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A former Sri Lankan fisheries minister chomped on a raw fish at a Tuesday press conference as seafood sales in the nation have plummeted over coronavirus concerns. “I am making an appeal to the people of this country to eat this fish. Don’t be afraid. You will not get infected by the coronavirus,” Dilip Wedaarachchi said before biting into the fish. Last month, the Central Fish Market outside the nation’s capital, Colombo, was the site of a major coronavirus outbreak that led to thousands of countywide infections.

The Maldives government is now alarmed at the amount of debt it owes to China. With the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism-dependent islands are now finding it difficult to repay the Chinese debt that the previous government took. India and China have been trying to gain clout in the region. Under Former President Abdullah Yameen’s government, China invested millions of dollars in infrastructure projects under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, in 2018 Yameen faced election defeat. In an interview with BBC, the current Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed said that the Chinese debt amounts to...

The Issue Unable to repay its debt, Sri Lanka gave China a controlling equity stake and a 99-year lease for Hambantota port, which it handed over in December 2017.The economic rationale for Hambantota is weak, given existing capacity and expansion plans at Colombo port, fueling concerns that it could become a Chinese naval facility. Recommendations Recipient countries should link infrastructure projects to broader development strategies that assess projects within larger networks and monitor overall debt levels.The international community should expand alternatives to Chinese infrastructure financing but cannot and should not support all proposed projects. The view from Hambantota’s Martello Tower...

At Fa-Hien Lena, a cave in the heart of Sri Lanka's wet zone forests, we discovered numerous tools made of stone, bone, and tooth – including a number of small arrow points carved from bone which are about 48,000 years old. The invention of the bow and arrow allowed people to hunt prey at a much greater distance. People no longer had to get within "a stone's throw" of prey which could suddenly bolt and escape. This innovation greatly increased the chances of a successful hunt. Bows and arrows also made it much safer to hunt dangerous prey. If you...

The United States stopping a United Nations Security Council vote on the coronavirus situation citing the inclusion of "false narratives" from China.... The United States tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists.... The unemployment rate in the United States was 14.7 percent for April...... Tesla trying to resume work at its factory in Fremont, California.... Ohio State University is paying out some 41 million dollars to settle lawsuits with 162 survivors of sexual abuse by a former school doctor.... (Warning: Disturbing Content) The woman who's accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 is ready to take a lie detector...

China has often been accused of luring the poor African countries in its debt-trap by providing them loans for much-needed infrastructure projects and then control them when they fail to pay off their debts. Tanzania President John Magufuli has cancelled a Chinese loan worth $10 billion signed by his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete to construct a port at Mbegani creek in Bagamoyo over terms and conditions that, he said, beat the logic. Magufuli said that the terms of the Chinese loan agreement could only be accepted by a drunken man. His predecessor, Jakaya Kikwete had signed the deal with Chinese...

TOKYO -- Countries with citizens in the central Chinese city that’s the epicenter of a viral outbreak are planning evacuations as the number of illnesses grow and China takes drastic measures to try to stop the spread of the virus. A look at steps being taken: CHINA: The government cut transportation links to and from the city of Wuhan on Jan. 22 and has since expanded those controls to several nearby cities. JAPAN: Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said 560 Japanese citizens are confirmed in Hubei and chartered evacuation flights are being prepared to leave “ as soon as possible....

Malaysian police were investigating a company controlled by a son of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over allegations that it was involved in supplying parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme. National police chief Bakri Omar said in a statement issued to "clarify several questions and confusion" that the probe was sparked by information provided last November by US and British intelligence services. The CIA and MI6 told Malaysia's special branch that the company, Scomi Precision Engineering (Scope), was supplying centrifuge components made in Malaysia for Libya's uranium-enrichment program. Scope is a unit of listed oil and gas firm Scomi Group,...

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin says there's still a chance for a unity government. The disagreements between Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud..... President Trump tweeting a message to North Korea's ruler Kim Jong-un today starting with an allusion to recent propaganda but ending with a call for a deal on North Korea's nuclear program.... Earlier Sunday the United States and South Korea announced that they were postponing a joint military exercise criticized by North Korea as provocative.... Protest continuing in Hong Kong over the weekend and into Monday..... In Iran the internet reported...

President Trump pardoning two members of the US military in war crimes cases tonight and restoring the rank of another convicted in a war crimes case..... Israel investigating an air strike in Gaza this week that killed a family of eight..... Two missiles fired from Gaza early Saturday morning Israel time aimed at the city of Beersheba.... "So now they convict Roger Stone....... The House "impeachment inquiry" active on Newsdump Friday...... The BBC promoting an interview with Britain's Prince Andrew on this Newsdump Friday..... French police looking for witnesses at an international level as they investigate sexual abuse of minors...

Wood Buried Under Ocean Floor Thousands of Miles at Sea October 22, 2019 | David F. Coppedge Wood chips hundreds of feet deep in ocean sediments have been found. How did they get there? Watch out for ocean trees. Geology researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) went boring into ocean sediments near India, and were surprised to find direct evidence that “Catastrophic events carry forests of trees thousands of miles to a burial at sea.” They pulled up six cores of sediment from the ocean floor a thousand feet below the surface. The cores were extracted miles apart...

The ruins are located close to the popular tourist destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mamallapuram, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Just before the devastating 2004 Asian Tsunami hit, the ocean receded several hundred feet, and tourists reported glimpsing large stones and boulders in the distance. A 10-member team from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) surveyed the area from March 10 to 18, and have found the ruins of one of six ancient temples that are thought to have been swallowed up by the ocean as sea levels rose. The team, comprising of divers, geologists and...

Rocks with step-like cuttings, a wall and carved blocks found under the sea in the southern coast near the heritage site of Mahabalipuram are believed to be evidence of an early settlement or a port. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) came across the remains while recently conducting excavations underwater at the site in Tamil Nadu. "Mahabalipuram is a historical place. We started detailed excavation 500 metres from the shore in the sea and recently came across different types of rocks which indicate human activity. We have also found a wall running from the shore into the sea," Alok Tripathy,...

THE little Buddhist sage sits underneath the tree only yards from the sea from which he was plucked, a whimsical smile upon his face. Villagers gather before him with offerings of incense and food. “We must look after him,” Gajendram, a fisherman, said as he knelt to light a candle. “He was sent 1,000 miles across the sea to protect us and he will stay with us for ever.” A few miles up the coast at Mahabalipuram, a group of daytrippers marvel at the weathered carvings on a huge rock sitting in the middle of the beach. To one side...

In a major success, archaeologists in Mahabalipuram district have discovered remains of a 4th century Hindu temple built by the kings of the majestic Pallava dynasty. Archaeologists say the uncovering is the result of the December 26 tsunami that destroyed the beaches of various South Asian countries and claimed thousands of lives. The archaeologists inform that the newly discovered temple is a complex by itself. "We carried out extensive diving offshore and there we found certain remains which suggested some human activity in the region. To confirm and correlate that, we carried out excavation on this land and during the...

CHENNAI, March 31. — After the excitement of discovering man made rock structures under sea off Mahabalipuram coast, the excavation team of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has now unearthed traces of two more temples on shore. Adjoining the Shore Temple, these findings could perhaps lend credence to legends about ‘Seven Pagodas (temples)’ having stood on this historic spot, once a flourishing port town under the Pallavas. “We are presently excavating the remains of two structural temples on shore, both to the south of the Shore Temple. They appear to be similar in size to the Shore Temple. And,...

MAHABALIPURAM, India (AP) -- Archaeologists have begun underwater excavations of what is believed to be an ancient city and parts of a temple uncovered by the tsunami off the coast of a centuries-old pilgrimage town. Three rocky structures with elaborate carvings of animals have emerged near the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, which was battered by the Dec. 26 tsunami. As the waves receded, the force of the water removed sand deposits that had covered the structures, which appear to belong to a port city built in the seventh century, said T. Satyamurthy, a senior archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of...

The relics have been buried under the sand for centuries. The deadly tsunami could have uncovered the remains of an ancient port city off the coast in southern India. Archaeologists say they have discovered some stone remains from the coast close to India's famous beachfront Mahabalipuram temple in Tamil Nadu state following the 26 December tsunami. They believe that the "structures" could be the remains of an ancient and once-flourishing port city in the area housing the famous 1200-year-old rock-hewn temple. Three pieces of remains, which include a granite lion, were found buried in the sand after the coastline receded...

The deadly tsunami could have uncovered the remains of an ancient port city off the coast in southern India. Archaeologists say they have discovered some stone remains from the coast close to India's famous beachfront Mahabalipuram temple in Tamil Nadu state following the 26 December tsunami. They believe that the "structures" could be the remains of an ancient and once-flourishing port city in the area housing the famous 1200-year-old rock-hewn temple. Three pieces of remains, which include a granite lion, were found buried in the sand after the coastline receded in the area after the tsunami struck. Undersea remains "They...

Clues to missing pagodas found AKSHAYA MUKUL TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, JULY 06, 2002 11:49:09 PM ] NEW DELHI: Submerged structures found off the coast of Mahabalipuram in the Bay of Bengal could well solve the mystery of seven pagodas dating back to the Pallava Period (7th Century AD). The Archaeological Survey of India’s Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) has discovered three walls and a number of carved architectural members of ancient temples running north to south and east to west. Also found are seven big submerged rocks 500 metres off shore. According to UAW in-charge Alok Tripathi, who undertook...