergoing treatment for a dependency on pain medication. This medication was initially prescribed for the excruciating pain that I was suffering after recent reconstructive surgery on my scalp.”

The story in Us magazine’s weekly print edition is titled “The Day His Addiction Started.”

Jackson appeared at the Grammy Awards just six weeks later, wearing a hairpiece, to collect eight Grammys.

His Pepsi commercial also aired for the first time during that Grammy broadcast.

Jackson Reunion Tour in the Works?

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Michael Jackson’s death left a huge void in the music world. His brothers may be trying to fill at least one of them with the rebirth of the Jackson….four.

It appears that the King of Pop’s passing may spurn a mini-reunion tour for the surviving members of the Jackson 5.

Jacksons Tito, Randy, Marlon and Jermaine are reportedly in talks with concert promoters AEG to perform at the O2 Arena in London, according to the Los Angeles Times.

That would be the same venue where the King of Pop was set to stage his comeback with 50 shows, before he died June 25.

While a rep for AEG has yet to comment, according to the L.A. Times, any show put on by the brothers would not be a one-off: They are reportedly negotiating for several dates at the U.K. venue.

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Amidst all of the custody turmoil, there still remains the issue of who exactly will be named executor of Michael Jackson’s estate.

However, arguing the point may result in an heir-apparent’s complete disinheritance.

Enter the Jackson matriarch to make sure everything is handled by the book.

According to legal documents filed by Katherine Jackson’s attorneys, Michael’s trust included an iron clad “no-contest clause” as a way of discouraging any of his heirs from arguing over his estate. If a beneficiary attempts to challenge these terms in court, the clause stipulates that the heir will disinherit their share of his estate.

Unfortunately, the family remains torn over the icon’s appointment of John McClain and John Branca as estate executor’s, leading Katherine to hedge her bets, so to speak, asking the court to determine if her potential objection would in fact result in violation of her son’s trust.

At this time, a decision has yet to be reached and the hearing to discuss the matter is set to take place August 3.

On the 22nd July 2009, the longest solar eclipse in the 21st century happened.  Below is an animation of how long and how much we can see in  different places.

An Animation Of The Solar Eclipes.

I went to the beach beside The Floating Mosque in Kuala Ibai, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.

This Is How The Solar Eclipse Looks Like At 9.45a.m.

I looked at the telescope to see the Solar Eclipse. We can’t see the Solar Eclipse clearly because it was very,very cloudy. There was a thick cloud blocking the Solar Eclipse. At 9.45a.m., The Solar Eclipse could be seen very clearly.

Me looking through the telescope

They Also Connected A Telescop to A Television

(CNN) — Felipe Massa had emergency surgery for a fractured skull after a freak crash in final qualifying for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa receives attention after his high-speed crash in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.

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The Brazilian careered off at the 200kph Turn Four at the Hungaroring after being hit in the helmet by flying debris from rear wing of the Brawn GP of compatriot Rubens Barrichello.

2008 championship runner-up Massa was stunned and lost control as his Ferrari flew into a tire wall at high speed.

He was airlifted from the circuit to the AEK Hospital in Budapest and later underwent an emergency operation for the damage to his skull.

Massa is in intensive care on a respirator and remains under observation in an induced coma.

“The condition of the driver is serious, but stable,” said a hospital spokesman.

After the frightening incident, Fernando Alonso claimed a surprising pole position in a chaotic end to Saturday’s proceedings.

The Massa accident happened at the end of the second qualifying session and the action was suspended while officials checked for debris.

When the third and final qualifying session got underway it was Renault’s Alonso clocked the fastest time of one minute 21.559 seconds.

Sebastian Vettel, second in the title race to Jenson Button, will start alongside Alonso on the front row, with his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber qualifying third.

Button was only eighth fastest with Brawn GP teammate Barrichello 13th best, their worst qualifying performance of the season.

Button delayed his final qualifying run while his car was checked out after the earlier incident.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth best for the improving McLaren team with Nico Rosberg in fifth for Williams.

With the electronic timing system lost to the pit lane and the television coverage, former two-time world champion Alonso was at first unaware he had taken his first pole of the season.

“We have made a good step forward and the car did improve in the last two races. We are more competitive, but I don’t think we are as quick as these two guys (referring to Red Bull drivers Vettel and Webber),” he said.

“We will try to win, but being honest and realistic, our target is to get some good points,” added the Spaniard.

(CNN) — Ferrari’s Felipe Massa remains in a stable condition in hospital on Sunday after fracturing his skull in two places during a freak accident in Saturday’s qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa receives attention after his high-speed crash in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.

A Ferrari statement read: “After undergoing an operation yesterday afternoon, Felipe Massa’s condition remains stable and there were no further complications through the night.

“He will be given another CT scan today which will provide more precise information.”

The 28-year-old was struck by a spring — which can weigh anything up to a kilogram — that had worked loose from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP during the middle 15-minute period of the qualifying session.

The spring was seen bouncing along the Hungaroring track before flying over the front of Massa’s Ferrari that was travelling at 170mph, striking the Brazilian on the helmet just over his left eye.

Massa appeared to be knocked unconscious, with his right foot jamming down on the throttle as he drove straight into a tire barrier.

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Stricken in the car, photographs emerged showing a fist-sized dent in his helmet, and with the visor up, there was a large cut over a blackened left eye.

Massa was initially treated at the circuit’s medical center before being taken by helicopter to Budapest’s AEK military hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

A Ferrari official later described the operation as a “success”. It is now hoped the brain scan will confirm Massa is en route to recovery.

(CNN) — Felipe Massa has been woken successfully three times to make contact with his family, one of the surgeons who operated on the Brazilian Formula One star told CNN on Monday, after a horror crash in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix left the driver needing surgery on a fractured skull.

Felipe Massa after the crash at the Hungaroring.

more photos »

Peter Bazso, the medical director of the AEK hospital in Budapest, confirmed that Massa’s injuries had been “life-threatening” after he careered off the Hungaroring at 200kph in his Ferrari, but that his condition was now “slightly improving.”

Bazso told CNN said he had watched the accident on television and his team, who specialize in brain injuries, was immediately put on standby to operate as Massa was airlifted to his hospital. Does safety need to be improved in Formula One?

Massa was hit on the helmet by a spring which had fallen off the rear of the Brawn GP car of compatriot Rubens Barichello.

The impact left Massa concussed and he lost control of his Ferrari on the high speed Turn Four before ploughing into a tire barrier. Felipe Massa’s crash in pictures. »

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Bazko and his team performed a two-hour emergency operation shortly after Massa arrived at the hospital, which also caters for the Hungarian military.

He remains in a medically-induced coma in intensive care but Bazso said there were good signs of a recovery.

“We tried to wake him up three times so he could make contact with his family and each time we were successful,” he said.

Massa’s parents and his pregnant wife Anna Rafaela flew to Hungary to be at his bedside after the accident.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo told their official Web site that he would be visiting the hospital on Monday to check on his driver’s condition and paid tribute to his teammate Kimi Raikkonen who finished second to Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s race.

“Compliments to Kimi for a great race and to the team, for working well and very concentrated despite these very difficult circumstances.”

Meanwhile, Basso added that they hoped to fully bring him out of the coma later today when they would better be able to assess his condition.

“He is definitely not worse, but his injuries were life-threatening,” he added.

Massa’s crash came less than a week after Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees, the son of former world champion John Surtees, was killed in similar circumstances, knocked unconscious by a tire which flew off another car in a race at Brands Hatch, before crashing.

Formula One’s safety record has improved dramatically in recent years, with the last fatality in 1994 when the legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna crashed at Imola.

(CNN) — The same blue food dye found in M&Ms and Gatorade could be used to reduce damage caused by spine injuries, offering a better chance of recovery, according to new research.

Rats injected with BBG not only regained their mobility but temporarily turned blue.

The rat before being injected with BBG.

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Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that when they injected the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) into rats suffering spinal cord injuries, the rodents were able to walk again, albeit with a limp.

The only side effect was that the treated mice temporarily turned blue.

The results of the study, published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” build on research conducted by the same center five years ago.

In August 2004, scientists revealed how Adenosine triphosphate, which is known as ATP and described as the “energy currency of life,” surges to the spinal cord soon after injury occurs.

Researchers found that the sudden influx of ATP killed off healthy cells, making the initial injury far worse. But when they injected oxidized ATP into the injury, it was found to block the effect of ATP, allowing the injured rats to recover and walk again.

“While we achieved great results when oxidized ATP was injected directly into the spinal cord, this method would not be practical for use with spinal cord-injured patients,” said lead researcher Maiken Nedergaard, professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“First, no one wants to put a needle into a spinal cord that has just been severely injured, so we knew we needed to find another way to quickly deliver an agent that would stop ATP from killing healthy motor neurons. Second, the compound we initially used, oxidized ATP, cannot be injected into the bloodstream because of its dangerous side effects.”

Back in 2004, Nedergaard’s team discovered that the spinal cord was rich in a molecule called P2X7, which is also known as “the death receptor” for its ability to allow ATP to latch onto motor neurons and send the signals which eventually kill them.

Nedergaard knew that BBG could thwart the function of P2X7, and its similarity to a blue food dye approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982 gave her the confidence to test it intravenously.

It worked. The rats given BBG immediately after their injury could walk again with a limp. Those that didn’t receive a dose never regained their mobility.

Nedergaard told CNN that there is currently no standard treatment for patients with spinal injury when they reach the hospital emergency room.

“Right now we only treat 15 percent of the patients we receive with steroids and many hospitals question if that even works for that 15 percent; it’s a very moderate benefit to only a subset of patients. So right now 85 percent of patients are untreated,” she said.

Nedergaard said the research team isn’t claiming that BBG can cure spinal injuries, instead that it offers a potential improvement in patients’ condition.

“Even a moderate improvement in functional performance of the patient is a big, big event for these patients,” she said. “They can control their bladder. If they can just take small steps instead of sitting in a wheelchair all the time, it’s a tremendous benefit for these patients,” she added.

The dose must be administered immediately after the injury, before additional tissue dies as a result of the initial injury.

Researchers are currently pulling together an application to be lodged with the FDA to stage the first clinical trials of BBG on human patients.

“Our hope is that this work will lead to a practical, safe agent that can be given to patients shortly after injury, for the purpose of decreasing the secondary damage that we have to otherwise expect,” said Steven Goldman, Chair of the University of Rochester Department of Neurology.

(CNN) — The same blue food dye found in M&Ms and Gatorade could be used to reduce damage caused by spine injuries, offering a better chance of recovery, according to new research.

The rat before being injected with BBG.

Taxi driver Joseph Cohen sits in his cab Monday, July 27, 2009, in Boston

BOSTON – A family picked up by a taxi at the airport left a sleeping 5-year-old child behind in the back of the minivan — and the cabbie almost took the blame for it.

Joseph Cohen, a taxi driver for 39 years, picked up the family at Logan International Airport on Sunday, drove them to their home in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood, and helped them unload their luggage.

“They paid me, thank you very much, everything was nice, and I left,” he said.

Minutes later, Cohen got a call from the cab pool at the airport. State police, who have jurisdiction over Logan, were looking for him.

He was told the family left a child in his cab.

“I said, ‘What?’ So I looked in the back and I see the baby sleeping. I said, ‘What should I do?’ So you know, I take the baby (back) to the family,” he said. “The father came out. He was very happy.”

He even gave him a $50 tip.

The following day, Cohen was ordered to report to the Hackney unit, where police told him his license was being suspended for three days because he didn’t do a thorough check of the van. He appealed the suspension and was allowed to keep his license pending a hearing. On Tuesday, he visited the police station with an attorney and learned he would only get a warning.

“We are very happy that the baby was safely returned to mom and dad,” said Elaine Driscoll, a police spokeswoman. “That said, it was an important opportunity to remind cab drivers why we have a rule that dictates they must check the back of their cab after every fare.”

Cohen said the girl had been in the back of the van behind another seat and he could not see her from his rearview mirror or from the outside of the vehicle.

The cabbies’ union expressed outrage at the proposed suspension, saying the fault should lie with the child’s family, not the driver.

Police would not release the names of the parents but said they were not being investigated.

“I think the sad piece here is that the police are not recognizing the responsibility of the adults and are now saying this driver also has to be responsible for passengers who forget their children,” said Donna Blythe-Shaw, a staff representative for the United Steelworkers Boston Taxi Drivers Association.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Felipe Massa is already planning a return to racing and joking about keeping Michael Schumacher away from his car as he recovers from a high-speed crash.

Massa’s family doctor Dino Altman said Thursday the Brazilian driver was eating and walking around his hospital room.

He also appeared to have no problem in the left eye, which doctors feared had been badly injured in the crash during qualifying Saturday for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“He is back to normal,” Altman said.

Massa has been recuperating at the AEK hospital in Budapest after undergoing surgery on multiple skull fractures. The 28-year-old driver was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier.

Doctors have ruled out a return to Formula One this season, but Altman said Massa was already sending signals to Michael Schumacher that his comeback may be short-lived.

Ferrari announced Wednesday that the German seven-time F1 champion would come out of retirement to replace Massa until he is fit to return, starting with the European GP on Aug. 21-23, in Valencia, Spain.

“He has no fear at all,” Altman told reporters outside the hospital. “He thinks he will be able to race in Valencia.”

Altman said no decision had been made about transferring Massa from Budapest. Massa’s father, Luiz Antonio, said Wednesday he was expecting Massa to be transferred to a hospital in Paris soon.

Gerard Saillant, a French doctor who works closely with Formula One’s governing body FIA, also visited Massa on Thursday.

(CNN) — Felipe Massa is to return home to Brazil on Monday just nine days after fracturing his skull in a freak accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa appears well on the way to recovery after his horror crash.

more photos »

Massa is continuing to make a good recovery after having emergency surgery for life-threatening injuries he sustained in the horror crash last Saturday.

The Ferrari ace was struck full on the helmet by a suspension spring that had fallen off the Brawn GP of fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.

He was knocked unconscious and his car hurtled into a tire barrier at 200kph in the final qualifying for Sunday’s race which was won by Lewis Hamilton, who pipped Massa to the world title last season.

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Operated on at the AEK military hospital in Budapest, Massa spent two days in a medically-induced coma, but since coming around has improved rapidly.

His personal doctor, Dino Altmann, told reporters Friday that Massa had made rapid strides.

“He is doing very well, and we have already decided to go back home on Monday to Sao Paulo.”

Altmann said he would complete his recuperation at home rather than returning to Europe.

“He is to continue his recovery and return to racing as soon as possible, that’s the plan,” added Altmann.

Early fears that Massa may have lost some sight in his left eye as a result of the accident appear to have receded, but he will be replaced at the European Grand Prix in Valencia in three weeks time by Michael Schumacher.

Felipe Massa’s crash in pictures. »

The seven-time world champion is barred from testing the 2009 Ferrari as part of the new Formula One rules for the season, but has had a run out at their Maranello center in the 2007 car.

“Although the cars are not current or last year’s, I simply like to drive as much as possible, so it was a good option,” said the German.

“The next weeks are totally about preparation.”

Press Association reported that Ferrari have also written to the other nine teams on the grid to request that Schumacher be given a one-day test with this year’s car in a bid to get up to speed.

(CNN) — Michael Jackson’s personal chef Kai Chase says June 25 was shaping up as another typical day in the superstar’s usually peaceful and orderly home until an urgent plea from Jackson’s personal doctor sent panic sweeping through the household.

Michael Jackson’s personal chef Kai Chase appeared on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Thursday night.

In an interview with CNN’s Larry King that aired Thursday night, Chase described the chaotic events that fateful day and what life was like inside the Jackson family before the singer’s shocking death.

Chase said she was downstairs preparing lunch for Jackson — being sure to wrap it in Saran wrap because the singer liked his meals served room-service style — when Dr. Conrad Murray called out for her. Murray is the central focus of a federal investigation into the singer’s death, a law enforcement official told CNN on Wednesday.

Around noon or a little after, Chase said, “Dr. Murray comes down the stairs. There was a stairwell that leads into the kitchen. And he’s screaming: Hurry! Go get Prince. Call security. Get Prince.”

Chase said she quickly got Jackson’s oldest son.

“Within minutes, the paramedics are there. And the security is running upstairs, skipping stairs and all of a sudden we’re all, you know, panicked,” Chase told King. “So the energy in the house had just kind of changed from that happy kind of day that we were having and preparing lunch and having a good time to just kind of eerie.” Watch Chase’s interview with Larry King »

Chase said Jackson’s daughter, Paris, started crying and calling out for her father as people in the home came to realize how serious the medical situation was.

“We started crying and we all come together in unity in a circle and we started holding hands. And we started praying,” Chase said.

The chef said she was not allowed into the upstairs quarters of the home, but she had seen Michael Jackson downstairs on Wednesday, June 24. Nothing she saw the day before cause her alarm.

“He ate lunch with his children at the dinner table. And then I packed … his dinner for him to go to his rehearsal. He seemed like he was just, you know, tired,” Chase said. She attributed the way he felt to his long rehearsals.

Chase said Jackson did complain once about his demanding schedule.

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“The third day I was there, when I came back, he had told me, ‘You know, they’re killing me. They’re killing me because I’m working too much. I’m rehearsing too much.’ “

Between 1 and 1:30 p.m. June 25, Chase said security asked her to leave the home, and she never saw Michael Jackson being transported to the hospital. She didn’t learn of Jackson’s death until later that day on the radio.

Chase said that Murray was in the house often in June and she attributed the doctor’s frequent presence to Jackson’s rigorous rehearsal schedule for an upcoming series of concerts in London, England.

Search warrants filed Thursday in court in Clark County, Nevada, and carried out at Murray’s offices imply that investigators looking into his death believe the singer was a drug addict.

In his interview with Chase, King pressed for details of evidence of drug use by Jackson:

King: Did you notice oxygen tanks, because if it was Diprivan and they have to measure … your blood pressure? They also need oxygen tanks if you’re giving that drug. Did you notice them?

Chase: I saw the oxygen tanks, yes.

King: Where were they?

Chase: I would see Dr. Murray carrying the oxygen tanks down in the mornings.

King: On that morning or other mornings?

Chase: No. I didn’t see him that morning. I saw him in the afternoon, but other mornings.

King: He would carry them down?

Chase: Carry them down.

King: They were portable oxygen tanks?

Chase: Yes.

Chase said she just recently learned the warrants to search Murray’s offices cited her name as a suspected alias for Michael Jackson.

“I was just made aware of that from my publicist. I think that is … appalling. I have no clue what that is about,” Chase said.

She said detectives came to her home right after the death but did not ask her about her name being on any prescriptions.

“I don’t know what make of it,” Chase told King.

Chase, who said she’s been a professional chef for about 14 years, said she’s seen the Jackson children since June 25.

“They’re doing great. And I saw them a couple of weeks ago,” she said. “And they look great and they’re playing with their cousins and having a good time.”

Chase said she was first employed by Jackson in March but was let go. She said Jackson asked her to come back to their California residence in June and that the children were happy about her return.

She said the children gave her a “box of happiness” on return that contained little gifts and letters. One of them read in part:

“Dear Kai, thank you for the gifts and the gumbo. I hope you enjoy the gift. I think you’ll like it. Love, Prince Jackson.”

Chase said she said no evidence that Michael Jackson was a poor eater. In fact, she said just the opposite was true from her observations.

“He ate very well,” she said. “He ate organic and fresh. He [was] into the health foods and juices and things of that nature.”

Chase briefly addressed other subjects:

• On Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother: “I saw the interaction with them when I went to the home. … They love their grandma, you know. It’s a beautiful bond that they have together.”

• On Jackson’s ex-wife having visitation rights to her children: “I think Debbie Rowe should see and raise her children.”

• On Jackson’s planned London shows: “We started talking about bringing, you know, video games and stuff to the private jet. And it was just, you know, he was very excited about going on this — doing this tour. This is his comeback.”

Life in the Jackson household — from Chase’s account — was a loving and cheerful one and that he loved his three children.

“You know, I would bring … the lunches and set them on the table and they’d all come in and sit, close the door and they’d dine privately. And you would just hear laughter and story-telling and just beautiful things. Those were his babies.”

(CNN) — Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher could be set to make a shock return to Formula One as Ferrari look for a short-term replacement for the injured Felipe Massa.

Michael Schumacher remains very much part of the Ferrari set-up as an advisor for the Formula One team.

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The 28-year-old Brazilian is currently in intensive care at the AEK military hospital in Budapest after suffering a fractured skull in a freak accident in qualifying for Saturday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa’s condition has improved in the past 24 hours with doctors taking him out of a medically-induced coma on Monday night.

He has since responded well to questions and Peter Bazso, the medical director of the hospital, claimed on Tuesday morning that Massa might be able to walk out of the hospital in 10 days’ time.

Felipe Massa’s crash in pictures. »

“My expectation is that he would walk out of the hospital on his own. If his recovery continues, I wouldn’t rule out that he could leave within 10 days,” Bazso told Hungarian TV channel M1.

“He’s spending more and more time awake, talking to family and friends. I would like to point out that, although he is recovering, this is not the end of the story, he is still in a life-threatening condition. Of course, the danger is decreasing by the day.”

While the news regarding Massa’s condition continues to be encouraging, behind the scenes Ferrari are faced with the task of finding a replacement driver.

Doctors have said Massa will be out for at least six weeks, although there are still fears he may never return as a result of his injuries.

He will certainly miss the European and Belgian Grands Prix at the end of August, although the current four-week break before the next race in Valencia gives the Italian team time to assess their options.

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On the list of likely replacements could be Schumacher — who won five of his drivers’ titles with Ferrari and works as an advisor for the team.

The 40-year-old German’s representative Sabine Kehm told CNN: “There is no offer from Ferrari, but if they decided they need him, Michael would certainly weigh his options.”

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni later confirmed to the Press Association that Schumacher, who retired in 2006, was an option.

“We have said before that it is possible that Michael Schumacher could return to help us out,” said Colajanni. “However, we have two test drivers at Ferrari (Luca Badoer and Marc Gene) at the moment and Michael is an advisor.

Does safety need to be improved in Formula One?

“We have not spoken to him and we will have to wait and see what happens. It is something for (Ferrari team principal) Stefano Domenicali to consider over the coming weeks.

“We need to see how Felipe is and the situation will evolve from there. We are not in any hurry, the first and foremost thing is Felipe’s recovery.”

Colajanni also provided further encouraging news regarding Massa, although he played down Bazso’s assertion that he could walk out of hospital as early as next week.

“I think that on Monday he improved a lot but we have to remain cautious,” he said. “It is not useful to put forecasts on these things. I think for the moment we should just enjoy the positive improvements that Felipe is making.”

Massa was hurt when a spring that had fallen from the back of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car struck him on the helmet at high-speed, causing him to lose control of his car and crash into a tire barrier.

On Monday, Professor Robert Veres, the surgeon who operated on Massa over the weekend, told reporters that Massa had suffered some damage to his left eye, which could threaten his future in the sport.

“It’s too early to say about his future as we don’t know the extent of the damage. Without an operation it’s very hard to evaluate the eye’s function,” said Vares.

Massa’s crash came less than a week after Formula Two driver Henry Surtees, the son of former world champion John Surtees, was killed in similar circumstances, knocked unconscious by a tire which flew off another car in a race at Brands Hatch in England, before crashing.

Formula One’s safety record has improved dramatically in recent years, with the last fatality in 1994 when the legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna crashed at Imola.

CAMROSE, Alberta – Organizers on Sunday canceled the closing day of a country music festival in central Alberta a day after a fierce thunderstorm caused an outdoor stage to collapse, killing one person and injuring about 75 others.

Thousands of fans were camped out at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Edmonton, when strong winds and heavy rain struck about 6 p.m. on Saturday, sending people screaming and running for cover. Actor Kevin Costner who was about to perform with his band narrowly escaped serious injury.

Image of the collapsed stage.

The event is billed as Canada’s largest country music festival with attend ance estimated at 15,000.

Police and festival organizers told a news conference at the site Sunday that one person was killed by falling debris from the stage and about 75 others were injured, most of whom were treated at the site.

Camrose Police Chief Darrell Kambeitz said about 21 of the injured were taken to hospitals, two of whom were in critical condition.

At the news conference, officials made it clear that had very little advance warning of the severe storm. Kambeitz said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed local police at 5:55 p.m. about unconfirmed reports that a possible tornado had touched just south of Edmonton.

“We had people on the stage at 5:57 p.m., and the storm struck between 5:57 p.m. and 6 p.m,” he said.

Jamboree producer Larry Werner said his office also got a call saying a severe windstorm was heading directly for the venue and immediately let the performers know they had to get off the stage so an announcement could be made for the crowd to clear the concert bowl.

But the warning came too late. Fearing a tornado, panicked fans scrambled to find loved ones and shelter after the storm struck.

“We were all racing for the exit,” said Lori Trelenberg of Sherwood Park, Alberta. “It was devastation. It was strong and powerful. The stage just sort of crumbled.”

The Nashville-based Billy Currington band was playing when the power went out and the stage collapsed. One band member was pulled from the wreckage with a broken arm.

Costner and his band Modern West were getting ready to perform next when the stage caved in. Costner’s manager, Nick Meinama, said both he and the actor were caught underneath the stage.

“He was unhurt. I was unhurt. We wiggled our way out,” Meinama told CTV News Sunday. “We found that our road manager and guitar player had been hurt, but the ambulance and the paramedics were here instantly to take them to the hospital.”

Meinama said the two were later released from the hospital and were flying back to the U.S.

CFCW radio personality Danny Hooper was on the stage when the storm hit.

“I can’t describe the sky — it was brown and purple and green,” Hooper said on CFCW. “The massive wind blew me backwards.”

Claire Beaudoin was sitting only three rows from the stage when the storm struck, suddenly sending musical instruments, chairs and other debris flying. Beaudoin saw people falling.

“What went through my mind was `Oh, my God No!’ It was really scary. People were crying,” she said.

Vancouver-based country music singer Jessie Farrell, who had performed earlier Saturday, said it was a terrifying experience.

“It felt like bombs were going off around us in this concrete and steel building,” she told CTV News. “Huge hits of power hitting the building, and then the lights were off.”

Officials could not say immediately why the structure collapsed, or how long it would take to get answers. Provincial officials are helping with the investigation.

Heavy rain deluged the area for about an hour as emergency crews treated the injured and combed through the wreckage for more victims. The site was cordoned off by police as searchers worked through the night under blazing spotlights hung from massive cranes. The cranes were still clearing debris from the site Sunday.

The four-day festival in central Canada started Thursday and had been scheduled to wrap up Sunday.

Sunday’s program was cancelled by the promoter, who said the organizers were deeply saddened by the tragedy.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families, fans and friends impacted by this incident,” producer Werner said in a statement.

Social networking sites were quickly abuzz with reaction.

On Twitter, the Oak Ridge Boys sent this message: “Our prayers are with the Big Valley Jamboree. We have been there six times, including last summer. We know these folks.”

Environment Canada had issued a thunderstorm watch for the area Saturday and a similar watch remained in effect across much of central Alberta on Sunday. Forecasters noted that a line of thunderstorms marching across the region had the potential to produce high winds, hail, local downpours and lightning.

Saturday’s severe storm system was also blamed for the death of a toddler in Calgary who was killed when a piece of metal blew off a building under construction. Two other people on the sidewalk below were injured.

By Motorsport.com/GMM

His test in a 2009 Ferrari F60 blocked, Michael Schumacher instead turned to an Italian karting circuit to continue his preparation for his Formula One comeback.

Accompanied by Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer, the 40-year-old German travelled to the Lonato circuit in Italy.

“Karting has a very good training effect, that is why today I just jumped into a testing day of the Tony Kart team in Lonato,” he said on his official website michael-schumacher.de.

“There is nothing better for my preparations at the moment — in terms of steering wheel forces for example karting is even more difficult than Formula One,” Schumacher explained.

The high ambient temperatures, meanwhile, pleased the local photographers, who were able to capture the results of Schumacher’s weight-loss and training efforts as he walked the paddock topless.

“The fact that it has been boiling hot here is simulating the temperatures expected for Valencia,” Schumacher added.

LONDON – A British tabloid reported Saturday that the godfather of Michael Jackson’s three children claims to be the father of the singer’s daughter Paris.

The News of the World quotes Jackson’s longtime friend Mark Lester as saying that he “gave Michael my sperm so that he could have kids — and I believe Paris is my daughter.”

The newspaper also quotes Lester, is a 51-year-old former child star known for his lead role in the 1968 movie version of the state show “Oliver!” as saying he’s willing to take a paternity test.

In a video interview with Lester broadcast on the News of the World Web site, Lester said he donated his sperm at a London clinic. He said Jackson was married to Debbie Rowe at the time.

“She’s the birth mother of the children so I naturally assumed the sperm donation would obviously have gone into Debbie and Debbie would have borne the children,” he said.

He said Paris resembled his own 15-year-old daughter Harriet.

Rowe said he had made the revelations because he has “concerns about the welfare and upbringing of the children.”

“It’s a contact issue,” he said on the video. “I dearly want to remain in contact with those kids and I feel now this is the only way I can ensure that.”

Jackson and Lester became friends 27 years ago when Jackson’s manager told Lester the singer wanted to meet him. Lester lives in Cheltenham, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of London.

Calls to Lester’s home were not immediately returned.

This morning,  there was a program called ‘The Writing Minds’ at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). It started early in the morning. I estimated that there was about 15 to staffs at the program. Unfortunately, my family and I came late. We arrived at 2.00p.m. Even though I came late, I learned a lot.

In the program, Uncle Wan A. Hulaimi (known as Awang Goneng) thought about how to write. One of the things he thought was the definition of -Palindrome which means: A word that sound the same when you read it in both ways.                                                                                                                          He also gave us 10 good tips on how to write. It is to:

1. Always lead a sentence with your main ideas.
2. Vally the length of your sentence.
3. Never put your main idea in the middle.
4. Vally the structure of your sentence.
5. Use active verbs.
6. Use specific nouns and verbs.
7. Cut the clutter.
8. Read aloud when you revise.
9. Do not edit your work directly after you write your (Article, Post, Story, etc.).
10. Use a dictionary.

* If you don’t understand the tips you can ask in a form of comment.

There was one thing that Uncle Wan A. Hulaimi always reminded us, it is to NEVER BE SCARED TO USE A DICTIONARY EVEN THOUGH OU THINK THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD.

After the program ended, I went to Uncle Wan A. Hulaimi to ask for his signature and wrote a little message in my autograph, followed by my elder sister, my little brother and my little sister. I really enjoyed the program. I also learned a lot even though I came late, but I wished I had came earlier so that I can learn even more then what I had learned. I really wished I had came earlier. I hope Uncle Wan A. Hulaimi can come again to Malaysia as he now lives in London. He had once returned to his hometown at Terengganu on the 25th of of December 2007 when he organized a program called Monsoon Cuppa at my grandmother’s shop ‘Alam Akademik’ as he launched his book, ‘Growing Up In Trengganu’. Thanks for the knowledge Uncle Wan A. Hulaimi. I hope I can use them in the future.Click here to go to Uncle Wan A. Hulaimi’s blog.

Ramadhan Al- Mubarak!!!

Just now at about 12.19 p.m., my family and I went to Kampung Baru to buy some Bubur Lambuk for breaking fast at Aunty Sham’s stall. My sister went to take pictures, my mother went to meet Aunty Sham and I went to pass my father’s phone to my sister to snap some photos at Masjid Jamek.

There was a Ramadhan Bazaar and also Bubur Lambuk giveaway. When we wanted to go home, Aunty Sham gave us some Bubur Lambuk. I love Bubur Lambuk very much and I can’t wait to eat the tasty Bubur Lambuk when I break my fast.

If you open the Google’s website below is what you’ll see:

Why?

Because it’s Google’s 11th Birthday! And now I know that I’m older than Google. I’m still 11 and will turn 12 this November 6th .

How Did I Know About It.

At first I switched on the laptop and as usual Google’s website will pop up first as Google is my homepage. But when I look I was surprised to see that there was double “l”s. I thought something has gone wrong with my eye but when I look again, I realized that there was really double “l”s. So I coursed my mouse to the “Googlle” and it says there: … Google’s 11th birthday. I was so excited that I went and asked my sister  to switch on the Google and my sister was surprised too. And then I told her about it. Immediately after I told my sister, I post about it here. And that was exactly what had happen.

(CNN) — A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck the Pacific near American Samoa, triggering towering tsunami waves that gushed over the island and leaving at least 77 people dead.

The tsunami wave hit right in the middle of the harbor of Pogo Pogo, the capital.

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American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, speaking from Hawaii, said Tuesday’s quake ranked “right up there with some of the worst” disasters on the island. He said about 50 people had been treated for injuries so far but he expected that number to rise.

The quake hit the small cluster of South Pacific islands early Tuesday morning.

A series of aftershocks reverberated through the islands Tuesday and residents braced for more of nature’s wrath. Entire villages lay flattened or submerged. The walls of water were so strong that they twisted concrete beams and mangled cars. Roads, buildings and private homes were heavily damaged.

By Tuesday evening, Laumoli, standing outside the LBJ Tropical Medican Center morgue in the capital of Pago Pago, confirmed 22 deaths.

“I thought it was the end of the world,” said Dr. Salamo Laumoli, director of health services. “I have never felt an earthquake like that before.”

In neighboring Samoa, the death toll climbed to 55, said Maulolo Tavita, a government minister. There, the fear was that the fatalities would continue to rise.

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Laumoli also feared more fatalities would turn up in American Samoa as rescue workers were still trying to access parts of the island severed by damaged infrastructure.

Laumoli said people in outlying villages on one end of the main island have been cut off because the main bridge was washed away.

“Two or three villages have been badly damaged,” he told CNN International. Listen to Laumoli speak about the impact of the quake and tsunami »

Tulafono cited extensive damage to roads, buildings and homes, and said he had spoken to the military about mobilizing reserve forces for assistance.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, canceled tsunami watches and warnings for American Samoa about four hours after the earthquake hit. However, a tsunami advisory is still in effect for for the coastal areas of California and Oregon. Watch report on end of tsunami warning »

The Japan Meteorological Agency also activated a tsunami advisory along its eastern coast. The precautionary alert means that the height of a possible tsunami wave would be less than a foot and a half.

President Barack Obama “declared a major disaster exists in the Territory of American Samoa” late Tuesday and ordered federal aid to supplement local efforts. The declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals.

The tsunami waves hit right in the middle of the Pago Pago harbor, the capital, said Cinta Brown, an American Samoa homeland security official working at the island’s emergency operations center. The water devastated the village of Leone. Watch a resident talk about what happened »

“The wave came onshore and washed out people’s homes,” Brown said.

The same happened on the hard-hit east and west sides of American Samoa, she said.

The quake generated three separate tsunami waves, the largest measuring 5.1 feet from sea level height, said Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Preliminary data had originally reported a larger tsunami.

Officials in the U.S. territory issued a clear call and were focusing on assessing the damage, Brown said.

In Samoa, Tavita, the government minister, said he spent hours speaking with village mayors and affected families.

People, still in disbelief, answered his questions with a frugality of words, he said.

“It was like talking to statues.”

Samoan resident Steve Percival lives 2,500 feet above sea level, in a hilltop home in Apia. But Tuesday morning, no mountain was high enough for the filmmaker and his family.

He felt the ground move and watched about 100 of his 200 videos tumble from their neatly stacked trays.

“It was felt everywhere,” Percival said.

Tulafono, the American Samoa governor, was on his way back home from Hawaii on Tuesday night on one of two U.S. Coast Guard C-130 transport planes delivering aid.

The Coast Guard is also transporting more than 20 officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to American Samoa, said John Hamill, external affairs officer for FEMA in Oakland, California.

The FEMA team will include a variety of debris experts, housing experts, members of the Corps of Engineers, and other disaster relief specialists, Hamill said.

Tulafono told reporters Tuesday that it was hard being away from home when disaster came calling. It was a time, he said, for families to be together.

OHANNESBURG (AFP) – Mining group Petra Diamonds has discovered a 507.55 carat white diamond at South Africa’s Cullinan mine, one of the largest high-quality rough diamonds ever found, the firm said on Tuesday.

“This spectacular gemstone was recovered on Thursday 24 September and is currently with experts for analysis,” said a statement released by the London-listed company which operates mainly in Africa.

Initial examinations of the diamond which weighs just over 100 grams (3.5 ounces), have shown it to be of exceptional colour and clarity.

The diamond is undergoing colour grading, but is believed to be a rare Type II diamond, with very low traces of nitrogen — considered an impurity — making them among the most transparent and colourless of the gems.

“The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond… we now eagerly await the findings of the expert analysis,” said Johan Dippenaar, Petra’s chief executive.

The precious stone was found alongside three other special white gems of similar colour and clarity, a large diamond of 168.00 carats and two other stones of 58.50 and 53.30 carats.

The mine which was previously owned by diamond mining giant De Beers, is renowned for the discovery of the famed Cullinan Diamond in 1905, which is part of the British crown jewels and weighed 3106 carats.

In May 2008, the mine produced a sparkling 101.27 carat diamond, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.

The Cullinan Diamond Mine is the third richest diamond producing mine in South Africa.

(CNN) — Searchers in California say they have found and identified the wreck of a fighter jet that disappeared into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles International Airport nearly 54 years ago.

Searchers found the wreckage of a T-33A jet on the Santa Monica Bay floor. The jet disappeared in 1955.

The searchers were looking for another missing plane when they came upon the wreckage of a Lockheed T-33A jet trainer, said Pat Macha, an aircraft archeologist who has identified about 3,700 crash sites and visited more than 800.

“It’s a funky thing,” Macha said Tuesday. “You’re looking for one aircraft, and you find another.”

The T-33 disappeared shortly after taking off on an early-morning training navigation flight October 15, 1955, an Air Force Aircraft Accident Report says. Two crewmen were aboard. The plane had been presumed lost at sea all these years.

The discovery started this year near Austin, Texas, where computer expert Gary Fabian found “what looked like a few little pixels” on a high-definition U.S. Geological Survey image of the Santa Monica Bay ocean floor.

Fabian is the founder of a group of unpaid sleuths who discovered a missing World War I German U-boat off the California coast in 2003. The group, known as UB88.org, has continued to search for other wrecks.

Before moving to Texas, Fabian became interested in military aircraft wrecks and found Macha about five years ago in Huntington Beach, California.

Macha told him about his search for the wreckage of a P-51D Mustang fighter flown by World War II Women’s Air Force Service pilot Gertrude V. “Tommy” Tompkins Silver. The plane was presumed lost at sea in 1944.

Of the 38 WASP pilots who lost their lives in World War II, Macha said, Silver’s is the only wreckage that has not been found. Macha has been searching for the wreckage for 11 years.

Silver’s 100-year-old sister lives in Florida, Macha said, and he would like to find the wreckage so she can know what happened.

From Texas, Fabian sent the map info to Ray Arntz, owner and operator of a southern California dive company and a fellow member of UB88.org.

Arntz and some his employees set out to search three wrecks using side-scan sonar. Two turned out to be boats. They weren’t sure about the third.

“I just grabbed a tank and went down to look at it,” Arntz said.

He saw a fairly compact debris field with a lot of aluminum, which indicated that it was an airplane. Then he saw landing gear.

” ‘It’s an airplane,’ I said to myself. ‘How do we go from here?’ “

A manufacturer’s number on a feed mechanism for a 50-caliber machine gun started him and the others toward piecing together what they had found. The engine appeared to be a jet, so he knew it wasn’t the Mustang, which had a propeller motor.

By that point, Arntz said, “We know it’s not what we’re looking for.”

The manufacturer’s number indicated that it was a T-33 Shooting Star. Researching government documents, the searchers found that a T-33 had disappeared in the area.

“It just matched what we had,” Arntz said. “The T-33 was it.”

That was about a month ago. The searchers kept quiet about their find until family members could be notified. Macha said he spoke with a relative of one of the two crew members a few days ago.

The Air Force accident report identifies the pilots as Lt. Richard Martin Theiler and Lt. Paul Dale Smith. Theiler had 1,244 hours of flying experience, and Smith had 430.

Another volunteer group called Missing Aircraft Search Team also helped find the wreckage.

The searchers had another reason for initially keeping silent about their find.

“We’re trying to quietly do this stuff and move on so the sites don’t get ravaged,” Arntz said.

The group also found a B-36 Peacemaker bomber near San Diego last year. The plane disappeared in 1952.

For the three searchers, finding wrecks is an unpaid passion.

“We do this fairly consistently,” said Arntz, 61. “As amateurs, this is our form of recreation.”

Said Fabian with a laugh, “It’s an absolutely money-losing proposition.”

Fabian, 46, is an ex-sports fisherman who says he has an “obsession” with the water and an “interest in the maritime history of Southern California.”

Macha, 64, says he got interested in aircraft wrecks in the 1960s when he found a crash site while working in a Boy Scout camp in the San Bernardino Mountains.

There are 2,500 crash sites in California, he said, where all or parts of an airplane still remain. Some of them are chronicled on his Web site, aircraftwrecks.com.