Killjoy Pope crushes Christmas nativity traditions
With just under 34 days until Christmas, the Pope has put a dampener on the festive period by rubbishing the idea that donkeys or any other animal have a place in the traditional nativity scene. Benedict XVI also claims angels never sang to the shepherds to proclaim Christ birth’s — trashing the much-loved carol ‘Hark! [...]
If confidence in the judiciary is lost, there can be no rule of law
Judicial integrity is one of the fundamental principles associated with democratic government and deserves the concerned attention of all citizens. I like to focus attention here on judicial ethics, continuing judicial education and the judge’s obligation to be in full control of the court and all activities and personnel associated with it. Unfortunately, judicial ethics [...]
Mumbai attack: Qasab execution does not erase unanswered questions
The execution of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks, came on a day when the newspapers interestingly are full of stories about the death penalty. The Indian Express, quoting the Press Trust of India, reports that India is among the 39 countries that have voted against a UN [...]
Egypt judges slam Mursi
CAIRO, Nov 24 (AFP) – Egyptian judges accused President Mohamed Mursi yesterday of an “unprecedented attack” on the judiciary by assuming sweeping powers putting him beyond judicial oversight, with some going on protest strike. Earlier, anti-riot police fired tear gas to disperse anti-Mursi protesters camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square as Western governments voiced growing [...]
New constraint for Saudi women as they are monitored by SMS
RIYADH, Nov 22, 2012 (AFP) -Denied the right to travel without consent from their male guardians and banned from driving, women in Saudi Arabia are now monitored by an electronic system that tracks any cross-border movements. Since last week, Saudi women’s male guardians began receiving text messages on their phones informing them when women under [...]
Guilty of cruelty but not even fined
The former owner of Anne the elephant was yesterday found guilty of animal cruelty – but walked free from court without even being fined. Circus boss Bobby Roberts, 70, was given a conditional discharge for keeping Anne constantly chained in her winter quarters and failing to prevent a groom from beating her with a pitchfork. [...]
Maldivian opposition says President would be ousted in Nov 30 no-faith vote
The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is confident of ousting President Mohamed Waheed on November 30 in a parliamentary vote and returning to power in likely mid-2013 elections, a bruised and battered opposition politician vowed in Colombo. “We are confident that (President) Waheed will be ousted in a no confidence motion on November 30 [...]
Samsung unveils plan for smartphones with bendable screens
Next year could bring a new twist in the evolution of the smartphone.Samsung are gearing up to produce flexible, unbreakable mobile phone screens that can be bent, twisted and even folded up and put in your wallet. The South Korean tech giant reportedly has the flexible screens in the final stage of development and will [...]
Asparagus is latest weapon in the fight against diabetes
Asparagus could be a powerful new culinary weapon in the fight against diabetes.Scientists have found regular intake of the increasingly popular vegetable keeps blood sugar levels under control and boosts the body’s production of insulin, the hormone that helps it to absorb glucose. Type two diabetes, which accounts for 90 per cent of all diabetes [...]
End of AIDS in sight, says UN report
With the number of people being diagnosed with HIV falling, AIDS could one day be eradicated, experts claim. A report from the United Nations said this was thanks to better access to drugs that can both treat and prevent the incurable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. This meant the aim of ending the [...]
Paris Hilton’s in Mecca
Paris Hilton has come a long way from her not-so-humble beginnings as a hotel heiress, via an infamous sex tape to her current position as a ubiquitous media presence and ‘businesswoman’ hell bent on global domination. Nowhere is safe from Paris, not even the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia and the latest venue for [...]
‘Now I am not afraid’
For one month the dreams kept coming. The voice, the shots, the blood. Her friend Malala slumped over. Shazia Ramazan, 13, who was wounded by the same Taliban gunman who shot her friend Malala Yousufzai, returned home last week after a month in a hospital, where she had to relearn how to use her left [...]
As Gaza is savaged again, BBC’s role is exposed
In Peter Watkins’s remarkable BBC film The War Game, which foresaw the aftermath of an attack on London with a one-megaton nuclear bomb, the narrator says: “On almost the entire subject of thermonuclear weapons, there is now practically total silence in the press, official publications and on TV. Is there hope to be found in [...]
In Myanmar, Obama saw a nation that shaped his grandfather
WASHINGTON – When President Obama visited Yangon on Monday, he was the first sitting American president to visit the country now known as Myanmar. But he was not the first Obama to visit. “His roots go through Burma,” said Timothy Parsons, an African history professor at Washington University in St. Louis who wrote a book [...]
Kowtow or cooperation in Asia?
TOKYO – When an American president’s first overseas trip following his re-election is to Asia, one can be sure that something big is afoot in the region. Indeed, Barack Obama’s decision to go first to impoverished and long-isolated Myanmar (Burma) attests to the potency of the changes underway in that country – and to US [...]
