VIDEO: Woman attacked by police officer at Ratnapura reveals all

September 29, 2014
The woman who was assaulted by a police officer in the Ratnapura town recently, claims that the suspect had carried out the brutal attack due to her refusing his indecent proposal.

Speaking to Ada Derana in an exclusive interview, the victim, a resident of Kanadola in Ratnapura, said that the Police Sergeant had asked her come with him to an inappropriate location on several occasions and that when she had refused for the third time or so he plotted to extract revenge from her. 

She said that the police officer had instructed a woman named ‘Ganga’ to start an argument with her. During the argument, Ganga had allegedly called out to the police officer and asked him to hit the victim. 

He immediately came there and assaulted me with a wire while spouting filth at me and then kicked me while I was on the ground, the woman said.

Police Sergeant, P.P. Thissera, who was caught on camera assaulting the woman was interdicted by the police department today.

The video of the incident, captured by a witness using a mobile phone, had gone viral on social media websites recently, prompting criticism on the Sri Lankan police department.

The video shows the police officer verbally abusing and repeatedly assaulting a woman with a baton-like object on the streets in broad daylight.

She stated that the incident took place around 8 days back near the Ratnapura bus stand and that she had visited the police station to lodge a complaint. 

However, I turned back because the HQI was absent and did not think of pursuing further action, she said.

Police spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana, when contacted by Ada Derana, stated that further investigations are being carried out regarding the incident and that a special police team has been assigned to track down the victim, who is no longer in the area. 

He stated that the police intend to find the woman in order to record a statement. The spokesman said that they have already started obtaining statements from eye witnesses.  

Video: Ratnapura assault video cannot be trusted

MONDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2014

An incident where a police officer brutally assaulting a girl opposite Ratnapura bus stand has been videoed by an unknown person and had been released it to the internet while the media too has revealed information regarding the incident.

The police spokesman remarking on the video says the video clip cannot be trusted as 100% genuine as such video clips have been released to the internet and an investigation has to be carried out regarding it.

Such statements by responsible officials despite having provable evidence is pathetic say sources in the legal sector adding there have been police atrocities throughout the past. They point out even when there is evidence of police assault and inhuman behavior at campaigns by masses to win their rights no action has been taken.

They point out arbitrary behavior by police officers and taking law into their hands has escalated under the present government.

Jayalalithaa's trusted aide Panneerselvam sworn as Tamil Nadu's new chief minister 
Described as "Mr Faithful", Panneerselvam belongs to the dominant Mudukulathor community and is a trusted lieutenant of Jayalalithaa.







By V Prem Shanker-29 Sep, 2014
CHENNAI: When J Jayalalithaa's tried and trusted political lieutenant O Panneerselvamtakes oath as Tamil Nadu chief minister on Monday, he has his first task cut out: to "move heaven and earth" to secure bail for his party supremo currently lodged in a Bangalore prison after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case. 

Party sources told ET that their legal team was doing everything possible to get the Chief Justice of the Karnataka high court to convene a special bench to hear Jayalalithaa's bail petition in HC on Monday or Tuesday. Noted lawyer and former Union law minister Ram Jethmalani is likely to appear on behalf of Jaya in HC. As an immediate relief, Jaya will first seek bail which will be followed by an appeal against the judgment. 

In Chennai, a team of glumfaced MLAs — a few even wailing — signed on the dotted line at a meeting in the party HQ on Sunday evening electing finance m i n i s t e r Panneerselvam as the legislative party leader. 

AIADMK sources said the swearing in will be a sombre affair. "The effort will be to finish off the ceremony as soon as possible to send a strong message to the cadres that Panneerselvam is just a substitute till Amma returns," a party functionary told ET. 

This would be the second time that Panneerselvam gets sworn in as the CM. Jaya had handed over the responsibility to him in 2001 following her conviction in the TANSI land case. Back home in Periyakulam, Theni district, where Panneerselvam grew up, stories of his humility and valour began doing the rounds all over again. Damodaran, a classmate and close friend of Panneerselvam, said: "He has remained humble and loyal all his life to the party and its leader." Damodaran is the local leader of an MGR Forum attached to AIADMK in Periayakulam. 

"Panneerselvam has always risen to the occasion. When a local tank had breached, Panneerselvam as a young lad had then led a team with all of us to plug the breach. Even a couple of months ago when he witnessed a road accident on the highway between Trichy and Chennai, OP took the victim in his car and got her admitted at the hospital," Damodaran added. 

Panneerselvam's father Ottakara Thevar was a farmer and ran a tea shop in Pariyakulam town in Theni district. OP completed his schooling and graduation in Periayakulam and while helping out his father in the Tea shop, he was actively involved in political work. He started small as the party's ward councillor and went on to become Periyakulam Municipality Chairman. He grew through the ranks and became MLA for Pe r i yakulam Constituency in 2001. His fortunes looked up when he came to the attention of TTV Dinakaran, nephew of Jaya's close aide Sasikala. 

In 2001, when Jayalalithaa had to step down over a corruption case, she had appointed Panneerselvam as her stand-in. He was "shell-shocked" over the announcement. But his work as a substitute in running a proxy government has clearly impressed the party chief enough to give him a second opportunity now.

சொத்துக் குவிப்பு வழக்கின் தீர்ப்பு ஜெயலலிதாவின் அரசியல் எதிர்காலத்தை பாதிக்காது: சோ கருத்து

By Venkatesan -28 September 2014

முதல்வர் ஜெயலலிதாவுக்கு அளிக்கப்பட்ட தீர்ப்பால் அவரது அரசியல் எதிர்காலத்தை பாதிக்காது என்று எழுத்தாளார் சோ தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

இதுகுறித்து அவர் மேலும் கூறியதாவது:

சொத்துக் குவிப்பு வழக்கில் ஜெயலலிதாவுக்கு 4 வருட சிறை தண்டனை விதிக்கப்பட்டதால் அது அவரது அரசியல் எதிர்காலத்தை பாதித்துள்ளதாக பரவலான கருத்து வெளியாகி உள்ளது. ஆனால் ஜெயலலிதா இந்த சோதனைகளிலிருந்து மீண்டு வருவார் என்று கூறினார்.

ஜெயலலிதாவுக்கு அளிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் 4 வருட சிறை தண்டனை உண்மையில் அவருக்கு பெரும் பின்னடைவுதான். இதற்காக அவரை அரசியலில் இருந்து முழுமையாக ஒதுக்கிவிட முடியாது.

ஜெயலலிதாவின் அரசியல் வாழ்க்கை முடிந்துவிட்டதாக சிலர் எதையோ நினைத்து எண்ணிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள். அந்த சிக்கலில் இருந்து மீண்டுவர ஏராளமான சட்டவழிகள் உள்ளன. எனவே அவர் மீண்டு வருவார்.

மேலும் ஜெயலலிதாவுக்கு வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ள தண்டனையின் தன்மை தமிழக மக்களிடம் அவர்மீது பெரியளவில் அனுதாபத்தை ஏற்படுத்தி உள்ளதுதான் உண்மை. இதுவரை இப்படியொரு அனுதாபம் யாருக்கும் கிடைத்ததே இல்லை.

ஜெயலலிதாவுக்கு ஏற்பட்டுள்ள இந்த பின்னடைவு நிச்சயமாக அவருக்கு பாதிப்பு இல்லை. தமிழகத்துக்குத்தான் பாதிப்பை ஏற்படுத்தும். இது கடந்த திமுக ஆட்சியில் நடந்த அரசியல் நிகழ்வுகளை கருத்தில் கொண்டால் புரியும் என்று தெரிவித்தார்.

TN: 16 kill themselves over Jaya’s conviction

Police tight-lipped on suicides 

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN Our Special Correspondent-September 29, 2014, 

NEW DELHI, September 29: At least 16 persons are believed to have committed suicide either by setting themselves ablaze or by hanging across Tamil Nadu since Saturday, when ruling AIADMK supremo Jayaram Jayalalithaa was sentenced to a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case by a Special Court in Bangalore.

Jayalalithaa also ceased to be the state’s chief minister with immediate effect. She has been lodged in the Bangalore Central Jail since Saturday. Her loyal aide Pannerselvam was sworn in as chief minister on Monday.

Police said in Chennai that an AIADMK worker S. Venkatesan (65) had died in hospital after setting himself on fire; three others hanged themselves and another had jumped before a speeding bus.

Ten persons are believed to have suffered cardiac arrests, apparently unable to come to terms with the verdict, while one person died of shock, they said.

Those who allegedly committed suicide also included two Class XII students who set themselves ablaze in Tirupur.

Police were tight-lipped on the number of such incidents across the state and claimed that some could be due to personal problems.

Prosecutors call Karadzic 'driving force' behind Bosnian genocide

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic appears in the courtroom for his appeals judgement at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague July 11, 2013.

BY THOMAS ESCRITT-Mon Sep 29, 2014

(Reuters) - War crimes prosecutors concluding their case against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Monday called him the "driving force" in a genocidal campaign to rid Bosnia of its non-Serbian population.
Prosecutors Call Karadzic 'Driving Force' Behind Bosnian Genocide by Thavam

Islamic State group and Iraqi army clash near Baghdad

Islamic State group militants are said to be just one mile away from Baghdad - despite Iraqi ground forces holding them back in a key town near the city.

MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014

The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East said the group was now "less than 2km away from entering Baghdad".

Canon Andrew White, of Baghdad's St George's Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq, posted on his Facebook page: "Over a 1000 Iraqi troops were killed by them yesterday, things are so bad. As I said all the military air strikes are doing nothing. If ever we needed your prayer it is now."

But reports were emerging on Monday that Iraqi ground forces, backed by air strikes, appear to have halted the advance. The key town of Ameriyat al-Falluja was said to be calm, but there was a standoff along the main road to Falluja to the north.

'Al-Qaeda militants'

The news comes amid reports that a Syrian terror group linked to Al-Qaeda is considering an alliance with IS militants. Militant group al-Nusra warned that countries taking part in the US-led effort were engaging in a war against Islam, calling for jihadists to target those involved.

The head of the Nusra Front, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, in an audio message, said: "Your leaders will not be the only ones who would pay the price of the war. You will pay the heaviest price."

Meanwhile, US-led air strikes are said to have hit grain silos and other targets in IS-controlled territory in northern and eastern Syria overnight, killing civilians and wounding militants.

The aircraft may have mistaken the mills and grain storage areas in the northern Syrian town of Manbij for an Islamic State base, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

'British fighter jets'

Two British fighter jets on a mission to Iraq returned to an air base in Cyprus on Sunday four hours after take-off, but the details of their mission were not immediately clear nor whether the planes had carried out air strikes or surveillance.

The two Tornado fighter jets touched down at the British Royal Air Force's Akrotiri base in Cyprus at around 1500 GMT, where six British Tornado fighters have been stationed since August.

It is their second flight after their first mission over Iraq on Saturday, when the armed jets returned without carrying out any air strikes.

Meanwhile a young British man was arrested in Bangladesh on Monday on suspicion of recruiting would-be jihadists. Samiun Rahman, a resident of London, is said to have arrived in Bangladesh in February to recruit for both IS and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Obama: We underestimated ISIS

By Marisa Schultz and Bruce Golding-September 28, 2014 
America failed to recognize the threat posed by Islamic State terrorists and mistakenly relied on the hapless Iraqi army to combat them, President Obama admitted in an interview broadcast Sunday night.

In an about-face from earlier remarks that likened ISIS to a terrorist “JV team,” Obama told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he agreed with National Intelligence Director James Clapper’s recent assessment that “we underestimated the Islamic State.”

“Jim Clapper has acknowledged that I think they underestimated . . . what had been taking place in Syria,” Obama said.

The president also called it “absolutely true” that the United States put too much faith in the Iraqi army, whose soldiers turned tail rather than wage war against ISIS fighters invading from Syria.
Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014.

Obama’s comments marked his bluntest acknowledgment that the United States bungled the initial response to ISIS, which American-led planes began bombing inside Syria this month.

Asked about the US carrying the weight of the anti-ISIS effort despite it being described as an international coalition, Obama said, “[T]hat’s always the case. America leads. We are the indispensable nation. We have capacity no one else has. Our military is the best in the history of the world.

“And when trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don’t call Beijing. They don’t call Moscow. They call us,” the president said.

“That’s the deal … that’s how we roll. And that’s what makes this America.”

In a portion of the interview broadcast earlier Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Obama said ISIS has been “very savvy” in using social media to recruit believers in their “jihadist nonsense.”

He also noted that the bloodthirsty terrorist group includes “old remnants of Saddam Hussein’s military . . . which gave them some traditional military capacity and not just terrorist capacity. That’s why it’s so important for us to recognize part of our solution here is going to be military.”

Obama, whose interview was recorded Friday, also blamed the rift between Sunni and Shiite Muslims for “the biggest cause of conflict — not just in the Middle East, but in the world.”

Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner said he didn’t think that airstrikes alone can destroy ISIS, and that he’d recommend sending in American troops “if no one else will step up.”

“We have no choice,” the Republican told ABC’s “This Week.” “These are barbarians. They intend to kill us. And if we don’t destroy them first, we’re gonna pay the price.”

Boehner also said he believed that Obama had the authority under post-Sept. 11, 2001, resolutions to order the airstrikes that began inside Syria on Sept. 22, while Congress was out of session.

Also Sunday, the American military said US-led planes attacked four ISIS mobile oil refineries and a command-and-control center in Syria early in the day.

The raids were part of a “near continuous” bombing campaign to stanch the flow of fuel money to ISIS.

Afghanistan swears in new leader amid dispute, violence

 Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (2nd L) stands next to Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah (L) and his deputies as he takes the oath during his inauguration as president More...

 Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (C) arrives for his inauguration as president in Kabul September 29, 2014. 

BY KAY JOHNSON-KABUL Mon Sep 29, 2014

(Reuters) - Afghanistan inaugurated its first new president in a decade on Monday, swearing in technocrat Ashraf Ghani to head a power-sharing government just as the withdrawal of most foreign troops presents a crucial test.
Afghanistan Swears in New Leader Amid Dispute, Violence by Thavam

Eight migrants die every day trying to reach richer countries, study reveals

A survivor from a sinking off Greece in May. Most European migrant deaths came in attempts to cross the Mediterranean. Photograph: Orestis Panagiotou/EPA

Peter Beaumont-Monday 29 September 2014 

Migrants trying to reach more prosperous countries have died at a rate of eight every day for the past 14 years, the majority of them trying to get to Europe, according to the most comprehensive ever tally of migrant deaths.

Eight Migrants Die Every Day Trying to Reach Richer Countries, Study Reveals by Thavam

A Turning Point in the Fight for Hong Kong

Beijing remains unlikely to cave to pro-democracy protesters' demands, but it is now losing hearts and minds.

Pro-democracy protesters out in force in Hong Kong

 

BY RACHEL LU-SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

HONG KONG -- Future generations may well commemorate Sept. 28, 2014 in the history of Hong Kong as the day when the famously apolitical city turned unmistakably political. Tens of thousands of protesters, calling for "true democracy" -- that is, no Beijing-led nomination process in the planned 2017 election for the city's chief executive, its top government official -- confronted the police in the heart of Hong Kong. 

A Turning Point in the Fight for Hong Kong by Thavam

Natural home remedies: Breast tenderness

Sep 27, 2014

As sure as the moon has phases, breast discomfort waxes and wanes. Try these natural home remedies to help relieve breast tenderness

Here are some home-based approaches to ease the unpleasantness hatched by your hormones. Vitamins, herbs and oils keep fluid retention in check and coax your hormones into a breast-friendly balance (more progesterone, less estrogen). And a few dietary changes will help you get some bothers off your chest.

What you can do for breast tenderness

• When you’re in the shower, soap your breasts and gently massage them from the centre of your chest out to your armpits. This improves blood circulation and the drainage of lymph, the clear fluid that carries infection-fighting agents through your body.
• Wrap a towel around a bag of ice cubes or frozen vegetables and apply it to each breast for about 10 minutes. The cold-pack treatment reduces swelling and dulls the pain.
• Consider wearing support bras instead of underwire bras when your breasts are tender. You may want to wear your bra to bed to reduce nighttime jostling. When you try on a new bra, make sure it cups your breasts without pinching. Once you have new, more comfortable bras, throw away the stretched-out old ones that just don’t provide the right support anymore.
• Eat more soybeans and other soy foods. Soy contains hormonelike compounds called phytoestrogens that can influence hormonal fluctuations related to menstruation andmenopause. Try some soy-based meat substitutes, or add tofu or soy nuts to your meals. Soy milk is another excellent source; try it in fruit smoothies.
• Consume plenty of fibre, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes (like lentils and black beans) and whole grains. A study at Tufts University School of Medicine found that women on a higher-fibre diet excreted more estrogen, which helps with breast tenderness.
• Aim to get less than 30 percent of your calories from fat. Women who live in cultures where low-fat diets are the norm generally have a lower incidence of breast pain.
• Cut back your intake of hydrogenated oils, found in margarine, packaged baked goods and snack products. When you eat these oils, your body loses some of its ability to convert the fatty acids in your diet (essential to your health) into gamma-linolenic acid (GLA)—a necessary link in a chain reaction that prevents breast tissue from becoming painful.
• Reduce your consumption of methylxanthine, a component of many common foods, including coffee, cola, tea, wine, beer, bananas, chocolate, cheese, peanut butter, mushrooms and pickles. Most women who endure painful lumps on a cyclical basis will improve if they cut way back on, or eliminate, foods that are high in this compound.
• Watch your intake of sodium. Sodium increases water retention, which causes your breasts to swell. Be especially careful to keep a cap on your salt consumption starting about two weeks before your period.

A natural boost for treatment of breast tenderness

• Dandelion is a natural diuretic. Take the herb in capsule form, or make a tea using powdered dandelion root. Simmer two to three teaspoons of the powder in a cup of water for 15 minutes. Drink three cups a day.
• Try evening primrose oil, a traditional herbal remedy for premenstrual symptoms. It contains an essential fatty acid GLA that may help balance a woman’s hormones and seems to ease cyclical breast tenderness.
• Vitamins E and B6 may also work together to help prevent breast tenderness. While you may have to use supplements, you can boost the vitamins in your diet by eating nuts, barley and wheat germ for more vitamin E, and avocados, lean meats and spinach for plenty of B6.

Myanmar, Sri Lanka Buddhist hard-liners join hands

By Associated Press-PUBLISHED: 06:46 GMT, 29 September 2014

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A hard-line Buddhist monk from Myanmar known for his anti-Muslim stance said his movement would join hands with a like-minded Sri Lankan group to "protect" Buddhists, whom he called an endangered world minority.

Ashin Wirathu, leader of 969, a fundamentalist movement, was a special invitee Sunday at a rally of Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, a Sri Lankan group accused of instigating deadly violence against the country's minority Muslims in June.

Joining 969 could further boost an already soaring support base for Bodu Bala Sena, an ultranationalist group that has enlisted thousands of youth and Buddhist monks in just two years of existence. This, in turn, could exacerbate mistrust and tensions between Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese-Buddhists and its Muslims.

Myanmar's hard-line Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu greets the gathering at a convention organized by Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena or Forces of Buddhist Power in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014.Wirathu, known for his anti-Muslim stance, says his movement will join hands with a like-minded Sri Lankan group to protect Buddhists, whom he calls a "threatened" world minority.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Politically, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's credibility among Muslims stands to erode further after his government allowed Wirathu to visit Sri Lanka despite opposition from Muslim groups, including his own allies. Rajapaksa is already under criticism for not taking action against Buddhist monks whose inflammatory speeches are blamed for anti-Muslim violence in June that killed two people and wounded dozens, and saw many shops and homes set on fire in three western towns.

Three local body guards accompanied Wirathu as he walked onstage for his speech Sunday at a packed indoor stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital.

"Buddhists are a world minority. If we don't protect this small group, remember, it will be the end of the Buddhists," Wirathu said. "To achieve this ... my 969 organization will work hand in hand with Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena."

Sri Lankan Muslim groups urged the government not to allow Wirathu to visit the country, warning it could lead to religious tensions. However, in his speech, Wirathu thanked Rajapaksa for granting him a visa despite "attempts of sabotage by extremists."

Muslim leaders were not immediately reachable for comment.

Bodu Bala Sena accuses Sri Lanka's Muslims, who comprise about 10 percent of the population, of trying to take over the country by having more children, marrying Sinhalese-Buddhist women and taking over businesses. Buddhists account for more than 70 percent of the country's 20 million people.

Wirathu's 969 started on the fringes of society, but now boasts supporters nationwide in Myanmar.

Hundreds of people died in 2012 sectarian violence in Myanmar, with about 140,000, mostly Muslims, forced from their homes. Buddhist monks were accused of instigating and sometimes actively participating in the violence.

Sri Lankan Buddhist monks listen to Myanmar's hard-line Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu at a convention organized by Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena or Forces of Buddhist Power in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014.Wirathu, known for his anti-Muslim stance, says his movement will join hands with a like-minded Sri Lankan group to protect Buddhists, whom he calls a "threatened" world minority.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lankan Buddhist monks listen to Myanmar's hard-line Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu speak at a convention organized by Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena or Forces of Buddhist Power in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014.Wirathu, known for his anti-Muslim stance, says his movement will join hands with a like-minded Sri Lankan group to protect Buddhists, whom he calls a "threatened" world minority.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)