MASSIVE POLICE CRACKDOWN - Underworld plan to Unleash Election Violence...

By Premalal Wijeratne-2015-08-14

An emergency order has been issued to Police Stations in the Colombo area to commence search operations immediately to apprehend underworld goons now rampant in the metropolitan area before the election on 17 August.
Ten members of these gangs including 'Army Sampath' – who has seven warrants issued against him – is providing leadership to organized criminals and prowling Colombo with plans to unleash violence during the election period.

A top source at Police Headquarters told Ceylon Today that since these underworld gangs can be in hiding under the protection of certain politicians and their powerful supporters, orders have been received to take these individuals into custody as well, since they are aiding and abetting these criminals, according to information received by Intelligence sources.
Police also said undercover Police intelligence sources had received more information about members of underworld gangs, Chamara Sampath, Ranjith Priyantha, Krishan Aruna, Priyantha Kumara, Sarada Sanjeewa, Pathum Sampath, Sanka Shirantha, Anjana Pathum alias 'Kudu Suda' and Sudheera Maduranga.
It is learnt that two underworld members Army Sampath and Sanka returned to the island from the Middle East about two months ago.

This emergency order has been issued to Officers-In-Charge of 25 Police stations in Colombo to execute action as soon as adequate intelligence has been gathered on these underworld gangs. This order was a sequel to a discussion by Police top brass at Police Headquarters in Colombo last Tuesday.
Meanwhile Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakone last week ordered the Police Special Task Force to immediately take into custody other members of underworld gangs who are believed to be in hiding all over the island.

Surprise! Ukraine Loves NATO

BY IEVGEN VOROBIOV-AUGUST 13, 2015

For the first time in its post-Soviet history, a majority of Ukrainians approve of their country joining NATO. The drastic change of attitude marks a sea change in Ukrainians’ attitudes toward the security alliance even as it poses a palpable challenge for the country’s infantile political class.

A recent poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation made headlines in Ukraine: 64 percent of respondents said they would vote for NATO accession in a hypothetical referendum. (Only 28 percent would oppose.) This result marks a landslide — and rapid — shift in Ukrainians’ perception of the European security architecture. In 2009, only 21 percent of Ukrainians said they supported NATO accession, while almost 60 percent were against. As recently as the fall of 2013, before the Euromaidan revolution, two-thirds of Ukrainians couldn’t envision Ukraine being part of NATO.

Public attitudes toward NATO in Ukraine have long been shaped by emotional divisions between Westernizers and “pro-Russians,” leaving little space for informed debate. Ukraine’s third president, Viktor Yushchenko, used to pontificate about joining NATO without delivering on the reforms needed to achieve that goal. This resulted in growing apathy towards NATO membership and, in the international realm, in a resounding rejection of Ukraine’s accession plans at the notorious 2008 Bucharest summit. Seeing that Ukraine’s leadership was unable to reform the long-neglected army, even the most ardently pro-Western Ukrainians lost faith that the country would ever join the Western security bloc.

Yushchenko’s pro-Russian successor, Viktor Yanukovych, effectively scrapped the previous defense doctrine, which had at least symbolically proclaimed a path to “Euro-Atlantic integration,” greatly pleasing his friends in the Kremlin. But four years of Yanukovych’s reckless authoritarian rule, brought to an end by the Euromaidan revolution and followed by a year of war with Russia, have turned the tables on the issue of NATO membership. The moment may have arrived for this question to become a matter of serious political debate.

The first elements of a growing political consensus on NATO accession seem to be in place. Five out of six parliamentary parties call for closer cooperation with NATO in their programs. In December 2014, the parliament voted to drop Ukraine’s “non-bloc status” (a central policy of the Yanukovych government). High-ranking legislators in the ruling coalition have explicitlycalled this a first step on the way to applying for NATO membership.

This time, the officials’ words are finally backed up with action: Ukrainian political commentators point out that the country now spends a much larger share of its GDP (about 5 percent) on defense than the NATO-wide 2 percent standard, which few existing members meet. And just this summer, Ukraine has held three major military exercises — Rapid Trident, Fearless Guardian, and Sea Breeze — with NATO troops. The non-lethal support and training that Kiev has received from the United States and Canada in the course of the war against Russian-backed separatists further boosted NATO’s image as a credible international partner. Never before has a prospective alliance with Western nations had such a prominent presence on Ukraine’s political agenda and in the media.

Notably, the drastic change in the public opinion has accelerated in the past several months — particularly since the failure of the Minsk-2 ceasefire agreement, which was intended to stop the conflict in the east. In March of this year, immediately after the agreement was signed, just 43 percent of Ukrainians said they would support NATO accession, while 32 percent expressed opposition. At that time, the newly signed ceasefire gave many hope that diplomacy could put the war on hold. Four months later,Ukrainians are growing increasingly disillusioned with diplomatic attempts to placate Russia. Instead, two-thirds of Ukrainians now see their country’s membership in the Western mutual defense bloc as a means to ensure its security against future Russian aggression.

Granted, there are still regional differences in attitudes toward NATO. The Democratic Initiatives poll covered only territory controlled by the government: the occupied parts of the Donbas and Crimea were not included in the survey. But the results in the Ukraine-controlled parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions mirror the general trend. Although a majority there still oppose NATO membership, the share of supporters increased from a meager 4 percent in 2009 to some 20 percent now. This drastic increase outpaces even the Ukrainian average. Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine has actually persuaded many previously skeptical Ukrainians there that their country can’t go it alone on defense.

As it usually happens in Ukraine, politicians appear ill-prepared to adapt to the dramatic change in the public’s mood. President Petro Poroshenko’s late June response to a journalist’s question about NATO membership — “it’s not time yet” — already appears woefully outdated, as the results of the referendum he advocates now appear rather obvious. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has shown little, if any, credibility on defense-policy issues: hisclaim that not all NATO members supported Ukraine’s membership smells of defeatism. None of the parties in the ruling coalition goes beyond cheap platitudes when discussing Ukraine’s strategic priorities on defense policy.

The change in attitudes is particularly stark given Russia’s continued push for Ukraine to provide guarantees of “non-accession” to NATO amid the ongoing war. But Ukrainians do not appear to be intimidated by Russian troops and weapons. A recent survey showed that 41 percent of Ukrainians would reject a “guarantee” of non-membership even in exchange for “peace” in eastern Ukraine, more than those who would accept such a surrender. Even if the Ukrainian political leadership were ready to make a behind-the-curtain “anti-NATO” deal with Russia, it would attract little support from the citizenry and would certainly backfire politically.

Five years ago, some European leaders and Ukrainian politicians could credibly claim that Ukraine lacked the public support necessary to even start a conversation on potential NATO membership. But now that argument is ringing increasingly hollow, as Ukrainians are rapidly turning into staunch supporters of the alliance. As Ukraine’s army gains more resources and public support, pro-NATO voices in the country are bound to shape the nation’s foreign policy in the coming years.

In the photo, Ukrainian and U.S. soldiers prepare to watch a demonstration on the third day of the ‘Rapid Trident’ bilateral military exercises between the United States and Ukraine that include troops from a variety of NATO and non-NATO countries on September 17, 2014.

Photo credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe is asking Britain for human skulls

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe speaks at an election rally in Chitungwiza. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

By Adam Taylor-August 14

An American dentist's killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe stoked anger and outrage around the world. Now Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has taken aim at something else he says was taken away by Western powers: A set of human skulls.

Speaking earlier this week, Mugabe said that Britain was in talks to return to Zimbabwe the skulls of the leaders of an African uprising against colonial British rulers in the late 19th century. The remains of these leaders, referred to as "the first chimurenga," are currently housed in London's Natural History Museum, Mugabe said.

The state-owned Herald Newspaper reported that Mugabe would only accept the remains "begrudgingly," and that they would be buried at a sacred shrine in Zimbabwe. "We are told that skulls of our people, our leaders, are being displayed in a British museum and they are inviting us to repatriate them," Mugabe was quoted as saying. "We will repatriate them, but with bitterness, questioning the rationale behind decapitating them."

[Zimbabwe’s Mugabe says his people failed to protect Cecil the lion]

In a statement released Thursday, the British Embassy in Harare confirmed that discussions over the return of Zimbabwean remains have taken place since December 2014. However, it added that "it is not yet clear whether these remains are related to the events, places or people referred to in the President’s speech this week." That sentiment was echoed in a statement fromthe Natural History Museum, which said that the museum "cares for 20,000 human remains in its collection" and that there is "a thorough process that involves establishing the correct provenance of remains based on complex historical sources."

Zimbabwe was under British colonial rule from 1888 to 1965, and subsequently under a white minority government until a Mugabe-led rebellion led to full independence in 1980. "Chimurenga" is a word from the Shona language, which means revolutionary struggle. The Zimbabwean government uses it to refer to what Western historians call the Second Matabele War, when the Ndebele-Shona people revolted against the rule of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company's control of the territory in 1896-1897.

According to Zimbabwean reports, Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, two spiritual leaders, were hung from trees after the revolts. Mugabe said that the Zimbabwean government strongly believed the remains of both Nehanda and Kaguvi were now in London, and he condemned their display in a museum as "among the highest form of racist moral decadence, sadism, and human insensitivity," according to Newsday newspaper.

Under Section 47 of Britain's Human Tissue Act 2004, formal requests can be made of British institutions to return human remains to their places of origin if they are less than 1,000 years old. A number of European countries have returned African human remains in recent years: In 2011, Germany returned skulls that had been used for racial experiments to Namibia as a means of gesture of reconciliation for German colonial rule.

Speaking on Monday, Mugabe had compared the killing of Cecil the Lion to the horrors of imperialism. “There are vandals who come from all over,” he said. “Be warned, some are here to regularly and illegally acquire these resources.”

More on WorldViews

It wasn’t just the Armenians: The other 20th century massacres we ignore

As the world mourned Cecil the lion, five of Kenya’s endangered elephants were slain

Cecil the lion and mankind’s long history of both revering and destroying his species

 

Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University.

UK petition demanding the arrest of Netanyahu goes viral

PNN/ Bethlehem/

August 12 at 10:00am

A British petition demanding the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in the UK next month, went viral in a few days. The petition entitled “Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes when he arrives in London” is available at a petitions website set up by the UK government and parliament, Press TV said.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold talks in London this September. Under international law, he should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the UK for the massacre of over 2,000 civilians in 2014,” the petition reads.

Ynet Israeli newspaper said that over 30,000 people signed the petition, and the numbers are dramatically rising.

The British government is expected to respond to the demand as all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures should be seen into, according to law.

Rules governing the petition site also stipulate that any petition that receives in excess of 100,000 signatures must be considered by the UK parliament for debate.

The deadline for signing the petition is on February 7, 2016.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza last year starting July, which killed over 2,000 civilians, and 73 soldiers on the Israeli side.

The offensive ended in late August 2014, with a truce that took effect after indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israeli officials in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo.

Palestinian lawyer on hunger strike over Israeli detention policy falls into coma

Mohammed Allan, imprisoned without charge since November last year, loses consciousness on day 60 of protest against administrative detention

Maazouzeh Allan, second from right, takes part in a protest on Sunday against the potential force-feeding of her son Mohammed, who is pictured on the placard. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters

Mairav Zonszein in Tel Aviv and agencies-Friday 14 August 2015

A Palestinian lawyer has fallen into a coma after entering his 60th day on hunger strike while being held by Israel in administrative detention.

Mohammed Allan, who has been imprisoned without charge or trial since November last year, was put on a respirator on Friday and is receiving fluids – the first medical treatment he has received since beginning his protest against Israel’s policy of administrative detention.

Allan, 31, allegedly a member of Islamic Jihad, had refused any medical treatment, vitamins or minerals but had been drinking water.

A spokesperson for Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, Israel, said in a statement: “The condition of Mohammed Allan deteriorated this morning. He is receiving treatment and his condition is stable. The treatment is being administered according to the ethics committee guidelines and includes respiration and intravenous fluids and saline.”

Last month, the Knesset passed a law permitting the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike if their life is in danger.

Israel has long been concerned that hunger strikes by Palestinians in its jails could end in deaths and trigger waves of protests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. On Friday, the Israel prison service declared a state of emergency across Israeli jails, closing all sections and imposing a curfew on all prisoners.

Last Friday, the International Red Cross issued a warning that Allan’s situation was rapidly deteriorating and his life was at risk. After doctors at Soroka hospital in Beersheba refused to force-feed him, he was transferred to Barzilai on Monday.

Doctors there have also stated they would not force-feed Allan, but the hospital’s medical director, Dr Chezi Levy, did not rule it out when speaking with the media this week.

The Israel Medical Association came out explicitly against the law, declaring it to be “equivalent to torture and every physician has the right to refuse to force-feed a hunger striker against his or her will”. The IMA has issued a petition to the supreme court regarding the legality of force-feeding, which is scheduled to be heard in September.

“Once Allan lost consciousness, medical ethics requires that his doctors act in accordance to their understanding of the patient’s will and their discretion,” the Israeli organisation Physicians for Human Rights told the Guardian, adding: “The state of Israel is responsible for his health.” The group has called on Israel to release Allan from administrative detention.

According to Israel’s prison service and the human rights group B’Tselem, nearly 400 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention. In July, Israel released the Palestinian administrative detainee Khader Adnan following a hunger strike lasting more than 50 days that endangered his life.

Opposition Party Sues Malaysian PM Over $700M in Donations

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives for a Ramadan breakfast at a mosque in Semenyih outside Kuala Lumpur, July 5, 2015. Razak is facing the risk of criminal charges over allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars were funneled from an indebted state fund to his personal bank accounts.

by Associated Press-August 12, 2015 10:03 AM

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA—

A Malaysian opposition party Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Prime Minister Najib Razak for alleged election offenses involving $700 million in his bank accounts.

The anti-graft agency recently announced the money, most of which was received ahead of March 2013 general elections, came from donations and not from state investment fund 1MDB.

The People's Justice Party said the money was 26 times above the amount that Najib's ruling National Front coalition was allowed to spend in the elections. The National Front, which has ruled since independence from Britain in 1957, won the elections but lost the popular vote for the first time to an opposition alliance that includes the People's Justice Party.

The party's vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar said the lawsuit will reveal “all kinds of bribes and corrupt tactics” allegedly used by the National Front to win the elections. With evidence of corrupt transactions, she said the results of the 2013 general elections should be nullified and new polls should be called.

The party also named 1MDB, the Election Commission and Adnan Mansor, the secretary-general of Najib's ruling Malay party, in the lawsuit.

Government officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

1MDB, set up in 2009 by Najib who still chairs its advisory board, has debts of 42 billion ringgit ($10.4 billion) after its energy ventures abroad faltered. Critics have voiced concern about 1MDB's massive debt and lack of transparency.

The 1MDB crisis has partly contributed to the Malaysian currency crashing to 4 ringgit to the dollar on Wednesday, the lowest since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Greek PM faces biggest party revolt yet as bailout approved

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) and Economy Minister George Stathakis attend a parliamentary session in Athens, Greece, August 14, 2015.

ATHENS | BY LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS AND DEEPA BABINGTON- Fri Aug 14, 2015

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced the widest rebellion yet from his leftist lawmakers as parliament approved a new bailout programme on Friday, forcing him to consider a confidence vote that could pave the way for early elections.

After lawmakers bickered through the night on procedural matters, Tsipras comfortably won the vote on the country's third financial rescue by foreign creditors in five years thanks to support from pro-euro opposition parties. That clears the way for euro zone ministers to approve the deal later on Friday.

But the vote laid bare the depth of anger within Tsipras's leftist Syriza party at austerity measures in exchange for 85 billion euros in aid, as 43 lawmakers - or nearly a third of Syriza deputies - voted against or abstained.

The unexpectedly large contingent of dissenters, including former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, heaped new pressure on Tsipras to swiftly clear the rebels from his party and call early elections to lock in popular support.

Tsipras remains hugely popular in Greece for standing up to Germany's insistence on austerity before capitulating under the threat of a euro zone exit. He would be expected to win again if snap polls were held now, given an opposition in disarray.

"I do not regret my decision to compromise," Tsipras said as he defended the bailout from euro zone and International Monetary Fund creditors in parliament. "We undertook the responsibility to stay alive over choosing suicide."

But the vote left the government with support from within its own coalition below the threshold of 120 votes in the 300-seat chamber, the minimum needed to command a majority and survive a confidence vote if others abstain.

In response, government officials said Tsipras was expected to call a confidence vote in parliament after Greece makes a debt payment to the European Central Bank on Aug. 20 - a move that could trigger the government's collapse and snap elections.

A senior lawmaker, Makis Voridis, from the opposition New Democracy party said his party would vote against Tsipras's coalition, raising the odds it would be toppled.

Still, some of those who rebelled against Tsipras on Friday could still opt to support the government in a confidence vote, as could other pro-European parties like the centrist Potami and the centre-left PASOK, leaving unclear the final outcome.

FIGHT STARTS

The vote was only the latest in a series of events highlighting the deepening rift within Syriza, which stormed to power this year on a pledge to end austerity once and for all, before Tsipras accepted a bailout to avoid a banking collapse.

Since then far-left rebels have openly revolted at votes on bailout reforms and the combative parliamentary speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou has regularly delayed proceedings - most recently on Thursday, leaving infuriated lawmakers debating all night on procedures before a vote was held after daybreak.

The leader of Syriza's far-left rebel faction, former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, took a step toward breaking away from the party by calling for a new anti-bailout movement.

Syriza would be weakened by the departure of the faction led by Lafazanis, but political analysts predict Tsipras would still return to power if elections were held in the autumn, though he would have to strike another coalition deal.

"While an early election could be helpful in terms of removing hardliners from a Tsipras-led Syriza and, possibly, forcing the party to adopt a more centrist stance, the most likely outcome will be another fragmented parliament in which no party controls an absolute majority," said Wolfgango Piccoli of Teneo Intelligence.

"This means that the 'new' Syriza – the party likely to win the largest amount of votes and seats – will have to strike another coalition deal to govern."

With the bill's passage, focus turns to a meeting of euro zone ministers in Brussels who now must approve the deal so aid can be disbursed before Athens must make a 3.2 billion euro debt payment to the European Central Bank on Aug. 20.

Athens is keen to get ratification so it can avoid having to take a new bridge loan to make the payment - a prospect Tsipras called a return to the country's crisis days.

But Germany - the biggest contributor to Greek bailout programmes - remains deeply sceptical that Athens will live up to pledges to reform its economy and political system, raising the prospect it could seek to hold up approval.

Other more long-term concerns also remain. The IMF has made clear it would participate in the programme only if Europe agreed to ease Greece's huge debt burden.

But Berlin opposes writing off any Greek debt, although it is open to the idea of extending grace periods before Athens has to start paying interest and principal on its bailout loans.

Tsipras has long argued Greece cannot repay all its debts and demanded a partial write-off. The creditors have agreed to consider the issue only after a review in October of the government's implementation of its side of the deal.

(Additional reporting by Karolina Tagaris, Michele Kambas and George Georgiopoulos, Writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by Peter Graff)

‘Demilitarisation of the IOR’ and neighbourhood perceptions of India 

August 12, 2015, 8:17 pm

Among sections of opinion in the South Asian region, China is seen as being in an effort to establish a number of naval bases in India’s neighbouring countries with the aim of containing and restricting India’s perceived military and economic predominance in the region. This perceived ‘encirclement’ of India is being visualized as taking the form of a ‘String of Pearls’. Hence, the ‘String of Pearls’ theory.

Once again, how India is being seen has emerged as a thorny issue in the inter-state relations of South Asia. The magnitude of this question of perception could be gauged in the anxiety informing some Sri Lankan reactions to reports that a bridge of sorts is being sought to be built across the Palk Strait to connect India and Sri Lanka physically.

Close on the heels of this controversy comes the news that the Maldives has reassured India that plans by her to enable investing foreigners in particular to own land in the Maldives would not facilitate the installation of foreign military bases on Maldivian territory. Here, once again, perception goes to the heart of the matter at issue. Sections in India tend to be troubled by stepped-up dealings on the part of her neighbours with extra-regional powers, such as, China, which are interpreted as ‘encircling’ India, through the establishment of a marked military and economic presence in these neighbouring states. In the case of Sri Lanka, Hambantota port is seen by some as being earmarked by China for the strengthening of her economic and military presence in the country.

Among sections of opinion in the South Asian region, China is seen as being in an effort to establish a number of naval bases in India’s neighbouring countries with the aim of containing and restricting India’s perceived military and economic predominance in the region. This perceived ‘encirclement’ of India is being visualized as taking the form of a ‘String of Pearls’. Hence, the ‘String of Pearls’ theory.

Some other countries of South Asia where China has established a notable economic presence in the form of port development are Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. China is also reportedly seeking to strengthen her presence in East Africa through the setting-up of a series of naval bases. Thus, would the ‘String of Pearls’ take on accentuated graphic shape, if these reports prove to be true. In all, China is believed to be seeking to establish some 18 naval bases in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Thus, it is plain that perceptions play a substantial role in making or breaking inter-state relations in South Asia. But ground realities in the region may not entirely confirm these perceptions and anxieties. For instance, at the moment China is only collaborating in developing the ports referred to earlier, in South Asia. There is no solid evidence that a Chinese naval and military presence is being strongly established in the South Asian region. China, right now, seems to be giving a greater weight to ‘business’ than military links in her dealings with the states of South Asia.

In the case of Sri Lanka, a ‘land bridge’ to India would not necessarily be to Sri Lanka’s disadvantage, provided diplomacy and negotiations take prime position in our bilateral relations and prove doubly effective. While Sri Lanka’s national interest should take pride of place in negotiations, talks should be carried out on a give-and-take basis to ensure that both parties gain from such a bridge link. Both countries need to aim at a formal agreement which would be mutually advantageous in implementation.

But a ‘land bridge’, on the face of it, is a laudable proposition because, among other things, it would facilitate people-to-people contact between India and Sri Lanka and such contact is an essential precondition for stepped-up regional cooperation and cordiality. True, there is a risk of, for instance, illegal migration occurring both ways, but this is the reason why stress has to be laid on the achievement of a strong legal framework which would look after the legitimate interests of both countries. However, people-to-people contact, as such, is something to be warmly welcomed. Informed and effective diplomacy is central to arriving at a win-win accord on this question. But there is clearly no question of Sri Lanka compromising her national interest in clinching an agreement, if the ‘land bridge’ is indeed being seriously considered.

Since perceptions grow out of mindsets, getting mindsets right is pivotal to strengthening ties among the SAARC Eight. India’s regional heavyweight status in South Asia has bred a plethora of negative attitudes towards her among sections in the region and time and again got in the way of India strengthening her ties with her neighbours. This recurring trend is a cause for regret. Bilateral and multilateral ties in the region have been wilting over the decades as a result of these negative perceptions.

It is obligatory on the part of both, India and her neighbours, to foster positive perceptions of each other, based on cordial regional ties and fair dealing. It is a two-way process that needs to be launched and sustained if SAARC is to progress.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Sri Lanka has been principally behind the demilitarization of the IOR over the years. There is the Indian Ocean Peace Zone (IOPZ) proposal, for example, which was the brainchild of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike administration of the early seventies and safely and consensually piloted through the UN General Assembly by our prime diplomats of those times. Today the IOPZ is part of International Law. Such were the capabilities of our principal diplomats in those years. Those were ‘the good old days’ of Lankan diplomacy; so unlike subsequent years when even political lackeys were sent to some of our missions abroad to achieve the international fortunes of this country.

Accordingly, demilitarization of the IOR is not new to Sri Lanka’s international political lexicon. The IOPZ proposal won wide favour in this region and it would be in the collective interest of South Asia for this worthy aim to be achieved and kept. To the extent to which SAARC works consensually towards demilitarizing the IOR, to the same degree would the regional organization be in a position to achieve the common, legitimate aims of its members in a friction-free manner.

Therefore, the SAARC Eight would be working towards the well being of South Asia by saying ‘No’ to military bases and other security arrangements, initiated with extra-regional powers, which would militate against the principle of Non-alignment and the IOPZ concept. However, mutually advantageous economic ties could be established between the countries of South Asia and states outside this region, provided the collective security of South Asia is not compromised.

Air pollution in China is killing 4,000 people every day, a new study finds

Physicists at the University of California have found 1.6 million people in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke problems because of polluted air

Smoke rising from a chimney of a steel plant in Fengnan, Hebei province. Air pollution is reportedly killing about 4,000 people a day in China. Photograph: Petar Kujundzic/REUTERS

Associated Press in Washington-Friday 14 August 2015

Air pollution is killing about 4,000 people in China a day, accounting for one in six premature deaths in the world’s most populous country, a new study finds.

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, calculated about 1.6 million people in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke problems because of incredibly polluted air, especially small particles of haze. Earlier studies put the annual Chinese air pollution death toll at one to two million but this is the first to use newly released air monitoring figures.

The study, to be published in the journal PLOS One, blames emissions from the burning of coal, both for electricity and heating homes. It uses real air measurements and then computer model calculations that estimate heart, lung and stroke deaths for different types of pollutants.

Study lead author Robert Rohde said 38% of the Chinese population lived in an area with a long-term air quality average the US Environmental Protection Agency called “unhealthy.”

“It’s a very big number,” Rohde said. “It’s a little hard to wrap your mind around the numbers. Some of the worst in China is to the south-west of Beijing.”

To put Chinese air pollution in perspective, the most recent American Lung Association data shows that Madera, California, has the highest annual average for small particles in the United States. But 99.9% of the eastern half of China has a higher annual average for small particle haze than Madera, Rohde said.

“In other words nearly everyone in China experiences air that is worse for particulates than the worst air in the US,” Rohde said.

In a 2010 document the EPA estimated between 63,000 and 88,000 people died in the US from air pollution. Other estimates ranged from 35,000 to 200,000.

Unlike the US air pollution in China is worst in the winter because of burning of coal to heat homes and weather conditions that keeps dirty air closer to the ground, Rohde said. Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Outside scientists praised the research. Jason West at the University of North Carolina said he expected “it will be widely influential”.

Allen Robinson at Carnegie Mellon University said in an email that parts of the United States, such as Pittsburgh, used to have almost as bad air but have become much cleaner “through tough regulations combined with large collapse of heavy industry”.

As China started to clean up its air, limiting coal use, it would also reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief global warming gas, Rohde said.

Less Than 1 Tsp of Ginger and Cinnamon Daily Can Help Relieve Muscle Soreness In Athletes

 AUGUST 13, 2015

Muscle soreness and fatigue are two major deterrents for people who exercise at a high intensity.

Many well-intentioned workout resolutions have been thwarted by the first signs of sore, stiff muscles in the days following a visit to the gym.

But one study has found a potential solution, and one that might be as close by as your kitchen spice rack.

The Study

The study, which comes out of Iran’s Isfahan University of Medical sciences, tested the effects of ginger and cinnamon on muscle pain in 60 female athletes – competitive Taekwondo players between the ages of 13 and 25.

For six weeks, the study participants were placed into three groups and given three grams (1 tsp = 4 grams) of either powdered ginger, powdered cinnamon, or a placebo each day.

The women were then tested for markers of inflammation and muscle soreness.

The results showed that women in both the ginger and cinnamon groups showed less soreness and inflammation than the women in the placebo group(1).

Herbal Anti-Inflammatories: A Safer Alternative

“The use of both over-the-counter and prescription nonsteroidal medications is frequently recommended in a typical neurosurgical practice,” one article reports.

“But persistent long-term use safety concerns must be considered when prescribing these medications for chronic and degenerative pain conditions… Although nonsteroidal medications can be effective, herbs and dietary supplements may offer a safer, and often an effective, alternative treatment for pain relief, especially for long-term use.”(2)

The article, which was written in 2010, cites ginger and cinnamon as potential herbal anti-inflammatories.

Ginger And Cinnamon: Many Health Benefits

Ginger and cinnamon have a whole host of health benefits individually. Ginger, for example, is used to treat nausea associated with morning sickness and chemotherapy treatment(3); it also can relieve pain and swelling and restore some mobility to those living with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis(4).

Cinnamon, in turn, is used worldwide for more than just its distinctive flavor; it can lower blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity, alleviate menstrual cramps, support healthy blood clotting, and improve digestion, among other benefits(5).

The flavors of cinnamon and ginger pair together nicely, and the two herbs can be used liberally in teas, marinades, salad dressings and stir-fries. You can even add them to a daily smoothie, applesauce or yogurt; a cinnamon stick dropped into your morning tea or coffee may be beneficial as well.

Always remember to buy certified organic spices, and be aware that some form of cinnamon, particularly the cassia form, contain naturally occurring blood thinners – so it may be a good idea to stick to the Ceylon or verum varieties of cinnamon.