Author: Minivan News

US Assistant Secretary Robert Blake to mediate Maldives deadlock

Former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Robert Blake, now the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, arrives in the Maldives on Thursday to mediate talks between political parties.

Current US Ambassador Patricia Butenis has already hosted talks between the deadlocked executive and leaders of the opposition-majority parliament.

While in the Maldives, Blake will meet government officials, opposition parties, civil society representatives, anti-trafficking activists, and religious leaders.

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Europe’s Fear of the Burqa: Speigel Online

“Many believe that those who hide their faces are rejecting Western values along with integration and participation in the society in which they live. And, worst of all, those who hide their faces reject Europe’s most precious birthright: Respect for the individual,” write Juliane von Mittelstaedt and Stefan Simons in German news website Speigel Online.

A clear majority of Germans, French, Spanish and British all support a ban on face covering burquas. However, most Americans however would reject such a ban, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, based in Washington.

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26 children benefit from Rf265,000 raised by Tiny Hearts of Maldives

Tiny Hearts of Maldives, a local NGO, has raised Rf265,000 to help 26 children with Congenital Heart Disease.

Over 100 celebrities, including male and female presenters, actors, and vocalists participated in the “Save a Tiny Heart” campaign, reports Haveeru.

“The surgery costs US$3500-7000, some parents are unable to do the surgery for their kids even when they reach four years of age, despite hard work. Our objective was to encourage them by giving some support,” said Tiny Hearts member Fiunaz Waheed during a ceremony at the Holiday Inn Male.

Maldives needs foetal echo scanning equipment to identify this disease, said paediatrician Dr Fathimath Niyasha at the ceremony.

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US$90 million solar power project for Thaa and Laamu atolls

A US$90 million (Rf1.2 billion) project agreement to provide solar powered electricity to the Upper South Province of Maldives (Thaa and Laamu atolls) has been signed by Upper South Utilities Limited with BBM Infra Limited of India.

The 24 mega watt solar power facility will be built by BBM in association with two Chinese companies to provide electricity to all islands of Upper South Province .

The project should commence within 2-3 months, says the managing director of Upper South Utilities Limited Ahmed Saeed Mohamed, and would reduce the cost of electricity by 20 percent.

BBM Infra Ltd is part of the BBM Bommidala Group, based on the tobacco trade. BBM Infra, the newest company in this group, is expanding into solar power, construction machinery, and highway projects.

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Egyptian President Mubarak “has terminal cancer”: Intelligence reports

82-year-old Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak is dying from terminal cancer in his stomach and pancreas, according to a report by Eli Lake in The Washington Times, who quotes US and European intelligence officials.

A senior Egyptian government official has denied Mubarak is ill, describing the reports as “without any factual basis whatsoever.”

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Lasers destroy unmanned drones in US Navy tests

Six fibre-optic lasers with a combined 32 kilowatts of power destroyed four airborne drones (UAVs) in tests by the US Navy off the coast of California.

An electronic solid-state laser will never run out of ammunition as long as it has power, according to Mike Booen of Raytheon, the US weapons systems company developing the new technology.

There are disadvantages with lasers such as high costs, and legal restrictions under existing treaties, says former Air Force chief scientist Mark Lewis, now at the University of Maryland.

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Why feet hurt after wearing high heels: research report

High heels shorten calf muscles and make Achilles tendons thicker and stiffer, according to a report by team of researchers led by Marco Narici, Professor of the Physiology of Ageing at Manchester Metropolitan University in UK.

“Wearing high heels places the calf muscle-tendon unit in a shortened position. As muscles and tendons are highly malleable tissues, chronic use of high heels might induce structural and functional changes in the calf muscle-tendon unit,” says the report.

“So should women give up wearing high heels?” asks writer for The Journal of Experimental Biology, Kathryn Knight. “Narici doesn’t think so, but suggests that fashion addicts may want to try stretching exercises to avoid soreness when they kick off their heels at the end of the day.”

Kathryn Knight’s article

Full Research report

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Suspected suicide of Maldivian woman in Malaysia

A Maldivian woman, Aminath Zahida aged 30, has died in Malaysia, reports Haveeru. Her body was found at the bottom of a ventilation duct in the Desa Kiara condominium at Damansara west of Kuala Lumpur.

Suicide is suspected to be the cause of death, but police are conducting a postmortem and the Maldives High Commission will receive a report soon.

Zahida, mother of two children, arrived in Malaysia about two weeks ago to be with her husband who is studying there. He was taken to hospital after the incident, and the Maldives High Commission is monitoring the family closely, according to Haveeru.

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