|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 24 August 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Heatwave brings misery to Britain London eye by Reggie Fernando Soaring temperatures throughout the past weeks brought misery to good old England and the rest of Europe. Sweltering Sri Lankans most of them who complain about the Colombo climate - were seen around the city in the mid-day sun soaking with sweat. By the way Heathrow airport was one of the hottest places and even places like Newcastle in the far north was baking. Most of the beaches such as Brighton were crammed with temperatures hitting 90 F. Meanwhile this drought in Europe has brought the death toll to almost 30 and over 100 thousand acres of forests and crops have been destroyed by wild fires. In many towns in England and Europe workers both in offices and workshops were asked to abandon their posts if the temperature rose above 83 F. During these periods one would think of Sri Lanka as a land like no other - where the sea is a few miles away and the cooler climes are easily reached. Let us also hope and pray this sort of climate vanishes within a few weeks as the spokeswoman for British tourism Jo Leslie said: "It's likely to go on and that's terrific news. Our people will take more breaks in their own country." That's not good news at all - for the hotter Britain gets the lesser tourists from here will we have. After all why pay for a holiday in the sun when it's available free right on your doorstep or in a park close by. Lanka has the 'Ultimate Private Island' Hardly a day passes without our dear country being mentioned in the western press - for better or for worse. Recently the Sunday Times travel pages scanned by millions around the world chose Sri Lanka's 'Taprobane' island off the coast of Weligama as 'The Ultimate Private Island' in the world. In a full page spread headlined "Keeping up with the Blairs" triggered off after Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie started a holiday in Sir Cliff Richard's private villa in Barbados, the paper gives its readers with all the 'ultimates' in the world of holidays. To name a few, they are:- The Ultimate - personal service, hire car, city break, luggage, golf holiday, sleeping bag, ski holiday, cruise, round-the-world ticket, nibble and private island. It's in the last classification 'The Ultimate Private Island' that 'Taprobane' which we pass so often on our way to any point beyond Weligama and don't bother about that much, is featured. With a three column picture of the island the piece says: "A more affordable island is Taprobane, just off the coast of Sri Lanka where guests stay in an elegant 1920's villa once owned by the writer Paul Bowles, It has four bedrooms, an infinity pool, tropical gardens, and a staff of six, including a chef." Our Green Tea thwarts cancer Scientists have found that Green Tea such as our own produced in some of Sri Lanka's estates can help in smokers developing cancer. A recent report in the magazine 'Chemical Research in Toxicology' states that "chemicals found in green tea shut down one of the key molecules that tobacco uses to cause cancer". The report further states that those who drink green tea are less likely to develop the illness. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
