Julian Assange lives in a pricey building in one of London’s most upmarket districts. But he is not staying in the lap of luxury. The once globe-trotting WikiLeaks founder is confined to several hundred square feet of space inside Ecuador’s London embassy. If he goes outside he will be arrested by British police and extradited […]
Month – August 2012
McCartney paid 1 pound ($1.57)
London Olympic organizers say former Beatle Paul McCartney and other star performers who took part in Friday’s opening ceremony essentially donated their time, receiving a mere pound ($1.57) for their performances. The nominal fee was offered to make the Olympics contracts binding, but pales in comparison to the millions big names like McCartney can command […]
Sydney artist wins $150,000 Moran prize
A dark self-portrait as a heroic figure flanked by the muses of painting and poetry has won Australia’s most lucrative portrait painting prize. Sydney artist Leslie Rice, who won the $150,000 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, said he was humbled by the win for a canvas he described as “a painting about painting, in a […]
Infamous ‘drunk’ high jumper wins gold
Ivan Ukhov has won the Olympic men’s high jump title. The Russian made headlines back in 2008 when a video was posted on YouTube showing him competing in Switzerland while drunk. He received a “strong warning” from the IAAF for his behaviour. Ukhov jumped 2.38 metres, the second-best in the world this year. America’s Erik […]
Weapon of no choice
Dent Myers has a friendly presence, rheumy eyes, a firm handshake, a long matted beard that hides his age – at first – and a pair of Colt M1911 .45s. He wears the guns, loaded and holstered, over his denim shorts as he pads about his cluttered American Civil War memorabilia shop in the town […]
Japan ukulele ensemble crowned world’s largest
More than 2,000 musicians strummed ukuleles in Yokohama on Saturday to set a new world record for the largest ever ensemble of the Hawaiian guitar. Their effort was recognized by Guinness World Records officials who listened to them play “Aloha Mahalo A Hui Ho”, a song written by Hawaiian-born former sumo wrestler Konishiki, in Yokohama, […]
‘Eric the Eel’ dreams of Olympic return
The English commentator veered from disbelief to anger and then, finally, to mirth. It was the opening heat of the men’s 100 meters freestyle swimming at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, but only one man was standing on his block: Eric Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea, a tiny, oil-rich state in west Africa. There had been […]
Hamadou the Hippo: ‘I have no technique … only strength’
In scenes redolent of Eric “the Eel” Moussambani, the swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who achieved fame by his flailing doggy paddle at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Hamadou Djibo Issaka was greeted with a standing ovation by the 25,000-strong crowd at Eton’s Dorney Lake as he hauled his way to the finish line. With London […]
Samurai festival returns to disaster-hit Minamisoma
Clad in samurai armour, Ishin Takahashi was among thousands who took part in an ancient festival at the weekend in the shadow of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. With an evacuation order following last year’s atomic crisis and rampant fears about radiation, the 1,000-year-old “Soma Nomaoi”, or wild horse chase, was all but cancelled following […]
Truman’s grandson visits Hiroshima after meeting atomic bomb survivors
The grandson of former U.S. President Harry Truman, who authorized the atomic bombing of Japan during World War II, visited Hiroshima Saturday before the 67th anniversary of its devastation. Clifton Truman Daniel, 55, toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and offered a silent prayer for victims of the 1945 wartime nuclear bombing, press reports said. […]