Overhaul At State-Run Observer: Two Senior Journalists Tender Resignations

April 4, 2016

As the state-run weekly English newspaper Sunday Observer owned by the Lake House Group embarked on a major overhaul, two of its top journalists – Hana Ibrahim and Dilrukshi Handunnetti – have tendered their letters of resignation.

Lalith Allahakkoon

Both Handunnetti and Ibrahim worked as Senior Associate Editors of the Sunday Observer, since February, last year.

However, sources close to the two journalists said the decision had nothing to do with the restructuring of the newspaper. “They have got better job offers. So, they have decided to resign. There is no link between the overhaul and the resignations. No journalist can reach new career heights in the so-called Sri Lankan state run media, ” the source said.

As part of the restructuring plan, senior journalist and Editor in Chief of Daily News, Lalith Alahakoon, has been appointed as the Editor in Chief of all English Publications of Lake House, including the Sunday Observer. Despite Alahakoon’s new appointment, Lakshman Gunasekera, who became the Editor of the Sunday Observer last year, still remains in the same position.

“Over the past 12 months, there was a steep drop in the circulation. There were complains that the paper did not meet print deadlines. To reverse this situation, the company set sales targets for Observer. The staff was asked to take measures to increase circulation by 10,000 within a period of 6 months. New recruitments were made to achieve this target and new workflow management systems were also introduced,” a source close to Lake House Chairman, Kavan Ratnayaka, told the Colombo Telegraph.

Dinesh Weearawansa, a sports writer known as a Rajapaksa stooge, was the Editor in Chief of the Sunday Observer before regime-change in January, 2015. During Weerawansa’s seven-year period, the Sunday Observer’s circulation came down by nearly 40%.

The new management too however failed to increase the circulation of the paper although they hired a few top English journalists in the country to revive the paper. Under the new management, the Observer circulation has dropped by nearly 10,000.

“We admit there is a drop. That’s why we have set new targets. With this fresh change, we firmly believe we can achieve the ‘lost status’ within six months,” the source said.

Colombo Telegraph did not contact ANCL Chairman Kavan Ratnayaka for a comment. Earlier when Colombo Telegraph questioned orders by the Prime Minister’s office to not carry Mahinda Rajapaksa’s “Medamulana Statement” on July 1, Ratnayaka said “I read Colombo Telegraph but I don’t question you,” he said in response.

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PM in Beijing, what next?

2016-04-05

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit Beijing this week; his first to China  since becoming the Prime Minister. Not only would his much anticipated visit bring a clarity to Sri Lanka’s recently troubled ties with China, it would also signal that, at a domestic level, Sri Lankan politics is returning to reality.  It may be tempting to read geo-politics into the recent strains on the bilateral relationship, but it was local politics that was the primary catalyst. China got caught in the middle of a no-holds-barred election campaign between the ex-president and the incumbent. Beijing’s cozy relations with the former regime, which anyway had few good international friends, became a convenient target.  Since the main accusation against the Rajapaksa regime was corruption, the main financier of most of Rajapaksa’s landmark projects could not go unscathed. In the election platforms, China became the fountainhead of all evil.
 It was a major turnaround of things, no less dramatic than the fall of ex-president Rajapaksa himself from all mighty heroic king to a zero kleptocrat or at least it was projected to be so.
Not long ago, China was held with affection by many millions in the South for maintaining a ready supply of weapons to fight terrorism, at a time most other states refused to sell us weapons and defend the country at the UN. Suddenly to their bewilderment, the Chinese found themselves at the other end of the equation: The neo-imperialist that ripped the country off through its unsolicited projects and has propped up a corrupt regime. 

"Good relations with China and expanding its economic role in the country are in Sri Lanka’s self interest. Only a misguided nation would disregard its self interest for some pie-in-the sky idealism"

The Chinese, who generally have troubles in discerning the flow of events in democracies, and are increasingly vocal of the superiority of their own system of efficient yet authoritarian delivery of policy were befuddled. Beijing which savours the principle of noninterference of internal affairs, had rarely, if ever, spoken out on domestic matters of a sovereign state. And they expect that to be reciprocal and the others keep away from China’s own issues of contention from Xinjian to Tibet to human rights. 

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The April 5: The Day that shook the South and its legacy

Photo via The Killing of Rohana Wijeweera, BBC

 04/04/2016
The impulsion towards nationalist sentiment in politics, has in our view, exceedingly profound roots in the life style of the modern man, which makes for homogeneity of a single high culture within any political unit, and which condemns those not masters of the said culture, or unacceptable within it to a humiliating, painful second class status (Ernest Gellner, Nationalism, pp.102-03, 1998).

Introduction

A revolutionary mood gripped Sri Lankan youth in the mid-1960s, particularly our universities.  There were half a dozen or so revolutionary groups that had sprung up but the movement later known as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), led by elusive and charismatic Rohana Wijeweera was unmistakably in the ascendant. It was the most successful, serious and determined organization amongst Sinhalese youth.

Their bases at universities were very active and they publicly argued in support of the oncoming revolution. It was more of a moral persuasion than political, either you were going be a part of the revolution or against it. If you are against it you are noted and you will be on their death list. For me they had publically announced the death sentence because I had publically challenged them. Your friends all of sudden becoming enemies   and the enemies of the revolution would be severely punished. The revolutionary wave was so powerful the JVP had just outnumbered other revolutionary groups in the university for the first time. The JVP leader in Kelaniya University declared at their student council election victory in 1970 that they were the future. He spoke passionately and persuasively, but he was doomed. One year later, he died attempting to free Rohana Wijeweera from Jaffna Prison.  The movement he allied his name to the party no more successful than he was. Forty-five years later, they are banished from the terrain they wanted to occupy, a purely Sinhalese, Buddhist polity. It was a vision of a working class revolution that excluded minorities and even portrayed the hill country Tamil working class as fifth columnists and reactionaries loyal to India.

On the 5^th April 1971 midnight the revolution began in earnest and it was confined to the areas where the Sinhalese lived. The simultaneous attacks on   police stations went in line with the plan that had been drawn up years before as part of the revolutionary strategy.

Between 187-89 the JVP’s armed wing murdered left wing leaders and also trade unionists and activists. Built on a foundation of Sinhalese chauvinism it remains hostile to dissenting political opinions and even the existence of human beings within Sri Lanka of other cultures and religions.

This exclusionary nationalism is deeply embedded in the JVP’s DNA, marking their political practice even today. It leaves them with the dubious and contradictory position of upholding majoritarian ethnic nationalism while at the same time adhering to a  ‘proletarian internationalism’. Their answer to the great question of post-Independence Sri Lankan politics, the rights of ethnic minorities is simply to wait for the socialist revolution.  Their political vision is untouched by the need to widen their electoral coalition, persuade voters or make any compromises with the real problems and challenges facing Sri Lankan people. Dissecting the JVP’s ideological and political articulation explains why. 

Roots of Ethno Nationalism                              Read More

Incredible but true ! House rent in Colombo is more than that in London and NY !! SLT chairman’s rent US $ 5000 !

(Lanka-e-News -04.April.2016, 11.45PM)   The rents of houses in Colombo had risen even beyond those of London, New York, Los Angeles and Paris .This is confirmed by the rent which telecom -Mobitel chairman Kumarasinghe Sirisena got approved for his residence recently.

It is incredible but true that Kumarasinghe has recently got an allowance of US  dollars 5000.00  passed as his house rent through the Telecom Director board. US $ 5000.00 means over 730,000.00 in SL rupees ! More incredible than that is , Kumarasinghe has got this unbelievably high rent approved while he is already collecting millions of rupees as monthly salary from SLT alone.

The rent of a house with three bedrooms in a residential area in London , the capital city of U.K.is about sterling pounds 2000.00 (US dollars 2850.00) . In New York , U.S.A . too the rent is about the same .Even in Los Angeles where Hollywood  film stars reside , the rent of a three bed room house does not exceed US $ 3000.00. In the circumstances , Kumarasinghe Sirisena collecting a sum of US dollars 5000.00 as his house rent is most rudely shocking .

It is Wegapitiya the pro MaRa crooked businessman friend of Kumarasinghe  appointed as director by Kumarasinghe himself who had proposed this  to the Director board  that this payment shall be made . When the Malaysian Directors were opposing this , it is Wegapatiya the crooked pal  of Kumarasinghe who had argued fiercely, and got it approved. 

It is significant to note the former chairman of SLT, Nimal Welgama on the contrary did not collect even his salary , let alone house rent. It is the already burdened customers paying telephone bills across the country who would have to meet the mega house rent and mega salary expenses  of Kumarasinghe. If there are more patriotic  Welgamas there would be fewer traitors like Kumarasinghes. Unfortunately , the climate in SL favors Kumarasinghes , not Welgamas for inscrutable reasons.

Maithripala Sirisena fulfilled his promise he made before he became a president that he would not make the Temple Trees or the presidential house as his residence , and would continue in his ministerial residence (  after a few alterations to it at his request). While he is conducting himself with the simplicity of an ordinary individual , his younger brother who is just  a chairman of an Institution collecting such inordinately high rent  at the expense of public funds is most despicable , abominable and reprehensible. 

It is worthy of note though the people toiled to appoint Maithripala Sirisena as the president of the country , they did not appoint Kumarasinghe Sirisena as the chairman of SLT. During the presidential campaign of Maithripala Sirisena , his brother Kumarasinghe Sirisena was nowhere around and never on  the scene . He was in the den of Rajapakse crooks. Not only Kumarasinghe , even his bosom pal Wegapitiya of the same ilk was also in that den. Hence , it is possible that these grabs and greed are prompted by  the Rajapakses, because based on our inquiries , president Maithripala is unaware of this mega rent approval .

No matter what , let us remind president Mathripala Sirisena that it were the brothers of ex president Mahinda Rajapakse who led the ex president to his doom and despair. At the same time let us also advice Telecom  minister Harin Fernando not to fix his gaze on the google balloon and  keep looking up. It is high time he looked intently into the gobbling up of SLT funds by the present chairman.  If Harin is unable to control or curb the treacheries and perfidies of the chairman , he is not worth his salt , and his portfolio is not worth a cent .
 

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by     (2016-04-04 22:48:22)

SRI LANKA: MEGA MONTHLY RENTAL OF RS 15M BY AGRICULTURAL MINISTRY

(Minister for agriculture Dissanayaka holds the post of secretary, SLFP too)

04/04/2016

The Auditor General has expressed disapproval at the Ministry of Agriculture for leasing a building owned by a private individual for a monthly rent of Rs 15.075 million without following the proper tender procedure.

The Auditor General has stated that the Ministry could have constructed a building on the one hectare land owned by the Ministry at Battaramulla. However the Ministry has leased a building owned by a private individual for Rs 958 million for five years. Thus, there is a suspicion that this contract was entered into for ulterior motives, sources said.

The Auditor General says that the owner of the building has stated that a rent of Rs 167.50 is being charged for a square foot of the building. But the real estimate of a square foot of the building is Rs 150 according to the Valuation Department. Thus the Ministry of Agriculture is paying an extra Rs 17.50 per square foot.

The Ministry has also accepted terms which state that after three years the rent should be increased by 15% and that the Ministry must deposit rent for two years as key money.

The Auditor General adds that the Minister of Agriculture has obtained Cabinet approval for the leasing of the building on 2 March. The above mentioned details are reported in the document AGL/C/AGL/15/HQ/21 by the Auditor General.

BY CHANDRASENA MARASINGHE /Ceylon Today

ICES In Sri Lanka Is Under Investigation

By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan –April 4, 2016 

Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

In response to the exposes in the Colombo Telegraph during the latter half of January 2016 (see below for titles and the web links) and a formal complaint lodged with the Counter Fraud and Whistleblowing Unit (CFWU) of the Department for International Development (DfID, United Kingdom) by this author, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) has launched a forensic audit of the financial accounts of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES, Colombo, Sri Lanka) pertaining to the Safe and Inclusive Cities (SaIC) and Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) programmes co-funded by the Department for International Development (DfID, UK) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) and managed by the latter. In fact, 70% of the total funding for the GrOW programme is by the DfID.

An international audit firm has been hired by the IDRC to undertake a forensic audit of the accounts pertaining to the aforementioned two projects at the ICES in Colombo. Accordingly, personnel from this multinational audit firm were in Colombo during the week March 14 – 20, 2016 and met this author on March 18, 2016.Their report to the IDRC is due before the end of April 2016. The ICES is probably the only NGO in Sri Lanka that has been subjected to forensic auditing by a grantor to date.

The Board of Directors of the ICES, which has been silent on the exposes in the Colombo Telegraph, has issued a statement to the media in Colombo after two months (reported in the Daily Mirror of March 19, 2016, The Sunday Times of March 27, 2016, and The Sunday Times of April 03, 2016) claiming that “The International Development Research Center, which supports the research, has monitored its progress and communicated its satisfaction at the manner in which the research is progressing.”

The aforesaid statement of triumphalism by the Board of Directors of the ICES hides the fact that it is under intense scrutiny by the co-funders, viz. DfID and IDRC. If the statement by the ICES Board is correct then it is the IDRC which should issue a public statement to that effect. In fact, I believe the IDRC itself is under investigation because of its continued funding of the ICES in spite of a negative project evaluation report by Mark Hoffman of the London School of Economics in May 2009.

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Dilemma in monetary policy: Monetary Board being caught in ‘The Devil’s Alternative’?

Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran

 Monday, 4 April 2016

Disappointing the market’s predictions

When the Monetary Board of the Central Bank was due to announce its monetary policy decision in March 2016, the market had expected it to tighten the policy by increasing interest rates (available at: http://www.ft.lk/article/533621/CB-expected-to-hike-key-policy-rates).

The market’s predictions had been based on the logical economic choice which the Board would have made to lift the economy out of the prevailing foreign exchange crisis. But the policy review statement announced (available at: http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/latest_news/press_20160329eb.pdf) had proven the market wrong. Instead of tightening the monetary policy, it had announced the Board’s choice to maintain the status quo. Thus, the prevailing loose monetary policy with low interest rates, despite the high money and credit growth, was to be continued by the Board for another month. It would be reviewed only when the Board would meet in April to discuss what it would do with monetary policy again.

Monetary Board’s responsibility is to conduct monetary policy

The most important function which the Monetary Board conducts in the country is the management of the country’s monetary policy. The architect of the Central Bank and its founder Governor, John Exter, articulated this function in his report on the establishment of a central bank in Ceylon, known as the Exter Report, as follows: “The overall responsibility for the management, operations and administration of the Central Bank will rest with a Monetary Board. The word ‘monetary’ in its name emphasises again that the Board is intended to be very much more than simply the board of directors of another bank. It is a Governmental agency responsible for the determination of a particular kind of policy and the regulation of a particular kind of economic activity – money, banking and credit,” (p 11). 

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Yoshitha in fear that ‘Daisy loku amma’ may let the cat out of the bag plans to liquidate her

(Lanka-e-News -04.April.2016, 11.45PM) In order to conceal his secrets , Yoshitha Rajapakse has hatched a conspiracy to murder an elder cousin sister of his mother (loku amma) based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

The 15 plots of valuable land in Colombo that were bought by Yoshitha out of many millions of rupees of public funds earned by the Rajapakses during the ‘nefarious decade’ of theirs, had come to light following investigations. These are lands situated in Colombo and Dehiwala, and each plot is 40 perches in extent at least.

The four storied and two storied mansion named ‘madam Shiranthee Rajapakse’ situated at 173/2 , Mihindu Mawatha, Dehiwala that was discovered recently are such properties. A sum of Rs. 600 million has been spent to construct that mansion , and a sum of Rs.50 million had been expended to buy the relevant land. That mansion also has an underground apartment to be used as an armory. The question is , for what purpose is an armory within a residence?  

In any event , all these lands and properties are in the name of ‘Daisy Forest’ a lady residing  at 210/12 , Torrington mawatha , Colombo 05 .This lady is none other than nearly 88 years old cousin sister of Shiranthee Rajapakse. Now nobody knows where this lady disappeared. Even her whereabouts are unknown. Recently the courts ordered Yoshitha to produce this lady in court .

If this old lady Daisy Forrest is produced in court, the cat will be out of the bag. Hence Yoshitha and the Rajapakse murderers have conspired to liquidate her during the new year season, and paint a picture that she died of natural causes, according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

Already Rajapakses have got a last will written by her, it is learnt.

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by     (2016-04-04 19:43:22)

PROTEST AGAINST CHINESE FUNDED PORT CITY PROJECT IN SRI LANKA: PHOTO STORY

(Image: (c) Sunanda Deshapriya)

04/04/2016

Hundreds of people, including priests, environmental activists and fishermen, protested in Sri Lanka’s capital on Monday, demanding the government halt a $1.5 billion Chinese-funded port city project.

The city, to be built on reclaimed land off Sri Lanka’s west coast, is to include a golf course, marinas, apartments, hotels and malls. About 500 people demonstrated in Colombo, shouting slogans and displaying placards reading, “Port city will destroy the whole country,” ”Don’t disturb our fishing” and “Save our nature.”

Catholic priest Sarath Iddamalgoda of the People’s Movement Against Port City, which organized the protest, said the project will “not benefit ordinary citizens and will have a severe impact on the country’s marine resources and the livelihood of fishermen. We urge the government to stop this immediately.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated the project in 2014 during the tenure of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who relied heavily on China for infrastructure projects. It was suspended after Rajapaksa lost an election in January 2015, with the new government saying it wanted to review all projects to ensure they were environmentally viable and corruption-free.

The government decided to allow it to proceed last month, in a move seen as an effort to reassure China. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to visit China this week.

CHEC Port City Colombo, which is constructing the project, said a supplementary environmental impact study has been completed to “understand and fully assess the project’s impacts and mitigation measures in developing a comprehensive plan to maximize the benefits.”

Associated Press By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Stroy by AP

Dinesh & Wimal to be questioned regarding Chavakachcheri explosives

MONDAY, 04 APRIL 2016

It is reported that the CID intends questioning Dinesh Gunawardene and Wimal Weerawansa on the basis of the statement made by Prof. G.L. Peiris regarding the explosives found at Chavakachcheri area recently.

Former Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said at a press conference that there had been a plan to bring down explosives to Wellawatta. Prof. Peiris was summoned to the CID to question him regarding his statement and he had said he was instructed regarding the matter by Mr. Dinesh Gunawardene. He had said it was Mr. Gunawardene who was to address the press conference but at the last moment he was asked to do it.

In his statement to the CID Prof. G.L. Peiris had said he personally did not have any information regarding the explosives but Mr. Wimal Weerawansa too had told him a story similar to the one that Mr. Dinesh Gunawardene had told him.

Accordingly, the CID intends questioning Messrs. Dinesh Gunawardene and Wimal Weerawansa regarding the matter.

The new milestone in the Blue Mountain record of achievements

Apr 04, 2016

Real estate giant Blue Mountain Properties has made yet another milestone in their record of achievements.

Establishing once again the huge popularity as well as the trustworthiness they have won among the customers, all the 12 luxury land plots in their ‘Anthara’ project in Rajagiriya have been sold out in just a SINGLE DAY! 

This remarkable achievement is reported not only as a record in Blue Mountain history, but a noteworthy achievement in the Sri Lankan real state history as well.

Israeli doctors assist in torture of Palestinian prisoners

Palestinians take part in a protest demanding the release of prisoners in Israeli jails, in front of Red Cross office in Gaza City, on 28 March.

 Mohammed AsadAPA images

Charlotte Silver-2 April 2016

A growing portion of the Palestinian prisoners held in solitary confinement by Israel have gone on hunger strike to protest their mistreatment.

And a new report reveals the ways Israeli doctors are helping carry out abuses amounting to torture.

As of last Wednesday, three Palestinians serving lengthy prison terms were refusing meals.

Nahar Saadi and Isam Ahmad Zein al-Din are protesting being held in solitary confinement for three and two years respectively.

Abdullah al-Mughrabi, who announced his hunger strike this week, has been held in isolation since February.

Al-Mughrabi was transferred to a solitary confinement cell after he was scheduled to be released.

In addition, Sami Janazrah, Imad al-Batran, Abd al-Rahim Sawayfeh and Abdul Ghani Safadi are on hunger strike to protest being held without charge or trial in accordance with Israel’s widespread use of administrative detention, a holdover from British colonial rule.

Forty-three-year old Janazrah, arrested on 15 November 2015, stopped eating on 3 March.

That month Israeli authorities extended his administrative detention order for an additional four months. These orders can be renewed indefinitely in periods of up to six months.

Sawayfeh announced his hunger strike on 24 March. He had previously spent 11 years in prison and was released in 2011 as part of that year’s prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

He was arrested six months ago and, like 670 other administrative detainees, has not been charged with any crime.

According to Al-Quds newspaper, last week Sawayfeh refused an offer by Israel to deport him to Jordan.

His family reports that he suffers from more than one chronic illness that they fear will be compounded by his hunger strike.

Solitary confinement

Over the last two years, Israel has doubled its use of solitary confinement for all of its prisoners, both criminal and political, according to a new report from Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI).

While the total number of Palestinians currently in isolation is reportedly 14, that figure does not represent the uncounted number of Palestinian detainees who are placed in solitary confinement during their interrogation or for “punitive” reasons.

“Solitary confinement is chosen for the duration of interrogations precisely because of its devastating psychological effects on individuals,” the report states.

In 2009, the United Nations Committee against Torture found that Israel used isolation against Palestinians to “encourage confessions from minors,” as well as to punish violations of prison rules.

PHRI writes that Israel’s secret police agency, the Shin Bet, places Palestinians in solitary confinement on the grounds of “protecting state security,” often based on secret information that a prisoner cannot appeal.

In 2012, following a mass hunger strike, the Israel Prison Service agreed to release Palestinians placed in isolation by the Shin Bet. PHRI believes this supports the view that that these placements are arbitrary.

“The real reason behind it was punishment and vengeance,” the report states.

Collusion of Israeli medical professionals

PHRI finds that Israeli healthcare professionals give solitary confinement “a medical stamp of approval” despite the World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo prohibiting physicians from taking part in any way in torture or cruel punishment.

In 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Méndez, argued that solitary confinement for more than 15 days constitutes torture and can result in permanent psychological damage.

PHRI reviewed prisoner medical files and found that prison health providers will explicitly state whether a prisoner is “fit for solitary confinement” or “there is nothing to prevent solitary confinement in this case.”

Medical professionals also visit prisoners held in solitary confinement.

But in spite of the involvement of medical professionals in the process of confining prisoners to isolation cells, Israel’s health ministry and the Israel Prison Service do not consider the practice a “medical matter,” thereby relieving the medical establishment of any responsibility to intervene.

Last year, PHRI wrote a letter to the health ministry outlining its concerns over prisoners held in solitary confinement. In response, the ministry wrote, “From the medical perspective, we see no justification for your complaint.”

An update to the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Tokyo in 2007, which the Israeli Medical Association approved, obliges physicians to report any instance of torture they witness.

The Israeli Medical Association claims that the physicians working for the prisons are not its members. 

In a position paper, the IMA established that physicians should not sanction solitary confinement because “prolonged solitary confinement might have have negative effects on the physical and mental health of the prisoner.”

However, the IMA says that physicians are only obliged to intervene to end the torture if they are able to “identify some concrete risk to the prisoner’s health.”

“This approach fundamentally contradicts the ethical obligations falling to physicians,” PHRI writes, stating their duty compels them “to prevent damages to their patients and not just stop it after it occurred.”

Israeli electricity company cuts power in 

Bethlehem over unpaid debts

Among the places without electricity is the Church of Nativity, the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born


The district of Bethlehem is home to 210,000 Palestinians and includes Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and 33 other villages and 3 refugee camps (AFP)

Monday 4 April 2016

Israel's state-owned energy company reduced power to a number of Palestinian areas including Bethlehem on Monday, officials said, citing unpaid debt by the Palestinian Authority.

"The power supply will be reduced by about 50 percent to Bethlehem on Thursday," a statement from Israel Electricity Corporation (IEC) said.

The energy company added the "dramatic" step as a result of growing debt, which it said had reached 1.7 billion Israeli shekels ($450mn).

The Israeli-owned company said the power outage was part of a plan to disrupt daily supply over the next two weeks over the failure to pay bills.

The head of the Jerusalem District Electricity Company, Hisham al-Omari, told Ma’an news agency that the shutdown was originally to take place in Ramallah and al-Bireh, where a majority of PA government facilities reside.

The PA pleaded with IEC from implementing the electricity cuts in the West Bank, according to Ma’an, but the company decided to shut off electricity to Bethlehem from 2pm to 6pm local time.

Issam Juha, Bethlehem’s deputy mayor, said his district was not given any prior notice about the cut.

On Thursday the company took a similar measure in the city of Jericho in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Full power was returned later the same day in that case.

The governor of Bethlehem Jibril al-Bakri confirmed the cut. 

"Residents suddenly found themselves without electricity in Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour," he said, with around 50 percent of IEC customers without power.

He added that among the buildings impacted was the Church of Nativity, built at the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.

"They cut off electricity to the Church of the Nativity, to holy places, to the Beit Jala cancer hospital, the Caritas hospital and to the only mental illness hospital in Palestine," he said.

The district of Bethlehem is home to 210,000 Palestinians and includes Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and 33 other villages and 3 refugee camps.

The Palestinian Authority has struggled financially and is largely dependent  on foreign aid. It relies heavily on Israel for electricity supplies, which also provides electricity to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Ongoing talks with the IEC and Palestinian officials have so far not resolved the debt problem.

In January 2015, the IEC cut power to Palestinian cities for a number of hours every day over a similar debt, only to renew it a few weeks later.

Under an economic agreement signed with the PA in 1994, Israel collects around 600-700 million shekels each month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports.

It transfers the money after deducting approximately 100 million shekels for expenses such as Palestinian hospitalisations in Israel, sewage treatment and covering part of the electricity debt, which has remained largely stable in recent months.

Oil down over 2 percent; more doubt producer output freeze

A worker grabs a nozzle at a petrol station in Tehran, Iran January 25, 2016.

REUTERS/RAHEB HOMAVANDI/TIMA

BY BARANI KRISHNAN-Tue Apr 5, 2016

Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Monday, with Brent touching one-month lows, as investors doubted that producing countries will freeze output to rein in a worldwide glut.

U.S. crude futures got only brief support from an outage on a pipeline that helps deliver oil to the U.S. storage hub. Traders worried instead that U.S. crude stockpiles probably hit record highs for an eighth straight week.

Oil prices remain up about 40 percent from around 12-year lows struck in mid-February, although the rally has fizzled on growing skepticism about a proposed output freeze by major producers.

"It appears that the speculative longs that were enticed toward the buyside of the energy complex through most of the first quarter by the upcoming production freeze meeting are now heading for the exits," said Jim Ritterbusch at Chicago-based energy markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

Brent settled down 98 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $37.69 a barrel, touching a March 4 low of $37.60. It is down 11 percent from a 2016 high of $42.54 struck on March 18.

U.S. crude finished the session down $1.09, or nearly 3 percent, at $35.70 a barrel, after briefly rebounding on news of an outage on the Keystone pipeline that is among a network delivering oil to the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub.

U.S. crude has tumbled 15 percent from a 2016 peak of $41.90 on March 22.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers are to meet in Doha, Qatar in two weeks to discuss an output freeze plan. But prospects for a deal look dim, with the Saudis declining to participate without Iran, while Russia reports its highest production in 30 years just weeks before the meeting.

U.S. government data on Friday showed hedge funds cut their net long position in U.S. crude during the week to March 29 for the first time in six weeks.

Analysts in a Reuters poll forecast that U.S. crude inventories rose 3.3 million barrels last week to an eighth straight week of record highs.

Adding to the bearish sentiment was data showing U.S gasoline demand down in January from a year earlier, snapping a 14-month streak of year-over-year increases.

Not all investors were bearish on oil.

Jonathan Goldberg, who runs the $550 million oil-focused BBL Commodities Value Fund in New York, said crude was still in the early stage of a bull run, although near-term caution may be necessary with inventories remaining high.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in LONDON; Editing by Dale Hudson, David Goodman and David Gregorio)

Bulldozer Trump Says Get Rid of NATO

The US has garrisoned and directed Western Europe’s military affairs since 1945 – and today, Eastern Europe as well. A new US brigade will be moving into the Baltic States and former Warsaw Pact members.

by Eric S. Margolis

( April 2, 2016, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) Donald Trump has been making many revolutionary proposals. Unfortunately, they have often been obscured by the furor over his fumbled remarks about abortion and the pulsating hatred of America’s Republican ruling class.

The media have attacked Trump like a school of enraged piranhas. A contrived incident mounted by the hard right wing tried to make his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, look like a woman abuser. I met Lewandowski two weeks ago in Palm Beach. He’s a reserved person and certainly no abuser.

Last week, Trump claimed the USA was paying too much to sustain NATO. It was time, he asserted, to cut way back on US financial support and get Europe to pay its fair share for “protecting itself from threats.”

More outrage greeted Trump’s attack on the post-World War II status quo. But he was quite right. The US subsidizes about 73% of NATO’s total military, economic and social costs. NATO’s European members pay only about 1% of their gross national product.

But Trump was not right about the western alliance. First, NATO faces no outside threat even though Washington’s Republican war party and necons are trying to revivify the Cold War confrontation with Russia.

The only real danger to Europe comes from ISIS and can be dealt with by police and intelligence agencies. However, Washington has long sought to reshape NATO into an offensive military alliance that can act as auxiliaries to the US forces in the Mideast and Third world, but with only modest results.

The US has garrisoned and directed Western Europe’s military affairs since 1945 – and today, Eastern Europe as well. A new US brigade will be moving into the Baltic States and former Warsaw Pact members.

More important, NATO is a huge military and political asset to the US. In effect, NATO keeps Europe under US military influence. The old Soviet Warsaw Pact played the same role for Moscow. As strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski told me long ago. NATO serves as “stepping stones” for the ongoing US geopolitical control of Europe. No wonder it was not disbanded like the Warsaw Pact after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The post-war European states gravely weakened by World War II mostly accepted NATO as their overlord. General Charles DeGaulle ousted NATO from France and refused American tutelage.

But his successors restored US suzerainty over France. Germany’s tough defense minister, Franz Josef Strauss, said “we won’t play foot soldiers to America’s atomic knights” but his attempted to build a more independent policy failed.

American politicians, Trump included, like to accuse Europe of “not carrying their rightful defense burden.” What they really mean is that Europe is not paying enough to support the American Imperium. The US is not in Europe and Asia for humanitarian reasons; they form the two key spheres of US world power.

This writer has long advocated ending the obsolete NATO alliance. It made much sense when the Soviets had 50,000 tanks facing Europe, revving their engines. Today, its ‘raison d’etre’ has gone. Yet NATO keeps Europe under American direction and seriously hinders the unification of Europe – something that the US and its feudal vassal state Britain seek to avoid.

Europe badly needs its own unified armed forces. How can the European Union be a successful union without integrated military forces and strategic command? We still accept this strange situation 71 years after the end of World War II. The US exercises similar post-war imperial control over Japan and South Korea.

No one in the US has dared question this post-war imperial status quo until the bulldozing Mr. Trump. 

Small wonder he is so hated and vilified. Trump directly threatens America’s military-industrial-Wall Street complex and its role as a world hegemon. Trump questions carte blanche for Israel, and America’s entire system of government which has been profoundly corrupted by oceans of money.

Trump is not owned by anyone. That is practically un-American. In the US, politics are business by another name. One fears that heretic Trump will be burned at the stake by the powers that be.

Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2016