Canada Post issues Diwali stamp celebrating cultural diversity
Ottawa, Oct 24: Canada Post has released a new Diwali-themed stamp to celebrate the country’s multicultural fabric.
In a social media post on Thursday, the High Commission of India in Ottawa thanked Canada Post for unveiling the stamp featuring a traditional Rangoli pattern to celebrate Diwali.
In a recent press release, Canada Post said, “in recognition of the country’s cultural diversity”, it is “proud to issue a stamp marking Diwali, a major festival observed by Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and other communities in Canada and around the world”.
“Intricate floor patterns called Rangoli are works of art meant to be swept or washed away. Often made with grain, flower petals, coloured sand or rice, they adorn living rooms, courtyards and entranceways during Diwali,” it said, noting their cultural significance as expressions of creativity and welcome.
Canada Post has been issuing Diwali-themed stamps annually since 2017. (PTI)
China creates Day of Taiwan’s Restoration
Bangkok, Oct 24: China said Friday it is creating a new holiday called the Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration, as part of its claims over the self-ruled island.
The standing committee of its rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, said the new holiday will mark October 25, the day in 1945 when Taiwan, then a Japanese colony, was handed over to an official of the then-Republic of China.
“Establishing Taiwan Restoration Day and holding commemorative activities at the national level will help highlight the indisputable historical fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” said Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, according to state broadcaster CCTV. (AP)
Alabama executes man with nitrogen gas for 1993 murder
Atmore, Oct 24: An Alabama man convicted of helping to burn a man alive in 1993 over a $200 drug debt was executed by nitrogen gas.
Anthony Boyd, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m on Thursday. at William C. Holman Correctional Facility, authorities said. The execution was carried out by nitrogen gas, a method Alabama began using last year.
Boyd was sentenced to death for his role in killing Gregory Huguley in Talladega County. Prosecutors said Huguley was set on fire after he didn’t pay for $200 worth of cocaine.
Boyd used his final words to proclaim his innocence and criticize the criminal justice system.
“I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody,” he said. “There can be no justice until we change this system,” he continued, before closing with, “Let’s get it.” The execution appeared to take longer than prior nitrogen gas executions. The state does not reveal the exact time the gas began flowing.
At about 5:57 p.m. Boyd clenched his fist, raised his head off the gurney slightly and began shaking. He then raised his legs off the the gurney several inches. At about 6:01 p.m. those movements stopped, and he began a series of heaving breaths that lasted at least 15 minutes, before becoming still.
A prosecution witness at Boyd’s trial testified as part of a plea agreement and said that Boyd taped Huguley’s feet together before another man doused him in gasoline and set him on fire. Defense lawyers said he was at a party on the night Huguley was killed.
A jury convicted Boyd of capital murder during a kidnapping and recommended by a vote of 10-2 that he receive a death sentence.
Boyd had been on Alabama’s death row since 1995. He was the latest chair of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, an anti-death penalty group founded by men on death row.
Alabama began using nitrogen gas last year to carry out some executions. The method uses a gas mask strapped over the inmate’s face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing the person to die from lack of oxygen.
Nationally, the method has now been used in eight executions: seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana.
Boyd’s lawyers had asked a federal judge to halt the execution to give the method more scrutiny. A federal judge declined the request. (AP)
