Stop Cancer before it Starts!

2016-10-01

Although it is extremely vital to have a check or screening on every woman over 20 years of age for breast cancer (especially those above 45), a majority of women in Sri Lanka are extremely reluctant to undergo this practice, thus resulting in mounting numbers of patients with breast cancer. 
This backward thinking among Sri Lankan women has hampered the early detection of cancer causing agents – carcinogen in breasts. 

Dr. Kanishka de Silva, Medical Specialist of the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama (NCIM), said early detection and uninterrupted treatment were the best ways to control and cure this deadly disease, but death was imminent in the event where timely treatment failed. 

“The Health Ministry has done everything possible to save women from becoming victims of breast cancer. There are 980 ‘Suva Nari’ clinics island-wide established for women to have check-ups for breast cancer, cervical cancer, Body Mass Index (BMI) blood pressure and so forth. We must all know that cancer of any type can be cured only through early detection and early treatment.

Otherwise, cancer brings imminent death. The husbands and other family members have a responsibility to compel the mother or elder sisters to screen for cancer. Learning to have self-examination on breast cancer by women is also important for early detection,” Dr. de Silva stressed. 
Addressing the media at the Health Education Bureau (HEB) at a seminar on breast cancer, Dr. de Silva said all women need to have a check for breast cancer at least once a month. 

Explaining some non-modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, Dr. de Silva said being a female, aging, having one or more blood relatives with breast or ovarian cancer, long-term exposure to estrogen hormone (starting menstruation before 12 years or delayed menstruation beyond 55 years) and born with some abnormal genes were non-modifiable. 

Excessive weight gain after menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapy (long-term use of estrogen and progesterone hormones), smoking, lack of exercise, use of alcohol, unnecessary exposure to radiation is modifiable. Females who do not have children and have not breastfed were also at a risk of developing breast cancer, he added. 

The World Breast Cancer Awareness Month is commemorated across the world by implementing programmes on prevention of breast cancer, early detection, treatments of the disease and palliative care for its victims. The purpose of these exercises is to strengthen the health seeking behaviour among the patients when the disease is at a very early stage. 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females. The analysis of data on cancer in Sri Lanka reveals that breast cancer accounts for nearly 25% of all cancers reported among females. Nearly 2,500 new breast cancer patients are detected each year. This indicates that approximately 6-7 new patients are detected per day. If identified at an early stage, the disease can be completely cured through less-complicated but efficacious treatment methods. However, data reveal that a considerable number of breast cancer patients have sought treatment at a late stage of the disease. 
Breast cancer occurs when a genetic change appears in the breast tissue. These changes may result due to various reasons. They are either inherited or environmental. However, inherited causes account for only 5-10% of the victims while the majority are due to unhealthy lifestyle and other environmental issues. Generally, the cause is multifactoral (a combination of these factors). These are identified as risk factors for breast cancer. However, all the females having these risk factors are not inflicted with the disease. Similarly, absence of any risk factor in a person does not exclude that person from developing the disease. 

A nodule or swelling in the breast, recent change of contour or appearance in the breast, asymmetry in the breasts, recent nipple retraction or any other nipple change, dimpling of breast skin, an eczema, wound or any colour difference in the skin, skin of the breast appears like a peel of an orange, nipple discharge other than breast milk and frequent and unusual pain in the breasts are the signs of breast cancer. 

It is essential to seek medical advice forthwith, if any of the above symptoms are experienced. 
The awareness and attention on own breasts are important for early detection of cancer on the breast. This facilitates early identification of any change in the breast to seek medical advice early. Not all breast changes are due to cancer; however, it is important to exclude it by a medically qualified person. 

All females above 20 years should perform a self breast examination at least once a month. Here, the exposed breasts should be examined for any of the aforementioned changes. Any change which was not present during the previous examination needs urgent attention to exclude a cancer. 
Well Woman Clinics conducted by MOH offices, Healthy Lifestyle Clinics conducted by the government and private sector hospitals are the centres providing clinical breast examination. 
The National Cancer Control Programme also conducts a Cancer Early Detection Centre which is situated at Narahenpita. It operates during weekdays. Services are available for clinical breast examination, Pap smear and other cancer early detection examinations. 

If any suspicious condition is identified during the clinical breast examination, then that person will be directed for a mammography or an ultra sound scan. 

The Zonta International has come forward to help women who have undergone cancer surgeries –mastectomy - to remove their breast by providing cushion to fill the gap in order to save them from embarrassment. 

The breast cushion in U-shape to be worn on the removed breast has been invented by a member of Zonta International, Botany Bay,  Australia Anne Selle. However, the programme to assist Sri Lankan women with one breast was inaugurated recently under the theme ‘Breast Cancer Cushion Project.’ 
Other relief brought by Breast Cancer Cushion is the prevention of ‘haematoma’ or bleeding, pain under the arm pits and pressure surrounding the breast or ‘lipedema.’ 

Setting up of a Cancer Unit at each and every District Hospital with a cancer specialist, launching a project to establish a centre for bone marrow transplant and providing modern chemo therapy machines to all existing cancer wards were among the measures discussed at the Presidential Secretariat recently for the benefit of cancer patients when President Maithripala Sirisena met a team of cancer experts. 

Members of the Sri Lanka Cancer Specialists Association presented a set of proposals to President Sirisena at this meeting in order to mitigate the sufferings of cancer patients, provide modern treatment and control of cancer as it is one of the major killers among non-communicable diseases. 
The Cancer Specialists stressed that although cancer treatment was being carried out at the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama (NCIM), and cancer units have been set up at Kandy, Karapitiya, Badulla, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Kurunegala and Ratnapura hospitals, it was extremely vital to open cancer units at all district hospitals. 

Over 30,000 cancer patients are treated as inward patients at NCIM and other hospitals but the facilities at those institutions are not sufficient to treat all cancer patients in the country, they added. 
Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne announced A ‘National Cancer Policy and Strategy for Cancer Control’ a seven point national action plan to control and prevent cancer. It also contains modern treatment methods on patients, drugs and patient care. 

A comprehensive awareness programme is also included to educate the public on how to keep cancer away, food habits and lifestyle that must follow and also how to take care of cancer patients. 
Setting up of a Cancer Unit at each and every District  Hospital with a cancer specialist, launching a project to establish a centre for bone marrow transplant and providing modern chemo therapy machines to all existing cancer wards were among measures that were on the cards to prevent and control cancer in the country. 

It Was Wrong To Label The LTTE As A Terrorist Organization

By Pitasanna Shanmugathas –September 30, 2016

Pitasanna Shanmugathas

The historical use of the word “terrorist” clearly indicates that the word is a political tool and is never used in its intended sense. According to political intellectual Noam Chomsky, if we apply the terrorism laws espoused by the United States against their own policies, we will find that the United States is the world’s leading terrorist state.

The United States has overthrown democratically elected governments in Latin America; destroyed Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War; destabilized the Middle East; conducts drone operations killing innocent men, women and children; the United States indefinitely detains individuals in Guantanamo Bay without due process, among several other egregious acts. The United States, despite committing such horrendous actions, is never labeled as a terrorist state.

The United States has used the word “terrorist” against Fidel Castro who sought to liberate his country by overthrowing a U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. The United States labeled Nelson Mandela as a terrorist, and only recently did Mandela get removed from the terrorist list. The United States labeled Saddam Hussein as a “terrorist” despite the fact that during the 1980s, the United States was providing weapons technology to Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, the United States supports one of the most radical nations in the Middle East—Saudi Arabia, which has killed innocent women and children in Yemen, and continues to terrorize its own citizens through brutal forms of punishment and executions.

If we look at India’s action in Kashmir, India unlawfully occupies Kashmiri land, and stifles citizens’ right to voice their opinion for independence. India kills Kashmiri leaders who oppose the actions of the Indian forces, and injures Kashmiri civilians using pellet guns. However, India is never regarded as a terrorist state even though the superpower commits terrorist actions both domestically and abroad.

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Police officer who covered up Dharmaratnam Sivaram murder probe revealed

Sep 30, 2016

The police officer, who had covered up the investigations, on an order from the higher up, into the murder of senior Tamil journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram alias Taraki, has been revealed. Sivaram was abducted near Bambalapitiya police station while being with two friends on 28 April 2005.

The CCD had carried out investigations into the killing. At the time, its director was SSP Sarath Lugoda. He has retired now. Investigations are on to find out as to whether he was ordered to stop the investigations, or else he had stopped the investigations on his own.
 
On 13 June 2005, two suspects were arrested, but the CCD released them following an order from the higher up, saying their arrest could ‘endanger national security.’ It is not yet clear as to who had ordered Lugoda to release the two.
 
The CCD seized the Indian made Scorpio jeep with the no. WP HT 6276 said to have been used for Sivaram’s abduction. From the vehicle, the SIM of Sivaram’s mobile phone was recovered. With the assistance of Dialog GSM the arrests were made via triangular technology.
 
The registered owner of the jeep is PLOTE leader Dharmalingam Siddharthan, and its registered address is parliamentary affairs ministry at Ward Place, Colombo 07.
 
Peter is Siddharthan’s driver
 
In a previous article, we mentioned a person by the name Peter, whose real name is Arumugam Sri Skandaraja. The CCD found Sivaram’s phone SIM from his possession. This Peter, also Siddharthan's driver and armed wing leader of PLOTE, led the gang that made an unsuccessful attempt in 1998 to topple the Maldivian government. He is a citizen of Norway. He is to be arrested by the CID for questioning.
 
The CCD arrested him in connection with the Sivaram murder, but was released later. PLOTE leader Siddharthan has never been arrested or questioned with regard to the Sivaram killing. 
 
Present with Sivaram at the time of his abduction were senior journalist Kusal Perera and cinematographer Prasanna Ratnayake, who is presently overseas. Neither has so far been summoned for questioning by the CCD. Perera has told the media that he would be able to identify the abduction vehicle, which had a spare tyre in its rear.
 
It is well known that by 2005, PLOTE had been carrying out operations as a paramilitary shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces. When he was first arrested, Peter confessed to the CCD that he had given Siddharthan’s jeep to a person by the name Raju for several days. The whereabouts of Raju were made known, but the CCD never went to arrest him, but in fact gave him two weeks to make his escape.
 
Accordingly, the CID has identified former DIG Sarath Lugoda as the officer who had covered up investigations into the Sivaram murder. Investigators are due to question him shortly.

Gota and Senadipathi get bail

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (L) looks on from a court detention cell at the magistrate court yesterday. Gotabhaya and six others were granted bail following corruption charges made against them by the anti-graft commission over an alleged illegal operation over a floating armoury- AFP 

Saturday, 1 October 2016-

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was held briefly in a court detention cell yesterday, when he and seven others that appeared in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court in connection with the controversial Avant Garde Maritime Services case waited for a judge to grant bail.

 The former Defence Secretary, arguably the most powerful official in the Rajapaksa administration, was noticed to appear as a suspect in a case filed by the Bribery Commission, which claims that the decision by the accused to allow Avant Garde Maritime Services to operate a floating armoury had caused losses to the tune of Rs. 11.4 billion to the Sri Lankan Government.

 Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya imposed a travel ban on the suspects and set bail in the case at Rs. 200,000 each and two sureties worth Rs 10 million each.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa also appeared in court in solidarity with his younger brother yesterday. All eight suspects were held in a detention cell until bail was granted by the magistrate.

Suspects in the case filed by the Bribery Commission include the former Defence Secretary and two retired navy commanders Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage and Vice Admiral Francis Jayantha Perera. Avant Garde’s controversial Chairman retired Major Nissanka Senadhipathi is also listed as a suspect in the case.

Lawyers for Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the suspects argued in court that the manner in which the case had been filed by the Bribery Commission was illegal and appealed for the release of all eight suspects. However the Chief Magistrate rejected the submission saying any objections could be raised at the trial and slapped travel bans on all eight suspects in the case, ordering them to inform court before attempting to travel overseas.

Former Defence Secretary Rajapaksa, Avant Garde Chairman Senadhipathi and Major Waduge Fernando all requested leave from court to go overseas for medical treatment.

The Chief Magistrate ordered the plaintiff’s lawyers to file written submissions stating their objections to foreign travel and said he would issue an order about the three suspects requesting foreign travel for medical purposes on 3 October. The case is to be taken up again on 1 December.

Speaking to reporters after he was granted bail, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa accused the Government of failing to take action against Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran.

“In the past he didn’t make such remarks. The Government accuses various people of inciting racism, but with regard to the Chief Minister, they observe a policy of silence,” the former Defence Secretary said.

Bail for Gota & Senadhipathi who caused Rs.11.4 billion loss to public

FRIDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2016

Eight persons including former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi, who appeared before court on a case filed by Bribery Commission over the Avant Garde case in which they are charged for causing a loss of Rs 11.4 billion to the state through the illegal establishment of a floating armory in the port of Galle, released on a cash bail of Rs 200,000 and personal bail of Rs 10 million while the court also barred them from leaving the country.

The case was herd before Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya and the next date for hearing was fixed to 16th January, 2017.

‘Public opinion plays a crucial role in modern Democracy; freedom to form public opinion is of great importance’- Three judge bench including CJ

-Fatal blow to those stifling media which criticize scoundrels who disgrace judiciary !

(Lanka-e-News -30.Sep.2016, 10.15PM) It is a well and widely known fact that lawless and villainous  judges of the nefarious decade are being bitterly castigated by the electronic media, print media and social media . Sadly, these scoundrels are seeking   support and security from yet another corrupt notorious rascal of a lawyer Hemantha Warnakulasuriya of the Blue Brigand who collected many millions of rupees on the sly  from heroin magnates, in order to stifle the media which are exposing the sordid and squalid details of these judges.   

While this venal and criminal black coated shark is viciously and vigorously engaged in these odious and obnoxious attempts , Justice Anil Gunaratne of the  bench of three judges of the supreme court (SC)  which included  chief justice (CJ) Kanagasabapathy SriPavan ,on the other hand  delivering a land mark verdict declared,  ‘public opinion plays a crucial role in modern Democracy .Freedom to form opinions is of great importance’ which was a  thundering slap in the face of this lawyer liar rascal .

The three judges panel made this announcement on the 28 th  when delivering a judgment pertaining to a petition filed by  a  teacher ,Samanthi Manohari Pellaketiya of Mahanama College that her fundamental rights were violated. The three judges who heard the case were :  SriPavan CJ, Anil Gunaratne and Upali Abeyratne. 

The plaintiff  was working as a music teacher at Mahanama College . When she fell victim to sexual molestation at the hands of the principal and his henchman , she exposed this to the media. Thereafter , she was interdicted on the grounds that she violated the Establishment code. 

The victim as a last resort filed  a Fundamental rights ( FR) petition in the supreme court (SC)  and it was J.C. Weliamuna a most popular FR lawyer who appeared for  the victim  . Finally it was decided by the judges that the accused were guilty and the  teacher be paid a compensation of Rs. 100,000.00 by each of  the respondents. 

The SC in that case stressed a further most important and salient point when delivering the decision . That is , the Establishment code provision that is militating against the rights of all State employees to express their views shall be amended. 

Under chapter XXXi section 3.2 of the Establishment code the right of a State employees to express his/her  views to the media has been denied. Many employees who were held guilty  under that section had been punished  previously  . The decision of the SC after examining the petition SC/FR/76/2012 delivered on 28 th sought to give a new interpretation to this barrier against the State employees. 

Though the government by bringing forth the right to information bill withdrew the impediments  operating against the right to information, steps were not  taken to take away   the barrier in the aforementioned section  militating against the State employees under the Establishment code .  Hence , the attention of everyone was  drawn to this. 

May we recall Lanka e news on 2012-05-14 revealed full details of this injustice meted out to  Music teacher Ms. Samanthi Manohari Pelaketiya , even when  Lanka e news was a banned website at that  time. Viewers can read the report via   the following links :

https://www.facebook.com/lankaenews/photos/a.219828384749001.57957.219430344788805/352906188107886/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/lankaenews/posts/605497632848739

The full landmark judgment of CJ can be read via the following links:

http://www.supremecourt.lk/images/documents/sc_fr_76_2012.pdf

If the president and the secretary of the Bar Association who recently held a meeting to stoop to carry out the sordid biddings of kudu (heroin) lawyer Hemantha Warnakulasuriya , will read the full verdict of the CJ , it will do a great deal of good to them rather than their wasting time on purposeless meetings to serve the ‘kude kudu’ agendas of black coated sharks and lawyer criminals. 

---------------------------
by     (2016-09-30 17:23:17)

CEB a thieves Den

Sep 30, 2016

It is reported that although  investigations into  several large scale corrupt and irregular activities within the Ceylon Electricity Board  have concluded but no action and punishments have been meted out  in regard to the accused personnel.

In the Sabaragamuwa CEB office a cheque  fraud amounting Rs 2,985580.00 had taken place.The investigation report has been handed over the General Manager.According to the audit report it had been confirmed the fraud had been owing to inefficient internal administration..Although disciplinary action had been taken against the accountant, chief clerk and the clerk in charge of the subject no disciplinary inquiry had been made against the main suspect Shelton Premaratne which had been a puzzle to many..
 
After these irregularities and corrupt activities were complained to the bribery and corruption investigation commission  and the Presidential secretariat about the  secretary to the ministry of power and energy had instructed to investigate. But the investigations are not speedily taking place into the complaints on  irregularities in regard to the transformers in the southern province.
 
The criminal investigation department together with the investigation unit of the CEB had investigated  about the misappropriation of around rupees 11 million worth stocks that had occurred in the commercial unit of the main engineering division in Wayamba province. The officers of the criminal investigation department had forwarded the findings of the investigation to the attorney General's department for advice.This had been mentioned in the CEB investigation report.
 
 
 .It is reported that from the Kotugoda depot pin connections to the tune of Rs 2,100,000.00 have been misplaced.In this regard the report of the CEB investigation report CEB/SIB/2464 against the accused has been prepared.But for the misplacement of goods before the investigations commenced as the accused officer as the plaintiff of the CEB., two staff officers  not involved in this case had been issued charge sheets to appear at Minuwangoda magistrate courts under case number B/681/14.The real accused have misled the police and attempted to cover the fraud.
   .
In respect of cab vehicle No PB 9081 belonging to the Kotmale power station had been taken to a different location and used in a haphazard manner meeting with accidents, making a loss of Rs 1,602,652.14 investigations had been carried.
 
From the upper Kotmale area without permission the vehicle had been brought to Colombo and while returning back to Kotmale in the Kitulgala area the cab vehicle had overturned causing huge damages. The vehicle had been traced after the vehicle was taken to a garage in the Homagama Godagama area for repairs by the team of investigators.
 
In this regard the general manager had on the advise from the senior superintendent of Nuwara Eliya had lodged a complaint to the Pundaluoya police station under the number CIB 02-30177.After the police investigation the accused engineer had been summoned to courts but had been exonerated of charges saying that the CEB would take action against him.Hence the court action against him had been terminated abruptly by the intervention of the CEB's general manager.
. .
The CEB trade union representatives are of the view that the  general manager intends to make the case to go underground.

What happened to four Palestinians abducted in Egypt?

Family and friends of Palestinians abducted in Egypt call for the men’s release in September 2015.
Abed Rahim KhatibAPA images

Hamza Abu Eltarabesh-29 September 2016

Wafaa Abu Libdah experienced both shock and relief when she saw photographs of her son Abdeldayim in detention.

“When I saw the photo, I screamed ‘Abdeldayim is still alive,’” she said. Then she had a closer look and noticed that he was being held in unsanitary conditions.

“The ground is wet, the whole place is dirty and my son is half naked,” she said, viewing the pictures on a mobile phone. “Why is Egypt doing this?”

Abdeldayim was among four Palestinians abducted by masked men after entering Egypt in August 2015. They had passed through the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border and were on a bus heading to Cairo International Airport when the abduction occurred.

Last month — one year following their abduction — Al Jazeera published images of Abdeldayim and Yasir Zannoun, another of the four abductees, being detained, reportedly in Cairo.

Wafaa, Abdeldayim’s mother, has had trouble sleeping since her son was abducted. “I want my only son back,” she said. “I want to hug him again — even just once before I die.”

Abeldayim and the three other abductees had, according to press reports, been involved in the armed wing ofHamas.

They were destined for Turkey when abducted. Abdeldayim was planning to further his studies in software engineering there.

When the masked men boarded the bus from which Abdeldayim was taken, they called out his name and that of the three others. Passengers who were on the same bus have said that the masked men spoke with Egyptian accents.

Silence

Yet the Egyptian authorities have mainly been silent about the abductions. No official comment was made by the Egyptian government at the time.

However, it was reported that the Egyptian security services believed the abductions were carried out by Province of Sinai, a group affiliated with Islamic State.

Many people in Gaza suspect that the abductions were the result of cooperation between Israel and Egypt. One theory is that the men may have been taken hostage to pressure Hamas into releasing the few Israeli soldiers who were captured during Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza.

Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, stated earlier this year that four Israeli soldiers were being held in Gaza.

Abu Obeida insisted that no negotiations were being held with Israel about the captured soldiers. Israel would have to “pay a price” for any information on them, he added.

Egypt manages the Rafah crossing in coordination with Israel. Since a siege was imposed on Gaza in 2007, the crossing has been frequently closed. Last year, it was completely shut during the months of February, April and July.

“Blackmail”

Hamas has been in contact with the Cairo authorities following the abductions.

Salah al-Baradwil, a leading member of Hamas, has called on Egypt to press charges against the men if it holds any evidence against them.

He has accused Egypt of making “harsh demands” of Hamas in return for the men’s release. One of the demands was that Hamas take action against Islamic State in the Sinai. That would mean Hamas — a party to which the current Egyptian government is hostile — being required to fight inside Egyptian territory.

Another demand was that Hamas would hand over a number of people that the Egyptians wished to arrest. Hamas was also instructed to place additional security personnel on the Rafah border.

Egypt is resorting to “implicit blackmail,” al-Bardawil told The Electronic Intifada. He also said that the Egyptian authorities have confirmed to Hamas that they abducted the four men.

Yasir Zannoun left Gaza to receive medical treatment, according to his mother Mariam.

“He was traveling in a legal way,” she said. “He has health problems. They get so bad in the winter that his body is racked with pain.”

The family of Yasir Zannoun say he was abducted while attempting to reach Turkey for medical treatment.
Abed Rahim KhatibAPA images

Yasir was injured in his legs when Israel shelled Rafah, his home area, during its November 2012 bombardment of Gaza. He also suffers from back problems, his mother said.

The families of the two other abductees, Hussain al-Zibdah and Abdullah Abu Jabin, remain in the dark about their whereabouts.

Hussain’s brother Anwar said that he had to try and comfort his own children after the images of the other two abductees were published. A young nephew of Hussain wanted to know why his uncle could not be seen in the pictures.

“I had to say that Hussain might have gone to the bathroom or fallen asleep,” said Anwar.

Hussain, too, had been traveling for medical reasons, according to his family. He has knee pains and a stomach condition.

“Our family is very sad at the moment,” said Anwar. “We wish that we could have seen Hussain in the photograph, so that we would know he is alive.”

Hamza Abu Eltarabesh is a freelance journalist and writer from Gaza.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict — the elephant in the tent at Peres funeral

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center, attends the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres on Friday at Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem. (Stephen Crowley/AFP/Getty Images)

By Sudarsan Raghavan September 30 at 3:09 PM

JERUSALEM — It was the elephant in the tent at the funeral of Israeli statesmen Shimon Peres on Friday, a ceremony that eulogized his life as a peace builder.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that is.

It emerged before the funeral in the brief, but much-talked about, handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It was a rare moment of possibility and hope, if imagined, that Peres would have applauded. But that swiftly vanished when Netanyahu walked past Abbas at the funeral without acknowledging him. It was reinforced later when Netanyahu noted in his eulogy the presence of world leaders, even the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, but failed to mention Abbas or the word “Palestinian.”

[The world mourns Shimon Peres as Israel considers his legacy]

The absence of Arab leaders at the ceremony illuminated the shadow cast by the conflict. At the 1995 funeral of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for signing the Oslo Peace Accords two years earlier, nine Muslim nations dispatched their representatives. They included then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Hussein. Both their nations had inked peace deals with Israel.

 

Those agreements are still intact, but neither heads of state from Egypt or Jordan came on Friday, preferring to send senior officials instead. It was an unsubtle testament to the divisions between Arabs and Israelis and their different perceptions of Peres’s legacy in the Middle East. And it shed light on the extent to which Peres’s aspirations for peace remain distant, perhaps even unattainable.

Indeed, at moments, Friday’s ceremony seemed like a eulogy to his long and elusive quest to create a secure Israel neighbored by a Palestinian state. Among all the Jewish leaders, Peres was the one who most sought a “two-state solution” to the decades-long war between the Arabs and Jews.

The ceremony was also a plea to complete Peres’s unfinished dreams.

“There are some who say that peace is not possible. But peace is not only possible, it is an ineluctable necessity,” Amos Oz, the Israeli novelist and close friend of Peres, declared in his eulogy. He added that “since the Israelis and the Palestinians can’t become one big happy family now, they can’t simply hop into a conjugal bed and embark on a honeymoon together. So there is no choice but to divide this home into two apartments and turn it into a two-family house.”

“In their heart of hearts, almost everyone, on all sides, knows this simple truth. But where are the leaders with the courage to come forward and bring it to pass? Where are the heirs of Shimon Peres?”

The only speaker to acknowledge Abbas, seated to the far left of the podium, was President Obama, who said his “presence here is a gesture and a reminder of the unfinished business of peace.”

Obama, who made finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a key foreign policy goal, sought to reinforce Peres’s vision of both sides living together as equals, saying that he refused to believe Peres was “naive” as his critics have suggested.

 

“Even in the face of terrorist attacks, even after repeated disappointments at the negotiation table, he insisted that as human beings, Palestinians must be seen as equal in dignity to Jews, and must therefore be equal in self-determination,” Obama said.

“Because of his sense of justice, his analysis of Israel’s security, his understanding of Israel’s meaning, he believed that the Zionist idea would be best protected when Palestinians, too, had a state of their own.”

And even though the region is turbulent, and “threats are ever present,” Obama said that Peres “did not stop dreaming, and he did not stop working.”

[Shimon Peres, Israeli statesman and Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 93]

The question on many minds — American, Israeli and Arabs — is whether Peres’s vision for a peaceful Middle East are now buried alongside him.

In his eulogy, Netanyahu acknowledged his deep-rooted disagreements with Peres on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially the question of what is most important for Israel — security or peace.

Peres, he said, argued that “peace is the true security.” But he told Peres that “security is essential for achieving peace and maintaining it.”

“We were both right,” Netanyahu told the mourners. “In a turbulent Middle East in which only the strong survive, peace will not be achieved other than by permanently preserving our power. But power is not an end in itself. It’s a means to an end. That goal is to ensure our national existence and coexistence.”

The presence of Abbas on Friday also threatens to work against him at home. Palestinians were deeply divided over Peres, with many viewing him as a key engineer of the conflict and the loss of their lands and rights. At a time when peace talks have all but faded, some Palestinians took to social media, declaring that “paying respect for Peres death is a betrayal” while others called him a “sellout.”

“What are you crying for Abbas?” read one tweet alongside a televised image of him in a solemn moment at the funeral. “Is Peres’ passing this painful?”

William Booth and Ruth Eglash contributed to this report.

Shut down secret US military base in Darwin, protesters cry

Activists lock themselves onto the gates of the facility preventing employees from engaging in the machinations of war. (Photo: Supplied)

ANTI-WAR activists broke the silence of this remote and quiet town in Alice Springs, Northern Territory on Thursday.

By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon -30th September 2016 

They staged a protest against a secret US-Australian military facility and five were arrested by the Australian Federal Police but were later released without charges.

Little does the world know that in this town, there is a US military industrial complex that plays a major role in the US-Australian joint military partnership. The activists said it is a complex that serves as a spy and military base that facilitates US drones to kill innocent people in war-torn countries.

Four activists locked themselves at the gates of Raytheon facility on Thursday morning to block employees from entering the premises. They were later arrested by police for breaching the perimeter to the defence facility but were released after Judge Daynor Trigg dropped charges because of “flawed” and “premature” police prosecution.

Close Pine Gap activists claim the industrial complex as a war-mongering machine and responsible for the deaths of innocent people targeted by US military drones. They said it produces “a range of tools of war from technical equipment through to UN-prohibited cluster bombs.”

SEE ALSO: Okinawa move to block US base relocation ‘illegal’, Japan court rules

Activists include people from all walks of life – nurses, community workers, students, parents and grandparents; young and old. They said they are concerned that the Australian prime minister can take them to war with no debate in parliament nor consultation with the people. They lament they have no voice to the increasing build-up of US military personnel in Australia, and Pine Gap renders Australian people like themselves complicit in the murder of many innocent people by bombs dropped from drones by the US and facilitated through the Pine Gap radon array.

The group said, “the Australian Government has allowed the US military, along with its private war industry contractors, to embed in Australia, on land that was never ceded by the traditional custodians, with no consultation of the people of Australia.”

Peace Pilgrim 5 have been released from all charges on Pine Gap. (Photo: Supplied)

Jacob Grech, one of the people locked onto the gate said: “The fact that huge profit-making corporations are directly involved in the operation of Pine Gap is often overlooked. We are here to bring awareness to the people so that they may act to end war together”.

Gaye Demanuele, grandmother of five, stated that acts of civil disobedience by the people are now imperative.

“Our governments have failed us in the name of profit and power. It is now up to us to act to end senseless wars.”

“[We want to] let the workers know that there are people here who don’t like what they’re doing in working at a foreign military base outside Alice Springs, which is obviously responsible for [the] deaths of hundreds of people across the Middle East,” Grech said.

Dozens of people blockaded the access road into the base for more than two hours on Wednesday. The activists claimed they are peace pilgrims and they negotiated with the police.

Protestors demand the closure of the Pine Gap base with the return of the land to the traditional custodians of the land, the Arrende people.

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Clinton campaign accuses Trump of 'unhinged' attack on Alicia Machado

The Republican’s Twitter tirade against former Miss Universe has been labeled a ‘Machado meltdown’ after Clinton brought her story to national attention

 Donald Trump alluded to unproven accusations against the former Miss Universe winner and claimed she had been helped to become a US citizen so Democrats could exploit her. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Dan Roberts in Washington-Friday 30 September 2016

Donald Trump was accused by the Clinton campaign of “unhinged” behaviour toward a former Miss Universe winner on Friday after he fired off a tirade of personal attacks against her in the middle of the night.

Launching the fourth day of a war of words against Alicia Machado that is causing consternation among Republicans, the party’s candidate accused Machado of having a “disgusting” past after she criticised his attitude toward women.

Machado captured national attention during the US presidential debate on Monday when Hillary Clinton recalled how Trump had first labeled her “Miss Piggy” and publicly shamed her for putting on weight when he owned the beauty contest.

But widespread sympathy garnered by the Venezuelan-born actress – who earliertold the Guardian she had struggled with years of eating disorders after incident – appears to have riled the celebrity property tycoon.

In a string of tweets sent between 5:14am and 5:30am from New York, Trump alluded to unproven accusations against Machado and claimed she had been helped to become a US citizen so Democrats could exploit her.

“Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an ‘angel’ without checking her past, which is terrible!” wrote Trump.

 Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado on Trump: ‘I know what he can do’

“Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a US citizen so she could use her in the debate?” he added.

The Clinton campaign denies playing any part in Machado’s citizenship application, but seized on the apparently false rumours of a sex tape as evidence of an attempt to smear her in revenge for speaking out.

“This is … unhinged, even for Trump,” responded Hillary Clinton’s Twitter account on Friday. “What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?” (The tweet was not signed “H”, which Clinton uses to indicate she has written messages herself.)

Machado posed topless for Playboy in Mexico and briefly took part in a risqué, but censored, scene on a reality TV show, but the New York Times says fact-checkers have found no evidence to support conservative rumours of a sex tape.

Trump’s apparent obsession with attacking Machado has added to worry among many Republicans that his campaign has lost focus since Clinton got under his skin in Monday’s debate.

“Alicia deserves praise for courageously standing up to Trump’s attacks. And he has the gall to blame her – and say he ‘helped’?” added the Clinton campaign. “When something gets under Donald’s thin skin, he lashes out and can’t let go. This is dangerous for a president.”

“Trump is on the verge of blowing it,” wrote the former George W Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer on Friday. “Free advice: Focus on Hillary. No one else. Hillary is your opponent. No one else is.”

A Trump campaign aide in Florida also resigned on Friday citing concerns with the candidate’s behaviour. “It is clear the campaign is now going in a direction I am no longer comfortable with and I have decided to move on,” Healy Baumgardner told Bloomberg.

Trump, however, seems to be following a pattern of personal and sexually explicit attacks against women who have slighted him. As well as threatening to introduce Clinton sex scandals into the next presidential debate, he also suggested a Fox News moderator in the first primary debate was hostile toward him because she was menstruating.

It is also not the first time Trump has expressed an interest in sex tapes. In one of Trump’s many appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show he said he had watched a leaked video of Paris Hilton having sex.

“Now, somebody who a lot of people don’t give credit to but is in actuality very beautiful is Paris Hilton,” Trump told Stern. “I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12, her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into the room and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?’ At 12, I wasn’t interested … but she was beautiful.”

“Trump obsessively bullies Rosie O’Donnell – an accomplished actor. He insulted Kim Kardashian for her weight – when she was pregnant,” added Clinton’s Twitter account in her response to what she called “day 5 of the Machado meltdown” on Friday. “We’ve heard Donald’s insults for years, and his policies reflect this disregard – even contempt – for women.”

Her campaign spokeswoman, Jennifer Palmieri, later claimed the “distasteful” behaviour was backfiring for Trump and ridiculed his pre-dawn breakdown. “Where is he now? Is he awake? … 5.30am it stopped. I don’t understand.”

Additional reporting by Adam Gabbatt in New York