COLOMBO // Sri Lankan authorities have introduced a Park and Ride scheme to reduce congestion on the roads of the capital, Colombo.
Many people live outside the capital but drive into the city every day for work. Commuters who use the Galle Road can now park at the city of Moratuwa, 45 minutes from Colombo, and take luxury buses the rest of the way.
There are now plans in place to add the scheme to three other roads that feed into the city.
The government also plans to keep the price of diesel fuel under control to encourage the operation of diesel-powered public buses.
INFO
MEDIEVIL (1998)
Developer: SCE Studio Cambridge
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation, PlayStation 4 and 5
Rating: 3.5/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Three stars
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