Friday, July 10, 2015

South Africa: call for inquiry into 2010 World Cup

FRIDAY 10 JULY 2015
There are calls in South Africa for an inquiry into the awarding of the 2010 World Cup after it is alleged a Fifa official took a bribe in the run-up to the decision.

Last month FBI indictments against Fifa officials named Jack Warner as the recipient of a 10 million dollar bribe in exchange for his vote.

At that time he was the president of Fifa's subsidiary for the Caribbean and North America - CONCACAF.

The FBI says they tried to disguise the bribe as a fund supporting the African diaspora in the Caribbean. Jack Warner is currently fighting extradition to the US and denies any wrongdoing.

The former vice president of the South African FA, Chief Mwelo Nonkonyama says no payments were ever approved by him and that he should have been consulted.

His claims are explosive as, as Inigo Gilmore explains in his report, they suggest a secretive powerful clique may have been the only ones who knew about all this.

The inside story of New Horizons’ ‘Apollo 13’ moment on its way to Pluto

Flight Controllers Sarah Bucier, left, Dan Kelly and Chris Regan monitor data being sent back by the New Horizons spacecraft as it nears Pluto, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., on July 8. (J.M. Eddins, Jr./for The Washington Post)

By Joel Achenbach-July 10
The people in the Mission Operations control center — “the MOC” — had been tracking NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft for nine and a half years as it journeyed the breadth of the solar system. It was just 10 days away from the dwarf planet Pluto when, at 1:55 p.m. on July 4, it vanished.

For the first time, we’re about to get a close look at Pluto and its cold, outer region of the solar system. The Post's Joel Achenbach explains NASA's New Horizons mission. (Tom LeGro/The Washington Post)
The Inside Story of New Horizons’ ‘Apollo 13’ Moment on Its Way to Pluto by Thavam Ratna

Huge Adobe Flash security vulnerability revealed after hacking group's documents leaked

The huge weakness was revealed as part of documents leaked after a cyberattack on Hacking Team, a government-sponsored spying group, that seems to have been using it to break into computers. There is no patch available to fix the problem — though Adobe has said it will provide one today — and so the safest way to ensure that computers aren’t vulnerable is to delete the application entirely.

“Successful exploitation could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system,” according to a statement from Adobe. The problem affects Windows, Mac and Linux computers.

Since the vulnerability has now been detailed in public documents, following the hack, anyone can use it against anycomputer

running the application. Some experts have shown how the vulnerability could be used to take control of computers and run files on them — exposing all of the information stored there as well as potentially making them available for immoral or illegal use.

The flaw comes from a hole in the Flash code that attackers can use to read and write information onto a computer. Once they have done that they can send instructions to the computer, which will then execute it.

Hacking Team described the vulnerability as "the most beautiful Flash bug for the last four years", according to leaked documents.

The organisation, a cybersecurity firm that sells its tools and services to governments, was hacked earlier this week. The leaked files

were distributed over the internet — and seemed to indicate that the group had been selling its tools and services to oppressive regimes.

Thousands stranded as Indonesia's Bali airport shut after volcanic eruption

Passengers wait in the international terminal at Ngurah Rai Airport on the Indonesian resort island of Bali July 10, 2015 in this photo.-REUTERS/NYOMAN BUDHIANA/ANTARA FOTO

BY PUJI SUKISWANTI-Fri Jul 10, 2015

Nearly 20,000 passengers were left stranded on Friday at one of Indonesia's busiest international airports on the resort island of Bali after it was forced to close because of a volcanic eruption, an airport official said.

Mount Raung in East Java has been erupting for nearly a week, forcing several airports to close and causing widespread flight disruption on Friday.

"Bali airport will remain closed until noon on Saturday," Farid Indra Nugraha, a spokesman for airport operator Angkasa Pura 1, said in a text message.

Two of the five airports that had been closed earlier on Friday have been re-opened, Nugraha added.

More than 200 domestic and international flights were cancelled in Bali, the airport's general manager Trikora Harjo told Reuters.

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia had resumed operating some routes but cancelled all its flights to and from Bali.

"Bali is our second largest hub and this will also affect our international connecting flights," said Ikhsan Rosan, a spokesman for the airline.

(Additional reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor and Fransiska Nangoy in JAKARTA; Editing by Paul Tait)

FDA Finally Admits Chicken Meat Contains Cancer-Causing Arsenic

by CureJoy

After years of sweeping the issue under the rug and hoping no one would notice, the FDA has now finally admitted that chicken meat sold in the USA contains arsenic, a cancer-causing toxic chemical that’s fatal in high doses.

But the real story is where this arsenic comes from: It’s added to the chicken feed on purpose!

Even worse, the FDA says its own research shows that the arsenic added to the chicken feed ends up in the chicken meat where it is consumed by humans. So for the last sixty years, American consumers who eat conventional chicken have been swallowing arsenic, a known cancer-causing chemical.

Until this new study, both the poultry industry and the FDA denied that arsenic fed to chickensended up in their meat. The fairy-tale excuse story we’ve all been fed for sixty years is that “the arsenic is excreted in the chicken feces.” There’s no scientific basis for making such a claim… it’s just what the poultry industry wanted everybody to believe.

But now the evidence is so undeniable that the manufacturer of the chicken feed product known as Roxarsone has decided to pull the product off the shelves. And what’s the name of this manufacturer that has been putting arsenic in the chicken feed for all these years? Pfizer, of course — the very same company that makes vaccines containing chemical adjuvants that are injected into children.

Technically, the company making the Roxarsone chicken feed is a subsidiary of Pfizer, called Alpharma LLC. Even though Alpharma now has agreed to pull this toxic feed chemical off the shelves in the United States, it says it won’t necessarily remove it from feed products in other countries unless it is forced by regulators to do so. As reported by AP:

“Scott Brown of Pfizer Animal Health’s Veterinary Medicine Research and Development division said the company also sells the ingredient in about a dozen other countries. He said Pfizer is reaching out to regulatory authorities in those countries and will decide whether to sell it on an individual basis.”

But even as its arsenic-containing product is pulled off the shelves, the FDA continues its campaign of denial, claiming arsenic in chickens is at such a low level that it’s still safe to eat. This is even as the FDA says arsenic is a carcinogen, meaning it increases the risk of cancer.

The National Chicken Councilagrees with the FDA. In a statement issued in response to the news that Roxarsone would be pulled from feed store shelves, it stated, “Chicken is safe to eat” even while admitting arsenic was used in many flocks grown and sold as chicken meat in the United States.

What’s astonishing about all this is that the FDA tells consumers it’s safe to eat cancer-causing arsenic but it’s dangerous to drink elderberry juice! The FDA recently conducted an armed raid in an elderberry juice manufacturer, accusing it of the “crime” of selling “unapproved drugs.” Which drugs would those be? The elderberry juice, explains the FDA. You see, the elderberry juice magically becomes a “drugs” if you tell people how it can help support good health.

The FDA has also gone after dozens of other companies for selling natural herbal products or nutritional products that enhance and support health. Plus, it’s waging a war on raw milk which it says is dangerous. So now in America, we have a food and drug regulatory agency that says it’s okay to eat arsenic, but dangerous to drink elderberry juice or raw milk.

Eat more poison, in other words, but don’t consume any healing foods. That’s the FDA, killing off Americans one meal at a time while protecting the profits of the very companies that are poisoning us with their deadly ingredients.

Oh, by the way, here’s another sweet little disturbing fact you probably didn’t know about hamburgers and conventional beef : Chicken litter containing arsenic is fed to cows in factory beef operations. So the arsenic that’s pooped out by the chickens gets consumed and concentrated in the tissues of cows, which is then ground into hamburger to be consumed by the clueless masses who don’t even know they’re eating second-hand chicken crap.

Source:

Thursday, July 9, 2015

இலங்கை வாழ் மக்களின் உயிர்களை பாதுகாக்க ஐ.நா. தவறிவிட்டது – சயிட் அல் ஹூசெய்ன்

09 ஜுலை 2015, வியாழன்

இலங்கையில் பொதுமக்களின் உயிர்களைப் பாதுகாப்பதற்கு ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் அமைப்பு தவறியுள்ளதாக ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் மனித உரிமைப் பேரவையின் ஆணையாளர் சயிட் அல் ஹூசெய்ன் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

2009 ஆம் ஆண்டு இலங்கையில் இடம்பெற்ற போரின் போது பொதுமக்களின் உயிர்கள் காவு கொள்ளப்படுவதனை ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் அமைப்பு தடுக்கத் தவறியதாகக் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

பொஸ்னியா மற்றும் ஹெர்செகோவினா ஆகியன தொடர்பில் ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் பாதுகாப்புப் பேரவையில் கலந்துரையாடப்பட்ட போது அவர் மேற்கண்டவாறு தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

மேலும் சிவிலியன் பாதுகாப்பு தொடர்பில் ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் அமைப்பு பொதுவான இணக்கப்பாட்டை ஏற்படுத்திக் கொண்டுஇ பொதுவான ஓர் நோக்கத்தின் அடிப்படையில் செயற்பட வேண்டியது அவசியமானது என அவர் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

2009ம் ஆண்டில் இலங்கையில், அல்லது சூடான், புருன்டி, மியன்மார் போன்ற நாடுகளில் ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் அமைப்பு சிவிலியன் பாதுகாப்பு குறித்து உரிய கரிசனை காட்டியிருந்தால் மில்லியன் கணக்கான உயிர்களை பாதுகாத்திருக்க முடியும் என அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளார்.

பொஸ்னியா மற்றும் ஹெர்செகோவினா இடம்பெற்ற இனச் சுத்திகரிப்பை கண்டிக்கும் வகையிலான தீர்மானம் ஒன்று பாதுகாப்புப் பேரவையில் சமர்ப்பிக்கப்பட்டது. எனினும், இந்த தீர்மானத்திற்கு போதியளவு ஆதரவு கிடைக்கவில்லை என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது

At Meeting Commemorating Twentieth Anniversary of Srebrenica Killings, Security Council Fails to Adopt Resolution

7481st Meeting (AM)-8 JULY 2015

SECURITY COUNCIL

MEETINGS COVERAGE

During a meeting held to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the massacres in Srebrenica, the Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have emphasized acceptance of those tragic events as genocide as a prerequisite for national reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

இலங்கை வாழ் மக்களின் உயிர்களை பாதுகாக்க ஐ.நா. தவறிவிட்டது சயிட் அல் ஹூசெய்ன் by Thavam Ratna

20 years since bombing of Navaly church by Sri Lanka Airforce

09 July 2015

The 9^th of July 2015 marks the 20^th anniversary of the bombing of refugees in Navaly church which left at least 120 Tamil civilians dead.

The bombing of St Peters Church at Navaly, occurred following a series of leaflet drops in previous weeks that encouraged Tamil civilians to move to places of worship to avoid Sri Lanka’s air force bombing against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Initially, President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government denied reports of the Church bombing before eventually pledging to establish an inquiry into the incident.

The Sri Lankan government initially criticised the International Committee of the Red Cross for reporting on the incident to the international community.

The ICRC, two days after the incident, reported,

“Thirteen babies were among the 65 dead found under the rubble of a Catholic church bombed by the Sri Lankan air force. According to eye witness accounts, this church and several adjacent buildings were hit by further air force strikes at 4.30 p.m. the same day. During the attack 65 people were killed and 150 wounded, including women and children. That evening and into the night Sri Lanka Red Cross staff evacuated most of the wounded by ambulance to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) present the next morning at the scene of the attack noted the widespread damage and measured the extent of the tragedy. Many of the bodies had not yet been removed from the rubble.”

Speaking to Time Magazine, the Bishop of Jaffna Thomas Savundaranayagam, who had already urged, President Kumaratunga to cease bombing of religious places of worship, said,

“The military warned civilians to clear the south west of its base at Palaly, recommending churches and temples as shelters. At 4.30 p.m. an Argentine made Pucara fighter flew toward the Navali church, 3 km outside the combat zone, and bombed the sanctuary and adjacent courtyard. St.Peters Church in Navali and the adjoining St.Peter's School where hundreds had sought shelter were badly gutted. 56 bodies were retrieved from the debris, many of whom were women and children. The final death toll in Navaly was about 120. Rescue workers have reported that torn limbs and pieces of human flesh were strewn over the area.”

A joint statement by 21 NGOs condemned the government’s killing of civilians.

"The Sri Lanka government, initially denied the bombing of the St.Peters Church. Then it criticised the ICRC representative for reporting the incident to the world media without consulting the Government. Later the government promised to hold an inquiry into the incident…The aerial bombardment of civilian population centres and places of worship follow a pattern set by the Sri Lanka armed forces over the past several years and President Kumaratunga's belated promise to investigate the recent violations, must ring hollow in the ears of the Tamil people whose kith and kin have lost their lives or their limbs in the bomb outrage.”

Pope John Paul, speaking a few days after the incident, expressed grief with those involved with the “ethnic conflict that is tearing Sri Lanka apart,” adding that he shared the grief “of those who lost their loved ones in the bombing of the church and school of Navaly.”

See more at Tamilnation.org.

‘I have no blood on my hands’ claims CBK (08 Jul 2015)

Sri Lanka: Seize this opportunity for true reform

Image result for Justice C.V. Wigneswaran

By Justice C.V. Wigneswaran-July 08, 2015

Come September, the United Nations Human Rights Council will assemble in Geneva for its 30th session. This session marks an important date for Sri Lanka, the United States and the international community: the long-awaited release of the UN report on war crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Secretary of State John Kerry in May urged Sri Lanka to launch a credible investigation into human rights abuses and to release remaining political prisoners, and added that the U.S. is willing to support these developments with legal and technical assistance. This U.S. political will, ready to support justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, and the upcoming release of the UN report on war crimes, which disproportionately affected the ethnic Tamil population, mean the next few months are crucial for pursuing true reform in Sri Lanka.

U.S. leaders have praised progress from newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena, like passing the 19th Amendment that limits the presidency to two terms, but the country’s Tamil population in the North and East remains disempowered and displaced. Slow reforms, the delayed release of the UN report and proposed accountability mechanisms that don’t meet international standards fuel the growing feeling that genuine justice and reform, a cause long-backed by the U.S. and multilateral organizations, is being sacrificed for domestic political maneuvering.

More than six years after the end of the war – a conflict that left hundreds of thousands internally displaced, sent a million Tamils into exile and killed more than 70,000 Tamil citizens in the final months alone – the Sri Lankan military continues to dominate the landscape in the North and East. Land belonging to Tamil citizens remains in military hands, used for farming, tourism and business activities benefitting the military. Despite government calls for the military to return to its barracks, the army is still very visible, intimidating men, women and children and denying their right to return to their normal lives.

Meanwhile, families are desperate to learn the whereabouts of the estimated 146,000 people who remain unaccounted for years after the war’s end. But the current government has inexplicably delayed in releasing the full list of political prisoners who have been held for years without charge.

Given this situation, reforms can and must be undertaken now to pave the way for a just and inclusive society.

As Sri Lanka tries to move beyond its corrupt and troubled past, the US and the international community can play a large role in supporting the country’s economic development and accountability and reconciliation processes. The U.S. has already played a leading role at the Human Rights Council – for which we are grateful - and President Obama recognized the election of President Sirisena as a "symbol of hope for those who support democracy all around the world."

The journey toward reform and accountability in Sri Lanka will be difficult, but it can succeed. And leaders in Washington can help Sri Lanka on this journey by providing legal and technical assistance while urging Sirisena to undertake meaningful reforms: demilitarization, returning all Tamil lands and establishing a credible, independent and victim-centered accountability mechanism.

Other reforms mean changing the government’s structure to a more devolved system, where all regions are able to make decisions on behalf of their local communities, as well as demilitarization and allowing Tamils to return to their lands and homes, freely and without fear. Only 1,000 acres of land have been returned to their rightful owners through the government’s complicated land restitution process. While the government claims that total military-controlled land only amounts to 10,000 acres, the reality on the ground exceeds 64,000 acres in the Northern Province.

Lasting reform also means revitalizing economic development in war-torn areas, an avenue where U.S. assistance can have an enormous impact. Trade and engagement with the U.S. can empower all Sri Lankans, especially Tamils, who suffered the brunt of the war’s horrors and continue to scrape by without jobs, homes or economic opportunities. To restore true peace and stability to our island, President Sirisena must be willing to move on much needed reforms, and the U.S. must play a supporting and guiding role throughout the process.

Sri Lankans must not wait another six years for a shot at justice and reconciliation.

Wigneswaran is chief minister of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province.

The Tattered Myths & Deadly Delusions Of Yahapālanaya

By Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe –July 9, 2015

Ajit Rupasinghe

“Yahapālanaya; doctrine and practice of Good Governance”: is being subjected to close critical scrutiny by educated, enlightened and progressive social forces all across the Land. It is posed as a central point of discussion and debate within the progressive political discourse in Sri Lanka. It has acquired a renewed sense of urgency and imminence. This is due to several interrelated factors.

The immediate context is the deep, even agonized and terrified, sense of betrayal that people feel for the broken dreams and promises. The Rajapaksa Regime was defeated and displaced by a large majority of people who had just had enough of the reeking corruption, rampant abuse of power and wanton self-aggrandisement which it had come to concentrate and symbolize. They had become just sick and tired of the lies, deceptions and delusions sprayed upon them on the way to the “Miracle of Asia”. The path to the ‘Miracle’ had ended up in a rude mockery of Nature and cunning betrayal of Humanity. It proved to be a dizzying haven for drug lords, war lords, marauding racketeers, corrupt politicians, bloated bureaucrats, rapists, torturers, murderers, extortionists and other types of such infective, parasitic, venal social species. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the kingpin – the Godfather – of this Mafia State. The overthrow of Mahinda Rajapaksa was the result of a gathering experience and conscious awakening of the intolerable depth of violation of nature and humanity that had defiled and defamed us all, individually and collectively. It is the dawning of this great and portentous realization of being played and taken for a ride that turned the tide.

by Sanath Nanayakkare-July 9, 2015, 6:43 pm

Samantha Ranatunga

In spite of our free education system, nearly 50% of children in the rural areas drop out on the threshold of G.C.E (O/L) while a total of 16% of the children of both rural and estate communities do not attend school at all, Samantha Ranatunga, chairman, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said in Colombo recently.

"In such circumstances, we in the private sector who pressurise the government to spend more on education should also play an active role in monitoring and upgrading the quality of educational institutions in the country, the CCC chairman noted.

Ranatunga who is also the Managing Director/CEO of CIC Company/Group said so addressing the 176th AGM of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce recently as he took over the leadership of the Chamber.

"Private educational institutes are mushrooming because only a few responsible business organizations are playing their role in this important sector. I feel this is an indictment on the entire private sector, he said.

"If we need our young people to have the right skill-set and capabilities to actively participate in the new knowledge economy, the private sector also has to undertake its responsibility to make it happen. This whole exercise shouldn’t be left to the government alone, Ranatunga stressed.

"For a start, in close collaboration with the universities of the country, the Ceylon Chamber will strive to increase the standards of education in subjects related to business. We will do this to empower the rural youth on a par with the youth in the urban areas who possess the right competencies required by the rapidly transforming economy. In the end, it will not only provide the transforming industrial sector with skilled personnel, it will also help the rural youth to do better in life and advance in their chosen careers, he said.

Revolution, betrayed?

Did President Maithripala Sirisena just betray the 8 January ballot box revolution and put the lives of his ‘revolutionaries’, ranging from Buddhist monks to lawyers, academics and artistes, precariously on the line?

Friday, 10 July 2015

When you play a game of thrones, you either win or you die – A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin

President Maithripala Sirisena

On 8 January 2015, once he had cast his vote in Polonnaruwa, Maithripala Sirisena and his family made their way to remote coconut estate in Kurunegala. The movement occurred at dusk, when the waning light helped to hide the small convoy of vehicles carrying the future first family to their refuge for election night.
When he made the decision to contest Mahinda Rajapaksa for the presidency, Sirisena knew he had placed his life and the lives of his family in the gravest danger. When he stepped out of the Rajapaksa Government and announced his candidacy in November 2014, Sirisena spoke poignant words at New Town Hall about how his children had wept when he had told them his decision.

Revolution, Betrayed by Thavam Ratna

The Nomination Imbroglio & A Question Mark

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –July 8, 2015

Shyamon Jayasinghe

“Shilling Demons in the Shadows.”

There is hardly a dull moment in dear Mother Lanka. The country has a plethora of unsolved problems; yet. it has time and opportunity to witness the comedy drama that politics is, over there.This time, it is the furore over the President’s apparent decision to give nomination from the UPFA to his arch rival, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Mahinda fans and parasites went jubilant. As when a wicket falls on the opposite side how the fielding side flock around together in the mesmeric moment Mahinda’s men went overboard and even made announcements that President Maitripala Sirisena would be on the stage with Mahinda at the planned Anuradhapura bring-back rally. Veteran Mahinda-supporting journalists like H. L. D. Mahindapala jumped the gun,like a novice in the game, to declare that Ranil and the hundred Days program is finished. Mahindapala’s emotional amygdala hijacked his reason.

The euphoria soon fizzled out when it appeared the story had been too good to be true. On the other hand, the more articulate of the sixty-two lakhs that voted under severe pressure for Maitri on January 8th couldn’t believe their ears. Trade Unions and civil society organisations took to the streets. Despondency crept their ranks and the desperateness they had got reflected in the abuse of Maitri on social media. One Facebook joke was that Maitri had had surgery removal of his spine! The man who originated that canard was probably ignorant that if the spine of a person is removed that individual is as good as dead.

Maitri was not quite dead. On the evening following the night of this “decision” he addressed a crowd at Matara and vociferously announced that he would never let the soft revolution of 8th January get diluted and that he will never permit family rule again. Maitri has since sharpened his controversial position. He now states he is giving only “conditional nomination,” to Rajapaksa and also that he would not give nomination to many of the latter’s former Parliamentary cronies. This meant the isolation of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Maitri is also of the view that Rajapaksa will not get SLFP nomination; which means the High King will have to get on stage as a nominee of one of the one-man parties like the MEP or Vasu or Gammanpilla. The JHU has already left the UPFA and renamed itself sans racial connotations.The rumour machine says CBK will lead the SLFP campaign. If this does occur Mahinda Rajapaksa will be totally isolated and compelled to wear the shell of the UPFA. The rumour mill also states that Mahinda will contest on the symbol of a budding flower.Read More

Even as Maithri continues with his double deals and double speak Mahinda signs his nominations (death warrant of the nation)

(Lanka-e-News- 09.July.2014, 3.30PM) As president Maithripala who created a new ignominious record as the worst betrayer ever in the history of the world beating even that of Judas , continued to brazenly exposing his political opportunism to the detriment of the people , ex president Medamulana Percy Mahendra Rajapakse who is a byword for monumental corruption ,brutality and treachery last noon signed his nominations paper as candidate for Kurunegala district.

At the auspicious time 2.38 p.m. Mahinda signed the nomination papers as revealed by ex minister C.B. Ratnayake to Lanka e News.

Meanwhile ,when Maithripala Sirisena met with the Civil Organization leaders yesterday at 8.30 in the night , he had to descend to the lowliest of levels of double deals and double crossing owing to his own most disgraceful monumental betrayal he indulged in slitting the throats of all those who toiled to make him the president , let alone the entire nation. Speaking with a forked tongue he tried to conceal the information that Mahinda signed the nominations. Maithri who is characterised by the overriding trait in him of profuse lying ( which despicable trait is by now universally known) told the anti Rajapakse crowd another lie this noon that Mahinda and Namal are contesting from Hambantota.

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by (2015-07-09 10:20:12)