Red-shirted anti-government protesters dance near the government quarter in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 19, 2010.
Red-shirted anti-government protesters dance near the government quarter in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 19, 2010.
Red-shirted anti-government protesters dance near the government quarter in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 19, 2010.
Red-shirted anti-government protesters dance near the government quarter in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 19, 2010.

Thai protesters plan 'blood-painting'


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BANGKOK // Protesters in Thailand announced a full weekend of anti-government activities starting with a massive procession through Bangkok followed by "blood painting," their latest shock tactic aimed at forcing new elections. Today, thousands of Red Shirt protesters remained camped in the historic heart of the capital, which will be the starting point of tomorrow's march that will loop the capital and wind through Bangkok's central business district. "It will be a massive caravan," said Jatuporn Prompan, a leader from the movement formally known as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship. "Protesters will travel around Bangkok on thousands of vehicles." The protesters want the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections - a demand he has repeatedly rejected. Mr Abhisit has been sleeping and working from an army base for the past week to avoid demonstrators. Protest leaders have increasingly portrayed the demonstrations, that started last Sunday, as a struggle between Thailand's impoverished, mainly rural masses and a Bangkok-based elite impervious to their plight. The group largely consists of supporters of the former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption, and pro-democracy activists who opposed the army takeover. In an attempt to dramatise their demands, thousands of Red Shirts lined up on Tuesday to donate blood to their cause. Leaders claimed they collected 300,000 cubic centimetres of blood that were transferred into dozens of large plastic jugs. Most of the blood was splattered at Mr Abhisit's office, at the headquarters of his ruling party and at his private residence. Protest leaders say they have 15 jugs of blood leftover and plan to use it to create a massive work of art. "Artists and Red Shirts will be invited to partake in a blood painting," Mr Jatuporn said. They plan to unfurl a giant white cloth on which supporters will be invited to paint pictures, scrawl poems and express political statements. "The theme of this artwork will be the history of the people's fight for democracy," Mr Jatuporn said. Mr Thaksin is popular among the rural poor for his populist policies. They believe Mr Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional ruling class and that only new elections can restore integrity to Thai democracy. Mr Abhisit said yesterday that the blood-spilling antics tested the limits of the law - and were testing his patience. He reiterated the government's stance that the protests will be allowed to continue as long as they remain peaceful. "Actions like drawing blood, pouring it and throwing - strictly speaking are not all legal," Mr Abhisit said, adding that protesters were also not allowed to block city streets and prevent government employees from entering their offices. The size of the protest peaked on Sunday with some 100,000 demonstrators, but has decreased by about half since then.

* AP

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

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Director: Jesse Armstrong

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

The Facility’s Versatility

Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
 
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

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5.30pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,000m; Winner: Shanaghai City, Jesus Rosales, Rashed Bouresly.

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