Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Baby Sirisena Prompts Papa Sirisena To Punch Yahapalanaya And Threaten Yahapalana Unity

October 13, 2016

President Maithripala Sirisena’s high pitched speech at a ceremony to hand over deeds of houses and property to retired military personnel under the ‘Sathviru Sanhinda’ programme held at the Sri Lanka Foundation yesterday (12th) thumbed his nose at the fundamental principles of good governance and indicated that all was not well with the Yahapalana Government he jointly leads with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The President expressed displeasure and disgust at the way that action was being taken against high-ranking military personnel. Referring to an incident where commanders who fought the LTTE had been called for an investigation last year, the President said he had opposed this, clearly implying that he believes that military personnel should not be prosecuted at any cost.

According to footage published by BBC and Derana, Sirisena mentioned an incident from the previous week where the former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and three Navy Commanders were ‘herded to court’ and the cases related to members of the military intelligence who have been detained for over 16 months and insinuated that proceedings were politically motivated and violated procedural protocol.

“As the President, I express my extreme displeasure and disgust to the Minister of Defence, at the way that three former Navy Commanders were herded,” the President said.

He also stated that established procedures related to prosecution have been violated, charged that the independent commission set up in accordance with the 19th Amendment were exceeding relevant mandates and complained that he has not been kept informed of decisions taken.

The President, in expressing his objection to the way that military personnel are being prosecuted, said that the law should be applied to everyone equally, contradicting his early assertion that he believes those who fought the war should not be prosecuted.

Interestingly, these views were expressed not long after he directly violated the issue of equality before the law by interfering in the prosecution of his son Daham over an incident of assault and battering at a night club.

While the President unwittingly demonstrated his abysmal understanding of the principles of good governance, his terse speech also raised questions regarding the nature of the rocky relationship between the two parties (SLFP and UNP) that lead the Unity Government.

The President said that action against military personnel are being plotted ‘in various corners’ and in accordance with political agendas. He said that he had told the cabinet of ministers and the Prime Minister at a special meeting held the previous evening that ‘if the CID, FCID and the Bribery Commission act according to a political agenda, then I would also have to make some decisions’.

He said ‘I have not spoken about these things before, but I have been forced to do so and if necessary to take certain actions’, a clear warning issued to the major coalition partner of his Government.

Interestingly and perhaps not coincidentally this tirade follows a classified report regarding his son Daham’s behavior that had been delivered to the Prime Minister the morning after the fracas at the night club. The President, according to reliable sources, is said to have been upset that the Prime Minister had done little to protect his errant son. Cleary, the President has loose and contradictory notions of ‘equality’.

Threatens to act against Commission, FCID and CID if they pursue political agendas.
Says he is not being kept in the loop about high profile arrests and prosecutions.
Demands ‘release or prosecution’ of military intel officials in police custody.

By Dharisha Bastians.-12/10/2016

President Maithripala Sirisena slammed the Bribery Commission and two Police divisions for what he called their “hauling” of the former defence secretary and naval commanders to court earlier this month.

In a shocking outburst that laid bare a widening chasm between the Head of State and other Government agencies and political actors within the ruling coalition, President Sirisena charged that the Bribery Commission, the CID and the FCID were working to a political agenda.

Military commanders who had executed the war and the former Defence Secretary had been “hauled” into court by the Bribery Commission last week, the President said, speaking at a function to present land and houses to military personnel at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute yesterday.

“I am expressing my disgust at this turn of events. Three navy commanders who served during the war and the former Defence Secretary were hauled into court,” the President charged during his speech.

The goal of establishing independent commissions was to restore freedom and democracy, protect democracy and to build a corruption-free country, President Sirisena said. “These commissions cannot carry out political agendas. They must understand their remit,” the enraged President added.

“As Defence Minister and President, I am disgusted,” he charged. President Sirisena asserted that if there were issues regarding Avant Garde and the Defence Ministry, there was a particular process by which to conduct the investigation.

President Sirisena also expressed outrage that he was not kept in the loop about these cases and the decisions to summon ex-commanders to court by senior officials of the Commission and the police divisions.

“I am the President and the Defence Minister, the heads of these agencies have a duty to keep me informed,” he charged.

The President also criticised the continued incarceration of several military intelligence personnel with regard to what he called a famous ongoing case. The officials had been held in custody for 16 months now. “Either prosecute them or release them,” he demanded, referring to the suspects in a high profile disappearance case.

He had made several inquiries about the military intelligence officials in custody, from the police, President Sirisena noted.

“I will never allow the military to be weakened,” he asserted during the fiery speech.

He charged that all these moves were being plotted by “people sitting in corners and discussing matters”.

“So far, I have not expressed these views publicly. But soon I will also be compelled to take action publicly,” President Sirisena warned.

He said a special discussion had been held with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers.

“I informed them that if the CID, FCID and Bribery Commission were going to act upon political agendas, then I will be compelled to take action. That is not their role,” President Sirisena charged.

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and eight others were notified to appear in court earlier this month, in a case filed by the Bribery Commission, which claimed the Government had lost Rs. 11.5 billion in revenue as a result of the decision to permit the controversial private security firm Avant Garde to run a floating armoury.

The former Defence Secretary, arguably the most powerful member of the defeated Rajapaksa regime, was granted bail by the Colombo Chief Magistrate after briefly spending time in a court detention cell.

The President’s outburst comes amid speculation in political circles that the former Defence Secretary is regularly in touch with President Sirisena.

Video reporter of President trips and falls into swimming pool in Thailand ! Has a close shave !!

(Lanka-e-News -11.Oct.2016, 11.30PM) A video camera reporter of the presidential media division had tripped and fallen into the swimming pool while he was reporting on the president’s events , according to a most intriguing report reaching Lanka e news.

Janaka Saman Weerasinghe who was videofilming the president’s events during his recent tour of Thailand had been moving backwards while videotaping , and had tripped and fallen into the swimming pool behind with his camera .

This accident is more a matter for shock and no laughing matter, vis a vis its background….

Nowhere in the world does a videofilming reporter carries out his reporting without an assistant. Though Weerasinghe had an assistant , the presidential media division chief has not permitted him to travel to Thailand with his assistant. Hence he had gone alone. Weerasinghe has been moving backwards to ensure that the camera captures the scenes , and since there was no one to warn him , he had accidentally fallen into the swimming pool.

Though Weerasinghe was lucky to escape death and something to feel happy about , the presidential media chief cannot disclaim responsibility over this incident , and he is absolutely blameworthy. This accident truly constitutes an insult to the country’s leader .

It will not be wrong if the president also has to accept the blame partly pertaining to this incident for appointing presidential media chiefs

---------------------------
by (2016-10-12 22:49:21)

PSD To Take The Fall For Daham’s Misconduct

October 12, 2016

The Presidential Security Division (PSD) is set to take the fall for Daham Sirisena’s nightclub misconduct.

The Colombo Telegraph has received information that the PSD security personnel, who were removed as part of Daham’s security detail for their alleged involvement in the night club brawl, will shortly surrender to the police, where they will take the blame for the incident and categorically deny the involvement of President Maithripala Sirisena’s son, Daham in the incident.

“The PSD personnel will say that it was they who were behind the attack, because they were agitated due to the high handed manner adopted by the club’s security guard, and Daham had absolutely nothing to do in the attack,” a highly authoritative source said.

“The removal of the security from Daham, was the first step to protect him,” the source added.

The first family and their confidants are currently busy hatching up a covert operation in an effort to protect Daham, who is alleged to have orchestrated the attack on the security guards at the Clique Night Club in Colombo 2 after he and his group were denied entry to the club on Saturday morning.

“The venue manager of Clique has already denied Daham’s involvement in the incident, saying that the VVIP’s son was not present, although the venue manager was not on the ground floor at the time of the incident,” the source said.

Related posts:

CID to file court action against army intelligence chief!

Oct 12, 2016

The CID is to file court action against Army intelligence chief Brig. Suresh Sally, say police headquarters sources.

He is to be taken to court over a charge of having concealed evidence in a crime.

Several Army intelligence men are suspects in the cases pertaining to the enforced disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda and the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga.

The CID is to seek a magisterial order to the Army intelligence chief that he should attend every hearing of the Ekneligoda case.

Donald Trump Is ‘Dangerous’ for Global Stability, U.N. Rights Chief Says

By NICK CUMMING-BRUCEOCT. 12, 2016

The top United Nations human rights commissioner said that if Donald J. Trump is elected, the Republican candidate could be “dangerous, from an international point of view.”

By REUTERS on October 12, 2016. Photo by Martial Trezzini/Keystone, via Associated Press.Watch in Times Video »

GENEVA — A top United Nations official joined the criticism of Donald J. Trump on Wednesday, warning that his election would threaten international stability.

While much of the recent furor against Mr. Trump has focused on a 2005 recording in which he made exceptionally vulgar remarks about women, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, focused attention back on Mr. Trump’s comments about deporting undocumented immigrants, barring Muslims from entering the country and employing torture tactics.

“If Donald Trump is elected, on the basis of what he has said already, and unless that changes, I think it’s without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view,” Mr. al-Hussein told reporters in Geneva.

Mr. al-Hussein emphasized that his office tried to stay out of politics, but he added that if an election could lead to an increased use of torture or to the persecution of “vulnerable communities in a way that suggests that they may well be deprived of their human rights, then I think it is incumbent to say so.”

Mr. al-Hussein’s comments echoed a statement he delivered in The Hague last month in which he condemned “populists, demagogues and political fantasists” who exploited economic hardship and social tensions to fan racial and religious prejudice.

Mr. al-Hussein focused those remarks on the right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders, but he also mentioned others whom he called “nationalist demagogues,” including Mr. Trump; Nigel Farage, a leading advocate of Britain’s departure from the European Union; Marine Le Pen of the National Front party in France; President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic; Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia; and Norbert Hofer, a candidate for the presidency of Austria.

Israel is demolishing the homes of Palestinian communities in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, east of Jerusalem, to expand the settlement of Maaleh Adumim.Oren ZivActiveStills

Ali Abunimah-11 October 2016

The Palestinian Authority is trying to prevent United Nations agencies from effectively subsidizing Israel’s forcible transfer of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The Electronic Intifada has learned that UN officials are due to meet in coming days to allocate “emergency” funds to pay an Israeli lawyer who has been representing Bedouin communities in their years-long struggle against efforts to forcibly remove them from their land in the occupied West Bank.

The lawyer had previously been paid by the Norwegian Refugee Council. But in a confidential memo seen by The Electronic Intifada, the Norwegian Refugee Council says it ended the funding after it learned that the lawyer was negotiating the communities’ forcible transfer, a violation of international law, with Israeli occupation authorities.

The meeting of UN officials to approve the replacement funds was postponed last week after the Palestinian Authority issued a directive to international agencies and diplomats warning that “the facilitation of forcible transfer constitutes a war crime.”

A copy of the PA directive obtained by The Electronic Intifada is below.

Signed by Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the directive states that “any organization, individual or otherwise actor found to facilitate and/or fund the forcible transfer of any Palestinian community without the informed consent of the community and the consent of the State of Palestine will be found in violation of Palestinian and international law.”

Erekat specifically warns that “International and local nongovernmental organizations, including United Nations bodies, that support these initiatives are in violation of their own mandates to provide protection to protected persons.”

Any individual or organization that funds, facilitates or takes part in negotiations that ultimately result in the transfer of Palestinian communities “will be held accountable as assisting in the commission of a war crime,” the directive states.

Forcible transfer

A source familiar with the details of the situation told The Electronic Intifada that the Norwegian Refugee Council decided to terminate its relationship with the lawyer after learning that he had been negotiating with the Israeli Civil Administration – the military body that rules Palestinians in the West Bank – over the terms for the forcible transfer of the Abu Nuwwar community near Jerusalem.

The lawyer has represented a number of communities in similar situations near Jerusalem and in the South Hebron Hills area of the occupied West Bank for years.

In March, the Norwegian Refugee Council set out its detailed concerns about the lawyer’s activities in a confidential nine-page memo shared with diplomats and aid officials.

It notes that in January 2016, the Israeli government filed a response to a petition by Bedouin communities challenging Israeli demolition orders against them.

The Israeli state attorney’s legal filing, a copy of which was obtained by The Electronic Intifada, states that Brigadier-General Dov Sedaka was appointed by the Civil Administration a year earlier to “negotiate” with the community over its transfer from its current location.

Sedaka held some 20 meetings with members of the community and the Israeli attorney funded by the Norwegians. But the state’s filing says that the negotiations were “not fruitful” because the Israeli lawyer had stopped representing the communities and a lawyer from the Palestinian Authority had taken his place.

Since April 2015, Israel “has specifically targeted the Abu Nuwwar Bedouin community for transfer to al-Jabal West,” a forced resettlement township, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in January. The land the community lives on is located in the southern part of E1, a large area east of Jerusalem where Israel is expanding its settlements.

Israeli settlement of E1 would effectively sever the northern and southern parts of the occupied West Bank from each other. According to the UN report, an Israeli official told dozens of families that Israel “would not permit the Abu Nuwwar community to remain in its current location.” Since 1998, Israel has issued some 200 demolition orders to the community. Only a handful are currently stayed by court orders, meaning that large-scale demolitions can happen at any time.

According to the Palestinian Authority directive, there are about 3,000 Palestinian Bedouins living in communities east of Jerusalem under threat of forced, mass displacement. They are in Area C, the approximately 60 percent of the West Bank where Israel retains full control under the 1993 Oslo accords.

“One lesson learned was of the illegal Israeli forcible transfer of Palestinian families from the al-Jahalin tribe,” the PA directive states, referring to a Jerusalem-area community forcibly transferred since the late 1990s to make way for the expansion of the Maaleh Adumim settlement.

The 150 families were relocated to an area next to a garbage dump. More families will join them if Israel is not stopped.

The source welcomed the PA directive, but noted that Palestinian officials have rarely advocated for the threatened communities, some of the most marginalized in the West Bank.

Coercive environment

The Norwegian Refugee Council’s decision to end its ties with the Israeli lawyer did not halt the matter, however.

The lawyer has continued to represent many of the Bedouin communities and, according to the source, set up payment plans in which families paid him lump sums, or all the adult males in a particular village paid a monthly fee.

The source acknowledged that the lawyer has argued that his negotiations are in the best interests of his clients. But according to the Norwegian Refugee Council’s legal analysis, Palestinians who are under threat of forcible transfer cannot truly and freely consent because they live in an inherently coercive environment.

This is why the Norwegian body decided it had no choice but to end its relationship with the lawyer because otherwise it would be in breach of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The Norwegian Refugee Council prepared a plan to fully brief the affected communities about their rights, and to offer them alternative representation that it would pay for.

But in recent months, UN officials stepped in with a plan to fund the lawyer’s highly problematic work. A UN budget, awaiting final approval, allocates a total of more than $307,000 for the project. This includes $77,500 for lawyer fees and $118,000 for an Israeli nongovernmental organization to do planning work with threatened communities.

The money would come out of emergency funds managed by the UN humanitarian coordination agency OCHA to meet unforeseen crises faced by Palestinians.

Two UN entities involved in the plan to fund the lawyer – the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Robert Piper, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory – are defending it despite the concerns of the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Palestinian Authority. They are spinning the potential funding as filling a “gap” in legal aid.

“In mid-April 2016, [the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] became aware that, since February 2016, up to 20 Bedouin refugee communities in the Jerusalem periphery at risk of forcible transfer were no longer receiving donor supported legal aid and were accruing their own legal bills,” the UN agency’s spokesperson Rupert Colville wrote to The Electronic Intifada. “This financial burden would in our view increase their vulnerability and exposure to forcible transfer.”

“With partners, the Humanitarian Coordinator and OHCHR are exploring the option of reinstating free legal aid to the communities,” Colville added. “This option is not linked to an individual lawyer but is to give the communities financial support to be represented by a lawyer of their choice as per legal aid standards.”

“The humanitarian community provides assistance independently and impartially, and following the ‘do no harm principle.’ This course of action is entirely consistent with international law,” Colville stated.

Robert Piper, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, sent a similarly worded response to The Electronic Intifada, adding, “It is critical that a solution is found quickly for this legal aid gap and the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator has been exploring solutions to this crisis in consultation [with] the Government of Palestine [the Palestinian Authority] and all parties concerned.”

But the source who spoke to The Electronic Intifada pointed to serious problems with the UN response, stating, “They’ve turned this into an issue of legal representation even though they know that the legal representation is based upon negotiating forcible transfer. What a joke.”

“Instead of working to stop the forcible transfer, which they know will happen, and instead of pressing Israel to end these policies, they view this as a need to fill a ‘legal aid gap’ with the very who lawyer has been negotiating their transfer,” the source said. “Clearly, they believe in the efficacy of the Israeli legal system – a system that has demonstrated its ruthlessness with the most marginalized communities by demolishing homes, schools, solar panels and water cisterns.”

The source emphasized that there is no “legal aid gap” because plenty of international organizations, not least the Norwegian Refugee Council, are willing to pay for lawyers.

There is no rationale for the UN to step in with funding, except to pay for a lawyer that other organizations are not willing to pay for because they consider his activities to be aiding and abetting forcible transfer.

It would be a painful irony if a UN humanitarian fund meant to aid Palestinians in need ends up helping Israeli occupation authorities perpetrate a war crime.

Translation provided by Dena Shunra.

pa_directive_on_legal_aid_for_palestinian_communities_facing_forcible_transfer.pdf by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Unexpected talks on Syria to take place this weekend, says Moscow

Switzerland meeting suggests US decision to abandon contact with Russia because of airstrikes on Aleppo has been reversed

A US-Russia brokered ceasefire broke down after the bombing of a UN humanitarian convoy outside Aleppo. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger

An unexpected round of multilateral talks on the future of Syria is to start on Saturday involving initially Russia, the US, Iran, Turkey and possibly Qatar, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said. The talks will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Lavrov told CNN he hoped the weekend talks could help “launch a serious dialogue”.

The meeting means the US secretary of state, John Kerry, has reversed his decision to abandon contacts with Russia over Syria. Kerry only made that decision a few days ago in protest against Russian airstrikes on Aleppo and Moscow’s reluctance to rein in the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Kerry ended contacts after a US-Russia brokered ceasefire broke down in a welter of recrimination over whether the Russians had deliberately bombed a UN humanitarian convoy outside Aleppo. The attack has led to a UN inquiry, but the west has said all the available evidence points to Russian responsibility.

The US accused Russia of barbarism after the convoy attack. President Vladimir Putin countered by shelving a 2000 deal on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium and cancelling a bilateral agreement on research cooperation between Russia and US nuclear sectors.

A subsequent French effort to secure a ceasefire agreement at the UN security council at the weekend was vetoed by Russia on the grounds there was no clear commitment that jihadi forces in eastern Aleppo would leave the city.

It was not clear whether any EU country will be invited to the Lausanne talks, a decision that would mark a break from previous diplomatic negotiations on Syria. The EU, including France Germany and the UK, has been part of the wider International Syria Support Group. The US State Department indicated that there would be a subsequent full meeting of the Friends of Syria Group, which comprises the US, EU countries and the Gulf states.

Analysts presume that Kerry – desperate for a durable ceasefire before the Obama administration comes to a close – has been given a fresh indication of Russian flexibility for him to decide to back down and attend the talks.

The presence of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar at the Lausanne meeting suggests there will be a focus on whether non-jihadi Syrian opposition fighters are willing to disentangle themselves from al-Nusra Front.

Although al-Nusra has changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, both the US andRussia believe the group has retained its links to al-Qaida, and must therefore be regarded as a proscribed group.

But many opposition fighters backed by the west will not break with al-Nusra.

The UN has been trying to revive the ceasefire by proposing that 1,000 or so of the jihadi group’s fighters be escorted from Aleppo to a safe place in return for a commitment from Moscow that Russian and Syrian air forces will cease airstrike and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the 250,000 civilians in the city.

On Tuesday, Putin cancelled a trip to Paris, accusing the French of trying to set up a Russian veto on Syria at the UN security council last weekend. France claimed the Russian president was embarrassed to talk about Syria.

Western officials are increasingly convinced that Russia uses diplomatic negotiations as a cover to continue military activity in Syria and say that the west can no longer afford to believe Russia is seriously seeking a diplomatic solution instead of a military one.

Diplomats believe a wider ceasefire in Syria – let alone peace talks to end the conflict – will not be considered unless there is an end to to the impasse over Aleppo.

Separately there are German-led discussions under way on whether economic sanctions should be widened against Russia. Germany has previously been seen as one of the countries least eager to impose wider sanctions on Russia, but the issue is likely to be discussed at the next meeting of EU heads of state in Brussels on 20 October.

In response to that sanctions threat, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Valentina Matvienko, said: “Only the United Nations is authorised to impose sanctions in case of grave rights violations. All other sanctions, including those against Russia, are illegitimate and unlawful.”

The leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine are due to meet in an attempt to find a peace settlement in eastern Ukraine, one of the issues that has damaged Russian relations with Europe. The meeting will only go ahead, probably next Wednesday, if there is a sign that it will reach an agreement on the next stage of de-escalation set out in the Minsk agreement.

Left-wing activists slam Stop the War for refusing to protest against Russia

Grassroots Labour party activists support calls for protests outside Russian embassy over Aleppo bombings

Supporters of the 'Stop the war' coalition and 'Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament' march through central London on October 4, 2014, calling for the bombing of Iraq to stop (AFP)

Alex MacDonald-Wednesday 12 October 2016

Left-wing UK activists have slammed the Stop the War coalition (STWc) over its refusal to heed a call by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to protest Russian air strikes on Syria.

The vice-chairman of Britain’s "Stop the War" coalition on Wednesday said he opposed protesting against Russian bombing of Syria because “the media and politicians” are trying to portray Moscow as the “only problem”.

Chris Nineham was interviewed by the BBC after Johnson on Tuesday urged his group to protest against the ongoing Russian bombardment of rebel-held east Aleppo.

Nineham said his organisation has protested against the Russian war in Syria with “statements” but that they would not be calling for a public rally to demand an end to Moscow’s backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his war against various rebel groups.

“We do not want to contribute to the jingoism and hysteria that is being whipped up against Russia, because that hysteria is being used to try and justify an escalation of the British war effort,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

STWc's stance on Syria, however, has divided left-wing activists in the UK, many of whom believe there should be more grassroots action in support of Syrian civilians.

Mark Boothroyd, a Labour party activist and founding member of Syria Solidarity UK, said that the STWc position on Russia was "completely unprincipled".

"It's a betrayal of the principle they were founded upon, to oppose war, occupation, oppression - Syrians and solidarity activists have been calling on them for years to condemn these things," he told Middle East Eye. "This refusal is a bit shocking, because normally they would try and say 'yeah, we condemn it but we're not going to do any action' but to refuse to even demonstrate really shows which side they're on in this."

Boothroyd dismissed the oft-repeated argument by coalition that they only targeted their own government's actions as that was where they could apply leverage.

"Yes I think we should oppose Britain when it's doing things which are not good for the civilians of Syria, and its support for Israel and its backing of Saudi Arabia in its attack on Yemen, but we can also protest other countries when they're carrying out other barbarisms. It's just political consistency and speaking to principle."

Current leader of the opposition Labour party Jeremy Corbyn was a former President of the STWc and spoke at their conference on Saturday. His stance on Syria has been criticised by some of his own supporters, who argue he has been unwilling to sufficiently critcise the Assad government or condemn Russian bombing.

On Monday, a petition was launched by left-wing activists and Labour party members calling for a change in Corbyn's position with regards to Syria, warning that "failure to act on this issue now threatens to undermine practically and politically much of the work done over many years by the anti-war movement."

Peter Hill, a member of the pro-Corbyn pressure group Momentum and signatory to the petition, told MEE that he believed that there should be active campaigning against Russia's actions in Syria.

"As the open letter to Jeremy Corbyn stated, I think that anti-war activists and socialists should condemn the actions of all states which commit acts of aggression and war crimes, not only those of Western powers or states aligned with the West," he said. "I too am sceptical about the motives and interests of Western powers involved in Syria, but I do not see this as a good reason to hedge about condemning Russia and the Assad regime, as the Stop the War Coalition have done.

"Protests at the Russian embassy are an entirely appropriate response to the atrocities committed by Russia in Syria."

According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, the Russian bombing campaign in support of President Assad, which began on 30 September 2015, killed more than 3,800 civilians in its first year, as well as nearly 6,000 fighters from militant groups. Since the collapse of the latest ceasefire in late September, SOHR has documented the deaths of 564 people, including 116 children and 42 women due to Russian and government bombing.

Reuters on Monday reported that militia groups loyal to President Assad had taken control of nearly half of rebel-held areas in east Aleppo.

Bombardment from Syrian warplanes and the Russian air force also destroyed the city's largest hospital and water works which served more than 250,000 people.

More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since demonstrations against the Assad government in 2011 were met by a crackdown.

'Hard Brexit' will cost Britain £66 billion per year, claims controversial leaked Treasury report

Theresa May must decide whether to go for - or avoid - a hard Brexit which could cost the Treasury's coffers some £66billion per year

Michael Wilkinson-11 OCTOBER 2016

Treasury coffers will take a £66 billion annual hit if Britain goes for a so-called hard Brexit, Cabinet ministers have been warned.

Leaked Government papers suggest leaving the single market and switching to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules would cause GDP to fall by up to 9.5 per cent compared with if the country remained in the European Union.

The draft Cabinet committee paper seen by The Times is based on forecasts from the controversial study into the predicted impact of quitting the EU published by George Osborne in April during the referendum campaign.

Although the then chancellor faced widespread criticism over the report, the Treasury stands by its calculations, according to The Times.

The documents says: "The Treasury estimates that UK GDP would be between 5.4 per cent and 9.5 per cent of GDP lower after 15 years if we left the EU with no successor arrangement, with a central estimate of 7.5 per cent."

It adds: "The net impact on public sector receipts - assuming no contributions to the EU and current receipts from the EU are replicated in full - would be a loss of between £38bn and £66bn per year after 15 years, driven by the smaller size of the economy."

Brexit backers who have seen the documents told the newspaper the figures were unrealistic and claimed there was a push to "make leaving the single market look bad".

But prominent Remain campaigners pushing for a "soft" Brexit that would keep Britain in the single market said the documents showed the "horrific damage" of leaving the trading bloc.

Conservative former minister Anna Soubry, a supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: "The horrific damage of a hard Brexit is clear. Less tax revenue means less to invest in schools and hospitals, lower trade and investment means businesses and jobs at risk.

Anna Soubry, the former business minister, warned a hard Brexit would cause 'horrific damage' to the British economy CREDIT: TELEGRAPH / JULIAN SIMMONDS

"This danger is precisely why Parliament must be involved in the principles to guide the Brexit negotiations.

"Britain will leave the EU, but we must do so in a way the protects our prosperity and reduces risk. The Government should now make clear the 'WTO option' isn't on the table."

Prime Minister Theresa May is facing growing pressure to allow MPs a vote on Brexit and the Government is also fighting a legal challenge over the use of royal prerogative to invoke Article 50, the process for leaving the EU.

Brexit Secretary David Davis told MPs the Government will "observe the constitutional and legal precedents" on giving MPs a vote on any treaty setting out Britain's new relationship with the European Union.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the leaked documents showed quitting the single market would wreck the economy.

"This is yet more proof that hard Brexit would be an act of sheer economic vandalism," he said.

"The Liberal Democrats will stand up for Britain's membership of the single market.

"We cannot stand by while this reckless, divisive and uncaring Conservative Government wrecks the UK economy."

A Government spokesman said: "We want the best outcome for Britain. That means pursuing a bespoke arrangement which gives British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market, and enables us to decide for ourselves how we control immigration."

Thailand's longtime king, a figure of unity and stability, gravely ill

Thai well-wishers holding portraits of the monarch pray for a healthy recovery of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. The world's longest reigning monarch is in unstable condition after undergoing blood dialysis. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL (Diego Azubel/EPA)

By Philip Sherwell October 12

BANGKOK — The children of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Thai monarch revered as a figure of unity and stability in a country prone to political turbulence, gathered at his bedside on Wednesday as the palace issued a new report on his deteriorating health.

Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn flew in from Germany, where he has a residence, and Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister and junta leader, cut short a trip outside the capital amid growing anxiety about the condition of the world’s longest-reigning monarch.

The 88-year-old king is on a ventilator battling fresh infections after receiving blood-cleansing dialysis treatment over the weekend, according to the latest palace update. His health has “overall not yet stabilized,” the statement said.

The Bangkok stock exchange plunged sharply and many Thais donned pink clothing – regarded as a lucky color by royal astrologers – while hundreds of well-wishers converged on the riverside hospital that has been his main home in recent years.

The military government urged Thais not to listen to “uncorroborated information” on social media, but rather to await “official announcements for an update on the situations,” without giving further details.

The junta spokesman played down Prayuth’s abrupt return to Bangkok, saying that he met the Crown Prince “for a routine presentation” on government matters, just hours after the heir presumptive arrived in the country.

On Sunday, doctors for the king, who has not been seen in public since January, reported that they had sought formal permission for him to cease official duties.

His four children all visited him at the hospital on Wednesday, according to reporters there. His wife, Queen Sirikit, suffered a severe stroke in 2012 and is rarely seen.

In a country where harsh lese majeste laws are in place, public discussions about the king’s health and royal succession issues are strictly curtailed.

But this week’s two bulletins triggered sharp slides in the stock market and value of the Thai baht in a country where the military took power in 2014 after years of political turmoil.

The king has reigned for 70 years after ascending the throne following the death, by a single gunshot, of his older brother in mysterious circumstances.

During a series of coups, he was seen as a stabilising factor. And according to estimates by Forbes magazine, he has long headed the world’s richest royal family through property holding and investments overseen by the Crown Property Bureau and estimated to be worth $30-$50 billion.

The king’s ailments chronicled in previous updates included a series of infections, breathing difficulties, renal failure and “water on the brain.” In the latest statement, the palace said that doctors used drugs to control his blood pressure and performed renal replacement therapy.

“Blood tests show he has an infection and his liver is working irregularly,” the Royal Household Bureau said.

Outside Siriraj hospital, Thais lined up to buy pink clothing at nearby street stands and many held up his portrait.

Wanna Sirikhet, 69, told the Bangkok Post that she traveled nearly 700 miles from her southern hometown to offer her best wishes. “I came here to pray for the King and I believe that millions of Thais nationwide are now praying for his quick recovery as well,” she said.

China Tells Citizens to Inform on Parents Who ‘Lure’ Kids Into Religion

BY KAVITHA SURANA-OCTOBER 12, 2016

See something, say something — even a child practicing religion?

That’s what China is telling citizens in the majority-Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang. New education rules released Wednesday encourage people to inform on parents who send their kids to religious schools or “coerce” them to practice religion.

Officially, China guarantees the right to freedom of religion but also stipulates that religious activities should not disrupt public order or interfere with the education system. The Communist Party carefully regulates religious activities, including religious education, and generally discourages minors from becoming believers.

Such restrictions are particularly severe in Xinjiang, where almost half the population are ethnic Uighur Muslims. In recent years, restrictions on cultural and religious activities have stoked resentment and led to unrest, including attacks on police, train stations, and markets.

The state has tried many methods to tamp down its Uighur minority, including recently banning headscarves and beards, forbidding students and state workers to fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and cracking down on underground Koranic schools. Two years ago officials began a longer-term strategy by encouraging intermarriage between ethnic Chinese and Uighurs with cash incentives, hoping to dilute Muslim communities over generations.

The new education rules, set to go into effect on Nov. 1, say parents cannot “organize, lure or force minors into attending religious activities,” or force them to wear religious dress or symbols. Parents are also forbidden to “abet, coerce, attract, or tolerate minors’ participation in terrorism, extremism, and underground scripture studies,” which essentially gives Beijing carte blanche to determine what is and what isn’t extremist behavior. If parents are caught encouraging religion, “any group or person has the right to stop these kinds of behaviors and report them to the public security authorities.”

China denies abuse or suppression of the Uighur community and insists it fully protects minority rights. It blames recent unrest in the region on Islamic extremists. In 2014 China sentenced prominent Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti to life in prison on separatism charges. But outside the country he’s been called “China’s Mandela” for his work promoting Uighur rights and was awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals human rights defenders award on Tuesday.

Photo credit: KEVIN FRAYER/Getty Images