US defends drone attacks as ‘just’ in face of UN criticism
The US government has defended its use of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and other countries in front of the UN, telling a chamber full of largely critical nations that in President Obama’s view the deployment of unmanned aerial attacks against al-Qaida targets was “necessary, legal and just”. Representatives from a slew of nations, including [...]
Pakistan accused of drone collusion
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistani security officials and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have denied a report that they had approved US drone strikes on the country’s soil. The Washington Post on Wednesday quoted leaked secret documents as saying Pakistan had been regularly briefed on the strikes and in some cases helped choose targets. The [...]
US may be guilty of war crimes: Amnesty
US officials responsible for carrying out drone strikes may have to stand trial for war crimes, says a report by Amnesty International, which lists civilian casualties in the attacks in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch has issued similar report on Yemen. The Amnesty International report is based on the investigation of the nine out of 45 [...]
Helping teachers inspire children
A Sunday Times workshop ‘Newspapers in the Classroom’ conducted by Dr. Gerard van der Weijden, from the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), explored ways to inspire young readers How do you get children to read? This question has vexed and continues to worry parents and teachers the world over. Bringing some answers and more importantly [...]
CPR training for medical students
The College of Anaesthesiologists of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Health Ministry will hold cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training over two days for medical students who have completed the final MBBS examination and are awaiting appointments at the end of this year. The schedule, as issued by the College, is as follows: November 1 and [...]
Galle’s Zaviya for Muslim women marks 75th anniversary
The Zaviyathul Ummul Fukara, a religious centre for Muslim women, will mark its 75th anniversary today at the Hall De Galle. The chief guest will be leading Muslim educationist Jezima Ismail, and the guest of honour will be Faizeena Samsudeen Markar, president of Colombo Ladies Zaviya. Zaviyathul Ummul Fuqara had its humble beginnings in 1938. [...]
Book Launch: ‘Entertainment and Broadcasting Law’
The launch of Chanakya Jayadeva’s “Entertainment and Broadcasting Law for Sri Lanka” will take place on October 31 at 6.30 p.m. at the JAIC Hilton Residences. This is the first public venture of Chanakya, lawyer and broadcaster, who has also made several contributions to several law magazines in the past. The book turns the spotlight [...]
International and local Zontians meet at District Conference
‘Wings for Women 2013′ Zonta International District 25′s 12th District Conference began at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo on Friday, October 25. Justice Shirani Tilakawardena was the chief guest at the grand opening ceremony on Friday evening. Representatives from India, Bangladesh and Nepal are meeting local Zontians over the weekend to discuss and identify key [...]
Leo Burnett wins Spikes awards for WNL’s Ada
Spikes Asia is the most revered advertising award ceremony in Asia Pacific, where creativity in communications is recognised and rewarded. This annual festival held in Singapore, brings together the leaders from the marketing communications industry for three days of learning, and sharing experiences and to be rewarded for outstanding work. Leo Burnett Sri Lanka triumphed [...]
House of Fashions to launch mega department store
After nearly 21 successful years, the House of Fashions outlet at Duplication Road will close its doors for the last time on November 2 and a new House of Fashions mall will open on November 6. The new mega House of Fashions mall, located at 101, D. S. Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo 8, spans 250,000 square [...]
Young Minds Pre-school and Toddler Group Art Exhibition
Young Minds Pre-school and Toddler Group Art Exhibition was held at Bishops College on October 22. (Above left) Chief Guest Mrs. Nilu Abdulhussein, Principal Mrs. Shermila Rajaratnam and Director Mrs. Laila Ismail, (above right) student artwork
‘XXV by Johann’: A hair-raising journey
It was a hair-raising journey down the ages. We saw it all- from how the tribal people dressed their hair to Grecian knots, French styles- powdered and bewigged, the Jazz Age, the elegance of Ascot and so much more. The added glamour of elaborate outfits, accessories, jewellery and body art created a dazzling spectacle. Hair [...]
Turkish entrepreneur opens ‘halal’ sex shop
ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish entrepreneur has opened what he says is the country’s first online sex shop for Muslims, selling everything from lubricants to herbal aphrodisiacs and offering advice on how to have “halal” sex. Haluk Murat Demirel, 38, said he had been inspired to launch the site (www.bayan.helalsexshop.com) by friends who wanted sex [...]
Syrian man in Tom Hanks-like limbo at Dubai airport
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Syrian man has been stranded at Dubai airport for 16 days in a case with echoes of the Tom Hanks film “The Terminal”. Wasfi Tayseer Jarad has been stuck at the airport’s Terminal 2 since being freed from prison after serving time for a drugs conviction and issued with a deportation [...]
Beetles and scorpions creep on to Paris food scene
PARIS (Reuters) – Popular delicacies in Asia but spurned by most in the West, grasshoppers, beetles and waterscorpions have crept on to the menu of a Parisian restaurant for the first time. In the heart of the French capital, better known for its butter croissants and haute cuisine, Le Festin Nu, or Naked Feast, has [...]
Post 9/11, NSA spying ‘virtually unchecked’
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (AFP) -Revelations of America’s industrial-scale surveillance have painted an alarming picture of the National Security Agency as a spy service operating virtually without limits since the 9/11 attacks, experts say. Disclosures from intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have revealed how far the NSA has pushed the envelope in its digital snooping after being [...]
Kashmir Black Day to mark Indian Occupation of J and K today
Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and world over will observe October 27 as “Black Day” to mark India’s forcibly occupation of Kashmir 67 years ago. On October 27, 1947, India invaded Jammu and Kashmir in complete disregard to the Indian Independence Act and Partition Plan in 1947, which stated that the [...]
Fukushima workers evacuated as small tsunami hits Japan
TOKYO, Oct 26 (AFP) -Workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant were evacuated when a small tsunami hit Japan after a powerful undersea quake today, highlighting the continued threat to the area devastated by the 2011 quake-tsunami. The government Meteorological Agency warned people to stay away from the Pacific coast for nearly two hours as [...]
Arrested Chinese journalist ‘confesses’ on state TV
BEIJING, Oct 26 (AFP) -A Chinese journalist arrested over a series of articles criticising a partly state-owned firm appeared on public television today to apologise, with state media saying he admitted the articles were “unverified and false”. Chen Yongzhou’s newspaper, the New Express, made headlines around the world earlier in the week when it ran [...]
Maldives probe as ex-leader alleges assassination plot
COLOMBO (AFP) -Police in the Maldives said they had begun investigating a claim by political opposition chief Mohamed Nasheed that he was in danger of being assassinated. “The complaint has been made to the defence ministry, but we have also taken note of it and begun our own investigations,” police spokesman Abdulla Nawaz told AFP [...]
Prince Charles in no hurry to become king – Time magazine
LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Charles’ passion in life is his charitable work and he wants to get as much done as he can before becoming king when, in the words of an aide, “the prison shades” close, according to Catherine Mayer, editor-at-large of the U.S. magazine Time. After months of research involving rare access to [...]
Will the world end in 2032?
The world as we know it could end on August 26, 2032. A 1,300-foot wide asteroid is headed toward Earth and could strike the planet with the force of 2,500 nuclear warheads in 19 years, Ukrainian astronomers have shockingly revealed. Crimean Astrophysical Observatory found the massive asteroid, called 2013 TV135, last weekend and the international [...]
Adultery website unwelcome in Singapore: Minister
SINGAPORE (AFP) – The Singapore expansion plans of an international dating service promoting adultery has ignited a social media protest and a sharp rebuke Friday from the city-state’s social affairs minister. Local media earlier this week reported that Ashley Madison, which offers a discreet dating service for those looking to have affairs, was planning a [...]
Was Israel behind the hacking of millions of French phones?
Israel and not America was behind the hacking of millions of French phones, it was claimed today. In the latest extraordinary twist in the global eavesdropping scandal, Israeli agents are said to have intercepted more than 70 million calls and text messages a month. Up until now the French have been blaming the USA, even [...]
CHOGM: Our guests!
The Sunday Times last week carried profiles of four world leaders who are expected to be in Sri Lanka for the November Commonwealth summit, the biggest conference hosted by Sri Lanka since the Non-Aligned summit in 1976. This week, we carry nine more leader profiles from the African Continent where Commonwealth values such as fair [...]
India Mars launch stokes Asian space race with China
The forthcoming launch of a spacecraft to Mars by India is likely to stoke the fires of a burgeoning Asian space race. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is making its final preparations to send an orbiter to the Red Planet. The principal aim is to test out India’s space technology to see if this [...]
Reforming R2P: Protecting civilians responsibly
BEIJING – Would China ever be willing to host an international policy discussion about the conditions that would legitimise invading another country to stop genocide or other mass-atrocity crimes from being committed within its borders? Given China’s long history of antagonism to “interference in internal affairs” in general, and to “humanitarian intervention” in particular, and [...]
Stroke affecting ever younger people: research
PARIS (AFP) – Ever younger people are suffering strokes, according to two studies published on Thursday that warned death, disability and illness from strokes could double by 2030, partly due to unhealthy lifestyles. There had been a 25 percent increase in the number of strokes among those aged between 20 and 64 over the past [...]
‘Dark is Beautiful’ movement takes on unfair India
MUMBAI (AFP) – Looking to find a husband, make friends, and get ahead at work? Then you need to have lighter skin. That’s the all-pervasive message in India, and it’s something that one actress is fighting to overturn. The new poster girl of the “Dark is Beautiful” campaign, Nandita Das, has called out India’s obsession [...]
HIV has big hiding place, foiling hopes for cure
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Modern medicine can keep HIV at bay but not cure it, and researchers said Thursday the reason may lie in the larger-than-expected size of the virus’s hiding place. Traces of HIV can lie dormant in the body’s immune cells, and this so-called latent reservoir is 60 times bigger than previous estimates, according [...]
FDA issues proposed rule to improve food safety for animals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it is issuing a proposed rule aimed at improving the safety of food for animals and pets. The rule would require companies that make animal feed and pet food sold in the United States to identify potential hazards and put in place procedures [...]
