Work is currently underway to repeal the controversial 18th amendment - Mangala says at UNHRC 

Monday, 02 March 2015 

'Work is currently underway to repeal the controversial 18th amendment to the Constitution which removed independent appointments to Commissions and lifted the term limits of the Executive President. The Government will re-introduce provisions of the 17th amendment to the Constitution that will provide for independent Judicial Service, Police, Public Service, Elections, Bribery and Corruption, and National Human Rights Commissions' said by the foreign affairs minister Mr. Mangala Samaraweera in his speech at UNHRC in Geneeva.

Full speech of Managala at UNHRC as follows

Work is Currently Underway to Repeal the Controversial 18th Amendment - Mangala Says at UNHRC by Thavam Ratna

Is the International Community Abandoning the Fight Against Impunity?

YES

Michael Ignatieff-2/9/2015

Professor and Human Rights Scholar

When the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court dropped charges against the President of Kenya in December 2014, she said it was a “dark day for international criminal justice.” It was more than that. It signaled a clear retreat in the fight against impunity, at least as it relates to heads of state.

Is the International Community Abandoning the Fight Against Impunity by Thavam Ratna

Boris Nemtsov murder: chief witness 'prevented' from leaving Russia

Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, who was with opposition politician when he was shot dead, complains of being kept under guard in Moscow

Anna Duritskaya, who was with Boris Nemtsov when he was shot, recalls the night of the murder

Agence France-Presse in Moscow-Monday 2 March 2015
The girlfriend of the Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, with whom she was with when he was gunned down outside the Kremlin late on Friday night, has said she is effectively being held prisoner by Russian investigators.

Anna Duritskaya, a 23-year-old model from Ukraine, told an independent Russian television channel that she remembered little of what had happened due to being in shock.

“I don’t want to answer questions about what happened on the bridge. I don’t want to talk about this,” she told TV Rain. “I am in a very difficult psychological condition and I cannot talk about this any more now. I feel bad ... I saw no one. I don’t know where he came from, he was behind my back.”

Nemtsov was shot four times in the back as he walked across a bridge close to the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral after having dinner. He will be buried in Moscow on Tuesday, while investigators have announced little progress in apprehending those responsible for gunning down the opposition politician.

CCTV appears to show Boris Nemtsov shortly before murder
Duritskaya said the killer had got into a passing white car and sped away, but she did not see his face, nor the model or number of the car. She said she was staying in an apartment belonging to her friends in Moscow, but was being guarded by police around the clock and was not allowed to move around freely.

“I’ve told them everything possible and I don’t know why I am still on Russian territory, as I want to go back to my mum, who is ill, and who is in a very difficult psychological state,” said Duritskaya. “For three days, I’ve been driven around in police cars with guards to the Investigative Committee, and questioned. And nobody has told me when I’ll be let go and why I am being held here.”

Duritskaya said she had known the politician for about three years. Nemtsov had a reputation as a womaniser, but his friends and colleagues say the idea that a jealous lover could have been responsible for a professional hit in the very heart of Moscow is deeply implausible. Duritskaya said she was being questioned as a witness rather than a suspect, but was nevertheless not allowed to leave Russia.

Asked whether she would attend Nemtsov’s funeral on Tuesday, Duritskaya said: “I’m not allowed out, don’t you understand? Probably I won’t be able to go.”

A Moscow court also rejected a request from opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be let out of jail to attend Nemtsov’s funeral. Navalny, who along with Nemtsov was one of the organisers of a protest march that had been due to take place on Sunday, was jailed for 15 days ahead of the march for handing out leaflets. He will be released on 6 March. Late last year, Navalny’s brother Oleg was jailed for 3.5 years, in a case widely seen as punishment for Navalny’s political activities.

In Geneva, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called the killing a “heinous crime which will be fully investigated”. He said President Vladimir Putin “immediately handed down all instructions and is ensuring special control over this investigation”.

However, others have expressed doubt at whether the investigation can possibly be independent, given the widespread suspicion among the opposition that the Kremlin is at least indirectly responsible for the death.

On Russian television, veteran lawyer Genri Reznik criticised Putin, whose spokesman announced immediately after the killing that it was “100 percent a provocation” meant to create panic in Russia or make Putin look bad. Reznik said knowing how the Russian system works, this would have sent a signal to investigators of how they should work on the crime.

A portrait of murdered Russian opposition veteran leader Boris Nemtsov above floral tributes near St Basil’s cathedral in Moscow. Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

Indeed, when Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin spoke to explain what leads were being followed up, he did not mention the possibility of radical nationalists or anyone linked to the government. Instead, he said the main lines of enquiry were personal issues, squabbles within the opposition, Islamic extremism, or someone linked to Ukraine.

There was also confusion over how much of the incident had been caught on camera. Kommsersant newspaper reported that all the cameras on the bridge either had grainy footage or were turned off “for repairs” at the time of the incident. A Moscow city spokesman denied this, however, and said all the relevant video had been passed to investigators.

So far, in the only CCTV footage to be released, by Russian channel TV Centre, shows two people believed to be Nemtsov and Duritskaya walking on the bridge, but at the moment of the killing the pair are obscured by a passing snow-clearing machine.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people marched through Moscow to pay their respects to Nemtsov, in a rally that largely went off without incident though was watched over closely by thousands of police officers.

Mourners will be able to say a final farewell to Nemtsov at a ceremony in Moscow on Tuesday, after which he will be buried at the capital’s Troyekurovskoye cemetery.

N. Korea launches two missiles as U.S., South Korea begin military exercises

The South Korean Defense Ministry issued Strong words after North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Monday. The firing came on the day U.S. and South Korean military exercises were scheduled to begin. (Reuters)

By Anna Fifield-March 1 at 10:43 PM

TOKYO — North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan on Monday morning, registering its displeasure with the start of annual military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

After offering to suspend nuclear tests if the United States and South Korea canceled the drills, Pyongyang has reverted saber rattling, threatening “merciless strikes” just hours before the missiles were launched.

North Korea fired the two missiles, thought to be Scud-C or Scud-D types, from the western coastal city of Nampo, about 300 miles over the peninsula and into the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday. The launches took place at 6:32 a.m. and 6:41 a.m., it said in a statement.

They were launched as South Korea and the United States began military exercises to practice to coordinate their response to the North Korean threat: The two-week-long computer-simulated Key Resolve drill, and the Foal Eagle field exercises, which will continue through April 24.

North Korea has protested the drills year after year, calling them a “dress rehearsal” for an invasion.

“Key Resolve and Foal Eagle are an undisguised encroachment upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK and an unpardonable war hysteria of dishonest hostile forces,” the general staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement issued before the launches Monday.

“Our revolutionary armed forces will never remain a passive onlooker to this grave situation,” it said, vowing “merciless strikes” against such aggression.

South Korea and Japan sharply criticized North Korea’s actions.

“Its menacing words and deeds are a very grave challenge to the security of the Korean peninsula and firing ballistic missiles is in violation of the United Nations’ resolutions,” Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South’s defense ministry, told reporters in Seoul.

“Our military squarely warns the North against its reckless provocations and will respond in a stern and strong manner based upon a staunch combined defense posture,” he said, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

Shinzo Abe’s government in Tokyo also said it would lodge a strong protest with North Korea.

Earlier this year, North Korea said it was willing to suspend nuclear tests if the United States and South Korea canceled the annual military drills, but the State Department dismissed the offer, calling it “an implicit threat.”

Anna Fifield is The Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East.

Bangladeshi Muslim blogger suspected of killing American atheist blogger with cleaver: police

Farabi Shafiur Rahman, center, was arrested as a suspect in the murder of American blogger Avijit Roy.

Ajay Roy, right, stands beside the coffin of his son Avijit Roy on Sunday.

BY MEG WAGNER-Monday, March 2, 2015

Bangladesh police arrested a Muslim blogger suspected of killing a U.S. blogger who was an outspoken atheist and a critic of religious extremism.

The Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh’s anti-terrorism unit, arrested Farabi Shafiur Rahman on Monday, four days after Avijit Roy was hacked to death with a meat cleaver. The attack left Roy’s wife with head injuries, NBC News reported.

Rahman — who was previously arrested for his involvement with Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamist extremist group — posted threats against Roy on Facebook last year, police said.

Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, was the founder of Mukto-mona, a blog that condemns religious extremism.

“It’s a holy duty of Bangalee Muslims to kill Avijit,” Rahman wrote, according to police.

Rahman maintains his own Muslim blog in which he has denounced atheism, police said. He confessed to posting the threats, but police refused to say if they believed he was one of Roy’s assailants.

A group of cleaver-wielding attackers assaulted Roy and his wife, blogger Rafida Ahmed, on Thursday as the pair returned from a book fair in Dhaka. Ahmed survived the brutal battery but lost a finger. She remains in the hospital with head injuries, officials said.

Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, was the founder of Mukto-mona, which means Free Mind, a blog that advocates for scientific reasoning and against religious fanaticism.

With News Wire Services

mwagner@nydailynews.com

​Is Libya the Next Stronghold of the Islamic State?

The chaotic civil war is giving the caliphate a foothold in North Africa, and its enemies can’t figure out whether to kill the jihadists or use them for their own purposes.

BY DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, NATHANIEL BARR-MARCH 2, 2015

Exactly four years after the protests that kicked off the Libyan revolution, the country has again found itself in the spotlight. On Feb. 15, a Libyan affiliate of the Islamic State released a sordid video showing the group’s militants marching a group of 21 prisoners whose only crime was being Christians, and foreigners. After a short speech from one of the jihadis, the Egyptian Coptic prisoners were simultaneously beheaded before the video panned to a scene of the blood-soaked Mediterranean Sea.

Is Libya the Next Stronghold of the Islamic State by Thavam Ratna

Fukushima radiation spikes 7,000% as contaminated water pours into the ocean

Thursday, February 26, 2015 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Cleanup crews trying to mitigate Japan's never-ending radiation crisis at Fukushima ran into more problems recently after sensors monitoring a drainage gutter detected a huge spike in radiation levels from wastewater pouring into the Pacific Ocean.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company says radiation levels were up to 70 times, or 7,000 percent, higher than normal, prompting an immediate shutdown of the drainage instrument. The first readings came around 10 a.m. local time on February 22, setting off alarms not once but twice as radiation levels spiked to extremely high levels.

"The levels of beta ray-emitting substances, such as strontium-90, measured 5,050 to 7,230 becquerels per liter of water between 10:20 a.m. and 10:50 a.m.," reported The Japan Times. "TEPCO requires radioactivity levels of groundwater at the plant discharged into the sea to remain below 5 becquerels."

TEPCO shut off leaky gutter, but radiation continued to spike throughout day

The gutter was quickly decommissioned to prevent further radiation emissions, but the leaks reportedly continued throughout the day, with radiation levels hovering between 10 and 20 times higher than normal. TEPCO says it doesn't know what caused the sudden radiation spikes.

"With emergency surveys of the plant and monitoring of other sensors, we have no reason to believe tanks storing radioactive waste water have leaked," stated a plant official to the media. "We have shut the gutter [from pouring water to the bay]. We are currently monitoring the sensors at the gutter and seeing the trend."

Multiple major leaks reported as Fukushima generates 400 tons of new radioactive waste daily

Just four days prior to the leak, the International Atomic Energy Agency congratulated TEPCO for its continued cleanup efforts at the Fukushima site. This is despite numerous other radiation leaks, some of them quite major, that have occurred in recent months at the shuttered facility.

Back in October 2013, for instance, a failed transfer of radioactive wastewater from one storage tank to another resulted in more than four tons of highly contaminated sludge being dumped into the ground. Not long before this, 300 tons of radioactive waste reportedly leaked from another nearby storage tank.

As we reported earlier in the month, a worker actually died after falling into a radioactive storage tank during a routine inspection. The 33-foot container that swallowed the man is one of many at the site that holds a portion of the 400 tons of highly radioactive water generated daily at Fukushima.

Fukushima workers build one new storage tank daily, but this can't go on forever

The Japan News reports that large storage tanks capable of holding up to 2,900 tons of contaminated water are constantly being built at the site, up to one new tank daily, in fact. At some point, though, other mitigatory measures will have to be implemented, as there's only so much space available to build more tanks.

According to The Ecologist, the Reactor 3 fuel storage pond also still contains upwards of 89 metric tons of plutonium-based, mixed-oxide fuel that, should the pond leak or dry up, could result in another major reactor meltdown. Reactor 3, as you may recall, experienced a full meltdown back in 2011 that resulted in the reactor core falling through the floor to the bottom of the containment vessel.

The chart at the following link, which was put together just days after the tsunami and earthquake hit Fukushima, provides a visual breakdown of radiation exposures from various sources. It can be used to quantify the threat associated with each respective leak:
Blog.XKCD.com.

Sources:

http://www.abc.net.au

http://gizmodo.com

http://news.yahoo.com

http://gizmodo.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://the-japan-news.com

http://blog.xkcd.com

http://www.theecologist.org

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048772_Fukushima_radiation_ocean_contamination.html##ixzz3TFZeBNf2

U.N. nuclear watchdog says pace of Iran's cooperation slow

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano waits for the start of a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna March 2, 2015.

BY SHADIA NASRALLA-Mon Mar 2, 2015

(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said on Monday Iran was being slow to cooperate with his agency's investigation into the Iranian atomic programme and that the inquiry could not continue indefinitely.

Diplomats have voiced doubt over whether the outstanding issues in the U.N. investigation would be resolved before a broader diplomatic agreement is reached between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.

The seven countries have set a deadline of late March for a framework deal and June for a comprehensive final settlement that would curb Iran's nuclear activity to ensure it cannot be put to bombmaking in return for the lifting of international sanctions that have hammered the oil-based Iranian economy.

When asked about a time frame for the U.N. inquiry running parallel to the higher-level negotiations, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said: "It depends on the level and pace of cooperation from Iran, I cannot tell by when...

"We have asked questions and the questions are clear, so (Iran) can answer."

The Islamic Republic has yet to address two outstanding issues relating to alleged explosives tests and other measures that might have been used for nuclear bomb research which it should have explained away by last August.

The West fears Iran wants to develop atomic bomb capability. Tehran says its programme is for peaceful nuclear energy only.

The IAEA remains ready to accelerate the resolution of all outstanding issues, Amano added, but "this process cannot continue indefinitely". Iran's leading negotiator Abbas Araqchi met with Amano last week, promising swifter cooperation, but neither side has spelled out any details.

Iran wants Western countries to swiftly lift crippling economic sanctions in any deal curbing its nuclear programme - one of the sticking points in high-level negotiations continuing in Switzerland this week.

The IAEA is likely to monitor the implementation of any deal between Iran and the six powers. Amano said he proposed a 1.8-percent increase to the body's 344-million-euro ($386 million) budget given increased demand for its services.

He reiterated deep concern about the nuclear activities of North Korea, which quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993. The IAEA has not had inspectors on the ground there since they were expelled by North Korea in 2009.

($1 = 0.8914 euros)

(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

With money, corruption and drugs, this monk fears Buddhism in Thailand is a ‘poisoned fruit’

Many feel elders are incapable of supervising 300,000 monks in a rapidly modernising nation where worldly temptations are everywhere

AMY SAWITTA LEFEVRE-NAKHON PATHOM-Sunday 01 March 2015

Phra Buddha Issara is a monk on a mission. From his Buddhist temple near Bangkok he is calling for a radical overhaul of Thai Buddhism, fearing that millions of pounds in temple donations are corrupting his brethren.

Surrounded by verdant rice fields at Wat Or Noi temple, Mr Issara says he wants better oversight of temple finances and to shake up the archaic structure of Thai Buddhism. “Buddhism in Thailand is a poisoned fruit,” he said. “The highest level of the Buddhist religion has turned out to be the devious one.”

Mr Issara’s quest began last month when the Supreme Sangha Council, Thai Buddhism’s governing body, cleared the abbot of Dhammakaya temple over allegations by the National Reform Council (NRC) that he embezzled some 900 million baht (£18m) in donations. Dhammakaya temple members include some of Thailand’s most powerful politicians and it is regarded as the country’s richest Buddhist temple.

Abbot Phra Dhammachayo rejected the fraud charges, and the council said that as he returned most of the money there was no misconduct. The NRC, which has not released details of the alleged fraud, is pushing for a probe into why the Sangha cleared Abbot Dhammachayo.

The fraud allegation is the latest in a series of scandals that have rocked Thailand’s Buddhist clergy. A monk was caught with 120,000 methamphetamine pills (an addictive stimulant) and another was dismissed from his temple for investing £700,000 on the stock market.

“The money and power swirling around some Thai temples and monks makes them immune to criticism,” said Sulak Sivaraksa, one of Thailand’s pre-eminent Buddhist scholars. “This is why we need to reform the Sangha and start afresh.” The Sangha, a coterie of 20 elderly monks, has traditionally evaded public scrutiny due to its opaque workings and the reverence of millions of Buddhists.

But the latest fraud allegation has unleashed an avalanche of public criticism. Many Thai Buddhists feel those elders are incapable of supervising the behaviour of 300,000 monks in a rapidly modernising nation where worldly temptations are everywhere and temples are often flush with cash. “The Sangha governs but there is nobody that governs them,” said Mr Issara, who is calling for a boycott of the council.

Mr Issara, who played a prominent role in protests last year that helped to overthrow the government of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, said Thais should no longer listen to decrees handed down by the Sangha. He wants the government to check the accounts of all temples and seize assets from those suspected of mishandling donations. He is also calling for the state to restructure the Sangha.

Recently, Buddhist monk Luang Pu Nenkham was stripped of his religious title. He gained notoriety in 2013 when a YouTube video showing him carrying a Louis Vuitton bag aboard a private jet went viral. He is now on the run after millions in assets were uncovered in his name and Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant for having sex with a minor.

Mr Issara, it appears, has much work to do.

Reuters

11 Ways to Reprogram Your Mind to Make Healthier Choices.

11 Ways to Reprogram Your Mind to Make Healthier Choices.

by Bob Choat - Jul 31, 2014

We are truly the sum of our thoughts we possess most of the time. They help lead us to make decisionswhich lead to the actions we take. That is true whether it’s healthy or unhealthy. No matter what you may say, it’s what you do that shows where your true thoughts lie.

In today’s world it’s also hard to know what is a healthy choice. Think about the conflicting views regarding food. Saturated fat was considered bad not long ago and now it’s back to being okay for you (as it was before the 1950’s).  

If you’re able to function at a high quality physically and mentally, then you’re probably on the right track.

As humans, we are designed to move and eat foods closest to Mother Nature. The problem we face nowadays is the multitudes of advertising, tastes and smells that make our mouth water. Put on top of that of how processed sugars and simple carbs lead to increased cravings and even addiction. It becomes a challenge to keep on the right track of healthy eating. It’s the same for physical movement. We do much less than we’ve ever done as a species. Heck, it’s affected our pets too.

The consequences being is a fatter society. Our subconscious has been programmed to make the wrong choices when it comes to your health. We don’t even realize this. No matter how much will power you try to use, it’s simply a trial in futility. No amount of conscious trying is going to move you to the right action if you’re deeply ingrained in your subconscious mind to live an unhealthy life. What you need is to reprogram your subconscious to start making better choices when it comes to health. That includesstopping food cravings and emotional eating. A new filing system in your subconscious mind will allow you to move towards health. It’s going to take some work on your part to make it happen.

11 Different Ways to Reprogram your Mind:

I’m here to help you will 11 different ways to help reprogram your mind so that you’ll focus more on health and make the right decisions which will lead to the right actions.

1. Read only magazines and books related to health, fitness and nutrition.

The more you do this, the more it will be absorbed into your subconscious mind. While this will work, it will take time and effort.

2. Take classes on health, fitness and nutrition.

Learning this way will lead you to better choices later. You can also embed what you learn when you do #3.

3. Use self-hypnosis.

This is a great way to embed suggestions of health and fitness. Make sure to specifically mention the kind of suggestions of what you want, not what you don’t want. The mind can only visualize or imagine in the positive. Even if you say what you don’t want, your mind will only register it as a want.

4. Use hypnotherapy.

A qualified hypnotherapist or a therapist trained in hypnosis can help make good suggestions when it comes to health. They may be able to uncover the deeper problems and use hypnosis to overcome and replace negative files in your subconscious mind by replacing them with positive ones.

5. Associate with health and fitness-minded people.

Who we surround ourselves will most of the time we become the sum average of them. This is due to their influence on our behavior.

6. Write in a journal of the right actions you took.

Give yourself a reward for doing so. It doesn’t have to be a physical reward as much as a documentation of what you did and the value you have on it. In fact, the harder the actions you take, the higher the value of the reward. Dr. John Kappas developed the Mental Bank years ago and it’s a great tool to use.

7. Use a health coach.

This professional will guide you in living a healthy lifestyle, especially when it comes to nutrition and fitness. My friend Dr. Lori Shemek is one such professional who goes above and beyond in helping her clients.

8. Affirmations.

Here’s my take on using affirmations. They don’t work in the traditional way. If you’re subconscious mind is not aligned with the affirmations, then it becomes very hard to make them work for you. Instead, make sure to connect any affirmation to an emotional state based on what you want out of the affirmation.

9. Increase your awareness.

Being mindful of your behavior and what lifestyle choices you make will enable to you to stop the negative actions in their track. From there you can make better decisions.

10. Use powerful words that lead you to health.

There are words that are weak, negative, positive and powerful. The goal should be to connection powerful words with health. From there, turn them into a statement. Since your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between a negative or positive, you can use this to your benefit. Understanding this part will also help you with some of the other ways. For example, using the word “try” is weak. Instead, use the word “will.” Make sure to use words that move you forward.

11. Teach others what you’ve learned.

If a health coach taught you something regarding eating healthy, then teach it to someone else. You can share it in other ways as well. Start a blog and use that to pass forward your new knowledge. Now, here’s the great thing about teaching… You will learn what you teach faster and you’ll want to live what you teach.

I hope you decide to start on the road to a better mindset when it comes to your health. All our actions we take stems from our minds. So, be more mindful and realize that you can make positive changes. Simply just do it right!