Video: We have no use for ‘voice cut commissioners’ & lackeys – Anura

 THURSDAY, 28 AUGUST 2014 

The Commissioner of Elections has failed to implement laws despite necessary laws have been passed in Parliament to hold free and fair elections says the Leader of the JVP adding that the Commissioner has become a ‘voice cut commissioner’.

He said this at a rally held at Badalkumbura town on the 26th. Earlier, on the 25th morning, JVP supporters decorating the stage for the meeting had been attacked, shot at and the stage burned down by UPFA thugs led by the deputy chairman of Badalkumbura Pradeshiya Sabha.

Rajapaksas are not holding an election but with hoodlums voice commissioners and other government flatterers are bent on having a ‘thuglection said Mr. Dissanayaka saying the JVP would not be intimidated by those who have plundered public money and resources.

He said no obstacle could stop the path of the JVP that would march forward to create a society where intimidation, plunder and injustice would be eradicated and a just and fair society established.

One is a lunatic, other is a thief – president!

 

Thursday, 28 August 2014 

A few days before president Mahinda Rajapaksa left for the US, he had a meeting with heads of the police department, and during that meeting he has asked, IGP N.K. Illangakoon, “Recently, newspapers reported that motorcyclists had followed the president of the bar association. Who had gone like that?”

Answering, the IGP has said, “Sir, it was the work of our intelligence chief Wagista. His men had followed Upul Jayasuriya. You know sir, Wagista spoils any job.”

Surprised by that reply, the president has should out for all to hear, “Wagista is a lunatic. When I read his reports, I thought him half mad. When I see what he does I know he is fully mad. Soon, the SIS will have to be taken to Angoda. Worse than the met department. The other one is Anura Senanayake. He is a thief. I have the underworld list that pays him ransom. Both do mad things on the strength of Gota. People scold the government. This is a funny fate of us. As the IGP use your powers and do something. I know Gota will not allow that. I don’t know what to do,” the president has said, letting out a big sigh.

Understanding the crisis facing the president, the top police officials had remained silent, without speaking about it any further.

Audio: JVP candidate assaulted

THURSDAY, 28 AUGUST 2014 12:04

(Updated) Mr. Krishnan Selvarajah, a JVP candidate contesting the Uva PC from Badulla District, and several of his supporters have been assaulted by supporters of UPFA candidate Anura Vidanagamage say reports.

Mr. Selvaraja, when contacted, said he was making a complaint to Haldummulla Police.

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CJ’s position gone to the dog!

 Thursday, 28 August 2014 

The picture of the business card posted here was given to a staff reporter of ours by a porter at Fortress Hotel in Galle. He was given it by a woman in mark of gratitude for his having loading the baggage of her and her friends to vehicles. After reading the business card, he found it of no use to him and gave it to our media friend.

After reading it, our media friend became surprised and asked the porter as to who had given it to him. He had shown him the woman. She had been with a group of foreigners and distributing the cards in her hand. Immediately, our media friend made inquiries and found out about it.

The woman who had distributed the business cards is none other than Priyanthi Peiris, the wife of Sri Lanka’s fourth citizen, chief justice Mohan Peiris. She had been accompanied by members of the SAARC judges association, representing judiciaries of their respective countries. Almost all of them were having the business card of the CJ.

The insult caused in this is that the CJ of the country cannot have his mobile phone number correctly printed in his business card. The phone number is sans one digit. The cards had been distributed among foreigners without taking a careful look at them

The country’s CJ, like a retail seller, is sending and receiving emails through his sltnet.lk email address. At least, he cannot do it through the Supreme Court website. After swindling the CJ position from 43rd CJ Shirani Bandaranayake, he is acting in such a hasty manner, this business card shows in just one example.

ISIS threaten to attack world’s largest Buddhist temple

August 28, 2014

The police in Central Java have tightened security measures at the Borobudur Temple in Magelang in response to an apparent threat made by Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria (ISIS) supporters to attack the world-renowned cultural heritage site.

National Police spokesman Ronny F. Sompie said on Friday that aside from tightening security around Borobudur, the Central Java Police had begun poring over data from the Internet for possible clues about the plan.

“The Central Java Police chief has ordered an investigation into the threat and we expect that there will be cooperation with the temple’s security personnel and the Indonesian Military (TNI) to safeguard the temple from any possible damage,” he said in Jakarta.

The threat to attack Borobudur appeared first on social networking platform Facebook on Aug 15 in an account titled “We Are Islamic State”. “God willing, (Borobudur) will be demolished by Islamic caliphate mujahidin!” the web page declared.

It also quoted an article from a radical website, in which cleric Hartono Ahmad Jaiz derided several statue-construction projects in the country, which he said contravened Islamic principles.

It appears unlikely, however, that the website or Hartono are involved in the planning of a possible attack on Borobudur, as the website is known for its strong opposition to the ISIS movement. - straitstimes

Temple aims to heal Sri Lanka’s violent past

Worshipers hope rebuilding ancient Hindu temple can help in reconciliation between Tamil and Sinhala community.

 26 Aug 2014 

A Hindu temple in southern Sri Lanka is trying a new approach at reconciliation.

Reconstruction of the ancient temple destroyed during anti-Tamil riots 30 years ago is helping to heal the wounds of Sri Lanka's violent past.

Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez reports from Matara.

Old Colombo, ‘Race And Class’ Through The Eyes Of Some Australian Women

She noted, “There was the many oriental shops to see – the rickshaw rides down to the Cinnamon Gardens, back to the Galle Face Hotel for dinner – another rickshaw ride by the seaside – afternoon tea – a little more shopping when we found things greatly reduced – then back on board by 6pm.”

By Laksiri Fernando -August 28, 2014

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

Angela Woollacott wrote about “Australian Women’s Voyage Home” during the colonial period to the American Historical Review (AHR) in 1997. What she meant by ‘voyage home’ was Australian women going to England with some nostalgia. On their way to the West from Sydney, Melbourne or Perth, they encountered the East. This was before air travel became popular or cheap. As a result, they had to stop over mostly Colombo before they touched on Cape Town or Aden, depending on the route, but after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the latter route was most convenient and popular. The universal mode of transportation was steamship. Australian commercial air travel to in England first started in 1934.

In her essay, Woollacott’s concern was “not with what Australian women did when they arrived but with what they made of what they saw on the way there.” In my case, I am abstracting what is importantly recorded (not all) on old Colombo and Ceylon. They were all ‘forced tourists’ on their way to London. The route and the time they spent at various places were fixed. In Colombo, usually it was three to four days. Apart from Woollacott’s accounts, there are other records to ascertain the impressions of those who travelled via Colombo.                             Read More

Who runs Britain? Probably not the likes of you, says report

THURSDAY 28 AUGUST 2014

Britain is "deeply elitist" and top roles in society are dominated by Oxbridge graduates, according to a report.

The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission says many of the country's judges, politicians, sports stars and journalists attended fee-paying schools before going on to study at Oxford or Cambridge University.

The report says that the lack of diversity in top jobs means that many public institutions are not representative of the British public they aim to serve, and the people running them may not understand day to day problems facing people from different backgrounds.

Alan Milburn, chairman of the commission, said UK institutions are an "elite cosy club" and the number of privately educated people in senior public roles had led to a "closed shop at the top".

Mr Milburn added: "Locking out a diversity of talents and experiences makes Britain's leading institutions less informed, less representative and, ultimately, less credible than they should be.

"Where institutions rely on too narrow a range of people from too narrow a range of backgrounds with too narrow a range of experiences they risk behaving in ways and focussing on issues that are of salience only to a minority but not the majority in society."

The report listed 4,000 people in top jobs in the fields such as law, media and politics. It found that 71 per cent of senior judges, 62 per cent of senior armed forces officers, 35 per cent of national rugby teams and 26 per cent of BBC executives attended a fee-paying school.

Nationally, around 7 per cent of the UK population attended a private school, the study says.

The report is mainly analysis, but contains some recommendations. It encourages firms to advertise work experience and pay interns. The report also encourages employers to build relationships with schools on mentoring and careers advice.

Lee Elliot Major, director of policy and development at the Sutton Trust, said: "We welcome the commission's recommendations, many of which we are addressing through our programmes that focus on increasing access to top universities and professions including law, banking and medicine.

"Whilst we are making progress with the young people we work with, it's clear that more needs to be done at government level to address the issue of low social mobility."

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said government policy was failing young, working class people.

"Cameron's schools policy has done away with work experience and face-to-face careers advice - so important for young people - whilst ignoring the important role of children's character development in schools," he said.

Exclusive - Armoured column seen in south Russia near border with Ukraine

A military truck tows a damaged vehicle through the steppe near the village of Krasnodarovka in Rostov region August 28, 2014.

BY MARIA TSVETKOVA-KRASNODAROVKA Russia Thu Aug 28, 2014

(Reuters) - A Reuters reporter saw on Thursday a column of armoured vehicles and dust-covered troops, one of them with an injured face, driving through the Russian steppe just across the border from a part of Ukraine which Kiev says is occupied by Russian troops.

None of the men or vehicles had standard military identification marks, but the reporter saw a Mi-8 helicopter with a red star insignia -- consistent with Russian military markings -- land next to a nearby military first aid tent.

Asked if he was with the Russian military, a man in camouflage fatigues without any identifying insignia who was in the area of the tent, said only: "We are patriots."

The column of armoured vehicles was driving east away from the Ukrainian border across open countryside near the village of Krasnodarovka in Russia's Rostov region.

The location is about 3 km (2 miles) from the Ukraine-Russia border and 30 km (20 miles) from the Ukrainian town of Starobesheve, which Kiev says Russian forces have occupied in support of pro-Moscow separatist rebels after crossing over the border.

The column was made up of two armoured personnel carriers, six military trucks and one military excavator. The troops, riding on top of the armoured personnel carriers, had dirty faces and one had a bandage on his face.

One of the trucks had a smashed windscreen and smashed headlights and was being towed by a second truck. All the vehicles were marked with white circles.

On the road leading towards Krasnodarovka, there were more trucks with the same white circles, some heading towards the border with Ukraine and some away from it.

Many of the men in camouflage fatigues seen by Reuters on the Russian side of the border had white material wrapped around their arms or legs. That matches the appearance of unidentified armed men Ukrainian residents of the area around Starobesheve have reported seeing in the past 48 hours.

"ONE OF US"

A man in camouflage fatigues at a camp where the first aid tent was located, when asked about the significance of the white fabric, told Reuters: "It means it's okay, you're one of us."

Another man, also with white fabric attached to his uniform, told Reuters he was from the Russian city of Ivanovo, about 1,400 km (870 miles) to the north. Ivanovo is home to the Russian military's 98th Guards Airborne Division.

All the uniformed men Reuters spoke to declined to say whether or not they were in the Russian military.

After a short while, Russian border troops arrived and took the Reuters reporter to a village further from the border, saying she did not have permission to be in a border zone. They deleted photographs of the military vehicles and personnel from the reporter's mobile phone.

Russia denies its troops have entered eastern Ukraine or that it is sending military hardware into Ukraine to help the separatist rebellion there.

Ukraine's security and defence council said on Thursday the border town of Novoazovsk and other areas further south from Starobesheve had fallen under control of Russian forces who it accused of joining the rebels in a counter-offensive.

"Russian troops have actually been brought into Ukraine," President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement.

(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Giles Elgood)

Watch: Short film “Gazonto” by John Greyson imagines Toronto bombed like Gaza

Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Sun, 08/24/2014 - 21:27

GAZONTO

In his compelling new video Gazonto, Canadian filmmaker John Greyson reimagines Israel’s massive bombardment of the Israeli-occupied and besieged Gaza Strip as if it were an attack on his home city Toronto.

Greyson imagines specific attacks on Palestinian homes, schools, mosques, hospitals and other institutions that Israel perpetrated since 7 July as if they had occurred on real-life Toronto sites including a well-known café, CBC TV, the University of Toronto and the Scarborough Injury Rehab Centre.

The film uses the device of a simulated video game to show how the horrifying effects of Israeli violence against Palestinians are rendered distant or invisible while the violence itself is celebrated.

The “video game” wherein the viewer is addressed as if they are the “player” also forces us to think about complicity and what those of us in Canada, the United States and other countries arming and supporting Israel can do to end such lethal intervention.

Gazonto asks viewers a simple question: what would happen to Toronto, or to your city, if, like Gaza, six thousand places had been heavily bombed in just a few weeks?

Obliterated

Since Israel’s bombardment began, its attacks have killed 2,127 Palestinians, including 512 children, according to the latest count from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

On Saturday, Israeli warplanes completely obliterated a 12-story apartment building “without giving any specific explanation that can be verified,” Al Mezan said.

“Al Mezan’s investigations indicate that no military activities took place in or around it. Hundreds of its residents, most of whom are families headed by employees of the Palestinian Authority, were displaced,” Al Mezan added.

Israeli occupation forces “also destroyed a large shopping mall in Rafah and caused damages to dozens of homes in the Rafah refugee camp,” according to the group.

Libya's New Power Brokers?

As Egypt and the UAE launch airstrikes on Tripoli, a cadre of politicians, militia leaders, and businessmen with links to both countries hopes to take advantage of a popular swell against Libya's Islamists.

BY MARY FITZGERALD-AUGUST 27, 2014

TRIPOLI — Libya has moved to center stage in a regional power struggle between the patrons of political Islam and their opponents. This week, U.S. officials briefed several media outlets that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had secretly conductedairstrikes in the capital, Tripoli, against Islamist-allied militias.

Libya's New Power Brokers by Thavam

Report: Missing American found dead in Jerusalem area forest, police say

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteer takes part in a search for missing New Jersey native Aharon Sofer, 23, in the Jerusalem forest. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

By Elahe Izadi August 28 at 1:12 PM

Aharon Sofer, a 23-year-old American missing since Friday in Israel, has been found dead in a forest near Jerusalem, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN on Thursday.

“It is not clear if the disappearance was personal [or a] kidnapping,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s not clear at all.”

On Friday, Sofer’s friend reported that the yeshiva student had gone missing. Rosenfeld previously said that Sofer disappeared while hiking, the Associated Press has reported.

Sofer, who was from New Jersey, was in Israel to study. Hundreds of volunteers, along with his father and police, combed through the forest Monday in search of the young man.

Investigators are still working to determine the cause of death, CNN reported.

“Today, we awoke to horrible news that the body of Aaron Sofer, A’H, was found,” Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind said in a statement. “All of us were hoping and praying that there would be a happy ending and that Aaron would be found safe.”

Hikind’s office confirmed Sofer’s death with the search team in Israel, a spokesman said.

Sofer’s body was discovered just miles from where Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khieder’s burned body was found July 2, in what Israeli authorities dubbed a “revenge killing.”

Rosenfeld tweeted earlier in the day that a body had been found in the forest and the area was closed off as forensics examined the scene.

Micky Rosenfeld @MickyRosenfeld

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Police forensics at the scene examining body found in the Jerusalem forest this afternoon.

11:37 AM - 28 Aug 2014

Ebola cases in west Africa could rise to 20,000 says WHO

UN health agency say outbreak is accelerating in the region while the death toll has now exceeded 1,500

The WHO's assistant director-general Bruce Aylward estimates the Ebola outbreak in Liberia will require help from 750 international volunteers. Photograph: EPA

Lisa O'Carroll-Thursday 28 August 2014

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the number of Ebolacases could rise to 20,000 as doctors in Liberia say the deadly virus is now spreading so rapidly they can no longer deal with the crisis.

The UN health agency said the outbreak is accelerating in west Africa, where the death toll has now reached 1,552, and it believes the numbers who have been hit by Ebola could be two to four times higher than the current 3,069 cases currently reported.

"[It] is a scale that I think has not ever been anticipated in terms of an Ebola outbreak," said Bruce Aylward, assistant director general of WHO.

He said the increase came from cities including the Liberian capital Monrovia, where a slum was quarantined last week, leading to food shortages and civil unrest.

"It's really just some urban areas that have outstripped the reporting capacity," he said. Up to now most efforts have concentrated on rural areas close to the Guinea border. His remarks come as Medecins sans Frontieres said it was struggling to cope with the caseload in Monrovia. MSF has just opened a new Ebola hospital in the Liberian capital and after one week it's already at capacity of 120 patients.

"The number of patients we are treating is unlike anything we've seen in previous outbreaks," said Lindis Hurum, MSF's emergency coordinator in Monrovia. "This is not an Ebola outbreak, it is a humanitarian emergency and it needs a full-scale humanitarian response."

The Ebola outbreak started in Guinea in March and is the 26th since 1976 when the virus was first identified, but is widely recognised to be out of control.

"It is simply unacceptable that, five months after the declaration of this outbreak, serious discussions are only now starting about international leadership and co-ordination," said MSF director of operations Brice de la Vigne.

MSF said the number of people seeking care at its new Monrovia centre is "growing faster than we can handle both in terms of the number of beds and the capacity of the staff". It said patients are coming from nearly every district of the city and healthcare workers were "struggling to screen new arrivals, care for admitted patients, safely remove dead bodies and transport them to the crematorium".

It said it is so overwhelmed it can no longer administer intravenous treatments. MSF has five field hospitals in west Africa, plugging a gap left by the fragile health care systems. It says most of the medical facilities in Monrovia have shut down over fears of the virus among staff, leaving many people with no healthcare at all. This is leading to fears of a secondary health crisis with expectant mothers and malaria patients now going untreated too.

Tom Dannatt is founder of British charity Street Child, which has 650 volunteers in two of the worst stricken countries, Sierra Leone and Liberia. He says the catastrophic spread was not to do with the strength of the virus but the lack of "anti-Ebola measures" being put in place. He also said a food aid programme to help feed those in quarantined areas in eastern Sierra Leone is completely inadequate.

"They are providing food for a standard World Food Programme five heads per household. But in Sierra Leone there are 12 to 15 people living in the majority of households," said Dannatt. He is offering to lend Street Child's workers to government task forces to help contain the disease and is launching an emergency appeal later this week.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told the Guardian that containment could be achieved by "low tech public protection measures".

"What we have here is porous borders, poverty and big cities. It is the perfect storm. What we need is a massive influx of resources from WHO, from the US, from the UK," he said.

WHO said it is launching a new $489m (£294m) initiative to try to contain Ebola within six to nine months.

Aylward said it would require the assistance of 750 international workers and 12,000 national workers. He urged airlines, including British Airways, Air France and Gambia Bird, who have suspended flights to the affected countries, to restart services.