Italian short film "Big Bang Big Boom" directed by Blu was awarded late Saturday the top prize at international animation festival Anim'est in Bucharest.
The jury praised the creation for its "inventive and monumental execution". Produced in 2010, "Big Bang Big Boom" evokes evolution and its possible consequences in a non-scientific manner.
French-Italian co-production "Eleanor's Secret" by Dominique Monfery received the prize for the best feature film, while South Korean director Yumi Jung was awarded the prize for best short film for her "Dust Kid".
Created last year to stimulate animation in the region, the Balkanimation section gave its award to a Bosnian-Canadian co-production, "Once upon a many time" by Eva Cvijanovic. The film explores relationships with places and people when forced to leave home.
The award for the best Romanian film in competition went to Cecilia Felmeri for her animated documentary "Mathias, Mathias".
This fifth edition of Anim'est, one of the main animation festivals in Eastern Europe, screened 511 films from 46 countries and featured American director Alex Budovsky as a special guest.
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie said Friday that she wants to meet a group of war victims to clear up any misunderstanding after Bosnia revoked her licence to film this week.
Her licence to shoot scenes in Sarajevo and the central town of Zenica in November was cancelled when the Women Victims of War (WVW) association complained after media reports the film would depict a love story between a Muslim victim and her Serb rapist.
"I have great respect for all the work of the WVW association ... and I would like the opportunity to speak with them to personally clear up any misunderstandings about this project," Jolie said in a statement issued through the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, in Bosnia.
She added that part of the reason to make her first movie as a director was to remind people of what happened during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and to give attention to the survivors of the conflict that left some 100,000 people dead.
"My hope is that people will hold judgement until they have seen the film," she added.
Bakira Hasecic of the WVW, whose members are all wartime rape victims, said Friday that she would gladly meet with Jolie.
"We would like her to show us the script so we can see if it contains elements that falsify history and the truth," she said.
Hasecic has not seen the script yet and the WVW complaints were based solely on the press reports.
A local production company working with Jolie on the project said Thursday that they had sent the script of the as yet untitled movie to the culture ministry of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation.
Edin Sarkic, a representative of the company, was confident they would get their filming license reinstated and insisted that the film was not a rape love story.
On Friday Sarkic said he had not yet heard back from the ministry since he submitted the script.
"They told me to be patient," he said, adding that he was "reassured that things will be worked out".
"It would be a shame for all of us on the project and the local crew in Sarajevo, if unfair pressure based on wrong information were to prevent us from shooting in Bosnia," Jolie's production company for the project GK Films said in a separate statement Friday.
International organisations have estimated that thousands of women were raped during the 1991-95 Bosnian war that was sparked by the break-up of the communist federation of Yugoslavia.
In February 2001, the UN war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia convicted three Bosnian Serbs of crimes against humanity and war crimes after they were found guilty of rape and forced prostitution of Bosnian Muslim women in the southeastern town of Foca.
The verdict marked the first time an international court had ruled that rape was a crime against humanity.
Jolie, one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses, has hired mostly local Bosnian actors for the English-language movie and will not appear in it herself.
The 35-year-old, who most recently starred in the spy thriller "Salt", paid a surprise visit to Sarajevo in August when she called on Bosnian leaders to speed up the return of thousands of refugees from the civil war.
At least 10 people died in a stampede at a temple in the eastern Indian state of Bihar where tens of thousands of devotees had gathered for an annual Hindu festival, police said Sunday.
Another 15 people were injured in the stampede which occurred late Saturday outside a temple in Banka district, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from state capital of Patna, senior police officer P.K. Thakur said.
The victims had gathered to witness the sacrifice of goats in line with Hindu religious traditions, Thakur said, adding 40,000 devotees had thronged the temple at the time of the stampede.
Four women were among those killed.
Religious gatherings are a part of daily life in India and people across the entire social spectrum participate regularly.
Britain’s Daily Mail reports that a 17-week-old fetus was captured smiling in a sonogram scan. According to the publication, “The scan ... implies that a baby can experience feelings such as happiness and pain much earlier in its development than previously thought.”
The child in the image belongs to Louise and Sam Henry from Swallowfield, Berkshire, who have indicated that they are shocked to see such an image in what is typically a routine scan.
Mr. Henry said, “Your primary concern at that stage is that you have a healthy baby but to see the fetus smiling was absolutely fantastic.”
Baby Henry is due in January.
Pro-life advocates have cited a variety of reasons to reject abortion, including the presence of alternative options like adoption, health risks to the mother, and the immoral use of federal tax dollars to finance such a procedure. However, the primary reason cited by pro-life advocates to reject abortion is the notion that life begins at conception. A smiling fetus helps to support this notion, as it shows that what has been classified as a “group of cells” by pro-abortion advocates is capable of human emotion.
Likewise, the scan contests claims made by pro-choice supporters that fetuses are incapable of feeling pain or any senses while in the womb, an argument that has been used to dispute claims that abortions are painful procedures to the fetus.
The image was taken by Professor Stuart Campbell, former head of obstetrics and gynecology at King’s College and St. George’s hospitals in London, with 3-D and 4-D scanning equipment. According to Campbell, the image does not necessarily show that the unborn child has feelings, but that it was capable of “displaying human behavior.”
Campbell does not fully understand what caused the smile, but ventured a guess that it involves the same elements that cause a crying face: “It is part of a sequence that involves yawning and making breathing movements and opening its eyelids and, of course, it makes a crying face.”
Of course, some critics claim that the smiling face is no indication of human emotion. Eric Jauniaux, professor of obstetrics and fetal medicine at University College London, for example, asserts, “There is no emotion or feeling at this stage. The evidence of gain and feeling is from 24 or 28 weeks.”
Jauniaux adds, “At 17 weeks the connection between the brain and the rest of the body is very limited.”
On the other hand, Dr. Yehundi Gordon of the Viveka gynecology clinic in London claims, “All the emotional centers that we will ever have during our lives are fully formed by the time we are born. At 17 weeks the baby could be smiling or it could be the facial muscles getting together in preparation for sucking and feeding.”
The fetal image is reminiscent of the now-famous picture of the fetus reaching out to grab a surgeon’s finger during fetal surgery. Despite the debate that arose from that released photograph, photographer Michael Clancy confirmed that the 21-week old fetus Samuel Armus reached out from his mother’s womb and grasped Dr. Joseph Bruner’s finger as he performed a successful spina bifida surgery on the fetus in 1999.
According to a nurse present during the surgery, babies undergoing surgery do that “all the time.”
As far as the smiling fetus, Professor Campbell concludes, “This is a joyful expression of the humanity of the fetus. I have seen a fetus making a crying face at around 18 or 19 weeks, but not a nice smile. This is the earliest on record — It is just a delight.”
the fresh spate of violence that erupted in the metropolis city Saturday, one day ahead of by-polls, has mounted to 21 people and 52 others injured while unknown armed men forced shops in different areas to close, Geo News reported Saturday.
Meanwhile, five vehicles including a staff van of a private television channel have been reportedly torched in different areas during the violence-ravaged incidents.
The violence spread in several parts of the city after unidentified attackers opened fire and injured a man named Zafar in PS-94 constituency of Orangi Town where by-election is underway since 8am.
In another firing incident at Katti Pahari area where armed men opened indiscriminate firing on a passenger bus, killing a youth identified as Tausif and injuring two others.
A man identified as Akbar was shot dead and two others sustained injuries when unknown armed motorcyclists opened fire at Abul Hasan Ispahani Road.
In yet another firing incident in Garden area 3 men were killed.
In similar such incidents at Kamran Chowrangi, Ayub Goth, Banaras one man each was shot dead while two men were injured in Ranchor Line.
According to hospital sources, more than four dozens men were injured in firing incidents.
Most of the areas are still blanketed with tension while police claimed to have apprehended four miscreants in Orangi Town and they have been moved to unidentified location for investigation.
Hospital and police sources confirmed killing of 21 persons and the number of injured persons.
HEPATITIS A IS SERIOUS LIVER DISEASE CAUSED BY HEPATITIS A VIRUS [HAV].HAV IS FOUND IN TH STOOL OF PERSONS WITH HEPATITIS A. IT IS USUALLY SPREAD BY CLOSE PERSONAL CONTACT AND SOMETIME BY EATING FOOD OR DRINKING WATER CONTAINING HAV. IT IS COMMON IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS PAKISTAN WHERE SANITARY CONDITION ARE SUBSTANDARD.HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE HEPATITIS A?
INDIVIDUALS WITH HEPATITIS A EXPIRATION AN ABRUPT ONSET, NAUSEA AND ABDOMINAL DISCOMFORT , FOLLOWED BY JAUNDICE WITHIN A FEW DAYS. THE DISEASE MY RANGE FROM MILD [LASTING 1-2 WEEKS] TO SEVERE DISABLING DISEASE [ LASTING SEVERAL MONTHS]. IN AREAS HIGHLY ENDEMIC FOR HEPATITIS A, MOST INFECTIONS OCCUR DURING CHILDHOOD.
IS HEPATITIS A CONTAGIOUS
HEPATITIS A VIRUS IS TYPICALLY ACQUIRED BY INGESTING FOOD OR WATER THAT HAS BEEN CONTAMINATED WITH THE STOOL OF PERSON WITH HEPATITIS A. THIS TYPE OF TRANSMISSION IS CALLED "FAECOL-ORAL". DIRECT PERSON TO PERSON SPREAD IS COMMON UNDER POOR HYGIENIC CONDITIONS TOP. FOR THIS REASON, THE VIRUS IS MORE EASAILY SPREAD IN AREAS WHERE THERE ARE POOR SANITARY CONDITIONS OR WHERE GOOD PERSONAL HYGIENE IS NOT ABSERVED.
HOW CAN YOU OVOID HEPATITIS A?
- ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER USING THE BATHROOM, OR BEFORE PREPARING OR EATING FOOD
- HOWEVER, HEPATITIS A VACCINE IS THE BEST PROTECTION.
WHO SHOULD GET HEPATITIS A VACCINE AND WHEN ?
SOME PEOPLE SHOULD BE ROUTINELY VACCINATED WITH HEPATITIS A VACCINE:
- ALL CHILDREN 1 YEAR [12 THROUGH 23 MONTHS OF AGE
- PERSON 1 YEAR OF AGE AND OLDER TRAVELING TO OR WORKING IN COUNTRIES WITH HIGHT OR INTERMEDIATE PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS A, SUCH AS AFRICA, CENTRAL OR SOUTH AMERICA, AND EASTERN EUROPE
HEPATITIS A VACCINE MIGHT BE RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN OR ADOLESCENTS IN COMMUNITIES WHERE OUTBREAKS OF HEPATITIS A ARE ACCURING.
TOW DOSES OF THE VACCINE ARE NEEDED FOR LASTING PROTECTION. THESE DOSES BE GIVEN AT LEAST 6 MONTH APART .
HEPITITIS A VACCINE MY BE GIVEN AT THE SAME TIME AS OTHER VACCINES.
IS HEPITITIS A VACCINE SAFE?
YES, HEPATITIS A VACCINE HAS AN EXCELLENT SAFETY PROFILE. NO SEIOUS ADVESE EVENTS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED DEFINITEIVELY TO HEPATTIS A VACCINE. SORENESS AT THE INJECTION SITE IS THE MOST FREQUENTLY REPORTED SIDE EFFECT
WHO SHOULD NOT GET HEPATITIS A VACCINE?
ANYONE:
- WHO HASE EVER HAD A SEVERE [LIFE THREATENING] ALLERGIC TO A PREVIOUS DOSE OF HEPATITIS A VACCINE.
- WHO HAS A SEVER [LIFE THREATENING ALLERGIC REACTION TO ANY VACCINE COMPONENT. ALL HEPATITIS VACCINE CONTAINS ALUM WHILE SOME CONTAIN 2- PHENOXYETHANOL
- WHO IS MODERATELY OR SVERELY ILL AT THE TIME THE SHOT IS SHEDULED TO BE ADMINISTERED
- WHO MIGHT BE PREGNANT , AS THE SAFETY OF HEPATITIS A VACCINE HAS YET NOT BEEN DETERMINED IN PREGNANT WOMEN.HOWEVER THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT IT IS HARMFUL TO THE PREGNANT WOMEN OR HER UNBORN BABY
GET YOUR CHILD VACCINATED
FOR MORE INFORMATION ASK YOUR
HEALTHCARE PROVIDER
Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water. Every year, approximately 10 million people worldwide are infected with the virus. The time between infection and the appearance of the symptoms, (the incubation period), is between two and six weeks and the average incubation period is 28 days.In developing countries, and in regions with poor hygiene standards, the incidence of infection with this virus is high and the illness is usually contracted in early childhood. HAV has also been found in samples taken to study ocean water quality. Hepatitis A infection causes no clinical signs and symptoms in over 90% of infected children and since the infection confers lifelong immunity, the disease is of no special significance to the indigenous population. In Europe, the United States and other industrialized countries, on the other hand, the infection is contracted primarily by susceptible young adults, most of whom are infected with the virus during trips to countries with a high incidence of the disease.
Hepatitis A does not have a chronic stage, is not progressive, and does not cause permanent liver damage. Following infection, the immune system makes antibodies against HAV that confer immunity against future infection. The disease can be prevented by vaccination, and hepatitis A vaccine has been proven effective in controlling outbreaks worldwide.