Arabian Peninsula

For those of you that like to interminably argue the merits of one country over another here is a good research tool.

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.

Here are two I found interesting but there are 700 maps in the collection.
The distribution of the earth's population is shown in this map.
India, China and Japan appear large on the map because they have large populations. Panama, Namibia and Guinea-Bissau have small populations so are barely visible on the map:

http://www.worldmapp...

Here is one on population density of the Arabian Peninsula:

http://www.worldmapp...

This is quite interesting coz every Filipino Worker here in Qatar is expecting some changes also in terms of sponsorship rules...
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OFWs in Bahrain to benefit from new sponsorship rule
08/01/2009 | 02:49 PM

Some 40,000 Filipinos working in Bahrain will be among the main beneficiaries of a decision by the Bahrain government to ease sponsorship rules for them, a report said Saturday.

To help make the 40,000 Filipino workers in Bahrain aware of the new policy, the Philippine Embassy is preparing an awareness campaign, said online news site Khaleej Times (www.khaleejtimes.com).

Dubai: The layer of dust blanketing the Arabian Peninsula and the UAE, originating from Iraq, could be more specifically coming from the country's drying marshes once fringed by a fifth of the world's palm trees and consequently drained by then president Saddam Hussain, a scientist has said.

Iraqi professor of physics, Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal believes the dried up marshes of southern Iraq is one of many man-made disasters that hit Iraq, which was once the region's most fertile area.

Over the weekend,I was invited to a lunch on saturday by one of my colleagues here. He is a Local. This visit to his place gave me a wonderful opportunity to learn some amazing customs of the locals. I heard about the following and looked them up on the net:

Ardha is a type of folkloric dance performed by the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian peninsula, especially the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. It was traditionally performed before going to war, but nowadays is performed at celebrations or cultural events, such as the Jenadriyah festival. The dance, which is performed by men carrying swords or canes, is accompanied by drums and spoken verse.

SANDSTORM IN 72 HOURS

According to meteorological office at the Civil Aviation Authority a sandstorm is likely to hit Qatar in the next 72 hours.

During the sandstorm, the expected visibility will be around 2 to 5km and one kilometer or less in certain areas. Sea waves are expected to rise up to between 5 and 8 feet and even up to 10 feet in some areas.

The expected sandstorm will be blowing in from Iraq, and will reach the northern, eastern and central parts of the Arabian Peninsula, up to Iran.
The Saudi Meteorology and Environment Department, meanwhile, said the sandstorm would bring winds of medium to high velocity carrying with them around 2 billion tones of dust.

Nepalese Immigrants Converting to Islam. Find out why!
The charge has been made by the Nepalese workers' union: 2,000 cases in Qatar, 4,000 in the Arab emirates and Malaysia. The foreign minister has asked his embassies to verify these cases, and stop conversions made by force or external pressure.
More and more Nepalese emigrants who have gone to Muslim majority countries to work - for example, on the Arabian Peninsula - are abandoning their Hindu religion and embracing Islam in order to improve their economic and social situation.
According to figures from the Nepalese workers' union, in Qatar alone there have been about 2,000 cases of conversion, plus 4,000 in Saudi Arabia, the Arab emirates, and Malaysia.

This should do well here. They should do one for the Arabian Peninsula ;)

By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer David Germain, Ap Movie Writer – 1 hr 14 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – "Fast & Furious" left the competition in the dust with a $72.5 million opening weekend, the best so far this year.

That topped last weekend's $59.3 million debut for DreamWorks Animation's "Monsters vs. Aliens," which slipped to second place with $33.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $105.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Universal's "Fast & Furious" also raced to a record for April debuts, easily passing the previous best of $42.2 million set in 2003 by "Anger Management."

This article is on India's larget english newspaper. By Sadia Dehlvi - she is a muslim herself:

Source:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIM&login=default&AW=1237202428640