இன்னும்பலர் அரசிலிருந்து வெளியேறுவர் கட்சிமாறிய வசந்த அறிவிப்பு படங்கள் இணைப்பு 


2014-11-20
ஐதேகவுடன் இணைந்துகொண்ட வசந்த சேனாநாயக இன்னும் பலர் அரசாங்கத்திலிருந்து  இருந்து வெளிவரவுள்ளதாக தெரிவித்தார். ஆளும் கட்சியின் கம்பஹா மாவட்டத்தில் சுமார் 51500 விருப்பு வாக்குகளை பெற்றவரும், இலங்கையின் முதலாவது பிரதமர் டி.எஸ். செனானயகவின் பேரனுமான வசந்த சிறிலங்கா சுதந்திர கட்சியின் அமைப்பாளராகவும் பதவிவகித்தார் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

උපන් දින තෑග්ග හෙළ උරුමෙන් ඡන්ද තෑග්ග වසන්තගෙන්

2014/11/20

එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධාන පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි වසන්ත සේනානායක මහතා අප පෙර පුවතින් වාර්ථා කළ පරිදි එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ මුලස්ථානය වන සිරිකොතට පැමිණ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයට එකතු විය.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ 69 වන උපන් දිනයදා උපන්දින තෑග්ග වශයෙන් ආණ්ඩුවේ දැරූ තානාන්තර වලින් ඉවත් වන බැව් හෙළ උරුමය පැවසීය.අද දින ජනාධිපතිවරණය කැදවීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයා අත්සන් කල දිනයේ තෑග්ග මන්ත්‍රි වසන්ත සේනානායක මහතා ලබා දෙනු ලැබීය.

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය වසන්ත සේනානායක මන්ත්‍රිවරයා උණුසුම් අයුරින් පිලිගත් අතර එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වු එජාප පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි වසන්ත සේනානායක මහතා,
ජනාධිපතිවරණයක් කැදවපු මේ අවස්ථාවේ හොද තිරණයක් අරගෙන සෑම පක්ෂයකටම එකගවිය හැකි පොදු අපේක්ෂකයාට සහාය දැක්වීම සදහා මම එජාපයට පැමිණියා.මගේ පුර්ණ සහාය පොදු ‍අපේක්ෂකයාට ලබා දෙනවා.අද වන විට පොදු අපේක්ෂකයා වටා මුථ රටම පෙළ ගස්වන්න පුථවන් තිරණයක් ලැබිල තිබෙනවා.

මෙම තිරණය මාතෟ භූමිය රට ගැන හිතල ගත්ත තිරණයක්.මෙය පුද්ගලයෙකුටවත්,පවුලකටවත් එරෙහිව ගනු ලැබු තිරණයක් නොවෙයි.පුද්ගලිකත්වය අමතක කරල රට පෙරට තබල තමයි මම මේ තිරණය ගනු ලැබුවේ.ආසියාවේ ආශ්චර්යය කරා ලංකාව යහපාලනයක් නොමැතිව රැගෙන යන්න බෑ.රටේ සිදු වන මුල්‍ය ගණු දෙනු පාර්ලිමේන්තුව දන්නෙත් නෑ.ජනතාව දන්නෙත් නෑ.යහපාලනය ඇති කිරීමට නම් විනිවිදභාවයක් තිබිය යුතුයි.

අධිකරණය,පොලිසිය වැනි ස්වාධීනව තිබිය යුතු ආයතන වලට අද වන විට තර්ජන ගර්ජන එල්ල වෙලා.මෙයට මුලික හේතුව අද මේ පවතින ව්‍යවස්ථාවයි.රටම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝදනයක් ඉල්ලුවත් වර්ථමාන පාලනය ඒගැන තැකීමක් කරල නෑ.

අන්තර්ජාතිකව ලංකාව හුදකලා වෙලා.ග්‍රෝත්‍රික හැසිරීම නිසයි මේ තත්වයට පත් වෙලා තිබෙන්නෙ.බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය තානාපති ක්‍රිස් නෝනිස් මහතාට පහර දීපු පුද්ගලයාව පාප් වහන්සේ හමුවීමේ චාරිකාවට රැගෙන යනවා.

හෙට අනිද්ද වෙද්දි තව බොහෝ ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂයේ අය මේ පැත්තෙ ඉදිවි.

"I Feel Sorry For The President"; Rajiva To Follow JHU Path

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

UPFA National List Parliamentarian Dr. Rajiv Wijesinha today said he would not be in a position to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa if the government did not respond to his proposals.

Speaking to 'Asian Mirror', Dr. Wijesinha said his proposals with regard to strengthening good governance and democracy have been sent to the government months ago. "But, my letters have not elicited any response," the Parliamentarian said.

The Parliamentarian said in no uncertain terms that he would not President Rajapaksa at the upcoming if the UPFA failed to respond to his proposals.

"I have no issue with the President. He is a good man. But, those who have surrounded him are a bunch of crooks," Dr. Wijesinha told in a brief telephone interview 'Asian Mirror' this morning.

"I feel sorry for the President," the Parliamentarian added. 

However, the Parliamentarian rubbished the rumours that he was preparing for a crossover to the opposition.

"There is no truth in such claims. Crossover claims are just nonsense. I have already made my position clear and my standpoint has not changed," the UPFA Parliamentarian said. 

Dr. Wijesinha, over the past few years, has been a vociferous critique of the  conduct of the External Affairs Ministry and its Minister Professor G.L. Peiris. 

Ven. Rathane Thera subjected to a barrage of filthiest abuse by Rajapakse regime hooligan Ministers and murderers

(Lanka-e-News- 18.Nov.2014, 11.55PM) The barbaric hooligan Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage , Vijithamuni Soysa the Minister for lands , and Lohan Ratwatte the notorious murderer have singly and jointly berated Ven. Rathane Thera in the most filthiest language using their characteristic foulest words, ‘Ado Rathane,’ ‘Oiy,’ ‘thota kelinawa,’ and so forth , according to Lanka e news Parliament inside information division reports.

Rathane Thera had fallen victim to these abusive and most disdainful treatment when he was at the Parliament MPs food court after having his noon dhana. At the Parliament MPs food court there is a separate area for Bhikkhus to have their dhanas . When Ven Rathane Thera was walking out after his meals , Vjithamuni Soysa , Aluthgamage and Lohan who were at a table behind have cast most insolent and filthy remarks at him.

Vijithamuni was the first to start the tirade ,’Oiy Pivithuru hetak, come here oiy,’ he had shouted. Meanwhile , Aluthgamage had screamed ‘Ado Rathane , come here yakko.’ Lohan Ratwatte had followed it with a melodious but vicious hoot at the Thera . While shouting ‘I feel like thrashing this fellow’ Lohan had risen threateningly from the seat ,when the other two hoodlum Ministers have restrained him by holding him back. Thereafter all three of them had sung the latest ‘national anthem’ of the Rajapakses and his Ministers invented by the Rajapakse regime – ‘hooting’ which has now become a national phenomenon under the current regime replacing the national anthem. Lohan who is possessed of murderous traits had again lunged forward shouting proudly, ‘ see , I am going to pummel him’

Imitating Lord Buddha who walked away silently when bestial Aalawakaya was chasing him with a raised sword , Athureliya silently moved away (having no other choice) when the brutes and beasts of the Rajapakses behaved like the Aalawakaya , based on Lanka e news Parliament inside information reports .(Perhaps Ven. Athureliya at that moment would have regretted the day he embarked on politics ignoring Buddha’s teachings)

After the crucial discussions that are to be held tomorrow with the government regarding the 19 th amendment proposed by the JHU , the latter is scheduled to quit the government if the amendment is not given effect to before the Presidential elections .

Japan questions Mattala airport cost!

 Thursday, 20 November 2014 

Japanese government representatives have questioned from the Sri Lankan government as to why as much as Rs. 50 billion had been spent on the completely-failed Rajapaksa airport in Mattala, while the estimated cost for the much bigger terminal 2 at the Katunayake airport, which is to be built as a JICA project, is only Rs. 30 billion (260 million USD).

This terminal 2 is twice the size of the present Katunayake airport, and will have between 25 and 30 flyovers with modern facilities. Since the Mattala airport is a project about 25% the size of terminal 2 project, spending Rs. 50 billion on the Mattala airport cannot be justified, they have pointed out.

In response, Sri Lanka government representatives said that they were unable to furnish details, as the Mattala airport was a project funded by the Chinese government.

After the terminal 2 project, which is to begin within a year, another JICA project, the Kelani bridge, is to be 

Athuraliye Rathana Thera seeks protection

MP Athuraliye Rathana Thera seeks protection from Inspector General of Police; N.K. Illangakoon in written stating that he has security threats.

Athuraliye Rathana Thera seeks protection----Stone attack at Sadaham Sewana Vihara of Rathana thero

2014-11-20

MP Athuraliye Rathana Thera seeks protection from Inspector General of Police; N.K. Illangakoon in written stating that he has security threats.

In this letter the reforms in the policies of his political career resulted for security threats to him, colleagues and the Sadaham Sevana , in Rajagiriya Gothami road, Rathana Thera stated.

A protest has been held in the Gothami road, Rajagiriya where Sadaham Sevana located meanwhile Rathana thera attending the parliament.

Rathana Thera returned the Sadaham Sevana on a false information monastery has been stone attacked by an unknown group, Rathana Thera said.

Since the Sadaham Sevana monastery is a local and international level institute of education for bhikkus, the security of the organization would bring up international level conflicts, Rathana Thera added.

Stone attack at Sadaham Sewana Vihara of Rathana thero

Sadaham Sewana vihara of ven. Athuraliye Rathana thero in Rajagiriya got stone by crowd short while ago.

Sadaham Sewana vihara of ven. Athuraliye Rathana thero in Rajagiriya stone attacked by a crowd short while ago.

Mahinda –Gota conspiracy to murder Sashindra via vehicle accident exposed

(Lanka-e-News -19.Nov.2014, 7.45PM) Lanka e news inside information division has been able to delve into the depth of a plot that has been hatched by the murderous Rajapakse brothers - President Mahinda Rajapakse and defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse to murder Sashindra Rajapakse, the son of Chamal Rajapakse their elder brother. This cold blooded murder is then to be portrayed by the murderous brothers as a conspiracy by traitorous forces against the Rajapakses, in order to exploit it for the Presidential election campaign .

With the JHU breaking away from the government on the birthday (November 18 th) of Medamulana MaRa yesterday auguring ill for the regime , in order to suppress the tidal wave of opposition and resentment that have built up against the Rajapakses, and to avert a large section of the government and SLFP leaders deserting the Rajapakse government tomorrow , a diabolically calculated plot had been hatched to demonstrate to the country that there is a traitorous force stalking the Rajapakses . It is to be claimed that Uva chief Minister Sashindra Rajapakse a blood relative of the Rajapakses had a most narrow escape in a fatal accident while three security officers of his died in it with a view to gaining cheap most selfish political mileage.

May we recall Lanka e news in its previous reports had already exposed the plans and plots of the Rajapakse murderers to commit murders via vehicular accidents to achieve political goals. (read- SLFP vs Rajapakses: SLFP team of leaders warn its Ministers, MPs to safeguard their lives from Rajapakse regime -Lanka-e-News- 03.Sep.2014, 11.55PM -https://www.facebook.com/lankaenews/photos/pb.219430344788805.-2207520000.1416350235./774780002587167/?type=3&src=https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10521758_774780002587167_5626437256065966434_n.jpg?oh=71bdc8ad420e422b94fe275bae2291de&oe=551DE877&__gda__=1423080911_152cfae10d5d46cd2498497d1126dc57&size=800,818&fbid=774780002587167)

Hereunder is the plot that went wrong this morning.

Usually when a VIP is provided with security the VIP does not travel in the vehicle that leads the contingent . It is the security vehicle that leads , and the provincial council chief Minister (VIP) travels in the second vehicle. If there is a second security vehicle , the latter trails the VIP’s vehicle.

Yesterday (18) ,in the early hours of the morning at about 1.15a.m. near the 237/5 culvert at Mahagodayaya Buttala , the Uva chief Minister Sashindra Rajapakse’s main security vehicle bearing No. WP KS 2435 met with an accident. This vehicle had earlier been belonging to the Ministerial security division (MSD) , and during the Uva PC elections it was given over to the Presidential security division (PSD) to be used for the security of Sashindra Rajapakse.

Though the circumstances surrounding this accident is obscure , and that has not been recorded in any of the police registers, residents say ,a huge truck that was parked near a tea kiosk collided with this security vehicle.

Consequently , the security vehicle had veered off the road and suffered severe damage. Sashindra’s chief security officer SI R.U. D. Ranjith Abeywickrema ,police sergeant (56219) Rajapakse Pathiralage Duminda Upamal and his personal security personnel Ranatunge Suraweera Arachilage Indika Chaturanga residing at Buttala, Kataragama had died on the spot following the accident.

The driver of the vehicle , police sergeant (34649) Abeysekera Arachilage Upul Shantha had just escaped death , and is now being treated at the intensive care unit of Moneragala Sirigala hospital. He is in a critical condition.

The most perplexing and startling feature of this fatal accident is , although the residents say , there was a truck at the scene of the accident and it collided , the police had neither taken such a truck into custody, nor has it made such a record.

Based on the records of ASP D.M. Thilakaratne this vehicle was following the vehicle in which Sashindra was travelling, and it has travelled at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour according to police records. No other security vehicle had accompanied them, and only two vehicles had travelled. Sashindra has traveled in one vehicle , while the security detail had travelled in the other.

It is usual that the security contingent travels in front and not behind the chief Minister’s vehicle. If the vehicle that is travelling in front at 100 km.p.h. speed meets with an accident it is impossible for the vehicle following it to escape from the accident .Based on police investigations this vehicle involved had been trailing the VIP’s vehicle. According to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division , usually Sashindra travels behind the security contingent , but yesterday in the early hours of the morning he had travelled with the security vehicle following.

The murderers have knocked the vehicle following assuming that Sashindra will be in the second vehicle. Unfortunately for the murderers , they had missed the target , and killed his security personnel. As the truck had collided on the left side of the vehicle where the VIP was expected to be seated , the driver on the right side had also escaped death.

Lanka e news inside information division reports that Mahinda Rajapakse who is in utter desperation at present in the midst of his own rank and file turning bitterly against him, as opposed to his initial hope that the Presidential elections will earn him a facile victory is in a delirious and demented state with defeat ominously staring in his face .He is hence possessed by the evil obsession to win elections by fair or foul means and is resorting to murderous activities and is even prepared to sacrifice the life of his own blood brother’s son at the altar of selfish self seeking political goals, and avert election defeat. It is the consensus this is obviously a Mahinda – Gota ruthless plan .

These suspicions have been further heightened following the Rajapakse regime’s instructions to all the media not to report this accident.

Bribe-taking ASP intimidates juniors!

 Thursday, 20 November 2014 

Juniors serving at the police stations at Nugegoda and Mirihana are finding intimidation and the authoritarian conduct by ASP Roshan Rajapakse, who is in charge of Nugegoda (urban) police division, a nuisance, they told ‘Lanka News Web.’

Without any fear, he is using his surname to engage in unlawful activities, and is openly saying that he got himself promoted and appointed to Nugegoda by his cousin, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, although he got a transfer over bribe-taking while serving as the Mirihana HQI, they say.

This ASP has introduced police security log books to business places in his division to cover up for his bribe-takings from those places, including Manoma Jewellers and Nileka Jewellers, which do not have any security issues.

Also, he is getting Rs. 50,000 each every month from the illegal massage clinics – Silver Spa at no: 59, Nawala Road, Nugegoda, Natural Spa, no: 338/2, Ethulkotte, Rajagiriya, and Selina Spa, no: 72/2, Borella Road, Thalawathugoda, and is also obtaining young, beautiful women who serve at these places to satisfy himself, the police juniors say, adding that they have evidence to prove it.

Polkatu Hendi Roshan

After the publication of the article concerning the ASP, a senior officer at the police headquarters told us that Roshan Rajapakse has a name as a corrupt officer in the department.

Under former IGP Victor Perera, he was the head of procurement, and forming various companies with his chief’s relatives, he had swindled money at will. After he made a huge swindling by buying a consignment of spoons made of coconut shells at Rs. 260 each, he came to be notoriously known as ‘Polkatu Hendi Roshan.’

SRI LANKA: ARE INDIAN CONCERNS ON CHINESE NAVAL PRESENCE JUSTIFIED? – ANALYSIS

By Observer Research Foundation

By N Sathiya Moorthy-NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Three Chinese naval vessels calling on Sri Lankan ports in over six months – two of them submarines that can only be offensive platforms – and sections of the Indian strategic community is disturbed once again. They are even more concerned about Colombo’s purported nonchalance to India’s concerns, expressed to visiting Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of the nation’s President who was reportedly called in mainly for the purpose a couple of weeks ago.
Sri Lanka Are Indian Concerns on Chinese Naval Presence Justified – Analysis by Thavam Ratna

Amnesty Helps Launch Free Anti-spyware Tool for Activists

A security researcher has created a free, downloadable tool that journalists and activists can use to scan their computers and mobile devices for surveillance malware.

Photography credits – Darren Perry 2013.
Title: ‘Catch Me If You Can’ // Made with: Spray cans, Stencils // Parkland Walk, London, 2013

20/11/2014

Detekt was created by Claudio Guarnieri, an analyst who works at nonprofits The Honeynet Project and of The Shadowserver Foundation building open source tools to help make the internet a safer place. Knowing that human rights campaigners and journalists all over the globe are increasingly at risk of having their activities spied upon and hampered by intrusive governments, Amnesty International, Digitale Gesellschaft, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International have joined with Guarnieri to get this piece of software out to their networks. And it couldn’t come soon enough.

New tool for spy victims to detect government surveillance

Detekt is the first tool to be made available to the public that detects major known surveillance spyware, some of which is used

20 November 2014

A new tool to enable journalists and human rights defenders to scan their computers for known surveillance spyware has been released today by Amnesty International and a coalition of human rights and technology organizations.

Detekt is the first tool to be made available to the public that detects major known surveillance spyware, some of which is used by governments, in computers.

Amnesty Helps Launch Free Anti-spyware Tool for Activists by Thavam Ratna

Global Terrorism Index

The number of terrorist attacks around the world has increased dramatically; over 80% of all terrorism occurs in only 5 countries. Get the facts on terrorism.

Terrorism has become a global phenomenon with a 61% increase in the number of people killed in terrorist attacks over the last year. The 2014 Global Terrorism Index provides a fact-based understanding of terrorism and its impact.

Explore the interactive Global Terrorism Index map and download the Global Terrorism Index Report.

KEY FACTS:

• 17,958 people were killed in terrorist attacks last year, that’s 61% more than the previous year.
• 82% of all deaths from terrorist attack occur in just 5 countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria.
• Last year terrorism was dominated by four groups: the Taliban, Boko Haram, ISIL, and al Qa’ida.
• More than 90% of all terrorist attacks occur in countries that have gross human rights violations.
• 40 times more people are killed by homicides than terrorist attacks.

RESULTS:

Iraq is the country most impacted by terrorism; last year there were 2,492 terrorist attacks in Iraq which killed 6,362 people.

In 2013, 24 countries experienced terrorist attacks that killed more than 50 people. There were 75 countries that did not experience a terrorist attack.

QUOTE:

“Terrorism doesn’t arise on its own; by identifying the factors associated with it, long term policies can be implemented to improve the underlying environment that nurtures terrorism. The most significant actions that can be taken are to reduce state-sponsored violence, reduce group grievances and hostilities, and improve effective and community-supported policing.”Steve Killelea

TERRORIST GROUPS AND TARGETS

In 2013, 66% of all fatalities from claimed terrorist attacks were caused by four terrorist groups: the Taliban, Boko Haram , ISIL and al-Qa’ida. The primary targets of terrorist attacks are citizens and private property.

CAUSES OF TERRORISM

The three main factors associated with terrorism are state sponsored violence such as extra-judicial killings, group grievances and high levels of criminality. Poverty rates, levels of schools attendance and most economic factors have no association with terrorism. Most terrorist attacks use explosives; since 2000 only 5% were suicide attacks.

HOW TERRORIST GROUPS END

Since the 1960s, 83% of terrorist organisations that ended, ceased to operate due to policing or politicisation. Only 7% ended due to military intervention.

TERRORISM IN CONTEXT

Although terrorism is on the increase and a major concern compared to other forms of violence, it is relatively small when compared to the 437,000 people killed by homicide in 2013. In the US an individual is 64 times more likely to be victim of a homicide than terrorism.

DEFINITION OF TERRORISM

The definition of terrorism used by the Global Terrorism Index is: “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation”.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL TERRORISM INDEX

The Global Terrorism Index, produced by Institute for Economics & Peace, ranks countries according the impact of terrorist activities as well as analysing the economic and social dimensions associated with terrorism.

The index scores 162 countries, covering 99.6% of the world’s population, and examines trends from 2000 to 2013. The indicators used include the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries and property damage.

Explore the full methodology, including the indicators, the source and more on page 85 of the Global Terrorism Index Report. 

Global Terrorism Index Report 2014_0.pdf by Thavam Ratna

United Nations to vote on whether Kim Jong-un should be charged with crimes against humanity

Cuba to lead opposition to bid to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court

Facing prosecution? North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un (KCNA/Reuters) Photo: KCNA/Reuters

By Colin Freeman, Chief foreign correspondent-18 Nov 2014

The United Nations will hold a vote on Tuesday over whether Kim Jong-un should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity over North Korea's appalling human rights record.

The UN General Assembly's human rights committee will meet in New York to consider a motion to refer the North Korean dictator to the International Criminal Court at the Hague.

The move follows the publication of a UN report in February that found Pyongyang's communist regime to be one of the cruellest in the post-war world, likening it to Nazi-era Germany or Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge.

Compiled by Michael Kirby, an Australian judge, the report documented a vast network of harsh prison camps holding up to 120,000 people, along with cases of torture, summary executions and rape. Following its publication, Mr Kirby wrote to Kim Jong-un to warn him that he could ultimately face prosecution by the ICC, and requested him to take "all reasonable and necessary measures" to stop such horrors.

Mr Kirby told The Telegraph today that in the ensuing nine months, he had had no reply from the North Korean leader's office.

However, today's draft, which has been drafted by the European Union and Japan, has still rung alarm bells in the leadership of the hermit state. Recently, North Korea has campaigned to promote its human rights record and hinted at allowing a possible visit the country by UN human rights envoys. Pyongyang has also been seeking the help of allies - led by Cuba - who will make a separate bid today to get the UN resolution to drop its call for an ICC referral.

The amended resolution would simply call for greater cooperation on human rights with Pyongyang through fact-finding visits and talks with the UN rights office. Cuba, like a number of other nations with poor human rights records, fears that a referral of North Korea to the ICC could put its own leaders at risk too.

Calling for a vote in favour of the referral, Mr Kirby told The Telegraph: "The members of the United Nations should not, once again, turn away from the rights of the people of North Korea to have accountability for great crimes. Not now that the world has the report of the United Nations Commission. Now the world cannot say that it does not know what has been going on in North Korea."

The resolution, which is co-sponsored by more than 50 countries and will be voted at 3pm British time, is expected to be approved by a strong vote of between 100 and 120 countries out of the 193 members of the United Nations. However, in practice, it is unlikely to lead to a prosecution, as the final say will be by the UN Security Council, where China, which is a long-term ally of Pyongyang, is likely to exercise a veto.

Pyongyang has dismissed the resolution as confrontational and the product of a plot orchestrated by the United States to discredit the regime and bring about its downfall.

Last month, North Korean officials held their first meeting in 10 years with the UN special rapporteur and extended an invitation for him to visit Pyongyang, while offering to cooperate with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights.

But Mr Kirby said that North Korea's "charm offensive" had only been started by the publication of the report, and should be treated with scepticism. "It (North Korea) has initiated a range of measures, astonishing only by contrast with the long time previous strategy of absolute refusal to engage with the UN over the allegations of violations of human rights," he said. "But these new measures and words have not been shown to have improved the human rights of a single person in North Korea."

He added: "If the case of (North Korea) is not, objectively, a case for referral to the Prosecutor at the ICC, it is hard to imagine a case that would be."

North Korea has also been nervous enough to court Russia, another permanent council member, with high-level visits in recent weeks.

Prior to the main vote, diplomats will hear the Cuban amendment, which is expected to gain backing from a number of African countries that have bristled at the ICC's focus on African war crimes cases.

Last week, Iran last week sent a note to members of the Nonaligned Movement, an organization of more than 100 developing countries that Iran leads, reminding them of their traditional stance against resolutions that target a single country. Syria, Bolivia and Venezuela are expected to go along with Iran, but other countries, including South Africa and Brazil, have not yet indicated how they will vote.

A trio of human rights groups - Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights - also called on U.N. member countries to support the resolution and "ensure justice for decades of terrible abuse."

Nearly 1,000 killed during Ukraine ceasefire, says UN

Human rights watchdog says 957 people have died since peace pact was signed in September, with abuses on both sides

Part of a mortar shell lies near the body of Olga Prokhorenko, 60, who was killed during clashes in Slovyansk, Ukraine. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

Agence France-Presse in Kiev-Thursday 20 November 2014 

Almost 1,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since a ceasefire in September, an average of 13 people a day, according to the UN.

A report from the organisation’s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine puts the death toll at 957 from 5 September, when the peace pact was signed, to 18 November.

“The list of victims keeps growing. Civilians, including women, children, minorities and a range of vulnerable individuals and groups continue to suffer the consequences of the political stalemate in Ukraine,” the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, said.

In total, more than 4,300 combatants and civilians have been killed in eastern Ukraine since pro-Russian rebels seized border regions in April, the UN said. That figure includes the 298 people who died in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July.

The report also detailed rights abuses on both sides. One Ukrainian soldier said his right arm, bearing a “Glory to Ukraine” tattoo, had been severed with an axe by rebels. A separatist detained by Ukrainian forces in Donetsk said he was nearly suffocated with a plastic bag and repeatedly beaten.

The UN also highlighted the huge number of people registered as displaced by the conflict, from 275,489 in mid-September to 466,829 on Wednesday.

The Kremlin denies western and Ukrainian accusations that it is arming the separatist rebels with troops and military equipment, as diplomatic relations plunge to a low not seen since the cold war.

The US vice president, Joe Biden, is due in Kiev for talks on Thursday, a day before the anniversary of the start of the Maidan protests against the former pro-Kremlin regime.

Vladimir Putin Hates the TTIP

Which is exactly why Europe and America need to get it done.

• BY JAMES STAVRIDIS-NOVEMBER 19, 2014

President Barack Obama recently spent some quality time with leaders of Asian nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing and again at the G20 Leaders summit, where he continued honing trade and diplomatic ties, and made another push for the long-delayed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. He also held several tense sideline meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin without any discernable reduction in the gridlock over Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin Hates the TTIP by Thavam Ratna

Webcam hackers 'spying inside British homes'

THURSDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2014

People could be being watched in their homes and offices after a hackers set up a website with live footage from webcams, the UK's privacy watchdog has warned.

Webcam Hackers 'Spying Inside British Homes' by Thavam Ratna