Michael Jackson's Death

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A Bahraini royal who fell out with Michael Jackson after hosting him in this Gulf emirate for a year said Saturday he was saddened by the entertainer's death.

Across the small kingdom, Bahrainis embraced Jackson as one of their own. "God have mercy on him. He was a Bahraini. He lived with us," said Jassim Ali, 35, after buying a Jackson CD in a music store in the capital, Manama.

Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Isa Al Khalifa, a son of Bahrain's king and an aspiring songwriter, had befriended Jackson after the singer's trial on child molestation charges in 2005.

He invited him to live in Bahrain and showered him with money.

After Jackson left the Gulf emirate in 2006, the sheik said Jackson failed to fulfill a joint music venture and sued Jackson for $7 million. Jackson denied the charge, saying the money was a gift. The two settled the dispute in a November deal, whose terms were not disclosed.

The sheik said Saturday, in a statement in the Gulf Daily News, that "the world has lost a giant in the music industry."

"We are all very saddened by that," Al Khalifa said in comments confirmed by his spokesman.

Jackson had kept a low profile during his year in Bahrain. He didn't perform and largely stayed close to his host, the king's son, and his entourage.

Some Bahrainis on Saturday recalled encounters with Jackson and said they're proud he chose the emirate as a home, even if briefly.

"In a way, I am glad he recognized Bahrain as a safer environment for him and his kids," said Hala Abdel Wahab, a 24-year-old doctor.

She said she once saw the singer trotting through a fashionable mall in Manama, his frail body draped in a traditional women's abaya, or robe, which covers part of the face. Abdel Wahab said Jackson drew a crowd at the time since he didn't walk like a woman.

Qays al Zu'bi, 53, a Bahraini lawyer, said he was helping Jackson with his finances at the time and accompanied Jackson on trips in the region, including a consultancy job in the Gulf state of Oman.

Al-Zu'bi said Jackson had qualities about him that endeared him to the people around him, including his close relationship with his children.

"He had an aura about him," said the attorney, who said he shared family dinners with the singer. "He enriched my life in one way or another, aside from his music."

Baby with Three Arms(China)5

This 2-month-old baby named Liu Junjie from Anhui Province, China, was born with a third arm on 2006. Doctors successfully removed the extremely rare and well-developed third arm, but the baby required long-term physical therapy to gain function in his remaining hand, which has no palm and flexes in either direction. "We're hoping to exchange information with doctors who've dealt with similar cases anywhere in the world," said Chen, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children's Medical Center. "This is so rare that we have virtually no information to go on."

Feet facing backwards(China)4

Wang Fang, 27, of Chongqing city in China, was born with her feet facing the wrong way. She has learned to live with her condition without problems and recently refused a disability pension by being classified as disabled. "I can run faster than most of my friends and have a regular job as a waitress in the family restaurant. There is no reason to class me as disabled."

Largest Hand (China)-2

Lui Hua suffers from a rare condition known as macrodactyly. When he was hospitalized in Shanghai on July 2007, his left thumb measured 10.2 inches and his index finger measured close to 12. On July 20 surgeons undertook a seven-hour operation to reduce the size of Liu's fingers and thumb. Doctors removed 11 pounds of flesh and bone in the procedure. A second surgery is scheduled to take place. Enlarged limbs can be caused by a number of medical conditions. Lymphedema is perhaps the most common cause and results in some extraordinarily enlarged limbs.

Frog-like Baby (Nepal)-01

On 2006, this bizarre-looking baby was born in Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakha district, attracting a huge number of onlookers to witness the astonishing sight.

The neck-less baby with its head almost totally sunk into the upper part of the body and with extraordinarily large eyeballs literally popping out of the eye-sockets, was born to Nir Bahadur Karki and Suntali Karki at the Gaurishnkar Hospital in Charikot. The Karki couple is a permanent resident of Dolakha's Bhirkot VDC.


The bizarre baby, however, died after half an hour of its birth, Suntali, the mother, informed. It was taken to the hospital after its death. The news about such a baby being brought to the hospital spread like wildfire and there were hundreds gathered at the hospital to have a look. The police had to be deployed to control the crowd.

The baby weighed 2kg at birth and was born after the normal nine-month gestation period. Suntali, already a mother of two normal daughters, was not suffering from any illness during the pregnancy. Nir Bahadur, the father, says he does not feel any remorse for the newly-born baby's death. "I am happy that nothing happened to my wife," he said.

NOTE: Our readers, Becca and Andrew, report us that "the baby has a condition called anencephaly, a neural tube defect (like the cyclops baby), with no proper brain formation. The baby would have died a few days later. That's why women are advised to take folate in early pregnancy." --Thank you!

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Get comfy

Get comfy

Of the updates that enhance the rider environment, improving heat management was priority numero uno to consumers participating in focus groups. Yep, it’s no secret that the first iteration of the C-14 dumped heat on the rider, as we noticed in the 2008 intro.


The new windscreen is taller and now wider at the top. Higher placement of the mirrors also aids wind protection.

The new model has restyled, “heat dissipating” bodywork. The lower portion of the main fairing that sits out in front of the rider’s legs is now wider and has larger venting in order to better move hot air away from the rider while in motion. A new seal between the fairing and engine was also added to cut back on the heat dumped on the rider during idle.

Though ambient air along our ride route in the Palm Springs area and surrounding mountain communities was in the upper 80s to low 90s, I was still able to get a sense that less heat was making its way to me than it did on the previous Connie. Seems Kawi’s use of Computational Fluid Dynamics paid dividends in getting rid of the heat.

Next up is a new windscreen 70mm taller than the previous. It’s also wider at the top for increased wind protection. In an effort to reduce buffeting, new air passages were added under the screen and in the upper right and left portions of the dash area. Further aiding (if even a little) in wind protection and improving rearward views are mirrors that are now 40mm higher.

The changes seem subtle, but the experience was that the goal of better wind protection and less buffeting was met. Really, though, this is one of those subjective areas, as rider heights vary widely, so you’re likely to agree or disagree