ACCUSED FREED - KOTAKETHANA DOUBLE MURDER

ACCUSED FREED - KOTAKETHANA DOUBLE MURDER

By Ishara Rathnakara-2015-05

Colombo High Court Judge Devika de Livera Tennakoon yesterday (28) acquitted all three accused in the Kotakethana double murder of a mother and daughter as evidence presented before Court was contradictory in nature.
The three accused were acquitted of all charges. The three accused were Namal Chaminda Silva, Sisira Priyantha alias Kumara and Lokugamhewage Mithila.

The Attorney General filed an indictment in the Colombo High Court against the three accused charging them with having murdered, on 19 July or on a date thereabouts in 2012, 63-year-old Liyanaarachchige Premawathie and her 23-year-old daughter Hewagamage Pushpakumari, residents of Kotakethana in Kahawatte, and torching their bodies inside the house in which they had lived.
Due to various reasons the case was not heard in the High Court in Ratnapura but was transferred to the Colombo High Court.
A. Siripala, a resident of Kotakethana who had been taken into custody on suspicion of being involved in this crime, was granted a conditional pardon by the Attorney General and turned State witness and gave evidence against the accused.

Saranga Wijeratne gets death threats from Tiran Alles!

Tiran Alles has threatened the former marketing and advertising chief of his ‘Mawbima’ newspaper Saranga Wijeratne with death, say sources at the newspaper.

As we reported previously, Alles has issued the death threats to Saranga when he tendered his resignation in order to join Rayynor Silva’s ABC Media Network.

When Saranga had gone to Tiran’s room to handover the resignation letter, Thushara Gunaratne, Upul Joseph Fernando and Manel Dharmakeerthi had left the room. Seizing the letter from Saranga, Alles told him, “I won’t allow you to leave. You are the one who leaks what happens here to all websites. Especially, Lanka News Web. How else do they know that we run at a loss? You are the one who got together with websites and ruined us. We found many frauds done by you. Don’t try to play games with me. I am a person who gets this government to dance to my tunes. None of them will be able even to touch a hair in my body. See what I will do to you. I will not let you off.”

Frightened by Alles’ death threats, Saranga is planning to lodge a complaint to police through his lawyers.

Second Saudi Arabia suicide bombing fuels Isis campaign fears

Worshippers inside a mosque reacting to the sound of the explosion

Ian Black Middle East editor-Friday 29 May 2015

In the second attack of its kind in a week, four people have died after a suicide bomber targeted a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province, fuelling fears of an organised campaign by Islamic Stateto foment sectarian tensions inside the conservative Sunni kingdom.

Reports from Dammam described a car bomb explosion at the entrance to the al-Anoud mosque, despite security measures put in place because of last Friday’s incident near Qatif, in which 21 people were killed and 120 injured in the worst attack in Saudi Arabia in a decade.

Video clips showed men at prayers inside the mosque reacting in alarm when a loud bang was heard. The Saudi Press agency reported that guards had approached the attacker’s car as it was parking and that the driver then detonated the bomb. One of the dead appears to have been the bomber.

The latest attack was quickly claimed by Isis, which said the “blessed martyrdom operation” had been carried out by a “soldier of the caliphate” it named as Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi. General Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi interior ministry, said the terrorist was dressed in women’s clothes.

A policeman carries out an inspection after the explosion at the al-Anoud mosque. Photograph: Faisal al-Nasser /Reuters

Analysts have described “lone wolf” initiatives encouraged by Isis, though the speed of the claim of responsibility suggested planning and coordination. Isis has been paying special attention to Saudi Arabia since a speech by its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, excoriating the royal family as the “head of the snake and stronghold of disease”.

Saudi Arabia’s special status in the Arab and Muslim worlds rests on its custodianship of the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina.

The latest bombing, like last week’s, was also followed by an Isis statement referring to “Wilayat Nejd”. Wilaya is the Arabic term for province. Nejd is the desert heartland of the Saudi kingdom that was first created in the 18th century – as distinct from the Hejaz – the country’s more liberal region along the Red Sea. It also used sectarian language to vilify Shia Muslims – who make up 15% of the Saudi population.

The Saudi government has responded to the bombings with expressions of concern and pledges of severe punishment for the perpetrators. Earlier this week the recently appointed Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef visited the al-Qudaih mosque in Qatif where hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the funerals of the victims. Unusually, Bin Nayef was publicly criticised by a residentwho challenged him to put an end to sectarianism. “If you do not do your part … then you are a silent partner in this crime,” the man told the prince. The video showing the encounter was viewed more than 800,000 times in less than 24 hours.

Saudi authorities have jailed two prominent Shia clerics who have called for reforms such as adopting a constitutional monarchy. Last year one leading cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, was sentenced to death for leading protests in Qatif.

In the past few days liberal Saudis have called for an end to sectarian messages in education, the religious establishment and the media – and for a crackdown on extremist Sunni preachers blamed for anti-Shia incitement, often on private TV channels.

“The perpetrators of these murderous acts are driven by an insane ideology disseminated by self-appointed clerics and reformers,” commented the Jeddah-based writer Khaled Al-Maeena. “For too long, we have kept quiet as they used the mosques, the media and other forms of communication to spread their evil philosophy. We … watched silently as some imams spewed hatred and spread falsehood about Muslims of other sects. These illiterate bigots should have been advised to shut up. We should not have remained silent and passive allowing their hatred to continue giving them the opportunity to manipulate the minds of many.”

Less progressive Saudi voices have objected to sectarianism on the grounds that it is used by “Safavid (Iranian)-Zionist-Crusader alliance” against the kingdom, in the words of Abdulaziz Fawzan, an influential sheikh.

The Saudi government and many citizens blame Iran, the kingdom’s strategic rival, for backing the Shia-led government in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Bashar al-Assad in Syria and most recently the Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen, where the Saudis are leading a bombing campaign in an attempt to restore Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

The Saudis are also taking part in a US-led bombing campaign against Isis and rebuff criticism that they were responsible for the creation of the group because of previous backing for hardline Islamist factions fighting Assad. Riyadh now works more closely with its allies in Qatar and Turkey in supporting anti-Assad factions. Still, with an estimated 2,500 Saudi citizens having gone to fight in Syria or Iraq in recent years, an official crackdown in recent months may have meant that more Isis supporters are staying at home – and are prepared to act.

Toby Matthiesen, a Saudi Arabia expert at Cambridge University, said: “Saudi Arabia may now have to choose between anti-Shia [sentiment] as a political tool at home and abroad and the very real threat that extremists taking anti-Shia [sentiment] too seriously will bring the fight back home – with unpredictable consequences for the stability of Saudi Arabia and the wider region.”

Double hotel bombing strikes Iraqi capital

Two hotels frequented by foreigners in Baghdad were struck by car bombs Thursday night. (AFP)

By Loveday Morris-May 29 

BAGHDAD — A coordinated bomb attack hit two of the Iraqi capital’s most upmarket hotels Thursday night in a strike at targets frequented by foreigners and wealthy Iraqis.

Two cars rigged with explosives blew up within minutes of each other around midnight Thursday, a security official said. At least 15 people were killed and 42 injured, the Associated Press reported.

No group immediately asserted responsibility for the bombings, but Islamic State militants have frequently attacked the Iraqi capital, with bombings on the rise in recent weeks.

If the extremist group asserts responsibility, the double bombing would be one of its most high-profile attacks in the capital since the group swept to power in much of the country’s north last summer. Islamic State bombings normally target Shiite neighborhoods of the city, striking restaurants and busy shopping streets.

The first explosion hit the ­Babylon Hotel in the Jadriya neighborhood, facing the U.S. Embassy and Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone across the Tigris River. Six people died there, police officials told the AP. A car bomb was set off in the hotel’s parking area, said a security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the news media.

Smoke rises from the site of car bomb attack in Baghdad on May 29, 2015. (Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

The Babylon, run by Warwick International Hotels, had recently reopened after a massive refurbishment and boasts a swimming pool and spa. Pictures from the scene showed wreckage, with fires burning as canopies used to shade parked cars lay in tatters.

The second explosion hit near the Cristal Grand Ishtar, a prominent feature of Baghdad’s skyline and formerly the city’s Sheraton hotel. Four people died there, police officials told AP. The hotel also overlooks the Tigris, from the central neighborhood of Karrada.

Thick black smoke snaked into the night sky as gunfire rang out and ambulance sirens wailed.

Sunni extremist groups have a history of attacking the Iraqi capital’s most prominent hotels. In 2010, the Babylon and the Sheraton were hit in a coordinated bomb attack. The Hamra Hotel, which is frequented by journalists, also was targeted in that attack, and at least 36 people were killed.

Iraqi security officials have linked the pace of bombings in Baghdad to the pressure on ­Islamic State militants on the battlefield. Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias are set to launch an offensive to retake the western city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, increasing pressure on the group.

Loveday Morris is a Beirut-based correspondent for The Post. She has previously covered the Middle East for The National, based in Abu Dhabi, and for the Independent, based in London and Beirut.

What Happens When Everyone Is a Chinese Stock Market Genius

China's biggest index just took a stomach-churning plunge. Is it a sign of things to come?

MAY 28, 2015
• BY DAVID WERTIME-

Acustomer strolls into a bookstore, goes the popular Chinese joke, and tells the salesperson: “I’m looking for a book with no killers, but much bloodshed; with no love, but great regret; with no spies, but constant paranoia. Can you make a recommendation?” Just one, the salesperson replies: The State of the Chinese Stock Market.

Then there’s this one about a Chinese investor: “In the morning, he watches the K-line graph,” which tracks the perambulations of a share’s price. “In the afternoon, he goes to the hospital to watch his electrocardiogram.”

What Happens When Everyone is a Chinese Stock Market Genius by Thavam Ratna

Data shows Indian growth outstrips China's but economists doubtful

Labourers work at the construction site of a building in Ahmedabad, May 29, 2015.

A worker cleans the exterior glass of a building in the commercial hub of Gurgaon, May 29, 2015

 BY RAJESH KUMAR SINGH AND MANOJ KUMAR-Fri May 29, 2015

India's economy grew faster than China's in the quarter through March, data showed on Friday, but a sharp downward revision for the previous quarter fuelled doubts about the accuracy of a new method used to measure economic activity.

Asia's third-largest economy grew 7.5 percent year-on-year in the last quarter, according to the data, outstripping China's 7 percent growth in the same quarter and beating a Reuters poll of economists who forecast 7.3 percent growth.

India also celebrated faster growth than its larger neighbour in the December quarter, but on Friday the Central Statistics Office sharply revised growth down to 6.6 percent from 7.5 percent, further distorting the picture.

"At face value, today's GDP figures for (January-March) suggest that India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world," said Shilan Shah, India Economist at Capital Economics.

"In reality though, the GDP data remain wildly inconsistent with numerous other indicators that point to continued slack in the economy."

Economists were already having a hard time reconciling the headline numbers with dismal corporate earnings, weak industrial activity and an elusive recovery in bank credit.

Full-year growth for the fiscal year ending in March came in at 7.3 percent, data on Friday showed, up from 6.9 percent in 2013/14, a tad lower than an official estimate of 7.4 percent.

Back in December, the government estimated growth for the year would be 5.5 percent using the old methodology. That would have represented a modest improvement after two successive years of growth below 5 percent -- the worst in a quarter century.

But the Statistics Office's reworking of the numbers has transformed India's official growth pace under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made economic reforms a priority during his first year in office.

CONFUSION ABOUNDS

The new method measures economic activity by market prices instead of factor costs, taking into account gross value addition in goods and services as well as indirect taxes.

Government statisticians say this conforms with global practice and helps demonstrate structural changes in the economy.

However, they failed to explain several gaps in the new GDP data, leading to confusion that risks wrong-footing financial markets and policymakers.

Friday's data compounded the problem. Headline GDP accelerated from the previous quarter but another measure of economic activity in the data showed growth slowed down to 6.1 percent in the last quarter from 6.8 percent in the December quarter.

"There are methodological issues," said D.K. Joshi, chief economist at Crisil. "That is why there is a variance between the volume indicators available at the ground level and value indicators which are being increasingly used in the computation of the GDP."

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also voiced caution over the new series. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said this week that the economy was still slow in picking up. The RBI is widely expected to cut interest rates for the third time this year at a policy review on Tuesday.

"These numbers should not influence the central bank," said Joshi, who expects a 25 basis point rate cut on June 2.

India's economic outlook has improved over the past year. It was on the brink of losing its investment grade credit ratings midway through last year but is now widely seen as a potential engine of global growth.

By any measure, its performance compares favourably with many. Both the United States and Brazil reported economic contractions in the March quarter.

But few believe India is running on full steam. Around 60 percent of the economy is not showing signs of improvement from the slowdown, said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.

(Writing by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Katharine Houreld)

Merkel suggests a deal can be reached over Cameron's EU demands

At conciliatory talks in Berlin, chancellor Angela Merkel doesn’t rule out revising Lisbon treaty to accommodate David Cameron’s plans

 German chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister David Cameron after their meeting in Berlin on Friday. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

Nicholas Watt and Kate Connolly-Friday 29 May 2015

David Cameron has received a boost to his EU renegotiation plans after Angela Merkel left the door open to revising the Lisbon treaty to accommodate British demands.

On the final stage of a two-day tour of four European capitals, the German chancellor adopted an emollient tone as she expressed the hope that a deal could be agreed with Britain.

“Wherever there is a desire, there is also a way, and this should be our guiding principle here,” Merkel said after talks at the German chancellery in Berlin.

The prime minister travelled to Berlin after one of his central demands – banning EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits for four years – was given a frosty reception in Warsaw by his Polish counterpart Ewa Kopacz. A statement on Kopacz’s website said that she had told Cameron she “strongly opposed measures that may lead to discrimination against Poles and other EU citizens seeking legal employment in the UK”. The statement added: “She defended one of the fundamental rights on which the EU common market is based.”

But Merkel, who will be the central figure in the negotiations that will take place round the table of the European Council of EU leaders, was more positive. The German chancellor said she accepted the prime minister’s call for the EU to recognise that some member states do not feel comfortable with greater European integration, as she acknowledged there is a two-speed Europe.

Merkel also suggested that she might be open to revising the Lisbon treaty. Government lawyers have advised Cameron, who has spoken of the need for “full-on” treaty change, that he will need to underpin his benefit changes in a revised treaty.

But the German chancellor made clear that it is important to agree on the substance of reform before deciding on the mechanism for delivering the change. Merkel said: “It is worth talking about the content, the substance. We also need to talk about what needs to be changed. Is it necessary to change the treaty, can it be changed via a secondary process? But, of course, if you are convinced of a content, of a substance, then we shouldn’t be saying, well, to change the treaty is totally impossible.”

Merkel made clear that she hopes Britain will remain in the EU, though she said it was a matter for UK voters to decide in the referendum that is to be held by the end of 2017. She said: “We in Germany have a very clear-cut hope – of course the decision has to be made by the British population – that Britain is going to stay in the EU … I am going to have a constructive approach. I want to find a solution.”

The German chancellor indicated she has some sympathy for another key Cameron demand – that Britain should be given an opt-out from the historic comment in the EU’s founding 1957 treaty of Rome to create an “ever closer union” of the peoples of Europe. “The Europe of two speeds is effectively our reality today,” she said. “We already have the different speeds and I have no problem at all to have this principle of different speeds in the future.”

The prime minister said there was “no magic big solution”, though he was confident he would eventually renegotiate Britain’s EU membership terms, in a process that would be difficult. “Of course there is no magic big solution. But as the chancellor has said previously and again today: where there is a will there is a way. The EU has shown before that when one of its member states has a problem that needs sorting out it can be flexible enough to do so. I have every confidence it will do so again. The EU is better off with the UK as a member and I believe that the British national interest can best be served by staying in the EU on the basis of a reformed settlement.”

Merkel’s positive tone seems to show she is keen to try to renegotiate a deal that will keep Britain in the EU. But her guarded remarks about the need to decide on the substance of reform before deciding on mechanisms, such as treaty change, suggests she will adopt a cautious approach and negotiate hard over some of the prime minister’s demands.

A document leaked to Le Monde over the weekend suggested that France and Germany had decided the biggest challenge facing the EU – new governance rules for the eurozone – should be delivered within the existing treaties. This means that Paris and Berlin will be wary of the prime minister’s call for “full on” treaty change.

Mount Shindake: volcano erupts on Japanese island

FRIDAY 29 MAY 2015
More than 130 residents on a remote Japanese island are evacuated and flights diverted after a volcano suddenly erupts on Friday morning.

One man suffered minor burns to his face from the blast on the southern island of Kuchinoerabujima, however, no other injuries have been reported.

Huge plumes of black smoke filled the sky after the volcano erupted on the island which is around 1,000 km (621 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

Residents gathered on the roof of an evacuation centre as lava flowed down the side of Mount Shindake.

Smells of sulphur

"It sounded like dynamite had exploded, and the house shook," one resident told TV Asahi. Others described a smell of sulphur and clouds of smoke that blacked out the sky.

The coast guard ship was sent to evacuate the island's 137 residents, whose only access to the outside world is via boat.

"All I could bring were a few emergency goods. It was utter chaos," one man told Fuji TV. "I'm really worried about things back home."

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目の前の屋久島で口永良部島噴火した。噴火警戒レベル5。ドーンって地鳴りがすごかった

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An ash cloud reached more than 9,000 metres into the sky causing airlines travel chaos. Japan's All Nippon Airways said it would divert some flights to Okinawa and Southeast Asia.

Officials have now warned of more possible eruptions and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has set up and emergency response team. Speaking in Tokyo, he said officials will do everything they can to look after the islanders.

"We will expend all our efforts to ensure the safety of all the residents of the island," Mr Abe said.

Volcanic eruptions are common in Japan as more than 30 people died in Septemer when Mount Ontake erupted.

Milk might NOT be good for you: Harvard scientist claims sweeteners added to cartons cancel out health benefits

• 
  
• Low-fat chocolate milk does more harm than good
• Eating other calcium-rich foods is a more healthy substitute
• Some people may be able to eliminate milk from their diet

By RYAN GORMAN-, 2 July 2013 

Milk doesn’t always do your body good, and can actually be harmful, according to a prominent doctor.

The age-old adage that drinking milk is one of the keys to good health received a strong rebuttal from Harvard pediatrician David Ludwig. In a paper published, Ludwig argued that dairy products with added sweeteners are a detriment to one’s health and that drinking less milk isn’t necessarily a bad idea, provided you eat certain foods.

‘Americans are consuming billions of gallons of milk a year, presumably under the assumption that their bones would crumble without them,’ Ludwig wrote in an article published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Got milk: Supermarkets are chock full of milk, which Americans down by the billions of gallons per year

US government recommendations of three glasses of milk a day are what Ludwig is crusading against, especially low-fat chocolate milk.

‘The worst possible situation is reduced-fat chocolate milk: you take out the fat, it’s less tasty,’ Ludwig wrote in the article. "’So to get kids to drink 3 cups a day, you get this sugar-sweetened beverage.’

On cup of the school lunch staple has 158 calories, of which 64 come from solid fats and added sugars, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. A cup of unsweetened, low-fat 1 per cent milk has only 102 calories, of which 18 come from solid fats.

Choose wisely: Low-fat chocolate milk is not a healthy substitute for plain low-fat milk, and is best to avoid, according to Harvard's David Ludwig

Though many Americans drink reduced (2 per cent) or low-fat milk, many are under the false impression that drinking sweetened milk or yogurt is a way to avoid saturated fat and have a better tasting product. They are misguided, and actually doing more bad than good, according to Ludwig.

Citing numerous other calcium-rich foods, Ludwig - who is also the director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital - argues that people with high-quality diets may be able to cut their consumption of milk in half, if not completely.

Less is more: Some people might be better off drinking little to no milk, depending on their diet

‘On a gram for gram basis, cooked kale has more calcium than milk. Sardines, nuts, seeds, beans, green leafy vegetables are all sources of calcium,” wrote Ludwig.

For those who prefer their calcium in solid green form, one cup of cooked kale has 94 milligrams and a cup of cooked spinach has 245 milligrams of the bone-fortifying nutrient, according to the USDA. One cup of low-fat milk has 314 milligrams.

Greens: Kale is high in calcium compared to other foods, those who eat large amounts of it can cut milk consumption

Better: A cup of cooked spinach has almost as much calcium as a glass of milk, those who eat more and can drink less milk

With children usually not too keen on the greens, milk is probably still a safe bet, but leave out the chocolate and other flavors.

‘For a child or an adult – but especially a child - eating a poor quality diet, three cups a day of milk may be the most helpful thing,’ Ludwig wrote.

The rest of us can cut our milk consumption from three glasses of milk per day to between zero and three, depending on how much other calcium loaded food we eat, according to Ludwig.

More West Nile Virus Fear Mongering Hype Hits the Airwaves

More than just a pest?

by PAUL FASSA-MAY 26

Now there are reports of the West Nile Virus infecting a very few humans in the Houston area as Texas approaches what their local TV station claims is the West Nile Season. It’s really when there are more mosquitoes than usual in most Texas regions, from June to October.

More West Nile Virus Fear Mongering Hype Hits the Airwaves by Thavam Ratna