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Bombers kill 43 in Iraq
CHOGM: Rajapaksa says Lanka has nothing to hide
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Special to the tribune
Three shot near US school; hunt on for gunman
Outrage in France over slur on black minister
Top US immigrant award for Indian surgeon
Typhoon-struck Philippine city begins mass burial
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Karbala, November 14 The bloodshed came as a flood of worshippers, including tens of thousands of foreign pilgrims, thronged the central shrine city of Karbala for the climax of Ashura, braving the repeated attacks by Sunni militants that have marred the festival in previous years. The suicide bomber, who was disguised in a police uniform, struck in a Shia-majority area of confessionally mixed Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killing 32 persons and wounding 80, security and medical officials said. It was the third attack of the day to target Shias. Earlier, coordinated blasts in the town of Hafriyah, south of the capital, killed nine persons, while twin bombings in the northern oil city of Kirkuk wounded five. A bombing also targeted an army patrol in a predominantly Sunni town north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers. Shias from Iraq and around the world mark Ashura, which this year climaxed today, by setting up procession tents where pilgrims gather and food is distributed to passers-by. An estimated two million faithful gathered in Karbala, site of the mausoleum of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, whose death in the city at the hands of soldiers of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD lies at the heart of Islam’s sectarian divide. To mark the occasion, modern-day Shia devotees flood Hussein’s mausoleum, demonstrating their ritual guilt and remorse for not defending him by beating their heads and chests and, in some cases, making incisions on their scalps with swords in ritual acts of self-flagellation. Black-clad pilgrims packed the shrines of Hussein and his half-brother Abbas, listening over loudspeakers to the story of the battle in which Hussein was killed, as volunteers distributed food and water. "I have been coming since I was young, every year, even during the time of the tyrant Saddam," said Abu Ali,a 35-year-old pilgrim visiting from the southern port city of Basra, referring to the rule of the now-executed Sunni Arab dictator who savagely repressed Iraq’s Shia majority community. — AFP
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CHOGM: Rajapaksa says Lanka has nothing to hide
Colombo, November 14 At the 30-minute press meet here this morning, Rajapaksa also sent out a message to the Tamils, especially the diaspora, that he was willing to discuss issues with them and invited them for talks. He also promised to take action against anybody guilty of torture and violation of human rights as the government had nothing to hide. "We are very open. We have nothing to hide," he said. There was a legal system, human rights commission and the Lessons Learnt and Rehabilitation Commission where people can complain about torture, rape and murder during the war, he said. PM Manmohan Singh decided to skip the conference after political parties in Tamil Nadu raked up the issue of killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka. — PTI
Probe sexual violence: Britain
Colombo: Britain has asked Sri Lanka to probe allegations that hundreds of men and women had been sexually assaulted by government forces during and after the island's drawn-out ethnic war. Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Britain was concerned that no one had been held accountable for rights abuses, including sexual assault and the use of rape to extract confessions. — AFP |
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Christie’s, top British auction house, to debut in India Shyam Bhatia in London Christie’s of London, a leading British auction house, has announced that it is holding its first ever auction in India to sell the works of renowned Indian artists. The sale will be held next month in Mumbai and feature works from the personal collection of the late Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, Mumbai-based gallerists and the most significant figures in the development of India’s modern art scene. This team of husband and wife was famous for their frame company, Chemould, on Princess Street in Mumbai. Their passion for art became the main focus of their lives and a second shop selling frames and showcasing art opened in Kolkata in 1950. In 1963, Gallery Chemould was opened inside the Jehangir Art Gallery in South Mumbai. Years later, Kekoo became a key adviser to the Indian government on the development of the arts and started writing a regular art newsletter. Exhibitions were held at his gallery for those key artists who are now considered India’s national art treasures. The Gandhy’s collection has now been picked up by Christie’s, which together with Sotheby’s are the longest established and most famous London auction houses. They are the Eton and Harrow, or Doon and Mayo of the auction world. The works of art to be auctioned include paintings by VS Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, SH Raza, Tyeb Mehta, MF Husain and Jamini Roy. The sale will be held at The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on December 19 with a preview exhibition at The Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi from December 7 to 9. Hugo Weihe, international director of Asian art at Christie’s commented, “Together Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, initially through their framing business and later on at Gallery Chemould, prepared the framework for young artists to thrive. “The value of their support and patronage to this group is reflected among the works of art in their collection — from the Husain family portrait, the view by Ram Kumar of the hills near their holiday home to the early Gaitonde landscape shown above. “Each is a tribute to friendships made and the central role that they played in shaping the modern Indian art scene. I will never forget Kekoo’s vivid eye and the deep sense of humanity that he exuded, his passion for art and his openness. “It is hard to imagine the careers of the great names of modern art without the encouragement of the Gandhy’s. It is a measure of their vision in the early 1960s that their Gallery, under the stewardship of their daughter, continues to show contemporary art today.” Vintage art collection on sale
About Christie’s
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house, currently the world's largest. Christie’s has its main headquarters in London’s King Street and in Rockefeller Plaza, New York. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François-Henri Pinault. |
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Three shot near US school; hunt on for gunman
Pittsburgh, November 14 Pittsburgh school district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said the students were shot outside Brashear High School yesterday as they walked to a vehicle they had all taken to school earlier in the day. She said their injuries appear to be non-life-threatening. Two were grazed in the head and one was shot in both the foot and arm. It's not clear who shot them. Pugh said the victims were not on school property but close by. She says one victim was found inside the school but either ran inside or was taken there by emergency crews and wasn't shot inside school. — AP |
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Outrage in France over slur on black minister
Paris, November 14 Amid mounting concern over similar recent incidents, the far-right satirical publication ‘Minute’ went on sale with a cover featuring a picture of Justice Minister Christiane Taubira and headlines which read: "Crafty as a monkey" and "Taubira gets her banana back" yesterday. The text is deliberately ambiguous: the term "crafty as a monkey" in French can be used as praise while getting your banana back is roughly the equivalent of recovering the spring in your step. Taubira herself described the newspaper's words as "extremely violent" and "denying she belonged to the human race". The provocative cover page was also an obvious reference to two other recent cases of Taubira being publicly likened to a monkey, incidents which have triggered much soul-searching among liberal commentators over a perceived surge in intolerance. Taubira warned last week that the country's social cohesion was under threat from a disintegration of long-standing taboos on the expression of overtly racist ideas. Minute's front page provoked an outcry among politicians with many of them calling for the magazine's editor and publisher to be prosecuted for incitement of racial hatred. Even the far-right National Front (FN), branded the coverage "extremely shocking and unacceptable." Taubira is a hate figure for some on the right in French politics, partly as she was the minister responsible for the legalisation of gay marriage earlier this year. Last month, a group of children attending an anti-Taubira/anti-gay marriage protest were filmed chanting “monkey, eat your banana”. — AFP A hate figure
Taubira is a hate figure for some on the right in French politics, partly as she was the minister responsible for the legalisation of gay marriage earlier this year |
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Top US immigrant award for Indian surgeon
Washington, November 14 Dr Rahul Jindal, currently a staff transplant surgeon at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre and professor of surgery at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, was presented the "Outstanding American by Choice" award yesterday. Lori Scialabba, Deputy Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, while presenting the award, said that Jindal has played a crucial role on the medical team that conducted groundbreaking surgery at Walter Reed AMC on Thanksgiving Day in 2009. His research work and publications have been cited in text books and accompanied by editorials and press releases by the American Society of Nephrology and other journals. She said Jindal has set up the first comprehensive kidney dialysis and transplant programme in Guyana in South America. He is also the Director of the National Blood and Bone Marrow Drive Campaign which was sponsored by about 600 Hindu temples in North America. — PTI Elite company
Indian-Americans honoured by this prestigious award include Indra Nooyi, Renu Khator, Vivek Wadhwa and
Amarpreet S Sawhney |
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Typhoon-struck Philippine city begins mass burial Tacloban (Philippines), November 14 Aid is beginning to reach some of the 5,45,000 persons displaced by Typhoon Haiyan that tore across several islands in eastern Philippines six days ago, killing thousands of people. Most of the casualties occurred in Leyte province, its capital Tacloban, and Samar island. Many bodies are still lying along the roads in the city and others are buried under debris. Outside the Tacloban city hall, dozens of bodies in bags were lined up today, waiting to be trucked to the cemetery just outside the city for burial. The stench of death filled the air. In the first-such operation, 30 bodies in leaking black bags were lowered into graves without any prayers being said. Officials said efforts had been made to identify the bodies. So families have a chance of finding out what happened to their loved ones in the days and weeks to come. It was not immediately clear whether this included DNA testing. Authorities say 2,357 persons have been confirmed dead in the disaster. — AP
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Defence ties with India critical to America: US air chief
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Attacks mostly against
Shias, including a suicide bombing that ripped through a religious procession, killed 43 persons in Iraq today despite massive security.
On the eve of the CHOGM summit, allegations of human rights abuses against Tamil civilians during the war against the LTTE today dominated a press conference by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
