People

Back to the fold

The Roman Catholic church here re-admitted an ex-communicated Sri Lankan priest, Tissa Balasuriya, after a ceremony of reconciliation, a spokeswoman said on Friday. Balasuriya, 73, attended a service conducted by Archbishop Nicholas Marcus Fernando in the presence of the Vatican envoy here, Oswald Padilla, the spokeswoman said. The church expelled Balasuriya in January last year after the release of his controversial book, Mary and the Human Liberation. The Vatican’s congregation for the doctrine of the faith had ruled that Balasuriya had “twisted the integrity of the truth of the Catholic faith, and therefore can not be considered a Catholic theologian”.

Armani’s windows for Paris neighbor

Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani is giving $160,000 to restore the windows at Saint Germain des Pres church in Paris, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported on Thursday. It’s a good-neighborly gesture, ahead of the opening on January 21 of Armani’s latest outlet a “drugstore” (mini-shopping mall) across the way from the 10th century Roman Catholic church.

Return of King

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s oldest son took over as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Thursday, the slain U.S. Civil Rights leader’s 69th birthday. Martin Luther King III replaces the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who retired after heading the civil rights organisation for 20 years. Lowery co-founded the SCLC with the elder King, the Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and other civil rights leaders in 1957. King, 40, was elected in November by the SCLC’s board of directors to take over the organisation, which has failed to recapture its prominence since his father’s assassination in 1968. King declined interviews. He became the first, and only, member of his family to hold elected office when he served on the Fulton County Commission from 1987 to 1993.

A French `Oscar’ for Godard

Prolific film director Jean-Luc Godard is to receive an honorary Cesar — the French version of the Oscar — for his contribution to cinema, the Cable TV station showing the ceremony, Canal+, said on Thursday. He joins American film stars Clint Eastwood and Michael Douglas who will be similarly honoured at the ceremony on February 28. The Swiss-born director has been part of more than 50 films, from A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) to JLG/JLG.

Laura Ashley stocks plummet

Stock in Laura Ashley Holdings PLC plummeted to an all-time low on Thursday after the company announced a drop in Christmas trading and the sale of six factories. Announcing its trading figures to the London Stock Exchange, the upmarket fashion and fabrics group said it is pulling out of manufacturing to focus on its retail operations. It is to sell five factories in Wales, where the business has its origins, and one in the Netherlands. The company’s stock price plunged about 22 per cent to 43 cents in a dive that wiped more than $29.3 million off the value of its shares after it said total store sales during the 24 weeks to January 10 were down 1 per cent compared with the same period last year. Laura Ashley said it anticipates a loss in the full year to January 31 of between $37.5 million and $42.4 million before restructuring costs. The results came amid a rocky period for the group that saw the departure of American Ann Iverson who was brought in as the company’s savior two years ago, only to be forced out as Chief Executive in November as problems mounted.