Friday, August 21, 2015

Ranil to be sworn in as PM for a record fourth time

Pledges to form National Government for 2 to 3-year period

by Zacki Jabbar-August 20, 2015, 10:08 pm

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to be sworn in as Prime Minister for a fourth time today, equaling a record held by the late Srimavo Bandaranaike.

The UNP-led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) with 106 parliamentary seats emerged as the single largest alliance at Monday’s general election.

The swearing in ceremony would be held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning, Minster of Public Security, Christian Religious Affairs and Disaster Management told The Island yesterday.

Wickremesinghe’s first stint as Prime Minister was from May 7, 1993 to August 19 , 1994. He, succeeded D. B. Wijetunga, who became President following the assassination of President Ranasinghe Premadasa by an LTTE suicide bomber, while participating in a May Day rally on May 1, 1993.

He served a second term from December 9, 2001 to April 6, 2004 after leading the UNP to victory at a snap parliamentary Poll, which the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga called on Dec. 5, 2001, just over a year after the previous one.

Asked when the new Cabinet of Ministers would be appointed, Ameratunga said that it would most likely be next week.

Unlike the last Cabinet which was appointed for a period of 100-days though it functioned longer than that due to reasons beyond the UNP’s control, the new ministers would be selected with a long term focus which meant the selection process would naturally take longer, he noted.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the UNP led UNFGG would form a National Government with the SLFP and other like minded parties for at least two to three years aimed at furthering the silent revolution of Jan. 8, which was endorsed by a majority of the people last Monday with a clear message that there was a need to strengthen good governance and consensual politics.

Meanwhile, the SLFP Central Committee chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday approved the formation of a National Government with the UNP.

Former President and current Patron of the SLFP, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was appointed to head a six-member committee tasked with drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding.

Letter To My President On The National List

By Razi Muhammadh –August 21, 2015

Razi Mohmamadh

A letter to my president on the nomination of Mr. ALM.Athaullah in the National List.

Mr.President,

We hear news that Mr. ALM Athaullah former Ampara Member of Parliament and a defeated candidate of UPFA in the last election is to be given MP in the UPFA national list.

Mr. President as a citizen of this beloved country and a voter of Ampara district I think I have a right to suggest, sometimes oppose the decisions taken by you. This is the basic tenant of fine democracy.

Mr. President I am from the same village Mr. Athaullah is from. I and he inhaled the same air of Akkaraipattu. I and he walked on the same road. I and he bathed in the same sea. I know him better than you do.

Athaullah and Mahinda

MR. President we supported your campaign againstMahinda Rajapaksa’s ruthless reign. We happily voted for you. We needed a change in our country. Not only we want to change Mahinda Rajapaksa we but also we want to change those who bootlicked Mr.Rajapaksa. What would there be a point of the head is gone and the tails still swing.

The mandate Sri Lankan people gave during both the Presidential Election and parliamentary Election and the message they conveyed to this beautiful country is crystal clear. “We will not tolerate anybody to rape our country. We will not let racism pop up and devour our nation. We will not let any money mongers to usurp our country. We will not let any ugly faces to twaddle our nation’s economy even if they defeated terrorism. Am I correct Mr. President?

The head of the snake is gone. But the tails are tittering here and there. People taught a lesson to those tails. Almost all those tails of Mahinda Rajapaksa kissed the dust in the last election.one of those tails is Mr. ALM Athaullah from Ampara district. You know him very well and who he supported during the last Presidential Election and this Parliamentary Election. My home town clearly defeated him. He was able to secure 16770 votes. A clear defeat and clear messages from Ampara Muslims. MR.Athallah we don’t need you and we don’t agree with your politics. Read More

Chinese funds for Tewatta Basilica: CSM responds to Cardinal

Aug 21, 2015

In a continuing dispute over the renovation of the Tewatta Basilica by the controversial Chinese company, the Christian Solidarity Movement (CSM) yesterday sent a letter to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo.

Excerpts from the letter:

“With regard to your recent statement to the country’s Catholic community regarding the renovation of the Tewatta Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka by the China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC), builders of the Colombo Port City.

It was clear you have not known or had ignored the view points of others, who have expressed deep concern regarding the involvement of the Chinese company, a company which is not only blacklisted by the World Bank but also “notorious for violating international regulations”. You seem to dismiss our opposition by referring to us as “a few people”. As you have stated your opinion, we felt it necessary to state ours.

From your statement it appears that your pre-occupation is to find the finances. It does not seem to matter from where it comes.

This seems to indicate that you are less keen to subscribe to the Ethical Code for fundraising and accountability, which the Catholic Social Teaching has always insisted on and that which is reiterated by Pope Francis by his criticism of wealth earned by some through immoral ways such as sale of weapons, drug trafficking and destruction of the environment.

It is unfortunate that you as the Archbishop, ignore the Church’s moral and social teachings, worse still, the concerns of the recent Papal encyclical Laudato Si, and take a decision on an important matter focusing solely on financial factors, maintaining a blind eye to the ethical, humane and social concerns related to the issue.

Although the signatories to our first petition were “few” we can safely assure they represent the views of hundreds of others, particularly those who suffer from the impact of the Colombo Port City Project. We are aware that the fisherfolk along the coastal belt suffer the loss of livelihoods due to the destruction of fish breeding grounds and sea erosion caused mainly by the construction of the Colombo Port City.

Even before the Presidential Election on January the 8, the fisherfolk in hundreds demonstrated in the streets of Negombo expressing their strong opposition to the Colombo Port City project. Another massive demonstration was held on the March 3 to demand a closure of the project by hundreds of fishermen, the clergymen and women and the laity who are more alert to the sufferings of people.

At the People’s Tribunal too, held at the Public Library, at which about 500 people gathered, fishermen, people from the interior, affected by the blasting of rocks, environmentalists, lawyers and professionals gave evidence as to what a harmful project this Chinese company and the government of Sri Lanka were engaged in.

Thus, it should be said again that although only a ‘few’ signed the petition, they represented the views of hundreds or thousands of others. Moreover, it is only a numerically small group which articulates the issue but they stand on strong moral, intellectual and spiritual grounds.

As such, the few who oppose your move are not an “irresponsible” or “imprudent” lot, as referred to, in your statement. The petition of the CSM did not any way deny the need for the renovation of the Basilica. The CSM acknowledges that repairs are essential. Neither do we accuse you of the acceptance of Chinese funds or that it was done with any ulterior intention. However, we do say that our Christian soul should not be betrayed to those Chinese companies operating here with ulterior motives.

We all wonder why the Church leadership did not pause to think why suddenly China has shown special concern for the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka while in China itself, repressive measures have been taken and were being taken on the Christian communities. In Sri Lanka the Chinese government is spending millions of rupees to repair a leaking roof, while back in China it has ordered the removal of crosses from Churches’ roofs.

Against such a background, we would like to ask why China shows this special concern for the Church. Our presumption is that China wants to cover up by utilising this Chinese Harbour Engineering Corporation, the numerous sins committed in the Colombo Port City Project, with the collaboration of the Church leadership.

The heart of the Papal Encyclical’s proposals is integral ecology as a new paradigm of justice, an ecology “which respects our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings …nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live” .

The integral perspective also brings the ecology of institutions into play: “if everything is related, then the health of a society’s institutions affects the environment and the quality of human life.” The Pope also notes that we need Dialogue and Transparency in decision-making “We need greater transparency to access the environmental impact of business ventures and projects. Profit cannot be the sole criterion to be taken into account.

The Pope frequently refers to problems of corruption. “When the culture itself is corrupt and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer upheld, then laws can only be seen as arbitrary impositions or obstacles to be avoided.”

We reiterate our concern here again: do we need to utilise the funds of a government which is a synonym for persecution of Christians in China, which cares little for religious freedom, and a Chinese company which is known for corruption and inhuman dealings to renovate the Basilica? One would even wonder when we have so many local companies why we should give the contract to a company which has caused many more controversies both abroad and in Sri Lanka.

Courtesy - http://www.dailymirror.lk

Video: Israelis celebrate child slaughter outside hunger striker’s hospital

The Electronic Intifada 18 August 2015

This video shows Israeli police and right-wing extremists violently attacking and assaulting Palestinians who had gathered outside the hospital where a Palestinian hunger striker is gravely ill.

Flag-waving Israeli extremists sing songs celebrating and calling for the slaughter of Palestinians, especially children.

The events occurred on Sunday, when hundreds of Palestinians and supporters protested in Askalan (Ashkelon) in the south of present-day Israel in solidarity with Muhammad Allan, the Palestinian who has been on hunger strike for two months against his “administrative detention” – without charge or trial – by Israel.

As Allan struggled for his life, his supporters arrived aboard buses from Jerusalem, Jaffa and the north to hold a vigil outside Barzilai Medical Center where he is being treated and detained.

“Allan come and see, your people are supporting you openly,” the supporters call out in the video before they are attacked.

An Israeli police officer shouts through a megaphone: “This is an illegal gathering.”

Police assault protestors, dragging them away and confiscating Palestinian flags, and use a water cannon and pepper spray.

Genocidal songs

Haneen Zoabi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, who tries to intervene to prevent the police violence, says: “The police are beating people, young women and men.”

At the same time, extreme right-wing Israeli Jews can be seen assaulting protestors without police intervention and indeed with police protection.

“Zoabi, you are whore! You are a terrorist,” one of the right-wing demonstrators shouts at her. The mob then starts to chant “Zoabi is a terrorist! Death to terrorists!”

Many openly declare support for Meir Kahane, the founder of the violent anti-Palestinian organization Kach.

They chant anti-Arab slogans including a song celebrating the mass killing of children in Gaza: “Why is there no studying in Gaza? Because there are no children left there.”

“Gaza is a cemetery,” they sing, and “Death to reporters!”

These same genocidal songs were heard on Israel’s streets during last summer’s 51-day assault on Gaza that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children.

Assaults and arrests

The extremists have been present at the hospital for a week, assaulting visitors and supporters of Allan.

“They don’t even let us gather in one place to demonstrate, to send a political message that we support Muhammad Allan,” Zoabi observes of the police ban. “A conqueror acts like a conquerer, so the oppressed need to act like the oppressed.”

Eight activists were arrested, at least four of whom required hospital treatment due to injuries from police violence, according to the photography collective ActiveStills, which produced the above video.

Allan, a 33-year-old lawyer from the occupied West Bank village of Einabus, recently fell into a coma for four days. On Tuesday he regained consciousness and, still gravely ill, vowed to continue his hunger strike until Israel frees him.

Video by Keren Manor, Faiz Abu Rmeleh and Oren Ziv of the ActiveStills collective.

Text by The Electronic Intifada.

The New Face of Jewish Terror

A growing radical fringe is taking aim at Palestinians — and the Israeli government.

BY SHIRA RUBIN-AUGUST 20, 2015

MITZPE KRAMIM, West Bank — Gilboa Marmerstein says that her life is a “daily struggle.” The 16-year-old is awaiting the day when her family will move out of their trailer, which lacks insulation, much less a connection to cable television, and build a permanent home. When I met Marmerstein recently in her living room, she wore jean shorts and a messy bun. In between discussing what it’s like to live at an outpost above the rolling hills of the Jordan Valley, she spent her time chasing her seven younger siblings. In some ways, she is an average Israeli teenager obsessed with her friends and her phone. But she spoke with gravity born of responsibility, both to family and to mission. Despite the struggle, she said, her life is also geula, salvation.

The New Face of Jewish Terror by Thavam Ratna

Is Sidi Mohamed Dadach North Africa's Mandela?

This Sahrawi's life story is one of imprisonment and resistance since day one of the occupation of his land, 40 years ago

Sidi Mohamed Dadach poses at an undisclosed location in Laayoune, Western Sahara (MEE/Karlos Zurutuza)

Karlos Zurutuza-Wednesday 19 August 2015

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara – Naman Street is one of the very few tree-lined avenues in Laayoune. The local Sahrawis, however, call it "Dadach" in honour of Sidi Mohamed Dadach, a famous dissident who was received here by thousands after spending 24 years in Moroccan prisons.

Polisario Front fighters line up in the so called 'liberated territories', the tiny strip of land under Sahrawi control (MEEKarlos Zurutuza)

Is Sidi Mohamed Dadach North Africa's Mandela by Thavam Ratna

Beyond terrorism, Iraq’s leader is struggling to fight corruption

Demonstrators who support Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s anti-corruption measures rally in in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, on Friday. (Nabil al-Jurani/AP)

By Loveday Morris-August 21

BAGHDAD — After five years of trying to get a job as a public school teacher, Saleh Ali paid a bribe of $4,300 to an official in Iraq’s Education Ministry to secure one. He says it was the only way.

for the Independent, based in London and Beirut.

Beyond Terrorism, Iraq’s Leader is Struggling to Fight Corruption by Thavam Ratna

India, Nepal take firm stand against communalism and religious bigotry

Narendra Modi-August 19, 2015, 12:00 pm

But it need hardly be said that people’s participation is central and decisive to constitution-making if such constitutions are to be democratic in character. Once apartheid was dismantled in South Africa two decades ago, the new government of the country launched a country-wide public consultation to obtain the views of the South African people on what should constitute the content of the post-apartheid constitution. This was how the democratic process was energized and upgraded in South Africa. Such democratic exercises need to be seen as crucial by particularly plural societies.

A crucial public consultation is currently underway in Nepal on constitution-building which we in Sri Lanka have not seen the like of, although we fancy ourselves to have been politically independent since 1948. The Nepal authorities are taking a relatively trail-blazing step in sounding out the Nepalase people on issues such as secularism and democratic accountability and we Sri Lankans need to frankly admit that our opinions as civilians on such questions have never been directly ascertained by Sri Lankan governments over the decades.

For example, have Lankan governments ever put to us the following questions in public opinion surveys and the like: Are you for or against secularism? Are you are you not supportive of the ‘mixing’ of politics and religion? The answer to this poser is, of course, an emphatic ‘No’ because the public of Sri Lanka has never been directly and openly asked for its views on such issues by the country’s ‘rulers’. Leave alone our being consulted on questions of this kind by governments, these all-important matters hardly make an entry to public discussion on governance issues and are not heard of even at election time.

The parliamentary poll just concluded in this country was no exception to this de-spiriting tendency of important political and public actors deftly avoiding crucial issues, although Sri Lanka is no stranger to ethnic and religious friction of the worst kind. How is political development possible in a country which does not freely and constructively discuss issues that are central to governance? This is just one crucial question which warrants urgent answering. To be sure, there is no end to ‘discourse’ of the political talk show kind and kindred time-consuming polemical verbal exchanges in sections of the media, but these seldom or never touch on the vital questions in democracy that need to be raised and discussed.

However, Nepal is proving to be far ahead of Sri Lanka in democratic development by going directly to the people and obtaining their views on governance issues. If these views go to form the substance of the Nepalese constitution, the position could be taken that the people have had a huge ‘say’ in the drafting of the country’s constitution. This is participatory democracy in action. Alas, we the Lankan public cannot say we have played a decisive role in framing our constitution. That role has been religiously preserved for only politicians.

Sri Lanka has done well to vote in a parliament, on January 17, which is representative of the totality of our communities, languages and religions and we would probably have a ‘national government’ which reflects such diversity, but the people would need to be brought in more directly to the governing process, if democratic governance is to be upgraded in Sri Lanka. Participatory governance should be strongly promoted by the state and the people closely consulted on questions that go to the heart of democratic development.

It is plain to see that communalism was chief among the factors that led to the undoing of the repressive Mahinda Rajapaksa administration in Sri Lanka, on January 8 this year. Another lesson which unfurled in the Rajapaksa years was that no state with even pretensions to democratic practice could turn a blind eye to communalism and flirt with its apologists and practitioners. Equality in all its dimensions constitutes the heart of democracy and a state cannot pay lip service to equality and profess democracy while promoting racial hatred and religious intolerance, as happened prior to January 8 in this country in the Rajapaksa years. Such deviousness on the part of rulers generates major ‘contradictions’ and divisions which lead to the intensification of conflicts within states, which in turn accelerates their destabilization and fragmentation.

If the polls result of August 17 has taught Sri Lanka one lesson, it is that in pluralistic polities, such as our’s, it is coalition governments or ‘national governments’, if such terminology is preferred, which encompass all sections of local publics and their representatives, which would serve such societies best. That is, power sharing among communities is one of the best safeguards against social divisions which would bring about national fragmentation. Besides, such arrangements would ensure the full flowering of democracy.

In this regard also, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is proving exemplary. On the occasion of India’s 69th Independence Day celebrations recently the Prime Minister said: ‘Be it the poison of casteism or the frenzy of communalism, they have no place in the country and should not be allowed to grow. These ills have to be eradicated through the nectar of development’. This is putting it plainly and unambiguously and national political leaders the world over need to make their position clear on issues, such as, communalism in the same forthright manner. Besides, of course, all relevant practical steps need to be taken to wipe out the ills referred to.

On the question of managing ethnic and religious tensions, states could begin by fostering confidence-building measures among communities. The new government in Sri Lanka, for example, could outlaw communalism in all its manifestations and ban the use of socially destabilizing slogans during elections. State Heads and other personnel cannot be content by merely paying lip-service to ethnic and religious equality and harmony. The institutional mechanisms, laws and norms should be established and rendered operational for the containment of ills, such as, racism and religious hatred. The opportunity has just offered itself in Sri Lanka, in the form of a broad-based government, to bring about these remedial measures aimed at clinching durable ethnic and religious harmony.

Youngest Nobel peace prize winner Malala celebrates exam success

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (C) poses with girls for a picture at a school for Syrian refugee girls, built by the NGO Kayany Foundation, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley July 12, 2015.-REUTERS/JAMAL SAIDI/FILES

Fri Aug 21, 2015

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest person ever to win the Nobel peace prize, has another reason to celebrate after posting a string of top grades in her GCSEs, a set of important exams faced by British teenagers.

Her father Ziauddin Yousafzai said on Twitter on Friday his 18-year-old daughter had achieved six A*s and four As, placing her in the top tier of school kids to take the exam.

After rising to global fame as an education activist after she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan in 2012, her family resettled in Birmingham in Britain.

Last year she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yousafzai, whose own education was disrupted when she was attacked and moved to Britain for rehabilitation, sat her exams two years after most British teenagers take them.

Pakistani media praised her good results. “Nothing that Malala Yousafzai achieves seems startling any more but she continues to make Pakistan proud," said the Express Tribune, an English-language Pakistani newspaper.

(Reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Macedonia allows migrants entry from Greece

Macedonia allows a limited number of migrants to enter from Greece, hours after police drove back crowds by firing tear gas.

FRIDAY 21 AUGUST 2015

The Macedonian government said it would allow migrants to enter from Greece in numbers that the country can provide transport and care for.

Hundreds of migrants managed to cross the border on Friday, just hours after those attempting to do so were met by Macedonian police who fired tear gas and stun grenades to try to push back the crowds.

Interior ministry spokesperson Ivo Kotevski said: "We are allowing entry to a number that matches our capacity to transport them or to give them appropriate medical care and treatment."

Several thousand migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia spent a night in no-man's land after Macedonia declared a state of emergency on Thursday, effectively blocking its southern border to refugees.

Around 1,500 - 2,000 migrants per day had been attempting to cross the border in recent weeks, leading to desperate scenes of crowds wrestling to board packed trains at a nearby railway station, children squeezed through open carriage windows.

"I ran fast and escaped," said Mohammed Khalid, an 18-year-old Syrian from the devastated city of Aleppo. "They got my brother and most of the others and sent them back to Greece."

The crowds stranded in no-man's land may increase through the day as more arrive from Greece, including 2,400 Syrian refugees taken by boat from the island of Kos to the mainland on Thursday.

The United Nations refugee agency has urged Macedonia to allocate more space for migrants in its side of the border. More refugees are expected to arrive at the border from Greece, where a record 50,000 reached Europe by boat from Turkey in July alone.

The protein problem: why eating too much chicken might not help your diet

A favourite of health-conscious eaters as well as junk food fans, chicken is taking over our diets in the US and Europe – but at what cost?

Chicken, often seen as a healthier alternative to red meat, has been associated with health concerns from consuming excess protein. Photograph: Alamy

Tom Levitt-Thursday 20 August 2015

When it comes to diet, many health-conscious consumers have come to the conclusion that protein is king. Specifically: chicken. Diet trends, such as the recently debunked Paleo diet, have overstated the importance of eating a lot of meat. At the same time, consumers have been put off red meat by its associated health and environmental concerns. This has led to consumers increasingly eating more chicken instead.

The Protein Problem Why Eating Too Much Chicken Might Not Help Your Diet by Thavam Ratna

What Is a Pilonidal Sinus, What Causes Them and What Are The Symptoms of Pilonidal Sinus?

Be Extra Healthy Now

What is a pilonidal sinus?-Admin-June 15, 2015

Pilonidal means a ‘nest of hairs’.

A narrow tunnel (a small abnormal channel) in the body is what we call a sinus tract. It typically goes between a focus of infection in deeper tissues to the skin surface. This means that the tract may discharge pus from time to time on to the skin.

What is a Pilonidal Sinus, What Causes Them and What Are the Symptoms of Pilonidal Sinus by Thavam Ratna

Thursday, August 20, 2015

OHCHR report names ‘43 individuals complicit in war crimes’

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody-2015-08-20

The report by the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) contains the names of 43 individuals including those in the Army, Air Force and Navy as being allegedly complicit in war crimes, human rights abuses and violations.

It is reliably learned that a report from the United States of America is going to clear Sri Lanka of war crimes by stating that Sri Lankan forces followed the Fourth Protocol of the Geneva Convention, which is relative to the protection of civilian persons in the time of war, stating that innocent people had been used as human shields for four to six months by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and thus the Sri Lankan forces had attempted to save those being held captive and against their will, and thus no war crimes had been committed by the Sri Lankan forces. Nothing much will happen at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in September, Attorney-at-Law Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa remarked.

He outlined that the UN Security Council throwing out the report compiled by Lord Goddard on Israeli forces killing 300 innocent Palestinians was a similar instance.

"The UN must protect the confidentiality of their report or this would throw other reports of alleged war crimes in the wrong light. The UN must make a clarification," he explained.