For less cumbersome and more victim-friendly laws

2017-11-13

The laws on rape in Sri Lanka were amended by the Penal Code (Amendment) Act No.22 of 1995. According to former Human Rights Commissioner Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa the amendment was a result of Sri Lanka ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, he pointed out that though the laws were in place, the procedure to prove a case was cumbersome, resulting in the denial of justice.   
He said though the intention of Parliament when drafting and amending the law was to impose the maximum punishment, fine and compensation, thereby protecting women’s rights, this intention has been subverted by the existing loopholes.   

The Loopholes

Dr. Mahanamahewa stressed that the procedure did not support the law as stated in the penal code. “It takes a longtime for the police to complete their investigation and file the B report. If a child is born being conceived by rape, by the time the case is taken up by the High Court, the victim does not want to proceed with the case,” he said and added that usually the case comes up before the High Court only after six or seven years. 
“So the woman does not proceed with the case considering the best interests of her child,” Dr. Mahanamahewa said and added that the case should be ideally taken up within six months and completed. “You can have a special court, a special high court sitting, a jury system, or a trial-at-bar, and complete the case,” he said. 
  
Dr. Mahanamahewa said when the police recorded a victim’s statement, the police had a tendency to use technical words whereas the woman uses the jargon she is familiar with. 
“After many years when the case comes up before the High Court and when you cannot remember what you have said, the cas will be against the plaintiff,” he said and pointed out that the victim is harassed further at the cross examination. “I have seen several cases where the woman has fainted. In the case of a rape of a child, the National Child Protection Authority video records the testimony of the child. But how many cases are handled in a month.”  
The Evidence (Special Provisions) Act (No. 14 of 1995) states that the party proposing to tender such evidence should give notice to the opposing party a list of such evidence not later than forty-five days before trial. Within fifteen days of the receipt of such notice the receiving party can apply to the party giving such notice, to be permitted access to the evidence. “If they request access to a device you must give it, but practically these things do not happen. If you want to prove your case through CCTV evidence you need to know who operated the machine, whether the machine has been manipulated or scenes deleted. There should be an affidavit. But in automatic devices you can’t get an affidavit,” Dr. Mahanamahewa said.   

Infrastructure

“Every police station has a desk for women and children-related matters. There is a child probationary officer, childcare officer and child welfare officer at every divisional secretary’s office. There are international NGOs. Then we have the Probation Department. Why can’t they come up with a national policy to work together and minimize rape?” he asked. “Then we have the Victims of Crime and Witnesses Protection Act.There is an Authority set up. But how many victims have gone there? Do victims have the knowledge as to what type of relief they can get? Whether it’s financial relief or shelter?”  

Contradictary evidence  

Dr. Mahanamahewa said when proving a rape case there should be a report from the government analyst and the Judicial Medical Officer. “Sometimes these don’t corroborate with each other,” he said.   

Social Concerns

He said the attitudes prevalent in society worked to the detriment of the victims. “Though there is a law in place families of victims often do not accept the victims. Society blames her and her family ignores her.”  
He said though the law allowed consensual sexual intimacy when between 16 and 18 years, the general law did not allow marriage for those under 18. “Then for two years who will look after the woman and the baby if she conceives?” he asked and pointed out that in cases where the family members were the perpetrators the cases usually did not proceed. Hence the number of rapes is much higher than the numbers reported.   
Dr. Mahanamahewa said there were ample instances where the girl’s uncle, father or a close relative committed the rape. “In case the man is the breadwinner, if he is sent to prison his family will become destitute,” he said. “This fear prevents them making a complaint as well. “So who protects these victims? You must protect them financially as well.”  
“In a case involving an underworld kingpin and drug dealer in Kelaniya, the woman was taken away forcibly and raped. When the case was filed the suspect paid a large amount of money and this resulted in the victim not giving evidence. So where is justice? If the victims do not come and give evidence you must summon them and record the evidence ex-parte,” he said.  
Dr. Mahanamahewa said in certain instances family members urged victims to come to a settlement because a court case would attract attention and lead to social disgrace.  
“Then there are silent rapes, where consent is obtained through fraud and lies. Then you can go for a seduction case before the District Court,” he said. “It is extremely rare for a rape case to proceed till the Supreme Court.”  

Social Media

Dr. Mahanamahewa said there were more than 5,000 complaints on matters related to social media and sexual abuse. “They first become friends and ask for nude photos, and then use blackmail,” he said and added that this resulted in suicide. “In one case the woman informed to the Mirihana police and the photos were released on social media as a consequence. Finally the woman did not want to proceed with the case.”  

Rights of the Accused  

There are instances when false charges are brought up. Article 13(5) of the Constitution states that every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. “You must give the defendant a chance to defend through a fair trial, but these proceedings should not take too much time,” Dr. Mahanamahewa said.   

Recommendations  

He made two principal suggestions with regards to the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. “We must focus on compensation. There is no minimum compensation stated in the Penal Code. There must be a set of guidelines prepared by the Judicial Service Commission for judges. At the moment the amount for compensation depends on the discretion of the judge,” Dr. Mahanamahewa said.  
Secondly referring to the Criminal Procedure Code he proposed that there should be a procedure to accept the original CD, rather than the tedious procedure laid down and suggested that there could also be a separate unit at the Attorney General’s Department for matters regarding abuse of women and children so as to expedite the cases.   
“The State must look after the welfare of the victims. Sometimes they are burdened with a baby. They should be counselled. The social service department should look into their affairs. There should be awareness on sex-education,” he said.   

PPP Initiatives For SriLankan Airlines – Is it Being Sabotaged?

By Arun Kumaresan –NOVEMBER 13, 2017

To the urgent attention of National Economic Council (NEC)

A Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) chaired by the Prime Minister has seen an hour long presentation by the Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia staking claim under the cover to fill the gap of our own failed MIHIN AIR to operate a budget carrier with an Airline Operating License (AOL) from Civil Aviation Authority, Sri Lanka. This comes at a time when Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is scouting for an investor to fund the National Liability and White Elephant – ‘SriLankan’

GOSL has been upbeat in particular after a successful state visit by our President to Qatar, which had willingly agreed to check the feasibility to revamp the ailing SriLankan. As a mark of honor to our President, the Government of Qatar sent an expert team within couple of hours, whilst our President was still in Qatar, to Sri Lanka to commence negotiations with SRI LANKAN. It is to be noted an earlier attempt by Qatar in 2016 did not materialize due to the indifferent attitude shown by the officials in Sri Lanka. Less than two weeks into the above process, GCEM – a subordinate body to the NEC – has listened to the unsolicited proposals by Air Asia.

 

Nothing seemingly wrong on paper but to the surprise once again; subject Minister for PPP initiatives Mr Kabir Hashim has been kept in dark. He had stated, quote “Minister Hashim is a member of the CCEM; he said he had neither been informed such a pitch would be made nor sent any background information. It had, however, been included in the agenda. He did not attend the meeting. ‘I am not opposing it but I am concerned,’ “Proposals of this nature have to be carefully evaluated to determine theviability and ramifications on the bleeding national carrier.”

The phrase “viability and ramifications on bleeding national carrier” becomes significant as the GOSL is in the midst of hunting for an investor to partner our beloved National Liability –SriLankan. We have already have had the experience; all probable investors have left the negotiating table due to factors ranging from ‘Low return on investment … to the sabotaging attitude of the leadership of SriLankan during PPP discussions”. The latter is a well known secret as the same Minister who was blindsided in this particular meeting has complained earlier to the President at a Cabinet of Ministers meeting with regards to the arrogant attitude displayed by the leadership of SriLankan in taking suicidal decisions sans his (subject minister’s) concurrence. The same leadership too was recently reprimanded by the Prime Minster and had been advised to work under the directions of the subject minister.

Hence, the question arises whether the said unsolicited proposal by Air Asia is being floated by interested parties to discourage the investors in coming forward to partner with SriLankan; In short, no investor will come and takeover SriLankan, which is in dire financial state unless there is volume of passengers; the vital ingredient of passenger airline operations. A budget airline is bound to eat into this as volume as the national airline too is dependent of air travelers from the low income category.

The only beneficiary of this sabotage will be the few who are on high payroll; paid by the rank and file of the public, whilst the losses of this airline continue burn the exchequer. SriLankan leadership has woken from deep slumber of two years and now talk of restructuring and will continue to talk for another couple of whilst being funded by the state. This should stop and come to an end.

The proposals by Air Asia intentionally or otherwise sabotages President’s initiatives resulting from a successful visit to Qatar. May the NEC take due cognizance into above and;

Read More

Promising and committed, but his Cabinet colleagues have to walk the talk

Mangala’s ‘Mangala Budget’ – Part I

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera presenting Budget 2018

A budget is a short-term financial plan-Monday, 13 November 2017 

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s Mangala Budget (Maiden Budget) was presented to Parliament last week. A budget is simply a one year financial plan of the government. But modern budgets have become a medium-term enterprise for governments in the sense that they are linked to the government policy a few years before and a few years hence.

Promising and committed, but his Cabinet colleagues have to walk the talk.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Grand Hyatt case EPF funds misappropriated in hotel project

Sagala Denies Meeting Senarath But Pussyfoots Around President’s Allegations

Tuesday, 14 November 2017 00:08

According to the two ‘B’ reports filed before the Colombo Magistrate Court, Gamini Sedera Senerath, Piyadasa Kudabalage and H.K.D.W.M. Neil Bandara Hapuhinna are suspected for transferring a staggering Rs.4 billion to Helanco Hotels and Spa (Pvt) Ltd fraudulently in 2014 from Canwill Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, a fully state-owned enterprise, without Board approval.

Grand Hyatt case EPF funds misappropriated in hotel project.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Finance minister’s ‘artificial intelligence’ leaks on M.P.’s head - had to use the umbrella !

(Lanka-e-News - 13.Nov.2017, 11.30AM) The minister of finance in the last budget spoke very highly about the  introduction of ‘artificial intelligence’ and Robot technology to Sri Lanka .Yet when a function was held recently  at a primary school the rain water began to leak through the roof of the school right on to the head of an  ‘artificial intelligence’ M.P. necessitating him to use an umbrella. The report filed  by Lanka e news reporter Dinasena Rathugamage is as follows :

During the function held at Vavuniya Ganepuram Vinayagar primary school , when Wanni district M.P  Cader Masthan arrived on the 11 th  forenoon , the M.P. and his group had to face a strange experience.

After the function began , there was a sudden downpour and the tiled roof of the school’s best hall started  leaking. As though the sky knew the  M.P. had never bathed before , the water seeping through  gave him a good bath . 

A group of the security detail trying to save the M.P . ,immediately took  the umbrellas of the people who had come for the function  and opened them for him.

In any case ,  since those who were without umbrellas began  going back home in the heavy shower , the M.P. could not conclude the  function successfully.

The M.P. who left while it was raining cats and dogs pledged before leaving to the villagers , that  during the next school vacation the dilapidated building will  be fully renovated .

Photos and report by Dinasena Rathugamage  

---------------------------
by     (2017-11-13 06:11:38)

Budget 2018 lacks commitment to Central Bank’s inflation targeting crusade

Tuesday, 14 November 2017

It would be a suicide mission for the Central Bank to undertake inflation target-based monetary policy without strictly enforcing budget discipline by the Government, as I cautioned in my article appeared in the Daily FT of 30 October (see http://www.ft.lk/columns/The-political-economy-of-central-banking-in-Sri-Lanka/4-642422). Although I anticipated it would spark a heated debate, several writers have expressed similar sentiments favouring my argument in their subsequent newspaper articles.

Budget 2018 lacks commitment to Central Bank.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Sagala Denies Meeting Senarath But Pussyfoots Around President’s Allegations

Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayaka has remained silent on allegations made by President Maithripala Sirisena to the effect that he, Ratnayake, was stymying investigations into wrongdoing by the Rajapaksas and those close to the regime.

Sagala

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

Ratnayaka, in a media release has denied having met Gamini Senarath, Chief of Staff of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa, but has avoided responding to the allegations levelled against him by the President.

In the media release, the minister has categorically denied having met or having had any dealings with Senarath, claiming that he has no reason to do so.

However, Ratnayaka has remained silent on the allegations made by Maithripala Sirisena that it was he, Ratnayaka, who was sitting on files related to investigations of wrongdoing by the Rajapaksa.

The Sunday Times reported that when UNP stalwarts Kabir Hashim, Mangala Samaraweera and Malik Samarawickrama had met the president to inquire about delays in prosecution, the President had stated that it was a UNP minister who should be blamed.

The Sunday Times reported that the President had said “don’t blame me,” and that he had then “identified a UNP minister in the Cabinet by name and said he was responsible for passing information to members of the Rajapaksa family on matters relating to investigations.”

“This minister had also allegedly brought pressure on the Police to slow down investigations,” the report adds.

Colombo Telegraph’s investigations have revealed that the minister thus named was in fact Sagala Ratnayaka. According to the report the President was informed about the Ratnayake-Senarat association by intelligence officers who had followed the latter to the former’s house.

The President, moreover, is reported to have complained about Ratnayaka to Rajitha Senaratne, in Qatar.

Colombo Telegraph learns that ministers Samarawickrama and Senaratne had complained to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe about Ratnayaka and called for his sacking.

Read More

Children of SL, other countries traded as sex slaves: Saudi Princess

2017-11-13 

Saudi Princess Amira Bint Aidan Bin Nayef has revealed that children, especially the orphans, from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Djibouti, Somalia, Nigeria, Romania and Bulgaria had been bought and rented as sex slaves in Saudi, Dhaka Tribune reported on Sunday.  

Giving exclusive statements to the French Newspaper Le Monde, she has said slavery in Saudi Arabia had different forms, but it was done in secrecy and permitted only among the primary beneficiaries of the princes of the House of Saud.

Princes Aidan is the ex-wife of the Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, who was recently arrested in scope of the anti-corruption purges in the country. 

She said those who accuse others of corruption and money laundering are in fact highly corrupted themselves.

Russian online news portal Fort Russ has reported quoting Aidan’s interview on Le Monde that the corrupted had turned the city of Jeddah into a slave market where underage girls are being exploited for sex parties involving drug and alcohol abuse.

Princes Aidan said that one of the main reasons why this keeps going on was that the members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Sharia police) tend to keep away from the matter, fearing they might lose their jobs, should they intervene.

The newspaper quoted the princess as saying that a Hallowen event was recently held in Jeddah, and which was attended by 150 people, including employees of the consulates.

The scene had been like a typical nightclub anywhere outside the Kingdom, with available wines, dancing couples in fancy costumes and a DJ.

Bint Aidan said the children become the property of those who buy them and are not allowed to leave without permission.

Even the Asian maids who come to work often find themselves in a kind of slave-like position. Young girls are divided into smaller groups and exploited for immoral acts.

Trafficking of white women and exploiting them for sexual practices is also relatively common, the article said.

Congressional hearing on Jerusalem shuts out Palestinians

  Congressional hearing on moving US embassy to Jerusalem did not include a single Palestinian witness.

Michael F. Brown -11 November 2017

Palestinians need not apply.

The subcommittee on national security in the US House of Representatives hosted five witnesses on Wednesday to address the bombshell issue of moving the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But not one of the witnesses was a Palestinian or spoke for Palestinian rights and interests.

The hearing indicates that conservative members of Congress are intent on upping the pressure on Donald Trump to relocate the embassy. Initiation of the move could come as soon as 1 December when the president will once again have to decide whether to sign a waiver delaying such a move for another six months.

Four of the witnesses were well-known figures on the far right: John Bolton, a neoconservative who promoted the invasion of Iraq as a member of the George W. Bush administration; Dore Gold, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was until a year ago director general of the Israeli foreign ministry; Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America; and Eugene Kontorovich, a law professor at Northwestern University who has in recent years resided in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law.

Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, suggested that the list looked like one you’d find cooked up at the satirical news site The Onion.

The one marginally oppositional voice was that of Michael Koplow of the Israel Policy Forum – a liberal Zionist organization.

While also supporting moving the embassy, Koplow cautioned gently that such a move might not be “prudent policy.” He was hardly outspoken in the nearly two hours of testimony the witnesses delivered.

North Carolina representative Mark Meadows said of Koplow, “There’s always one skunk at the party.”

Congressional Democrats and Republicans remained silent or laughed rather than defend Koplow.

Ignorance and hubris

The subcommittee’s chair, Florida representative Ron DeSantis, wasted little time establishing his anti-Palestinian bona fides by calling Israel’s military occupation of Jerusalem in 1967 its “liberation.” He also drew on racist and orientalist stereotypes, claiming that leaders in the Middle East “respect the strong horse.”

DeSantis is a member of the Israel Victory Caucus, a group established by Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum. Pipes is one of the most prominent anti-Muslim demagogues in the US.

According to the right-wing Israeli outlet Arutz 7, DeSantis and other members of Congress will be joined by Israeli lawmakers in Washington next week to sign a declaration urging the US government to demand that Palestinians “recognize Israel as the Jewish nation state.”

“American policy must ensure that Israel emerges victorious against those who deny or threaten her existence,” DeSantis said when the group was launched earlier this year.

The descent into ignorance and hubris at the hearing was on further display when lawmakers turned for enlightenment to John Bolton, who has remained unrepentant about his role in the catastrophic Iraq war.

With the same disregard for international law and Palestinian lives and interests as he had when considering the fate of Iraqis, Bolton insisted that the US would be moving the embassy to “incontestably” Israeli territory.

Israel drove tens of thousands of Palestinians out of the western half of Jerusalem in 1948 and occupied the eastern half in 1967. No country has recognized Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the city, which is why none currently keeps an embassy there.

Despite the strong US bias towards Israel, successive presidents have repeatedly signed the waiver delaying the move, a recognition that relocating the embassy would fly in the face of the stated American goal of brokering peace.

In accordance with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, Trump has already signed one waiver delaying the move.

But Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, claimed an embassy move would have no adverse effect on currently nonexistent peace negotiations, or hurt regional relations.

He declared that UN General Assembly resolution 181 – the 1947 partition resolution which Israel often claims grants it international legitimacy – is a “complete dead letter,” and that Jerusalem will “never be an international city” as the resolution calls for.

Invoking one of the favorite insults of the far right, Bolton said that if the peace process is such a “delicate snowflake” then its “viability” is surely suspect.

Belittling Muslims

Matters did not improve when Dore Gold took the microphone. He stated his belief that Trump would stand by his commitment to move the embassy. Given Trump’s willingness to tear up long-standing policy in other areas with little regard for the potential catastrophes that might ensue, Gold may be right.

Not surprisingly, Gold was silent about the severe restrictions Israel places on the right of millions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip – Muslims and Christians alike – to access holy places in Jerusalem.

Nor did he or other witnesses mention Israel’s damage to Jerusalem’s historic sites, including the destruction in 1967 of the entire Moroccan Quarter along with a mosque and Islamic school built in the 12th century.

The Zionist Organization of America’s Morton Klein belittled the connection of Muslims to Jerusalem while emphasizing Jewish ties as if he could arbitrate this political dispute by transforming it into his very own religious war with his spin on others’ faith.

“Jerusalem,” Klein declared to the committee, “is not very holy to Muslims.”

“They have not treated it as holy to them when they controlled it,” he claimed. Klein’s view chimes with the growing extremism in Israel, where many prominent political leaders call for the destruction of the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, among Islam’s most revered shrines, in order to replace them with a Jewish temple.

“The Arabs,” Klein insisted, “claim that Jerusalem is holy to Muslims … But this is a fundamental falsehood.”

Committee members gave silent affirmation to his dismissive words with not a person from the Democratic so-called resistance admonishing Klein for his illogic and bigotry.

What was entirely missing from the proceedings was any discussion of Palestinian rights, including of the Palestinians facing mass expulsions from East Jerusalem amid record demolitions and displacements by Israel.

The hearing laid bare a Washington consensus where superior rights for Israeli Jews are the norm and equal rights, or even a voice, for Palestinians are off the table altogether.

Republican anti-Palestinian sentiment was to be expected. Sadly, so too was the Democrats’

indulgence of such bigotry. While the parties may be acrimoniously divided on much else, their determination to help Israel trash Palestinian rights is entirely bipartisan.

North Korean insults to U.S. leaders are nothing new — but Trump’s deeply personal reactions are

 President Trump’s political rhetoric on North Korea has differed from before he declared his candidacy to now. (Taylor Turner/The Washington Post)

By Adam Taylor November 11 at 11:30 PM

In a string of tweets fired off Sunday morning from Hanoi, Vietnam, President Trump responded with sarcastic insults to a recent message from the North Korean government that had referred to him as “old.”

“Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' " Trump wrote in his tweet, referring to the leader of North Korea's ruling dynasty. “Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend — and maybe someday that will happen!”

The message marks an unusually personal escalation of the tensions between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's weapons program. It is also another sign of the change in rhetoric used to address North Korea since Trump took office: Though North Korea has long been known for hurling bellicose insults at world leaders, rarely have those world leaders responded in kind.

Of course, Trump is a not your average world leader. The current president is a pugnacious social-media user often willing to respond with his own harsh words when he feels wronged. As a spokeswoman for his wife, Melania Trump, put it earlier this year, when Trump is attacked, “he will punch back 10 times harder.”

[Trump says Putin sincere in denial of Russian meddling]

Whether this instinct to hit back could help his self-described efforts toward becoming Kim's friend in the future — or harm them — is unclear.

President Trump harshly criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the United Nations on Sept. 19, calling him “Rocket Man” and threatening to “totally destroy North Korea” if need be. (The Washington Post)

The North Korean message that aggrieved Trump was released Saturday by the country's Foreign Ministry and described Trump's 12-day tour of Asia as “a warmonger's trip for confrontation with our country, trying to remove our self-defensive nuclear deterrent.'' The statement also said the “reckless remarks by an old lunatic like Trump will never scare us or stop our advance.”

The North Korean government has insulted Trump personally numerous times. Its state-run media has run a number of unflattering descriptions of Trump, including the memorable use of the word “dotard” in September. It has frequently referred to Trump as “old” and accused him of being a “war maniac” and a “lunatic.”

[‘He said he didn’t meddle’: Trump talks with Putin about U.S. elections and Syria in brief interactions]

These insults come at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea has pushed ahead with its weapons program over the past few months, conducting a number of long-range missile tests, plus a nuclear bomb test, since Trump took office.

However, the insults also fit into a long tradition of insulting American leaders. In 2014, the U.S. government criticized a lengthy racist screed published by North Korea's State-run Korean Central News Agency that had referred to President Barack Obama as a “dirty fellow,” among other things.

In recent years, North Korea has also insulted former secretaries of state John F. Kerry (“hideous lantern jaw”) and Hillary Clinton (both a “schoolgirl” and a “pensioner"), while the entire administration of President George W. Bush was referred to as “a bunch of tricksters and political imbeciles.” The Americans have not responded with their own public insults, though Bush did privately call Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, a “pygmy” in 2002, according to reports at the time.

Trump's descriptions of North Korea's current leader have varied, and he has even been positive at times —  describing him as a “pretty smart cookie” in April. But as tensions with North Korea have escalated, so too has the harshness of the American president's rhetoric, with Trump dismissively referring to Kim as “Little Rocket Man” and warning of “fire and fury” if North Korean threats continued — a statement that perhaps inadvertently echoed North Korean propaganda.

Some had worried that Trump would use similarly personal and angry language while in South Korea last week and run the risk of inciting the North. However, though his speech to South Korea's National Assembly was deeply critical of North Korea, it was less bombastic and more measured than his previous statements.

That speech was drawn up carefully with the input of others in Trump's administration. Trump, however, is a famously impulsive tweeter.

Worse still for both sides, the insults may hit sensitive spots. Trump is the oldest first-term president in U.S. history and more than twice the age of the North Korean leader. Meanwhile, Kim's height is estimated to be 5-foot-7, and he is rumored to suffer health problems due to his weight.

Former intelligence officials say Trump is being manipulated by Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a briefing for reporters at the end of the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

Sarah N. Lynch-NOVEMBER 12, 2017

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two former top U.S. intelligence officials said on Sunday they fear President Donald Trump is being manipulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Trump said he believed Putin was sincere in denying Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-National Intelligence Director James Clapper both said Trump was mishandling Moscow ties even as a special counsel investigates possible collusion between Trump’s campaign team and Russia.

 

    “I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do, or what might come out as a result of these investigations... It’s either naiveté, ignorance or fear in terms of what Mr. Trump is doing vis-à-vis the Russians,” Brennan said in an appearance with Clapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    Clapper added that foreign leaders who roll out the red carpet for Trump are able to manipulate Trump.

“I do think both the Chinese and the Russians think they can play him,” Clapper said.

Their comments came after Trump told reporters over the weekend that he had spoken with Putin again over allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election and that the Russian president again denied any involvement. [nL3N1NH04S]

“I really believe that, when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump told reporters. “I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on the same show that the criticism leveled against Trump’s management of relations with Russia and China was “ridiculous.”

“President Trump is not getting played by anybody,” Mnuchin said.

Trump also took a swipe at Obama-era intelligence officials Brennan, Clapper and former FBI Director James Comey, calling them “political hacks” and questioning the findings of a U.S. 

intelligence report that concluded that Russians sought to tilt the election in Trump’s favor.

Facing sharp criticism, Trump walked back from some of those comments on Sunday, saying he has faith in the intelligence leaders he has hired. [nL3N1NI04P]

Brennan on Sunday called Trump’s criticism of him a “badge of honor,” and Clapper suggested said Trump’s denial of Russian interference in the election “poses a peril to the country.”

When asked, Brennan declined to say whether he knows of any intelligence to suggest that the Russians have compromising or damaging information on Trump.

A dossier penned by a former British spy contains unverified claims that Russia does have embarrassing information on Trump.

The Saudis Go for Broke Against Iran

Riyadh and its allies are aiming to use their financial leverage to remake the Arab world — but their strategy could just as easily backfire.

People in Riyadh watch a projection depicting a portrait of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during an event on Sept. 23 commemorating the anniversary of the kingdom's founding. (/AFP/Getty Images) 

BY DAVID KENNER-

NOVEMBER 8, 2017, 11:14 PM
BEIRUT — It’s not only struggles for political office or military dominance that are rocking Saudi Arabia and Lebanon this week. Increasingly, Saudi officials and their Lebanese allies are banking on the idea that control over financial levers of power is the key to achieving their foreign-policy objectives and domestic political ambitions.

In Lebanon, Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation over the weekend from Riyadh — in a speech where he vowed to “cut off” Iran’s hands in the region — has raised fears that the country is heading toward a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran. Saudi Arabia supports a number of Lebanese political actors, most prominently Hariri, and has increasingly pressed them to align themselves against Hezbollah, the powerful political party and militia supported by Iran. Members of Hariri’s party, however, threw cold water on the idea that the country is on the verge of a military confrontation.

“It takes two to tango, and there’s only one on the dance floor,” said Bassem Chab, a member of parliament who belongs to Hariri’s Future Movement.

In other words, the balance of force is so lopsidedly in Hezbollah’s favor that its rivals cannot hope to confront it militarily. Instead, Chab pointed to a different weapon that he believes gives Hariri and his Saudi allies leverage in the country’s internal political drama: the resigned prime minister’s role in propping up the Lebanese economy.

“[Hariri] was basically the liaison who kept relations with the West and kept relations with the Gulf states,” Chab said.

In effect, Chab said, Hariri’s premiership served as a moderating influence, keeping the United States and the Gulf countries from dialing up the pressure on the country due to Hezbollah’s impact.

Hariri lobbied Washington over the summer to water down proposed sanctions on Hezbollah, which could cause American banks to exit the Lebanese market. Following a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, after which Trump hailed the role of the Lebanese Army, Hariri’s team also expressed confidence that military aid would continue despite budget cuts to the U.S. State Department. Chab also pointed to the possibility that the European Union could designate all of Hezbollah — rather than just its military wing, which is already designated — as a terrorist organization, throwing its relationship with the Lebanese government into turmoil.

The Lebanese economy has grown less than 2 percent in the last two years, and it has been further burdened by a massive refugee influx from Syria. Some analysts have expressed fears that the economy is poised for a crash, as it suffers from an unsustainable banking sector and inflated real estate prices.

But even if Hariri could help prevent the Lebanese economy from going over the brink, some experts are skeptical that this will allow him to extract concessions from Hezbollah.

“The question is whether greater economic pain translates to greater pressure on Hezbollah strategically,” said Emile Hokayem, the senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “Hezbollah as a movement needs financing, but it won’t stop operating because of that. And expecting that the state will be more likely to crack down on Hezbollah because of economic distress is wishful thinking — if anything, the state will be crippled and unable to do that.”

As Hariri hopes to use his role in sustaining the Lebanese economy to chip away at Hezbollah’s power in Beirut, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s sweeping crackdown against his own country’s business tycoons seems aimed at building a more centralized state — one capable of carrying through with reforms at home and confronting Iran across the region. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the Saudi government is targeting assets worth as much as $800 billion owned by arrested businessmen, whom it accuses of corruption, for seizure.

TRENDING

“I think we’re seeing Mohammed bin Salman remaking Saudi Arabia into the state that he intends to rule over for the next half-century,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The sons of Saudi Arabia’s founding king, Ibn Saud, have ruled the kingdom since 1953 but have now almost entirely passed from the political scene. Ulrichsen said that Saudi Arabia is experiencing the repercussions of that transition: As the old guard loses its hold on power, Mohammed bin Salman has seized the opportunity to break up the entrenched economic interests that thrived off political connections to those princes.

Even before the current wave of arrests, former powerhouse Saudi businesses had fallen on hard times. The Saudi Binladin Group, a construction conglomerate, has seen previously lucrative government contracts dry up in recent years, forcing it to lay off tens of thousands of workers. The chairman of the Binladin Group, Bakr bin Laden, was one of the most prominent figures arrested last weekend. The changing of the guard has also affected Hariri’s fortunes: Saudi Oger, which is owned by his family, was forced to shut down over the summer. The construction company’s success initially propelled the Hariri family to political prominence in Lebanon — it even built Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, where the princes and businessmen detained in the wave of arrests are currently being held.

But while Hariri’s Saudi business empire has withered, he and the crown prince share a desire to roll back Iranian influence. Mohammed bin Salman’s effort to remake Saudi Arabia is geared toward turning the kingdom into the region’s unquestioned power: He launched a war in Yemen to roll back what he describes as an Iranian proxy on his doorstep, organized a blockade of Qatar in part because of its alleged coziness with Tehran, and recently blamedthe 1979 Iranian revolution for Saudi Arabia’s increasing social conservatism.

But if the crown prince hopes to bolster the kingdom’s economy to confront Iran across the Arab world, he needs to attract foreign investment. The effort to woo investors is a cornerstone of his economic reform plan for the kingdom: Just two weeks ago, he presided over a conference where he aimed to convince foreign investors that he was diversifying the kingdom’s economy and pushing society in a more liberal direction. Much of his success will now depend on convincing those same investors that he is building a more just, rules-based economic order than the one he has swept aside.

“Investors are basically looking at the outcome of these arrests,” said Nabil Al Rantisi, the managing director of brokerage at Menacorp, a United Arab Emirates investment firm. “If it’s only to fight anti-corruption and get the state its money back from whatever these people were doing, then they see it as a very good thing. If it looks like Saudi is trying to increase transparency, that could lead to attracting more foreign investment to the kingdom.”

To make that determination, Rantisi said, investors are looking to see how the Saudi government moves forward with the prosecution of the accused princes and businessmen. They are looking for evidence that the cases will be handled in a transparent manner, and that there will be a legal process for recouping funds determined to have been taken illicitly.

Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince, in other words, has taken on a series of massive tasks. In just the past week, he has set his Lebanese allies on a collision course with Hezbollah and swept away key pillars of Saudi Arabia’s old economic order, and now he must assuage the concerns of investors whom he is aggressively courting. But while a domestic Saudi audience may applaud Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts as taking on entrenched interests and Saudi oligarchs, Ulrichsen said, a foreign audience is likely to see these moves in a different light.

“The timing of this seems to be almost self-defeating — unless he was calculating that by cracking down so forcefully on corruption, as his people would say, he could convince international investors that they are clearing the field so that you can come in,” Ulrichsen said. “But I have a feeling that is not the message that is going to be received, even if it’s the one they were trying to send.”

Rising Crude Oil Price – Is India Prepared?

World oil exploration companies used to spend around 450 billion USD annually on exploration and development. New oil fields typically require 4 to 5 years to be developed before the first drop of oil is produced.

by N.S.Venkataraman-Nov 12, 2017

Nov 11, 2017

( November 12, 2017, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The global price of crude oil has risen sharply in recent weeks.

The price of crude oil which was as high as 111.89 USD per barrel in 2011 fell to around 46.16 USD per dollar in 2015 and then further down to 47.06 USD per barrel in 2016 but has since then shown rising trend

The price of Brent crude, which was around 60 USD per barrel in late October has now touched 64 USD per barrel , which represents rise of around 40% during the last two years.

What cause for present price rise?:

A section of industry experts are of the view that the recent crude oil price upsurge has been driven primarily by political uncertainty in Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s second largest producer of oil and the tightening of supply by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,(OPEC) whose economy has suffered severely due to fall in the global crude price,.

However, other industry experts think that the recent price increase are due to more fundamental factors that will have long term impact.

Will the price rise persist?

It is well accepted by all experts that the sharp increase in production of shale oil in North America is the primary reason for the drop in the price in the global crude oil market in the last few years. While the OPEC is responsible for the 40% of the world oil production, shale gas drilling in North Dakota and Texas in USA have successfully taken place in several thousands of new wells, which has resulted in the shale oil production in USA jumping several fold from 0.5 million barrel per day in 2009.

While it is reported that shale oil output from North America has increased by about 25% over the past one year, the critical questions are as to how long the shale oil production in US will be sustained at the present level , apart from the question as to what will be the growth in demand for oil in the world market. These two factors will decide the global crude oil price behaviour in the coming years.

Apart from the fact that shale oil is a depleting resource in North America , there are serious environmental issues with regard to the fracking carried our for the production of shale oil in USA. Even if shale oil deposit would be available , will it be possible to extend shale gas drilling to more areas , particularly considering the adverse environmental impact is a critical question.

World oil exploration companies used to spend around 450 billion USD annually on exploration and development. New oil fields typically require 4 to 5 years to be developed before the first drop of oil is produced.

The big oil fields that were discovered decades ago would inevitably begin to deplete. This means that new oil fields have to be discovered. The big conventional oil fields that have not yet been tapped tend to be in inaccessable spots deep below the ocean, high in the Arctic or Antarctic or both. Upstream costs of developing new oil wells are rising due to rising rig rates, deeper water depths and costs of seismic technology. Several global oil and gas exploration projects have been slowed down and some have been put on hold, in recent times due to low price of the oil and consequent poor economics of oil exploration business.

In such scenario, the supply scenario for crude oil is bound to get tightened in the coming years that would inevitably lead to crude price rise.

While it would be a guestimate as to what extent the crude oil price will increase in the global market, one fact that cannot be ignored is that the production of shale oil in North America may not remain at present level all the time due to depleting resources and environmental issues. Further, with oil exploration efforts slowing down and the global consumption rising and the major oil producing countries such as OPEC ,Venezuela and others wanting to increase the price of crude oil to sustain their economy, there is definite possibility of global crude oil price increasing in the near future to the discomfort of large oil importing countries like India.

Is India prepared?

Recent increase in the price of crude oil in the global market should be a matter of high concern to Government of India and Indian industries.

With the domestic production of crude oil remaining virtually stagnant and with no likelihood significant increase in the domestic production and further, with the requirement of crude oil steadily increasing in the country, Indian economy remains highly vulnerable to the international crude oil price scenario. This is the scenario on which the government of India has no control.

A few years back, when price of crude oil increased to more than 100 U$D per barrel, Indian economy faced tremendous crisis , which may well happen once again in the case of crude oil price climbing much higher than present level.

The Indian import of crude oil which was 171.729 million tonne in 2010 – 11 has increased to 215.72 million tonne in 2016-17. The growth in the import of crude oil is likely at 7% per year in the coming years to sustain the growth of Indian economy.

While government of India has taken some steps to increase the domestic crude oil production particularly after Modi government has taken over, expectations are that any domestic crude production increase will only be marginal.

While great efforts have been putforth by Modi government to develop alternate and non conventional energy source like solar and wind power, the impact of development of non conventional energy source will not make a significant difference to the import dependence on crude oil , considering the overall energy need of the country ,

It is matter of concern that India has not taken strong and adequate steps to curtail the growth in the requirement of crude oil in the country by economizing the consumption in various ways .

As more than 75% of the Indian requirement of crude oil is met by import , sharp increase in the global price of crude oil will be a body blow for Indian economy.

It appears that India, as yet, is unprepared to face such adverse scenario and government of India seem to have no clue on the appropriate strategies to overcome such impending crisis due to the likely global crude oil price rise.