Video: ‘No third term for Mahinda - No illegal presidential elections!’

WEDNESDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2014 
A leaflet campaign under the theme ‘No third term for Mahinda’ , No illegal presidential  elections organized by the JVP commenced from Fort Railway Station yesterday (21st). The campaign would be carried out throughout the island states the media unit of the JVP.

JVP’s campaign states that Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot contest the forthcoming presidential election and if he contests the presidential election would be illegal.

The leaflet:

“No third term for Mahinda – No illegal presidential elections!”
Video ‘No Third Term for Mahinda - No Illegal Presidential Elections!’ by Thavam

A Presidency Under Threat: Money, Populism And Electoral Considerations

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP

October 22, 2014

When I wrote about corruption last week, I concentrated on the structural absurdities that have been introduced into the allocation of development funding. Given the blatant deployment of this for electoral purposes, many politicians have the liberty to award contracts for projects as seems most beneficial to them, rather than the people they are supposed to serve. And while of course some development will occur, and perhaps a lot in some areas, the bottom line is that the people are no longer being fooled, as the last set of election results made clear.

But I would be remiss if I did not talk too of the perceptions of corruption at the top, since the general impression seems to be that what we have now is a kleptocracy. I should note that the President himself does not figure in these rumours, though he too must know that some who do are alleged to also act as agents on his behalf. And sadly – though given his excessive indulgence of those close to him, I can see other reasons for his weakness in this regard – his failure to discipline them is attributed to worry about what they might reveal.

Given what he has achieved however, there is little anger, except amongst those who disliked him in the first place. What is serious now is the erosion of confidence in those around him, and in particular with the immediate family. Thus, when I was recently in Kandy, I was told about a new hotel that was coming up that there were rumours that it was owned by Gotabhaya – and then later I was told that it belonged to Basil.

That both stories should be circulating indicated that these were rumours, and it is quite possible that they are unfounded – or even that they are being spread by those who do own the hotel, and who think their position will be stronger for whatever planning needs they have, if it is thought that powerful people were involved. But I was saddened by this, remembering my father’s old friendship with D A Rajapaksa, one of the simplest and most honest politicians I knew, who had almost no assets when he lost his Parliamentary seat in 1965 and travelled home by bus.Read More

Emergency dental surgery for Chris Nonis!

 Wednesday, 22 October 2014 

Former Sri Lankan high commissioner in the UK Dr. Chris Nonis underwent emergency dental surgery at a private dental surgery in London last weekend, say reliable sources.

He suddenly fell ill which is due to his being unexpectedly assaulted by external affairs ministry supervising MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena in New York on September 24.

By last Friday, he had returned his official residence to the high commission and went to live at his private home in London. There he fell ill. He is recuperating after the surgery, and is still finding it difficult to talk, say the sources.

Under the British and US laws, minor injury in an assault becomes grievous bodily harm if damage is caused to a tooth.

Previous article

Boss won’t sack me – Sajin Vaas!

Scathing attacks by Sajin, Kshenuka on Nonis!

This is why Chris Nonis resignation was accepted!

Vaas wins over clash with Nonis!

Kshenuka caused Sajin-Chris incident!

Increase salaries by Rs.10,000 – massive crowds for agitation

TUESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2014

A massive agitation was held at the Fort Railway Station yesterday (20th) by the National Trade Union Center (NTUC) to demand an increase of Rs.10,000 for the salaries of working masses and solutions for other issues.

A large number of working people representing government, semi-government, private and estate sector trade unions participated.

A large number of trade union leaders including the President of NTUC K.D. Lal Kantha, the President of Inter Company Employees ‘ Union Wasantha Samarasinghe, the President of All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union Ramalingam Chandrasekar, the General Secretary of Lanka Teacher Services Union Mahinda Jayasinghe, the General Secretary of Lanka Electricity Board Employees’ Union Ranjan Jayalal were present.
Increase Salaries by Rs.10,000 – Massive Crowds for Agitation by Thavam

Official: The US is a Leading

Terrorist State

Philosopher Noam Chomsky is professor of the MIT Institute of Linguistics (Emeritus). (Photo: teleSUR/file)

An international poll found that the United States is ranked far in the lead as “the biggest threat to world peace today,” far ahead of second-place Pakistan, with no one else even close.

Published 20 October 2014
Imagine that the lead article in Pravda reported a study by the KGB that reviews major terrorist operations run by the Kremlin around the world, in an effort to determine the factors that led to their success or failure, finally concluding that unfortunately successes were rare so that some rethinking of policy is in order.  Suppose that the article went on to quote Putin as saying that he had asked the KGB to carry out such inquiries in order to find cases of “financing and supplying arms to an insurgency in a country that actually worked out well.  And they couldn’t come up with much.” So he has some reluctance about continuing such efforts.

Official the US is a Leading Terrorist State by Thavam

LIVE

Parliament Hill attack: Soldier dies 

of injuries, gunman also shot dead

Downtown Ottawa remains in lockdown as police conduct searches around parliamentary precinct

By Dean Beeby, CBC News Posted: Oct 22, 2014 10:02 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 22, 2014 2:17 PM ET

• 1 shooter dead, 1 still believed at large in downtown Ottawa.
• Police searching cars leaving Ottawa trying to go to Quebec.
• Report of additional shots fired near Chateau Laurier Hotel, east of Parliament Hill.
• Police going door to door in downtown core; downtown schools in lockdown.
• All three main party leaders, Harper, Mulcair and Trudeau, reported safe.

Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau are also reported safe.

Full Story>>>

Israeli soldiers wounded in Egypt border attack

Israeli soldiers in Beersheba, Israel, unload a comrade who was wounded in a shootout on the border with Egypt. Photograph: Dudu Grunshpan/AP-Wednesday 22 October 2014 

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem and Patrick Kingsley in Cairo

Two Israeli soldiers have been injured after their vehicle was fired on with an anti-tank missile and small arms from across the Egyptian border.

An Israeli military spokesman said the attack occurred in southern Negev desert near Ezuz and that the soldiers were evacuated to a hospital in Israel. “Two soldiers were injured by fire directed at them from Egypt,” a statement from the Israeli military added, without identifying the attackers.

The army said a female officer and a male soldier had been injured, both of whom were members of the predominantly female Caracal battalion responsible for defending the Israel-Egypt border.

The frontier between Israel and Egypt is usually quiet,. However, Islamic militants in Egypt’s lawless Sinai peninsula have attempted to carry out attacks against Israel in recent years. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack.

In September 2012, an Israeli soldier was killed in a similar shooting. A year earlier, a series of coordinated attacks killed seven Israelis.

Al-Qaida-linked militants in Sinai have also carried out deadly attacks against the Egyptian military, which has been trying to crack down on their activity in the desert.

Since July 2013, Egypt’s security forces have struggled to contain an insurgency in the northern Sinai peninsular waged by the jihadist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, which loosely means Champions of Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said it had dispatched troops to the area to prevent infiltration into its territory. In the meantime, it asked residents to remain in their homes.

A spokesman for Egypt’s police force, Maj-Gen Hany Abdellatif, claimed there had been a gunfight between smugglers and Egyptian police officers on the border with Israel at about 12.30pm. But he gave no further information and said he did not know whether any Israelis had been affected.

Israeli sources said, however, the incident in which the soldiers were wounded occurred an hour and a half later.

A spokesman for the Egyptian military would not confirm Abdellatif’s statement, and gave no further comment.

Security concerns and an influx of tens of thousands of African migrants prompted Israel to erect a 250km (160-mile) barrier from the Red Sea port of Eilat to the Palestinian Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean. It was completed in 2012.

VIDEO: ISIS shows off new weapons 

allegedly airdropped by US 

Posted: 10:51 am, October 22, 2014 by Eric SOF

Islamic State has published a new video in which a jihadist shows off brand-new American hardware, which was purportedly intended for the Kurds they are fighting in the Syrian border town of Kobani. Looks like the some of US-coallition efforts to provide weapons and equipment to Kurdish forces failed, and to be worse, it looks like some of weapons are gone right into enemy hands?

VIDEO ISIS Shows Off New Weapons Allegedly Airdropped by US by Thavam

The Administration Goes All in on Kobani

Only days ago the Pentagon was saying that this small Syrian city might fall to the Islamic State. Now it's pulling out all the stops to save Kobani. 

• BY KATE BRANNEN , GOPAL RATNAM-OCTOBER 21, 2014

The Obama administration's rapidly intensifying efforts to prevent Kobani from falling into the hands of the Islamic State have backed the United States into a corner. While Pentagon officials maintain that the town isn't strategically significant, the United States has invested so much in saving Kobani that its fall would hand the Islamic State a publicity win and deal a symbolic blow to the U.S.-led war effort.
The Administration Goes All in on Kobani by Thavam

India’s Modi tightens his grip on power

Narendra Modi. Pic: AP.

 By Asia Sentinel Oct 22, 2014 

Two state assembly wins solidify the BJP mandate in India, writes John Elliott for Asia Sentinel.

Narendra Modi and his fellow leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party believe they are on a 10-year mission to turn India into a successful world power with a strong nationalist base. On Oct. 19, they put two more building blocks in place with state assembly election victories in Maharashtra and Haryana, where they have ousted Congress Party governments and reduced that party to a humiliating also-ran role.

They have not however done as well as they had hoped because they have not won overall control in Maharashtra. Nevertheless Modi, who was the BJP’s star campaigner in both states, has broadened his and the BJP’s base in the country, and will now be able to implement his message and new policies more easily in the two states. The results also improve the BJP’s minority position in the indirectly elected Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament), where the Congress Party and other opposition parties can currently block the government’s legislation.

In Haryana, adjacent to Delhi, the BJP has won outright control with 47 seats in the 90-seat assembly, compared with just four in the last election. It has ousted a Congress government that has been in power for 10 years and was widely perceived to have facilitated corrupt land deals involving, among others, Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s businessman son-in-law. Congress won just 15 seats, down from 40.

In Maharashtra, the BJP won 123 seats and is by far the biggest party, but needs support to establish a majority in the 288-seat assembly. Maharashtra has been run by Congress-led governments for 15 years, and the outgoing coalition with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was riven with corrupt land and infrastructure deals that Prithviraj Chavan, who was shipped in as chief minister by Sonia Gandhi four years ago to clean up the government, has admitted he was unable to stop.

In an attempt to remain politically relevant (and maybe seek protection from corruption inquiries), the NCP has offered the BJP the support of its 41 assembly members. The Shiv Sena, a state-based chauvinist and often violent party which has 63 seats and has been a BJP ally for 25 years, is however a more natural supporter despite sharp clashes during the election campaign.

There will be some debate about whether the BJP’s failure to win outright in Maharashtra marks a gradual dwindling of the popular wave that swept Modi to power nationally in May, though the BJP line is that the wave has become “a tsunami”. Modi campaigned extensively in the state, but could not sufficiently reduce the grip of the Shiv Sena, which is renowned for its street-level gangs and clout, nor of the moneyed NCP, whose leaders include Sharad Pawar, a veteran national and regional politician, and Praful Patel, a controversiual aviation minister in the last Congress government.

The main loser is the image and clout of the Congress Party, led by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, who must have expected defeat because they made fewer than 20 appearances during the campaigns, compared with a total of over 70 meetings addressed by Modi and Amit Shah, the powerful BJP president. Congress came third in Maharashtra after the BJP and Shiv Sena and with almost the same number of seats as the NCP, while in Haryana it came third behind not just the BJP but also the local-based Indian National Lok Dal, whose former leader and chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala, is in jail for corruption.

Hong Kong protesters march on Government House as public support rises

A new poll shows that 62 per cent of Hong Kong's youth back the pro-democracy campaign

Pro-democracy demonstrators continue to guard a barricade in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong

By David Blair, Chief Foreign Correspondent

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campaigners marched on Government House for the first time on Wednesday as a new poll showed rising public support for their protests.

Scores of people gathered outside the ornate Victorian building on Hong Kong Island, formerly the seat of power for British governors and now the official residence of C.Y. Leung, the territory’s chief executive.

They carried banners demanding Mr Leung’s resignation and condemning a public warning he made on Tuesday that allowing full democracy would hand too much power to people with low incomes.

This was the first protest outside Government House since the onset of the demonstrations. Mr Leung has not tried to enter his own office in the Admiralty area since the protesters surrounded this building almost a month ago. Although other civil servants have been able to go to work, Mr Leung has chosen instead to conduct his duties from Government House.

The marchers have occupied almost two miles of main road since Sept 26, paralysing a large area of Hong Kong Island. But the first direct talks between the authorities and protest leaders only began on Tuesday. This televised meeting broke up without reaching any agreement.

The protesters want a free election for the next chief executive in 2017, with the public being able to nominate candidates. Mr Leung is prepared to give everyone a vote in this contest, but only to choose between candidates put forward by an official committee.

Alex Chow, the secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and a key protest leader, said the government had been “vague” during the negotiations and cast doubt over whether it was worth holding more meetings. "About whether there will be talks in the future, this is something that isn't decided," said Mr Chow.

"The government has to come up with some way to solve this problem, but what they are offering does not have any practical content.”

Yet the disruption caused by the protests has angered many people. Local residents have repeatedly attacked the secondary protest camp in the Mong Kok area, removing barricades and occasionally coming to blows with demonstrators.

On the other side of the harbour, the campaigners have sealed off Queensway and Connaught Roads, the main highways running across Hong Kong Island with eight and ten lanes respectively. As a result, 45 per cent of all bus services have been suspended or re-routed. The head offices of some of Hong Kong’s biggest companies, including Swire, HSBC and Jardine Matheson, are inside the protest zone.

Despite all the inconvenience, however, the demonstrators enjoy more public backing today than when their action first began, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Overall support for their campaign has risen to 38 per cent, compared with 31 per cent last month. During the same period, opposition has fallen from 46 to 35 per cent.

Among people aged between 15 and 24, backing for the pro-democracy protests has soared from 47 to 62 per cent.

Afghan president's first trip abroad will be to China

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani (C) inspects the honour guard before performing Eid al-Adha prayers at the presidential palace in Kabul, October 4, 2014.

BEIJING Wed Oct 22, 2014

(Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will travel to China this month, China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, marking what will be the leader's first foreign trip since being sworn in September after a protracted election stalemate.

China had hoped to host an international conference on Afghan's stability last summer, but was forced to shelve the idea as the Afghan election standoff between Ghani and now chief executive Abdullah Abdullah delayed the inauguration of a new president.

China, which is connected to Afghanistan by a narrow, almost impassable mountain corridor, has been quietly preparing for more responsibility in Afghanistan after the bulk of U.S.-led troops pull out.

China says it does not seek to fill a void left by the withdrawal of Western troops but has promised to play a "huge" commercial role in helping rebuild the country.

A major worry for leaders in Beijing is that ethnic Uighur separatist militants from China's western Xinjiang region will take advantage if Afghanistan again descends into chaos.

Chinese authorities say Uighur fighters are based in militant strongholds in ungoverned stretches of the Afghan-Pakistani border.

They say Islamist militants, some who have received support from beyond China's borders, were behind a spate of attacks in Xinjiang and across China, which have left hundreds dead over the past two years.

However, experts dispute the influence of foreign militant groups within China, and argue that economic marginalisation of Muslim Uighurs, who call Xinjiang home, is one of the main causes of ethnic violence there.

Ghani will travel to China from Oct. 28–31, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a regular press briefing.

"This visit is President Ghani's first foreign trip since taking office, and is the first high-level visit between China and Afghanistan since the formation of the new government. China attaches great importance to this," Hua said.

"China will, as in the past, provide all assistance within its power to aid Afghanistan's peaceful rebuilding," Hua said.

The Taliban and their militant allies have stepped up attacks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops from Afghanistan at the end of the year, seeking to weaken the new government that will take over most of the fight.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; editing by Nick Macfie)