Come, let us take a break from Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissing the idea that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would even need prostitutes in Moscow (“although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world,” he added with a burst of nationalist pride).
Let us have a moment of respite from Putin’s predictions that American protesters in Washington are planning “a Maidan” — the 2014 protests that ended in the ousting of Kremlin friend Viktor Yanukovych from office. Let us, for a moment, not concern ourselves with Putin saying those seeking to “de-legitimize” Trump are “worse than prostitutes.”
Let us think of something completely unrelated: a racist American businessman who stays in a hotel in Russia.
Mister Twister is a Soviet propaganda poem, in which the titular character is a former government official and businessman. He is very rich and very racist. He wants to travel the world. His daughter demands to go to Leningrad, and whatever Twister’s daughter — Susan, not Ivanka — wants, Twister’s daughter gets, so off to Leningrad they go, with his wife, a monkey, and 24 suitcases.
The Twister family travels on a ship far nicer than the “second class ships” on which Americans of color are made to sail, because (spoiler) the whole point of this poem is that Americans are greedy and racist.
And boy does it show when they get to their hotel, the Angleterre. Twister is smoking a cigar — a golden cigar, mind you — and speaks English to the concierge, who shows them to their rooms. But, alas, their room is next to a black man’s — and so Twister, who is openly racist, leaves the hotel to find a room elsewhere.
But wait! The concierge is well connected, with important friends in high places — namely, other concierges at other fancy hotels, whom he calls, insisting that they do not admit this rich, racist American family. The other Russian concierges are all too happy to oblige.
And so the Twisters end up back at the Angleterre, where the original concierge, who apparently lives in a universe where bad behavior has consequences, makes the family stay in a room surrounded by people of many different races.
Mister Twister may not be in the Russian literary canon, and it may not even be as widely recalled as some propaganda pieces these days. But the poem’s core lesson still lives: If that dodgy intel dossier is to be believed, some Russians continue to be unduly fascinated with what rich American businessmen get up to in their hotel rooms.
Passwords used by Donald Trump’s incoming cyber security advisor Rudy Giuliani and 13 other top staff members have been leaked in mass hacks, a Channel 4 News investigation can reveal.
Passwords are publicly available for key members of Trump’s cabinet, White House policy directors and aides and some of his most senior advisors, this programme has discovered.
Digital security issues – including allegations of Russian hacking to try to influence the outcome of the US presidential elections – have dominated the headlines as Trump’s team prepares to take command of the world’s most powerful country.
The appointment of Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, has been criticised by people in the cyber security community, who have highlighted exploitable security flaws on his own website.
But Giuliani says he has given “over 300 speeches” on digital security, and told Fox News earlier this month: “American corporations and the American government is not paying attention to ubiquitous hacking that is now going on.”
Lt Gen Michael Flynn has also been hacked in the past – and Channel 4 News has seen a number of passwords used by the former military intelligence officer.
He will become President Trump’s national security advisor from Friday; a crucial role stationed inside the White House itself and reporting directly to Trump.
Staff whose accounts also appear to be affected by the hacks in recent years include people who will from Friday at 12pm take roles as:
the Secretary for the Interior
the Secretary for Labour
the Press Secretary
the Director of the Domestic Policy Council
the Director of the National Trade Council
Head of Social Media
Chief Trade Negotiator
Director of Oval Office operations
and many others
Trump’s team have not commented on this story.
Mass breaches
The passwords of the appointees were hacked in mass breaches of websites like Dropbox, LinkedIn, MySpace, and others between 2012 and 2016.
The passwords are accessible from original leaks of the data, but even more easily accessible from website charging a fee of just $4 (£3.20).
With some staffers using the same simple passwords for multiple sensitive websites, experts say the hacks may have left them vulnerable to further hacks – perhaps by foreign powers.
There is no way to check how widely the hacked passwords have been reused by the incoming government officials without actually logging in and testing them – which is illegal under British law.
Hacks of celebrities – for instance of Twitter accounts or explicit photos – sometimes occurred by hackers using precisely this method of reusing passwords that have already been leaked.
Cyber security analyst Troy Hunt, who runs the online service HaveIBeenPwned.com to notify users of data breaches, told Channel 4 News that the leaks could be problematic.
Hunt said: “How many passwords have we got that have been reused in different places and are the same as they were five years ago – even a decade ago. We’ve got a long tail of info that we’ve left on the web now.
“The problem here is that a little bit like all of us, we have this propensity to reuse our passwords.
“And let’s say someone from Trump’s team has data leaked and it appears on a totally unrelated forum somewhere and someone takes those credentials and accesses the individual’s Gmail.
If this is an individual in a position of power or influence they may well have discussions in their personal mail that could be compromising.
Cyber security analyst Troy Hunt
“If this is an individual in a position of power or influence they may well have discussions in their personal mail that could be compromising.
“And if they don’t then the attacker who gains access to that Gmail may then use that account to begin conversation with other people in the contact list, impersonate them, elicit information from other individuals.
“It then just opens up a door to a raft of much bigger problems.”
The revelations come after Trump boasted in a press conference of how the Republicans had better cyber security than the Democrats, saying: “They did a very poor job. They could’ve had hacking defense, which we had.”
Unlike Hillary Clinton’s campaign team, the Trump team officials were not targeted specifically but rather had their details leaked along with many others – but the hack would have made it easier for intruders to take control of their accounts.
The release of hacked emails belonging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager occurred just weeks before the US election.
Some pundits say it helped Donald Trump win the race.
UK Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to the Gambia after Senegal says it will act if president refuses to accept election defeat
Tourists and Gambians are scrambling to leave the west African country after the Senegalese army said its forces would cross the border at midnight if long-time president Yahya Jammeh did not stand down.
Ruth Maclean West Africa correspondent-Wednesday 18 January 2017
Amid scenes of chaos at Banjul airport where British holidaymakers were being evacuated, Col Abdou Ndiaye, a spokesman for the Senegalese army, said troops were already at the Gambian border and would enter the country if the deadline for a transfer of power passed.
“We are ready and are awaiting the deadline at midnight. If no political solution is found, we will step in,” Ndiaye told Reuters.
The Gambia has been in a state of political uncertainty since Jammeh, who lost the December election to coalition leader Adama Barrow, said he would not step down. He has so far refused to cede power, using the courts and parliament to try to extend his 22-year rule.
His official mandate ends at midnight, and on Tuesday he announced a national state of emergency, prompting the Foreign Office to change its travel advice and warn against all but essential travel.
But James Gomez, head of the inauguration committee and a senior member of the opposition coalition, said Barrow’s swearing-in as president would not be held in the national stadium as planned, but at a secret location.
“We cannot risk bringing people to the stadium. It’s not in our hands; it’s in Ecowas’s hands,” he said, referring to the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, which has repeatedly called on Jammeh to stand down. “They want us to follow the constitution, which states that the president’s term ends at midnight.”
In recent days fears of violence have prompted tens of thousands of people, many of them children, to flee the Gambia through its land borders. Neighbouring Senegal on Wednesday presented a draft resolution to the UN security council seeking support for Ecowas’s efforts to press Jammeh to step down.
Whether the military will continue its support of Jammeh is unclear. There was an increased military presence on Banjul’s street on Wednesday, with soldiers building walls of sandbags and putting up extra checkpoints.
“This never happened before,” said Robert Gwynne, a tourist from Swindon who has been coming to the Gambia for 11 years and who had to leave two days into his two-week holiday. “I don’t understand what’s going on. The government shouldn’t have let it go this far. This place is going to be dead. I feel sorry for everybody here. It’s going to take years for tourism to pick up again. I’ll make the effort, but only if I’m 110% sure it’s safe.”
Local hotel staff were worried that their livelihoods were at risk.
“I’m very sad. We don’t want our guests to go,” said a porter at one of the hotels. “And us Gambians have to stay. It’s our country and there’s nowhere to go. It’s dangerous. But in three days it will be over.”
Banjul airport was in chaos, full of tourists trying to manoeuvre their luggage to the few check-in desks, many not knowing whether they would get on a flight. Few were appraised of the political situation.
“We had a rough idea, but the guy who was supposed to have left hasn’t left, has he?” said Phil Denton, from Southampton, who was sunbathing shirtless outside the airport. “I’m more worried about the airport, to be honest. It’s the ideal situation for a terrorist attack.”
Charlotte Burril tried to navigate her bags through one of the snaking queues of bronzed and concerned-looking tourists, having learned just a few hours earlier that she would have to get on a plane out. She had not anticipated that being on holiday at the same time as the planned handover of power would be a problem. “We didn’t think it was much of a risk, really. The sad thing is the impact on the staff. As long as nothing actually happens, as long as it blows over, I’d come back,” she said.
A group of British tourists wait for their bags to be unloaded from a coach at Banjul airport. Photograph: The Guardian
Nevertheless, the impact of the unrest on Gambian tourism will be long lasting, according to Sheikh Tejan Nyang, the vice-chair of a tourism association in the Gambia.
“It’s too late. If he [Jammeh] doesn’t leave by today we’ll have to get these guys to get him out. I am sure that won’t take long, but the damage has already been done. There is panic” he said.
“With all the tour operators withdrawing clients, it’s going to be a big blow. Most of the hotels will close, people will lose their jobs and be living in hardship.”
On Wednesday Thomas Cook said a programme of additional flights into Banjul airport would bring home 1,000 package holidaymakers it had in the Gambia, followed by up to 2,500 more at the “earliest possible flight availability”.
Tourism accounts for 18-20% of the country’s revenue. Nyang said he thought it would drop to less than half that and would have to be rebuilt just as it was after the coup in which Jammeh took power in 1994.
Jammeh was personally to blame, he said. “He is the biggest culprit. He is the worst enemy of this country, and he has disappointed the country. People have changed their minds. They have had 22 years of dictatorship and they say enough.”
Outside the terminal, Jammeh’s plane sat in the middle of the tarmac, as it has done for the past two weeks, according to airport officials. The president, who could face prosecution for the arrests and disappearances that happened during his tenure, has received several offers of asylum from other countries, in particular Morocco, but has so far not taken them up.
Diplomatic sources said Jammeh had agreed to take the Morocco option if he lost his court case challenging the election result, but as there are no judges currently sitting in the supreme court that will not be resolved until May. On Tuesday parliament approved the motion for a state of emergency, which Jammeh argues extends his mandate for 90 days.
President Yahya Jammeh’s plane at the airport in Banjul, where it has been parked for two weeks. Photograph: The Guardian
Negotiations were taking place up to the last minute, according to Nigeria’s foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, who told the Guardian that the presidents of Guinea and Mauritania had been tasked with calling Jammeh and were offering him a “soft landing” – asylum – in their countries.
“We really want to exhaust the diplomatic options,” he said. “The deadline is fast approaching, but at the same time contingency plans are being drawn up and anything could happen. We really just have to assess the situation on its merits at any given time, weigh the costs and the benefits and then [make] a political decision as to what steps to take.”
He compared the situation with that in the Ivory Coast, where former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept the 2010 election result and was later arrested.
“What’s different about this [situation] is that right from the very beginning Ecowas heads of state have taken responsibility for negotiating and finding a solution – they’ve been engaged from the get-go,” Onyeama said.
Regional defence chiefs met a few days ago and discussed political, military and humanitarian scenarios.
Gomez said that later, when the situation had calmed down, the opposition coalition would “invite all Gambians to a proper inauguration” to celebrate.
“We’ve won these elections free and fair and we must protect those votes. It is [Jammeh’s] right to go to court, but it does not stop the inauguration of the elected president,” he said.
The Reserve Bank of India has injected 9.2 trillion rupees ($135.21 billion) worth of new currency notes into the banking system to help replace the notes banned in November, a parliamentary panel member quoted central bank governor Urjit Patel as saying on Wednesday.
Patel met the panel on finance to answer questions about the Nov. 8 abolition of 500- and 1,000-rupees notes, or 86 percent of the currency then in circulation, in a bid to unearth billions of dollars of unaccounted money.
About 15.4 trillion rupees worth of the notes were removed from circulation.
Patel, however, failed to provide any figure for how many of the banned notes had been deposited into the banking system and he did not provide clarity on when the cash situation would become normal, according to a second member of the panel who was also present at the appearance.
Both the members spoke on the condition of anonymity as the panel's deliberations are confidential.
The RBI governor also told the parliamentary panel that consultations between the government and the central bank on demonetisation had began in January 2016, the second panel member told Reuters.
However, the government notified the RBI it wanted specifically to scrap 500- and 1,000-rupee notes on Nov. 7, a day before the RBI board formally approved the recommendation, the member said, citing a note sent to the panel by the central bank. Modi then announced the decision later on Nov. 8.
The ban sparked a severe cash crunch that has disrupted economic activity, leading to the biggest monthly fall in automobile sales in 16 years in December. The slump coincided with a contraction in services industry and manufacturing activity.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday cut a full percentage point off India's GDP growth forecast, to 6.6 percent, in the fiscal year that ends in March 2017, citing the blow to the cash-reliant economy.
The IMF also trimmed the growth outlook for the fiscal year 2017/18 to 7.2 percent from 7.6 percent estimated earlier.
On Wednesday, two top finance ministry officials also appeared before the panel to present the government's position.
The member said the panel would summon Patel again after the upcoming parliament session.
($1 = 68.0429 Indian rupees)
(Writing by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Rafael Nam)
( January 18, 2017, Veinna, Sri Lanka Guardian) While the new cold war is taking its momentum, the world community is gradually forgetting other pressing issues; such as human rights, right to labour, human dignity and respect. Of course, the national and international corporations hereby play a major role when comes to respect and observance of social and labour rights. Even at the Geneva-based world standard-setting organisation, that of ILO (International Labor Organization), corporation have a strong say.
What is the degree of due diligence deployed by corporations today? Does the corporate world comply with the law and standards of business conduct, transparency of business operations? And – importantly – does the private sector respect standards of international humanitarian law, especially in situations of armed conflicts and the so-called forgotten conflicts? Places where open hostilities have ceased, but yet peace has never really come. Notably, does the corporate world comply with the set of important international standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights or the OECD Guidelines for multinational corporations, to name just a few? Could we go as far as to claim that in some cases the private corporate entities play a decisive role in funding, enabling and facilitating permanent changes in economic, demographic and cultural character of the occupied territories? And if so, does it serve, to say, dual purpose: a corporate gain and a prolongation of the occupation on the given territory?
* * * *
To understand the gravity of that problem, let’ take as an example conditions in Caucasus – a typical case of the forgotten conflict – region where war stopped, still peace has never arrived.
Armenian companies, as well as foreign (mostly diaspora controlled, such as the Lebanon-based Artsakh Roots Investment; the US-based Tufenkian Foundation; Armenian General Benevolent Union /AGBU/; Cherchian Family Foundation, etc.) businesses play a decisive role in funding, enabling and facilitating permanent changes in economic (including fiscal and monetary), demographic and cultural character of the occupied territories both for private gain and for supporting the prolongation of the occupation of these territories.
Over the past years, the well-orchestrated transfer of Armenian settlers from Armenia and elsewhere into the contested territories (via e.g. Hayastan All-Armenian Fund), including the areas adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, in particular the districts of Lachyn, Kalbajar, Gubadly, Zangilan and Jabrayil, has continued with accelerated pace.
To worsen the things, fishing of the human souls exploits an epic human tragedy of Syria and its people: The shadowy Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) is deceiving Syrian Armenians with an instant better life promise if they relocate from e.g. Qamishli and Aleppo cities in Syria to Caucasus and its occupied territories (e.g. Zangilan, Gubadly and Lachyn districts). Nearly a mass-manipulation replica of the famous call to Bosnian Croatians from Zagreb to settle the former Serb-inhabited and ethnically cleansed territories of Croatia. This is, of course, a direct criminal meddling into the domestic matters of two sovereign states.
Armenia, directly or via its corporate proxies, continues permanent energy, agriculture, social, residential and transport infrastructure changes in the occupied territories. This is increased and prioritised as to change the demographic character once for good: That, of course, includes the construction of irrigation networks, water-canalization, roads, power grids and other vital economic and social facilities. (Several international reports, conducted independently by different FORAs, repeatedly confirmed that property of IDPs has been appropriated. E.g. that empty houses of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons were often dismantled for use as construction materials or that new houses are being built on their lands and properties.)
Armenia exercises pervasive control over the entire economic and commercial system in the contested territories, including inbound and outbound trade flows and economic resources. Tacit presence of the international companies is rather interesting: there are hundreds of various types of US-manufactured Caterpillar machines, farm tractors and equipment of US-based John Deere and Germany’s Deutz-Fahr companies, South Korean Hyundai trucks, Belarus MT3-82,3 model farm tractors, as well as other heavy machinery for illegal mining, agriculture, expansion of settlements and construction of the supporting infrastructure. The true ownership for most of those companies remains unclear, as oftentimes registered offshore in Cyprus, Liechtenstein and the like.
Often their funding is channelled through the branches of Armenian banks operating in the occupied territories and conducting international financial transactions via intermediary banks in Russia, EU and elsewhere. Further on, a numerous foreign retailers, from Ukraine, the US and the EU states (particularly from France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands), as well as from Australia and UAE, have concluded their supply contracts with Armenian companies. That, of course, makes them complicit with Armenia’s occupation of the territories, drain of resources, expansion of illegal settlements as well as with a violation of fundamental rights of IDPs.
Little wonder, since Armenia’s high-ranking officials, including President Sargsyan, PM Abrahamyan and other ministers, routinely visit the occupied territories and inspect production facilities there. To camouflage the illegal nature of production there, Armenian agricultural and liquors export companies (e.g. “Stepanakert Brandy Factory” and “Artsakh Fruit CJSC”) routinely mislabel the products wholly or partially produced or packed in the occupied territories as originating from Armenia, thus misleading governments, international retailers and consumers.
The agricultural lands in the contested territories along the Araz River (Zangilan and Jabrayil districts, too) have been illegally appropriated and extensively exploited by Armenia. This poses a stress on natural water flows (for consummation, irrigation or opportunity for an illegal electricity generation) and soil (overuse of arable lands and monoculture cropping) – which, in return, alters micro climate and jeopardizes the biota and human existence (e.g. Armenia’s Arm Water Project Company Ltd. in the Araz Valley).
Dismantling of infrastructure (metals, pipes, bricks and other construction materials) from the ruins of demolished Azerbaijani households and public buildings was previously conducted more sporadic. However, the currently examined cases show that it becomes a more organised system of pillage with a clear foreign involvement.
Mining of the precious minerals and metals is one of the main enterprises in the occupied territories. E.g. Gyzylbulag underground copper-gold mine (wholly owned subsidiary of Armenia’s Vallex Group CJSC, registered in Liechtenstein), led to its almost complete depletion. Similar faith is of Demirli open-pit copper and molybdenum mine. In 2014, Gold Star CJSC reportedly started exploitation of gold near Vejnali village (occupied Zangilan district of Azerbaijan). Since 2007, GPM Gold, a subsidiary of Russia-based GeoProMining Ltd., has been extracting ore in Soyudlu gold mine in the occupied Kalbajar district.
There is an illegal traffic in natural resources across the occupied section of the international border between Azerbaijan and Armenia that is controlled by the armed forces of Armenia via Armenia constructed Vardenis-Aghdara highway. The Government of Armenia, via its Energy Ministry, is directly operating: The ore concentrate from Gyzylbulag is transported to Armenia, where it is further processed into gold-containing copper and exported to international markets, mainly to Europe. Armenia is also extracting coal from the mine near Chardagly village in the occupied part of the Tartar district to supply the power plant in Yerevan, Armenia.
There is a clear correlation between the business and the political status quo. Hence, it is safe to conclude that the prolong occupation directly translates into more mineral, agricultural, water resources and other wealth for the neighbouring government and gloomy international business. Demographic engineering is a key here and is – of course – done by conflicting the fundamental human rights and norms of humanitarian law, including those of IDPs.
In its epilogue, a clandestine population-reshuffle coupled with illegal economic activities on the contested territories produces the notorious “blood diamonds”: socio-political status quo, demographic inversion, and extension of the armed conflict.
Is there anything larger than a problem of such a huge gravity for the resident population?
Of course, there is. Our silence about it!
About the author: Aleksandra Krstić, studied in Belgrade (Political Science) and in Moscow (Plekhanov’s IBS). Currently, a post-doctoral researcher at the Kent University in Brussels (Intl. Relations). Specialist for the MENA-Balkans frozen and controlled conflicts. Contact: alex-alex(at)gmail.com
(File) A Filipino health worker shows condoms that are given for free to the public by the Health Department in Manila, Philippines, on Thursday, Dec 8, 2016. Source: AP/Aaron Favila
ANY attempt to block the distribution of condoms in schools would inadvertently lead to higher chances of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infections among the Philippine youth, a global rights watchdog said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) pointed out that the Philippines already faces one of the fastest growing epidemics of HIV in the Asia-Pacific region, and should be focused on combating the problem.
“Officials who try to block condom access in schools will needlessly increase the likelihood of more HIV transmissions among young people,” it said in a statement.
HRW was responding to several objections raised last week by Philippine officials to the Health Department’s plan to start distributing condoms to students as part of its efforts to stem the spread of HIV.
The officials reportedly expressed fear that the initiative would promote promiscuity, which conservatives in the Catholic-majority nation regard as a social ill.
The objections, however, appear to contradict President Rodrigo Duterte’s national policy on contraception. The president had earlier in the week signed an executive order (EO) to intensify access to modern family planning.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista reportedly told city health officials they would only be permitted to use public health facilities to distribute condoms and not public schools. Quezon City is said to have the highest number of HIV infections in the country.
Another official, Senator Vicente “Tito” Soto III vowed to block the free condom drive.
According to Inquirer, the Senate majority leader claimed he was not opposing Duterte’s EO but said the order did not justify the plan to distribute condoms.
“Why? Because high school students are underaged and it’s a crime to [encourage them to] indulge in sex,” he was quoted saying.
The EO signed on Jan 10 seeks the full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (RPRH), which has been under a temporary restraining order (TOR) issued in 2014 by the Supreme Court.
The court blocked the law from going into effect after finding evidence that the country’s Food and Drug Administration had violated certain protocols on a number of contraceptive drugs. It also raised concern that some of the contraceptives approved for use under the Act were abortifacient in nature. This is said to contravene the Philippine Constitution, which protects life from the moment of conception, according to Life News.
According to Tito, the TRO was not issued on the entire law but merely on abortifacients.
“There is no TRO on the (RP)RH Law,” he reportedly said.
HRW, however, said Tito’s clear opposition to the distribution of condoms in school effectively demonstrated his “willingness to derail the implementation of a much-needed public health measure”.
The group also recalled how the senator had in the past attempted to block the passage of the landmark RPRH Act on religious grounds and how he scuttled a harm reduction programme in Cebu City that was aimed at reducing the increase of new HIV infections caused by intravenous drug use.
As such, HRW said Tito’s latest objections “comes as no surprise”.
It, however, reminded detractors of its latest research on HIV prevalence in the Philippines, which showed an alarming rise in recent years.
In the 46-page report titled, “Fueling the Philippines’ HIV Epidemic: Government barriers to condom use by men who have sex with men”, HRW documented the alleged failure of past and present governments to address the growing HIV prevalence among those of the group they dubbed the “MSM” (men who have sex with men).
The report said Philippines has outstripped its Asia Pacific neighbours in terms of HIV prevalence, with statistics showing a tenfold increase in cases recorded over the last five years. It said in 2015, the Philippine Health Department reported that at least 11 cities recorded high HIV prevalence rates of more than 5 percent among the MSM, with Cebu City – the country’s second-largest city – recording a staggering 15 percent prevalence rate.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The numbers were markedly higher than the overall prevalence rate for the Asia Pacific region, which was just 0.2 percent, as well as the rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the most serious HIV epidemic in the world but has a rate of 4.7 percent for those in that group.
Official data from the government show that those living with HIV rose from just two in 1984 (the year HIV was first reported in the country) to 835 by 2009. From 2009 to 2010, the number doubled to 1,591 people, as more MSM contracted the virus, before it surged to more than 35,000 cases as of June 2016. Health records show that of the 35,000, 81 percent were MSM cases.
Among the reasons behind the cause, said HRW, are conservative elements in the government; laws that prohibit condom access and HIV testing to those below 18 years of age without parental consent; and “nonexistent” national education on effective HIV prevention methods. These failures, the group said, along with the social stigma that comes attached to those who engage in same sex practices, have contributed greatly to the worsening epidemic among the MSM.
Bonnie Fox says she was "completely devastated" on finding Kadcyla was no longer available to NHS patients
By John Owen-16 January 2017
Terminal breast cancer patients have spoken of their distress after learning that a life-extending drug they had been told would be available to them looks set to be withdrawn.
Advisory body NICE is reviewing drugs made available through the old cancer drugs fund, and has rejected Kadcyla for use on the NHS in England.
It believes the price per patient set by manufacturer Roche is too expensive. Roche says discussions are continuing.
One patient said the move felt "cruel".
In clinical trials, Kadcyla - £90,000 at full cost per patient - was shown to extend terminal breast cancer patients' lives by an average of six months, and to dramatically improve quality of life when compared with other treatments.
It is used to treat people with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and cannot be surgically removed.
'Extra milestones'
Bonnie Fox, who is 39 and from Croydon, south London, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that she had been informed by her oncologist that the drug would be available to her when her current drug became ineffective.
She said when she had discovered the drug was no longer routinely available on the NHS, she had been "completely devastated".
"I'm really dependent on those extra years... they could [help me achieve] extra milestones with my son, help me see him get to school," she said.
"To have that suddenly taken away feels so cruel. You know that drug is there, and you know that drug is good."
Patient Gill Smith said had been assured by her oncologist that Kadcyla would be available when she needed it.
Gill Smith says she was told the withdrawal of Kadcyla was "unthinkable"
"[My oncologist] said if Kadcyla were ever going to be withdrawn, they'd be chaining themselves to railings... it was unthinkable it would be no longer available."
The drug had been available through the old cancer drugs fund since 2014.
That was a ring-fenced fund set up by the government to help people in England access costly cancer drugs not routinely available on the NHS.
Call for review
But that fund was closed in March 2016 and replaced with a new approach to the funding of cancer drugs, which includes the so-called new-look cancer drugs fund.
Dr Mei-Lin Ah-See, a consultant in clinical oncology at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, criticised the failure of NICE to approve the drug for routine availability on the NHS.
She said it "not only comes at the expense of survival for our patients, but would come at the price of toxicity", as alternative drugs result in greater side-effects for patients.
Dr Mei-Lin Ah-See worries about the toxicity of other similar drugs
She said the UK Breast Cancer Group - a group of senior medical and clinical oncologists specialising in breast cancer treatment - would be writing to NICE to request that the decision should be reviewed and an accommodation found to keep the drug available for NHS patients.
More than 80,000 people have signed a petition - led by the charity Breast Cancer Now - calling on NICE and Roche to find a solution.
Carole Longson, of NICE, said the watchdog "knows how important it is for people with breast cancer that they have access to life-extending treatments, but the reality is the cost of this drug is too high relative to those benefits for it to be recommended for routine use".
A NICE spokesperson added: "NICE would like to be able to support the routine use of Kadcyla on the NHS and we are open to an approach from Roche with ideas about how they can make this happen.
"They have been in touch with us and we are arranging a further meeting with them, during the consultation period."
Richard Erwin, general manager for Roche UK, said: "This is not the end of the line for patients.
"We want to get back round the table with NICE to turn this preliminary decision around and ensure we all do the right thing for patients and their families."
There are some people who are afraid of change by nature. Some may be perennially conservative and lazy to undergo change. This laziness could easily come from the bureaucracy or the public servants and particularly the mandarins in the legal establishment/s. For a new constitution, they have to work hard. Their incompetency may get exposed.
by Laksiri Fernando-
( January 17, 2017, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) I have simply ‘plagiarized’ the title from the theme on which the People’s Power (PP) and the National Movement for a Just Society (NMJS) have organized a public meeting on this Wednesday, the 18th January at the Colombo Public Library. Whatever the speakers are going to say at that meeting, the theme is sharply accurate in capturing the questioning minds of the ordinary masses on the dubious ‘twists and turns’ of politicians and other public figures on the question of a New Constitution. Who is afraid and why? These are the question I would like to address in this article.
Repeated Mandate
The people of this country have given a mandate to their elected representatives since the 1994 elections repeatedly to draft and promulgate a New Constitution. The main reason has been the authoritarian nature of the power structure under the present constitution. When we refer to the 1994 elections, it means the mandate given to the People’s Alliance (PA) and that is the predecessor of the present United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), including the traditional Left parties. By the year 2000, the United National Party (UNP), the predecessor of the present United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) also came around and agreed for a New Constitution.
The main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and the main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), among other minority parties, have been yearning for a constitutional change to resolve many of their problems for a long time. They have expressed no objection for a New Constitution.
However, these objectives, promises or pledges were not fulfilled although the country came closer to a new constitution in August 2000. This is almost 17 years ago. Now that draft is quite outdated. What delayed a new constitution then? One can argue, the war delayed a new constitution. But the war was over in May 2009, except perhaps the war mentality on the part of some politicians? This is 8 years ago. Is it the ‘war mentality’ then that frightens some people of a New Constitution? It is quite possible by going through what they say and do about the matter.
The mandate for a New Constitution does not arise from a single election but through a series of elections. This mandate is not given to a President alone, but primarily to the Parliament and the Members of Parliament continuously. After all, it is the Parliament and the Members of Parliament and the people at a referendum that should bring a New Constitution.
There were and have been other factors. There is no question that making a new constitution or even drafting one is no easy task. Amending a constitution in contrast is relatively easy. The present constitution is quite a rigid one in terms of its amending procedure. It requires a 2/3 majority in Parliament and a referendum, not only for a new constitution, but even for fundamental amendments.
This is one reason why the 19th Amendment could not completely overhaul the presidential system. Some who suggest fundamental amendments without going for a referendum are quite oblivious to this fact, among others.
A New Constitution for a New Era
Constitution making process should be completely democratic. There should be no manipulations or hanky-panky. The process should be transparent and accountable to the people. The constitution makers should be frank and open to the public. It is not for the ‘international community’ that a New Constitution should be made, but for the people of this country. A New Constitution should however take the international norms and trends suitable to the country into account. The process of new constitution making can also be quite an educational experience to the public on democracy and good governance, if properly handled and communicated. There are so many advantages in this respect. Sri Lanka can be revolutionized and modernized.
The January change or ‘revolution’ in 2015 has by now encountered so many setbacks, obstacles and disillusionments. A proper New Constitution could undoubtedly rejuvenate this process again and put the democratic process back on track. The existing constitution is a legal hotchpotch. It is obsolete not because it is too old, but because it is not fully democratic from the beginning. It is now with full of contradictions, haphazard amendments enacted back and forth.
A New Constitution could lead to many other progressive changes and pave the way for a sustainable economic development for the benefit of the poor and the middle classes, and not (merely) the rich. It could promulgate justiciable economic and social rights to a great extent. Those are not in the present constitution. A New Constitution could bring our foreign policy into a proper balance without overtly depending on anyone or any power. It should have a chapter on foreign policy. Most importantly, it could end the senseless ethnic conflict and bickering and at least could pave the way for its achievement. For all these to happen, there should be a New Constitution and not patchwork to the obnoxious (Bahubutha) present constitution.
Who is Afraid?
There are some people who are afraid of change by nature. Some may be perennially conservative and lazy to undergo change. This laziness could easily come from the bureaucracy or the public servants and particularly the mandarins in the legal establishment/s. For a new constitution, they have to work hard. Their incompetency may get exposed. Even after a new constitution their responsibilities would become stiffer. That is one group who apparently influencing some Ministers and politicians.
There are others who are afraid of democratic change because they lose power and privileges directly. These are the parasitic politicians. Therefore, patchwork might be their best option. They cannot now completely oppose any kind of change. They now argue therefore for Amendments instead of a New Constitution. This is also the very reason why a new constitution making could not progress after 2000. Even that year, according to some sources, the effort became stalled because the incumbent President wanted to keep her power little longer.
This reluctance to do away with power was the very reason why now infamous Mahinda Rajapaksa didn’t do anything for a new constitution. Otherwise it was promised first in 2005. His easy excuse was the war before 2009. Otherwise, he was a strong critic of the presidential system during his so-called ‘human rights days.’ After the end of the war, he went in the opposite direction enhancing the presidential powers through the 18th Amendment. This is now history. This is however a good lesson for the people and democratic campaigners not to rely too much on any leader, even on Maithripala Sirisena or Ranil Wickremesinghe. They all are dubious mortals! It is always better to rely on principles and policies than people. Even among democratic or human rights campaigners, this is the case. Only we need to give credit when the credit is due, whether it is MR, MS or RW.
Why Afraid?
Maithripala Sirisena made seemingly an unprecedented sacrifice when he agreed to give away many of his powers when the 19th Amendment was proposed. However, it is not final. Since he has assumed the leadership of the SLFP, his manner seems to have changed slowly. It could be due to the policy differences between the UNP and the SLFP even on the question of a new constitution or constitutional change. It could be something more. The SLFP Ministers now expressing the view that they are against the total abolition of the presidential system. This could be discussed and agreed upon by the main parties. They should come up with a viable and an alternative solution. The UNP also should not be silent on issues. No system could run with dual power for a long period. There can be checks and balances. There is a difference between the two.
If the SLFP is proposing some sort of retention of the presidential system or office, what could be the reason/s? Could it be the fear of change? MS has not yet articulated his views on the matter while he has become quite pronounced on some other matters. The latter is not necessarily a negative thing. In the present setup, there can be checks and balances between the President and the Prime Minister within a healthy framework of mutual cooperation. It could go on the lines of ‘Lichchevi’ policies that RW has been advocating. However, none of these is a reason to abandon a New Constitution and go for some dubious patchwork.
I myself proposed to the Public Representation Committee (PRC) in April last year that the President could be elected like in Ireland, within a parliamentary democracy, and could have functions limited to ‘national security’ and ‘national reconciliation’ only. All other functions should be ceremonial. However, an elected President should resign from party positions to be independent and fair by all parties and all communities. I was not at all thinking about MS, but an elected President in general. Likewise, the Governors of Provinces could be the President’s appointees, on the advice of the PM and in consultation with the Provincial Councils, and they can also be responsible for ‘national security’ and ‘national reconciliation’ on the advice of the President and all other functions strictly being ceremonial.
If the ‘phobia’ for extending or deepening devolution is ‘national security,’ then that could be alleviated under such an arrangement. There is no need to keep an Executive President. What I have proposed is ‘Cooperative Devolution’ where Provincial Councils could exercise enhanced powers or responsibilities under a broad unitary framework while working with the Centre and the National Government in cooperation for the national good.
Undoubtedly, the Centre-Periphery Sub-Committee Report and some other reports have stirred up the hornet’s nest. Some people knowingly or unknowingly describe them as a ‘Constitutional Draft.’ The Steering Committee or the Prime Minister’s office has not cleared up the matter for some reason. They also have not come up with their own Draft. If not a Draft, at least Basic Principles for a New Constitution should be now submitted to the people. Otherwise it may appear that even the promoters of a New Constitution are afraid of a New Constitution.
BY JANUARY 17, 2017
