N.Korea tests short-range missiles as S.Korea, U.S. conduct drills

Jack Kim and Phil Stewart-AUGUST 25, 2017 

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea fired several short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast early on Saturday, South Korea and the U.S. military said, as the two allies conducted annual joint military drills that the North denounces as preparation for war.

The U.S. military’s Pacific Command said it had detected three short-range ballistic missiles, fired over a 20 minute period.

One appeared to have blown up almost immediately while two flew about 250 km (155 miles) in a northeasterly direction, Pacific Command said, revising an earlier assessment that two of the missiles had failed in flight.

The test came just days after senior U.S. officials praised North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un for showing restraint in not firing any missiles since late July.

The South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched from the North’s eastern Kangwon province into the sea.

Later on Saturday, the South Korean Presidential Blue House said the North may have fired an upgraded 300-mm calibre multiple rocket launcher but the military was still analyzing the precise details of the projectiles.

Pacific Command said the missiles did not pose a threat to the U.S. mainland or to the Pacific territory of Guam, which North Korea had threatened earlier this month to surround in a “sea of fire”.

Tensions had eased somewhat since a harsh exchange of words between Pyongyang and Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump had warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he would face “fire and fury” if he threatened the United States.

North Korea’s last missile test on July 28 was for an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to fly 10,000 km (6,200 miles). That would put parts of the U.S. mainland within reach and prompted heated exchanges that raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missiles did not reach its territory or exclusive economic zone and did not pose a threat to Japan’s safety.

MILITARY DRILLS

The South Korean and U.S. militaries are in the midst of the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills involving computer simulations of a war to test readiness and run until Aug. 31.

The region where the missiles were launched, Kittaeryong, is a known military test site frequently used by the North for short-range missile drills, said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

A North Korean flag flutters on top of a tower at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, August 26, 2017.

“So rather than a newly developed missile, it looks to be short range missiles they fired as part of their summer exercise and also in response to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill,” he said.

The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with the North because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North routinely says it will never give up its weapons programmes, saying they are necessary to counter perceived U.S. hostility.

Washington has repeatedly urged China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, to do more to rein in Pyongyang.

China’s commerce ministry late on Friday banned North Korean individuals and enterprises from doing new business in China, in line with United Nations Security Council sanctions passed earlier this month.

The White House said Trump had been briefed about the latest missiles but did not immediately have further comment.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately comment about the Saturday launches. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this week credited the North with showing restraint by not launching a missile since the July ICBM test.

Tillerson had said he hoped that the lack of missile launches or other “provocative acts” by Pyongyang could mean a path could be opening for dialogue “sometime in the near future.”

Trump also expressed optimism earlier this week about a possible improvement in relations. “I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us,” Trump said of Kim.

North Korea's state media reported on Saturday that Kim had guided a contest of amphibious landing and aerial strike by its army against targets modelled after South Korean islands near the sea border on the west coast.

The official KCNA news agency quoted Kim as telling its Army that it "should think of mercilessly wiping out the enemy with arms only and occupying Seoul at one go and the southern half of Korea."

A new poster on a North Korean propaganda website on Saturday showed a missile dealing "a retaliatory strike of justice" against the U.S. mainland, threatening to "wipe out the United States, the source of evil, without a trace."

On Wednesday, Kim ordered the production of more rocket engines and missile warheads during a visit to a facility associated with North Korea's ballistic missile programme.

Diagrams and what appeared to be missile parts shown in photographs published in the North's state media suggested Pyongyang was pressing ahead with building a longer-range ballistic missile that could potentially reach any part of the U.S. mainland including Washington.

Additional reporting by Ju-min Park in Seoul, Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Christian Shepherd in Beijing and David Brunnstrom and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry

US radar system boosts Philippine maritime security

The United States donates to the Philippines the 28M Class Tethered Aerostat Radar System at the Naval Education and Training Command in Zambales province north of Metro Manila. Source: US Embassy in Manila

By Bong S. Sarmiento | 25th August 2017

THE Philippine Navy (PN) has received a state-of-the-art radar system from the United States as part of Washington’s programme to enhance maritime security measures in Southeast Asia.

The new 28M Class Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) will significantly boost the PN’s capability to fight criminal activities in the high seas as well as detect threats against Filipino fishermen operating in the country’s maritime territory.

Colonel Ernest C. Lee, chief of the joint US Military Assistance Group in the Philippines, formally turned over the 28M Class TARS during a ceremony on Tuesday at the PN’s Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) in Zambales province north of Metro Manila.

SEE ALSO: Abducted Philippines ex-soldier beheaded by Abu Sayyaf

Guest of honour and keynote speaker Philippine Navy Vice-Admiral Joseph Ronald S. Mercado received the TARS on behalf of the country’s maritime force, and thanked Washington for the donation.

US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Michael Klecheski also graced the turnover ceremony.

“The aerostat will provide the Navy with increased awareness of potential threat at sea, such as vessels entering the Philippine sovereign waters and economics,” the Inquirer quoted Klecheski as saying during the ceremony.

MyREP Realty‏ @MyREPrealty

PH Navy gets new radar system from US - Northbound Philippines News Online ... #ContactUs at...

2:42 AM - 23 Aug 2017

The 28M Class TARS is a self-sustained, rapidly deployable, unmanned lighter-than-air platform. It can rise to an altitude of 5,000 feet (1,524m) while tethered by a single cable.

Sixteen Philippine Naval Information and Communication Technology Center personnel are engaged in a rigorous six-week training programme at the NETC in Zambales to learn assembly, handling, operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting for the 28M Class TARS.

These sixteen students will become instructors for the next class of operators.

Through this donation, the PN is poised to enhance its capability in Maritime Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance by effectively detecting maritime and air traffic within the country’s coastal waters using sensors, the US Embassy in Manila said in a statement.

The 28M Class TARS can also be utilised in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) operations.

The TARS includes a weather station that provides telemetry data for the monitoring of ambient temperature, pressure, wind speed and other pertinent parameters to successfully operate the system.

The NETC in Zambales was chosen as the staging point for the 28M Class TARS as it is the largest PN base with a flat terrain, and fits the minimum requirement of 300sq ft for the launching of the system.

The radar donation is part of the US Maritime Security Initiative (MSI), a capacity-building assistance program for Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines that aims to improve their ability to address a range of maritime challenges.

Duterte is forging closer ties with China and Russia, instead of the US. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

Washington continues to extend defence assistance to the Philippines despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s stance to pursue an independent foreign policy.

Duterte is veering away from the US, a long-time ally of the Philippines, to build closer ties with China and Russia, which the strongman from Mindanao already visited since he assumed the presidency in June last year.

SEE ALSO: China ‘elated’ by Philippines foreign policy under Duterte – state media

In October 2016, Duterte announced in Beijing that the Philippines “is separating from the United States”.

But while Manila and Washington’s relations have soured apparently because of Duterte’s “independent foreign policy,” the United States still provides the Philippines with defence assistance.

In separate occasions last month, Washington transferred to Manila two Cessna-208B Grand Caravan Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and 1,040 pieces of 2.75” rocket motors and 992 pieces of 2.75” rockets for use by the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

US Ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Y. Kim has said the donations “clearly manifest the strong relations of the Philippines and United States’ armed forces.”

Yellen rejects Trump approach to Wall Street regulation, says post-crisis banking rules make economy safer


Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of Bank of Japan, from left, Janet Yellen, chair of Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, at the Jackson Hole economic symposium. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

By Damian Paletta August 25 at 10:00 AM

Jackson Hole, Wyo. — Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen offered a forceful defense of broad new banking regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis, saying the rules safeguard the economy against another crisis and rejecting assertions from President Trump and top aides that they should be rolled back.

Yellen’s speech, delivered here to an annual gathering of central bankers, finance ministers and economists, comes as Trump considers whether to reappoint her to a four-year term as head of the U.S. central bank.

Yellen, 71, made clear in her speech on Friday that she believes tighter regulations and standards have made the banking system safer and that while some improvements could be made, they should be modest, not structural.

“The evidence shows that reforms since the crisis have made the financial system substantially safer,” Yellen said, according to prepared remarks.

[Trump’s economic adviser says president ‘must do better’ to denounce white nationalism]

Trump has waffled on whether he would renominate Yellen to the post. She was first nominated by President Barack Obama for the four-year term, after having served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Trump has said he likes her cautious approach to raising interest rates, but declaring her opposition to rolling back new banking rules could put a wide chasm between her and the White House.

There are numerous banking regulators that have input in how the financial system is overseen, but none are as powerful or as influential as the head of the Fed.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy is healthy enough to absorb gradual rate increases and the slow wind down of the Fed's bond portfolio, during an appearance at the Captiol on July 12. (Reuters)

Yellen’s speech comes just hours after the Financial Times published an interview with Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, in which he openly criticized the way Trump handled violence carried out by neo Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville.

Cohn was also considered a front-runner for the Fed chairman post, and the separate decisions by Cohn and Yellen to distance themselves from Trump could mean that neither is interested in cozying up to him as a way to try to get the nomination.

Yellen’s speech reflected on the government’s response to the Great Recession.

A financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 caused a global panic, with some of the world’s largest financial companies wobbling or toppling and the U.S. government injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to prevent a collapse. Large financial companies were interconnected and had amassed large amounts of risk without cushions to absorb losses or access to cash to prevent bank runs.

Banks and financial companies were chasing profits by making loans to people who lacked the ability to repay, at times falsifying documents and betting on the false premise that the housing market would continue to soar. As the banking system began to falter, consumers panicked, the stock market crashed, hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their jobs, and the U.S. and many other economies went into recessions.

In 2008, the Bush administration and Congress passed a law that allowed the government to inject money into the banking system to try to arrest the crisis. In 2010, the Obama administration and Congress passed a law that imposed new consumer protection rules, required banks to hold bigger cushions against losses, put new limits on their ability to take risk, tried to establish a process to help wind down large financial companies.

Trump has said these changes went too far, calling the law a “disaster” that has made it hard for consumers and businesses to access credit and restricted economic growth. One of his arguments, supported by many banks, is that requiring banks to hold more capital to cushion against losses makes it harder for them to lend money.

President Trump signed three executive orders on April 21 at the Treasury Department which are meant to spark reviews of tax and financial regulations. (Reuters)

Yellen addressed these criticisms head-on in her speech, saying that research is mixed but that Fed officials believe there were “sizable net benefits to economic growth from higher capital standards.”

She acknowledged, though, that some borrowers could see a decrease in access to loans because of the new rules.

“While material adverse effects of capital regulation on broad measures of lending are not readily apparent, credit may be less available to some borrowers, especially home buyers with less-than-perfect credit histories and, perhaps, small businesses,” she said.

She added that the Fed, one of the nation’s bank regulators, is taking steps to ease regulatory complexity that small banks face to help more small businesses obtain loans.


Yellen did not say in her speech whether she was interested in being appointed to another term. She also didn’t comment specifically on Trump or any conversations she has had with him.

Net migration from the EU has dropped by 40% since last year

• By Georgina Lee-24 AUG 2017

The number of EU citizens coming to Britain fell by 7.7 per cent between March 2016 and March 2017. At the same time, the number of EU citizens leaving the UK rose by over a quarter. That’s according to new estimates from the Office for National Statistics, released today.
FactCheck looks at what we can learn from the data.

More EU citizens are leaving Britain, and fewer are coming here

In the year up to March 2017, 248,000 EU nationals came to Britain, while 122,000 left. In March 2016, annual immigration to Britain from the EU was 267,000, while the number of EU citizens leaving was 89,000.

That means there are still more EU citizens arriving than leaving, but the gap is smaller than it was last year. Net migration of EU citizens – the difference between annual immigration and emigration – is down 40 per cent since March 2016.

Nearly 50,000 EU8 nationals have left the UK since last year – up by a third since 2015-16

Citizens from the so-called “EU8 countries” have driven much of this change. This group of countries, which joined the EU in 2004, comprises: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Immigration from EU8 countries to Britain fell by 31 per cent between March 2016 and March 2017. And the number of EU8 citizens leaving went up by over a third. This means that net migration from EU8 citizens dropped significantly from 39,000 to just 7,000 in one year.

According to the ONS, this is the smallest net migration estimate for the EU8 since those countries joined the EU in 2004. Until now, the smallest migration gap we’ve seen was in 2009, when net migration with this group of EU states was 16,000.

How does EU migration compare to migration from the rest of the world?

Immigration from non-EU nationals fell from 288,000 in 2015-16 to 266,000 in 2016-17. That’s a drop of 8.3 per cent. But emigration was also down, with just 86,000 non-EU nationals leaving the UK this year, compared to the 95,000 who left last year.

Today’s figures show that net migration from outside the EU is down by nearly 8 per cent compared to last year. It currently stands at 179,000 – compared to 127,000 from EU nationals.

The number of British nationals leaving the UK is also up this year and now stands at 134,000 – 8,000 more than last year. The number of British nationals entering the UK from abroad is down from 83,000 to 74,000. Overall, the net migration to Britain by UK nationals stands at -60,000.

Will the government ever meet its commitment to bring migration down to the tens of thousands?

In the 1960s and 70s, net migration was in the negative numbers, with more people leaving Britain each year than arriving. In the 1990s, immigration began to rise faster than emigration – and since the mid-90s, net migration has continued to grow.

The government will be encouraged by today’s figures, which mark an overall drop in net migration (across all nationalities) of about a third.

But there are still 246,000 more people coming to Britain each year than leaving it. And that could be a problem for the Conservatives, after they reiterated their commitment to cutting net migration to the tens of thousands in this year’s election manifesto.

An editorial in the Evening Standard, the paper now run by former Chancellor George Osborne, said it would be difficult to reach this target because “net migration — the number of people arriving, minus the number leaving — is not in the gift of government, subject as it is to the vagaries of the world economy”.

And the paper isn’t alone in being sceptical. According to a poll by Ipsos Mori published in May this year, 68 per cent of the public agree that it is “unlikely” or “fairly unlikely” that the Conservatives will be able to cut net migration to that level.


Indeed, even if the government succeeds in this aim, some analysts argue that cutting migration to less than 100,000 could damage the UK economy. A 2017 report by the Centre for Economic and Business Research estimates that if the Tories met this target, it could cost the UK between 1.5 and 3.1 per cent of GDP by 2025.

Inequality in SA highlighting rising military spending 

August 23, 2017, 12:00 pm

A homeless girl asks for money outside a coffee shop in Mumbai, India, June 24, 2016. (File Photo)

South Asia is at the bottom of the international heap on the question of resolving material inequality and this should not come as a surprise to the knowledgeable observer on account of this region's continuing obsession with military spending. The respective worrying rankings of South Asian states on the issue of inequality are disclosed in a study conducted by Oxfam and Development Finance International, who have fashioned a measure to assess the severity of the problem. On the basis of this study, six South Asian countries are among the last 20 countries on the issue of addressing income and wealth inequality.

These countries and their rankings, out of 152 countries surveyed, are – Nepal, 81, Maldives, 91, India, 132, Sri Lanka, 138, Pakistan, 139, Bangladesh, 141, Bhutan, 143 and Afghanistan. 146. These figures ought to jolt the rulers of these countries out of any enervating euphoria over country-specific flattering data on 'economic growth', because one in every five humans resides in South Asia. That is, a pronounced proportion of the world's population is currently living in dehumanizing poverty and deprivation, while a microscopic minority among them is growing increasingly wealthy, including their political class.

On the basis of these rankings, Nepal ought to be congratulated on her efforts to narrow her income and wealth disparities, while countries, such as, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan ought to treat this data as the 'Writing on the Wall'. To be sure, increasing sections among South Asians are getting into the 'middle income bracket' as a result of using some emerging economic opportunities but in the case of Sri Lanka, for example, her success in poverty alleviation cannot be assessed accurately because the percentage of Sri Lankans in and out of poverty is not very clear. The authorities ought to clear all doubts on this issue once and for all.

In the case of Afghanistan, it is plain that for the majority of its citizens, unfortunately, the question of poverty and deprivation could only aggravate. This is on account of the continuation of its wasting internal armed conflict. Needless to say, if Afghanistan considers it compelling to siphon more and more of its finances to the military effort against the Taliban, the well being of the people would be proportionately neglected.

If the Afghan people were looking forward to some relief from war and strife, such hopes ought to have been dashed on their learning that the Trump administration is gearing to intensify and prolong its military involvement in Afghanistan.

'We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists', President Trump was quoted saying with regard to his administration's future plans in Afghanistan. Apparently, the US defence authorities have been ordered to increase the US troop strength in Afghanistan by 3,900. Accordingly, the Afghan armed conflict is set to continue indefinitely, resulting in increasing hardships for the people.

It is small wonder that Afghanistan is among the last in this region on the income inequality issue. No doubt, her problems have been compounded by big power military involvement in her internal conflict, in this case the US. With Trump 'at the top' in the US, the latter is bound to replicate her foreign policy blunders in the developing world. Afghanistan proved a cataclysmic military blunder for the Soviets in the eighties. The bloody setback was described at the time as the 'Soviets' Vietnam'. It shouldn't come as a surprise if contemporary Afghanistan proves for the US a veritable replay of the monumental military quagmire that Vietnam turned out to be for it in the seventies. So engrossed is the Trump administration, apparently, with short term military and security gains that it is glossing over or ignoring the 'lessons of history'.

While there is very little Afghanistan could do in the short and medium terms about her powerlessness, most of the other states of this region could do more to decelerate their military spending and channel more of their resources and energy to reducing the inequality gap. Getting the poverty alleviation drive 'into full swing' is one way of bridging this gap.

Sri Lanka cannot repeat the excuse now, that terror-linked security concerns are preventing her from addressing the inequality problem. Now that the LTTE threat has been defused, excessive funds for the security forces cannot be justified. Two of the most important priorities for Sri Lanka are the evolving of a political solution to her 'national question' and the increasing funding of programmes that would enhance the quality of life of her people.

It goes without saying that regional economic and other forms of cooperation are a principal means of improving the well being of the peoples of South Asia. In this connection, an improvement in Indo-Pakistani ties would prove of primary importance. India and Pakistan owe it to their people to spare no efforts to resolve their outstanding issues and ensure that SAARC cooperation is a concrete reality.

If India and Pakistan progressively improve their relations less of their funds would be used on their defence forces. The moneys thus saved could then be siphoned for the public weal. Hopefully, the issues of the past would be resolved peacefully and quickly because these states ought to enable their peoples to experience real independence and empowerment. 'Divide and rule' may have happened in the past but this cannot be harped on any longer.

On the other hand, the rulers of India and Pakistan and those of the other states of this region need to look at ways of how money and wealth could be prevented from disproportionately accumulating in the hands of a few at the expense of the many. The mixed economy formula remains one of the most effective means of achieving this end.

While going about this task it must be remembered that members of a 'trans-national capitalist class' are in the seats of power in South Asia and, indeed, in most other parts of the developing world. The actions and policies of this class run contrary to the aspirations and well being of the people. Progressive sections need to work out peaceful and democratic ways of displacing this class from power.

Botched surveillance job may have led to strange injuries at US embassy in Cuba

At first thought to be a deliberate attack, the outbreak of mysterious symptoms may be the result of shoddy espionage equipment, experts say

 A classic car passes in front of the US embassy in Havana, Cuba, 16 June 2017, where diplomats suffered hearing loss and other symptoms Photograph: Alejandro Ernesto/EPA

Julian Borger in Washington-Friday 25 August 2017

An outbreak of hearing loss and other health problems affecting at least 16 employees at the US embassy in Havana could have been caused by an electronic surveillance operation that went wrong, former intelligence officials said on Friday.

The state department said it was investigating the outbreak, and that some of the worst affected diplomats had been evacuated to Miami for examination and treatment.

“This is something that we have not experienced in the past,” Heather Nauert, the department’s spokeswoman, said. “We are working very hard to try to take care of our folks who are there on official duty – and trying to provide them all the care and the treatment and the support that they would need.”

Earlier this months, US officials had said the symptoms appeared to have resulted from a covert sonic device. But Nauert said on Thursday no device nor any perpetrator had yet been found and that Cuba was cooperating with the US investigation.

The US asked two Cuban diplomats to leave in May, after American embassy officials were forced to leave Cuba because of serious symptoms. But the Cuban diplomats were not banned from returning, as normally happens in expulsions linked to espionage, and the US has so far not explicitly blamed the Castro government.

Two former US officials with a background in intelligence and surveillance said they had doubts that the health problems were the result of a deliberate attack with a sonic weapon. They pointed out that the symptoms were first noticed in late 2016, when US-Cuban relations were the best they had been in decades, following the visit of Barack Obama to Havana.

CNN quoted a US official saying Washington was investigating whether a third country was involved as “payback” for actions the US has taken elsewhere and to “drive a wedge between the US and Cuba”. However, at least one Canadian diplomat is also said to have been affected, suggesting whatever happened did not exclusively target the US embassy.

“You can’t rule out harassment, but why do it when you want things to go well, and why the Canadians? Nobody dislikes the Canadians!” said James Lewis, a former state department official and US military adviser with expertise in intelligence and spy technology.

Lewis said it was much more likely that a sonic surveillance device, designed to remotely pick up the vibrations caused by speech, could have been wrongly configured and emitted harmful sound waves as a result.

“We know with 100% certainly that the embassies are under surveillance, and the technology being used could just be crude and over-powered,” he added. Although Nauert had said the Cuban incidents was unprecedented, Lewis pointed to a wave of health problems at the US embassy in Moscow in the 1970s thought to be linked to the use of microwave surveillance devices.

John Sipher, who spent 28 years in the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, argued that while direct targeting of US diplomats is rare, unintended harm caused by surveillance efforts that go wrong are much more common.

“These efforts, while designed to further surveillance and eavesdropping and not to cause malicious damage, nevertheless risked or resulted in residual physical harm to US diplomats,” Sipher said in a commentary on the Just Security website.

Sonic weapons are being developed by security forces around the world. The Israeli defence forces have a vehicle-mounted blaster called The Scream, while cruise ships have adopted a military grade “sound cannons” to project deafening noise over 300 metres to defend against possible pirate attacks.


However, such weapons have an immediate, crippling effect. Whatever has happened in Havana appears to have crept up on its victims more gradually and subtly.

Middle-aged told to walk faster

By Nick Triggle-24 August 2017

Middle-aged people are being urged to walk faster to help stay healthy, amid concern high levels of inactivity may be harming their health.

Officials at Public Health England said the amount of activity people did started to tail off from the age of 40.

They are urging those between the ages of 40 and 60 to start doing regular brisk walks.

Just 10 minutes a day could have a major impact, reducing the risk of early death by 15%, they say.

But PHE estimates four out of every 10 40- to 60-year-olds do not even manage a brisk 10-minute walk each month.

Inactivity in middle age

Adults in England 40-60 years old

41%

Do not manage one brisk 10 min walk per month

1 in 6

Deaths linked to inactivity

• 15% Reduction in risk of early death from at least one brisk 10 min walk per day
• 20% Less active than we were in the 1960s
• 15 miles Less walked a year on average than two decades ago

Public Health England

BBC

To help, the government agency is promoting a free app - Active 10 - which can monitor the amount of brisk walking an individual does and provide tips on how to incorporate more into the daily routine.

PHE deputy medical director Dr Jenny Harries said: "I know first hand that juggling priorities of everyday life often means exercise takes a back seat.

"But walking to the shops instead of driving, or going for a brisk 10-minute walk on your lunch break each day, can add many healthy years to your life."

Maureen has now started leading organised walks

Maureen Ejimofor, 44, started taking regular walks three years ago in a bid to improve her health.

At the time, she weighed 18 stone and wanted to make a change. Within seven months, she had lost nearly five stone.

She joined a local organised walking group in Kent and loved it so much she ended up becoming a walk leader in charge of taking groups of people out at the weekend.

She has been using the Active 10 app and encourages others to do the same, describing it as "really useful" in persuading users to get a "burst" of brisk walking into their day.

Another walking fan is Liam Quigley, who has just turned 60.

"My parents used to take us out walking all the time," he says.

"But unfortunately as I got older, I got a taste for the finer things in life, so I used to drink quite a bit, eat some of the wrong stuff. I actually put a lot of weight on.

"I like walking, and I decided to do something about it."

Mr Quigley joined Stockport Walkers and now takes 10-mile hikes.

"Since I joined, I've lost two stone. It's had a good effect on me," he says.

---

GPs are also being encouraged to get their patients walking faster - defined as a walk of at least 3mph that leaves you breathing faster and increases your heart rate.

Dr Zoe Williams, of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Every GP should talk to their patients about the benefits of brisk walking and recommend the Active 10 app."

PHE is focusing on those in middle age, because of the drop in activity levels.

It is recommended that people do 150 minutes of activity a week, but nearly half of those aged 40 to 60 fail to achieve that and one in five does less than 30 minutes.

While a daily 10-minute brisk walk will not get them to the recommended level, it will be enough to start making a difference to high blood pressure, diabetes, weight issues, depression and anxiety and musculoskeletal problems such as lower back pain.

PHE also hopes by getting this age group active it will have a knock-on effect among those who have children.

Yahapalanaya from crutches to a wheelchair

• This “Yahapalana Government” is anything, but what it claims it to be
• That also makes the MoU singed between the SLFP and the UNP politically and morally wrong
• It’s this betrayal of the voters by the leaders in Government that has led to the ever-growing contradictions
• Local Government Elections should have been held for all 335 local Government bodies before October 2015
• These moral and political debasing of people’s democratic rights so that the two leaders can manipulate power has pushed the Government from  one crisis to another

2017-08-25

Here is a Government that is desperately trying to govern a small country, comprising 21 million people. For the record, the number of people in this island is even smaller than the Haryana State in India which has a population of 23 million. Politicians wishing to be in the Government despite not having a comprehensive plan for development is a matter of concern. People have voiced the need for reforms and reconciliation.   

This Unity Government also termed “yahapalana Government” (good governance) is anything, but what they claim it to be.   

Cohabitation began with the Presidential Polls in 2015 between the Maithri clan in the SLFP and the UNP. This clan had no mandate to be in a UNP Government where the Premier was appointed in a cabinet where there are only 47 MPs. The 2015 Parliamentary Elections were contested by the SLFP in alliance with other smaller parties that formed the UPFA. This group took on the UNP led by Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe. President Sirisena had no role to play in the UPFA campaign other than buckle it up. The UPFA campaign was led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Every single vote he received at this election was a vote against the UNP. And every vote that the UPFA received defied the presence of President Sirisena. However it was clear that even if the UPFA gained a majority, the UPFA campaign leader Rajapaksa won’t be appointed as Prime Minister.

  
Rajapaksa accumulated 4.7 million votes contesting against the UNP during which election the UPFA won 95 seats in parliament. Thus every MP elected to parliament under the UPFA ticket was elected by voters who in fact were saying no to the UNP. That vote therefore doesn’t mandate any SLFP MP to be part of this Government which is headed by the UNP. To be part of a UNP administered Government and enjoy ministerial portfolios under Premier Wickremesinghe is a total betrayal of the people who voted. That also makes the MoU singed between the SLFP and the UNP to work together in the Government, politically and morally wrong. By doing so they have gone against the will of the voters.   

It’s this betrayal of the voters by the leaders in government that has led to the ever-growing contradictions. The manner in which the country is governed is opening the doors to conflicts. This is happening under an unholy and unprincipled Government; whatever name one may call it. Held together by two political bigwigs- purely to enjoy power- this Government has no direction, no solid programme and no accepted leader who can take a decision ensure collective participation. The Government thus hasn’t only been plagued by personality clashes due to personal agendas, but is experiencing a crisis where its leaders and followers are unable to face the public. This is why the Government is  reluctant to conduct elections.   

Thus the group led by UNP, enjoying the support of the JVP, which brought in a common candidate at the last Presidential Elections, promising the ousting of Rajapaksa and instilling democracy, remains undemocratic. 

All those urban middle class pundits, who contributed to this political pickle of a Government, have forgotten that they have denied the people of the basic democratic right to have their own elected Local Government Bodies, Provincial Councils, Urban and Municipal Councils for local administration and rule.   

Local Government Elections should have been held for all 335 local government bodies before October 2015. When the Rajapaksa regime was ousted in January 2015, the Delimitation Commission had come up with their report in August 2014. This was for re-demarcation of local government authorities and their electoral wards. There were objections against some re-demarcations and this new Government reappointed its own Commission, headed by retired public administrator Asoka Peiris. Now for two and a half years and more, the Government has been postponing elections giving flimsy unacceptable excuses. No civil society group in Colombo that championed the cause to establish the “Yahapalana Government’ and usher in democracy is challenging the country’s decision makers. The same must be said about the JVP which makes so much noise about the corruptions of the previous regime.   

While the people are denied of their fundamental right to elect Local Government Bodies, the Government is now planning to deny the people of establishing Provincial Councils. These elections are due in a month or two. The terms of three Provincial Councils namely Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern PCs are expected to end in September (2017) because the elections for these three provincial councils were held in September 2012.  It’s reported that Government leaders have decided to conduct all elections together. These elections will be held in keeping with a new electoral system. This will be possible only once the Government makes changes to the present electoral system using reforms. The Daily Mirror online reported on August 23 that President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had chaired a late night meeting of the Government party leaders on Monday night and discussed this matter. The discussion was on changing the electoral system regarding the Provincial Councils. The Daily Mirror online reported that it will be a mix of the Proportional Representation System and the First Past the Post System (FPP).   
We must for a moment back to the much pampered “100 day Programme” of this ‘yahapalana Government’, where its ‘cheerleaders’ claim they have a mandate from 62 lakhs of voters. The present regime has conveniently forgotten the 100 day programme where it was stated “An all party committee will be set up to put forward proposals to replace the current Preference Vote system and replace it with a Mixed Electoral System that ensures representation of individual Members for Parliamentary Constituencies, with mechanisms for proportionality.”   

The 100 day programme thereafter promised that new election laws will be prepared in accordance with the proposals put forward by the all party committee on or before March 2. It was also mentioned that amendments to change the system of elections will be placed before Parliament and passed as quickly as possible.

Having completely defaulted on that promise, the same is now, promised after a lapse of two and half years, for PC elections.

No decent and civilized political party leaders would shut down democratic bodies elected by people citing electoral reforms as the excuse. Electoral reforms have to be discussed while the LG bodies and the PCs function as elected bodies. They too have to be part of the process. That is how some form of voter participation could be included in the reform process. This argument of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government dissolving LG bodies and deferring the PC elections would mean that parliament could be ‘adjourned’ or the postponement of elections.   

These moral and political debasing of people’s democratic rights so that the two leaders can manipulate power has pushed the Government from  one crisis to another. President Sirisena has to give into pressure coming from his own ministers, who are competing against Wickremesinghe’s UNP. They therefore take populist positions publicly to show they are not responsible for what the Government does. They pressured President Sirisena to remove Ravi Karunanayake from his ministerial portfolio to distance themselves from the mega Bond scam and leave it on the shoulders of the UNP. Yet when it came to the question of removing Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, for the alleged breach of a collective responsibility of ministers, they weren’t much interested. That was left as a problem within UNP despite the fact Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is also implicated in the massive Avante Garde fraud. They didn’t make a fuss over Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe purely because the monks of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters have come out in defence of Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. The monks consider Rajapakshe to be a leader of the Sinhala Buddhist people and the Sangha.   

Thus every MP elected to parliament under the UPFA ticket was elected by voters who in fact were saying no to the UNP. That vote therefore doesn’t mandate any SLFP MP to be part of this Government

But crises have different effects on the two leaders. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was removed because Premier Wickremesinghe had to keep his party stalwarts satisfied. They shifted the allegation of breach of collective responsibility to that of delaying investigations on mega corruption by the Rajapaksa family. Despite mega corruptions within their own Government during the past two and a half years, highlighting the corruptions that took place during the Rajapaksa regime seems to  be what’s keeping the government’s dingy afloat.   

What is nevertheless apparent is that this government is caught in a whirlpool of crises. From managing conflicts within parties and between the two major allies to that of facing the people at elections with no development programme of its own to take shelter under topped  by huge corruption, the Government is now experiencing its knees wobble.  Each day there is some protest on the streets of Colombo to add to its woes.   

 The only reason the Government survives is because people don’t seem to value their democratic rights. In any other democratic country, where people wouldn’t compromise on their democratic rights, a Government that keeps denying people of having local government elections for almost 03 years and wants to defer PC elections too, would have been ousted on “Street Power”. No society that values its rights, which sees its elected local government bodies kept dissolved, would have allowed a government to survive this long. The absence of such social consciousness is keeping this coalition, that came to power on crutches, still going on a wheelchair.