IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Sri Lanka

All behind attacks arrested or dead

All those directly involved in the Easter Sunday bombings are now either dead or under arrest, police said, adding that two bomb experts were among the suicide attackers who struck churches and hotels. Acting police chief C.D. Wickramaratne also said in a statement late on Monday that explosives the Islamic State-linked group stored for use in more attacks have been seized. The bombings killed 257 people and wounded hundreds at three churches and three hotels. Seven suicide bombers died at the sites while another exploded his device later at a guesthouse after his device failed to explode at a tourist hotel. A ninth killed herself to avoid capture by police at her home. Police have detained 73 suspects for investigations since the bombings and have seized stocks of explosives, improvised explosives devices and hundreds of swords.

United Kingdom

Royal birth fires up baby name game

"James", "Arthur", "Philip" and "Albert" led the list of bookmakers' favorites on Monday for the name of the new baby of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan. Harry said the name would be revealed later this week. Royal names in Britain are normally chosen from a relatively restricted pool of those used by past royals. This presents Harry and Meghan - a mixed-race former US TV actress - with the difficult choice of whether to follow royal tradition or choose a more unusual name. However, since their baby is only seventh in line to the throne and therefore unlikely to ever become king, the couple may have more freedom to make their own choice.

Cuba

US visitors double despite sanctions

Cuba's relationship with Donald Trump's government may be worsening, but that didn't stop the island nation from welcoming more than a quarter million US visitors in the first four months of 2019. That was a 93.5 percent increase from the same period in 2018, said Michel Bernal, the commercial director at Cuba's Tourism Ministry. The United States remains second only to Canada - with 624,530 visitors in the first four months of the year - in terms of tourist numbers heading to Cuba. "Despite defamatory campaigns against Cuba, 13.5 percent of tourists that visit us say they chose the island for its safety," said Bernal. Cuba welcomed 1.93 million visitors in the first four months of the year, a seven percent increase on 2018.

Xinhua - Afp - Ap

(China Daily 05/08/2019 page12)