Sunday Times 2
Search for answers begins after worst school massacre in US
NEWTOWN, Conn., Dec 15 (Reuters) – Residents of the small Connecticut community of Newtown were reeling on Saturday from one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, as police sought answers about what drove a 20-year-old gunman to slaughter 20 children at an elementary school. The attacker, identified by law enforcement sources as Adam [...]
Sunday Times 2
Egypt opposition says Muslim Brotherhood ‘vote rigging’
CAIRO, Dec 15 (AFP) -The opposition accused President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of attempted “vote rigging” in Saturday’s referendum on a new constitution for Egypt. The National Salvation Front, in a statement, expressed “deep concern… over the number of irregularities and violations in the holding of the referendum,” charging it “points to a clear desire [...]
Sunday Times 2
Gaza perfume sales soar with rocket name
GAZA (Reuters) – Sales of a citrus-scented perfume marketed in Gaza have soared since it was named in honour of the rockets that Palestinians shot at Israel during a war last month, the manufacturer said. “M-75″ perfume, which comes in men’s and women’s fragrances, is named for the missiles Hamas Islamist militants shot at Tel [...]
Sunday Times 2
Tea was once thought to be as harmful as whiskey
These days few things could seem more harmless than settling down for a nice restful cup of tea, or drinking the wonderful brew as a reviving tonic during a hard day at work. But pity the tea-drinkers of 19th-century Ireland where, a new study claims, the pastime was regarded as irresponsible and destructive to morals as [...]
Sunday Times 2
‘End of the world’ hysteria boosts tourism
The myth that the world will end on 21 December 2012 is so widespread that NASA scientists have been fielding questions about it for years. Some people who write in to the organization are genuinely afraid, and a few have even said they’ve contemplated suicide because of it. The farfetched doomsday scenario was born from [...]
Sunday Times 2
Queen gives British bank chiefs a ticking off
As the financial crisis hit in 2008, she spoke for the nation when she asked a group of economists: ‘Why did nobody notice?’ Four years on, the Queen finally got her answer – although it didn’t seem much to her liking. The monarch was visiting the Bank of England in Threadneedle Street this week when she [...]
Sunday Times 2
WikiLeaks suspect treated like ‘zoo animal’: Lawyer
FORT MEADE, Maryland (AFP) – In his final plea to have charges dropped against WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning, a defence lawyer compared his harsh detention conditions to those of a “zoo animal.” Manning’s solitary confinement — under 24-hour watch, forced to sleep naked in a tiny cell for all but 20 minutes a day — [...]
Sunday Times 2
European Court of Human Rights finds CIA guilty of torture
The much-maligned European court of human rights has this week shown itself at its very best: standing up for the rights of an individual who has been denied justice for almost nine years since he was abducted, secretly detained, and tortured under the CIA’s rendition programme. Khaled El-Masri, a German national, was seized by Macedonian [...]
Sunday Times 2
‘The godfather of world music’
Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar player whose sound had a major influence on The Beatles, has died at the age of 92. Besides working closely with George Harrison, he also collaborated with musicians as diverse as violinist Yehudi Menuhin and jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. A statement on his website said he died on Tuesday in San [...]
Sunday Times 2
Notre Dame Cathedral brushes up for 850th birthday
PARIS (Reuters) – Quasimodo would be overjoyed. Notre Dame Cathedral has had its lighting improved, a new viewing platform erected to appreciate its Gothic facade, its organ renovated and is about to have new bells made for a year-long 850th anniversary celebration that kicks off next week. The graceful and inspiring Catholic church that has dominated [...]
Sunday Times 2
Hoax call nurse ‘left suicide note criticising senior hospital staff’
The nurse found dead following a hoax call to the hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge criticised senior colleagues over her treatment in one of three suicide notes, it has emerged. An inquest heard that Jacintha Saldanha, 46, left three emotional suicide notes following the prank call by Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian. But [...]
Sunday Times 2
A world of schoolgirls
NEW DELHI – One of the more difficult questions I found myself being asked when I was a United Nations under-secretary-general, especially when addressing a general audience, was: “What is the single most important thing that can be done to improve the world?” It’s the kind of question that tends to bring out the bureaucrat [...]
Sunday Times 2
Global power will shift by 2030
The US intelligence community has confirmed in a new report that global power in the future will not be marked by the deployment of large military force or arsenals of nuclear weapons, two measures of American power that still have a large following in Washington. In a new report entitled “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds”, [...]
Sunday Times 2
Egypt’s monster in the
BRUSSELS – On December 15, Egypt’s draft constitution is due to be put to a referendum. A year ago, Egyptians were thrilled to know that finally their country’s constitution would reflect their democratic hopes and aspirations. Yet the document that they will now vote on is more likely to dash those hopes and dim Egyptians’ [...]
Sunday Times 2
Can Pakistan lead Afghan peace?
Over the weekend, McClatchy’s Jonathan Landay wrote that the Afghan government is pursuing a peace initiative in which Pakistan, not the United States, would arrange direct talks for a coalition government in Kabul. Afghanistan would cede political control in its south and east to the Taliban and grant the group government posts. This so-called “Peace [...]
