Cricket discovers new ancestry

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The discovery of an English poem from 1533 suggests the sport of cricket stems from Flanders and not England, as commonly supposed.

The John Skelton poem, The Image of Ipocrisie, identifies Flemish weavers as “kings of crekettes” and contains a reference to “wickettes.”

BBC News reported Academics Heiner Gillmeister and Paul Campbell made the discovery in their linguistic research.

The first mention of the game in England dates to the 1600s, when fines were given to individuals who skipped church to play the sport.

Flemish weavers could have brought the sport to England when they settled in the southern and eastern regions of the country. The settlers may have played cricket near the flocks of sheep they were herding, using shepherd’s crooks as cricket bats.

The Scottish origins of golf have also come into question due to records indicating Belgians were playing a very similar sport on the continent long before it was observed in Britain.

Devotee steals Buddha to pray at home

TOKYO: Police arrested a man after finding 21 stolen statues of Buddha in his home.

Itsuo Abe told police he stole the Buddhas because of his spiritual devotion, taking the statues home to pray to every day.

According to Reuters, police discovered a variety of statues from several temples in Kyoto, including an antique dating from the 17th century that belonged to Kyoto’s famous Kenninji temple.

The Buddhas were all in one room with apples and bananas displayed in front of them.

Since the theft, Kenninji temple increased its security, adding cameras and guards.

The temple anticipates the return of its Buddha.

Raul Castro throws cabinet overhaul

HAVANA, Cuba: President Raul Castro made a major shake-up to his government when he ousted some of the island’s most prominent politicians.

The changes see some of Fidel Castro’s key officials deposed and replaced with men closer to Raul’s faction.

The president also reduced the powers available to some of the politicians.

In a press release, former president Fidel Castro said he was consulted by his brother on the adjustment, stating two of the demoted officials were corrupted by power.

The changes did not indicate who might succeed Raul should something happen to him.

Raul Castro, 76, took power after Fidel, 82, resigned due to health concerns last February.

CBC reported the announcement of the shake-up was very subdued, broadcasted at the end of the midday newscast following sports and weather.

The day the earth (almost) stood still

PARIS: Earth had a close shaving with destiny when a meteor packing the force of a thousand atomic bombs passed by our planet on Mar. 2.

The meteor, estimated to be between 21 and 47 metres, missed the Earth by 72,000 kilometres, only one-fifth of the distance from us to the Moon, reported the Associated French Press.

A meteor of a similar size had fallen in Siberia in 1908. It destroyed 80 million trees and scorched an area of over 2,000 square kilometres.

Published in Volume 63, Number 23 of The Uniter (March 12, 2009)