Election Violence On The Rise

By Nirmala Kannangara- Sunday, December 07, 2014

More election violence and violations are reported from all parts of the country where the ruling UPFA government is accused for all the reported cases say election monitors.

Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Executive Director Keerthi Tennakoon and People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchchi said that it is disheartening to see how the ruling party violates election rules even before nominations are filed.

Election Violence on the Rise by Thavam Ratna

Government excludes opposition from all public spaces

by Maheen Senanayake-December 6, 2014

"The government has under various names of party supporters booked all public spaces and venues that can accommodate large crowds for political meetings", Manjula Gajanayake, National Co-ordinator, Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said yesterday.

"This is a strategy employed to exclude all opposition parties from using these venues- constituting election violence. It is a strategy used by the very powerful incumbent government to deny any alternate voices from reaching the public," he further said.

He said that venues in the Colombo Municipal area are have been most targeted. The playground in Maharagama is another example.

"During the last week the venue had been booked by various people and none of the opposition parties seeking to hold meetings there were able to do so. However, no meetings had been held during any of the days for which the grounds had been booked during the week", he further explained.

The Elections Commissioner has intimated that if this situation continues, all public spaces such as playgrounds and others that are available for political meetings would be taken under his charge according to the powers vested in his office by law.

"This election, in our experience has been the most violent, most corrupt and the most expensive", Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said, "The government’s intention is to deter the flow of the message of the opposition to the people".

"The government denied the opposition a variety of venues including junctions, parks etc by various means. Some, they have booked in advance through their agents, in other cases they deny permission citing security concerns. During the last provincial council elections we held several meetings in the Gampaha and the Kiribathgoda areas but this time we have not been able to hold a single meeting", Dissanayake told the Sunday Island yesterday.

"We believe that the Elections Commissioner has the right to intervene in this instance to ensure fair distribution of venues to parties", he added.

"If the government thinks that they can stop the voices of the opposition from reaching the masses, they are living in a childish fantasy".

Mr. Karu Jayasuriya, head of the UNP Leadership Council, commented: "This is highly un-ethical and a deliberate attempt on the part of the government to deny the voices of the opposition a place. On the other hand you can see how the president is flouting election laws using even Temple Trees for his election work, government vehicles, helicopters, offices and buildings".

"Our party has taken a decision to meet the Elections Commissioner next week and request his intervention in this matter. The government has used various agents to book these venues to deny the opposition opportunity for propaganda".

Meanwhile, Colombo Mayor AJM Muzammil declared "I have taken personal control of these venues to ensure fair distribution of venues to the opposition parties. The only exception was when Ratana Hamuduruwo wanted to have a meeting at the Hyde Park last week, I personally approved this but subsequently found that another meeting had been scheduled and approval ‘smuggled in’. So I made alternate arrangements for Ratana Hamuduruwo at Muttiah park", he said.

"I guarantee that the CMC will ensure a fair distribution of the venues in Colombo to all political parties under the usual bookings procedure."

Crude Price Fall - Will The Euphoria For Consuming Countries Be Short Lived?

| by N.S.Venkataraman

( December 5, 2014, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Around a year back, nobody really expected that the price of crude oil would fall below 70 USD per barrel. Now many explanations are being advanced for such crude price fall and also guesses are being made as to what extent the price fall would take place and how long it would persist. The question being debated is whether the global crude oil price would stabilise at around 60 USD per barrel.

Some agencies say that the so called recession in Japan and Europe and fall in demand in China could have resulted in crude price fall. However, the credible explanation appears to be that the price fall have been caused due to steady increase in the production of crude in USA in recent months , as a result of the spectacular increase in the investment in shale gas fields, which has resulted in the global supply scenario of crude moving to surplus .

U S remains as one of the largest consumers of crude oil in the world. Until recently, US has been substantially importing its crude oil requirement , not wanting to exploit its own resources. With the production of crude in USA significantly going up, the import level of crude by USA is likely to come down steadily in the coming months. Further, the export of crude from USA is now banned but there are demand by US oil companies that US government should remove this ban. In such case, not only import of crude oil by US will decrease but the export also will take place that would nearly flood the global oil market.

The fact today is that the actual global production of crude is more than the global demand. In the past , whenever such situation has developed , the oil producing countries used to reduce the production to ensure that the supply situation would remain tight. This is not happening now , as several oil producing regions such as Venezuela, Russia, Iraq, Iran are largely dependent on income from export of crude and cannot afford to reduce the crude production , whatever may be the compulsions. Saudi Arabia also does not want to reduce the crude production when others would not do so, as it would result in loss of market share for Saudi Arabia.

In recent years, it has been seen that the price of the crude in the world market is significantly influenced by the speculators , who are not consumers but traders. They buy and sell crude anticipating the price behaviour and profit potential. The current situation is that the speculators have understood that the global market is likely to have substantial oversupply in the coming months, that would result in price pressure and therefore , the speculators do not want to burn their fingers by buying oil anticipating any windfall in profit. As the speculators become hesitant and tend to withdraw to some extent, the demand for oil really come down in the speculative market. This inevitably lead to price fall.

The situation is grim for shale oil producers in north America, as they would break even only at price of 80 dollars per barrel and above, as they have invested huge amount in drilling and the cost of operations are going up. Any price less than $ 80 per barrel would hurt them severely. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, another large oil producer appears to think that it would be comfortable with the price of 60 USD per barrel. Perhaps, by not reducing the oil production and reconciling for the price of $ 60 per barrel, Saudi Arabia wants to make it difficult for the crude producers in North America and drive them out of the market to some extent, if possible.

The likely future scenario would be that the oil producers in North America would try to come to sort of agreement with the other oil producing countries to hike the price of crude in the global market. Certainly, the governments in USA and West Europe would try to make this possible.

China , a large consumer of oil is trying to make the best out of the situation by importing more crude when the price is low and building the stock. However, this can have only a limited impact in the global market, as there are limits for storage capacity.

The biggest beneficiaries of crude price fall are the large importing countries like India and China and other non oil producing countries like Sri Lanka.

However, as of now , it appears that the consuming countries have no particular strategy to convert the present crude price fall into their advantage. While they are having an euphoria now due to the crude price fall, such euphoria may be short lived, as sooner or later, perhaps sooner than later , the crude price would rise to USD 80 per barrel and more due to the manoeuvre of the oil producing countries.

However, the speculators who operate from the gallery will have the last laugh as they scheme and skilfully plan , without the type of botheration and risk that oil producing countries have.

An investigative and well researched analysis of the global crude price trend has now been released by Nandini Consultancy , Singapore. (www.nandinichemical.com)

IPS State of the Economy 2014: A critical probe shows hidden risks and defects of policies

IPS, the forerunner in reviewing the country’s economy- December 8, 2014 
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), in issuing its 2014 State of the Economy Report, has drawn attention of Sri Lanka’s economic policy makers to a number of hidden risks and defects of the current economic policy package that is being pursued by the country.
IPS, the semi official economic policy think tank, has been issuing its State of the Economy Report well ahead of the official reports released by the other two policy authorities of the country, namely, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The Central Bank issues its report in late March of the following year, while the Ministry of Finance does so after three more months in June.

IPS State of the Economy 2014 a Critical Probe Shows Hidden Risks and Defects of Policies by Thavam Ratna

Police hold 15 over Strpci war crime by Bosnian Serbs

Police in Bosnia and Serbia have arrested 15 men suspected of a 1993 atrocity in which 19 people were hauled off a train and killed during the Bosnia war.

Railway at Strpci: Bosnian Serb gunmen kidnapped 19 passengers after identifying their ethnicity

5 December 2014

Bosnian Serb fighters ambushed the train in the small Bosnian town of Strpci, near the Serbian border.

Eighteen of the victims were Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims).

After years of delay the arrests show progress in joint Bosnian-Serbian investigations, a BBC reporter says.

Serbian police arrested five suspects, while 10 were arrested in Bosnia.

They include senior figures in the former Bosnian Serb army, among them Gen Luka Dragicevic, who commanded the military in the border zone.

Prosecutors say the ringleader in the Strpci case was Milan Lukic. The former Bosnian Serb warlord is already serving a life sentence for other war crimes. His brother Gojko was among the 15 arrested.

The victims were tortured, then shot and their bodies dumped in the River Drina. Only the remains of three victims have been found, in Lake Perucac.

Bosnian-Serbian joint police work has borne fruit 20 years after the war

The Strpci massacre has long stood out as a symbol of the failings of post-conflict justice, the BBC's Guy Delauney reports from Belgrade.

One man was convicted in Montenegro more than a decade ago. But until now Serbia, Bosnia and the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague had all failed to address the case, he reports.

Evidence has emerged that Yugoslav state officials were warned, allegedly by the Belgrade Railway Company (ZTP), that Bosnian Serb paramilitaries would stop the train and kidnap some passengers.

The Yugoslav state was disintegrating at the time through civil conflict.

"There existed at least a tacit agreement... I mean that some state organs took part," said Serbian Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric, quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

Israeli jets bomb Syria, says Damascus

Syrian state TV claims Israel has bombed two installations, one near Damascus and one near the Lebanese border

An Israeli air force jet. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem-Sunday 7 December 2014

Syria accused Israeli jets of bombing two installations inside the country on Sunday, one near the capital, Damascus, and the second in a town near the Lebanese border.

The report by Syrian state television described the attack as “an aggression”. It said the air raids occurred near Damascus’s international airport and in the town of Dimas.

The state news agency Sana said: “The Israeli enemy attacked Syria by targeting two safe areas in Damascus province, namely the Dimas area and the area of Damascus international airport.” It said no casualties were reported.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.

Speculation in the immediate aftermath suggested that the target of the strikes might have been advanced Russian-made S300 surface-to-air missiles.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the country’s civil war through a network of activists on the ground, said the strike near the Damascus airport hit a warehouse, and it was unclear what was in the building.

The Observatory said around 10 explosions could be heard outside a military area near Dimas. It had no word on casualties in either strike.

Israel has carried out several air strikes in Syria since the revolt against Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to take military action to prevent Syria from transferring sophisticated weapons to its ally Hezbollah.

In June, Israel struck targets inside Syria, including a military installation, following a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli teenager. Israel said at the time that it had struck nine military targets inside its northern neighbour and had confirmed “direct hits”.

In Kabul’s Valley of Death, hints of Afghanistan’s security woes

Residents are reflected in the broken glass on the road in Kabul a day after an attack by Taliban militants. (Jawad Jalali/EPA)

By Sudarsan Raghavan December 7 at 3:30 AM

KABUL — At an intersection of a deadly road, Afghan security forces stand watch. They peek into vehicles, stare suspiciously at anyone running across the street. They are on alert for suicide bombers, the sort that have inspired Afghans to dub the road and the surrounding area “The Valley of Death.”

In Kabul’s Valley of Death, Hints of Afghanistan’s Security Woes by Thavam Ratna

Al-Qaeda loses second key member in as many days

SUNDAY 07 DECEMBER 2014

Omar Farooq dies in a drone strike a day after another senior member of the Islamist terror network is shot dead by the Pakistani military.

Farooq, a 38-year-old former religious teacher, joined al-Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and was said to have been close to Osama bin Laden and the organisation's current head, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

He helped organise the group's operations and finances in Pakistan and helped direct attacks against Nato troops. A Pakistani official said Farooq, who also used the first name Ustad, was in charge of al-Qaeda's media department for the region.

"He has been key in pushing al Qaeda to focus on South Asia and helped evolve al Qaeda's South Asia policy and specifically its anti-India activities. It was on his advice that al-Qaeda officially declared the Pakistan army an apostate army," the official said.

"He is the first Pakistani to be appointed to a senior-level position in al-Qaeda," a military official told Reuters.

Farooq died on Sunday when a US drone hit a house in Khar Tangi village in Datta Khel, North Waziristan, the mountainous region bordering Afghanistan.

Military sources said at least three other suspected militants also died in the strike.

The attack came a death after Pakistani forces killed al-Qaeda leader Adnan el-Shukrijumah. The FBI had pit a $5m reward on his head over his alleged involvement in a plot to blow up New York's subway system.

US drone strikes against Pakistani Taliban forces in Afghanistan have also stepped up in recent weeks, the Taliban said.

The strikes stopped for the first six months of the year while the Pakistani government held peace talks with the Taliban.

But the talks failed and the strikes resumed days before the military announced a major anti-Taliban offensive in North Waziristan in June.

Military officials say they have killed more than 1,000 militants in the fighting so far, but independent reports are rare.

New York set for fifth day of protests over police violence after West Coast clashes

Protesters yell at police officers during a protest against police violence in the U.S., in Berkeley, California December 6, 2014.BY ANDREW CHUNG-Sun Dec 7, 2014
(Reuters) - A fifth day of demonstrations over police use of excessive force with minorities was set for New York on Sunday after 13 arrests in a night of violent protests in Berkeley, California, where stores were looted and tear gas fired, and in Seattle.

Clashes on the West Coast contrasted with relatively calm demonstrations on a rain-soaked Saturday in New York, after mourners held a funeral for an unarmed black man shot dead by a white police officer in the stairwell of a Brooklyn apartment house.

Sunday was expected to see protests again in New York as well as Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and Minneapolis and dozens of other cities.

In Berkeley on Saturday night, one man smashed a grocery store window with a skateboard as others proceeded to loot the store, video from KTVU-TV showed. At least two other businesses were looted, said Officer Jennifer Coats of the Berkeley Police Department.

Police were pelted by missiles from a splinter group of protesters and fired tear gas, Coats said. One officer hit by a sandbag suffered a dislocated shoulder, she said.

Several police vehicles were damaged, she told Reuters on Sunday.

The disturbance forced the closure of the local Bay Area Rapid Transit station.

Six people were arrested, Coats said.

In Seattle, protesters threw rocks and attacked police who blocked them from marching onto State Route 99, resulting in seven arrests for assault and other charges, said Seattle Detective Patrick Michaud.

The shooting of Akai Gurley, 28, at a Brooklyn public housing project last month was the latest in a series of incidents fueling outrage over what protesters say is a pattern of excessive force being used by law enforcement officers against African-Americans.

The killings and decisions by grand juries to return no indictments against officers involved in them have rekindled a national debate over race relations in the United States.

The district attorney in the New York City borough of Brooklyn said on Friday a grand jury would consider charges against Peter Liang, the officer who shot Gurley. Police have said Liang may have accidentally discharged his gun.

Demonstrations began on Wednesday after a grand jury decided to bring no charges against Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City police officer, in the July death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father of six.

That decision was announced nine days after a Missouri grand jury chose not to indict a white policeman for the shooting dead in August of an unarmed black teenager, spurring two nights of violence and arson in a St. Louis suburb.

(Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York and Emmett Berg in San Francisco, editing by David Evans)

Six Guantanamo prisoners sent to live in Uruguay after being held 12 years in US detention without charge

• The six men — four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian — are the first prisoners transferred to South America from the US base in Cuba
• All were detained as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda who were cleared for release in 2009 - only now would a country take them
• Uruguayan President Jose Mujica agreed to accept the men as a humanitarian gesture while asking Obama to end Cuba embargo
• 
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS-, 7 December 2014 | UPDATED: 15:32 GMT, 7 December 2014

Six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Uruguay to be resettled as refugees, the U.S. government announced Sunday — a deal that had been delayed for months by security concerns at the Pentagon and political considerations in the South American country.

The six men — four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian — are the first prisoners transferred to South America from the U.S. base in Cuba, part of a flurry of recent releases amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison.

All were detained as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda in 2002 but were never charged. They had been cleared for release since 2009 but could not be sent home and the U.S. struggled to find countries willing to take them.

• 
  

Jose Mujica, President of Uruguay, speaks during the UNASUR summit in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Mujica reiterated his willingness to resettle six Guantanamo prisoners in his country while calling on the United States to end its decades-old embargo against Cuba

Six Guantanamo Prisoners Sent to Live in Uruguay After Being Held 12 Years in US Detention Without Charge by Thavam Ratna

Majority of Germans want Merkel to run for fourth term - poll

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a joint news conference with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at the Chancellery in Berlin December 3, 2014.

BERLIN Sun Dec 7, 2014

(Reuters) - A majority of Germans want Angela Merkel to run for a fourth term as Chancellor and nearly three in four believe she would like to remain in office beyond 2017, when her current term ends, a new poll shows.

Last year some leading German commentators speculated that Merkel, 60, might step down in the middle of her third term to give a successor time to consolidate his or her position before the next federal vote.

But one year into her third term, Merkel is enjoying popularity levels that other leaders can only dream of, while the leading candidate to succeed her as leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), Ursula von der Leyen, has made a mixed start as defence minister.

The survey was conducted days before Merkel is expected to be feted at the CDU's annual congress in Cologne.

Conducted by polling group Emnid for the Sunday edition of the Bild newspaper, the poll showed 56 percent of Germans would like Merkel to run for a fourth term, against 37 percent who would prefer she stop after three. Some 74 percent of respondents said they believe that she wants a fourth term.

TOUGH STANCE

In post-war Germany only Helmut Kohl, the father of German reunification and an early mentor of Merkel, has served four terms as Chancellor.

A separate poll for public broadcaster ARD last week showed that 67 percent of Germans approve of the job Merkel is doing.

Record low unemployment levels and Merkel's defence of German interests during the euro zone debt crisis have contributed to her popularity.

Her tough stance towards Russia during the Ukraine crisis has also become popular in recent months after earlier polls suggested that most Germans were sceptical about whether punishing Moscow with economic sanctions was wise.

The ARD poll showed that only 39 percent of Germans approve of von der Leyen, who has come under fire for making ambitious pledges of German support for crisis regions at a time when Germany's military hardware is in a state of disrepair.

Other world leaders are also faring poorly compared with Merkel.

Approval ratings for U.S. President Barack Obama have hovered around 40 percent in recent polls and a survey for French daily Le Figaro last month showed that 86 percent of French voters do not want President Francois Hollande to stand for re-election in 2017.

(Reporting by Noah Barkin; Editing by David Goodman)

Uber India under fire after driver held over alleged rape

SUNDAY 07 DECEMBER 2014
Indian police arrest a driver from the international taxi-booking service Uber over an alleged rape in the capital.

"The prime accused in the case has been arrested," Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner with theDelhi police, told Reuters.

The suspect was arrested in his home town in Uttar Pradesh where his car was earlier found abandoned. He will be brought before a court in New Delhi on Monday.

The 26-year-old woman told police that she had been sexually assaulted and beaten when she got a ride with the Uber driver after a social event late Friday in south Delhi.

Legal action

Verma said the police would take legal action against Uber for violations including a failure to check whether the driver, named as Shiv Kumar Yadav, had a clean police record and the lack of a satellite location device in his car.

"Every violation by Uber will be evaluated and we will go for legal recourse," said Verma, saying police would take legal advice before opting to press a criminal or civil case.

Mallika Dutta, founder and president of human rights organisation Breakthrough told Channel 4 News that India is dealing with a culture of impunity in regards to women, and that focussing on the US online cab service was "misplaced."

Uber has faced critical news coverage over its driver screening in the United States, and has apologised for comments by an executive who suggested "digging up dirt" on journalists investigating the firm.

Delhi recorded the highest number of rapes in India in 2013, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, earning the dubious distinction of being India's "rape capital".

Police attribute the rise in reports to more women coming forward due to greater public awareness following the high profile gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in December 2012.

'Safety a priority'

Uber said in a statement on Sunday that it had suspended the driver following the allegations, in line with company policy, and have provided the authorities with "all relevant details," such as driver, vehicle and trip information.

"Safety is Uber's highest priority and in India, we work with licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option," Uber spokeswoman Evelyn Tay said on the company's blog.

The secret to a good night’s sleep

Put together the perfect sleep sanctuary with John Lewis

The foundation of a restful night’s sleep is a good mattress. Photograph: Tara Moore/Getty Images

Sleep is essential for good physical, mental and emotional health, and the consequences of having insufficient or poor-quality sleep can be profound.

It’s not just a matter of feeling bleary-eyed at your desk – there can be a whole range of knock-on effects. Sleep deprivation can upset the hormones involved in appetite, leading to cravings for fatty and sugary foods, or put you at greater risk of injury when you exercise. It’s also linked to medical conditions including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Your night-time surroundings can have a significant effect on how well you sleep. Experts recommend that your bedroom should be entirely given over to sleep – a “sanctuary” that’s free of other distractions. When the lights go out, it should be dark, quiet and cool. Your bed should be designed specifically for you, with your perfect mattress, pillows, duvets and bed linens. You’ll spend around a third of your time there each day of the year, so it’s worth making the investment.

John Lewis has everything you need to put together the perfect sleep sanctuary. You’ll find all of the core essentials, from beds and bedroom furniture, to mattresses, duvets, pillows and bed linen, as well as numerous additional sleep enhancers - blackout blinds, mood lighting, pillow sprays and eye masks.

The mood of your bedroom is key when creating that perfect sanctuary and John Lewis has plenty of innovative solutions to aid this. If clutter stresses you out, choose a modular storage system like the Mix It range and if you’re trying to recreate some hotel elegance, the Etienne range carved from weathered oak is ideal.

The foundation of a restful night’s sleep is, of course, a good mattress, of which John Lewis also has a full range of options. One of the most popular ranges is the Natural collection, manufactured by Yorkshire bedmakers Spink & Edgar. All of the fillings used in their handmade mattresses are 100% natural, including hemp, flax and lavender from the family farm and wool from their own flock of sheep. Additional ranges include memory mattresses, which use foam that moulds perfectly to your body shape, and the Ortho collection for those who prefer a firmer sleeping surface, as your spine should be straight to get the best night’s sleep.

However, it is not just your mattress that affects your night’s sleep. Limp duvets, flimsy pillows and scratchy sheets do not a perfect sleep sanctuary make. At John Lewis you’ll find all you need to create the most comfortable surroundings possible. Amid the extensive duvets and pillow options, you’ll discover plenty of specialist solutions, including Soft Touch Washable and Anti Allergy ranges. Complete your bed with some beautiful bed sheeting, with a range of thread counts to suit all budgets and preferences. The Egyptian Cotton bed linen range even offers the choice of two different finishes, either soft and silky or soft and crisp, to suit personal taste.

What’s more, you’ll always be able to rely upon good advice from knowledgeable partners who will help you choose the products best suited to your personal sleeping needs.