Sri Lanka recently emerged victorious from one of the world’s longest-running conflicts, once termed an “unwinnable” war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers.

The LTTE is considered one of the deadliest terrorist groups, having invented the concept of the modern-day suicide bomber and carried out the murder of two sitting heads of state. In addition, the Tamil Tigers pioneered use of female suicide bombers, homemade minisubmarines, ultralight aircraft and “warehouse ships” pre-positioned on the high seas to resupply terrorist operations on shore.

These homegrown terrorists held Sri Lanka hostage through brutal acts of terror for almost three decades, demanding a separate state for ethnic Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka while building a vast global terror network.

Many more than 70,000 people were killed and at least 300,000 wounded. In U.S. terms, that would be the equivalent of 1.25 million dead Americans with 4.3 million wounded. The human suffering and economic dislocation is staggering yet is somehow ignored consistently by those abroad who profess to cherish democracy and the dignity of man.

As the self-appointed global leader in the war on terrorism, the United States could learn some significant lessons from Sri Lanka’s victory. Here are our top nine:

• Perhaps the most important lesson is the debunking of the widely held belief that terrorism cannot be quelled militarily. The Sri Lankan military demonstrated that professionalism, strategy, discipline and unswerving commitment can beat terrorism.

All too often, the greatest obstacle to military success is the starry-eyed interference by third parties insisting that only diplomacy and negotiation can bring a true end to terror-based conflicts. History has demonstrated repeatedly, and Sri Lanka has just underscored, that negotiation is doomed in the face of an implacable enemy with an absolutist agenda seeking to create change by ruthless use of force.

• Terrorist outfits are highly opportunistic. They excel in politically manipulating third countries as they engage in hollow cease-fire arrangements to buy time, regroup, rearm and initiate surprise offensives. Even in defeat, terrorist operations may continue by initiating violence inside nations that house their exiles and their remaining power base.

• The terrorist support structure dies hard. Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger terrorists were, and still are, backed by an extraordinarily sophisticated, wealthy and highly educated business and professional class. Actively preventing ex-patriot supporters of defeated terrorist organizations from funding, supplying or otherwise supporting the creation of follow-on entities that will resume the violence — albeit under different names, with different faces — must cap victory on the battlefield.

This means, in the Sri Lankan case, that the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth are the front-line states in ensuring that their territories will not be used to reignite LTTE’s failed but extraordinarily bloody terrorism.

• Terrorist movements rely upon the apathy of third countries toward the suffering that groups operating on their soil cause in distant nations. The hypocritical and self-serving attitude apparent in the commonly expressed “they are engaged only in fundraising here, not violence” not only rationalizes inaction, but also cripples international support for counterterrorism moves deemed vital to host nation interests.

• Even the most sophisticated and creative terror organizations make bad decisions and demonstrate self-defeating behavior. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE operatives in India brought a profound backlash that saw India effectively bar its soil from being used as a staging area for operations inside Sri Lanka. Once denied physical sanctuary in neighboring countries for combatants, logistics and training activities, terror/insurgent movements are severely crippled.

• Historical animosities do not yield to the wide-eyed “split the difference” mentality that is the hallmark of Western diplomatic and political naivete. Such an approach alienates all parties to a conflict and results in self-deception while exposing the incompetent middleman’s own population to attack. Conflicts rooted in history are complex and should not be reduced to simplistic equations.

• If elected Western leaders actually believe their own rhetoric that all civilized nations must cooperate in this global war on terror, they must actively support the anti-terrorist initiatives of fellow democracies around the world. Ideological movements, religious cults, political insurgencies and cults of personality that employ terror to push their agenda should be eradicated as quickly, as universally and as completely as possible.

Even leaders who hold fast to “pragmatism” as a political creed need to be reminded that the incubation and development of terrorist activity in far-off lands will come back to haunt their own citizens sooner rather than later. The Tamil Tigers’ terrorist activities went largely ignored by the West for decades. But the techniques they developed have killed thousands in unrelated terror attacks around the world.

For instance, use of “boat bombs” was copied by terrorists in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Aden Harbor. Western ambivalence toward this long-running tragedy has been costly.

• Sri Lanka’s war was complex and challenging, spawning several dimensions of terrorist activity. The war was fought on the ground in Sri Lanka, while propaganda and funds for weapons were handled by LTTE supporters living in the West, and weapons were acquired from Southeast Asia and Central Europe. Although the United States designated the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997, it was not until November 2007 that it banned the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization as an LTTE front organization. Until then, in the guise of charity, LTTE activists were collecting funds and transferring them to the Tiger war chest. Canada proscribed the LTTE in April 2006 and banned the World Tamil Movement (WTM) in June 2008. The banning of these front organizations was a major blow to LTTE terrorist operations.

• Even after the unequivocal military defeat of the LTTE, its overseas supporters defiantly keep the separatist dream alive despite annihilation of most of LTTE’s leadership and the death of founder Velupillai Prabhakaran. If unchecked, they may well transform that dream once again into virulent terrorism, and this time, the Eelam War may well be fought locally - by the diaspora in the West.

Peter Leitner is president of the Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center and previously served for 31 years in various national security positions. Rajika Jayatilake is a communications specialist with expertise in international media and public relations.

Pakistan won the ICC World Twenty20 in an exciting finish at a noisy Lord’s when Sri Lanka’s total of 138-6 was overhauled with eight balls remaining.

Shahid Afridi, man of the match in the semi-final, was again the hero, hitting 54 not out from 40 balls to steer Pakistan to an eight-wicket win.

Having chosen to bat, Sri Lanka lost star batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over and were soon 2-2.

Kumar Sangakkara’s 64 gave them hope but Pakistan paced their chase well.

Sri Lanka had progressed through the tournament smoothly, winning all their matches and relying on the brilliant batting of Dilshan and some superb bowling led by Ajantha Mendis.

But on the grand stage, both their leading players fluffed their lines, and Pakistan ruthlessly seized the initiative.

Pakistan had lost two of their first three matches and needed a win against the Netherlands just to make the last eight. But they turned a corner when thrashing New Zealand - from which point they never looked back.

They began the final in ideal fashion, with a wicket-maiden from 17-year-old sensation Mohammad Aamer.

It wasn’t just any wicket-maiden - a rare event indeed in this format. The fact that the tournament’s leading run-scorer Dilshan had been dismissed made Aamer’s over extra special.

Dlishan craves deliveries on a good length so he can sweep and drive, but keeping the ball short and straight, Aamer bowled four dot-balls then enticed a top-edged pull to short fine-leg.

Pakistan began superbly with the ball at Lord’s, and kept it going

The wicket seemed to scare Sri Lanka’s other batsmen, who had not enjoyed particularly good tournaments, and it was the fast-medium bowler Abdul Razzaq who reaped the rewards.

Jehan Mubarak, promoted up the order, skied a catch into the off-side, Sanath Jayasuriya crashed a six and two fours but then dragged one on, before Mahela Jayawardene edged an attempted late-cut to slip.

Sangakkara and Chamara Silva had a major repair operation on their hands, coming together with the score 32-4 in 5.3 overs. They put on 35 from 36 balls which at least stopped the rot, but the arrival of Umar Gul dented Sri Lanka’s renaissance.

Silva mistimed a pull to midwicket and Isuru Udana swished and missed the last two balls of a fine over. It got even better for Pakistan when Afridi bowled Udana to leave the score 70-6 from 13 overs.

Finally, some positive running between the wickets from Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews saw nine runs come off a Saeed Ajmal over and then Gul, so brilliant in Pakistan’s last three victories, suddenly lost his length and was hammered for 14 in an over.

Mathews played his part too, clubbing a couple of boundaries on the on-side before tucking into the final over, bowled by Aamer.

It was a great day for Pakistan fans

The decision to give the teenager the final over looked a questionable one, and with Mathews flaying a boundary through the slips and muscling a six through the on-side 17 more precious runs came Sri Lanka’s way.

Pakistan’s chase was given impetus by Kamran Akmal, who hit big leg-side sixes off both Mendis and Mathews to take his team to a very respectable 48-0 from seven overs.

Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s sixth bowler, then immediately had Akmal stumped, but the other opener Shahzaib Hasan, who had been so quiet, drilled consecutive boundaries off Mendis, the mystery spinner who Pakistan were playing so well.

When he fell to Muttiah Muralitharan, the required rate hit eight an over, but Pakistan still had eight wickets in hand and just 64 more runs were required.

Afridi, who had had time to play himself in, now hit Muralitharan into the Tavern Stand and then launched him over wide mid-off for four.

That made Pakistan hot favourites, but just 16 runs came off the next three overs, so 26 were still wanted from 18 balls.

But Afridi, with Shoaib Malik playing a quiet role in support, now smashed Udana for six over midwicket and pulled him past fine-leg for four more, leaving an easy seven runs needed from the last two overs.

Whitford starred in BBC Two drama Burn Up last year

West Wing actor Bradley Whitford and Malcolm in the Middle actress Jane Kaczmarek are to divorce.

Whitford’s publicist, Melissa Kates, confirmed the news about the couple, who were married in 1992 and went on to have three children.

Whitford played Josh Lyman in political drama The West Wing and went on to star in writer Aaron Sorkin’s next big project, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Kaczmarek is currently starring as a judge in US law drama Raising the Bar.

Theatre run

Whitford has just finished filming horror film The Cabin in the Woods, which is set for release next year.

The movie is written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer writers Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard.

Whitford starred in a Broadway revival of Boeing-Boeing last year.

Michael Bay directed both Transformers films

Director Michael Bay has criticised the marketing efforts of the studio behind the Transformers sequel, reports say.

In a memo sent to Paramount Pictures last month and leaked to gossip site TMZ, the director called the film’s US print campaign an “abject failure”.

“You talk so glowingly about Transformers being the movie of the summer, but unfortunately this has not got to the public,” he wrote.

Revenge of the Fallen is out in the UK and is released in the US on 24 June.

“I have been waiting and waiting for the anticipation of an ‘event movie’ to make it into the ‘public zeitgeist’,” Bay wrote in the e-mail to Paramount executives on 4 May.

‘Really weak’

‘Right now, we are not an event, we are just a sequel, which is very different. There is no anticipation. Remember back to Spider-Man 2 - it was everywhere.”

He added that summer previews in publications like Entertainment Weekly were “really weak” and the film had a “pathetic presence” in the Los Angeles Times.

Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf reprise their roles in Revenge of the Fallen

Bay also complained that, for the first Transformers film in 2007, there was a 30-minute segment at the MTV Movie Awards, but this year the sequel’s presence was only in the form of lead actors Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox presenting an award.

But in a second e-mail sent to Paramount on 6 June and also leaked to TMZ, Bay compared Paramount to a family and thanked executives for “busting your butts and bringing your ‘A Game’ for the release of Transformers.”

‘More lifelike’

A Paramount spokeswoman declined to comment other than to point out that the latter e-mail “clearly speaks to a differing stance than the former.”

Transformers earned $708m (£431m) worldwide when it was released in 2007.

Reviews for Revenge of the Fallen have been mixed, with Hollywood Reporter saying: “For the uninitiated it’s loud, tedious and, at 147 minutes, way too long.”

Trade magazine Variety said: “With machines that are impressively more lifelike, and characters that are more and more like machines, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen takes the franchise to a vastly superior level of artificial intelligence.”

The Proposal stars Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock

Disney’s romantic comedy The Proposal has hit the top of the North American box office on its opening weekend, early estimates show.

The film, starring Sandra Bullock as a hard-nosed executive who coerces her assistant into a fake marriage to avoid deportation, took $34.1m (£20.7m).

It puts last week’s number one, bachelor party film The Hangover, in second place with $26.9m (£16.3m).

Prehistoric comedy Year One opened at number four with $20.2m (£12.3m).

Animated comedy Up, a former number one about about a grumpy old man and a scout who travel to South America in a flying house, was at number three with $21.3m (£12.9m).

The top five was rounded out by subway hijacking thriller The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which took $11.3m (£6.9m).

US AND CANADA BOX OFFICE 1. The Proposal - $34.1m 2. The Hangover - $26.9m 3. Up - $21.3m 4.Year One - $20.2m 5. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - $11.3m Source: Hollywood.com (formerly Media by Numbers)

Box office receipts were slightly up at the weekend compared with the same period a year ago but that follows three weekends in a row of declining ticket sales.

Industry experts expect this to change with the forthcoming release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Wednesday. The sequel starring Shia BeLeouf opened in the UK and Japan this weekend.

Woody Allen’s latest comedy, Whatever, Works, performed strongly given its limited release. It took $280,720 (£171,059) in just nine cinemas over the weekend, making an average of $31,191 (£19,005) per cinema.

The Proposal made an average of $11,163 (£6,802) per cinema. It opened in over 3000 outlets.

Mining firms have been hit by falling demand for metals

Shares in mining group Anglo-American rose by almost 10% on Monday after it was approached by Swiss-based rival Xstrata about a possible merger.

Xstrata had said a union “of equals” between “these two world-class companies” was “highly compelling”.

Anglo confirmed the approach but said nothing had been agreed.

Xstrata’s shares were down by 4%, or 27.50p, at 653.50 pence. Meanwhile Anglo’s shares slipped back from highs but were still 6% ahead at 1721 pence.

‘Run for their money’

Industry observers suggest a merger would make sense because of the vast cost savings that could be made.

This would help compete against the Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, who have agreed a joint venture.

That deal was struck after Rio scrapped a planned tie-up with Chinalco, a state-controlled Chinese company.

Consolidation within the mining industry had “just ramped up a notch” following Xstrata’s approach, said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital in London.

Anglo and Xstrata both have coal mines and infrastructure in Australia and South Africa, while analysts say there was also potential for saving money in their copper mining operations.

Cost synergies of such a deal were likely to be about $700m (£426m) per year, added Mr Ladwa, saying “the creation of a mining powerhouse will give Rio Tinto and Billiton a run for their money”.

The combined firm would be worth about £41bn based on their stock market value on Friday.

‘Respond positively’

Mining firms have been hit by falling demand for metals amid the downturn.

They have also had problems raising cash because of the credit crunch, which last year led Xstrata to abandon its £5bn bid for its rival Lonmin.

And Anglo-American is cutting 19,000 jobs this year after a 29% fall in 2008 net earnings because of sliding demand for raw materials.

“A potential merger is at a very preliminary stage but we think Anglo’s beleaguered management-board will respond positively and engage with Xstrata,” said Kieran Daly, an analyst at Investec Securities, in a note to investors.

“We think a merger is much more likely than ever before.”

The bank has called for fresh credit for developing nations

The World Bank says the economies of developing countries are expected to grow by just 1.2% this year, compared with 5.9% in 2008 and 8.1% in 2007.

And if China and India are excluded, gross domestic product in developing countries is projected to fall by 1.6%.

Its annual Global Development Finance report warns of possible joblessness and poverty in developing nations.

It also forecast the global economy as a whole would shrink by 2.9% this year, against an earlier prediction of 3%.

‘Support’

The report says that economic policies have to “focus rapidly on financial sector reform and support for the poorest countries”.

In addition, the bank warns that the flow of money into the developing world is likely to halve this year.

World Bank figures show developing countries’ net private capital inflows fell from $1.2tn (£728bn) in 2008 to $707bn last year.

And according to the bank the inflow into poorest countries this year may be just $363bn.

‘Driving force’

The bank urged rich countries to boost the flow of credit to developing nations to help speed up economic recovery.

Justin Lin, the World Bank’s chief economist, said: “Developing countries can become a key driving force in the recovery, assuming their domestic investments rebound with international support, including a resumption in the flow of international credit.”

The weakness in the developing countries after recent years of growth also heightens the risks of social unrest, the 185-nation institution said.

Despite the gloomy picture for this year the bank says that growth in developing countries, led by India and China, could reach 4.4% in 2010 and 5.7% by 2011.

The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the West Midlands now stands at 1,006, according to the Health Protection Agency.

Another 146 cases were confirmed on Sunday, figures show.

At least 13 schools across Birmingham are closed after instances of the virus were found among pupils.

The West Midlands accounts for more than half of swine flu figures in the country. There have been 1,923 cases reported across England.

The region’s high numbers have been mainly attributed to an early outbreak of the virus at a primary school in Birmingham.

Nunnery Wood High School in Worcestershire is also closed after cases were reported, as is Bilton Grange school near Rugby in Warwickshire.

Mr Ban said he had written to the leaders of the four countries

The United Nations Secretary General has urged governments around the world to work towards eradicating polio.

Ban Ki-moon made his comments to delegates at the Rotary International Annual Convention at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham.

The organisation has raised £151m($250m) since launching a campaign in 1985 to eliminate the disease.

He said polio was now only endemic in four countries, falling from 125 when the campaign began.

Mr Ban said he had written to political and religious leaders of the four remaining countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and India - asking them to “protect their children and stop the virus wherever it survives”.

We can either cut back on health expenditures and incur massive losses in lives… or we can invest in health and spare both people and economies Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General

The disease can spread easily when there is poor sanitation. It attacks the body’s nervous system, in some cases causing paralysis within a matter of hours.

Children under five are most at risk although it can affect any age.

The advent of vaccines in the late 1950s effectively ended the threat to the developed countries.

“Now is the time to finish the job, I call on all governments around the world to help us,” Mr Ban told Rotary members.

“Together we can fulfil the Rotarian vision and give future generations a polio-free world.

“At this time of global economic downturn, we find ourselves at a crossroads.

“We face multiple crises. We can either cut back on health expenditures and incur massive losses in lives and capacity for growth, or we can invest in health and spare both people and economies the high cost of inaction.

“The choice should be clear.”

Anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the keynote speaker at the convention on Thursday.

The event, which ends on 24 June, has been predicted to bring in £20m to the West Midlands region.