Image of Aljazari taken from Muslim Heritage Youtube video Little is known about Al-Jazari, and most of that comes from the introduction to his Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. He was named after the area in which he was born, al-Jazira—the traditional Arabic name for what was northern Mesopotamia and what is now [...]

The Elephant Clock was a medieval invention by Master Engineer Al-Jazari (11361206), consisting of a weight powered water clock in the form of an elephant. The various elements of the clock are in the housing on top of the elephant. They were designed to move and make a sound each half hour. A modern full-size [...]

A draft United Nations resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy and end the bloodshed will go before the Security Council on Tuesday, as the regime’s troops continue to crack down on the 11-month uprising. The resolution, seen by The Associated Press, calls for “an end to all [...]

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney enters Tuesday’s Florida primary a poll favourite seeking to restore himself as the clear front-runner to secure his party’s nomination, but a win for him in the state likely won’t be enough stave off what could be a long and increasingly bitter battle with rival Newt Gingrich. “With a turnout [...]

Thirty people, most of them homeless, have died of hypothermia in recent days in Ukraine, part of a surge of deaths across eastern Europe as the region grapples with an unusually severe cold spell. In all, at least 58 people have died from the cold in Europe over the last week. Of the victims in [...]