The SAS ended a 1980 London embassy siege in 17 minutes, live on television

historyWikipedia1980 · London, England

The SAS ended a 1980 London embassy siege in 17 minutes, live on television

the gist

On 30 April 1980, six armed men stormed the Iranian Embassy on Prince's Gate in South Kensington, London, and took 26 people hostage. The gunmen, Iranian Arabs campaigning for the sovereignty of Khuzestan province, demanded prisoner releases and safe passage out of the UK. The British government refused safe passage, and a six-day siege followed. On the sixth day the gunmen killed a hostage. That evening the Special Air Service stormed the building in a 17-minute raid, rescuing all but one of the remaining hostages and killing five of the six gunmen. The raid was televised live on a bank holiday evening.

so what

The operation brought the SAS into public view for the first time and reinforced the reputation of Margaret Thatcher's government. It also became a defining British television moment and the subject of films, series and games for decades.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗