INDONESIA-MALAYSIA RELATIONS. Malaysia and Indonesia agreed on Sept 6 2010 to revise procedures relating to maritime incidents after a sea border dispute near Johor last month triggered angry demonstrations in Indonesia. Their foreign ministers met in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, to resolve the dispute that had soured bilateral ties and led demonstrators to object at the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta. In the photo, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Malaysian counterpart Foreign Minister Anifah Aman held a press conference following Indonesia-Malaysia delegation meeting in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on Sept 6 2010. Photo courtesy of ANTARA

IRAN GIFTS HOMEMADE NANOSCOPE TO QATAR. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the end of a joint press conference in Doha presented a home-made Iranian nanoscope to Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. 'This is a gift from the Iranian technology to Qatar. You can use it in educational and research centers,' Ahmadinejad said, addressing the Qatari Emir. During the press conference, Ahmadinejad also pointed to the fact that the device had been made by Iranian specialists and only five other countries apart from Iran are able to make the device. Ahmadinejad had presented two other nanoscopes to the Brazilian and Venezuelan Presidents before. Photo courtesy of IRNA

CHEWING TO DEATH. The widespread daily ritual of chewing the amphetamine-rich leaf ‘qat’ is to blame for the growing number of mouth cancers in Yemen, according to local NGO National Foundation to Support Cancer Patients. The Foundation said the heavy use of pesticides by farmers to grow the crop, cultivated in Yemen for over 500 years, was to blame for the proliferation of cancer cases. According to the National Oncology Centre in the capital Sanaa, about 30 percent of the cancer patients he sees have mouth and gum cancers - which some studies link to `qat’ as well as the heavy use of a chewing tobacco known as ‘shamma’. “This is really a frightening figure and represents one of the world’s highest rates for mouth and gum cancer.” Photo courtesy of middle-east-online.com

COLOMBIAN SHORTEST MAN IN WORLD. A 24-year-old in Colombia has been officially declared the world's shortest man by Guiness World Records. Edward Nino Hernandez, who is 70.21 centimeters tall inherits the record from a Chinese man named He Pingping, who died earlier this year. But Hernandez may not hold the record for long. A teenager in Nepal, who is nearly five centimeters shorter, will become eligible for the title when he turns 18 next month. According to the Guiness World Records website, Hernandez enjoys dancing to reggaeton and salsa music. Photo courtesy of thandian.com

EGYPT'S IRISH CONNECTION. Irish scientists have found fragments of Egyptian papyrus in the leather cover of an ancient book of psalms that was unearthed from a peat bog, Ireland's National Museum said on Sept 6 2010. The papyrus in the lining of the Egyptian-style leather cover of the 1,200-year-old manuscript, 'potentially represents the first tangible connection between early Irish Christianity and the Middle Eastern Coptic Church', the Museum said. Known as the 'Faddan More Psalter', the manuscript is one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in Ireland. It was uncovered four years ago by a man using a mechanical digger to harvest peat near Birr in County Tipperary, but analysis has only just been completed. In the photo, ancient Egyptian papyrus at display. Photo and adapted text courtesy of middle-east-online.com