Elephants used their trunks to shower floral-clad Thais with water on Wednesday in a street fight celebrating the kingdom's traditional new year, a raucous festival known as Songkran that will bring revellers out for a nationwide water battle this week. The animals, whose wrinkled hides were decorated with paint, splashed and sprayed in the streets of Thailand's former capital Ayutthaya, a tourist hotspot famed for its ancient temple ruins. A mix of Thais and foreigners armed with water guns and buckets fired back at the elephants, who were controlled by handlers -- known as mahouts -- riding on their backs. "Today our children (elephants) are having fun and the foreigners who come to Ayutthaya are happy to inherit the Thai tradition," Tawan Sudso, an organiser of the annual event, told AFP. The Buddhist new year festival officially starts on April 13 and runs for three days. Traditional celebrations include paying respect to elders and sprinkling water over Buddha figures at local … [Read more...] about Elephant water battle heralds Thai new year
New year
Redbridge residents gear up to celebrate the Sikh New Year
PUBLISHED: 15:20 09 April 2018 | UPDATED: 15:37 09 April 2018 Aaron Walawalkar Vaisakhi celebrations in Ilford High Road. Photo: Ilford Bid Archant Residents across the borough are gearing up to celebrate Vaisakhi - the Sikh New Year. Vaisakhi, also known as Baisakhi or Vaishakhi, commemorates the transformation the Sikhs into a family of warrior saints, known as the Khalsa Panth, under Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. On Saturday (April 7), dancers and drummers greeted unsuspecting shoppers with performances and the banging of Dhol drums in Ilford High Road. The festivities were organised by the Ilford Business Improvement District (BID) - who work on behalf of more than 400 businesses in the town centre. “It was vibrant, colourful and there was a great energy about the place,” said BID Manager Ben Collins. “I didn’t join in the dancing, before you ask,” he added, laughing. Three dance sessions took place over the course of the day run by Ilford … [Read more...] about Redbridge residents gear up to celebrate the Sikh New Year
Gazette letters: Bicycle storage, rude dog owners, the homeless and a New Year’s poem
PUBLISHED: 15:10 11 January 2017 Cllr Claudia Webbe at bikehangar in Holloway (Picture: Islington Council) Archant I would like to clarify the situation around bicycle storage and on-street parking facilities in Islington, in response to your recent story (“Council to go for bike hangar funds after nurse ‘spoke’ out”, December 29), writes Cllr Claudia Webbe, Islington’s environment and transport leader. At last month’s full council meeting I was pleased to reassure community nurse Ciara Murphy that Islington has more than 2,000 cycle stands across the borough for the public to use, and is willing to install more on pavements – as long as it leaves enough space for pedestrians to get by. The same goes for the council’s own housing estates, and we can certainly look at installing more stands near health centres and GP surgeries for the public to use too. This should help health visitors and others working here to get round on two … [Read more...] about Gazette letters: Bicycle storage, rude dog owners, the homeless and a New Year’s poem
Man jailed for New Year’s Eve killing
London 7 April 2018 Share this with Facebook Share this with Twitter Share this with Messenger Share this with Messenger Share this with Email Share Share this with These are external links and will open in a new window Email Share this with Email Facebook Share this with Facebook Messenger Share this with Messenger Messenger Share this with Messenger Twitter Share this with Twitter Pinterest Share this with Pinterest WhatsApp Share this with WhatsApp LinkedIn Share this with LinkedIn Copy this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43674114 Read more about sharing. These are external links and will open in a new window Close share panel A man has been jailed over the fatal stabbing of another man in London on New Year's Day in 2008.Henry Bolombi, 18, was attacked by a group of four youths in Edmonton, north London, as he made his way home from seeing in … [Read more...] about Man jailed for New Year’s Eve killing
Finnish police kept busy over New Year
In the capital Helsinki, police had to respond to 444 callouts compared to 353 a year earlier.Inspector Tuomo Tuohimaa claimed the rise in callouts was likely to be because the warmer weather led to people staying outside for longer than normal. He explained that people were out in large numbers because Finland enjoyed one of its warmest New Years for around 50 years. The most common callouts were in relation to drunkenness, assaults, domestic incidents and vandalism. One of the most serious incidents was a stabbing outside a Helsinki city centre bar, which police are investigating as attempted murder. The city’s police received 63 calls relating to assault, 57 to domestic incidents and 40 about fires caused by fireworks. Across the country there were a few fires started after fireworks hit buildings or shot through windows, including one in which two people died in Kempele. In Tohmajarvi, one person died and another suffered serious injuries after a fire in an apartment block. … [Read more...] about Finnish police kept busy over New Year