This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Tuesday 20 Oct 2015 - 20:53 Makkah mean time-7-1-1437
 Washington (IINA) - Ahmed Mohamed, the Muslim teenager who was detained when his teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb visited the White House Monday, after receiving a very public invite from US President Barack Obama, AFP reported.
Ahmed joined a group of 300 students, teachers, scientists, astronauts and celebrities -- including the "Myth Busters" and Bill Nye -- for White House Astronomy Night. Ahmed had hoped to impress teachers by bringing a clock to his Texas school earlier this year, but was instead reported by suspicious staff who called the police. A photo of Ahmed standing in handcuffs while wearing a t-shirt with the US space agency NASA's logo was re-tweeted thousands of times in a matter of hours and “#IStandWith Ahmed” became the top trending hashtag on Twitter.
Ahmed did, however, impress Obama, who congratulated the teen on his skills, in what was seen as a pointed rebuke to school and police officials amid accusations of Islamophobia. Obama encouraged the students to keep inventing, creating and discovering. "This is some of the most fun I have on this job," Obama told the students. "As long as young people like so many of you here tonight keep seeking answers to the great questions, America can do anything." After a short speech about the importance of encouraging young people to pursue careers in science, Obama got a lesson on telescopes from Agatha Sofia Alvarez-Bareiro, a high school senior from New York City. Obama looked at the moon through an 11-inch telescope as Alvarez-Bareiro explained the features of the moon. "Well, this is spectacular," Obama said.
HA/IINA
|
No comments:
Post a Comment