Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Vatican officially recognizes the State of Palestine

The Vatican reached a treaty that formally recognizes the “State of Palestine,” with agreement on Catholic Church activities in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. (Reuters)

Faithful throw in the air a jersey and two hats as Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

By William Branigin-May 13

The Vatican concluded a treaty Wednesday that formally recognizes Palestinian statehood, a symbolic but potentially significant step that immediately drew criticism from the Israeli government and a warning that it harms the peace process.

The treaty concludes work by the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine and “deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine,” according to a joint statement posted on the Vatican’s Web site.

“Both Parties agreed that the work of the Commission on the text of the Agreement has been concluded, and that the agreement will be submitted to the respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a date in the near future for the signing,” the statement said.

“Yes, it’s a recognition that the state exists,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Associated Press reported.

Although the Vatican had previously referred unofficially to the “state of Palestine” and had welcomed the U.N. General Assembly’s 2012 decision to recognize such a state, the treaty marked the first time that the Vatican has negotiated a legal document with the Palestinians that constitutes official diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state. Previously, the Vatican’s diplomatic recognition had been extended to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the move, saying it was “disappointed” by it.

“This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations,” the ministry said in a text message, AP reported. “Israel will study the agreement and will consider its steps accordingly.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday ahead of the canonization of two new saints from the Holy Land on Sunday. Abbas previously visited Francis at the Vatican in 2013.

The Vatican has strong religious interests in the Christian holy sites that dot Palestinian territory in the West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation.

The State Department’s Weary Soldier in America’s Cyber War

From Ukraine to Sony, cyber attacks are spooking governments and private companies -- and leaving officials like Christopher Painter scrambling to help devise rules of the road for how to respond.

BY TIM STARKS-MAY 13, 2015

Anew age of cyberwarfare is dawning, and a little-known State Department official named Christopher Painter — a self-described computer geek who made his name prosecuting hackers — is racing to digital battlegrounds around the world to help stave off potential future threats.

The State Department’s Weary Soldier in America’s Cyber War.odt by Thavam Ratna

Dozens killed in Karachi bus attack

Gunmen on motorcycles open fire on and board vehicle in south Pakistan city

Karachi police attend the scene after armed men on motorcycles attacked bus passengers

Jon Boone in Islamabad-Wednesday 13 May 2015

Gunmen killed dozens of commuters in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Tuesday after forcing their way onto a crowded bus carrying members of a minority Islamic sect.
Dozens Killed in Karachi Bus Attack by Thavam Ratna

North Korea executes defence chief with anti-aircraft gun

North Korea's defence minister has reportedly been executed. Hyon Yong Chol was killed with an anti-aircraft gun for crimes including disobeying Kim Jong-un and falling asleep during a military event.

WEDNESDAY 13 MAY 2015

According to Seoul's National Intelligence Service, Hyon was executed at a firing range at the Kanggon Military Training Area, 22km north of Pyongyang.

The area is known as an execution site, with the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea saying recently that the range was used for executions by ZPU-4 anti-aircraft guns in October. Analysis of satellite images show that the target is just 30m away from the weapons, which have a range of 8,000 metres.

The defence minister's death came three days after his arrest last month and was witnessed by hundreds of spectators. It is believed that he did not receive a trial.

This is not the first political execution this year, with Kim Jong-un ordering the deaths of 15 senior officials in the past few months. Since he came to power in 2011, around 70 officials have been executed.

In 2013, Kim executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the second most powerful man in Pyongyang, for committing crimes that were damaging to the economy.

Slipper factory fire kills 31, dozens missing in Philippine capital

Firefighters attempt to control a raging fire at a factory that manufactures slippers in Valenzuela City, north of Manila May 13, 2015.

Relatives of missing workers of a factory that went on fire cry while waiting outside its premises in Valenzuela City, north of Manila May 13, 2015.

Wed May 13, 2015

A fire at a Philippine rubber slipper factory killed 31 workers on Wednesday and dozens were missing and feared dead, government and fire officials said.

Ariel Barayuga, head of bureau of fire protection, said investigators were trying to determine the cause of fire in the capital, Manila, that trapped workers at the two-storey factory building of Kentex Manufacturing Inc, which makes flip-flops and slippers.

A fireman who gave his name as Soriano said 31 bodies had been found, adding most of the victims had died of suffocation.

"There could be more buried under debris," he said.

"There was someone who was welding at the main entrance and suddenly there was an explosion. It was really fast."

He said there were flammable materials and chemicals that helped spread the flames.

About 200 to 300 people worked in the factory, according to Veato Ang, the factory owner. "It just broke out and people started running," he said.

Thirty-nine workers had been accounted for, but 65 were reported missing and feared dead. Portions of the wall and roof on the second floor also collapsed and hit some of the workers.

"I have been informed that 65 people could not be located and might be inside that building," Mayor Rex Gatchalian told journalists. "I was told no one survived inside, but I am still hoping some of those trapped were able to escape the building safely."

About 150 people died in the worst fire in Manila which broke out at a popular disco in 1996.

"We were all confused because almost everybody was panicking," Jun Panalo, a worker who jumped from the second floor, told reporters.

"I jumped out, and then someone followed me. I jumped through the fire. My hair was burned."

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Nick Macfie)

In the high-altitude Himalayas, India works to secure remote border with China as leaders meet

A soldier guards military installation in Tawang. This Indian town with its historic monastery is in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which has long been disputed territory and that China claims as "South Tibet." (Annie Gowen/The Washington Post)

By Annie Gowen-May 13

TAWANG, India — Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come to his country’s most remote state, an unspoiled place of indigenous tribes and rain forests, to open its first railway station and boast of new development.

In the High-Altitude Himalayas, India Works to Secure Remote Border With China as Leaders Meet by Thavam Ratna

FDA proposes letting gay men donate blood, with some caveats

Phlebotomist Nancy Del Campo collects blood from Jessi Baden at a Red Cross blood drive in West Hollywood in 2014, where gay and bisexual men enlisted eligible people to donate in their place.

(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

By CHRISTINE MAI-DUC-contact the reporter-MAY 12, 2015

The Food and Drug Administration proposed new rules Tuesday that would allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood in the U.S. for the first time in decades.

In a move that has been anticipated for months, the FDA released draft regulations that would eliminate the blanket ban on donor blood from any man who has had sex with another man at least once since 1977. Instead, such men would be allowed to donate blood as long as they are healthy and have not had same-sex relations for at least one year.

Several other countries, including Australia, Sweden, Britain and Japan, have already adopted one-year deferral policies for gay and bisexual men.

The ban, instated in 1985 in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, has long been criticized by members of the medical community and portrayed by LGBT groups as a civil rights issue.

The new rules would bring the requirements for gay and bisexual men more in line with those for other groups that engage in what is considered risky sexual behavior.

Currently, people who have had heterosexual sex with an HIV-infected partner, an intravenous drug user or a sex worker are permitted to donate blood only after waiting one year and testing negative for HIV. Travelers who have been to certain parts of Africa are also deferred as blood donors for at least a year after they return to the United States.

But healthy gay men in monogamous relationships — as well as gay men who haven't had sex with men since 1977 — are not allowed to donate blood.

Last year, a panel of independent experts concluded that imposing a yearlong waiting period would not endanger the safety of the nation’s supply of donated blood. The American Medical Assn. also voted last year to oppose the ban, calling it “discriminatory and not based on sound science."

The three groups that supply nearly all of the nation’s blood — the American Red Cross, AABB and America’s Blood Centers — have opposed the ban for years.

Although activists have decried the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual male donors, calling it outdated and homophobic, the prevalence of HIV in the gay community continues to be a concern as it relates to blood donations.

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, men who have sex with men make up only 7% of the U.S. male population, yet they made up 57% of people living with HIV in 2011, the most recent year for which data were available.

The FDA, which regulates how blood donations are collected and how blood is transfused, said last year that it would make sure the nation’s blood supply remained safe by implementing a blood surveillance system when it rolls out its new, more relaxed rules.

Activists praised the proposed rules Tuesday but reiterated support for moving toward policies that lean on individual risk assessment more than sexual orientation.

"We are pleased to see the FDA has issued the draft guidance," the National Gay Blood Drive said on its website. "We will continue to encourage the FDA to move toward a deferral based upon individual risk assessment."

The FDA will take comments on the draft proposal for 60 days before beginning to finalize the guidelines, according to the Associated Press.

For more breaking news, follow me @cmaiduc

Chemical used by Colgate Total toothpaste to fight off gum disease is linked to cancer

Colgate Total contains triclosan, which has been linked to cancer and growth malformations in animals
The toothpaste was approved by the FDA in 1997 - but the toxicology summary reveals the FDA used company-backed evidence to approve it
The documents were released earlier this year after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last year

By LYDIA WARREN- 11 August 2014

A chemical that has been linked to cancer cell growth is being used by millions of Americans in toothpaste every day, it has emerged.

The company behind Colgate Total insists that triclosan, which it uses to stave off gum disease, is safe to use because the toothpaste was approved in 1997 by the Food and Drug Administration.

But the toxicology documents used by the FDA to approve the toothpaste were only released early this year after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last year - and reveal the agency relied upon company-backed science to reach its conclusion, Bloomberg News reported.

The 35-page report reveals the FDA had concerns that triclosan could increase the risk of cancer - but Colgate said the chemical was only problematic in large doses.

Scroll down for video

Concerns: Colgate Total toothpaste, pictured, contains a chemical called triclosan, which it uses to stave off gum disease - but studies have suggested it could harm animal growth
Healthy or harmful?: A chemical that has been linked to cancer cell growth is being used by millions of Americans in toothpaste every day

Healthy or harmful?: A chemical that has been linked to cancer cell growth is being used by millions of Americans in toothpaste every day

But evidence available at the time, as well as newer studies, show there are indeed concerns with the chemical - including premature births and underdeveloped bones in animals.

'The recently released pages, taken alongside new research on triclosan, raise questions about whether the agency did appropriate due diligence in approving Total 17 years ago,' scientists told Bloomberg.

In 2010, a student linked triclosan, which has commonly been used to reduce bacteria contamination, to reduced fertility in mice and a 2013 study linked it to lowered sperm production in rats.

And a study from 2003 found triclosan in the urine of 75 per cent of 2,517 Americans - including children - who were tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Total lairs: The company behind Colgate Total insists that the ingredient triclosan was approved by the FDA but it has emerged that the agency relied upon company-backed science to reach its conclusion

Despite evidence - including pages in the report showing how tests found fetal bone malformations in mice and rats - Colgate deemed the results irrelevant because they were conducted on animals.

'We have created a system where we are testing these chemicals out on the human population,' scientist Thomas Zoeller told Bloomberg. 'I love the idea they are all safe. But when we have studies on animals that suggest otherwise, I think we're taking a huge risk.'

'I love the idea they are all safe - but when we have studies on animals that suggest otherwise, I think we're taking a huge risk'

Dr Thomas Zoeller

Still, Colgate said that the 35 pages do not prove the chemical is harmful to humans and said that its safety is proved by more than 80 clinical studies of 19,000 people.

'In the nearly 18 years that Colgate Total has been on the market in the U.S., there has been no signal of a safety issue from adverse-event reports,' spokesman Thomas DiPiazza told Bloomberg.

He added that, while the FDA had been worried about the chemical's carcinogenicity, a study in 1997 found it did not pose a cancer risk for humans.

Colgate said it has no plans to reformulate Total toothpaste.

The FDA said on its website that triclosan is 'not known' to be dangerous to humans - but the results found in animals has given them enough of a reason to run tests again.

Drug regulators are now reviewing the dangers of the chemical, but they will only re-visit the approval of Total if they find a great enough reason to.

In a sign of the concern over the chemical, Minnesota lawmakers banned the chemical in May. Avon and Johnson & Johnson have also announced plans to cut the chemical from its products.

In 2010, the European Union banned triclosan in materials that come into contact with food.

Colgate Total Ingredient Linked to Hormones, Cancer Spotlights FDA Process

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Revoking the creation of the Special Zone for Heavy Industry in Sampur, Trincomalee

May 9, 2015

9th May 2015: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) welcomes President Maithripala Sirisena’s move to revoke the creation of the Special Zone for Heavy Industry in Sampur, Trincomalee and the land alienated to the Board of Investment (BOI) by gazette (extraordinary) No. 1913/19 dated 7th May 2015. The above gazette revokes gazette (extraordinary) No 1758/26 issued on 17th May 2012 which was issued under Section 22A of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Law No.4 of 1978 (BOI Act). The present decision follows the decision by the Cabinet of Ministers in February 2015 to return land to original owners and is a timely move by the government in upholding constitutionally guaranteed rights and in the furtherance of reconciliation.

CPA notes this important step, having been involved in monitoring the humanitarian situation in the Eastern Province since 2006 with specific focus on the situation of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Sampur area who were unable to return to their lands due to various reasons including the establishment of a High Security Zone (HSZ) and economic zones. In 2007, a HSZ was created by gazette (extraordinary) No.1499/25 dated 30 May 2007, preventing around 12,000 people from returning to their land. CPA and four land owners challenged the gazette in 2007 in the Supreme Court (SC FR 218/2007). The size of the HSZ was subsequently reduced, allowing some to return to their land but continuing the displacement of several others due to the existence of a smaller HSZ.

The establishment of the Special Zone for Heavy Industries in 2012 was the latest move by the previous regime to prevent IDPs to return to their land. CPA supported seven land owners to file a fundamental rights application challenging the gazette and in the process also raised the flawed basis for the creation of such a Special Zone for Heavy Industries which is outside the remit of Section 22A of the BOI Act. Several of CPA’s policy briefs discuss the situation including the dire living conditions and security issues faced by those who lived in camps for nearly nine years.

With the present move, CPA reiterates its call for the government to re-examine the existence of arbitrary HSZs and the occupation of land by security forces and others without adherence to due process. This present move coupled with the government recently returning land in Valikamam North area in Jaffna should be initial steps in a long term strategy in upholding constitutional guarantees and legal safeguards. CPA has continuously raised concerns regarding the shortcomings of the Land Acquisitions Act No 09 of 1950 with recommendations for its reform. However CPA reiterates that any effort at acquiring land should at a minimum adhere to the existing legal framework. These issues are integral to reconciliation in Sri Lanka and must be addressed without further delay.

Links to the Sinhala and Tamil gazettes

Gazette (extraordinary) No.1499/25 dated 30 May 2007 (S / T)
Gazette (extraordinary) No. 1758/26 issued on 17th May 2012 (S / T)
Gazette (extraordinary) No. 1913/19 dated 7th May 2015 (S / T)

Some of CPA’s previous work on this issue

Sri Lanka Campaign seeks chair

Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice

by Campaign Director | May 12, 2015 | Uncategorised |

After five years of very active involvement our chair, Edward Mortimer, wishes to hand over the role within the next year. In order to ensure the best possible candidate is chosen we are therefore announcing the start of our search for his replacement.

If you are, or if you think you might know, someone suitable then please read thisbackground document, and then use the contact information within to pass on your suggestion or to discuss the role further.

Background document (PDF)

Chair of Sri Lanka Campaign Background Doc by Thavam Ratna

Hugh Young's postcard from Sri Lanka

By Hugh Young 12 May, 2015

The golden lion of Sri Lanka is associated with the finest teas in the world. But few people realise that in the 1870s, Ceylon, as the island was then called, was the world’s largest coffee producer.

Hugh Young's Postcard From Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna

Jayalalithaa Acquitted: Relentless Defender Of Eelam Rights Back In The Saddle

By Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah –May 12, 2015

Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah

We are on course Ladies and Gentlemen, the “Lady’ is back “victorious” and “stronger” than ever.

I wrote about, “Jayalalithaa’s Incredible Tenacity“, in an article in theColombo Telegraph and many relished the thought of me eating humble pie when she was convicted of, what the charge described as amassing “disproportionate assets.”

And later, I didn’t call her “The Formidable Jayalalithaa – Unrivalled Leader Of The Tamils“, for nothing!

The Lady is not for turning! I said it once, I said it twice and I am saying it a third time! And I am right every time!

Hear ye, hear ye, the incredible and formidable Jayalalithaa, the relentless defender of Eelam rights is back in the saddle. She will be sworn in again on Sunday May 17 2015 as Chief Minister of Tamilnadu.

The so called “corruption case” brought on by her arch rival DMK stalwart Karunanidhi who has not come to this with clean hands no doubt, and another – an attention seeker, anti-Eelam Tamil propagandist andMahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa buddy, Subramanian Swamy has been demolished – The DMK, pursuing the case with a vengeance, everyone knows, to topple this otherwise unshakeable “political giant” the only major threat to their family rule.

The move to oust her by any means didn’t go according to plan, much to the chagrin of the two petitioners in the trial, with the Karnataka High Court declaring her acquittal in a well reasoned judgement, here today in Bangalore – the NDTV Anchor Ankita Mukherji from the “left Right and Centre” programme, noting, that as Jayalalithaa, “is now all set to make a triumphant comeback, the contrast couldn’t be starker – the case that took 18 long years in a lower court for conviction – in an acquittal, took ten second to pronounce,” she said. Yes, 10 seconds – the time it took Justice Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court to announce his decision to overturn the verdict of the Trial Court in a case that ran and ran for nearly two decades.[1]

It’s significant that the case was transferred from Tamilnadu to Karantaka on a supreme court order in 2003.

Jayalalithaa was found guilty, and now acquitted, of accumulating wealth to the tune of Indian, “Rupees 53 crores and sentenced to 4 years and fined 100 crores in September 2014 by a trial court,” that could have otherwise virtually brought an end to her political career. Jayalalithaa, calling it politically motivated, “contended that the then DMK government-led investigation had deliberately over-valued her assets and she had acquired the property, including jewellery, through legal means.”

Electoral reforms: What about women?

2015-05-08

Electoral reforms have become the hottest topic in debate at present. Despite the various promises the good governance regime has granted or is willing to, there are certain shortcomings in this new initiative. Women’s rights have been an issue that has needed consistent attention from those in power.