Although it is still in its alpha stage and is not perfect yet, it is indeed a Wowing news to see Google -forbidding Iranians to access some of its certain pages or downloading its products like Google Chrome and toolbar due to sanctions- is finally adding Persian to its translation tool too


more reading:
Google Translates Persian

Iranian artists have created the world's largest sand carpet from the colorful sand found on the country's southern island of Hormuz.



Some 25 visual artists used 70 types of colorful sand to create the 'Persian Gulf' sand carpet, which is on display from Dec. 9 to 17, 2008.



The 12000-square-meter carpet which is unique in magnitude, pattern and color is named after the beautiful "Persian Gulf". The other World's large sand carpet was a 900-square-meter one created on the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.









Beautiful.

Images courtesy of Fars News Agency and ISNA.
News source: Payvad
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Holy Sh*t! What a crime is done in the name of God >:-(

The news is that an old big tree in Northern Iran (Guilan) was simply cut down by the order of the Men of God (ayatollahs) for just being considered by some ordinary people as a holy one!!!! 40 more other old trees are also in the row of being cut down for the above mentioned stupid reason >:-(

Cutting down a tree in itself is just like doing a crime, a murder, let alone it being an ancient one. But who cares, when the only thing that doesn't matter in this Islamic country is the saving of anything ancient :-(

Update:

Los Angeles Times Blog has more of the story which you can also digg here. .

Petition:
امضا کنید : محکومیت قطع درختان کهنسال به بهانه ی مبارزه با خرافه پرستی
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Clerics say Female Flag-bearer at Olympics "Constitutes an Obstacle for the Appearance of Imam Mahdi and disgraces Islam"

Tehran, 8 August (AKI) - Iranian religious figures have criticised that Olympic female rower Homa Hosseini was chosen as the flag bearer of Iran, calling the move a 'heresy'.

"To make a woman march with the flag of the Islamic Republic in Beijing, is pure heresy and shows total disobedience of the laws mandated by our spiritual guides," said Seyyed Ahmad Elmalhoda, leader of Friday prayers in Iran's holy city of Mashhad.

Hosseini, 19, grew up in Iran's Kermanshah province in western Iran, she is one of three Iranian female competitors at the Olympic Games and Iran's first ever female rower. The other two female competitors are Najmeh Abtin (archery) and Sara Khoshjamal (Tae Kwon Do).

"To make this woman march means to openly declare war to our religious values. Whoever is responsible for this unforgivable act, he should know that this gesture constitutes an obstacle for the 'appearance' of Mahdi," said Elmalhoda.

He was referring to the mainly Shi'a Islam belief that Imam Mohammed al-Mahdi (aka Imam Zaman) will appear to fight a final apocalyptic battle over the forces of evil.

Followers believe he was born in the year 868 and has been in hiding ever since awaiting a decision from god to reappear.

sources: [1], [2], [3]

These photos are published by IRNA and their original size is 800 x ~600

started the Beijing Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony was magnificent and beautiful (I watched it on a satellite channel as it was heavily censored on our Islamic TV >:-(

The following images are collected from different news sites or forums but their credits go to Getty Images and AP.

I just read this story. Although it was occurred on 31 July, it was so horrifying and shaking that I decided to post it here too.

Man Decapitated ‘Beheaded’ Aboard Greyhound Bus - Canada
July 31, 2008

A man aboard a Canada Greyhound bus was decapitated after being repeatedly stabbed b y another passenger. Police said Thursday they didn’t know what prompted a passenger on a Greyhound bus heading to Winnipeg to viciously attack the man sitting next to him. Passengers said the man repeatedly stabbed his seat-mate before beheading him and carrying the victim’s head around the bus. Shocked passengers described the horrific attack as something incomprehensible (you can continue reading more here if you still have the heart to :(

Oh my dear God, where the hell this world is coming to???
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The Media Line (08/05/2008) - Arabic is being used less frequently in the Persian Gulf, because of the increasing population of foreigners in these countries, and is in danger of vanishing, a sociology expert says.

In most Persian Gulf countries today the majority of the population is made up of foreigners who have come there to seek employment and they do not speak Arabic.

In the UAE, for example, fewer than 20 percent of the four-million-strong population are Emiratis, while the rest hail from other countries, with more than 1.5 million from India alone.

“There is a big concern in this country about the death of Arabic as a language and the death of Arabic culture,” says Muhammad Aboelenein , chairman of the sociology department at the UAE University .

Some argue that Arabic will never die because it is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and Muslims are very keen to preserve their Islamic traditions, he adds.

“However, others are concerned about the diversity of languages and cultures in the UAE, to the extent that Arabic might fade away and will be replaced by English, as the international language in which almost everybody can communicate,” he told The Media Line.

“There is real concern among politicians and educators about what will happen with the language over the next few years if the situation continues, with more people coming here speaking different languages.”

News reports suggest that restaurants in Dubai have been warned they must provide menus in Arabic as well as in English.

Thousands of foreigners, mostly from Asian countries, have flocked to the UAE in recent years seeking employment and profiting from the oil and construction boom in the Persian Gulf.

But the diversity of languages has created a language barrier. English is being partially used as a solution, but locals have also created a hybrid language from Arabic and Asian languages, which is used for communication with the foreigners, Aboelenein says.

“People are getting to know more English than before. There’s a large focus on it in education, and the university where I work has started to use English as a teaching language,” he says.

LONDON, (CAIS) -- Column bases of the Achaemenid Apadana Palace of ancient Susa in Khuzestan Province have recently been demolished by vandals.

The palace’s remaining column bases have been broken into two pieces and the Old-Persian cuneiform inscriptions on the base have been obliterated, the Khuzestan Cultural Heritage Lovers Society (Tariana) spokesman Mojtaba Gahestuni told the Persian service of CHN on Sunday.

The stone inscriptions have been severed and scattered around the ancient archaeological site, he added.

“The reason for the destruction of the artefacts is not clear,” Gahestuni remarked, adding, “The incident probably results from the vandals’ ignorance of the historical significance of the relics.”

He went on to say that many problems are caused by the lack of protection and appropriate fencing around the site which covers about 360 hectares.

“The Khuzestan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department (KCHTHD) undertook the installation of rods around the zone, but the measure was inadequate and has not prevented unauthorized people from entering the precinct,” Gahestuni explained.
According to Gahestuni, the use of concrete and iron rods for demarcation purposes has even led to some damage to the area.

The Apadana Palace is also being threatened by the construction of a preparatory school on its perimeter.

In early December, Tariana sent letters to the Islamic regime’s president Mahmud Ahmadinejad, asking him put a stop to the project – but the letter not so surprisingly was ignored.

The school building, which is to be four stories tall, will spoil the horizontal view from the palace ruins.

In addition, the historical metropolis of Susa, which has been inhabited for over 7000 years, is being spoilt by regime’s Municipality’s construction of a passenger bus terminal in the Shush city’s southern section.

Experts have previously given warning of the chaotic situation at the site, pointing out that such disorder has facilitated the illegal activities of smugglers who have managed to carry out excavations in search of antiquities.

“Although some have claimed who try to be politically correct, that the vandalism was done out of ignorance, but everyone knows that it was done on purpose – the evidence is the razing of the Old-Persian cuneiform inscription from the base”, said an archaeologists with KCHTHD who wished to remain anonymous for his safety.

Same archaeologist added: “this crime against our national heritage either was done by the regime's elements, who are against anything Iranian in particular pre-Islamic, or the Arab settlers of the province, who are anti-Iranians and have always acted as a fifth column in our country, esp during the Iran-Iraq war – which the Islamic regime has increased their numbers since 1980s”.

Historical background:

Susa is one of the oldest-known settlements in the world, which possibly was founded about 4200 BCE, although the first traces of an inhabited village have been dated to ca. 7000 BCE.
In historic times, Susa was the primary capital of the Elamite Empire, and was known as Šušan and Šušun. The city appears in the Sumerian records of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, and it is described as one of the places obedient to Inanna, patron deity of Uruk.
Cyrus the Great incorporated Susa to the Achaemnid Persian Empire in 538 BCE, and later under his son Cambyses II, the capital of the dynastic Empire was moved from Pasargadae to Susa. The city lost some of its importance when Alexander of Macedon sacked and looted the city in 331 BCE. After Alexander, Susa fell to his successors, the Seleucids. The city was finally liberated by the third Iranian dynasty, the Parthians who made Susa as one of their capitals alongside Ctesiphon.
Susa was destroyed at least four times in its’ history. The first was in 647 BCE, by the Assyrian king, Assurbanipal; the second destruction took place in 331BCE by Alexander; the third destruction was done in 338 CE, by the Moslem’s invading armies. Finally, in 1218, the city was completely destroyed by invading Mongols. The ancient city was gradually abandoned in the years that followed - and now its' remains witnesses the last blow to its existence by the Islamic regime and Arab settlers of the province.

© CAIS NEWS ( ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD )

يكى از پايه‌ ستون‌هاى كاخ آپادانا در شوش تخريب شد