GOSL responds to News Release by the UN OHCHR

Following the News Release on Friday  (7 November 2014) by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights condemning disinformation designed to discredit the UN investigation on Sri Lanka, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva has sent the attached communication to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in this regard with a copy to Baudelaire Ndong Ella, President of the Human Rights Council.
GOSL Responds to News Release by the UN OHCHR by Thavam

Arming Sinhalese Civilians In Border Areas

By Rajan Hoole -November 8, 2014

Dr. Rajan Hoole

Border Aggression and Civilian Massacres – Part 8

A ccording to Herman Gunaratne, an informal group around Ravi Jayewardene, which included an army volunteer, Colonel Wickremasekere, and a regular, Major Karunatilleke, then based at Anuradhapura, met in Colombo on 23rd December 1984. They saw the Kent and Dollar Farms disaster as a retreat of the Sinhalese. Blinded by their aims, they were unable to take into account what they had been building up within the other side through more than an year of aggressive posturing and forced evacuations. According to Gunaratne what they decided was not to establish large Sinhalese settlements for the present, but to stop the ‘retreat’ by arming and training the Sinhalese villagers in border areas.

This decision was taken out of a sense of frustration that their dream of grand Sinhalese settlements with Israeli help had come almost to naught. It was also taken within the mental constraint of continuing an aggressive approach to the Tamils. But a little thought would have shown that arming Sinhalese civilians was a futile exercise. The Kent and Dollar Farms massacre was a particular response to a grave provocation. It had broken to some extent the Tamil inhibition against killing Sinhalese civilians. It had the potential to become a wider tendency, but it could also have stopped there. There would have been understandable fears among Sinhalese border villages, but it was not so far a threat to them. Old Sinhalese villages that had interacted peacefully with Tamils for centuries were very different from the Sinhalese settled in Kent and Dollar Farms under the JOSSOP. After all, leading Sinhalese politicians Maithripala Senanayake and K.B. Ratnayake, who were from these villages, had their education respectively at St. John’s College and Hartley College, Jaffna.

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Student sexually abused in Gannoruwa Army Camp during leadership training

Tuesday, 04 November 2014 A female university student who was receiving leadership training at the Gannoruwa Army camp has been allegedly abused by an Army Corporal last month, Lanka Herald learns.

The female student who has experienced this horrific incident is said to be a second round recruit in the leadership programme of the Peradeniya University.

This Corporal named Silva, is said to have allegedly abused thegirl by putting his hand through an unlocked window in the girls’ dormitory and had fled after the girl had started screaming.

After hearing this chaos, a group of Army MPs had arrived at the dorms and after consoling the fear-stricken girls, had started searching the camp premises at once.

Although the Military Police had not been able to find any clue at the beginning, soon they had been able to discover a naked footprint in a pile of mud near the girls’ dormitory. Further searches had taken them to the soldiers’ barracks, where they had found a suspected person covered in a blanket.

The MPs have then noticed the mud marks in the man’s legs.

The Corporal had been taken in to custody and during interrogations, he had confessed of his deed.

It is reported that this soldier had first been kept in a cell at the Gannoruwa Army camp and has later been taken to another place the day after.

And the authorities have spread a tale about a “girl who had screamed due to bad dreams” in order to avoid the news from reaching the press.

When Lanka Herald contacted the Army Spokesperson Jayanath Jayasuriya, he said that if such an incident had occurred the Army would hold a full inquiry into the matter. He said that a preliminary Court Martial will be held in such a matter and that the convicts would be punished despite their rank.

However, denying of the report of such an incident, the Army Media Director said the Army is providing special security for the students who attend the leadership programme.

However, moments before publishing this story, Jayasuriya called us again and at that time he told an entirely different story.

“Such an incident has been reported. However it is not that much of a serious issue. But it has happened prior to the commencement of the leadership program. The Commanding officer of the Gannoruwa Army camp has demoted the accused corporal over to the rank of private and has transferred him to another camp,” he said.

Dhammika Priyadarshana

Ranil’s sacrifice lauded and applauded by 38 0f 42 MPs: common candidate from UNP , SLFP rescue or Sobitha will be known on Monday

(Lanka-e-News-07.Nov.2014, 11.00PM) The salutary gesture of the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe by gracefully bowing to the requests of the party MPs and its organizers without taking an obstinate stand of selfishly holding on to power was most welcome and lauded by the party and the public in general, his unpopularity notwithstanding .Ranil condescending to the wishes of the party majority agreed to stand down at the upcoming Presidential elections , and withdraw from the contest .

Of the 42 UNP MPs, as many as 38 have warmly welcomed Ranil’s gesture aimed at winning the Presidential elections by fielding a common candidate . Only 4 MPs have opposed the common candidature.

These 4 MPs are the conspirators within the UNP : Sajith Premadasa , Sujeewa Senasinghe , Buddhika Pathirane and Tissa Attanayake the latest to join this conspiratorial group who are the ventriloquist dummies and pawns of the evil troika , Rajapakse ,Kili and Tiran .

Friends of Ranil led by this group of four have pointed out to him , if he is not contesting , and even if preference is given to someone of the SLFP breakaway group that is joining , they would not favor Karu Jayasuriya ‘s name .

The argument they advanced to support their stand was , under the UNP constitution , a UNP member who is the opposition common Presidential candidate should mandatorily be the leader of the party ,hence for any reason if Karu Jayasuriya is made the common candidate , Ranil’s leadership will terminate; and on the other hand , if Karu Jayasuriya becomes the common Presidential candidate and wins , during the period pending the abolition of the executive Presidency , since it will be someone from the SLFP breakaway group who shall be the Prime Minister temporarily , Ranil will have to continue as the opposition leader ; and if some one from the SLFP break away group is fielded as the common Presidential candidate , Ranil will be Prime Minister temporarily ,this small group has further explained.

In the circumstances , a close friend of Ranil has met with former President Chandrika Bandaranaike yesterday (05) and offered her to be the common Presidential candidate ,which offer she has declined, and had proposed the name of a frontline Minister in the SLFP rescue organization in lieu.

Meanwhile , a majority of the members of the UNP MPs are justifying the view that the common Presidential candidate must be from the opposition on the ground that by making someone from the government breakaway group the Presidential candidate , that can give a crippling blow to the opposition’s unity that is being built up .Hence , it is their stance that Karu Jayasuriya must be made the common candidate.

The majority of UNP MPs who claim that the UNP which is the main opposition party has the moral right to select the common candidate , and if Ranil is averse to making Karu the common opposition candidate because of issues pertaining to leadership, then Karu’s name can be withdrawn temporarily from the UNP , and he shall be appointed as the leader of the new common national front that is coming into being , in which case the UNP constitutional impediment can be surmounted.

Ranil is on the other hand harboring the fear that if Karu is appointed as the common opposition candidate from the UNP ,the group led by Sajith would leave the party , but now it is clear that fear is baseless . A majority of the UNP MPs say , Sajith the nitwit who is now saying “can’t “ after claiming that he would contest if Ranil does not, is now not even having the spine to resign from the UNP.

The Lilliputian group of four of the 42 UNP MPs being so insignificantly small , it is the UNP majority group’s considered opinion that with the launching of the powerful Common Opposition Front , this tiny weenie group which is working according to the agenda of the diabolic Rajapakses cannot be stopped from just evaporating in no time before the new Front.

After Ranil withdrew his candidature at the forthcoming Presidential elections vis a vis the people’s opinion that he will lose ,it is the firm conviction of a great many that the opportunity to win the elections and abolish the executive Presidency is now splendid and at the peak, irrespective of whether the common opposition Presidential candidate is going to be Karu , Ven. Sobitha Thera , someone from the SLFP rescue organization or any other new face .

It is the view of some since Ven. Sobitha Thera had done a great deal via his movement for good governance based on his programs and documents which have proved successful, there is no doubt that Ven .Thera will carry out his duties in that direction duly.

Meanwhile , as we were concluding this article ,(yesterday) based on information received , Ranil and Chandrika who is leading the SLFP rescue organization have had a discussion last night.

At this moment , representatives of UNP, SLFP rescue organization Ministers, TNA, General Fonseka , Ven. Sobitha Thera, JVP and JHU are holding discussions party wise separately at various venues. They are all driven by the sincere common goal to defeat the moribund Rajapakse regime .

Undoubtedly, everyone must be holding Ranil in high esteem for making such a great sacrifice at the opportune moment by yielding in favor of appointing a common candidate of others’ choice which is indeed an inspiration to the opposition .

In any event , an M.P who made a substantial contribution towards the direction of fielding a common opposition candidate ,who is presently overseas is due to return to the Island this week end . On Monday , after his return all the people of the opposition faction of Sri Lanka can hear a heartening long awaited announcement which has earned the blessings of all opposition party leaders .

Key meeting on common candidate on Monday

November 8, 2014 

A key discussion on the common candidate for the next Presidential election is scheduled to be held on Monday (10).

Several important meetings were held with Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero at the Kotte Sri Naga Vihara on Friday (7).

A large number of opposition parliamentarians as well as former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) parliamentarian Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero participated in discussions with Ven. Sobitha Thero on Friday to decide on the common candidate.

It is learnt that the names of senior United National Party MP, Karu Jayasuriya and Kumaratunge have been shortlisted for the common candidate.

While the common candidate is scheduled to be announced after the Presidential election is called, a key meeting with all forces supporting the common candidate is to be held on Monday.

A final decision on the common candidate is to be reached during the weekend.

An Open Appeal To The LSSP And 

CP Leaders

| by Laksiri Fernando

( November 8, 2014, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) It appears that not only the country, but also the Left parties, particularly the LSSP and the CP led by you, are facing a crisis as a result. This is inevitable. However, the question is how you would come out of this crisis, uniting the parties that you lead, and addressing the issues at hand, not based on short term benefits for the party or for yourselves, but for the best interest of the country and the people. 

In short, I urge you not to support Mahinda Rajapaksa at the planned forthcoming presidential election for a Third Term. It would be a disaster for the country.

Vasudeva Nanayakkara, DEW Gunasekara and Tissa Vitarana at Socialist Alliance May Day stage

An Open Appeal to the LSSP and by Thavam

‘Communist’ bigwigs hide ‘The Truth’ (Aththa)

FRIDAY, 07 NOVEMBER 2014 

‘Aththa’ (The Truth), the central organ of the Communist Party in Sri Lanka and edited by Dr. Michael Fernando, a senior lecturer in University of Peradeniya, has been forced by several powerful people in the party to discontinue say reports.

The latest issue of the newspaper published by ‘Pragathi Press (Pvt) Ltd. Was to be released to the public today (7th). 
Dr. Michael Fernando in a short note to ‘Facebook’ states the latest issue dated 9th November had been already printed when authorities took measures to stop circulation.  

The authorities in the party have censored the newspaper as its latest issue with the headline “Will presidential election be put off until March due to Pope’s visit?” has published an article that discusses the controversy in the party regarding supporting the President said a journalist of the newspaper. 

However, the decision to suspend the paper is an arbitrary decision by the leadership of the party and not a decision taken by the Political Bureau or the Central Committee of the party added the journalist who preferred to remain unnamed.  
The Central Committee of the Communist Party is to be convened on the 9th and a final decision is to be taken as to which presidential candidate the party would support. 

Meanwhile, sources close to the Communist Party say among the few people who attempt to get a decision to support Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa is a section of the ministerial staff that receives salaries from the government and certain others who enjoy privileges, vehicles and other perks Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa has provided.

China SYNDROME' 

BY SULOCHANA RAMIAH MOHAN-November 9, 2014 2:05 am   

Observing the strengthening of ties betwixt Sri Lanka and China, French Ambassador Jean-Paul Monchau said even though China was fast emerging as a First World power protagonist on the world's stage, Sri Lanka should maintain good relationships with all countries and should 'not put all their eggs in one basket'.

Speaking exclusively to Ceylon Today, the French Envoy said, "Sri Lanka should build good relationships with other nations too and I would say, 'not put all their eggs in the same basket'. I say so, because in the last few weeks we have seen more people from China coming here. Mainly after the Chinese President Xi Jinping came to Sri Lanka and some people think the tension in the region is being intensified."

Talking further on the Chinese influence spreading the world over, he said, "Many talk about the growing relationship with China. China's relationship is improving all over the world and it will soon become a First World power, thanks to its population and its economic growth. Even in Africa, like in Zambia and Benin or in Latin America, the Chinese influence is growing. I know it is appreciated by the developing countries. Sri Lanka is closer to China than Africa."

He also warned that it could be China now and later another country that the ties could grow, as history is constantly changing. "So, continue to have a good relationship with all other countries too, is my overall view," the Diplomat added.
Commending the great relationship France shares with Sri Lanka, the ambassador said that he sees a good economy growth of 7-8%. He also said Sri Lankans should be credited for the booming tourism. "They have welcomed the change and today travellers are choosing Sri Lanka in large numbers and that should be credited to the people." According to him Nearly 80,000 French tourists have come to Sri Lanka lately. "This country is very gifted and bound to have more success stories," he opined.

Lyca Mobile computer goons in cyber attacks!

 Thursday, 06 November 2014 

Instead of acting ethically as per the right to reply if the exclusive news article carried by ‘Lanka News Web’ under the heading ‘Secret of Lyca Mobile owner suddenly becoming an anti-Rajapaksa’ contained any fallacy, Lyca Mobile owner Subhaskaran Allirajah and his computer goons yesterday (04) started launching cyber attacks against LNW, Inioru.com and jvpnews.com.

As a result, LNW’s English and Tamil editions have temporarily become inaccessible. Our technical team is making every attempt to restore these services, with assurances that they would do so within the next few hours.

Subhaskaran left Sri Lanka for France and from there came to Great Britain to do business. Although living in a civilized western country, he is full of uncivilized habits. If any crisis occurs, he follows the ‘Sajin Vaas theory’, i.e. first bribing the adversary, or else taming the adversary by giving whiskey or brandy, failing all of which, overpowering the adversary with fisticuffs.

He is following this same theory with regard to Britain’s two main political parties – Conservative Party and Labour party. At the 2005 presidential election, he had used his private secretary, well-known actress Janaki Wijeratne, to send Rs. 200 million to Basil Rajapaksa. Similarly, he is funding the two British parties in order to cover up his frauds and thuggeries in the Sri Lankan style. The two parties should immediately return the money and hand over to Scotland Yard the task of investigating him. Then, we can reveal all evidence we have against him, including the reason for his fleeing France to Britain and the persons and institutions who fell victim to his frauds.

Finally, we will say one thing to Subhaskaran – LNW could not be silenced by several years of cyber attacks, thuggeries and international warrants, and it will remain so in the future too.

Websites attacked after exposure of Lyca news manipulation

Docking of Chinese nuclear sub in SL worries India

November 4, 2014, 9:44 pm 

By S Venkat Narayan

Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, November 4: The docking of the Chinese nuclear-powered submarine Changzheng 2 at the Colombo port since Sunday is sparking "enormous concerns" within the Indian Government about the intentions of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a media report said today.

Sri Lanka allowed the docking despite India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval’s warning to Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the latter’s recent visit here that any presence of a Chinese submarine in Sri Lanka will be unacceptable to India.

The government is now left with no option but to look upon Lanka’s defiance as "inimical" to India’s interests, The Times of India said without attributing the quote to any official.

Changzheng 2, along with warship Chang Xing Dao, is likely to remain in Colombo until Wednesday. This is only the second time a Chinese submarine has stopped off Colombo. The first coincided with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Vietnam and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Sri Lanka and India in September. Chinese news agency Xinhua on Monday quoted some Chinese officials as saying that the docking is "an international common practice".

The Chinese fleet of submarines, both diesel and nuclear-powered (of which three can fire ballistic missiles), represent some of Beijing’s most offensive military capabilities and have been the focus of international media when one of them propelled through Indian Ocean waters for the first time earlier this year, making its way to the Persian Gulf.

India sees the docking of a Chinese submarine at the Colombo port as a violation of the July 1987 agreement with Sri Lanka. It says that "Trincomalee or any other ports in Sri Lanka will not be made available for military use by any country in a manner prejudicial to India’s interests". The agreement also calls upon the two countries to not allow their respective territories to be used for "activities prejudicial to each other’s unity, integrity and security".

Strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney described Sri Lanka’s disregard of India’s protests after the first docking as a hostile action with long-term implications.

"At a time when India is facing increasing Chinese strategic pressure from the north, a new military challenge is opening up from the south. The weakening of India’s strategic clout over the past decade has emboldened President Rajapaksa’s hostile action in granting access to Chinese submarines," he said.

The daily quoted Chellaney as saying that Rajapaksa could have seriously miscalculated in challenging New Delhi’s interests since India is no longer led by a "clueless prime minister with no vision."

The analyst noted that, initially, Rajapaksa responded favourably to the new Indian government by ordering the release of all Indian fishermen from Lankan jails. But he is now increasingly seen as "wilfully promoting not just China’s commercial interests but also Beijing’s strategic penetration of India’s southern flank."

China’s fleet of nuclear and diesel-powered submarines propelling through the Indian Ocean waters is a recent phenomenon. The Chinese authorities disclosed such voyages to Persian Gulf late last year.

Meanwhile, a Chinese defence ministry spokesman said in Beijing on Monday: "There is nothing unusual for a naval vessel to dock at Colombo port despite concerns raised by India. It is an international practice for navy submarine(s) to stop for refuelling and crew refreshment at an overseas port."

The official said the Chinese submarines had docked during their escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.

The Chinese official also quoted Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya as saying: "Since 2010, 230 warships have called at the Colombo port from various countries on goodwill visits and for refuelling and crew refreshment."

However, there has been no on-the-record official reaction from Indian officials or ministers so far.

And, on Monday, Special Forces from India and Sri Lanka kicked off a joint combat exercise in the island nation. The smallist "troop level" exercise Mitra Shakti is being held at the Uva-Kudaoya commando training regiment school from November 2 to 23 to enhance interoperability between the two forces.

From India, around 40 Indian Army Para-SF commandos are taking part in the exercise. The first edition of the exercise was held in Nahan in India in December 2012, said a defence ministry official here.

UNHCR announces push to end statelessness worldwide by end-2024

Press Releases, 4 November 2014

UNHCR is today launching a global "I Belong" campaign aimed at ending within 10 years the problem of statelessness – a devastating legal limbo for the millions of people worldwide who lack any nationality and the human rights protections that go with it. The goal of eradicating statelessness is looking increasingly possible thanks to dramatic recent progress in the number of States acceding to two key UN human rights treaties.

UNHCR Announces Push to End Statelessness Worldwide by End-2024 by Thavam

PHOTOS: Protests in northern Israel after police kill Arab man

By Activestills

 |Published November 8, 2014

Photos by Oren Ziv, Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org
Text by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man

Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday afternoon against the deadly police shooting of a young man in the Arab town of Kafr Kanna the night before. Khir Hamdan, 22, had attacked a police van with a knife but was fleeing when an officer shot him.

Arab youth clash with Israeli riot police in Kafr Kanna, Israel. The protests come less than a day after an Arab man from the village was shot and killed by Israeli policemen. Security cameras caught the man attempting to attack the policemen, as well as the shooting, which took place after the man had already backed away considerably. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Away from the main protest, police arrested at least four people who were part of a smaller group that was throwing stones and burning tires. Police used sponge-tipped bullets and putrid “skunk” water canons to disperse the demonstrators and prevent them from accessing the nearby Route 77.

In response to the killing, a general strike on Sunday was called for large portions of the Palestinian population of Israel.

Police on horseback seen during clashes in the village of Kafr Kanna, in northern Israel. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Read Haggai Matar’s report about the shooting here.

Police use the ‘skunk’ water canon to disperse protesters in Kafr Kanna, a day after Israeli police fatally shot an Arab man in the village. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Security camera catches the killing of Khir Hamdan:

 Dozens of Palestinians are kidnapped by#Israel soldiers daily.

Right Now I/O

4:33PM  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZilvNy1V6-3D-

With exercises in Asia, U.S. Army searches for relevance

By Anna Fifield November 8 at 10:15 AM

CAMP KITA-ENIWA, JAPAN — First came the whistle, then the thud and the plumes of dust as the “mortar” landed in the area where the “enemy” had been spotted.

With Exercises in Asia, U.S. Army Searches for Relevance by Thavam

Gorbachev warns of new cold war threat as Berlin marks fall of wall

Former Soviet leader backs Putin’s stand towards Ukraine as Germany celebrates 25th anniversary of demise of the barrier that divided it

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev walks across Pariser Platz near the Brandenburg Gate on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Photograph: Target Presse Agentur Gmbh/Getty Images

Philip Oltermann in Berlin-Saturday 8 November 2014 

As Berliners watch 8,000 balloons being released into the night sky this evening, old divisions between east and west will symbolically vanish into thin air with them. Yet the runup to the festivities has already served up plenty of reminders that, 25 years after the fall of the wall that divided the city for three decades, the scars of history are hurting more than ever.

Speaking at a symposium near the Brandenburg Gate yesterday morning, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev warned that the world was “on the brink of a new cold war” and strongly criticised the west for having sown the seeds of the current crisis by mishandling the fallout from the collapse of the iron curtain.

“Instead of building new mechanisms and institutions of European security and pursuing a major demilitarisation of European politics … the west, and particularly the United States, declared victory in the cold war,” said the man behind the Soviet Union’s glasnost and perestroikareforms.

“Euphoria and triumphalism went to the heads of western leaders. Taking advantage of Russia’s weakening and the lack of a counterweight, they claimed monopoly leadership and domination in the world.”

The enlargement of Nato, Kosovo, missile defence plans and wars in the Middle East had led to a “collapse of trust”, said Gorbachev, now 83. “To put it metaphorically, a blister has now turned into a bloody, festering wound.”

Previously an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, Gorbachev backed the current Russian president’s stance over Ukraine, urging western leaders to “consider carefully” Putin’s recent remarks at the Valdai forum : “Despite the harshness of his criticism of the west, and of the United States in particular, I see in his speech a desire to find a way to lower tensions and ultimately to build a new basis for partnership.”

Such strong words of criticism, voiced by the man still affectionately known as “Gorbi” to many in Germany, came at the end of a week which has seen the value of the rouble tumbling dramatically as a result of western sanctions.

Friday afternoon had seen another reminder of the old east-west tensions still running through Germany when the usually rather staid proceedings of the Bundestag were shaken up by a musical guest performance. Veteran songwriter Wolf Biermann, who was kicked out of the GDR in 1976, performed a protest song called Ermutigung(Encouragement) and took a number of swipes at politicians from Die Linke (the Left party), successors to East Germany’s ruling party, the SED.

“Your punishment is to have to listen to me here – enjoy”, Biermann said, while gesturing towards the leftwing parliamentarians. He went on to describe Die Linke MPs as “dragon spawn” and “the miserable dregs of something that had luckily been overcome”.

Only last week German president Joachim Gauck, a former head of the Stasi archives, had questioned whether the Left party had “really distanced itself from the ideas the SED once had about repression of people”. Die Linke is on the verge of gaining its first state premier, in the Thuringia region, something Gauck said “people of my age who lived through the GDR find quite hard to accept”.

At the very least, such score-settling should stop this weekend’s festivities, taking place under the motto “courage for freedom”, from turning into a merely nostalgic affair. Events in Berlin will mark the culmination of a remarkable chain of events which resulted in the opening of border checkpoints in Berlin on the night of 9 November 1989. At least 138 people died trying to cross the inner-German border in the capital, more than 1,000 in the country as a whole, in the postwar years.

A host of historic key players and celebrities have already dodged a nationwide train strike in Germany to descend on the capital. Yesterday evening German chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, attended a memorial concert at the Berliner Ensemble, the theatre founded by the playwright Bertolt Brecht.

On Sunday, Merkel will open a new exhibition centre at Bernauer Strasse, near the Bornholmer Strasse checkpoint where the then 35-year-old chancellor crossed over to the west for the first time. “I think you never forget how you felt that day – at least I will never forget it,” the chancellor said in a recent podcast. “I had to wait 35 years for that feeling of liberty. It changed my life.”

At least two million people are expected to attend a grand street festival at the Brandenburg Gate. The former Polish president Lech Walesa, Hungarian ex-president Miklos Nemeth, as well as Gorbachev and German president Gauck, are all expected to take to the stage.

Music will be provided by the Berlin State Orchestra, conducted byDaniel Barenboim, as well as East Berlin rock band Silly and British singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, performing David Bowie’s Heroes.

The centrepiece of the festivities will be formed by an ambitious art installation. Since Friday morning, 8,000 white balloons have been pegged to the ground along the former border. After sunset, they light up to form a 15km-long “wall of light”. This evening the balloons will be released into the air one by one, to the music of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit, as well as guests of honour including Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus, Nasa astronaut Ron Garan and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, will start the balloon release at 7pm local time.

Mexico says drug gangs killed kidnapped students

SATURDAY 08 NOVEMBER 2014

Cartel members apparently confess to the gruesome murder of 43 students who disappeared in September. But angry relatives reject the official version of events.

Mexico Says Drug Gangs Killed Kidnapped Students by Thavam