Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Michel du Cille dies in Liberia on assignment

Rest in peace: Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Michel du Cille died in Thursday. Photo: Julia Ewan/Washington Post

Michel du Cille took this photo of Esther Tokpah in September in Monrovia, Liberia. The 11-year-old had lost both her parents to Ebola. Photo: Michel du Cille/Washington Post

• From the archives: Michel du Cille on documenting with dignity in the Ebola zone

December 12, 2014

Michel du Cille, a Washington Post photojournalist who was a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his dramatic images of human struggle and triumph, and who recently chronicled the plight of Ebola patients and the people who cared for them, died Thursday while on assignment for The Post in Liberia. He was 58.

Pulitzer-winning Photojournalist Michel Du Cille Dies in Liberia on Assignment by Thavam Ratna

In HK, China likely to use pressure, intimidation to ward off more protests

A giant banner blocks a main road along with tents set up by pro-democracy protesters outside the government headquarters at Admiralty in Hong Kong December 7, 2014.

BY JAMES POMFRET-HONG KONG Fri Dec 12, 2014

(Reuters) - As the dust settles on Hong Kong's pro-democracy 'Occupy' protests, China is likely to embark on a sweeping but covert campaign across the territory's judiciary, media and universities to ensure there is no recurrence, activists and politicians say.

In HK, China Likely to Use Pressure, Intimidation to Ward Off More Protests by Thavam Ratna

Liu Xiaobo sends message to the world: pay attention to other Chinese activists

Jailed Nobel peace prize winner tells friend he is doing well, has been reading and thinking and is convinced he has no enemies

The Nobel certificate and medal is seen on the empty chair where 2010 peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo would have sat, as a portrait of Liu is seen in the background.Photograph: SCANPIX NORWAY/REUTERS

Associated Press, Beijing- Friday 12 December 2014

The jailed Chinese Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has told an overseas friend that he is relatively healthy but wants the world to pay more attention to other Chinese activists.

In a message that was smuggled out of prison, he writes: “The aura around me is enough already. I hope the world can pay more attention to other victims who are not well known, or not known at all.”

The message was to Liao Yiwu, who posted it on Facebook on Thursday. Liao did not say how he received the message from Liu, who is serving an 11-year sentence for inciting state subversion. Liu’s friends have said the message is genuine.

While in prison, Liu was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2010 for his calls for political reforms. Beijing condemned the award and put his wife, Liu Xia, under house arrest.

Liu Xia still can visit her husband, although their meetings are under tight watch.

Liao, who lives in exile in Germany, said he received the message on Tuesday through channels in China and that it was the first he had heard from Liu in more than six years.

“My eyes are suddenly moist,” Liao said on Facebook.

In the message, Liu said he was doing well and had been reading and thinking. “Through studies, I have become even more convinced that I have no personal enemies,” he added.

Research: Bisphenol A (BPA) Causes 100x More Harm Than Previously Imagined

December 10, 2014 | By Sayer Ji | Toxins
A new study reveals just how profoundly misled we are about Bisphenol A and its analogs: they are at least 100x more toxic than we previously imagined.
An alarming new study establishes that the commonly used chemical bisphenol A used in tens of thousands of consumer products, and its lesser known but increasingly prevalent analogs, bisphenol S and F, are several orders of magnitude more disruptive to the endocrine systems of the developing male human fetus than previous toxicological risk assessments were capable of determining.
Research Bisphenol a (BPA) Causes 100x More Harm Than Previously Imagined by Thavam Ratna

Danger of losing C’wealth chair if presidential 

election is corrupt!

 Thursday, 11 December 2014 

Several member nations of the Commonwealth are preparing to bring in a proposal to abolish Mahinda Rajapaksa’s chairmanship of the grouping if the January 08 presidential election is a corrupt one, according to reports reaching ‘Lanka News Web’ through a very reliable source.

Since the removal of Dr. Chris Nonis as the Sri Lankan high commissioner in the UK, coordination between the president and the C’wealth headquarters in the UK has come to a standstill, as Dr. Nonis was also the person who had done the coordination work.

Knowing this well, the president is keeping the high commissioner position vacant. The Sajin Vaas, Kshenuka and G.L. Peiris trio is having fears that Dr. Nonis would be reappointed to the position, and they are doing everything they can to prevent that from happenning. Recently, a very close associate of the president asked Dr. Nonis if he was willing to consider if he is offered the position again. Dr. Nonis has point-blank rejected it. However, sources say the president and Dr. Nonis have telephone conversations every week or so.

If the election is proved to be corrupt and the C’wealth brings a proposal to remove him from its chair, the president would find it difficult to find a capable person like Dr. Nonis to act appropriately. In light of the possible alternatives such as Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha, Dr. Thamara Kunanayagam, Dr. Dayan Jayatilake all supporting common candidate Maithripala Sirisena, the president would be in a very tight position, say international political analysts.

ASIA: Basil Fernando - A life dedicated to human rights

Dear friends,

We wish to share with you the following article from the Deutsche Welle, Germany

Asian Human Rights Commission

Hong Kong

-------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAHRC-FAT-029-2014
December 10, 2014

An article from the Deutsche Welle, Germany forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission

ASIA: Basil Fernando - A life dedicated to human rights

The Sri Lankan activist has been fighting for decades on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. His efforts have been recognized with this year's "alternative Nobel prize."

Nanda Prasad Adhikari had been on hunger strike for 340 days when he died in September this year. His wife and he had been protesting in this manner for nearly a year. It was their last-ditch effort to force the government of Nepal to investigate the death of their son, who was allegedly killed by Maoists, but all their efforts were in vain.

Basil Fernando, who headed the Asian human rights commission for many years, says: "Only when the father died, did the government relent and promise to pursue the matter." Although it is a tragic case, it proves that people are demanding justice, Fernando told DW. "We come across this kind of determination among the common people all over in Asia. People, who are not satisfied with a 'no.' This is inspiring," he said.

In most Asian countries, the justice system is faulty. It allows officials, for example to arbitrarily ignore laws and suppress the rights of their citizens. The people are, however, now protesting. One can see these kinds of developments in many countries in the region, and the calls for changing the system are very louder."

One commission for 12 countries

One needs to thank the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that has made this possible. The commission, which was founded in 1993, was headed by Fernando for many years until he resigned in 2010. Fernando, however, still continues to work with the same organization.

For his long-standing commitment towards the unprivileged, he is now being awarded the alternative Nobel Prize, formally known as the "Right Livelihood Award," on December 1.

The AHRC is active in 12 countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, China, South Korea and Indonesia. The organization has trained many journalists and lawyers on human rights issues. The biggest successes of the AHRC include establishing a new perspective on dealing with human rights abuses and making the subject a central theme in public consciousness, Fernando stressed.

A victim of political persecution

The activist has himself experienced what it means to be exposed to the despotism of a system when he worked as an English teacher in Sri Lanka for a short while after the completion of his law studies. In 1978, the government there passed the new constitution according to which the country's president would hold absolute power.

Fernando says: "In the following years, the government pursued a strategy which was aimed at suppressing opposing members brutally and killing them. Many innocent people were killed."

The situation in Sri Lanka was very tense and unstable, he explained, and there were also so-called death lists. In 1989, Fernando's name appeared on such a list. "The lists would be given to the secret services, which made sure that the people whose names appeared on the lists disappeared. It was well-organized," he said.

But fortunately Fernando came to know about the fact that the secret services were looking for hi. "So I fled. If I had stayed for a couple of days more, it would have meant death for me," the activist told DW.

Fernando then began a new life. To protect himself, he first went to Hong Kong, where he worked for the United Nations (UN) a legal adviser to Vietnamese refugees. He later left for Cambodia, also on a UN assignment. In 1984, he took over the leadership of the newly-founded AHRC with its headquarters in Hong Kong.

A case worth remembering

The AHRC has so far handled several thousand cases in its 20-year-old history. Fernando remembers, especially, the case of Rizana Nafeek, a woman from his home country Sri Lanka, who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. Nafeek went to the gulf nation in 2005 to work as a domestic help.

At the time, she was just 17 years old. Other than doing the housework, Nafeek also had to look after a baby. One day, when she was feeding the baby, the baby began vomiting and died shortly after.

 "Investigations by international agencies showed that there was no use of force and that the death probably was due to internal reasons." The child's family, however, accused the housemaid of killing the baby and also got her sentenced for the alleged crime.

Fernando and his colleagues used all possible means to stop the execution of the woman. They appealed to the government of Sri Lanka to plead the case for Nafeek; they contacted the victim's family to drop the punishment in exchange for money. In a few weeks, they managed to collect 40,000 USD in contributions so that the woman could get a lawyer.

Even the Queen of England wrote a letter to the Saudi government asking for mercy. However, all attempts were in vain as Nafeek's supporters were informed that she had been executed.

Fernando says that even today, "we feel sad about the fact that we could not save her life." However, this case has shown not only how much potential human rights organizations have to motivate others, but also how much support they can garner." Support from the whole world was overwhelming, Fernando reminisces. And this, he says, gives him courage.

ICC ‘enquired about army’s command chain’ warns Rajapaksa *My Hands Are Not Stained With Blood Or Dirt: President Rajapaksa Sarath N. Silva is sorry for 2005 ruling A more recent UN report suggested the death toll may have reached 70,000 or even more. 11 December 2014 Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has claimed that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked about the chain of command in the Sri Lankan armed forces. Speaking at his first election rally in Anuradhapura, Rajapaksa said this gave a “strong indication” that some sections of the international community were attempting to prosecute officials in Sri Lanka’s military. Rajapaksa will face the opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the presidential election next month and both camps have used the rejection of the international probe into war crimes as a key tenet of their campaign. The president said he would never allow any member of the security forces to be taken to the ICC. "Sri Lankan government will not bow down for foreign interventions in the matter of the war victory," Rajapaksa said, adding that he will not permit a “foreign force” to jeopardise the political stability in Sri Lanka.# Rajapaksa said his hands are not tainted with dirt or blood, claiming that he would cut them off the day they are stained. “They have announced that commissions will be appointed to probe into our actions. . . What can they do? It seems they are not satisfied with the conspiracy they hatched to take us before the Hague – it seems they want more. Let them do whatever they wish – I am not scared of them!” he said. Tissa Attanayake warns of Maithripala pact with 'extremist' TNA (10 Dec 2014) Sirisena and JHU rally against war crimes probe (03 Dec 2014) I will protect Rajapaksas from war crime charges – Maithripala (28 Nov 2014)

From where is Medamulana MaRa getting all these funds to waste so profligately ? Here is the answer..

(Lanka-e-News- 11.Dec.2014, 11.45PM) It is question on everybody’s lips these days : from where is Medamulana MaRa getting such colossal sums of monies to spend on his election campaign, which includes the purchase of venally inclined political hollow shallow blokes like Tissa Attanayake paying as high as Rs. two to three billion; hanging cutouts on every light post with MaRa in as many poses as he has faces; advertising himself for the election campaign via Television every five minutes ; and distributing free string hopper making equipments ?

May be the people are thinking that MaRa is spending so extravagantly out of the illicit commissions amassed by him during the last ten years , because they know MaRa was not that wealthy at birth. This view is sadly erroneous. Believe it or not , MaRa is not spending a single cent out of these illicit earnings or out of monies realized by selling his gold ,for this election . Then how is that MaRa is able to spend such colossal sums of money in billions ? Lanka e news had been able to track down the answer :

Believe it or not , MaRa is spending his and his money alone , and none else’s for the election. Let us reveal just one of our detections :

A sum of Rs. 24 billion or Rs. 24000 million ! had been spent to build 11 kilometers of the southern expressway from Kottawa to Kaduwela.

Accordingly , the money spent to construct a single kilometer of the highway is Rs. 2180 million .The distance from Kaduwela to Kadawatha is 8.9 kilometers. The money expended for that is Rs. 45 billion , that is Rs. 45000 million. Accordingly the expenditure per kilometer is Rs. 5060 million!

Mind you , to complete the first stage mentioned above had all of a sudden cost more than double the estimated amount. Next, let us look at the construction of the road from Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha. Its distance is 9.2 kilometers. The sum that was set aside initially towards this construction was Rs. 67 billion. With the impending election , it was claimed this sum was not adequate , and a further sum of Rs. 12 billion was passed by a supplementary estimate. The total cost therefore rose to Rs. 79 billion, that is Rs. 79000 million!

Based on those figures , the cost of construction of a kilometer is around Rs. 8590 million. This amount is approximately four fold in excess of the cost of the first construction between Kottawa and Kaduwela .

The first phase itself was a massive gobbling up of funds and illicit commissions. The next one involved a bigger sum amounting to Rs. 85000 million in illicit collections. In other words , it was a gigantic fraud committed by MaRa in broad daylight using all his evil powers and offices to the detriment of national interests .

Now , Lanka e news is in receipt of information that these colossal sums of monies clandestinely collected are what are being used for Medamulana MaRa’s election campaign . Solely and wholly to facilitate this massive fraud , MaRa had used Premasiri ,a secretary who is a lackey cum lickspittle of his.

In the circumstances, it will be in the best interests of the country , if the whole nation can realize that the monies this traitor and fraud is so profligately wasting for his election campaign is neither his own legitimately earned money nor his dowry money , but it is the people’s funds which would otherwise be going to serve the country’s present and future generations .

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by     (2014-12-11 22:45:06)

Why Not A MOU With The TNA?

தேசிய ப்பிரச்சனைக்கான தீர்வு பற்றிய உங்கள் நிலைப்பாடு பற்றி நீங்கள் கூறவேண்டும். நிறைவேற்று அதிகார ஜனாதிபதி முறைமையை நீக்குவதற்காக மட்டும் தமிழ் மக்கள் ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் வாக்களிக்க முடியாது -சோபித தேரரிடம் கலாநிதி.என்.குமரகுருபரன் வலியுறுத்து .

தமிழ்,முஸ்லிம் மக்களின் வாக்குகளின்றியே நாம் நிறைவேற்று அதிகார ஜனாதிபதி முறைமையை நீக்குவதற்காக மட்டும் மக்களாணையை வெற்றிகொள்ளமுடியும்- மாதுலுவாவே சோபித தேரர்.

by Laksiri Fernando –11/12/2014 
Nominations for the premature presidential elections closed three days back and less than a month is left for the decisive decision on 8 January 2015. The competition is polarized between two candidates and the result will be crucial for the future of the country. This is perhaps the most significant election ever held in this island nation since the introduction of adult universal franchise in 1931.
Why Not a Mou With the Tna by Thavam Ratna

Dayan Jayatilleka’s “Balance” Is Out Of Balance

By Shyamon Jayasinghe -December 11, 2014

Shyamon Jayasinghe

I am amused to observe Dayan Jayatilleka (DJ) jumping up like Jack in the box upon getting the news that the UNP General Secretary, Attanayake, had crossed over to the government side. DJ cries: “the balance is restored.” There are two major flaws in DJ’s “political analysis.” Firstly, it is rendered false by actual statistics. Secondly, DJ’s “analysis” place an exaggerated value on cross-overs in affecting public perception. Cross-overs are now becoming such an unbelievable thing that its potential impact on public perception is on a curve of diminishing returns. I do not claim to be a “political analyst” but these flaws in DJ’s reasoning seems utterly evident to me.

With regard to the first mentioned flaw readers are invited to take a look at some valuable statistics furnished by the Daily Mirror in its issue of 10th of December. This show the relative preference votes obtained by the respective cross-overs on both sides to date at the last elections.

Government cross-overs:

Tissa Attanayake- came in from the national list and so cannot show a voter base at all

Jayantha Ketagoda-22,193 votes

Cross-overs in support of Common Opposition Candidate:

Rajitha Senaratne-66710 votes

Duminda Dissanayake- 101,384

Navin Dissanayake-   43,514 votes

Wasantha Senanayake-51,124 votes

Rajiva Wijesinghe- National List. No votes

Arjuna Ranatunge-27,796 votes

Perumal Rajathurai- 49,228 votes

Unais Farook- 10,851 votes

MKDS Gunawardena-19,734 votes

Hirunika Premachandra-139,034  votes

Jayatissa Ranaweera-40,382 votes

Peshala Jayaratne-37,547 votes

Prasanna Solangaararachchi- 43,332 votes

The second flaw is becoming evident by the growing support for the Common Opposition Candidate,Maitripala Sirisena, despite the crossovers to the government side. Political jumping has now become an incredible joke that only serves to demonstrate absurdity, corruption and chaos in governance that is a direct the outcome of the Presidential Executive system prevailing in Sri Lanka. Hence, the Common Opposition benefits by this ugly spectacle.

Rajapaksa Power In A Castrated State

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“For five years now, we have enjoyed absolute freedom.”
President Mahinda Rajapaksa

( December 11, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Some pictures say it all .

Rohitha Rajapaksa is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s youngest son. He is not a parliamentarian, a provincial councillor or even a Pradesheeya Sabha member. He is not a public official, an academic or any other professional.
Rajapaksa Power in a Castrated State by Thavam Ratna

Tough fight ahead
Sri Lanka’s United Opposition: (From left) United National Party leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, former Army chief Sarath Fonseka and Arjuna Ranatunga in Colombo on December 1. Photo:ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP

As Mahinda Rajapaksa seeks a record third term in office, the opposition, for once, is united and has the support of an influential leader of the Buddhist clergy too. By MEERA SRINIVASAN in Colombo

December 26, 2014

Sri Lanka is decking up for Christmas. Malls and restaurants are sporting Christmas trees and the weather is mildly colder than usual.

Adding to the usual Christmas paraphernalia are posters of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, plastered on many of Colombo’s walls. “Ape Janapathi” (Our President), they declare in Sinhala, about a month ahead of the presidential elections, scheduled for January 8. The President, in his characteristic white shirt and the traditional maroonsataka (shawl) around his neck, smiles brightly, as it were, at passers-by from the posters. Rajapaksa has been President since 2005. He is hoping for a record third term in office, and his supporters would like the words in the posters to hold good after January 8 too. But this time around, the fight may not be easy.

With one of Rajapaksa’s senior Ministers, Maithripala Sirisena, breaking ranks with the government recently to lead a common opposition platform to challenge the incumbent, and with former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe backing him fully, the political matrices appear far more complex.

Setting aside their own ideological and political differences for the moment, parties keen on ousting Rajapaksa are slowly joining hands, lending considerable energy to the opposition. It would not be surprising even if the minorities—the Tamils and the Muslims—decide to join them sooner or later. “This is a do-or-die election. If the President gets a third term, then the country has no hope,” said a senior politician requesting anonymity.

The opposition will not have it easy, though. Rajapaksa is perceived as one of the most charismatic politicians of the island. His supporters readily connect with his rural upbringing, admire his ability to reach out to people and, most importantly, see him as an invincible leader who won a three-decade-long war against terrorism.

To his fierce critics, however, Rajapaksa is a President facing disturbing war-crimes allegations. To them, he is a leader who has consolidated his power by rewriting the country’s Constitution, thereby allowing himself a third term. The country, they argue, is highly militarised and corrupt. Democratic spaces have steadily shrunk, and media and religious freedoms have been brutally threatened. Absence of the rule of law and an independent judiciary have only helped strengthen his position. Spiralling cost of living and falling incomes during his tenure in rural areas have left many sections helpless, they say. The united opposition has promised to abolish executive presidency within 100 days of assuming power. The government, on the other hand, is exploring attractive election doles. Speculation pervades the island where some of its people are still piecing together their lives after a bloody civil war. Election discourses are just shaping up. Chandrika Kumaratunga, in the first common opposition press conference, made an emotional appeal to her party’s supporters to restore the glory of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) founded by her father, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. The Rajapaksas, she charged, had destroyed the party.

The United National Party (UNP), the main opposition party, has, over the last few years, come across as a weak political party, often preoccupied with internal disputes. Its leader, Ranil Wickremasinghe, faced severe criticism from different quarters, but in September, things started looking up for him. His party gave the ruling party a tough fight in the provincial elections to the Uva Province—the SLFP won by a narrow margin—and made considerable electoral gains. Even sceptics admitted that he had made the right move by joining the common opposition platform rather than going it alone in the presidential elections.

Dismissing all these developments as pointless, a confident member of the Rajapaksa camp said: “Oh, all that won’t matter. The President is loved by the entire south. He will win.”

His confidence, however, may not be shared by everyone. The influential Buddhist monk Sobitha Thero has observed that large sections of the Sinhalese population, which the President was counting on, were quite unhappy with the Rajapaksa government. Now a member of the common opposition platform, the monk has noted that the President’s popularity, even among his Sinhala-Buddhist support base, was surely waning.

Over five years after the end of the war, Sri Lanka’s Tamils in the north are still waiting for genuine reconciliation, reconstruction and substantive devolution of power. They have better roads and power supply than they did, but rebuilding the lives of those facing the aftermath of a war cannot be just about better infrastructure.

The relatives of many Tamils who went missing after the war, allegedly because of the security forces, are still searching for them. They are desperate for some closure. Many families are yet to come to terms with the reality of having lost their dear ones, their homes, their assets and, in a sense, their hope. Heavy surveillance, intense militarisation, an ongoing crisis in agriculture and fisheries, the lack of jobs and a widespread burden of debt have taken a heavy toll on the northern population.

While it is more or less certain that the Tamils will vote against the incumbent, it is not clear how much faith they have in the available alternative. Tamil-speaking Muslims have been targeted in the last couple of years by hard-line Sinhala-Buddhist groups, who, reportedly, enjoy state patronage. Places of worship of Christians and Muslims have also been attacked. “If we stay with this government, we cannot go back to our constituency anymore,” said a Muslim politician.

Different groups have different expectations from this election. But many of them are, apparently, hoping for change. Few would talk about it openly though.

Being the sharp politician he is, President Rajapaksa would be well aware of this. Amid considerable international pressure following the U.N.-mandated international probe into the country’s human rights violations record during the war, many countries are watching the developments in Sri Lanka closely.

As a political commentator put it, “Mr Rajapaksa has many promises to keep before he makes new ones ahead of elections.”

Rs. 50mn to remove illegal propaganda material – EC

 Thursday, 11 December 2014 

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya says that around Rs. 50 million would have to be spent just to remove the illegal Presidential election propaganda material displayed in all parts of the country.  

Deshapriya has told the media that the Police Department has taken steps to recruit over 2,000 minor labourers under temporary contract basis to engage in this task.

The Commissioner has further noted that clear instructions have been given to all state institutions not to act in a biased manner towards any candidate in the election.

“All state institutions including state media and local council authorities have bee instructed not to engage in any kind of activity that is favourable or unfavourable to any candidate,” Deshapriya has said.

Army Commander planning to start his illegal election campaign tomorrow: The law enforced against Fonseka would be valid to Daya Rathnayaka too

(Lanka-e-News- 10.Dec.2014, 11.55PM) Army Commander Daya Rathnayaka who blatantly engaged in politics with his official uniform violating all laws behalf of Medamulana MaRa during the last presidential election has once again planning to engage in a similar campaign in Anuradapura tomorrow(11)  

Daya Rathnayaka has called all brigade heads and high ranking officials to the Farm Garden hotel tomorrow,(11) is supposed to tell to cast their votes in favour of Mahinda Rajapaksa shamelessly violating the country’s election laws. 

Daya Rathnayaka is supposed to command all soldiers in the Civil Security Force  to remove their official uniform and participate in public meetings of Mahinda Rajapaksa as civilians 

Public officials especially the armed forces cannot engage in official politics during their service. General Fonseka who was once accused and imprisoned by removing all his medals for the reason that he was engaged in politics during his position serving as the  Army Commander. Therefore we would like to remind that to Daya Rathnayaka and all others.

We wish to inform that Lanka E News would receive all internal information regarding tomorrow’s meeting and would be reporting soon.

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by     (2014-12-11 00:27:35)