AP Exclusive: UN Child Sex Ring Left Victims but No Arrests

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSAPRIL 12, 2017, 5:21 A.M. E.D.T.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — In the ruins of a tropical hideaway where jetsetters once sipped rum under the Caribbean sun, the abandoned children tried to make a life for themselves. They begged and scavenged for food, but they never could scrape together enough to beat back the hunger, until the U.N. peacekeepers moved in a few blocks away.

AP Exclusive UN Child Sex Ring Left Victims but No Arrests.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Public sector audit process:
Successive presidents shirked responsibilities

MS promises again to present National Audit Bill

By Shamindra Ferdinando-April 20, 2017, 12:00 pm 

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday assured that the long delayed National Audit Bill would be presented to parliament as soon as possible.

Assurance was given at a meeting with proprietors, editors and journalists representing public and private print and electronic media.

Acknowledging that there had been a delay on the part of the yahapalana government in respect of the much touted piece of legislation, President Maithripala Sirisena said that he would direct relevant authorities to expedite the process.

President Maithripala Sirisena was responding to The Island query at a media briefing at Janadhipathi Mandiraya. Asked whether he could explain the failure to introduce the National Audit Bill in parliament on Feb 19, 2015 in accordance with his government’s 100-day programme, President Maithripala Sirisena admitted the lapse on their part.

The Rajapaksa administration held it up for over a decade President Maithripala Sirisena said that during the last budget debate he assured that the National Audit Bill would be presented in January 2017.

Combined Trade Union Alliance of the Auditor General’s Department has alleged that the yahapalana government had diluted the proposed Bill so much it wouldn’t make any difference now. The grouping has accused the Finance Ministry as well as a section of powerful bureaucrats of sabotaging the Bill meant to tackle waste, corruption and irregularities in the public sector.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, too, has assured the Combined Trade Union Alliance to bring in the National Audit Bill.

President Maithriipala Sirisena said that the cabinet was yet to receive the final draft. He promised to look into allegations once it was received.

Revealing that a former Auditor General had made representations to him recently regarding the urgent requirement to strengthen public audit process, President Maithripala Sirisena said that successive Presidents had shirked responsibilities in that regard. President Maithripala Sirisena admitted that he too failed to exercise his constitutional rights in that regard. The President said that he and his predecessors hadn’t followed constitutional provisions in respect of public audit process.

President Sirisena assured that he would certainly intervene to ensure proper audit process and soon establish required mechanism. The President said that his intervention was required and promised to put in place a mechanism to rectify shortcomings.

Responding to a query regarding proposed much discussed cabinet reshuffle, the SLFP leader asserted that changes could take place before forthcoming Vesak. The President refrained from commenting further on the contentious issue.

President Sirisena hinted that there could be significant changes in the administration with a spate of new appointments meant to give what he a called a new look in the top bureaucracy.

Outspoken public official Auditor Gen. Gamini Wijesinghe has publicly clashed with the yahapalana government over audit process prompting a section of the government to flay Wijesinghe.

Blame the urban educated

Abolishing of the Executive Presidency, thus becomes irrelevant in a society that does not demand accountability in governance 

2017-04-21

Some “promoters” in the “Wickremesinghe camp”, think they caused Turkey’s recently held Referendum to frighten off Sri Lankans from continuing with the presently reshaped Executive Presidency.

Blame the urban educated.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Act Fast To Save Local Medical Education!

By Somapala Gunadheera –April 20, 2017

Somapala Gunadheera

The medical students’ boycott of lectures has continued for the last three months. Neither the President nor the Prime Minister appears to have succeeded in putting an effective end to this tragedy, despite many announcements in the papers that continuous efforts were being made by the authorities to settle the matter.

Perhaps they are resorting to the JR method of ‘cure by disregard’ that was tried out in the eighties when a similar situation arose during his incumbency. That stand-off resulted in a downturn of the national learning curve that became a permanent loss to our knowledge base. A quick fix that compromised the basic fabric! Besides, the cure was discriminatory, as the have-nots vegetated at home helplessly, losing precious time, while the effluent went abroad for further education and bettered their prospects. It is earnestly hoped that the present President who has come from a modest background, would not resort to such thuggish policies to serve the purpose by sacrificing the deprived.

Some parents of the striking students have appealed to the UGC and the President to help resolve the problem but to no avail. The Minister of Higher Education and Highways has forwarded a formula to settle the issue. Unfortunately the GMOA has split hairs on it without realizing that by trying to exclude outsiders, they are truncating their tribe. Such intervention is sure to starve the Minister’s first portfolio, pushing the unfortunate students on to his second. The activists should come up with a workable amendment to the Minister’s proposals to achieve their objective, without sacrificing the interests of the budding doctors. The solution to the SAITM problem lies elsewhere. Perhaps the regulation of the apparent disparities in training, remuneration and facilities among state and private medical faculties may be a possible solution. Using medical students’ strike to solve it has failed so far. Nor is it likely to succeed hereafter

In an article entitled “Ending medical lecture boycott”, I wrote to the Island soon after the trouble started, I said, “What is needed immediately to initiate action on the UGC plea (to resume medical studies) is a definite target for the resumption of studies. This can be done by the medical faculties issuing a crash lecture schedule to cover up lost time, with immediate effect.” It is learnt that an effort in this direction made by a single University has failed, as it was not a coordinated move.  All medical faculties should make a joint start by announcing the date for this year’s annual exams. At the same time the students must be specifically told that only those who collect the necessary credit hours would be allowed to sit the exam.

It is said that there is disparity among the lecture hours earned by the respective Faculties. The crash programme of lectures should provide for this anomaly. Once the schedule is issued with definite notice that only those who complete the schedule would be allowed to sit the exam, the chances are that the bulk of students would decide to resume their studies. They will be followed by the few who have been presumably persuaded by vested interests to keep away from lectures. The resuming students should be protected from harm from possible disruptive elements.

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Sri Lanka: Colombo Garbage Crisis — Nothing but Disgrace!

The bottom line of the Colombo Garbage Crisis is nothing but disgrace to the nation locally and globally. How can the citizens have hope when rulers and their stooges exploit even the smelly garbage?

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa-Apr 20, 2017

(April 20, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Things have come to light yet again, and many have written from many angles about the same political culture of blaming, claiming, attacking and intimidating the alleged subjects. Politicians were blamed, fair enough. But will this blaming and shaming solve the crisis? What is the point of shaming someone who already has no shame?

What is the lesson learned repeatedly?

Politics has ethics, but politicians; Politics has discipline but politicians; Politics has order but politicians; Politics has responsibilities but politicians; Politics has accountability but politicians; Politics has transparency but politicians, Politics is uncorrupted but politicians; the list goes on and on and on. The interesting answer is that not even a single politician in this country is unaware of the basic formula mentioned above. In other words, politicians know they can’t “succeed” with ethics, discipline, order or responsibilities, but act to oppose them as the way to power. Western Provincial Council and other local governing bodies are such fetid wounds which kept on hurting fellow human senselessly.

The tragedy in the Colombo suburb of Meethotamulla during the traditional New Year celebration is yet another tragedy in the history where innocent civilians pay the price for the greed of distorted political culture in this island. Neither politicians nor any other responsible party has the spine to resign from the position at least as a symbolical protest to pay homage to those victims who paid taxes out of heard earned income to maintain the responsible parties in their jobs and homes. Such sensible people evaporated from this land and were replaced by ugly, deceptive, cunning subjects who know how to embezzle the state assets. The same agenda is in place no matter the main political slogan such as “wonder Asia” or “good governance” through which the agenda is decorated.

Despite failing the responsibility to resign, some came on media to explain how they planned to manage the Colombo Garbage while others started playing hide and seek to find a person to be blamed.

With such a situation as our reality, can this country ever be improved beyond maintaining different sets of thieves and swindlers under the various governments? What is the meaning of election if the person elected is unable to give due respect to the vote, the brain power cell of democracy? Why do we need to maintain state departments and disaster management centres if the country is still calling for the military to handle every social crisis?

Despite all tears, there is a significant move by the people who have collectively opposed the government. This is clearly planting the new seeds for a new wave of resistance by a group that is genuinely rejecting the corrupted germs which distorted, manipulated and took hostages of the men and women in this country for generations.

According to the information available, the Colombo Garbage is a criminal network. As usual, the driving force of this horrific deadly network is the political force and the hierarchy that represents it. All of them have their own quota at the end of the day while those who affected are counting days of their lives. This has deep rooted history. If the leadership or any other person or group is seeking a firm and reliable solution to such crisis first they must read between the lines of the network and understand the root causes.

It has been reported the Chief Minister of Western Province, as well as the cabinet Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, demanded ransom from two foreign companies who proposed to solve the Colombo Garbage Crisis. Chief Minister’s wife, according to the report, who happened to be the secretary of husband Minister, had requested for a meeting with the company during which she had demanded millions as ransom to start the state project, whereas the cabinet minister of the subject did the same shameful corrupted game with another company. At last none of those companies decided to move forward with the proposed projects but flew back to their countries by abandoning the noble idea to improve the destructive corrupted culture in Sri Lanka. Neither chief minister nor the cabinet minister denies the allegations. Those are just two examples out of dozens around the Colombo Garbage crisis.

However the most important question is how to solve this crisis? How did other countries solve the Garbage Crisis? Garbage is no longer wastage but a resource that can be useful if the authority manages it well. But, nothing can be managed sustainably if it is under the clutches of criminals and their “dependent guardians” who wore white cloths to cover darkest fraudulent hearts. Yesterday it was Meethotamulla, today it could be Kandy and tomorrow it could be Dompe. The tragedy will continue while we bury our men and women, and beyond – as long as this criminal network is active.

If the country is abstaining from developing a bold team of governance with the skills to manage through law to ensure the fundamental rights of all citizens and prevent all forms of crimes, the cities and villages in the country will show the true face of the rule. Meethotamulla was such an example after the country experienced in many places similar tragedies from landslides in Samasara Mountain to floods in Jaffna when the natural disasters struck and there was no protection for the ordinary folks.

The bottom line of the Colombo Garbage Crisis is nothing but disgrace to the nation locally and globally. How can the citizens have hope when rulers and their stooges exploit even the smelly garbage?

Garbage: Don’t play dirty games

2017-04-21

It is one week after the Meethotamulla garbage dump catastrophe which left 32 dead, scores injured, at least eight missing, hundreds of houses destroyed or damaged and more than thousand people displaced in despair and destitution. Various postmortem examinations are being held at different levels to identify who or which institution was responsible or accountable and what needs to be done now, not only to prevent a similar calamity but to turn it into a blessing. There may be a lot of garbage politics in this tragedy but we need to be aware that our hands are bloody and dirty because in different degrees we have failed to act as responsible eco-friendly citizens.  

 
At the highest level yesterday, President Maithripala Sirisena had a dialogue on this tragedy with media group owners, editors and high ranking journalists. The President said he would appoint a retired judge to head an independent team to probe what happened and who or which public institution was responsible for the disaster.  

As in most cases, the best course of action would be to find solutions and not find fault. As a first step, no more garbage is being dumped at Meethotamulla. Instead the government decided to dump Colombo City’s garbage at Karadiyana in Piliyandala and in Dompe where there are dumping sites which may not cause much harm to the people or the environment. But the area people, some of whom were apparently provoked by petty party politicians, strongly protested and the Colombo Municipal garbage trucks were forced to turn back.

Our thinking on this issue needs to be rational and balanced. Take Colombo City for example. Its population is estimated at around 400,000 but on working days some 600,000 people are known to come to the City for work and other purposes. This number excludes schoolchildren. The garbage including tens of thousands of polythene lunch wrappers and bags are brought into the City and dumped there. So Colombo City is not the main source of garbage. But people of other districts do not allow garbage from Colombo City to be dumped there though the areas chosen are relatively safe.   
It is also known that people use and dump some 20 million polythene lunch wrappers or bags every day. This polythene is not biodegradable and cause soil infertility wherever it is dumped. Decades ago before the easy going polythene era, most people used marketing bags made of cloth and sometimes used them for months or years without causing damage to the environment. Today, small items or big items are sold in polythene bags at supermarkets, grocery stores and even in small boutiques. 

These and related issues show that most people need to change their silly attitudes towards the use of so-called ‘sili, sili’ bags and garbage dumping. Otherwise we will cause serious damage to the environment and we cannot call ourselves responsible or eco-friendly citizens.

  
We also need to reduce the amount of garbage and also be more careful in separating it into organic garbage, paper or boxes and polythene. Government officials say foreign countries including Japan have offered expertise and financial assistance to set up high tech factories where waste is turned into good, non toxic compost fertilizer or energy to produce electricity and run vehicles. We urge the government to act fast in setting up such factories so that rubbish could be turned into wealth and power. 

President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have also called for the media to be responsible in their coverage of the garbage crisis and environmental or economic policies. The Prime Minister quipped that it was not only the people who were dumping garbage, some media groups were also dumping garbage news apparently to boost those who had been sent to the garbage dumps of history. The President also reprimanded some media groups which were saying that the economy was on the brink of collapse. He said Sri Lanka was well on its way to sustainable economic growth.   

Overall, we also call for responsible and collective action to put the country first on environmental and economic issues instead of playing garbage politics when our hands are dirty with agendas for personal gain or glory. In that way we could build a smart Lanka for our children and our children’s children.     

Two years after the Central Bank bond scam, industries are bleeding to death!

Thursday, 20 April 2017

It is now an openly-discussed incident that the former Central Bank Governor had misused his authority to allow a company that his son-in-law is a director/major shareholder of to make billions of rupees in undue profits at the expense of Government and other public funds. The subject has been discussed at many forums and media platforms and now a Presidential Commission of Inquiry has been appointed and the investigations are ongoing.

It is said that if found guilty, the former Central Bank Governor and his connected parties who made the undue profits will be asked to refund the monies back to the Government. That may or may not happen, or the Inquiry Report may end up in another ‘no action’ box. Leaving that for the President and the Government to handle, as an industrialist in the country, I would like to bring to the notice of the public another effect of the bond scam that is profusely bleeding the industries in the country. 

Commercial bank interests shot up by

over 6.5% and interest payable up by 93%

Prior to the bond scam in February 2015, the Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) in Sri Lanka was about 6.5% per annum, and the cost of funds for Sri Lankan industrialists was around 6.5% to 7.5% per annum. Immediately after the bond scam, when the Central Bank accepted a bid for a 30-year bond at an exorbitant interest rate of around 12% per annum, interest rates of commercial banks started to rise. By December 2016, AWPLR in Sri Lanka had risen to 12% per annum and the banks had also increased their margins by a further 1-2%, adding a further burden to the borrower. Banks have also increased the interest rates of loans taken prior to February 2015.

As a result, any industry that had taken a loan in 2014 at 7% (AWPLR + 0.5%) now has to pay 13.5% (AWPLR + 1.5%); an increase of 6.5% in the rate of interest. In reality, this amounts to a massive 93% increase in the interest component of the loan. For an example, if an industry had taken a bank loan of Rs. 100 million in 2014 and paid Rs 7.0 million per annum as interest, the same industry will now have to pay Rs. 13.5 million per annum as interest. Therefore, any industrialist who obtained a long-term loan on the AWPLR basis is now faced with an interest burden that he/she had never forecasted for. This is a deadly blow to any project in the manufacturing sector that also has to face numerous other challenges such as high electricity charges, higher taxes and increased employee remunerations.

The Government has failed to quickly arrest the major fraud at the Central Bank and that is not only allowing the crooks behind the bond scam to continue making money but also leaves the national industries bleeding to death through unaffordable bank interests.

On the other hand, some other section of the Government is removing or trying to remove import tariffs for imported goods and tells the Sri Lankan industries to “either be competitive or close down”. Such officials argue that the reasons for the jump in the interest rate have nothing to do with the fraud in the Central Bank, and that it is a global situation. The graph showing AWPLR of Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh clearly illustrates that their argument is totally incorrect.

From January 2015 to December 2016, Indian AWPLR has decreased by 1% and in Bangladesh the rate has reduced by 0.5%, whilst Sri Lankan AWPLR has increased by over 5%. Furthermore, you can observe that Bangladesh is maintaining a flat 7% per annum interest rate right throughout, showing the commitment of the government of Bangladesh to support Bangladeshi exporters. 

Banks are laughing

Whilst the industrialists are slipping down the hill due to the above bond scam, banks in Sri Lanka have made merry out of the mess and the confused situation at the Central Bank. All commercial banks have used the high Treasury bill interest rates and the increased AWPLR as excuses to gradually increase interest rates at their will. They seem to have squeezed the ‘maximum’ out from the borrowers and made huge profits as shown in the table.

From 2014 to 2016, the increase in profit before tax of the biggest bank in Sri Lanka is 54% and another two private banks have made increases of 86% and 68% over the same period. If the government fails to arrest this situation the trend will continue and the banks will make profits at the expense of the industrialists. 

Sri Lankan industrialists

are left helpless

Industries in Sri Lanka come under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The minister in-charge seems to be burdened with many trade related issues and thus does not seem to have much time left to look at the dangers faced by local industrialists. Further, the Government seems to be stuck in resolving many day-to-day problems of the masses and thus the industrialists are left without any place to go to with their problems for proper action.

Therefore, I strongly feel that there should be a Ministry of Industries that is fully dedicated and responsible for the development of all industries whether small, medium or large, and it should not be responsible for trade. This is because trade includes importation of essential food items and other finished products which are politically sensitive subjects.

It is natural for the politicians to focus more on resolving cost of living problems through cheaper imports. Most of the time such imports go against the interests of the local industries. That is why one ministry cannot fulfil their responsibilities for the industries if that ministry handles import trade as well.

Government should step in with commitment to safeguard industries

At present, helpless industries in Sri Lanka are left alone on a slippery slope with heavy loads of bank interests, higher taxes, higher electricity charges, increased salary bills and unfair competition from imported products. They are faced with imminent danger of gradually slipping down to the bottom of no return unless the Government immediately adopts a clear policy to give necessary support and safeguards that industries in other countries receive from their respective governments.

The Government reiterates the need to increase exports as a solution to the foreign exchange crisis, but it is unfortunate that no one pays any attention to the problems faced by the industrialists who are supposed to produce such goods needed for exports.

 (The writer is an entrepreneur and

an industrialist.)

Malaysian HC rejects request to transfer Sri Lankan envoy’s assault case



April 20, 2017 

A Malaysian High Court today dismissed the government’s application to transfer a criminal trial involving a Sri Lankan envoy from the Sepang court to Kuala Lumpur on security grounds. 

Free Malaysia Today reported that Justice Nordin Hassan has said the grounds raised in the application pertained to law and order. 

“The applicant and the witness could complain to the trial judge and law enforcement agency if they are unhappy about a crowd outside the Sepang court,” he said.

Nordin said the same crowd could be in Kuala Lumpur if the trial venue were to be shifted. 

“This is not a good reason to transfer the case from Sepang,” he said. Last September, three men were charged with rioting and assaulting ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar at the KLIA airport. 

He unprecedented application was filed in January by the public prosecutor, with Ibrahim filing an affidavit in support of moving the court. 

The application was made under Section 417 (d) of the Criminal Procedure Code for the High Court to grant an order for the general convenience of a witness.

 Ibrahim said he believed that his safety was not guaranteed if he were to attend the trial in the Sepang Sessions Court as witness because large groups of Tamils had gathered there during the last two case managements. 

He said he was still traumatized by the brutal attack on him at KLIA, a public area which should have tight security measures. “I fear for my safety and security if the trial is to be continued in Sepang,” he said in the affidavit, adding that he had lodged a police report to express his concern. 

 He said he felt safer to have the trial heard in Kuala Lumpur as security measures there were tighter and better.

 Ibrahim said Tamil groups had attempted to harm the staff of the Sri Lankan High Commission and a former prime minister at a Buddhist temple during his visit to Malaysia.

 Lawyer M Manoharan, who is appearing for the accused – A Kalaimughilan, V Balamurugan and V Ragunathan – said today the case would be mentioned before the trial judge on May 3.

 “We will officially inform the judge of today’s ruling to fix the trial dates,” he said. -Free Malaysia Today -Agencies

Another cigarette company claim, a complete falsehood

Apr 20, 2017

A GMOA allegation that another cigarette company is to be registered in Sri Lanka is a complete falsehood, says health minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne. He says in a statement that there is no government other than the present regime that is committed to eliminate cigarettes.

The government has imposed a 90 per cent tax and introduced an 80 pc pictorial warning in cigarette packs, he notes. Also, the sale of a single cigarette and the sale of cigarettes within 500 metres of a school too, are to be banned.

Senaratne also says that while the CTC pays an annual Rs. 100 billion as taxes to the state, treatment for smoking-related illnesses costs more than Rs. 72 b. around 25,000 Sri Lankans die each year due to smoking and alcohol consumption.

With the increase in taxes, the CTC has reported a decline in its profits to one pc, and it is hilarious to say a country that discourages smoking will welcome another cigarette company, he says.

At a time when even the WHO has commended Sri Lanka for its measures to discourage smoking, the health minister says the president and himself are committed to the health of the people, and not concerned about the income earned. He adds that he suspects some in the GMOA might be getting money and privileges from tobacco companies to make such hilarious allegations.

Responding to GMOA secretary Dr. Navinda Soyza’s remark that the health minister should have been given the wildlife ministry, Senaratne says Soyza is fit to hold a minor job in the wildlife ministry, and not to be a medical doctor.

Rs 3 Million Compensation For 30 Meethotamulla Victims; Rs 600 Million For Environmental Minister’s Luxury Benz Cars

April 20, 2017

While the official website of the Ministry of Disaster Management has no information whatsoever regarding the recent tragedy at Meethotamulla where slippage of a massive garbage dump wreaked havoc on residents of the area, the Government has offered compensation of 100,000 rupees to the families of the victims.

As of today 30 bodies have been recovered and an equal number feared dead.

Meanwhile President Maithripala Sirisena who is also the Environmental Minister has imported two luxury Benz cars. The value of these vehicles are over  574 million rupees.

After a public outcry over the senseless spending on vehicles imported by MPs, Ministers and the President, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake declared that the TOTAL VALUE of the two vehicles imported for the President is 148 million rupees.

With irrefutable evidence made available to the Colombo Telegraph by our Customs sources, now we can declare that the tax exempted on these vehicle along is over 426 million rupees (cage 51 of the Customs Bill of Entry), which would have been charged if not for the tax waiver granted under the Customs Ordinance (under Section 19A of the Customs Ordinance).

Therefore, the actual market value of these vehicles is well over 574 million rupees and not 148 million rupees as suggested by Finance Minister.

Customs seize 32,000 Lt. of Glyphosate

2017-04-20

A large stock of 32,000 Lt. of Glyphosate which was banned to import to Sri Lanka was seized by the Customs Preventive Unit today, Customs Media Spokesman Dharmasena Kahandawa said.

During the investigations, the Customs officers had found 160 drums containing 200 Lt. Glyphosate. The stock had been imported in two containers from China by a vessel on March 15 by an importer who was identified as a businessman from Colombo 1, Mr. Kahandawa said.

The Glyphosate consignment was declared to the Customs as ‘Non Ionic’ (Organic Silicon) in an attempt to mislead the Customs. “The Customs Preventive officers halted the two containers due to the suspicious name of ‘Non Ionic’. After the probe, the Customs officers found that there was no Non Ionic in the container and that the consignment contains undeclared items,” Mr. Dharmasena said.

Later several samples of the consignment were sent to the office of the Registrar of Pesticides Department of Agriculture in Gannoruwa, Peradeniya, which later confirmed the consignment was pure Glyphosate.

The consignee was released on a Customs bond and further action would be taken against him, according to Mr. Dhramasena.

While speaking to media at the Customs Grey Line 2 yard in Grandpass, Customs Director General Chulananda Perera said stern actions would be taken against such importers of banned pesticides to the country. Further investigations were carried out by the Chief Assistant Preventive Officer G. M. B. Gajanayaka, Assistant Preventive Officers J. G. A. Sanjeewa, S. V. Kamburugamuwa, A. V. P. Nalaka, W. G. C. S. Amarasinghe and D. L. A. L. A. Dassanayake under instructions from Customs Preventive Director R. A. J. Buddhadasa and Chief Preventive Officer V. Minuwanpitiya. Meanwhile, the investigation team led by Customs Director General Chulananda Perera.

Issuing an extraordinary gazette on October 23, 2015, the Finance Ministry said imports and use of Glyphosate were totally banned under the Import and Export (Control) Act as it was the major contributor to the Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) which is widespread in the country.

The Register of Pesticides had cancelled every licence that was issued for the pesticides containing 

Israel police sack officer for headbutting and beating Palestinian

A spokesperson described the incident as going 'against all the values' of the Jerusalem police

Israeli police man a checkpoint in Jerusalem (AFP)

Thursday 20 April 2017

 An Israeli policeman caught on video beating up a Palestinian truck driver in east Jerusalem last month has been fired from the force, police said on Thursday.

The video, widely circulated on social media, shows the uniformed officer curse the driver, then headbutt him in the face and kick him in the legs.

The officer continues to beat the Palestinian as he grasps his head and doubles over, with further blows to the stomach and head.

Israeli-Palestinian MP Ahmad Tibi called for the officer’s prosecution, while politicians were outraged at the footage.

Twitter users responded, many claiming that the attack was not surprising.


Several Palestinian workers are seen attempting to defuse the situation, causing the officer to kick out towards them violently, shouting "get out of here, all of you".

The driver later told Israel Radio: "He didn’t give me a chance to speak. I was afraid he would shoot me."

Thursday's police statement said the officer was notified of the decision on Wednesday and his dismissal would take effect within 14 days.

"It was an exceptional and violent incident which goes against all the values of the Israel police," it said.

"A policeman who behaves in such a manner has no place in the Israel police." 

A Palestinian witness filmed the incident, which took place in a car park near the interior ministry in the Wadi Joz area of annexed east Jerusalem, and handed a copy to an Israeli journalist.

The witness said the policeman had accused the driver of having damaged his car with the truck.

Shortly after the incident the police condemned the attack and suspended the officer.

The incident comes during ongoing unrest and sporadic violence.

A wave of street attacks by Palestinians in Israel, Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank since October 2015 has killed 37 Israelis, two American tourists and a British student.

At least 243 Palestinians have died in the same period.

Israel says at least 163 of the Palestinians killed had launched stabbing, shooting or car ramming attacks. Others died during clashes and protests.

Israel has accused the Palestinian leadership of inciting the violence.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, denies incitement and charges that in many cases, Israel has used excessive force in thwarting attackers armed with rudimentary weapons.

Egypt must end enforced disappearance of Palestinians

Family and friends of four young Palestinians abducted in Egypt in August 2015 and believed still to be detained by authorities there, at a rally calling for the men’s release in September 2015.Abed Rahim KhatibAPA images

Charlotte Silver-20 April 2017

It has been 20 months since four Palestinian young men from the occupied Gaza Strip were mysteriously abducted after entering Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula via Rafah crossing.

Egyptian authorities have not released any information about the young men’s whereabouts or condition, nor have they confirmed or denied whether the men are in their custody.

But reports over the last year strongly suggest that the Egyptian authorities have information about the men, who were low level members of Hamas’ military wing.

“Anguish and suffering”

Human Rights Watch is now demanding that Egyptian authorities release any information they have on the four men, including whether or not the government is holding them.

“Twenty months without contact with the missing men inflicts incalculable anguish and suffering on their families and friends,” the group’s Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said. “Egyptian authorities should come clean and reveal whether these four disappeared Palestinian men from Gaza are in their custody.”

In a letter addressed to Egypt’s interior minister Magdy Abd al-Ghaffar on 13 April, Human Rights Watch said Egypt is required by its own criminal code and international law to acknowledge if the men are in its custody.

Under international law, refusal to acknowledge that a person has been detained and holding them incommunicado amounts to enforced disappearance, according to Human Rights Watch.

Since the Egyptian military removed President Muhammad Morsi in 2013 and army chief Abdulfattah al-Sisi seized power, thousands of his political opponents have been rounded up and jailed.

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms documented the enforced disappearance by Egyptian police of 912 people between August 2015 and August 2016. Fifty-two remain disappeared.

Students and patients

Abdullah Abu Jabin, Abdeldayim Abu Libdah, Hussain al-Zibdah and Yasir Zannoun, all in their twenties and from different cities in the Gaza Strip, legally crossed into Egypt on 19 August 2015.

Once on Egyptian soil in the Sinai Peninsula, they telephoned their families. The men were headed to Cairo International Airport, from where they planned to fly to Turkey. Abu Jabin and Abu Libdah were travelling for school and al-Zibdah and Zannoun for medical care, their families told Human Rights Watch.

Later that night, as their bus drove away from Rafah, six armed men in civilian clothes opened fire on their bus. When they stormed the bus, they seized the four men, leaving dozens of other passengers behind.

The next day, Hamas told Reuters that the men were members of its military wing. Though no group immediately claimed responsibility for the ambush and kidnapping, Hamas released a statement urging the Egyptian interior ministry to free them.

For a year, there was no information on their fate. In August 2016, Al Jazeera reportedly obtained a leaked photo from a Cairo detention facility that allegedly shows Abu Libdah and Zannoun. The photo shows about a dozen men sitting and slouched over in a filthy hallway.

A video also purportedly shows the two men.

Zannoun’s and Abu Libdah’s families say the photo and video do show the two men.

“When I saw the photo, I screamed ‘Abdeldayim is still alive,’” his mother told The Electronic Intifada last year.

“Implicit blackmail”

In August 2016, a Hamas official reported that Egypt had set “difficult demands” for their release when a Palestinian delegation visited the country.

They reportedly included handing some men over to Egypt and battling the Islamic State in the Sinai.

According to the Hamas official, Salah al-Baradwil, Egyptian authorities suggested they were holding the men by asking the delegation, “Why do you assume that they did not commit any transgression?”

Al-Baradwil told The Electronic Intifada last year that Egypt is engaging in “implicit blackmail.”

Human Rights Watch emphasizes that Egypt’s obligation under international law to acknowledge the men’s status cannot be negotiated by making demands on Gaza authorities.

One police officer killed, two wounded in Paris shooting

Police secure the Champs Elysee Avenue after one policeman was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann---People raise their arms to show their hands as they walk towards police on a side road near the Champs Elysees Avenue after two policemen were killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

An armed soldier secures a side road near the Champs Elysees Avenue after two policemen were killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier---Armed soldiers secure the Champs Elysees Avenue after two policemen were killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

By Julien Pretot | PARIS- Fri Apr 21, 2017

One policeman was killed and two others wounded in a shooting incident in central Paris on Thursday night, police and the interior ministry said.

The shooting, in which the assailant was also killed, took place on the Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard just days ahead of France's presidential election.

A witness told Reuters that a man got out of a car at the scene and began shooting with a machine gun. A police source also said more shots had been fired at another location near the scene.

A French interior ministry spokesman said it was too early to say what the motive of the attack was, but that it was clear the police officers had been deliberately targeted.

The French prosecutors' office said the counter-terrorism office had opened an inquiry.

Three police sources said, however, that the shooting could have been an attempt at an armed robbery.

"I came out of the Sephora shop and I was walking along the pavement where an Audi 80 was parked. A man got out and opened fire with a kalashnikov on a policeman," witness Chelloug, a kitchen assistant, told Reuters.

"The policeman fell down. I heard six shots, I was afraid. I have a two year-old girl and I thought I was going to die... He shot straight at the police officer."

Police authorities called on the public to avoid the area.

TV footage showed the Arc de Triomphe monument and top half of the Champs Elysees packed with police vans, lights flashing and heavily armed police shutting the area down after what was described by one journalist as a major exchange of fire near a Marks and Spencers store.

The incident came as French voters prepared go to the polls on Sunday in the most tightly-contested presidential election in living memory.

France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.

Earlier this week, two men were arrested in Marseille whom police said had been planning an attack ahead of the election.

A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in the southern city along with jihadist propaganda materials according to the Paris prosecutor.

(Reporting by Richard Balmforth; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Leigh Thomas and Andrew Callus)