How UK ordered Mau Mau files to be destroyed
Secret documents released on Friday reveal the full extent to which Whitehall systematically destroyed files relating to colonial crimes committed in the final years of the British empire. Files published by the National Archives at Kew tell how administration staff in Kenya, Uganda and Malaya ‘cleansed’ so-called dirty documents. Material which could ‘embarrass Her Majesty’s [...]
With a midnight meeting, delicate new balance emerges in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Just after midnight in early October, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and a coterie of his closest advisers met at his palatial Lahore home and made his toughest decision since coming to power – picking the new army chief. The meeting took place only hours after Pakistan’s all-powerful army chief General Ashfaq [...]
The incredible mile-long floating city
Seasick sufferers look away now. A Florida-based firm has designed a floating city called Freedom Ship that would spend its entire time at sea. The vessel is a mile long, 25-storeys-high and has enough room for 50,000 permanent residents. It features schools, hospitals, art galleries, shops, parks, an aquarium, casino and even an art gallery [...]
Mystery of the missing Hanging Gardens of Babylon solved?
According to ancient texts, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon boasted elaborate terraces, magnificent water features and floating plants. The decadent grounds are reputed to have been built in the Babylon province of Iraq — yet for centuries no-one has been able to find any physical evidence they existed. However, according to one expert, closer analysis [...]
Cholesterol ‘fuels’ breast cancer
A by-product of cholesterol can fuel the deadly growth and spread of breast cancer, according to a group of scientists. It raises the prospect that taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins could prevent cancer. The work, published in the journal Science, helps explain why obesity is a major risk factor for the disease. However, cancer charities [...]
Honour killings: Mother India’s crying shame
According to statistics from the United Nations, one in five cases of honour killing internationally every year comes from India. Of the 5000 cases reported internationally, 1000 are from India. Non-governmental organisations put the number at four times this figure. They claim it is around 20,000 cases globally every year. While traditionally occurring in villages [...]
China flexes its marine muscles
HONG KONG (Reuters) – In late October, flotillas of Chinese warships and submarines sliced through passages in the Japanese archipelago and out into the western Pacific for 15 days of war games. The drills, pitting a “red force” against a “blue force,” were the first in this area, combining ships from China’s main south, east [...]
ISON: Interest still blazes on
By November 29, Dr.Nalin Samarasinha a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Houston, Arizona, felt like he had been on a rollercoaster. As star gazers, professional and amateur alike, waited with bated breath to hear of ISON’s fate, reports began to pour in. A few hours before, the comet had attained perihelion, skimming [...]
ICCB: Seasonal goodies from around the globe
It’s today – the International Christmas Charity Bazaar (ICCB) at the Hilton Residencies from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Organised by a committee of local and expatriate ladies residing in Colombo, the ICCB has been held annually in Colombo since 1982 and is an event much anticipated by Colombo dwellers as a kick-off to the [...]
SAARC International Conference on Development of Archives in South Asia
Coming together with the aim of protecting the cultural future of South Asia, the SAARC Cultural Centre, in collaboration with the Department of National Archives, Sri Lanka will hold the SAARC International Conference on Development of Archives from December 3-5. Titled “The Future of Archives and Archives of the Future” the conference will look at [...]
Sri Lankan curates works of Russian Emigre artist, Alexander Sofronoff in London
Shevanthie Goonesekera curated her first major exhibition in London of impressionist paintings by a recently discovered Russian Emigre artist, Alexander Sofronoff. The exhibition was hosted by the Rossotrudnichestvo, the cultural arm of the Russian Embassy in Kensington, London on November 6 and was supported by the Russian Ambassador, Mr. Yakovenko. Alexander Sofronoff lived in Ceylon [...]
Run-up to Supermodel Sri Lanka grand show
The finals of Supermodel Sri Lanka were worked off last night at the Mount Lavinia Hotel but in the run-up to the grand show, the young hopefuls had opportunities aplenty to show how far they’ve come in their quest to conquer the catwalk. The first stage of this search was the “Mr Best Skin” and [...]
Films by children of Puttalam to be screened at Intl film festival
A set of short films from students at Andigama, Thoduwawa and Kammandaluwa areas in the Puttalam district will be featured at the international 2013 ChildFund Connect Family Film Festival. Five short films, including ‘Drunk Father’, ‘We are Friends’ and ‘Shattered Dreams’ will be shown at festival events across Sri Lanka, South-East Asia and South America. [...]
Fast track: Inclusive and accessible society for all
For nearly a decade , we have heard politicians and bureaucrats talk ebulliently of ‘Access to safe and secure built environments for all’, ‘Social integration and inclusion than exclusion’, ‘Making Sri Lanka a truly dis-abled friendly country’ and ‘Integration of those with restricted ability into society for full participation in all spheres of daily life [...]
Britain mediating in secret talks between Hezbollah and the US
Britain is mediating in secret talks between the United States and Iranian-backed Hezbollah with a view to paving the way for Tehran’s return to the international community, it was claimed on Friday. Senior British diplomatic sources are said to be holding discussions with leaders of the Lebanese group and relaying the information to Washington. The [...]
Pope hits out at ‘Tyranny’ of unfettered capitalism, ‘idolatry of money’
Pope Francis has called for renewal of the Roman Catholic Church and attacked unfettered capitalism as “a new tyranny,” urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality in the first major work he has authored alone as pontiff. The 84-page document, known as an apostolic exhortation, amounted to an official platform for his papacy, [...]
Pope understands economics better than politicians
Pope Francis is a pontiff who has constructively broken all the rules of popery – so far to widespread acclaim. He’s faulted the Catholic church for its negative obsession with gays and birth control, and now he has expanded his mandate to economics with a groundbreaking screed denouncing “the new idolatry of money”. As the [...]
Meet the duo who want to bring out the best in you
November 26 was a much anticipated day for Charitha Bandara and Fahad Farook. For these two young men it was the first of a series of programmes being launched to help people better all aspects of their life. Their already sold-out-show “Take Control of Life” literally describes the agenda for their programme. Focusing on the [...]
In Paris, umbrellas built to outlast their owners
PARIS, Nov 30, (AFP) – Easily broken and frequently lost, the humble umbrella is not usually seen as a luxury item. But for Frenchman Michel Heurtault, whose creations can sell for thousands of euros, that is exactly what they are. The 48-year-old artisan uses the finest of materials for his umbrellas and parasols, which are [...]
Supermarket cave-in costs Lativan PM his job
RIGA (AFP) – Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who resigned Wednesday over a deadly supermarket cave-in, was the Baltic state’s longest serving premier. Respected for his squeaky clean politics, the 42-year-old physicist stepped down just weeks before Latvia’s eurozone entry in January — a moment that was set to crown his tenure but that he [...]
Ancient erotic frescoes get makeover in Italy show
CASORIA, Italy, Nov 30 (AFP) – Naked artists posing as cavorting nymphs and satyrs star in a new exhibition that opened in Italy this week which features adapted images of some of the eye-catching erotic frescoes from the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. Among images that leave little to the imagination are a man having [...]
Is your TV spying on you?
You are sitting in bed in your pyjamas, drinking a cup of cocoa. A loved one lies next to you, watching late-night television. Pillow talk is exchanged. An alarm clock is set. Eventually the lights are turned out. Earlier, you sat on the living-room sofa eating supper, before loading the dishwasher and heading upstairs. You [...]
US show of defiance in China air zone
BEIJING, Nov 30 (AFP) -US military chiefs insist they will not change their operations despite a move by China to scramble fighter jets to monitor American and Japanese aircraft in Beijing’s newly declared air defence zone. But the State Department said US commercial airlines should observe China’s demand to be given notice of aircraft entering [...]
Defiant Thai protesters target telecoms firms
BANGKOK, Nov 30 (AFP) – Thai opposition protesters marched on key state communications targets today after vowing a final push to topple the government, as the capital braces for mass rival rallies. Defiant demonstrators have besieged key government buildings in Bangkok in the biggest street protests since mass rallies in 2010 degenerated into the kingdom’s [...]
Scottish police helicopter crashes into pub
GLASGOW, Nov 30 (AFP) – Scottish emergency services raced today to rescue people trapped in the unstable wreckage of a Glasgow pub after a police helicopter crashed into the building, causing numerous casualties including probable fatalities. The chopper smashed through the roof of the crowded Clutha Pub, where more than 100 revellers had been listening [...]
French MPs vote to penalise sex workers’ clients
PARIS, Nov 30 (AFP) – French lawmakers today adopted a highly controversial provision in a bill that punishes clients of prostitutes amid fierce argument that the new measure will be counterproductive. Under the new provision, buying sex acts will be punishable by a 1,500-euro ($2,000) fine. Repeat offenders risk a fine of 3,750 euros. Alternatively, [...]
Going to Tehran
Only six months ago, a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme appeared impossible. But after the Iranian people elected the pragmatic Hassan Rouhani as president, a 17-minute phone conversation between him and President Barack Obama, and several weeks of secret talks, the deal is now a reality. How did this stunning change of events come about? [...]
Communist China restores Chiang Kai-shek’s house, and image
China’s Communist authorities have reverently restored an 80-year-old house once used by Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, as changing relations with Taiwan transform an arch enemy into a recognised historical figure. Political differences were plastered over as Nanjing city — once China’s capital under the Nationalist party, also known as the Kuomintang — spent $4.9 million [...]
The Afghan muddle and neighbours’ power politics
NEW DELHI – Despite some last-minute brinkmanship by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the United States and Afghanistan seem to have worked out a bilateral security agreement to govern the 8,000-10,000 (mostly American) troops who will remain in Afghanistan from next year. But Afghanistan remains a source of significant uncertainty – and high anxiety – in [...]
Dubai holds Lankan born man over spoof video, say activists
A rights group says a US man is being held in a maximum security prison in UAE accused of endangering national security after posting a parody video about youth culture in Dubai. Shezanne Cassim, a consultant, is the first foreign national to be charged under a 2012 cybercrimes law, says the Emirates Centre for Human [...]
Giant prehistoric toilet unearthed
A gigantic “communal latrine” created at the dawn of the dinosaurs has been unearthed in Argentina. Thousands of fossilised poos left by rhino-like megaherbivores were found clustered together, scientists say. The 240-million-year-old site is the “world’s oldest public toilet” and the first evidence that ancient reptiles shared collective dumping grounds. The dung contains clues to [...]
Spy app lets you track your partner, listen in on calls and even lock their phone
It’s bad enough checking your partner’s phone when they leave the room, or taking a peek at their Facebook page, yet a new app takes this level of snooping not just a step further, but a giant leap forward. The mSpy app works on select smartphones including Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone and can [...]
In Vietnam, weary apparatchiks launch quiet revolution
HANOI, (Reuters) – The Vietnam of today wasn’t what Le Hieu Dang had hoped for when he joined the Communist Party 40 years ago to liberate and rebuild a country reeling from decades of war and French and U.S. occupation. The socialist system of the late revolutionary Ho Chi Minh has been corrupted, he says, [...]
Message from H.E. Abdulhamid A K Al Mulla – UAE Ambassador
On 2nd December, the federation of the United Arab Emirates will mark the 42nd anniversary of its establishment in 1971. On this happy occasion, I am extremely pleased to extend heartiest greetings, on behalf of the Government of the United Arab Emirates, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan – President [...]
