Wadi

Wadi (Arabic: وادي‎"wādī) "Vadi" (Hebrew: ואדי‎ "vādī)" is the Arabic and Hebrew term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a dry (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.

Etymology

The term wādī is very widely found in Arabic toponyms.

Some Spanish toponyms are derived from Andalusian Arabic where wādī was used to mean a permanent river, for example: Guadalcanal from wādī al-Qanal = "river of refreshment stalls", Guadalajara from wādī al-hidjārah = "river of stones", or Guadalquivir from al-wādī al-kabīr = "the great river". Seasonal streams, frequent in south-east Spain, are called ramblas instead.

In the Maghreb, the term wadi (wad in Maghrebi Arabic, sometimes transcribed Oued) is applied to all rivers including regular ones.

General morphology and processes

Wadis are located on the gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portions of fans and extend to inland sabkhas or playas. In basin and range topography, wadis trend along basin axes at the terminus of fans. Permanent channels do not exist, due to lack of continual water flow. Wadi show braided stream patterns because of the deficiency of water and the abundance of sediments. Water percolates down into the stream bed causing abrupt loss in energy and resulting vast deposition. Wadis may develop dams of sediment which results in change of stream patterns in the next flash flood. :)

Mohammed Atef

Mohammed Atef Al-Masri (Arabic: عاطف المصرى‎, Atef Al-Masri) (born Sobhi Abu Setta, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri) was the military chief of al-Qaida, and was considered one of Osama Bin Laden's two deputies, the other being Ayman Al Zawahiri. although his role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years. He was killed in a US drone strike in November 2001.

Atef served two years in the Egyptian Air Force and became an agricultural engineer. He was also a police officer and a member of the group Egyptian Islamic Jihad before he moved to Afghanistan to repel the Soviet invasion, while operating from Peshawar. He has been credited as having convinced Abdullah Azzam to abandon his life and devote himself to preaching jihad at this time.

Atef was sent to an Afghan training camp where he met Ayman al-Zawahiri, who later introduced him to Osama bin Laden.

He attended two meetings from August 11–20 in 1988, along with Bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, Jamal al-Fadl, Wael Hamza Julaidan, and Mohammed Loay Bayazid and eight others, to discuss the founding of "al-Qaeda". Bin Laden later sent a letter to Mohammed Loay Bayazid informing him that Atef and Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri were to each be given 6,500 Saudi riyals monthly, the same as they had been given for their work in Maktab al-Khidamat.

Battle Royale

Battle Royale (Japanese: バトル・ロワイアル, Hepburn: Batoru Rowaiaru) is a novel by Japanese writer Koushun Takami. Originally completed in 1996, it was not published until 1999. The story tells of junior high school students who are forced to fight each other to the death in a program run by the authoritarian Japanese government, now known as the Republic of Greater East Asia.

It was previously entered into the 1997 Japan Grand Prix Horror Novel competition but was eventually rejected in the final round due to its content. The novel became a surprise bestseller. It was ranked fourth by the 2000 Kono Mystery ga Sugoi!, an annual mystery and thriller guidebook, and sold over a million copies.

In 2000, one year after publication, Battle Royale was adapted into a manga series, written by Takami himself, and a feature film. The film was also controversial and successful, with it being condemned by Japan's National Diet, yet becoming one of the country's highest-grossing films. The film spawned a sequel, and two more brief manga adaptations were also created.

Kazim Elias

Mohammad Kazim Bin Elias (born November 28, 1972), commercially known as Ustaz Kazim Elias, is a popular independent writer, lecturer and Islamic consultant from Malaysia.

References

Captain Falcon

Captain Falcon (キャプテン・ファルコン, Kyaputen Farukon) is a playable character in the racing video game series F-Zero. He first appeared in the debut game, and is the poster child of the F-Zero franchise. Nintendo first envisioned Captain Falcon as a flagship character to represent the release of the SNES, but he ended up appearing far less than originally planned. In the games, he appears as a mysterious racer and bounty hunter who is one of the best racers on the circuit. Falcon also represents the F-Zero franchise in each entry of the Super Smash Bros. series.

In the GP Legend continuity, writers portrayed Falcon differently from previous games; here, "Captain Falcon" is a title passed down and held by the best racer in the world. He owns and operates a small bar in Mute City, taking up the alias of Bart Lemming and aiding fellow protagonist Rick Wheeler in disguise.

Creation and characteristics