Sri Lanka suspends parliament ahead of snap polls

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s new president suspended parliament for a month from Tuesday ahead of snap elections he wants to call in March to consolidate his sweeping victory. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected president last month in a landslide, issued a proclamation overnight proroguing the legislature and said a new session will begin from January 3.

NASA locates debris from India moon

lander that crashed

AP, New Delhi

NASA said yesterday that it has found the debris from India’s moon lander, which crashed on the lunar surface in September. The U.S. space agency released a photo showing the site of the lander’s impact and the debris field, crediting an Indian engineer for helping locate the site. The engineer, Shanmuga Subramanian, said he examined an earlier NASA photo to locate the debris.

former us president Jimmy Carter again hospitalized

AFP, Washington

Former US president Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized for treatment of a urinary tract infection, the Carter Center said Monday—the latest in a series of health issues for the 95-year-old Democrat. Carter “was admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, this past weekend,” his center said in a statement. “He is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon.”

Mugabe left $10m, a farm and two houses

AFP, Harare

Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe left US$10 million, 10 cars, a farm and two houses, details of his estate released yesterday revealed. The state-owned Herald newspaper said his daughter, Bona Nyepudzai Mutsahuni-Chikore, disclosed these assets to the High Court after the family had been unable to locate his will.