My take on the ‘odd’ news: “India Escorts Dubai Princess Home”. Princess Latifah Bint Rashid Al Maktoum, one of the Dubai Emir’s 30 children makes a tearful and convincing plea on YouTube for freedom from the cruelty and imprisonment she suffers at the hands of her father. Next we know is that she is helped to escape from Dubai by friends, but 50 miles from the coast off Goa she is kidnapped from the yacht probably by her father’s henchmen. India in order to dispel accusations that it allowed kidnapping and piracy (illegal boarding of ship) in its territorial waters preemptively says it has rescued the princess from her snatchers and escorted her back home. Precisely what the kidnappers wanted!
“Venezuela Suffers Hyperinflation” The country with the world’s largest oil reserves constantly suffers from economic woes. Currently it takes large bundles of Bolivar notes (today’s equivalent of USD 4) to buy a cup of coffee. The same Bolivar amount that 15 years ago would have been enough to purchase a flat in the capital city. While some of its troubles arise from its socialist policies and its desire to help other poor socialist friends like Cuba, most of its current problems can be traced as always, to the USA’s long-standing aim of shooting down Venezuela’s economy. How otherwise can the potentially richest oil country in the world also be its poorest? “Manohar Parrikar Is Getting Well” One after another, Goa politicos and BJP officials keep telling the public that MP is recovering well. First it was while he was in Goa’s GMC. He was then taken to Bombay’s Lilavati for ‘further treatment’. From there, we were told that he was returning recovered to Goa. While still recovering, it was found that he needed to be rushed to New York’s Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where again we are informed that the treatment is succeeding and MP will be home in a few weeks. All the while we are constantly told that the ailment Is inconsequential. Cancer of course is a dirty word never to be mentioned. The people of Goa are taken for fools or they are too polite to take the real fools to task. Newspersons of course are afraid to ask the necessary questions. Roland Francis Toronto.
