University students’ spokesman brutally attacked by CID officer Umesh and a group

(Lanka-e-News- 22.March.2014, 4.40PM) Haritha Lakmal Wijedasa Silva , a University student said , he was brutally attacked in Colombo on 20th March by Umesh , a CID officer , after the protests staged by them on 19th , as revealed by the student to Lanka e news. Lakmal Silva who was the victim of the assault is the media spokesman for the Inter University students federation , and a Ruhunu University student.

When Lakmal Silva and another student who is the President of the parent students Association of the same University after the massive protests organized by the students federation on 19th , were returning 20th after going to the people’s bank headquarters , Lakmal Siva was ruthlessly assaulted by the Medamulana regime’s bootlicking ‘pariah dogs’ trained by the regime fed on human bones picked up from mass graves surfacing all over the country.

Lakmal Silva who is now hospitalized said , the CID officer Umesh came to his home and after identifying himself as a CID officer had inquired about his details. Thereafter , Umesh was following Silva wherever he went . When Silva had identified Umesh as the one who was one day earlier on too spying on him , had asked Umesh directly , ‘ why are you spying on me ?’. Umesh had got provoked by the question , Silva added. 

When he and another student were returning after going to the People’s Bank headquarters , this same Umesh along with a group surrounded him and suddenly launched a fierce assault on him .His chest , back and head were attacked, he further stated.

Silva also revealed that during the procession staged by the students organization yesterday , he noticed this CID officer Umesh in the procession . 

When even a former President of SL is accusing that she too is being spied upon by the regime like how the Gestapo (spies) spied for brutal dictator Hitler of the past , helpless suffering students coming under threats , intimidation and attacks of the spies of the regime is not surprising.

Against Duckspeak On The Sri Lankan Muslims

By Izeth Hussain -March 22, 2014 

Izeth Hussain

My primary purpose in this article is to point out that the main instrument of most of our Governments since Independence in dealing with our ethnic problems has been duckspeak. It is a neologism coined by George Orwell in his Swiftian satire on totalitarianism, Nineteen Eighty Four. This is what he writes about it: “Ultimately it was hoped to make articulate speech issue from the larynx without involving the higher brain centers at all. This aim was frankly admitted in the Newspeak word duckspeak, meaning ‘to quack like a duck’. Like various other words in the B vocabulary, duckspeak was ambivalent in meaning. Provided that the opinions that were quacked out were orthodox ones, it implied nothing but praise, and when the Times referred to one of the orators of the Party as a doubleplusgood duckspeaker it was paying a warm and valued compliment”.

I feel the term should have much wider currency than it has had up to now. The reason why it has had scant, or rather no currency at all, is that Orwell was writing about the future in which totalitarian bosses make the people’s speech inane like the quacking of ducks. But that inanity has been a notable characteristic of the speech of politicians all over the world. Sometimes the speeches of politicians are deliberately inane, the purpose being to fool the people. Sometimes the politicians themselves are unaware that they are no more meaningful than the quacking of ducks. Both varieties of duckspeak flourish mightily in Sri Lanka at election time. Let the symbol of the Sinhalese people be the Lion – I am rather fond of the old flag. But the symbol of Sri Lankan democracy should be the duck.

Before making my comments on duckspeak on the Muslim ethnic problem I must make an important qualification. Duckspeak is a fairly normal human propensity, not something that is confined to politicians. All of us are guilty of it to varying degrees. It is something that we share with our politicians because there is no absolute divide between the people and the politicians. But there is a divide, though not an absolute one, in that the politician is far more devoted to the pursuit of prestige, money, and power, than the average member of the public. Consequently there have to be important differences in the way the two groups use duckspeak. It is with the people for the most part a lapse, while with politicians it is an art form that can be used with much finesse and sophistication. It has been the main instrument in dealing with the Muslim ethnic problem.

Read More

Video: Wigneswaran more dangerous than Prabha: Warnasinghe

UPFA Colombo district candidate Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said today Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran was more dangerous than LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

“Prabhakaran fought with weapons but Wigneswaran fights using the constitution, the law and international support to divide the country while enjoying his perks as Chief Minister,”he said.

Mr. Warnasinghe, who is also the JHU Nataional Organizer ,expressed these views at an event held in Colombo where the 18-fold programme he had complied to counter Geneva was launched.

He said the Government should take steps to ban the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which was attempting to divide the country while enjoying Government perks.

Mr. Warnasinghe said it was the responsibility of all Sri Lankans to get together and counter the international challenges and protect the peace we had won.(Ajith Siriwardana)

The very worrying current situation in Sri Lanka

And here's a video of Human Rights Defender P Saravanamuttu talking at a press conference in Colombo yesterday:

21/03/2014

Dear friends,

I'd like to share a release we have just sent out concerning media reports from Sri Lanka.

Here's how you can help

1. Support Amnesty International's Urgent Action to keep Jeyakumari safe
2. Spread the word, by sharing the statement below far and wide

Here's the statement:

The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice is outraged by recent attempts by the Government of Sri Lanka to silence its critics.

As reported in the media, freed activists Ruki Fernando and Fr Praveen Mahesan were today hit with a ban on speaking to international media and ordered to hand over their sim cards and ipads. Police told the BBC that was because they were involved in an incident in Killinochi, which mustn’t be divulged until investigations were over.

Meanwhile Jeyakumari Balendran a human rights activist who was arrested in connection with the same alleged incident is at high risk of torture. Credible reports allege she was assaulted in front of her daughter at the time of detention in Killinochchi. Currently she is being detained at the Boossa facility under the Prevention of Terrorism Act that permits suspects to remain in police custody for 18 months without charge.

Amnesty International has documented extensive use of torture and other ill-treatment by TID officers in both Colombo and Boosa Detention Centre, and is concerned for the welfare of Balendran Jeyakumari. She has been held without access to her lawyers or any family being allowed to see her. Her only child is now willfully orphaned by the state and remains in a children’s welfare home because of her mother’s arrest.

Sri Lanka Campaign calls on all governments for her immediate release to ensure her safety.

Increased doubt has been cast on the alleged incident that the Government of Sri Lanka claims is the root of all three arrests.

The Government of Sri Lanka’s version of events alleges:
- that an LTTE cadre known as "Gobi" was believed to be sheltering in the house
- that he had acquired a number of weapons and was looking to revive the LTTE,
- and that Jeyakumari, Ruki and Fr Praveen had close association with various individuals and locations which were of interest to police in their search for Gobi.

But eyewitness statements, circulated online by credible sources, tell a very different story, that an armed stranger did enter the house of Jeyakumari, but that the army entered the house seconds later and detained the stranger; and that the stranger and members of the armed forces then left together without any obvious signs of hurry or any seeming injury on either part.

It should be noted that it has been a common tactic of the Sri Lankan Government in the past to use the idea of an cadre attempting to reform the LTTE, or the recovery of hidden caches of arms, as an excuse for crackdowns of this sort, and that such actions have never resulted in the alleged cadre ever being produced before a court or indeed ever being heard from again.

Nevertheless the phantom of a resurgent LTTE has once again been used as an excuse to clamp down on dissent. A statement by Sri Lankan Civil Society circulated earlier in the week pointed to two further arbitrary arrests under anti-terror legislation and new checkpoints and an increased military presence have been felt across the north and east.

Fred Carver, Campaign Director of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, said,

"The continued harassment of activists demonstrates that the Government's actions have nothing to do with preventing a resurgence of the LTTE, and everything to do with intimidating its critics into silence.

"These unacceptable attempts to stifle free speech and intimidate activists must not be allowed to succeed. Only a strong resolution at the Human Rights Council, calling for an independent international investigation in Sri Lanka, and the threat of strong action by the international community if detainees are not released and restrictions lifted, will prevent Sri Lanka from sliding deeper into tyranny."

Lawyers release testimony of Vibushika, details confirm SL military trap

Lawyers release testimony of Vibushika, details confirm SL military trap

Vibushika holding her brothers
 photo ( Photo: Freddy G.)

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Lawyers in Colombo working on a Fundamental Rights case, have released a translated text of the letter written by 13-year-old Vipooshika on what happened to them on 13 March 2014 and in the continued detention. The details given by her confirms the earlier reports of alleged trap set by the SL military Establishment and the reports of assault and intimidation. The letter further establishes how the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) in Vavuniyaa cooperated with the Sri Lankan military establishment to intimidate the women. 

TamilNet releases the un-edited text given to legal activists in Colombo by the lawyers representing the mother and the daughter:

After having lunch at about 3.30 pm when Vibushikka was at the door a stranger wearing maroon color T shirt and black trouser carrying back pack stormed into the house saying “if you shout I will strangle your neck”.

Both mother and daughter came out of the house shouting for help.

Just at the time 4-5 men in uniform came through the gate and the women told these persons that there is a stranger inside. One of the uniformed men went inside and after a while they heard a gun shot. The uniform man came outside with the stranger without any injury and without any apparent hurry.

Thereafter other 2 uniform person also went inside. Only at that time both women became aware that large force of armed army and police personnel had surrounded their house.

Thereafter both women were taken to the joining land but the mother was permitted to lock the house. Only then that they realized that the household goods had been ransacked and the entire contents of almirahs and cupboards including jewelery boxes put on the ground.

The uniformed men forcibly took 3 savings bank books, identity card and 2 mobile phones from the women.

Out on the adjoining land the mother was intimidated to give some information which the mother stated she did not know.

She was abused, insulted and assaulted by the uniform people and they were taken by army jeep. There were no women police or women army personnel to accompany the two women and were taken the Kilinochchi police station where they were interrogated. They were not given any refreshment of food for the night.

At about 11o'clock the mother and daughter had been chained by one and same hand cuff. The child was threatened several time tell the truth and the mother was hit with boots. Mother was also held by the heir and hit on the face.

The daughter fell a sleep 1 am but interrogation of the mother continued till morning.

At about 8 am the daughter was separated from the mother and was questioned separately.

At about 1 pm they were taken to Vavuniya judicial medical officer. The JMO asked questions in a threatening manner and were ordered to tell the truth. They were taken back to Vavuniya police and were made to sign some papers.

At around 7 pm were taken to Kilinochchi and produced before the Kilinochchi acting Magistrate at about 10 pm.

Thereafter the mother was permitted to be taken to Vavuniya TID and the daughter was handed over to the Probation department with the direction that she be admitted to Kilinochchi Hospital and to be produced in the Magistrate court of Kilinochchi on 17. 03. 2014.

On 17. 03.2014 the court handed over the custody of the daughter to a children home. The mother is reported to be in the custody of TID at Boosa detention Camp.

Continued Intimidation of Sri Lankan Civil Society

Press Statement

Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson

Washington, DC

March 21, 2014

The United States is concerned by intensifying pressure on Sri Lankan civil society and human rights activists. We are especially concerned by the detention of well-known human rights defenders Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen Mahesan after they made inquiries regarding the arrest of another activist. While it is encouraging that Mr. Fernando and Father Mahesan have since been released, they continue to face harassment by security forces. We are also aware of reports that additional human rights groups are being targeted for investigation by security forces.

It is disturbing that the Government of Sri Lanka has taken punitive measures against its own brave citizens who have devoted their careers and lives to investigating alleged human rights abuses by both sides during Sri Lanka’s long and brutal civil conflict. These detentions and the continued harassment of those who support the quest for reconciliation and accountability send a chilling effect across Sri Lanka’s vibrant civil society, and undermine Sri Lanka’s proud democratic traditions.

Together with international partners, the United States continues to pursue a resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council. We are undertaking this action due to our support for the Sri Lankan people and strong concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Sri Lankans, including freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, and due process of law for those accused of crimes, consistent with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations.

Findings Of The Disappearance Commissions

By Rajan Hoole -March 21, 2014 

Rajan Hoole

1989: The Eclipse of the JVP and the Perplexity of the Left – Part 6

Two Disappearance Commissions were appointed by President Chandrika Kumaratunge, shortly after she was elected president in November 1994. The one for the Central Zone covering the North- Western, North-Central, Central and Uva Provinces was headed by retired high court judge, Mr. T. Suntheralingam. The other for the Southern Zone covering the Western, Sabragamuva and Southern Provinces was headed by the human rights activist and lawyer Mrs. Manouri Muttetuwegama, the widow of Sarath Muttetuwegama, MP. They went into disappearances dealing mostly with the JVP insurgency of 1987-90. Their findings, based on public testimony, tell us about the different trends in the two zones as well as the criteria employed by the two commissions. The Central Zone Commission (CZC) received 15,045 complaints with 6614 from the Central Province (CP), 3683 from the NWP, 2763 from the NCP and 1985 from the UP. The Southern Zone Commission (SZC) received 8380 complaints and of 5620 complaints in which the perpetrators were identified, those in 4845 of them were from the Security Forces and the remaining 775 of them from the JVP.

There is also a significant difference in the patterns of extra-judicial killing. The killings in the Central Zone peaked about the time of the February 1989 general elections, while in the Southern Zone, the peak was reached in October 1989 – 3052 of the 4845 killings by the Security Forces in the SZ listed took place during the second half of 1989.                                                                          .Read More

Video of Ruki Fernando’s interview with the BBC

Photo by Pat Roque/AP, courtesy The Guardian

by Groundviews 

- on 03/22/2014 

The recent arrest of human rights activists Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen Mahesan under Sri Lanka’s draconian PTA law resulted in widespread condemnation within Sri Lanka and from the international community. As we noted in a previous article, “this is happening when deliberations at the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka are taking place, demonstrating the regime’s scant regard for international opinion and scrutiny.”

After their release from custody, BBC World News interviewed Ruki Fernando on 19th March. As noted by the BBC’s Charles Haviland following Ruki’s interview,

Charle Haviland @cfhaviland

Follow

(1) Ruki Fernando tells BBC "our 3 hrs of questioning @ K'nochchi was v harsh, bad language, threatening. About 15 questioners..." #lka #hrc

1:58 PM - 19 Mar 2014

Charles Haviland @cfhaviland

Follow

(2) Ruki Fernando: in Colombo we were questioned separately by 1-3 ppl, intensive/probing but polite. No physical abuse @ any time #lka #hrc

2:00 PM - 19 Mar 2014

Though broadcast internationally, the interview never made it to the BBC’s website, explained perhaps by the relatively poor video quality of Ruki’s Skype connection. A day after it was broadcast, Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen Mahesan were slapped with a fresh gag order, preventing them from speaking with any media or foreign party. The computers, SIM cards and tablets of both were also impounded. Both individuals now need permission from the courts to go abroad until investigations are complete.

Ruki’s interview with BBC World News on 19th March is thus the only video currently available around the circumstances leading to his arrest, the nature of the TID’s interrogations and his treatment in custody. Under the gag order by the courts, no media or foreign party, for the foreseeable future, will be able to speak with Ruki or Fr. Praveen, or if they do, report publicly on it. The BBC’s video is a vital record in this context, not just of Ruki’s arrest, but of the larger framework of human rights abuse in post-war Sri Lanka, where with near complete impunity, those seeking to hold government and the military accountable find themselves the subjects of hate, hurt and harm.

Military make havoc after civil society press conference to oppose restrictions imposed on Ruki Fernando and Fr. Praveen

(Lanka-e-News- 21.March.2014, 11.30PM) Minutes after the press conference held by five leading civil society organisation to oppose the arrest and restriction imposed after the release of Ruki Fernando and Fr. Praveen Mahesan, , a military contingent of 15 soldiers has entered the office of one of those civil society organisation, looking for a vehicle, used by Ruki Fernando to travel within Colombo last two days. 

The press conference was addressed by Dr. P. Saravanamuthu of Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Attorney at law J.C. Weliamuna and Attorney at law Chandrapala Kumarage of Lawyers for Democracy, Sunil Jayasekara of Free Media Movement, Udaya Kalupathirana of INFORM and Attorney at Law Sudarshana Gunawardana of Rights Now. The press conference was held at Library Services Board, Colombo 7 at 2.pm local time.

Three officers of Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka police has came to the Rights Now office as the press conference was in progress elsewhere and following them the military contingent has arrived. They have shown a photo of a car and individual and asked the Rights Now staff whether they seen the vehicle or the individual. Unconfirmed reports say that the individual in the photo could be one of the Tamil suspects of shooting took place in Dramapuram few days ago. 

In fact the vehicle they have shown was the car Ruki Fernando used to travel after his release, informed sources told LankaeNews. Military has set up temporary check points to find the ‘LTTE suspect’s car’ close to the Rights Now office in Nawala, Colombo. 

Considering a person, who has been released without any charges as a terrorist suspect is clear signal of intimidation to other Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) as well, a human rights lawyer told LankaeNews. 

Speaking at the press conference this afternoon in Colombo, senior human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna emphasised that HRDs has right to collect data on human rights violation any where in the country and there is no law to prohibit such work in the North of Sri Lanka. He added that they have right to speak about those rights violation any where in the country or the world.

The magistrate order issued to Riki Fernando and Fr. Praveen read as follows: ”Sharing information regarding the investigation being conducted by the TID (related to you) with whatever persons either national or international may harm the ongoing investigation; herewith you are ordered not to engage in such activities.” (Not a direct translation)

Mr. Weliamuna further said that in a situation where thee is no Emergency Regulations enforced, there is not legal basis for such an order. 

Speaking at the press conference Sunil Jayasekara, convenor of the FMM posed a question: When former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was allowed to speak to press criticising the judgement, even after he was convicted, every time he was produced at the courts on what basis this restriction has been imposed on Ruki Fernando and Fr. Praveen after they were released. He told that the FMM oppose this court order and stand by the two HRDs. 

In the meanwhile reports reaching LankaeNews say that after the provincial council elections to be held on 29th this month, the Rajapaksha regime has planning to arrest number of human rights activist in the on false charges. A media campaign naming and blaming selected HR activist is also being planned. There is possibility of few bombs being exploded in the name of LTTE, our sources say. LankaeNews will publish details of this sinister plan also.

Sithie Tiruchelvam Passes Away

March 22, 2014

Sithie Subahanya Tiruchelvam, Attorney at Law, passed away on March 22. Mrs. Tiruchelvam was 69 years old and was a founding partner of Tiruchelvam Associates, the law firm she started with her husband, the late Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, P.C., M.P.

Mrs. Tiruchelvam qualified as an attorney in 1968 and was a law graduate of the University of Ceylon. In addition to her legal career, she was a non-executive director of John Keells Holdings and Galadari Hotels. She also served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Nadesan Centre for Human Rights and South Asians for Human Rights, and was a founding member of Foundations for Peace, based in Northern Ireland, and the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust. She also served as a member of the parallel code review committee with Javid Yusuf and Uvindu Kurukulasuriya on Sri Lanka’s Editors’ Guild Code of Ethics.

She is survived by her sons, Nirgunan and Mithran, their wives and four grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters, Naima Sidique and Fauzil Sahideen, and a brother, Nadhir Dean. The late Zarook Dean was her brother.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the children’s charity of your choice.

Remains will lie in residence at No. 48 Rosmead Place, Colombo 7. Cortege leaves residence at 10:30 a.m. for cremation on Sunday, March 23 at 11 a.m. at General Cemetery, Kannatte.

The Week The World Stood Still

The Cuban Missile Crisis and Ownership of the World 

| by Noam Chomsky

( March 22, 2014, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian) The world stood still 50 years ago during the last week of October, from the moment when it learned that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba until the crisis was officially ended — though unknown to the public, only officially.

Dire times: President John F Kennedy (right) is seen with his brother and closest confidant Robert F 

Man of the world: Fidel Castro: Following the failed CIA-supported Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, 

The Week the World Stood Still by nelvely

MH370: Chinese satellite spots potential debris

Ships investigate after images from southern Indian Ocean reveal object which could be Malaysian Airlines wreckage

A Chinese satellite image of an object spotted in the southern Indian Ocean that could be wreckage from missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Photograph: Reuters

Mark Townsend and agencies

Saturday 22 March 2014 

A Chinese satellite has made a fresh sighting of potential debris from the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 floating in the southern Indian Ocean, with ships being sent urgently to investigate. 

The sighted object measured 22.5 metres by 13 metres, and was said to be 75 miles (120km) from possible debris sighted days earlier by Australian satellites.

 

The official Xinhua news agency said: “The location of the suspicious object is along the southern corridor that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 might have taken.” 

The Malaysian defence minister and acting transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said China, one of 26 nations involved in the two-week search for the missing plane, would be releasing more details later.                  

Planes and vessels are searching an arc of the southern Indian Ocean after Australia announced the satellite sighting of possible debris about 1,550 miles south-west of Perth.

              

Until the statement from China on Saturday, nothing had been found since the Australian announcement and the search appeared to have become tainted with frustration. Hours earlier a Malaysian minister said the Australian sighting may have been a false lead.

Malaysian officials also expressed concern that the search area would have to be widened again if no trace of the plane was found.

Experts have pointed out that the objects could be unrelated to the plane, one explanation being that they are simply shipping containers that have fallen off a cargo ship in the search area.

However, Australia’s deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, appeared to remain optimistic, saying: “Even though this is not a definite lead, it is probably more solid than any other lead around the world and that is why so much effort and interest is being put into this search.”

India has officially told Malaysian investigators that it has found no evidence that the plane flew through its airspace, making the latest potential satellite debris sighting more critical. It was the first formal notification that India had come up empty-handed after checking its radar records, sources said.

Earlier, there were farcical scenes as the first Chinese plane heading to Australia to join the search landed at the wrong airport. The Chinese IL-76 military aircraft made an unscheduled stop at Perth International airport before heading to its correct destination at RAAF base Pearce outside the city, where search and rescue operations are being co-ordinated.

The search itself has strained ties between China and Malaysia, with Beijing repeatedly leaning on the south-east Asian country to escalate its hunt and do a better job at looking after the relatives of the Chinese passengers. For families, the process has proved to be an emotionally draining fight to gain information.

Their anxiety has been compounded by reports that they were forced to switch hotels to make way for crews arriving for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

On Saturday, some relatives who had chosen to remain in Beijing accused a Malaysian delegation of concealing the truth and making fools out of the families after they claimed the officials had left a meeting without answering questions.

Police are considering the possibilities of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board.

Fears over using statins could cost lives, warns expert

SATURDAY 22 MARCH 2014

A leading medical expert on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs accuses critics of misleading the public about the dangers of their use.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, from Oxford University, said he believes GPs and the public are being made suspicious of the drug.

The acedmic, one of the country's top experts on the drug, is unhappy with the British Medical Journal (BMJ),which has run well-publicised articles by two critics of statins that he argues are flawed and misleading.

"It is a serious disservice to British and international medicine," he said, claiming that it was probably killling more people than had been harmed as a result of the paper on the MMR vacine by Andrew Wakefield.

"I would think the papers on statins are far worse in terms of the harm they have done."

Statins are currently being taken in the UK by 7 million people who have at least a 20 per cent risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years.

Following a major study overseen by Collins' team at Oxford in 2012, the National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended in Fabruary that they should be given to people at only 10 per cent risk - potentially dramatically increasing the number of people taking them.

A number of doctors are among thise who have questioned the wisdom of dosing healthy people to prevent, rather than treat illness.

Some of them doubt the data from the drug company trials, which has been made available to Collins and his team but nobody else.

Collins criticised two papers published by the BMJ - one by John Abramson, a clinician working at Harvard medical school, and the other by Aseem Malhotra, a cardioligist in the UK.

Both doctors said statins did not reduce mortality and that side effects mean they did more harm than good.

Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in West Bank shootout

Fugitive Hamas fighter among the dead after raid on Jenin house amid growing tensions over faltering peace talks

A Palestinian child inside the Jenin home of Hamza Abu el-Heija, who was killed by Israeli troops in an early morning raid on Saturday. Photograph: Mohammed Ballas/AP

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem

 Saturday 22 March 2014 

Four Palestinians, including a fugitive member of the military wing of Hamas, have been killed by Israeli forces in a shootout in the town of Jenin in one of the most serious incidents on the West Bank in recent months.

The deaths occurred amid growing tensions in the runup to the April deadline set by the US for a framework agreement to advance already faltering peace talks. The talks are designed to lay the foundations for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Two Israelis were wounded during the raid in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The incident began when Israeli soldiers, anti-terrorist police and officials from the domestic security agency Shin Bet surrounded the house of 22-year-old Hamza Abu el-Heija, who was wanted by Israel for his alleged involvement in shooting and bombing attacks.

Heija, the son of a Hamas official currently serving nine life sentences in an Israeli prison, was also wanted by security officials of the Palestinian Authority.

A statement from the Israeli military claimed that Heija had opened fire first, wounding two Israelis before attempting to flee.

Palestinian officials said he had refused to leave the house and when Israeli forces stormed the building an exchange of gunfire had taken place.

The owner of the home where Heija had tried to hide told Reuters that the troops had arrived at around 2am.

"There was shooting in the house for about half an hour, and then the soldiers came and ordered us to leave, so we did," said Azmi Husniya, 67. Husniya said he had seen Heija jump from a window while trying to flee.

The three other deaths appear to have occurred as hundreds of angry residents appeared at the scene of the shooting, and threw firebombs and stones at the Israeli troops.

The Maan news agency identified two other fatalities as Mahmoud Abu Zeina, a member of Islamic Jihad, and Yazan Mahmoud Basim Jabarin.

According to Palestinian officials the deaths bring to 57 the number of Palestinians who have been killed since US-sponsored peace talks began again nine months ago.

Pessimism is growing on both sides over the negotiations, which appear to have become bogged down.

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has requested that Palestinians recognise Israel explicitly as a "Jewish state" as a condition to extending talks – rejected by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

In the immediate aftermath of the raid Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, blamed Israel for what he called an "escalation" in the West Bank and asked the Obama administration to intervene immediately to prevent further damage to the peace process.

Abbas is demanding a freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the release of the most senior Palestinian prisoners held by Israel – including Marwan Barghouti – as a precondition.

Jenin, and its refugee camp, have been a flashpoint for violence in the past. During the Palestinian uprising in 2002, the Israeli military launched a substantial and costly operation in the narrow streets of the camp to root out militants. Dozens of people were killed.

New meningitis B vaccine offers hope to children

FRIDAY 21 MARCH 2014

Harvey Parry survived meningitis B, but lives with a disability. Now children are to be given a jab to protect against it - provided the government can negotiate a price with manufacturer Novartis.

The vaccine will be given to babies at two months, with a one-off catch-up programme for those aged three and four months - a move campaigners said would save “thousands of lives”.

Under pressure from charities and senior doctors, the Department of Health’s independent advisory body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has agreed to adopt the Bexsero vaccine after calling for more evidence in 2013.

The JCVI said last July the vaccine was not a cost-effective use of NHS money “at any price” and could not be recommended, while also calling for further evidence.

Scientists, charities and leading doctors mounted a campaign which persuaded the JCVI to recommend that the vaccine should be available on the NHS if costs can be agreed with the manufacturer, Novartis. The Department of Health is to start negotiations with Novartis as soon as possible.

Can be fatal

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor John Watson said: “Infants under one year of age are most at risk of meningitis B and the number of cases peak at around five or six months of age.

"With early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment, most make a full recovery. But it is fatal in about one in 10 cases and can lead to long-term health problems such as amputation, deafness, epilepsy and learning difficulties."

Steve Dayman, founder of the charity Meningitis Now, whose baby son Spencer died from meningitis B in 1982, said: “This is the most monumental announcement in the fight against the disease in the 31 years I have campaigned to eradicate meningitis.

"There is no doubt that it will save thousands of lives and spare survivors and their families the pain of living with life-changing after-effects."

Around 1,870 people are estimated to contract meningitis B each year in the UK.

The Bexsero vaccine, approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2012, is estimated to cover around 88 per cent of meningitis B disease.

High fever

Meningitis B is most common in children under five and, in particular, babies under the age of one.

Initial signs and symptoms in babies and children include a high fever with cold hands and feet, feeling agitated and not wanting to be touched, continuous crying or excessive sleepiness and difficulty in waking.

Children may also appear confused and unresponsive. A major, and late-stage, warning sign is a blotchy red rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it.

Professor Andrew Pollard, chairman of the JCVI, said: “After very careful consideration, JCVI concluded that use of the new vaccine would reduce cases of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia and lead to a reduction in deaths, limb amputations and brain injury caused by the disease.”