King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud died in 1953. His son named Saud became the king. He reigned for 11 years. In 1964, he was forced to step down, and his half-brother, Faisal, became the king. Faisal had the support of the senior members of the royal family and the religious leaders. Faisal also held the post of the Prime Minister. This tradition of being both the King and the Prime Minister still continues in Saudi Arabia. All Kings after Faisal had followed this practice.
Faisal took a number of new steps for economic development of Saudi Arabia. During his reign, many important political events also happened like the ones noted below:
In 1975, King Faisal was assassinated by one of his nephews. The nephew was found guilty, and he was sentenced to death. King Faisal's half-brother Khalid became the King and the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. During the reign of King Khalid, Saudi Arabia's importance in regional politics increased. The economic growth of the country also continued at a good rate.
King Khalid died in 1982. After his death, Fahd became the King. At the same time, he also became the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. His half-brother Prince Abdullah became the Crown Prince.
The income of Saudi Arabia became less during the period of King Fahd's reign. This was a result of lower price of petroleum oil. King Fahd's government used an economic policy which helped the country to survive with a lower income.
King Fahd helped Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq's economy had become very bad on account of this war. The King also discussed with these two countries to stop war. Both countries (Iran and Iraq) stopped the war in August 1988. The King also helped in making Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) a stronger organization. The GCC is an organization of six countries of the Persian Gulf. The purpose of the organization is to increase development and cooperation among the member countries.
In 1990, Saddam Hussain was ruling Iraq. The Gulf War of 1991 was when he invaded Kuwait. Many people thought that his army would also invade Saudi Arabia. King Fahd allowed some Western countries and USA to send their forces to the country. Many Muslims were against that their most holy land was used by non-Muslim soldiers.
During and after the Gulf War, King Fahd’s role was very important. During the war, he allowed the entry of the royal family of Kuwait inside Saudi Arabia and followed by 400,000 other persons from Kuwait to stay on a temporary basis. The King allowed the troops of countries like USA to mount attacks on Kuwait to liberate it. He also helped in arranging support of other Muslim countries for liberation of Kuwait. Iraqi forces were eventually ousted from Kuwait.
Presence of troops from the Western countries has angered many Muslims. One of them was the rich man Osama bin Laden. He was forced to leave Saudi Arabia when he disagreed and opposed the King of Saudi Arabia. Other than Osma bin laden and his groups, there were several other persons and groups who did not like the presence of Western troops inside Saudi Arabia.
These persons and their groups attacked people, they tried manly to attack the foreign troops in Saudi Arabia. Some examples of such attacks are given below:
September 11, 2001 attacks in New York had resulted into many deaths and big destruction. After enquiry, it came to light that out of 19 suspected persons for these attacks, 15 were from Saudi Arabia.
Such things attracted the attention of the government of Saudi Arabia. The government started a policy to check such activities. Even then, terrorist activities of such persons and groups continued.
Linga
A linga or a lingam is a very complex symbol of Hinduism. It is associated with Shiva, supreme god in main gods of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures say that a linga represents energy and strength. In almost all the temples of Shiva, Shiva is shown in the form of a linga.
The Hindu scriptures also say that Shiva took twelve forms as Jyotirlinga, that is, "a linga of light". In India, there are twelve places where this form of Shiva is worshiped. The Hindu scriptures also tell about five more forms of lingas. These form of lingas represent the earth, the water, the fire, the air and the sky (or ether). There are five different places in India where Hindus worship these forms of Shiva. These places are located at the following locations:
Beside above places, in almost all the towns and villages of India, Shiva’s temples are found. In all such temples, lingas are worshipped.
United States National Guard
The United States National Guard is an organization of the United States Army and the United States Air Force. The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are both branches of the United States military. The National Guard is a militia (an emergency army) for the United States. Each U.S. State has its own National Guard, usually under the control of that state's government. When needed, they are mobilized under control of the United States.
There are two parts of the United States National Guard, administered by the National Guard Bureau of the United States Department of Defense. The Air National Guard is part of the United States Air Force; the Army National Guard is part of the United States Army. The two National Guard groups are identified by the kinds of jobs they do. The Air National Guard does mainly air defense jobs, while the Army National Guard does the jobs on the ground.
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a town in Hertfordshire in south-east England, with about 35,000 people living there.
People have lived in the area for hundreds of thousands of years but it became a permanent town by the time of the Saxons.
The Domesday Book says there were 120 people living there in the 1100s. The Normans built a small castle there but it was unused and broken by the time of the Tudors.
The town grew as an important centre for transport. After 1769, ships were able to use the river. It was a stagecoach stop for travel on the road between London and Cambridge. In 1842 the town got a railway station.
In 1901 there were 7,000 people living there, and by 1951 it was 13,000.
The town is popular for travellers to London because of the M11 motorway (an important road) and good train services to London. Stansted Airport has also caused development.
Raven
A raven is a big black bird, ("Corvus corax"). It may be called the common raven or the northern raven. It is similar to a crow but bigger. It and the thick-billed raven are the two largest birds in the crow family, and perhaps the heaviest perching birds. The raven's feathers are all black, but a crow has feathers that are white at the bottom. This cannot be seen from a distance.
The most famous raven is in the Edgar Allan Poe story called "The Raven".
The common raven can be tamed. Some think it is mischievous and sly, and it has been regarded as a bird of evil and mysterious character.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is eating a diet which does not supply enough nutrients. There are two broad cateogries of malnutrition:
Sometimes, people need to lose weight, and eat according to a special diet. This is usually not called malnutrition.
Malnutrition is considered a more scientific and official term than starvation which has negative associations. Malnutrition is not, however, simply a matter of eating too little. Someone can be malnourished if they eat an unhealthy diet. This can be cured by eating a proper balanced diet.
Children whose daily diet contains less carbohydrate and protein do not grow well. They do not gain weight. Their hands and legs appear as skin and bones. They cry all the time with hunger. They are not active and have sunken eyes. Such children often fall sick. Lack of a particular vitamin is another kind of malnutrition which can cause a particular deficiency disease, such as beriberi and rickets.
Malnutrition becomes a bigger problem during famine because most of the people do not get enough food, hence increasing the death rate.