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“The existence of viruses as causative, contagious agents of disease has been debated since Louis Pasteur and Antoine Béchamp in the 1860’s. Fast forward to the present time and we find that no virus taken from a human has ever been isolated. In fact, no one has ever seen a virus of any kind. They are all imaginary. Today, all are created in silicone” asserts Kyle Young. Yet, the virus, no virus dichotomy has continued and those most concerned about the no virus view according to Kyle, “seems to be those who have awakened enough to understand the problems associated...

By rejecting the RCEP membership, we have given China a free hand to integrate its economy with Asian nations. Maybe India should look West now The "Act East" policy, with a focus on an extended neighbourhood in the Asia-Pacific Region, has been the cornerstone of India's diplomacy in the current decade. While it was originally conceived as an economic initiative, in recent years, it has gained political, strategic and cultural dimensions, including the establishment of institutional mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation. India has upgraded its relations to a strategic partnership with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia,...

Justifying the docking of Chinese submarines in Karachi and Colombo, a Chinese think tank questioned criticism in India of the presence of Chinese naval ships in the Indian Ocean, saying China has a right to protect its interests and India should be "broad-minded" to accept it. "But even if Chinese naval ships and submarines appear regularly in the Indian Ocean, so what?," an article in the state-run China Daily questioning the criticism of Chinese vessels in the Indian Ocean said. Written by Zhou Do, an honorary fellow with Centre for China American Defence Relations of Beijing-based Academy of Military Science,...

Colombo (dpa) - Eleven Muslim civilians were hacked to death with swords in eastern Sri Lanka, military officials said Monday, adding that they suspected Tamil rebels were behind the attack. However, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) denied it was responsible and blamed government troops for the massacre. The military has a long tradition of blaming the separatist rebels for its own atrocities, the LTTE charged. The victims were employed to repair a dam in an irrigation canal in Panama, Potuvil, 340 kilometres east of Colombo, when they were abducted, military officials said. The men had gone missing on...

The main Muslim party in Sri Lanka has said it intends to boycott a tsunami aid-sharing deal between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress said the country's Muslims had been sidelined because they were not included as equal partners in the deal. The deal is meant to ensure an equal distribution of aid to all parts of the country hit by December's tsunami. Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans are yet to receive tsunami aid. Under the controversial aid sharing deal, the Muslim community in Sri Lanka would be given its own representative on the...

Sri Lanka charges Oxfam £500,000 to allow in jeeps (Filed: 17/06/2005) Oxfam has had to pay £550,000 in customs duty to the Sri Lankan government for importing 25 four-wheel-drive vehicles to help victims of the tsunami, The Daily Telegraph has learned. The sum was levied by customs in Colombo which have refused to grant tax exemptions to non-governmental organisations working to repair damage caused by the giant Boxing Day wave. The Indian-made Mahindra vehicles, essential to negotiate damaged roads and rough tracks, remained stuck in port at Colombo for almost a month as officials completed the small mountain of paperwork...

Even as the association of Canadian Maurice Strong with "Koreagate Man" Tungsun Park was coming under world limelight, Sri Lankans were starting to demand answers about where the $425 million promised by Canada to tsunami victims is. Four months after the tsunami hit, Sri Lankans still don’t have their money. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin rushed to the scene for a weeklong photo op. Generous Canadians donated record amounts of money on line. The Canadian government promised to match dollar for dollar, donations from the public. But the promised mega millions never arrived. According to veteran newsman Garth Pritchard, in...

<p>When the tsunami disastrously struck Southeast Asia on Dec. 26, 2004, Las Vegas Libertarian Avan Perera happened to be in Sri Lanka -- the land of his birth -- visiting his parents. They recently retired back to Sri Lanka after living in the United States for 20 years.</p>

Disaster opens prospect of peace in Sri Lanka When Sri Lanka’s president Chandrika Kumaratunga shook hands with two Tamil Tiger guerrillas last week, many saw her gesture as a symbol of peacemaking following the tsunami that has killed more than 30,000 across the island. Ms Kumaratunga, who lost an eye in 1999 in a Tiger assassination attempt during the group’s insurgency for a Tamil homeland, also declared that returning to civil war with the Tigers was now only a “remote” possibility. Underlying Ms Kumaratunga’s bold declaration were the heavy losses suffered by the Tigers due to the tsunami in territory...

A 38-year-old Sri Lankan man, whose wife died three months ago, appears to have the ability to breast feed his two infant children, doctors told a local newspaper Wednesday. B. Wijeratne from the central town of Walapone, 186 kilometres from the capital Colombo lost his wife when she died giving birth to their second child. "My eldest daughter refused to be fed on powdered milk liquid in the feeding bottle," he said according to the Sinhalese-language daily Lankadeepa. "I was so moved one evening and to stop her crying I offered my breast. I then realised that I was capable...