Champika influence GMOA against the government

Dec 20, 2015

Members of the Government Medical Officers Association told Lanka News Web that recently the western province development minister and Mega polis development minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has called few members of the GMOA and pressured them to start a protest against the government. The officers said the minister told them to strongly oppose the budget.

Following Champika’s instructions the GMOA officers has questioned the minister if we strongly criticize would that affect minister Rajitha. The minister has said “The Prime minister is against for the majority  of proposals in the budget. During the ministry reshuffle in January next year Ravi would definitely lose his ministry. Don’t get fear of Rajitha, you can continue the strike and weaken him”

 

The GMOA group who has left the discussion has immediately called minister Rajitha and divulged Champika’s conspiracy. Minister Rajitha who has was infuriated has subsequently called Champika’s close associate, dealer wheeler and the chairman of the water’s edge Chamath and said “tell Champika not to do dirty works and told him I have a dirty mouth and inform your friend not to provocate me” and severely castigated.

Pa(va)deniya‘s doctor mafia again threatens to strike ! 'These doctors would have been trishaw drivers but for one mark' – Minister Dr. Wijedasa Rajapakse

(Lanka-e-News -20.Dec.2015, 9.00AM) The Government medical officers Association (GMOA) of Pavadeniya which is hell bent on finding some pretext or another to stage strikes and sabotage the government of good governance which in contradistinction  is fully geared and determined to serve the people who elected them into power. It is learnt the GMOA had summoned an emergency central committee meeting again today.(19)

Thereafter they had wanted to meet the president in the evening. When these  self centered doctors struck work for duty free vehicle permits , the government decided to grant them permits every five years . But  now , their latest grouse is against the decision taken to provide   clinical training to the students of the SAITM private medical College in the government hospitals.They have now demanded that the SAITM Medical College be closed down , or else they would strike again. 

The minister of justice Dr. Wijedasa Rajapakse who participated in yesterday’s (18)  budget committee stage debate referring to this GMOA’s unrefined  conduct unbecoming of professionals said , this is nothing but jealousy , and a manifestation of baser instincts. The minister explained  , it is best if the doctors think wisely and learn to maintain their professional dignity  without voluntarily trying to degrade and disgrace themselves . These doctors who are trying to throw their weight about must realize if they had scored one or two marks less they would have had to drive three wheelers in their villages.

The minister went on to comment as follows :

‘Heeding the requests of the masses the budget proposals were amended. The government did this as a people’s government to please the people . Specially regarding higher education and Malabe private medical College several lengthy  discussions were held . There were also court proceedings.

Today the GMOA has made a statement to the media that the Malabe private medical College should be taken over by the government . I am surprised  by this statement . I wish to ask these doctors , do they have any idea  about the education in SL?

 We are unable to provide higher education to all the students who successfully complete their advanced level exam. While 3000 are entering the Universities , there are  a further around 70,000 unable to enter them , and grieving.

These Universities were not opened during this period of 100 days.The SAITM was opened during the last government. The Defense University was started  by Kotalawela . When these were being launched , didn’t you have the guts to oppose them ?  The political culture then created was such , if you speak against the government, you would have been  abducted and that was  the end of you. Now , you are coming to tell us to undo the wrong done. We know better as a government how that should be done.

It is the GMOA that is the issue. When those Universities were opened these so called ‘heroes’ were asleep. Now after thousands of  students have followed their courses there and their parents have got themselves indebted to educate their children ,  the GMOA says to close down the medical College. What is the justice in this? These doctors think because they are doctors, other doctors should not be produced.  These doctors who are waxing eloquent , had they scored  one mark less they would be three wheeler drivers in their villages. These are doctors who are opposed to more doctors coming into being. This country needs Universities . Not only medical Colleges , every University is important  for this country.

This is a requirement of the people in the country. Earlier on  , in fear of the white Van they did not open their mouths . That was the state of the country then , but now these same cowards are trying to act tough and show their ‘colors’. These are cruel cheap aims and agendas. Going near a Doctor must be  something like going close to a deity . The doctors must create that atmosphere .Medical profession is the most revered profession in the world.

When their pockets are not getting filled , and when it is a small car permit , when a critical patient struggling for breath  comes along , they look the other way.

We have today done what could not be done.The courts have given a verdict on how it should be done. The Doctors are now divided . When a child of a Doctor fails to enter medical faculty he goes to SAITM. We have faced this experience. We certainly frown upon the methods and modes adopted by the government doctors stemming from the jealousy deep within them against more doctors qualifying. 

This is an educational Instituton. It is the most respected 

doctors of the country, not lawyers  who launched this Medical College spending many millions of rupees. Now GMOA  says close this medical College and put those students out into the streets.  This is pure base uncouth trait in them  that is being exposed . This is a most despicable and detestable statement .

Of course all doctors do not subscribe to this despicable  opinion.  These things do  happen when many are involved driven by ulterior motives and a political hand is at work.This is not the opinion of doctorsin general. As an association when they come and speak in the open this way, the estimation of the public  in respect of doctors in general is lowered .Why is the medical profession being degraded and destroyed? Do not be a party to this type of unprofessional destructive agendas ’ the minister exhorted with concern.

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by     (2015-12-20 03:43:19)

Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Need for Domestic Actions

Photo via South China Morning Post

• by Vositha Wijenayake 
• - on 12/20/2015 

The Paris Agreement focusing on climate change and ways to address its adverse impacts was adopted on the 12th December 2015. It provides both binding and voluntary measures to address the objective of limiting the rise of global temperatures “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with the background target being 1.5°C”. The Agreement will be legally binding upon ratification by at least 55 countries that represents 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and will be the basis for the work ahead on climate change. While needing further development in the coming years through domestic actions, and further decisions to be developed within the process, the Agreement will be addressing its objective of addressing climate change at the global level, and highlights issues such as food security, human rights and climate justice, as well as livelihood quality jobs.

Key Features of the Agreement

The Agreement is considered by many as providing hope and means to address the impacts of climate change, having gained the support of 195 countries for its adoption. In its purpose, which is formed with a sense of aspiration, the countries are provided with self-differentiation on its responsibilities. (The historic responsibility based method not in its rigid form as wished by many). The common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities defined under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) though not completely abandoned, could also be interpreted as not present in its strongest form in the Paris Agreement. This being one of the reasons as to why some groups feel that the outcome of the Paris negotiations on climate change is not cause for euphoria. Among other aspects criticised being the lack of financial commitments, and the non-inclusion of liability and compensation for loss and damage.

Mitigation

On mitigation, the system is “bottom-up” (the countries needing to take actions, than being bound at the international level to prescribed to take actions) and the mitigation obligations for countries is through the communication of national determined contributions every five years. The countries are required to “pursue” domestic actions to achieve the objective of achieving the contributions listed in their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) which were submitted to the UNFCCC as their voluntary contributions to bring down the global emission levels of greenhouse gases causing climate change. A sign that if the world is to achieve the objective of keeping the global temperature increase to 1.5 C, then the countries will need to take more ambitious actions at the national level to reduce their emission levels.

Adaptation

Adaptation, the way to address the already existing impacts of climate change by adjusting to them and changes made to exist with those impacts is one of the key elements for countries vulnerable to climate change. Under the UNFCCC, the developed countries had agreed to support the adaptation efforts of developing countries. This includes financial and technical support to developing countries for appropriate actions, and efforts to adapt to the impacts felt in their countries. The Paris Agreement though providing for the continuation of obligation by developed countries to provide financial and technical support to developing countries does not provide for clear and predictable financial support by the developed countries.

Loss and Damage

Addressing the losses and damages caused by climate change in developing countries has been one of the key issues of the Paris negotiations. There has been a strong call for the recognition of loss and damage, separately from adaptation and as a separate element of the Agreement from developing countries. While the Agreement was successful in identifying loss and damage as a separate element from adaptation, the question on liability and compensation for loss and damage remains not answered. Further, there is an exclusion for compensation and liability which through the decision of the Paris outcome. The Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) which was set up to address loss and damage, at the 19th conference of parties (COP) of the UNFCCC will further operate under the Paris Agreement. In order to address climate induced displacement, the Executive Board of the WIM is to establish a task force tasked with developing recommendations and approaches to address this issue.

Compliance

The inclusion of compliance as part of the Agreement has survived. However in a non-punitive, non-judicial way, despite the call for setting up a climate justice tribunal by some parties. Compliance is intended to be facilitative and linked with the obligation under the section on transparency which is on all Parties to report their mitigation efforts, and for developed country parties to report on support for finance, capacity building and technology transfer, the word compliance is found for a mechanism to facilitate implementation and promote compliance. In order to ensure that compliance remains an important element of the Agreement, more time will need to be invested in developing the ways for its effective implementation.

Paris Agreement and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka as an island state is vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Adverse impacts of climate change are already felt in the country, and with the potential for temperature increase, if concrete actions are not taken to reduce emission levels of greenhouse gases, the country will be at a more vulnerable stage to these adverse impacts. This heightens the importance of the Paris Agreement, and the need for ambitious actions of Parties to it.

Sri Lanka at the climate negotiations has been negotiating as part of the G77 and China, as well as the Like Minded Developing Countries. The country has submitted it INDCs prior to the negotiations, and the contributions include both mitigation and adaptation ones, also highlights the need to address loss and damage. Sri Lanka has also developed its National Adaptation Plan which is to be launched, and will be the basis for measures to be taken on adapting to climate change. With the Presidential manifesto highlighting the need for a shift to renewable energy, which falls in line with the efforts on climate change mitigation, it will be important to see how the actions will be taken to achieve the domestic targets in a participatory manner, through a multi-stake holder driven transparent and accountable process.

Navy seized five kilos of gold

2015-12-20
The Navy seized five kilograms of gold worth Rs. 24.4 million, which had been hidden inside a fiberglass dinghy off the seas of North Urumalai on Friday night. 


Navy spokesman Captain Alavi said the gold comprising of 19 gold pieces had been concealed under fishing nets and was to be smuggled to India.

 The 28-year-old suspect who is a resident of Talaimannar was to be handed over to the Jaffna Customs officials along with the gold. 

Catholic Church Bans The Christmas Tree

By Chirantha Amerasinghe –December 20, 2015

Chirantha Amerasinghe

The Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has officially banned the Christmas tree from the Catholic Church. Issuing a confidential letter to Priests through a the Archdiocesan Bulletin, the Archbishop has banned the placement of the Christmas tree inside the Catholic Church saying that it has “no significance to the Sacred Liturgy” in February 2015. Many Priests had not implemented it to protect the image of the Archbishop and the Church among the people. However this statement was made public on the official Church news paper released on the 20th of December 2015 not by the Archbishop himself but by the Priest in charge of Liturgy due to the controversial situation prevailing and to protect the image of a unpopular Parish Priest who seems to have had proposed the ban to the Archbishop.

The Archbishop who had been living in Rome, Italy for a long duration has obviously forgotten the significance the Christmas tree which plays a major role to bring the message of Christ from the known to the unknown. Buddhists, Muslims, Hindu’s in Sri Lanka join in the celebration of the Birth of Jesus together with the Christians and Catholics through this Christmas tree in religious unity.

The Catholic Church of Sri Lanka has kept the teaching of the Christmas tree hidden from its people and priests, and many rumors had come out instead of real stories thus many Catholic’s are not aware of the true story behind the Christmas tree.

As a tradition initiated by the people, the Christmas tree is kept inside the Catholic Church from the 1st of December to the end of January the next year. This is a tradition in Sri Lanka which was done even before the Second Vatican Council. If we as the Catholic Church say it has “no significance to the Sacred Liturgy” and throws the tree outside, what should then the Buddhists, Muslims, Hindu’s which the tree has no significance to their religion do? I believe this statement by the Catholic Church is an insult to the entire Christian community.

The tradition of the Christmas tree was started by a Catholic Saint called Saint Boniface in 723, he was the Archbishop of Germany whom the then Pagans of Germany worshipped a Tree God called the “Thunder Oak” and gave a human sacrifice every year in Winter (mostly a child). The Archbishop had stopped the ritual and single-handedly had cut down the “Thunder Oak” and had proved it’s Godly powers false to the Pagans. When the mighty tree fell, behind it stood a fir tree (A little Cyprus tree), an evergreen tree which kept green even in the winter. Saint Boniface told “This little tree, a young child of the forest, shall be your holy tree tonight. It is the wood of peace… It is the sign of an endless life, for its leaves are ever green. See how it points upward to heaven. Let this be called the tree of the Christ-child; gather about it, not in the wild wood, but in your own homes; there it will shelter no deeds of blood, but loving gifts and rites of kindness.” and so almost all the pagans were baptized Catholic. So the tradition of the Christmas tree was born. If the Archbishop had understood this, he would understand that the Christmas tree is never to be kept outside as it is against the tradition of the Christmas tree.

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Avarntgarde projects to be given to the Maldives

Dec 20, 2015

Reports reaching us confirm that a company owned by the Maldivian state is taking ownership of the floating armory business conducted by the Avarntgarde Martime Company.

Therefore a danger of losing 45 million US dollars is imminent to Sri Lanka for maintaining a floating armory and supplying Sea Marshall’s  

Reports reaching us confirm that many foreign companies which obtained maritime facilities are seeking their security for company based in Maldives for storing their arms and acquiring Sea Marshal’s.

 

Meantime Avarntgarde which acquired 725 business opportunities by maintaining a floating armory in Galle has been reduced to 625 following the taking over by the navy.

 

A problem reducing the price index

 

Meantime Avarntgarde which was charging USD 3500 per operation has been reduced to USD 2500 by the navy. From this reduction the country has incurred a monthly loss of USD 650,000 which has become a benefit to the foreign companies.

 

When relatively compared the operation which Avarntgarde did in last October due to the price reduction and for the decreased amount of operations the navy has incurred 1 million USD loss for the country.

Meantime the decision taken to reduce the price has also caused another problem.

 

Defaulting payment

 

Meantime reports reaching us confirm that foreign companies which took service from the navy has defaulted its payments and a new problem has erupted of how these payments are charged.

 

Following the ban of the two floating armories deployed by Avarntgarde an arms storage belong to the navy located at the Dakshina Navy Camp was given for renting weapons.

 

Following the completion of one month following the taking over by the navy last 13th the navy was able to earn only Rs. 220 million.

 

As shown by Avarntgarde for a 39 months period starting from 2009 to 2012 the navy has been able to earn Rs. 150 million where as following the taking over by the Avarntgarde it has able to acquire a foreign exchange of Rs. 3800 million only during the year 2014.

 

6754 people has lost jobs

 

Avarntgarde has shown currently 498 army soldiers who earned many laks as wages has lost their jobs. Apart this banning the business jointly done with the Rakna Lanka 6754 people has lost their jobs.

 

Meantime navy vice admiral Ravindra Wijegunarathna told the media discussions are on the way for handing over the navy weapons control to a company based in Singapore and Malaysia. By doing this the profit made would be pulled by foreign companies.

 

Defense secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi during a discussion held with Sathhanda said this business operations was removed from Avarntgarde until this business is shared with other companies.

Rockets fired from Lebanon into north Israel

Two Katyusha rockets were fired from a Lebanese village five kilometres from the border with Israel; says Lebanese source

The rocket fire from the Hezbollah heartland of south Lebanon followed the killing of Samir Kantar (AFP) 

Sunday 20 December 2015

The rocket fire from the Hezbollah heartland of south Lebanon followed the killing of Samir Kantar (AFP)

Two Katyusha-type rockets were fired from south Lebanon into Israel on Sunday, a Lebanese security source said, and in Israel the army said rockets had hit the north.

"Two Katyusha rockets were fired from a Lebanese village five kilometres (three miles) from the border with Israel," the Lebanese source told AFP.

A statement from Israel's military suggested that three rockets were fired.

"Sirens sounded in northern Israel. Initial report suggests three rockets hit northern Israel. Forces are searching the area," it said.

Across the heavily militarised frontier, troops with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army were searching for the firing point, the Lebanese source said.

The rocket fire from the Hezbollah heartland of south Lebanon followed the killing of Samir Kantar, a militant in the Shia group notorious for the 1979 murder of three Israelis, including a four-year-old girl.

Hezbollah said the 54-year-old Kantar was killed in an Israeli air strike near the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday night.

There was no confirmation from Israel that it was responsible for Kantar's killing.

Members of Hezbollah are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces against insurgents who have been battling to oust him for nearly five years.

The Israeli military said it shelled unspecified targets in neighbouring south Lebanon shortly after cross-border rocket fire hit northern Israel on Sunday.

"The Israel Defence Forces have responded with targeted artillery fire following the rockets that hit Israel earlier today from southern Lebanon," an English-language army statement said.

Israeli military sources told AFP that one rocket crashed into the Galilee region and the impact of another was heard.

No casualties were reported.

The sources said the military ordered local residents into bomb shelters.

In Lebanon, the national news agency NNA said Israel fired nine rounds of artillery at the south.

Afghan official warns Helmand province may fall to Taliban

Afghan security forces arrive to fight with Taliban forces in Helmand, Afghanistan October 21, 2015.

REUTERS/STRINGER/FILES

BY MIRWAIS HAROONI-Sun Dec 20, 2015

Afghanistan's Helmand province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days, the deputy governor of the volatile southern province warned on Sunday.

Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said unless President Ashraf Ghani took urgent action, the province, a centre of opium production and a Taliban heartland that British and American troops struggled to control for years, would be lost.

"Your Excellency, Helmand is standing on the brink and there is a serious need for you to come," he wrote on Facebook.

The highly unusual public plea from a serving official painted a picture strikingly similar to the situation that led up to the fall of the northern city of Kunduz in late September, when Taliban fighters seized and held on to for several days before government troops regained control.

If Helmand were to fall, it would deliver a blow to government claims that Afghan security forces, fighting largely alone since international troops ended combat operations last year, are controlling the insurgency, in spite of setbacks such as the fall of Kunduz.

Army spokesman Mohammad Rasool Zazai said he had no comment on the post, but said Helmand would never collapse, while police chief Abul Rahman Sarjang said: "We have strong forces in Helmand. In some places, we leave areas for tactical reasons, but all forces are working together well and very soon we will have major achievements to report."

Ghani's government, backed by billions of dollars in international aid and training assistance from thousands of NATO troops still stationed in Afghanistan, is pushing to re-open talks with the Taliban

Over the past six months, Helmand has been the scene of battles between insurgents and security forces that have complained of being abandoned by the U.S.-backed government.

FOREIGN FORCES

"We don't provide food and ammunition to our forces on time, do not evacuate our wounded and martyred soldiers from the battle field, and foreign forces only watch the situation from their bases and don't provide support," Rasulyar wrote.

Since Thursday, there had been 90 casualties near Gereshk, a junction on Highway 1 near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, and in Sangin district to the north, a level of losses which was "an everyday issue", Rasulyar added.

He said Sangin was "on the verge of collapse" with 44 casualties overnight.

The Taliban, which has not let a bloody internal leadership battle interrupt its campaign in Helmand, posted statements on its website detailing attacks on checkpoints as well as other operations including a suicide attack against the Gereshk police chief.

With army and police units badly weakened by desertions and lack of supplies, the Taliban has seized the districts of Musa Qalah and Now Zad in the north of the province and has threatened Lashkar Gah.

Government forces said they had recaptured the district of Khanishin on Friday, but by Sunday, the Taliban said it had won back the centre.

Underlining the gravity of the situation, U.S. Special Forces have been reported to have taken part in fighting in Helmand in recent weeks. NATO headquarters in Kabul has not confirmed the reports.

A Pentagon report to Congress last week highlighted major shortcomings with Afghan security forces, despite billions of dollars of foreign aid and training.

(Writing by James Mackenzie)

Iran repeats backing for Assad and rejects peace talks with Syrian 'terrorists'

After the unanimous passage of UN Resolution 2254, Iran breaks the new international unity over Syria

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad Photo: AFP

By David Blair-19 Dec 2015

Iran broke the international unity over Syria on Saturday by restating its support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime and declaring that any rebels deemed “terrorists” should be excluded from peace talks.

The 15 members of the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 2254 on Friday, setting out a plan for “political transition” in Syria.

Iran Repeats Backing for Assad and Rejects Peace Talks With Syrian 'Terrorists' by Thavam Ratna

It Is, By Far, The Worst Time to Be a Turkish Journalist

BY BERIVAN ORUCOGLU-DECEMBER 18, 2015

Gollum, the loathsome creature from the Lord of the Rings series, may no longer be Frodo’s problem, but he certainly is Bilgin Ciftci’s. Ciftci, a Turkish physician, faces up to two years in prison if convicted of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The drama began when heposted images comparing the president to Gollum on his personal Facebook account. First he lost his job at the Turkey’s Public Health Institution. Now he’s on trial. The judge was not familiar with the grotesque Gollum as Erdogan’s lawyers, so the court has declared that a panel consisting of two academics, two psychologists, and a film expert must assess whether the comparison in fact constitutes an insult.

According to an AP report, Ciftci’s lawyer at first tried to mount a defense (as one might expect) based on the right to freedom of expression. When the court didn’t allow that, though, she had to settle for arguing that “Gollum is not a bad character.” Since the case made international news, both Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood, the actor who portrayed Frodo in the films, have joined the discussion. Wood tweeted, quite correctly, that the prospect of facing jail time for such a “crime” is appalling regardless of the value judgment one might make about the nature of Gollum’s character.

The case may sound merely ridiculous to most westerners, but for Turkish people it’s deadly serious.

In Turkey, insulting public officials is a crime punishable by time in prison. The absurdity of the Gollum case should not distract anyone from the fact that the government crackdown on journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens is intensifying by the day. Recently, two of Turkey’s prominent journalists — editor-in-chief Can Dundar of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet as well as its Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul — were arrested on spying charges. The journalists stand accused of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization, based on reports published in the paper that Turkish security forces had intercepted trucks dispatched by Turkish intelligence carrying illegal arms shipments to Syria. Turkey has often been accused of supporting Islamist Syrian rebels fighting the Syrian president Bashar al Assad. The government vehementlydenies such claims, and insisted that the trucks were carrying “humanitarian aid” for the Syrian Turkmens despite contradictory witness statements.

The spying charges may have been baseless, but they were certainly no surprise. During an interview with the state-owned TRT network in May, President Erdogan publicly threatened Dundar, saying that the editor will “pay a heavy price” for publishing leaked video footage purporting to show the National Intelligence Agency sending weapons to Syria. “I will not let go of him,” Erdogan declared. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based media watchdog,condemnedPresident Erdogan’s threats, warning (prophetically, as it turned out) that his “statements have often served as cues for Turkish prosecutors to initiate punitive legal action against the government’s critics.” Dundar and Gul were arrested six months after Erdogan’s remarks.

In a letter from prison, Dundar ridicules the case against him. Recalling a court-appointed psychologist who asked him who encouraged him “to commit his crime,” he responds that the guilty parties were his mother, who read to him as a baby, and his elementary school teacher, who taught him how to write.

Turkey’s worsening record on freedom of expression is no secret. Courthouses have become regular gathering places for journalists. On December 1, four more journalists appeared in court, one testifying and three facing up to four years in prison on charges of “insulting the Turkish president.” Between Erdogan’s election to the presidency in August 2014 and March of this year, 236 people have been investigated for “insulting the head of state,” according to the BBC. 105 have been indicted, eight of them arrested. During Erdogan’s time in office as both prime minister and president, 63 journalists received a total of 32 years in prison.

Arrests and mass firings are not the only methods used to silence the opposition. Digiturk, Turkcell TV, and Tivibu — the major satellite TV subscription services in Turkey — no longer carry seven channels that were deemed to be critical of the government. A judge who agreed to review a case against Digiturk for removing the channels has been replaced by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors in retaliation.

By now, persecution of journalists is old news for Turkey’s trusted Western allies. Many believe that the EU has shelved its criticism of Turkey’s violations of freedoms and human rights in return for amajor new agreementon the refugee crisis that will entail Turkey tightening its borders. The EUrefutes such allegations, but Erdogan’s adviser Burhan Kuzu tweeted that EU has “bowed to Turkey’s threat on refugees.”

The United States, too, doesn’t seem to be making a priority of the issue. The State Department has repeatedly noted its “concern” about the arrests of Turkish journalists, but, according to Turkish officials, the subject has rarely come up in bilateral meetings between Presidents Obama and Erdogan. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul were arrested only days after the G20 meeting where the two leaders posed for the cameras together. A State Department official contacted by FP refused to comment on the record, but pointed out that the U.S. ambassador had visited the Cumhuriyetoffices to express support for the jailed journalists. But a source close to the Obama administration said that the U.S. administration’s priority is bolstering Turkey’s support for the war against the Islamic State. “The administration is well aware of the freedom of press issues,” he said, “but no one wants to make the security negotiations more complicated than they already are.”

Abandoned by both the U.S. and EU, Turks who care about freedom of expression in their country are feeling as lonely as poor Gollum.

In the photo, demonstrators protest the arrest of journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul in Ankara on November 27, 2015.

Photo credit: ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

Analysis: US to play the long game with Thai military junta, but not forever

In this Nov. 25, 2015, photo, U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Glyn Davies smiles as he is introduced at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, in Bangkok. Pic: AP.

Thai military junta leader and prime minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha (right) shakes hands with Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel at Government House in Bangkok on December 16, 2015 (Photo: Royal Thai Government)

by Saksith Saiyasombut-18th December 2015

”YOU always meet twice in your life,” is a saying Germans used to tell each other, which can either be a simple figure of speech when two people say goodbye – or it can also be a reminder that no matter on what terms you part ways, you might have to settle your issues in the future.

Analysis US to Play the Long Game With Thai Military Junta, But Not Forever by Thavam Ratna

China landslide sparks gas explosion and leaves dozens missing

Nine hundred people evacuated before landslide struck Shenzhen, rupturing gas pipeline and leaving 59 missing

 Rescuers work on the collapsed factory buildings brought down by a midday landslide in Shenzhen, China. Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA

Agence France-Presse in Beijing-Sunday 20 December 2015

A landslide which swept through an industrial park in southern China buried more than 20 buildings in a sea of mud, leaving 59 people missing and triggering a gas explosion, state media has reported.

Witnesses described a mass of red earth and mud racing towards the park in the city of Shenzhen on Sunday before burying or crushing homes and factories.

More than 1,500 emergency workers were involved in the rescue.

In its latest update on Sunday evening, the official Xinhua news agency reported that three people were injured and 59 were still missing. It was unclear whether there had been any fatalities.

The landslide ruptured a natural gas pipeline and triggered an explosion at the Hengtaiyu industrial park which was heard about 4km away, the agency said.

It said debris covered more than 10 hectares (25 acres).

About 900 people were moved out of harm’s way before the landslide struck late in the morning in the city bordering Hong Kong, according to the Shenzhen Evening News newspaper.

The landslide buried 22 residential and industrial buildings, including two worker dormitories, state broadcaster CCTV said. But it quoted Ren Jiguang, deputy chief of Shenzhen’s public security bureau, as saying most people had been evacuated beforehand.

The cause of the slide was unclear. A video posted by Xinhua showed a massive dust cloud and piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Rescue helicopters were in operation near the scene.

“I saw red earth and mud running towards the company building,” one local worker who was quoted by Xinhua said.

“Fortunately, our building was not hit, and all people in our company were safely evacuated,” the worker said, adding that a fishpond broke the full force of the landslide.

A woman surnamed Hu told the Shenzhen Evening News she saw her father buried by earth in his own truck.

“It’s been hours after he was buried, and we are quite worried,” she said.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the prime minister, Li Keqiang, ordered immediate rescue efforts.

The state council, or cabinet, sent a working group to coordinate rescue efforts, which involved almost 100 fire engines plus sniffer dogs, drones and other equipment.

A landslide last month that engulfed 27 homes in rural Zhejiang province killed 38 people.