Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi: Hajj may be banned if swine flu gets serious


TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) – If the danger posed by swine flu disease becomes serious, the hajj travel will not only be stopped but it will probably be haram (religiously banned), Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi announced on Thursday.

Although Hajj is an important issue, serious dangers must not be overlooked, Makarem Shirazi said in a message to the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization’s inquiry.

Therefore, if the disease remains at its current level, there will not be any problems but if it deteriorates in the next two months a decision must be made to stop its spread, he added.

A total of 238 people in Iran have been so far diagnosed with swine flu, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, hajj pilgrims account for 52% of the patients, and travelers to other countries, especially South-East Asian states, make up 30% of the total number.

Ramazan moon not sighted


ISLAMABAD: Chairman Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman has announced Friday that the moon has not been sighted and the first of Ramazan will be on Sunday, August 23rd.
He was addressing a press conference after the meeting of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for sighting the moon of Ramazan, 1430-Hijri, which was held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs here.
The provincial and zonal
Ruet-e-Hilal committees had earlier informed that Ramazan moon was not sighted from any place in Pakistan.

allama Maqsood domki chief J.A.P has been targeted in Quetta.


J.A.P announce with deep regret that allama Maqsood Domki.Cheif  J.A.P of baluchistan has been targeted  in Quetta .During exchange of fire by allam’s security guard ,one terrorist have been killed.

quetta-map

Herbs, vitamins that can hurt you


(CNN) — Carole Grant doesn’t really trust medical doctors. She never has. Whenever she has had a health issue, she has headed straight for an herbalist, acupuncturist or other “natural” healer.A few years ago, her alternative practitioner of choice was a self-described “intuitive healer” in New York, where she lives. The healer put Grant on a regimen of herbs, supplements and vitamins to help her lose weight.

A few weeks later, Grant, a geriatric care manager, was closing up an apartment for an elderly client who’d died when she started feeling strange sensations in her toes.

“They were tingling like crazy,” Grant said. “I thought it was the carpet in the apartment, because it was old and dirty, and I’d taken my shoes off.”

When the tingling in her toes spread to her feet, Grant knew that it was more than just the dingy carpet. When it spread to her legs, she knew that she was really in trouble.

“Both legs went numb up to my knees,” she remembers.

Grant sought help from a podiatrist, who insisted that she get care from a medical doctor. Grant chose Dr. Roberta Lee, vice chairwoman of the Department of Integrative Medicine at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. After some testing, Lee discovered the reason for Grant’s numbness: She had sky-high amounts of vitamin B6 in her blood, which can interfere with circulation.”The intuitive healer had told me to double my dose of vitamin B6,” Grant said. “She never told me when to stop the double dose, and I never checked with her.”

It turned out the healer was having Grant take about 100 times the normal dose of B6, according to Lee. The healer had intended for Grant to take this high dose for a few weeks. Instead, she took it for more than four months.

“It blew my mind to think this could happen to someone like me,” Grant said. “I’m so careful. I’ll use every natural modality I can before taking medicine.”

Lee says that although it’s unusual, she’s seen other patients get into trouble with herbs, supplements and vitamins precisely because they’re less cautious with something that’s natural than they would be with a drug.

“A lot of people think herbs are safe because they come from nature, and they are safe if used properly,” Lee said. “But you can still get into trouble with them.”

“I don’t think any herb is good or bad. It’s how we use it,” said Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic. “Sometimes people take too much. They think, if two is good, then 20 must be better.”

Here’s a list of herbs and supplements that can be dangerous if taken the wrong way: either in high doses, in combination with certain drugs or before surgery.1. St. John’s wort

This herb, often taken to relieve depression, is always at the top of the list of potentially problematic natural remedies because it can cause serious side effects and increase or decrease the potency of many medications. The Mayo Clinic recommends that many people should avoid it, including those taking antidepressants, anti-blood-clotting drugs, certain asthma drugs, immune-suppressing medications or steroids.

2. Kava

A sedative herb, kava is associated with serious liver problems, even when taken for a very short time, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s especially risky if you’re taking drugs to lower cholesterol.

3. Fish oil

Though it’s a very safe supplement to increase your intake of heart-healthy fat, Lee says she’s seen patients have excessive bleeding when taking high doses of fish oil. “It’s not life-threatening, but for example, I’ve seen where people are taking too much fish oil, and they’ll have prolonged bleeding from acupuncture needles.”

How much fish oil is too much? More than 5 grams — or 5,000 milligrams — a day, according to Bauer.

4. Artemisinin

Last week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, details the case of a man who developed hepatitis after taking the herb artemisinin for stomach problems. There was no other reason for his hepatitis, and the disease went away when he stopped taking the herb, and the authors suggested that doctors be aware of a possible relationship between the artemisinin and hepatitis.

5. Various herbs when taken before surgery

Dr. David Rowe, a plastic surgeon, was operating on a patient when he noticed an unusual amount of bleeding.

“The tissue was just oozing, and we couldn’t figure out why,” he remembered, noting that the patient had told him he wasn’t taking any supplements. “After the surgery I asked the patient, ‘Are you sure you’re not taking anything?’ and he said, ‘Oh, yes, I’m taking this, this and this.’ ”

In a paper published this year in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Rowe listed about a dozen herbs that should be avoided within two weeks of surgery, including common ones such as garlic, ginseng and echinacea. Some increase bleeding and some affect the heart, and others interfere with anesthesia or other drugs.

It’s imperative that you tell your surgeon absolutely every natural remedy you’re taking, says Rowe, an assistant professor of plastic surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. Studies have shown that 60 to 70 percent of patients don’t tell their physicians about supplements.

He tells his patients to read their supplement labels carefully.

“One supplement can have 10 or 15 things in it, so you may not know what you’re on, which is really scary for us surgeons,” he said.

As for Grant, she’s still feeling tingling and numbness in her legs and feet even three years later.

Mansour: The Aqsa Mosque is exposed to real threats


NABLUS, (PIC)– Hamas lawmaker Mona Mansour stressed Thursday that the Aqsa Mosque is exposed to real threats as a result of the ongoing Israeli violations against it, warning that Israel is waging an unprecedented barbaric and brutal war on the whole city of occupied Jerusalem aimed at obliterating its Arab and Islamic identity.

“Since the first day of the occupation of Jerusalem city, the Zionist gangs have been seeking under flimsy historical pretexts to control the city, both west and east,” MP Mansour underlined.

She said that the Aqsa Mosque is facing demolition threats as a result of Israeli excavations taking place beneath it, noting that parts of the Mosque sustained cave-ins and fractures.

For his part, Hamas lawmaker Khalil Al-Raba’ee, a prisoner in Israeli jails, condemned in a leaked letter the expansion of settlement and apartheid wall, the demolition of homes and displacement of families as a real Judaization holocaust in the 21st century.

MP Raba’ee stressed the need for one united Palestinian position supported by all Arab and Muslim efforts in the world to confront Judaization schemes in Jerusalem and defend all Palestinian rights.

Prohibition of Qadr night Ihya (Spending night awake) in Saudi Arabia


According to  ABNA.IR – The security office of Saudi Arabian cities expressed – the direction which comes from the interior ministry of Saudi Arabia – celebrate such rituals after the 12pm during the holly month of Ramadan will threat the security of the country so it became prohibited.

The managers and custodians of the Shia Mosques and Husseiniyas forced to singing the warranty and accept if any ritual after the midnight held Mosques or Husseiniya will be plump and its manager will be seized. All the managers and custodians stood against the direction of the security authorities and didn’t signature the warranty and knew it as a apposition against the freedom of religion specially in holly month of Ramadan which is the month of pray, worship, vigil.

In this way, with the direction of the interior ministry of Saudi Arabia it seems the Saudi Shia will face with problems to perform the Qadrs night Ihya and the security forces will obstacle the rituals in the Mosques and the Husseiniyas.

These acts of the interior ministry and the other authorities of Saudi Arabia will make anger not only the Shias rather the all Muslims around the world.

UN Security Council hails polls in Afghanistan


UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 21 (APP): The UN Security Council on Thursday  welcomed the holding of the presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan, and condemned those who sought to disrupt the process. In a statement read to the press here, British UN Ambassador John Sawers, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for August, congratulated the people of Afghanistan “on their participation in these historic elections.”

Despite Taliban attacks in 15 provinces, millions of Afghans on Thursday went to 7,000 polling stations across the country to choose their president, who is elected for a five-year tenure and could serve a maximum of two terms.

Among the 41 candidates, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Financial Minister Ashraf Ghani are main rivals of President Hamid Karzai, who won the 2004 presidential election with 55 percent of the vote.

Karzai hailed the election a success, praising the Afghan people for braving Taliban “bombs and intimidations.” His government said at least 26 people have been killed in the attacks. The vote counting could take about three weeks and the final result is expected to be announced on Sept. 17.

“The members of the Security Council welcome the holding of the presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan on Aug. 20, 2009,” the statement said.

“The members of the Council reiterate the importance of these elections as Afghanistan, working together with other members of the international community, continues to make progress towards its goals and congratulate the people of Afghanistan on their participation in these historic elections,” it said.

NKorean condolence delegation arrives in Seoul


SEOUL: A high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul on Friday to pay respects to late former President Kim Dae-jung, a rare visit that raised hopes of improved relations between the tense neighbors.
A plane carrying the six-member delegation landed Friday afternoon, Gimpo airport official Park Hyun-il told newsmen. He did not provide further details.
The convoy is to head straight for the National Assembly, where Kim’s body will lie in state until his funeral Sunday. Kim, 85, died Tuesday.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the delegation is headed by senior Workers’ Party official Kim Ki Nam and includes the country’s spy chief, Kim Yang Gon.
It was not immediately clear whether the North Koreans would hold talks with South Korean officials before returning home Saturday.
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters no other itinerary for the North Koreans had been set.
However, the trip — the first by North Korean officials to the South in nearly two years — could provide a valuable opportunity for contact between officials from the two Koreas, which technically remain at war.
Ties have been tense since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative, took office last year, abandoning the previous administration’s “Sunshine Policy” of reaching out to the communist North with aid.
Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and champion of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, was the architect of the Sunshine Policy.
After holding a historic summit in 2000 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, South Korea’s Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts at engaging the North after decades of inter-Korean tensions.
Kim Jong Il sent a condolence message to Kim’s family on Wednesday. North Korean media announced the next day that he approved sending a delegation to Seoul to visit the mourning site.
North Korea has only dispatched a condolence delegation only once before — a one-day trip in 2001 during the mourning period for Chung Ju-yung, the founder of South Korea’s Hyundai Group, which funded the first inter-Korean joint projects.