MAQzine

Khan wins a unanimous but close decision Amir Khan   (24-1, 17 KOs) of England successfully defended his world junior-welterweight title with a close but unanimous decision over   Marcos Maidana   (29-2, 27 KOs) of Argentina on Saturday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas . Lance Pugmire of The Times was ringside and gave a round-by-round account. Here it is (scoring is unofficial): Round 1:   Maidana blows off the touching of the gloves to throw a right at Khan. Some big early power by Maidana. Nice response of power by Khan, good rights. Khan's speed is obvious. Good right by Maidana. Big flurry by Khan. Khan ducks an attack. Big jabs and left body blow drops Maidana. He's back up but Khan goes for kill with wicked right landing at bell.   Khan wins round, 10-8 . Round 2:   Big flurry by Khan. Maidana accepts hard right to face. He can't keep up. Solid combos by Khan to head and body. Jab, jab, jab. Big right by Khan backs up Maidana. Good right by K...

KHAN EDGES VEGAS CLASSIC Bolton boy keeps his title in a titanic Vegas blockbuster Last updated: 12th December 2010   Amir Khan turned in the performance of his career in the fight of the year to show America he is here. And here to stay. The boy from Bolton retained his world title after a furious 12 rounds in which he had   Marcos Maidana   down, was out on his feet himself before somehow digging deep to take a pulsating points win. In the end the margin - 114-111, 114-111, 113-112 - was almost irrelevant. Few in the Mandalay Bay had got their breath back by the time   Khan   was confirmed the winner. If ever there was away to announce yourself to the watching American public, then Khan found it. It was not perfection by any means and there were alarming flashes of the Breidis Prescott performance as he dabbled with danger time and time again. But he came through it. He took some horrendous shots from a massive puncher in Maidana. He was out on his feet ...

By  Olivia Sterns  for CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTS Exhibition celebrates 1,000 years of "forgotten" Muslim heritage From coffee to cranks, items we couldn't live without today are Muslim inventions Modern hospitals and universities both began in 9th century North Africa London, England (CNN)  -- Think of the origins of that staple of modern life, the cup of coffee, and Italy often springs to mind. But in fact, Yemen is where the ubiquitous brew has its true origins. Along with the first university, and even the toothbrush, it is among surprising Muslim inventions that have shaped the world we live in today. The origins of these fundamental ideas and objects -- the basis of everything from the bicycle to musical scales -- are the focus of "1001 Inventions," a book celebrating "the forgotten" history of 1,000 years of Muslim heritage. "There's a hole in our knowledge, we leap frog from the Renaissance to the Greeks," professor Salim al-Hassani...

Myanmar democracy icon Suu Kyi released YANGON:  Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest Saturday, an official said, as crowds of excited supporters waited outside her home for a glimpse of their idol. The crowd cheered and began to surge fowards as police began removing barricades around her crumbling mansion where she has been locked up by the military junta for most of the past two decades. The authorities went inside to read the order to release her from house arrest, a government official said. “She is released now,” said the official, who did not want to be named. More than 1,000 people were gathered outside in hope of seeing the 65-year-old dissident, known to her supporters simply as “The Lady”. Although she has been sidelined and silenced by the junta, occasionally released briefly only to be put back in confinement, for many in the impoverished nation she still embodies hope of a better future. “I think of her as my mother and also my si...

November 12, 2010 An Eloquent Face of Islam By  MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM DAISY KHAN  had never seen so many Jews in her life. The year was 1974, and Ms. Khan, an awkward, artistic 16-year-old who had just emigrated from India to the suburban Long Island enclave of Jericho, N.Y., was attending her first day of school in America. It was not going well. Her fellow students giggled at the newcomer with the dark skin, exotic accent and unfamiliar religion. Few Muslims, it seemed, had ever attended the mostly Jewish Jericho High School. When a teacher asked her to stand and introduce herself, the questions came fast: Did she ride a camel? Did she ride an elephant? “It was very strange when you are 16 years old and you have to explain your religion to an entire class,” Ms. Khan, now 52, recalled recently in the Upper West Side offices of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, her nonprofit group. “But that’s where my first activism began. I realized that actually I was a spokesp...

October 9, 2010 By  JOHN MARKOFF MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius  with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving. The car is a project of  Google , which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. With someone behind the wheel to take control if something goes awry and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even drove itself down Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation.   The only accident, engineers said, was ...