Bangladesh leaders’ enmity stokes concern over Jan. vote
DHAKA, Bangladesh – The two ladies, as they are often known, had not spoken in years when aides arranged a telephone call recently in hopes of resolving the mounting political crisis in Bangladesh. The caller was Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister. The recipient was Begum Khaleda Zia, the leader of the political opposition. “I called [...]
Ershad: The queenmaker
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Call Bangladesh the land of the resurrected. Here, a dictator can be overthrown, disgraced and imprisoned, and still make a comeback. More than two decades after being ousted, Hussain Mohammed Ershad is now being called the “Queenmaker.” Thanks to recent political maneuvering, he is in a prime position to tip the scales [...]
Outraged modesty
It’s nearly a year since the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a Delhi bus brought thousands on to the streets, demanding better protection for women. The law was updated, new police procedures and fast-track courts were introduced – but in some ways India’s approach to sex crimes is still stuck in the past. A [...]
Arundhati Roy on Tehelka editor’s sex case
Tarun Tejpal, the former editor of India’s top news magazine Tehelka, has been arrested after allegations from a colleague that he sexually assaulted her. Mr Tejpal has not been formally charged yet and he denies the accusations against him. Booker Prize-winning author and activist Arundhati Roy, a long-time acquaintance of Mr Tejpal, speaks to the [...]
War crime convict Charles Taylor’s wife bemoans his humiliation in British jail
The wife of an African warlord who has been moved to a UK prison claimed his incarceration among ‘common British prisoners’ was ‘humiliating’. Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has begun serving a 50-year sentence at HMP Frankland on the outskirts of Durham city for plotting some of the most heinous war crimes in history. His [...]
Mandela: The man and the mission
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the world. Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, Mandela emerged determined to use his prestige and charisma [...]
Mandela for the ages
MELBOURNE – Without Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s apartheid nightmare eventually would have come to an end. Its enforcers were beyond the civilised pale, and the world’s patience with them had run out. But, without Mandela’s towering moral and political leadership, the transition would have been long, ugly, and bloody beyond measure. One Afrikaner leader, F.W. [...]
The shirts, humour, empathy — the magic of Mandela
South Africans called it the “Madiba magic” after his clan name — Nelson Mandela’s quirky mix of grandeur and simplicity, his ready quips, his ability to relate to the poor, his colourful custom-made shirts and his dancing prowess. Mandela — who succumbed to a recurrent lung infection on Thursday aged 95 — drew politicians from [...]
Infuriating USB plugs set to become reversible
It may not be the world’s greatest problem but jabbing at computer ports, when trying to insert USB cables that are almost always the wrong way up, can be very annoying. However, this frustrating pitfall of modern life is set to become a thing of the past as work has begun on the next generation [...]
Does China want to turn the moon into a ‘Death Star’?
It might sound like a nightmare scenario from a science fiction film, but one expert has claimed that China is planning on transforming the moon into a missile base. The expert, from the China National Space Administration’s Lunar Exploration Programme Centre, told a Chinese newspaper that the moon could be used as a military base [...]
The airbag for your phone
If you’ve ever dropped your smartphone you’ll know that sinking feeling as you pick it up to find it’s dented, scratched or even ruined. Inspired by this, Japanese car maker Honda has created a smartphone case with built-in airbags designed to prevent these kind of costly accidents. Dubbed Case N, the phone accessory acts like [...]
How to cheat at selfies: Apps to improve your digital image
Almost everyone is aware that celebrities in magazines are usually digitally enhanced to have flawless skin and dazzling white teeth, but how about your friends’ photos on social networks? A new breed of photo editing app is gaining popularity as people seek to digitally doctor their selfies so that they too can looks ‘perfect’ on [...]
Certificates for participants of annual Samadhi procession
Founder of the Pragna Pradeepa concept and Western Province Councillor Jayantha de Silva presented certificates to children who took part in the annual Samadhi procession of Samadhi Viharaya, Nawala Road, Narahenpita recently.
Book re-launched in honour of author
A.C. Dep’s book ‘ Historical and Social Studies’ re-edited by Justice Priyasath Dep , a serving judge of the Supreme Court was launched recently in memory of his beloved father. The late Mr. A.C. Dep was a well-respected Deputy Inspector General of Police, serving from 1942- 1972, an era when officers and gentlemen manned the [...]
Information on Anagarika sought for documentary film
The 150th birth anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala, a pioneer in the national and anti-imperialist movement in the country during the latter part of the 19th century, falls next year. Prof Luxman Piyadasa of the Department of the Mass Communications at the University of Kelaniya is gathering resource material for an academic writing and documentary on [...]
‘Hometown’: New CJS collection pays homage to it’s beginnings
The year was 1922 and the elegant, sartorial opulence of the era was perfectly captured within the historic glamour of one Dutch fortress. Thaha Cassim believed in the beauty of the unconventional, which was perhaps why he founded Colombo Jewellery Stores (CJS) in the midst of Galle Fort. Nine decades later grandson Akram is making [...]
Rajarata scientist wins National Award for popularising science and technology
Dr. Faiz Marikkar received this year’s Prof M.T.M Jiffry Memorial Award – a National Award — at a BMICH ceremony organised by the National Science Foundation for popularising science and technology . He also received Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Sri Lanka (TOYP) award for his outstanding academic accomplishment. An old boy of St. Aloysius [...]
Native tree planting project in Raigama
Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka, a voluntary organisation, has completed a native tree planting project to increase the biodiversity of the Uyanwatte Lake area in Raigama, Bandaragama. Thirty Seven native endemic trees were planted along the bank of the lake. The area is ideal habitat for many endangered flora and fauna. The endangered and endemic [...]
Launch of Gratiaen Award winning novel
The 2012 Gratiaen Award winning novel ‘Playing Pillow Politics at MGK’ by Lal Medawattegedara was launched at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations & Strategic Studies on November 30 before a gathering of fellow authors, family and friends. The author presented the first copy of the book to the US writers Ken and Visakha [...]
Farewell to Ladies’ College Principal
The Ladies’ College Old Girls Association hosted a farewell dinner at the Kingsbury Hotel on November 21, for Principal Nirmali Wickremesinghe who retires at the end of the school year .
Zonta Says NO – A campaign to end violence against women and girls
Zonta International, an association of professional and business women recently announced the launch of “Zonta Says NO” – an international campaign to raise awareness of and increase actions to end violence against women and girls around the world, whilst partnering the United Nations and its agencies. The campaign, featured 16 days of activism between November [...]
‘Barney was a real jerk’
Jenna Bush Hager has revealed her true feelings about her family’s beloved pet Barney, saying that the recently-deceased Scottie ‘was a real jerk’. The conversation came up when the former first daughter was on the Today Show talking about how the Obama’s puppy, Sunny, accidentally knocked a little girl down during the unveiling of the [...]
Japan agency offers travel for your teddy bear
TOKYO (AFP) -Unable to get to that must-see tourist site but can’t bear for your teddy to miss out? Then Japan has just the thing for you — a travel agency that takes stuffed toys on package tours and even provides the holiday snaps to prove it. Tokyo-based Unagi (Eel) Travel has a range of [...]
The education I want for my daughter
In a short span of 3½ years the Government has just presented its fifth budget. The cuts in expenditure or as I would argue, the cuts in investment in education, continues. Sri Lanka now invests one of the lowest percentages in education, as a percentage of its GDP. There are many attempts to statistically prove [...]
Twitter rolls out cookie-based ad targeting
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter Inc (TWTR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will begin showing ads to users based on their browsing history, it said on Thursday, becoming the latest Internet company to employ the controversial but increasingly widespread tracking technology. Twitter’s new advertising feature allows marketers to use cookies – small files planted in Web surfers’ [...]
Why Nelson Mandela?
NICOSIA (AFP) – So what, exactly, is it that makes Nelson Mandela so special? Apart from the fact that he emerged from 27 years in apartheid prisons bearing so little malice. And that he insisted on “reconciliation” being central to a truth commission in order to heal wounds caused by years of bitter racial hatred. [...]
“It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die,” Mandela told court
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Nelson Mandela was found guilty on June 11, 1964 of four charges of sabotage and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The following are excerpts from a statement given by him in his defence at the start of the trial in Pretoria on April 20,1964. “At the outset, I want to [...]
“It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die,” Mandela told court
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Nelson Mandela was found guilty on June 11, 1964 of four charges of sabotage and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The following are excerpts from a statement given by him in his defence at the start of the trial in Pretoria on April 20,1964. “At the outset, I want to [...]
Exercise later in life tied to healthy aging
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It’s never too late to start exercising, according to a new study that found formerly inactive seniors who took up exercise still experienced health benefits. The study sheds light on the question of whether the slower mental and physical decline seen among active seniors extends to former couch potatoes who begin exercising [...]
Obamas, Bushes to head to South Africa for Mandela memorial
WASHINGTON, Dec 7(AFP) -US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will travel to South Africa next week to pay their respects to the late Nelson Mandela together with former first couple George W. and Laura Bush. Ex-president Bill Clinton, who was in office when Mandela took power to become South Africa’s first black president, also [...]
US looks to manage, not end, China air rift
WASHINGTON, Dec 7(AFP) -The United States has strenuously objected to China’s new air zone over islands managed by Japan, but experts say its best hope is to contain rather than end tensions. After Beijing last month declared an Air Defense Identification Zone in the area of the East China Sea, asking foreign planes to identify themselves, [...]
Is this why Kim Jong-Un ousted his uncle?
The man who holds the secrets of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s finances was reported last night to be in hiding in China after fleeing for his life from Kim’s rule. The aide was responsible for managing the funds of Kim’s recently-ousted uncle Jang Song Thaek, and in turn is believed to have intimate knowledge of [...]
Vast wealth of Mugabe’s inner circle revealed in divorce case
The ludicrous wealth of Robert Mugabe’s inner circle has come to light in a divorce case. The assets of Phillip Chiyangwa, a cousin of the ruthless Zimbabwean dictator, are worth £180 million, according to his wife, Elizabeth, who’s seeking 85 per cent of them. She said in a statement made to the Harare high court that [...]
India ranked 94th on corruption index, Afghanistan most corrupt
BERLIN (AFP)- India has been ranked lower in corruption than neighbouring Pakistan but higher than China by graft watchdog Transparency International in a survey released on Tuesday. Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia have been ranked as the world’s most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand are nearly squeaky-clean. India ranked 94 on the index, [...]
Want to make your heart sing? Join a choir to guard your emotional well-being
People who sing with others are happier with their lives than those who simply sing around the house, a study found. Choir members are also more satisfied with their lot than people who play team sports. The findings suggest that there is something special about being in a choir, over and above benefits of singing and [...]
