News Archive for Sep 2013

Cataclysmic Reconciliation Advisor Pushes Police Powers to TNA through ‘Community Policing’
Dilrook Kannangara
At long last the President has correctly identified Dayan Jayatillake as a NGO operative and a separatist in sheepish attire. It took him four (4) years to unravel the mess left by Dayan in Geneva trapping the nation into the 13A death trap. Although setting a thief to catch a thief is a tried and tested analogy to craftily getting things done, in this case it went wrong. Dayan, a well-known separatist, engineered the collapse of Sri Lanka’s case in Geneva. It was this collapse in 2009 that came to a head recently when the UNHRC head... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/13)

On the trail of al-Shabab’s Kenyan recruitment 'pipeline'
The armed siege at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi has focused attention on the al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Shabab. Sixty-seven people were killed after al-Shabab militants stormed the centre on 21 September. The BBC's Panorama programme had been investigating the recruitment pipeline of young Muslims through Kenya to join the Islamist group based in Somalia. The programme met up with Makaburi - whose real name is Abubaker Shariff Ahmed - who was placed on a UN Security Council list which banned him from travel outside Kenya. Peter Taylor reports from Kenya. Panorama: Terror in Nairobi, BBC One, Monday 30 September... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/13)

US braces for possible government shutdown
BBC
The US government is bracing for a possible shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats in Congress remain deadlocked on a budget to continue its funding. Agencies have begun making contingency plans ahead of the 1 October deadline to pass a new funding resolution. The Senate has passed a bill to fund the government until 15 November. But House Republicans have said they refuse to approve the bill without a provision to strip funding from President Barack Obama-s health law. The Senate is controlled by Mr Obama-s Democratic party, while the Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives... -Full Story- (bbc.co.uk - 30/09/13)

Syrian FM to UN: -Terrorists from 83 countries fighting in Syria-
RT
The Syrian government is fighting against “terrorist groups from 83 countries” as part of its “constitutional right” to protect the country-s people, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told the UN General Assembly in New York. In his speech to the UN Assembly, Muallem on Monday dismissed the definition of the Syrian conflict as a civil war, saying that the Syrian government is engaged in a “war against terrorism that recognizes no values, nor justice, nor equality, and disregards any rights or laws.”... -Full Story- (rt.com - 30/09/13)

THE GREAT LAND ROBBERY
 By GOMIN DAYASRI
A determined naval rating butted Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle, before the Indian PM thumbed the Indo Sri Lanka Agreement amidst fanfare and gunshot. Some watching the incident on TV vouched J.R.Jayewardane (JR) was fleetingly amused before he did a rapid volte- face for diplomatic niceties – naturally, after being coerced and compelled by the Indians more than cajoled and charmed. Smiled mystifyingly as Mona Lisa? Deservingly, JR can laugh last than smile awhile, after the Supreme Court delivered a historic judgment in the case of Superintendent, Stafford Estate vs. Rasu (SC Appeal 21/2013).  They said... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

If Islamic radicalism is West engineered – why does Islam call to conquer the world?
Shenali D Waduge
There are 2 factors that just do not add up. If we accept the Muslim version that Islam is a ‘peaceful religion’ and explore the possibility that the present radical Islam enveloping world geopolitics has been engineered by the West, our next question is why would the West also allow these same groups to use their home turf to make claims to dominate the world and Islamize their own nations/natives leading to a visible imbalance in population demographics! This next leads us to wonder how in control of ‘Radical Islam’ the West actually is or whether... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

TNA has finally become a responsible political Party. Or has it ?
By Charles.S.Perera
 Winning the PC elections in the North by itself is not the end of it.  The TNA has now got to sit down to work as responsible politicians planning their activities as a part of the Central Government of Sri Lanka, with it and not against it.  Why did the Tamils in the North, almost 90 percent of the educated, professional, merchants, salesmen, skilled and unskilled workers, farmers, labourers,  men and women all voted to TNA a party that was “hatched” from the cocoon of terrorism ?   In other words the Tamils in the North en block... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

NOT WITHDRAW ARMY FROM NORTH-President in interview with Al- Jazeera :
Army needed for security :
Why demand probe only for last few days of the war : President Mahinda Rajapaksa asked as to how he could withdraw the army from the North without acceding to the requests of other Provincial Councils too to do the same. “Where can I have the Army?. Ask somebody else to give me a place to keep the Army”, he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “First they (TNA) said something like that, and they changed it. “Because... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

THE REAL MEN WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUBLIME TIMES OF AN INVINCIBLE UNP. WHY MUST THEY HAVE TO ROLL IN THEIR GRAVES?
We give credits to a die-hard UNPer who sent us the above  currently  on the internet via You tube. We categorically wish to state  that it has not been obtained from the library of the MTV or Sirasa Networks
It had just been reported from UPFA (SLFP) HEADQUARTERS THAT ALL SENIOR MEMBERS HAVE GARLANDED AN EFFIGY OF RANIL WICKREMESINGHE, DICTATOR PAR EXCELLENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONAL PARTY. WHEN QUESTIONED ABOUT THIS ACT OF SHEER ADULATION, THEY IN ONE VOICE EXCLAIMED 'WE HAVE BEEN ASSURED OF ETERNAL LIFE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PAY HOMAGE TO OUR MOST ARDENT SUPPORTER' Just... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

මේ මහා අභියෝග කන්දරාව හමුවේ අපට කල හැක්කේ කුමක්ද?
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
උතුරු පලාත් සභාව දෙම ළ ජාතික සංධානය ජය ගෙන ඇත. දෙමළ ජනතාවට සේවය කිරීම පසෙකලා, පලමුව ඉඩම් බලතල ඉල්ලා, සටනක් දියත් කොට ඇත. මේ සටන පිටුපස මහා සැලසුමක් සූදානම්ව ඇත.ඉඩම් බලතල ලැබුණ ක්ෂණයකින්ම, එක්තරා බටහිර රජයකට හමුදා කදවුරක් සදහා අක්කර දහස් ගනනක් ලබාදීමටත්, එම ලබාදෙන ඉඩම වර්තමාන ලංකාවේ හමුදාකදවුරු සහිත පලාත්ද ඇතුලත්ව ඇත. එ් තුලින් නීත්යානුකූල පදනමකින් අපේ හමුදා පලවා හැර, එම ස්ථාන විදේශීය හමුදාවන් ලබාදීම සැලසුමයි. නීති විශාරදයකුයයි කියන ඒ මහා ඇමති අපේක්ෂකයාගේ, නීතිය නම්වූ ඒ යුධ මෙවලම සමග කරන අරගලය මීලගට අාරම්භවෙනු ඇත. අපේ රට තුල පැවති 30 අවුරුදු යුද්ධය, නිමකර  ඇත. ඉන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

Eco-friendly scientific cooking could save about 60% energy
Dr Hector Perera      London 
I am sure that anybody can understand energy can be saved with low fire cooking. There are many acceptable reasons why one should cook on low fire. Then only juice in foods such as vegetables and meat come out slowly, ooze out then slowly react with the spices or margarine or butter etc. Many people just put fire at full blast and cook then likely to burn the whole thing because the liquid evaporates quickly. Sometimes I leave the food to cook very slowly then does some work in the kitchen or else go to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/13)

JUDGMENT ON LAND - STORY UNTOLD
by Gomin Dayasri-Courtesy Island
September 28, 2013, 4:25 pm "And thus I clothe my naked villainy With odd old ends stol’n out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil." ? William Shakespeare, Richard III My cocker spaniel was named Junius Richard (JR) to commemorate an event that is etched in memory without any adoration or affection - for holding a duplicitous referendum instead of a general election to retain a 5/6 majority held in parliament for a another term. During that sordid phase, when he carried the 13th Amendment at the behest of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

"ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නිෂ්පාදනය කළ විශාලතම විදුලි ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් තොගය ඉතියෝපියාවට අපනයනය කෙරේ"
The Media Team Ministry of Power & Energy
ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයට, අනුබද්ධිත ආයතනයක් වන ලංකා  ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් ආයතනය නිෂ්පාදනය කළ විශාලතම විදුලි ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් තොගය ඉතියෝපියාවට අපනයනය කෙරේ.
රුපියල් කෝටි 100 ක වටිනාකමින් යුත් විදුලි ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් 1660 ක්  මෙසේ, විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍ය නීතිඥ පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මැතිනියගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් රත්මලානේ පිහිටි ලංකා ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් වැඩබිමේදී, ඉතියෝපියානු විදුලිබල සංස්ථාවේ ප්‍රධාන ඉංජිනේරු බොගලේ අබිරා මහතාට පසුගිය 27 වැනිදා (Bogale abera)  සංකේතවත් අයුරින් භාරදීම සිදු කෙරිණි.
ලංකා ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් ආයතනය, ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයේ අනුබද්ධිත ආයතනයක් ලෙස 1982 වසරේදී ස්ථාපිත කෙරිණි. එම ආයතනය මඟින් නිෂ්පාදනය කරනු ලබන විදුලි ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් දේශීය අවශ්‍යතාවය මත නිෂ්පාදනය ආරම්භ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

C​hristians are ‘always the scapegoat’: Mideast church leaders reject war with Syria
BY HILARY WHITE, Courtesy LifeSiteNews.com
ROME, August 29, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The head of the Maronite Catholic Church has accused the West of deliberately fomenting sectarian unrest in the Middle East for economic reasons and at the expense of millions of Christia Speaking from Lebanon, where thousands of Syrians have fled the conflict in their country, Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rai, the Maronite (Lebanese Catholic) Patriarch of Antioch, went so far as to say that there is a plot originating in the West to destroy the Middle East. The patriarch told Vatican Radio of his fears of a plan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

Russia made sure UNSC Syria resolution leaves no loopholes for use of force – Lavrov
RT
Russia reached its aim of making sure professionals from the international chemical weapons watchdog are the main actors regarding the UN resolution on Syria, and that there are no loopholes for military action, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told Channel One. Speaking in an interview with the Russian TV channel, Foreign Minister Lavrov admitted the Russian-American compromise on the UNSC resolution “did not come easy.”... -Full Story- (rt.com - 28/09/13)

Sri Lanka receives broad cross-regional support in the HRC on substantive progress in the reconciliation process
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva
 Sri Lanka received strong cross-regional support in the Human Rights Council from countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America on Thursday ( 26 September 2013) which uniformly welcomed and commended the country’s significant progress achieved in the reconciliation process. Speaking at the General Debate under Agenda Item 10 which followed the previous day’s presentation of the Oral Update of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on “Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka” as well as Sri Lanka’s statement in response as the country concerned by Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

Why Navi Pillai Has Truly Overstepped Her Metes And Bounds To Become An Abomination In Sri Lankan Matters.
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial,
September 28th.2013 The UN Human Rights Chief Navinethem Pillay’s assertion that "if certain concerns are not comprehensively addressed, she believes the international community will have a duty to establish its own inquiry mechanisms" has come under fire from Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha  who has strongly repudiated her claim as broadcast on many world news sources as well as Sri Lanka News where he has pointed out that she has no mandate to make such a claim. He must in this respect surely have the backing of all sensible and cognizant Sri Lankans... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

History of US Embassy ‘interference’ in the internal affairs of countries
Shenali D Waduge
If anyone has the guts to call a spade a spade it is Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse who has rightly pointed public attention to the US embassy in Colombo pursuing a political agenda. When countries had been henpecking Sri Lanka to hold elections in the name of ‘democracy’ after elections had been held the US embassy now claims ‘democracy is not simply about elections’. According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) Article 41 diplomats cannot interfere in the internal affairs in the receiving country and is deemed a violation of diplomatic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

Stanley Perera and Jayantha Liyanage two patriots whose attempts to stop TNA were foiled.
 By Charles.S.Perera
 It is interesting to present the  two patriots who dared tried to cross the threshold to legally remove TNA from the political scene in Sri Lanka.  Though their efforts were to end in frustration the efforts themselves were remarkable.  It is more the so when TNA is calling loud and clear for terrorism, when they are suppose to give the people they represent peace, security and happiness.  If tomorrow’s voting is going to be in their favour it would be a sad aftermath of a heroic effort of our soldiers, their sacrifice of lives and limbs to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/13)

No country can usurp right to judge chemical weapons use – Lavrov
RT
Only a joint UN response can be productive in addressing the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. He denounced lobbying of the use of force by a certain group of countries as ineffective and extremely dangerous. With the tragic situation in Syria and “ambiguous” developments in the Middle East and Northern Africa on the whole, there is an “urgent task to agree upon collective responses to the key issues of today,” which is “solely within the power of such a truly universal organization as the UN,” Russian Foreign Minister stressed during his speech at... -Full Story- (rt.com - 28/09/13)

Supreme Court rules: SETTLED: LAND POWERS WITH STATE-Centre not ceded dominium of state lands to PCs:Overturns Court of Appeal Judgement:
Sarath Malalasekera Courtesy The Daily News
Land powers rest with the Central Government and not with the Provincial Councils, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. “Having regard to the fact that in a unitary state government no cession of dominium takes place, the centre has not ceded its dominium over state lands to the Provincial Councils except in some limited circumstances,” Chief Justice Mohan Peiris PC said, delivering a judgement overturning the Court of Appeal ruling that held that the Provincial High Court of Kandy had jurisdiction to issue a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/13)

Sri Lanka stops South African Tamil Navi Pillay to use UN for Anti Sri Lankan Activities
Sri Lanka News
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha strongly repudiated the UN Human Rights Chief Navinethem Pillay's assertion that if certain concerns are not comprehensively addressed, she believes 'the international community will have a duty to establish its own inquiry mechanisms'. He pointed out that she has no mandate to make such a claim. In response to Ms Pillay's remarks, Mr Aryasinha said, "having brought normalcy to the lives of the civilian population, GOSL has also taken positive steps to address issues of accountability. The GOSL strongly repudiates the High Commissioner's assertion that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/13)

LIFE ABROAD - Part 46:Apé kema in London
Dr. Tilak Fernando
Sri Lankan gastronomy is one of the most multifarious among Asian food with its unique taste; varieties of dishes are cooked with an array of spices which give a combination of different flavours. The exquisiteness of Sri Lankan cookery is that it can be prepared to suit any palate, either to be too hot with chili powder or mild with curry power, or even it can be prepared completely in a bland fashion to suit those who are accustomed to 'boiled vegetables' or fish and chips! The remarkable... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/13)

Homemade sarin was used in attack near Damascus – Lavrov
RT
Russia has enough evidence to assert that homemade sarin was used on August 21 in a chemical attack near Damascus, the same type but in higher concentration than in an Aleppo incident earlier this year, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said. “On the occasion of the incident in the vicinity of Aleppo on March 19, 2013 when the United Nations, under the pressure of some Security Council members, didn’t respond to the request of the Syrian government to send inspectors to investigate, Russia, at the request of the Syrian government, investigated that case, and this report, i.e. the results of... -Full Story- (rt.com - 26/09/13)

SPEAKING FREELY- Libya: Still Gaddafi-s fault?
By Dieter Neumann
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. We blithely continue to blame the long-departed former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for the complete mess that the Nations of Virtue created when they so boldly engineered his demise with "Operation Odyssey Dawn".... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 26/09/13)

නවීන් පිල්ලේගේ දුක හිතෙන භූමිකාව.
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
නවීන් පිල්ලේ මහත්මිය පසුගිය දිනක මෙරටට පැමිණියාය. ඒ මෙරට මානව හිමිකම් කඩවෙනවා කියාගෙනය. ඇය පැමිණියේ, එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කොමසාරිස්වරිය යන නමින් පුදන ලද පදවියත් සමගය.අපට දුක හිතෙන්නේ, ඇයට පුද කර ඇති පදවිය හා ඇය සම්බන්ධව ඇති අන්තර් සම්බන්ධතාවය දකින විටය. ඇයි නවීන් පිල්ලේ මහත්මියට  එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කොමසාරිස්වරිය වීමේ වැරද්ද? යමෙක් අපෙන් ප්රශ්න කල හැක. තම උපන් රට විසින්ම පුරා වසර 52ක් පුරාම මානවයෙක් ලෙස හදුනා නොගත්, එමෙන්ම මානවයෙක් ලෙස සලකා කටයුතු කිරීමට තරම් උතුම් චරිතයක් ලෙස නොදුටු, තම රටේ නීතීයෙන්ම පහත් තත්වයේ කොට්ඨාශයක පුද්ගල චරිතයක්ය යන සම්මතයේ ලා සැලකූ නවීන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/13)

OBAMA AT THE UNHapless superpower and wandering minstrel
By M K Bhadrakumar
The expectation was that the United States President Barack Obama-s annual address at the United Nations General Assembly session on Tuesday would contain some pronouncements of new American policy direction on the Syrian conflict and over the situation around Iran. No doubt, the Middle East dominated his speech and all but edged out other global issues such as climate change or the US rebalancing strategy in Asia or global disarmament. This in itself is stunning - America, the lone superpower, in a diminished role as a hapless regional power, unable or unwilling to... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 26/09/13)

Lessons from the break-up of Yugoslavia and ‘independence’ of Kosovo for Sri Lanka
Shenali D Waduge
When countries are eyed to serve the self-interests of a handful of ‘civilized’ nations they know the perfect medicine to ensure these targeted nations are brought to their knees. The break-up of Yugoslavia serves as a catalyst for why Sri Lanka needs to be alert at all times. Background:Yugoslav Federation comprised Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Kosovo – today they are all break-away ‘independent’ states falling after the death of President Tito died in 1980.    Financial Sharks and Money carrots bring slow death to nations
 When international laws, financial... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/13)

GR tears into US Embassy over PC polls statement
By Shamindra Ferdinando  Courtesy Island
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday alleged that the US Embassy in Colombo was pursuing a political agenda extremely detrimental to Sri Lanka’s interests. Although the government was doing everything in its power to restore democracy following three decades of war, the US embassy was all out ot undermine it, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said. He was responding to a US statment issued in the immediate aftermath of Provincial Council elections in the Central, North Western and Northern regions. The US Embassy said: "A process free of violence and intimidation in the Northern Province is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/13)

World needs no policing-President Mahinda Rajapaksa said, adressing the UN General Assembly
Address by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York on September 24, 2013
Unequal treatment has surprised many countries: World needs no policing by a few states:   At the outset, I offer my condolences to the families whose loved ones died as a result of a terrorist attack in a shopping mall in Kenya. Having suffered from many terrorist attacks, for nearly three decades, we Sri Lankans condemn this cowardly act. The UN has consistently ensured cooperation between States,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/13)

Buddhism in Sri Lanka imperiled by Doctrinal Archaisms and an outdated Orthodoxy
R Chandrasoma
In a recent address to the Plenary Session of the International Buddhist Confederation, New Delhi, India on September 11, 2013 the renowned Buddhist scholar and activist Dr Ananda Guruge had this to say about the future of the religion that was aforetime universally hailed as the Light of Asia. Dr Guruge asks - ‘What will happen in the future when the younger generations, with increasing exposure to science and technology, participatory democratic processes and new trends in spirituality, find dissatisfaction with what is taught and practiced as Buddhism by their elders? This is a tremendous challenge... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/13)

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහා මණ්ඩලයේ දර්ශණ පථය.
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහා මණ්ඩලය පිහිටවන ලද්දේ ලෝක සාමය ස්ථාපිත කිරීම උදෙසාය. එ් වර්ෂ 1945දීය. මේ වනවිට ඇයගේ වයස අවුරුදු 68 කි. ඇය විසින් ස්ථාපිත නොකල වැදගත්ම දේ වන්නේද සාමයයි. මේ අපි දකිණ, අපිට පෙනෙන තත්වයයි. අැයට අපේක්ෂිත සාමය ලබා දීමට නොහැකි වූයේ අැයි‍? මිනිස් සමාජය තුල යුද්ධය යනු ගංඟාවක් සේ ගලා යන ජල පහරකි. පලමුවන ලෝක යුද්ධය හා දෙවන ලෝක යුද්ධය විසින් මානව සංහතියට සිදුකල මහා විනාශය  නවතාලීමට එම ගඟ හරස් කර ඉදිකල මහා බැම්ම එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහා සංවිධානයයි. ගඟක් හරස්කර මහා බැම්මක් ඉදි කල පමණින් ගඟ ගලා ඒම හෝ ගලා යාම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/13)

Storm of criticism hits France after Interior Minister disowns Roma(Gypsies) migrants
RT
France has come under fire from the European Commission after Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Roma migrants “are due to return to their motherlands” because of their lifestyle, which is “in confrontation” with the French way of living. "They should return to Romania or Bulgaria and for that the European Union, with the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities, must ensure these populations are firstly integrated in their countries," Valls said. "It-s illusory to think that we can resolve the problem of the Roma population solely via insertion (into French society).”... -Full Story- (rt.com - 25/09/13)

NSA spy scandal may scuttle EU-US anti-terrorist agreement – EU commissioner
RT
The European Union is threatening to suspend a data-sharing deal with the United States used for tracking terrorist bank funding over suspicions the National Security Agency was stealing financial data from law-abiding Europeans. The European Union is threatening to suspend a data-sharing deal with the United States. It is supposed to track terrorist bank funding, but there are suspicions the National Security Agency was stealing financial data from law-abiding Europeans.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 25/09/13)

International Election Observer Mission of South Asia declares:Not a single incident
Sandasen Marasinghe Courtesy The Daily News
Election conducted in a commendable manner :
Monitors did not observe any malpractice :
Not a single negative incident was observed in any polling centre or counting centre during the Provincial Council elections, said the members of the International Election Observer Mission of the Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia headed by team leader, former Chief Elections Commissioner of India N. Gopalaswami. Gopalaswami stated that the election was conducted in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/13)

Brazil-s Rousseff to UN: US surveillance an -affront-
RT
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lambasted US spying on her country at Tuesday-s UN summit, calling it a “breach of international law.” She further warned that the NSA surveillance, revealed since June, threatened freedom of speech and democracy. “Meddling in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and as such it is an affront to the principles that should otherwise govern relations among countries, especially among friendly nations,” Rousseff said. “Without the right to privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion,” Rousseff told the gathering... -Full Story- (rt.com - 24/09/13)

As Afghan War nears end, US prepares to spend billions on shipping weapons back home
RT
Going to war isn’t cheap, but neither is ending one. As the United States prepares to make its grand exit from Afghanistan at the end of next year, the Pentagon is planning on spending at least $3 billion just to send leftover equipment back to the US. The astronomical shipping cost was confirmed in USA TODAY this week by reporter Tom Vanden Brook, who wrote that roughly 1.5 million pieces of gear will have to go home before the December 2014 deadline for US to exit Afghanistan.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 24/09/13)

RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY- Moscow issues Eurasian ultimatum
By M K Bhadrakumar
In politics or diplomacy it is seldom, if ever, that anything could be reduced to a matter of "all or nothing". Yet that-s how Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saw the choice before Ukraine. The Customs Union is Ukraine-s number one trade partner, with a two-way turnover of US$63 billion last year, which accounted for 36% of its overall exports.... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 24/09/13)

SPEAKING FREELY- Putin wins the war on terror
By Riccardo Dugulin
Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the George W Bush administration vaguely defined the American response to the growing threat posed by international jihadi terrorism as the "war on terror". This political concept was meant to outline a strategic posture which would set the US military and diplomatic might in an international fight against Islamist terrorist networks and states or groups sponsoring them. The overall motto of this war was found in a "with us or against us" understanding of international relations.... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 24/09/13)

Syria diplomacy helps shuffle global order
By George Gao
NEW YORK - When US President Barack Obama tried to drum up momentum for airstrikes in Syria to punish and deter the use of chemical weapons, he failed to gain much of a following. At this month-s Group of 20 summit in St Petersburg - which featured leaders from 20 of the world-s top economies - the US proposed a statement to condemn Syria-s use of chemical weapons. But over half the other participants - from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the European Union, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico and Germany - chose not to... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 24/09/13)

Sri Lanka: weather cock rulers ruled by gusts of wind
By Mario Perera, Kadawata
You don't need a weather man To know which way the wind blows So sang Blob Dylan. Much was been said and repeated day in day out about the Tamil nature and its inherent tribal instinct with all those extra rational hereditary religious and social bonds and inputs that keep it in place. To be Tamil is to see, hear, touch, taste, feel and want only what is Tamil. To be killed, raped, robbed, plundered, exploited is totally tolerable if it is by Tamils. That is the Tamil psyche that was, is and will ever... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/13)

Sacrifices for Sri Lanka’s CHOGM
Shenali D Waduge
Those who sold the idea to host CHOGM in Sri Lanka marketing the virtues of holding chairmanship of the Commonwealth, its values, the prestige, the pomp and pageantry, the arrival of VVIPs and other dignitaries forgot or ignored one important fact. The lobbying did not come without strings and the strings were not designed for Sri Lanka’s benefit and the ultimate plan was to lead a jubilant President and his Government to commit their own hara kiri – the 1st casualty of that endeavour became the northern provincial council elections an inaction against a party that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/13)

Why the Report by UN Panel of Experts should not be accepted by the UNHCR
By Garvin Karunaratne
Navaneetahn  Pillai, the Head of UN Human Rights is reported to be utilizing  the United Nations’ Report by a Panel appointed by the UN Secretary General comprising Marzuki Darrusman, Steven Rattner and Yasmin  Sooka in her submission against Sri Lanka’s human rights record at the UNHCR in September 2013 Any Report submitted to the UNHCR should be valid beyond doubt. However this Report drafted at the request of the UN Secretary General stands totally discredited due to the character  of two of its three members. Marzook Darusman should never have been on the panel,  purely because... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/13)

Lets Stop Acting Deaf And Blind, Lets Curb Minority Racism
Janaka Yagirala
 The 2013 Northern, North Western and Central Provincial Council election results should serve as an eye opener for all of us to the ground realities of our nation.  First of all, it is good news that the that the ruling UPFA government has secured a comprehensive victory in the North Western and Central Provinces. Kudos to our permanent fixture opposition leader. The Sinhalese people have literally slapped the face of regime change agents who back our bankrupt anti national garbage opposition. Those who manipulated the innocent people of Weliweriya who had a genuine grievance, for their regime... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/13)

MOTHER LANKA COMMITS HARA-KIRI
Malin Abeyatunge 22/9/2013
This letter below I wrote on 6 May 2013 published in Lankaweb (which is re-produced) which has come true  yesterday (21/9/2013) at the NPC elections with a landslide victory for LTTE proxy TNA and death knell to ÖNE NATION Sri Lanka. With this victory , TNA will tell the western world that they got a referendum according to their  manifesto  for a separate Ealam and use it to harness international support to create an Eelam. They will from day one ask for Land & Police powers, re-merger of North & Eastern provinces, Free hand in Fiscal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/13)

Northern PC elections, TNA and Navi Pillai
P.A.Samaraweera, Australia 
At the recent elections, TNA bagged 30 seats out of 38. UPFA won 7 while the SLMC obtained one. The TNA's victory is no surprise. Because, for obvious reasons, whatever the govt does for the people in the North, they would vote for the TNA. Prabhakaran was world's number one terrorist leader and the LTTE is banned in 32 countries. But according to the TNA, which was the mouth piece of Prabhakaran, the LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamils. At a Provincial council election meeting, the incumbent Chief Minister Vigneswaran, called Prabhakaran 'the greatest hero of the Tamils'. Probably... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/13)

Sri Lanka Northern Elections: Deciphering the Tamil Voter Mentality
Shenali D Waduge
No critic can say Sri Lanka is moving to ‘authoritarian’ rule given that a free and fair election has been held, the people of the Northern Province has voted for the 2nd time since the defeat of terrorism in 2009. What is important at this stage is to decipher the voter mentality of the Tamils and to wonder how many of them are ‘separatist’, ‘racist’ or ‘castetist’ because they have placed their vote in a party that would use the vote of the people to interpret things that suit their party and their party only. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/13)

Nairobi terror: Al-Qaeda affiliates hold hostages in deadly mall siege
RT
At least 68 people have been killed and 200 others wounded by Al-Qaeda-linked militants in a Nairobi shopping mall, as the hostage crisis there has entered its second day. Foreigners are among the casualties. Follow RT-s LIVE UPDATES on Kenya shopping mall siege The Red Cross in Kenya said on Sunday that the death toll in the Westgate mall siege has risen to 68. 10 to 15 gunmen are still inside the shopping center, a Kenyan minister has reported. 30 hostages are still inside the building, according to the country-s officials and Western diplomatic sources cited by CNN.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 22/09/13)

Lavrov: US pressuring Russia into passing UN resolution on Syria allowing military force
RT
The US is pushing Russia into approving a UN resolution that would allow for military intervention in Syria, in exchange for American support of Syria-s accession to OPCW, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. “Our American partners are starting to blackmail us: -If Russia does not support a resolution under Chapter 7, then we will withdraw our support for Syria-s entry into the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This is a complete departure from what I agreed with Secretary of State John Kerry-,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel 1-s Sunday Time program.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 22/09/13)

Sri Lanka's main Tamil party sweeps key polls
Courtesy Xinhua News
JAFFNA, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's main minority Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), swept to victory in provincial council elections held in the North after 25 years, official results showed on Sunday. The party led by R. Sampanthan with former Supreme Court judge C.V Wigneswaran as the chief ministerial candidate, secured 30 of the 38 seats for the newly formed council while the ruling UPFA got 7 seats and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 1 seat. The elections were held in five districts in the North, most of which were under Tamil... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/13)

Activizing the Sri Lankan Economy: Ideas and Methods
By Garvin Karunaratne, former Government Agent, Matara
 If Sri Lanka is to keep its head above water it is necessary to analyze the policies that it is following now and find out what has led to its mounting foreign debt, the ever increasing prices of goods, the lack of productivity, the dearth of avenues for employment and the poverty in which the majority of people live- poverty in the sense of being unable to match their expenses with the earnings.  Sri Lanka is saddled with a massive foreign debt- over $ 22 billion. This has been accumulated since Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/13)

Keppettipola Disawe was a Prabakaran
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
“If Sir D.B. Jayatilleke became the first PM of Ceylon, the island’s fate would have been so different.” Ven. Balangoda Anandamaitreeya Mahanayaka Thero “UNP and SLFP destroyed Sri Lanka.” Ven. Walpola Rahula (at a public meeting attended by both JRJ and Mrs. B) Snakes wondering yonder! It looks like president Rajapakse (MR) is getting what he has asked for even before the Wigneswaran election on the 21st. Like every other previous president or PM, he has become a prisoner in the hands of the Colombo black-white establishment, Marxists remnants and the owner-families and officers of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/13)

“Any minority’s right to be different must be respected, but the right of the majority must not be questioned,” Putin
RT
Vladimir Putin, traditionally sharp-tongued and prickly, spoke about Syria, gay rights, and democracy at the Valdai Club political forum. During the two hour discussion, the leader said he has "not ruled out" running for a fourth presidential term.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 21/09/13)

US Air Force once dropped live hydrogen bomb on North Carolina - report
RT
The US Air Force inadvertently dropped an atomic bomb over North Carolina in 1961. If a simple safety switch had not prevented the explosive from detonating, millions of lives across the northeast would have been at risk, a new document has revealed. The revelation offers the first conclusive evidence after decades of speculation that the US military narrowly avoided a self-inflicted disaster. The incident is explained in detail in a recently declassified document written by Parker F. Jones, supervisor of the nuclear weapons safety department at Sandia National Laboratories.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 21/09/13)

Syria diplomacy helps shuffle global order
By George Gao
NEW YORK - When US President Barack Obama tried to drum up momentum for airstrikes in Syria to punish and deter the use of chemical weapons, he failed to gain much of a following. At this month-s Group of 20 summit in St Petersburg - which featured leaders from 20 of the world-s top economies - the US proposed a statement to condemn Syria-s use of chemical weapons. But over half the other participants - from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the European Union, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico and Germany - chose not... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 21/09/13)

Polls predict pyrrhic victory for TNA
H. L. D. Mahindapala
What is most critical for the TNA to convince the Tamils, both in and out of Sri Lanka, is not the number of seats they win on Saturday – this not in dispute -- but the overall percentage of votes they are likely to collect from the electorate. A majority of seats in the Provincial Council will superficially lend them some political fizz to crow that they have the mandate of the Tamil people. But the decisive factor is not  in the number of the seats they capture to run the Northern Provincial Council. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

Beware – Adverse implications of CHOGM to Sri Lanka
Shenali D Waduge
Ranil Wickremasinghe wanted to celebrate the arrival of Portuguese in 1505 and that lost him the election for his foolhardy suggestion not realizing Sri Lanka was a predominantly Buddhist nation and Portuguese banned the practice of Buddhism. The present scenario appears no different and our reservations to the Government come with the advice not to make that same mistake. CHOGM is a celebration of all that was associated with the British. British rule and their record of crimes against humanity and war crimes have yet to receive apology in the least – where is the justice... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

Compromising ‘Chinthanaya’ – A National Treachery!
S. Akurugoda
 Addressing a media conference, at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Headquarters, National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that even if the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won the NPC election, the Council would not be given more powers than others. After failing to get the JVP’s support to run the government, President Mahinda Rajapakasa had to look for MPs in order to secure the numbers in the parliament after his first election as the President. Although the President was elected with a clear majority to lead the country according to the pledges he made under... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

A new book on Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot by Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
Prof. D.G. Harendra de Silva Senior Professor of Paediatrics and Former (Founder) Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) of Sri Lank
(Khmer Rouge Beshanaya.   Publisher:  Sarasavi Publishers) Dr. Ruwan Jayatunga has in the usual manner come out with a challenging socio-psychological analysis of one of the most disturbing systematic manslaughters in the last century. It signifies several basic weaknesses humans are vulnerable to, that drive them through incomprehensible behaviour that would lead to human tragedy and subsequent regret by the community that took part in the machination of this inconceivable human behaviour. It only takes one... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

High Commissioner, UNHRC, Your statement to the Sri Lankan Media on Aug 31, 2013
Mahinda Gunasekera Toronto, Canada
By E-mail                                                                                                                             September 18, 2013 Ms. Navaneetham Pillay High Commissioner UNHRC Geneva Dear Ms. Navi Pillay, Your statement to the Sri Lankan Media on August 31, 2013 You have been highly critical in the UNHRC reviews of the actions of the Sri Lankan authorities tasked with the responsibility of safeguarding the most prized human right of her twenty one million citizens, i.e. ‘the right to life’, which was constantly threatened by the vicious and violent attacks carried out by the Tamil Tigers over a period in excess of 32 years in their attempts to carve... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

Life abroad - part 45: CHOGM – GOING DOWN MEMORY LANE
Dr.Tilak Fernando
The 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) or the ‘Leaders Retreat’ will be held in Sri Lanka from November 15 to 17, 2013 as per Commonwealth Leaders’ agreement at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 2009. Queen Elizabeth I1, as the Head of the Commonwealth, will not be attending the Conference in Sri Lanka as the 87 year old monarch has reportedly curtailed her overseas visits due to her age factor (news source - Buckingham Palace). Instead, Prince Charles, heir to the throne, and the British Prime Minister David Cameron will represent... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

A little knowledge from school days in Sri Lanka, helped me to discover scientific energy saving cooking.
Dr Hector Perera   England
No rice cookers, no rice. Sometime back kerosene cookers and firewood stoves were used for cooking. Now kerosene cookers have gradually disappeared and replaced by gas and electric cookers. I am not sure of the electric cookers in that many years ago, sure they must have been there but we never had one. If water falls on electric cooker while cooking, for example in cooking rice, it might be dangerous unlike in any other kinds of fires. In country homes there is nothing like having rice cooked on traditional firewood stoves, when rice boils, froth... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

Tea & Coffee World Cup Europe: Over 50 Exhibitors Confirmed!
Tea & Coffee News Release
NEW YORK, New York, September 18, 2013 — Tea & Coffee World Cup Europe is proud to officially announce our 2014 show! The 18th edition of Tea & Coffee World Cup will take place in Warsaw, Poland at EXPO XXI on February 11-13, 2014.             Tea & Coffee World Cup is excited to be hosting in Eastern Europe for the very first time! Although each country has a different past, the expansion of the tea and coffee industry in this region remains steadfast. Tea remains the primary drink of choice for most of Eastern... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

BUDDHISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY-Speech to the Plenary Session of the International Buddhist Confederation, New Delhi, India on September 11, 2013
By Ananda W. P. Guruge (USA/Sri lanka)
Let me begin by expressing my grateful thanks to Venerable Lama Lobzang and the Asoka mission for the steps take to establish the International Buddhist Confederation. An organization as envisaged with a wide range of objectives is a vitally necessity as we advance into the twenty-first century. Buddhism had existed for over two thousand six hundred years and during this period it had spread to a significant part of the world. The colonization of traditionally Buddhist countries by Britain and France enabled the Western missionaries and administrators to discover Buddhism and its... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/13)

A CURSE IN THE MAKING
By  Gomin Dayasri
 November is the month of the Budget: possibly the penultimate /final budget before the presidential elections likely scheduled anytime after Christmas 2014 and before Sinhala/Tamil New Year 2015; Timing is on a presumption that festivities brightens the mood to offer a turbo boost to a government confident in remaining in office with an opposition presenting no evidence of interest to mount a challenge. Ordinarily the coming budget should radiate much sunshine irrespective of any economic despondency with a synthetic bounty on offer at a forthcoming election. Come November 2013 such a budget pales to insignificance with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/13)

Speech delivered by Secretary Defence at “Defence Seminar – 2013” An Open Letter to the Sri Lankan Muslim Community
Bisthan Batcha
 Assalamu Alaikum Warrahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu Now that all the Hot Air generated by some members of our Community, subsequent to the Defence Secretary’s Speech, has dissipated, it may be an opportune moment to examine dispassionately the content of his speech pertaining to our Community. The segment of the Defense Secretary’s Speech where reference was made to the SL Muslim Community is as follows: “Similarly, it has been observed that there are some foreign groups that wish to encourage Sri Lankan Muslims to identify themselves more with the global Muslim community, thereby reducing their integration with the rest... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/13)

'An Australian Son' of Sri Lankan Descent?
by Laksiri Fernando Courtesy Island
September 17, 2013, 6:20 pm I first came to know about this story from a new friend, SisiraWeragoda, found through Colombo Telegraph. Then of course I read it. This is a fascinating story particularly for the Sri Lankans who grapple these days quite emotionally with the questions of identity. It is a true story written by the main protagonist, Gordon Matthews, but it could easily be read as a novel without unflinching interest. At the beginning it may be little tedious, but then until the end it is a fascinating story... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/13)

Sri Lanka speaks to United Nation's Organization 1
Chandrasena Pandithage
Dear United Nations Organization, It is time to express my views and I would like to take this opportunity to address you. After second world war; The world leaders decide to establish peace and security all around the world. Their inner feelings, force them to think of a new world with peace and security. That is why you were established as a world leading organization to maintain their expectations Their expectations were peace and security to the world. Now you are above 65 years old. This is a time to turn back and see the way... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/13)

Grounds to believe Syria chemical attack was smart provocation – Putin
RT
Russia has every reason to believe that the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb in August was an adroit and smart provocation, President Vladimir Putin has said. “We have every grounds to believe that it was a provocation. Of course, it was adroit and smart, but, at the same time, primitive in terms of technical performance. They took an old Soviet-made missile, which was taken out of service in the Syrian army long ago. It was most important to have ‘made in the USSR written [on the missile],” Putin said at the Valday discussion forum on Thursday.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 19/09/13)

Is Sri Lanka’s Eelaam Project shaping into a Reality?
Shenali D Waduge 
A question on everyone’s mind is whether TNA would be able to achieve what Prabakaran could not and why the Government that stopped Prabakaran would allow an Eelam to emerge under its defacto political party the TNA? The answer to that question is not as easy to conclude which is why Eelam is being described as a project involving various stakeholders who not necessarily desire the same objective. Eelam a project of Tamil elite caste politicians: Divide and Rule was the colonial strategy to plunder invaded foreign lands while keeping natives in continued conflict with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/13)

Three antithetical ways of encountering the World
R Chandrasoma
As members of the uniquely intelligent and enactive species on Planet Earth we humans are faced with the problem of survival at two orders or levels. In the short term, how to feed, clothe and house a dense and expanding population of greedy beings dwelling upon a fragile planet with finite resources. The long-term problem of survival is to fashion a sustainable strategy for human existence that eschews immediate allurements for the sake of sustained viability in a precariously balanced ecosystem with a plethora of things both living and non-living that have significamce and claims... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/13)

පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණය 2013
The Media Team Ministry of Power & Energy
මහ පොළොව මත පය ගසා සිටින සැබෑ ජනතා නියෝජතයින් තෝරා පත්කර ගන්නේද? නොඑසේනම් විවිධ උපක්‍රම වලින් ඉදිමුණු ජනතා නියෝජිතයින් තෝරා පත්කර ගන්නේද? යන්න ඉදිරි පළාත්සභා මැතිවරණයේදී ජනතාව බුද්ධිමත්ව තීරණය කළයුතු බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ උපලේකම්, විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍ය නීතිඥ පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මැතිනිය ප්‍රකාශ කරයි. අමාත්‍යවරිය පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ, ජනතාවට සැබෑ ලෙස සේවය කළ හැකි ජනතා නියෝජිතයින් තෝරා  පත්කර ගන්නා අතරතුර, රටේ සැබෑ ජනමතය ඇත්තේ අතිගරු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාට බවට වන පණිවිඩය ජාත්‍යන්තරයට ලබාදීමේ වගකීමද ඉදිරි පළාත්සභා මැතිවරණයේදී ජනතාවට  පවතින බවයි. අමාත්‍ය නීතිඥ පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මැතිනිය මේ බව කියා සිටියේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/13)

Israel, eying Iran, comes off Syria fence
By Victor Kotsev
That Israel has chosen to publicly come out against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad just when he and his Russian and Iranian allies seemed to have scored a major victory suggests that there is a lot more to the drama than meets the eye. Whether a new grand initiative, perhaps on Iran, is in the making, or the Syrian crisis is nearing another major unexpected twist, is hard to tell, but the recent interview of the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, in the Jerusalem Post brought up both of these possibilities.... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 18/09/13)

SPEAKING FREELY Collaborators open door to the devil
By Hafsa Kara-Mustapha
While there-s no denying the voracious appetite for the South-s natural resources, the ease with which many of Northern countries have taken over these resources can only be explained by the help some southerners are only too wiling to give. Dating back to the early times of colonialism in Africa or regime change in Iraq and consequently Libya, all these enterprises got the invaluable support of regional lackeys ready to associate with... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 18/09/13)

SPEAKING FREELY-Arab society fails to grasp its destiny
By Mahboob A Khawaja
Arab people appear instinctively furious at the Western world for not coming to rescue them from the use of chemical weapons in Syria, on-going massacres in Egypt and Iraq, and the cycle of degeneration across oil-exporting Arab societies. It seems nobody holds rational viewpoints on what future lies ahead after despotic Arab authoritarian rulers are deposed. On a page in the recent history book, joined by destiny, are Saddam... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 18/09/13)

Russia to provide UNSC with data for chem weapons use by Syrian rebels
RT
Russia will provide the UN Security Council with data proving that the chemical weapons near Damascus were used by the opposition, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said. The materials were handed to Russia by the Syrian government of Bashar Assad. “We have plenty of reports on chemical weapons use, which indicate that the opposition regularly resorts to provocations in order to trigger strikes and intervention against Syria,” Lavrov said. “There-s a lot of data. It-s widely available on the Internet. This data is presented in the report, which our experts put together in association with the use of chemical... -Full Story- (rt.com - 18/09/13)

Why doesn’t the Government ban the TNA at least now? if it wants an undivided Sri Lanka
Dr Sudath Gunasekara President Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara 7.9.2013
I am emboldened to hear that the President had said "I will not allow the separation of the country." "What Prabakaran (the late LTTE leader) could not do none of today's ones will ever be able to do," Rajapaksa told a political gathering in the central district of Kandy’. This clarion call indeed I think will be warmly welcome by the whole nation. But the people want action rather than political rhetoric. I have no doubt the President will do it, not for mere political survival like many other politicians... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

Vigneswaran former Supreme Court Judge seems to have lost his head, OR is he being made a cat’s paw ?
By Charles.S.Perera
The TNA Chief Ministerial Candidate Vigneswaran does not only hero worship the Terrorist Prabhakaran,   but he is also preparing to follow Prabhakaran’s path of terrorism. He is reported to have said, “  Opportunities might arise to resort to arms again in case rights are not offered to the Tamils. Due to ranting, ravings, tormenting, nagging and harassment by the ruling elites, we might be forced to take up to arms” These words can come only from a cheap third rate terrorists, but not from a former Supreme Court Judge.  We begin to shudder when we thinks what... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

If Displaced Sinhalese and Muslims Were Resettled in Jaffna, UPFA Would Win Northern Provincial Election Defeating TNA
Dilrook Kannangara
Iconic The Hindu newspaper launched its Tamil edition by the same name on 16 September, 2013. Though passed without many noticing it, the launch is part of an India-wide attempt to save the Indian Union from disintegration. By penetrating Tamil Nadu readers, asserting an all-India view of things, Indian authorities and media moguls (part of the Union governance mechanism) aim to rekindle unity and allegiance to the Indian Union and defeat raging separatism. The timing couldn’t have been better as just 40 kilometres away, it is a different story. In Sri Lanka, four years after a war... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

After September 21st
S. Akurugoda
The election for the Northern Provincial Council under the 13th Amendment (13th A) is scheduled to be held on 21st of September, in couple of days time. The nationalist elements within the Government rank were all out to ‘strengthen the hands of the President if 13th A was to be amended, while anti-nationalist elements within the government who supported Prabhakaran’s Eelam dream  throughout were  against any changes to the 13th A.  As far as we remember, Minister Wimal Weerawasna said there is no point holding a ministerial role under a government, if  13th A is not amended,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

උතුරේ සිදුවන වෙනස කුමක් කරයි ද? ( විමසුමක් )
ධම්මික එස් කුමාර
2013.07.17 වෙනත් රාජ්‍යයක් උදෙසා වූ සන්නද්ධ සටන පරාජය වීම එක නැවතුමක් පමනයි. දැන් ඔවුන්ට නැවත අවස්ථාව ලැබිලා තියෙනවා ඡන්ද බලයෙන් තම ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදි අරගලය පණ පොවන්න. උතුරු පළාත් සභාවේ අලූත් දේශපාලන වෙනසක් සිදුවෙමින් තිඛෙනවා. 2013.09. 21 න් පසු අප මුහුණ දෙන්නේ දේශීය දේශපාලනයේ අලූත් පර්වර්තනයකටයි. මෙහිදි පළාත් සභා ක්‍රමයේ නියම මුහුණුවර අපට දැක ගත හැකිවුනොත් එය ඉතා වැදගත්. කොහොම නමුත් තවදුරටත් සිංහල රජ්‍යය, බලය ඛෙදාහැරීම සිදුකරන එකක් නැහැ. එහෙත් කාලයාගේ ඇවෑමෙන් බලය ඛෙදා නොහැර සිටීමට නොහැකි කිසියම් අලූත් පරිවර්තන යුගයකට අප ගමන් කරමින් සිටීම සුභ ලකුනක්. මේ ප්‍රවණතා තුළ උතුරේ කුමක් සිදුවේද යන්න වැදගත් සිතීමකි. උතුරේ පළාත්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

Current State of the World & Pathways to Peace
By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.
Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at urges restraint over Syria and calls for equity and justice The World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Jama’at) and Fifth Khalifa, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has spoken in his recent Friday Sermon with great concern about the potential impact of military intervention in Syria. His Holiness said that such action would cause the Syrian conflict to spread far and wide and ultimately could lead to a devastating Third World War. His Holiness said the only way to solve the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

The Samurai History
By. Dr. Nishan Wijesinha (Specialist Consultant) MIS Services, St. Anthony's Road, Colombo 3. My great grand father Louis Corneille Wijesinha, who was a Mudaliya and the first national scholar to translate the world famous Mahavansa from Pali to English; was renowned also as an enthusiast of the Japanese Samurai Tradition; which eventually compelled me to write this article. The foundations of the ethical code of Bushido began to take hold during the Heian period with the samurai. "The Way of the Warrior" or Bushido emphasized duty to one's master (in this case, a shogun) with loyalty until death. Buddhist... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

How long US will hide American home grown terrorism?
By Afshain Afzal
            Unaware of what is going to happen on return to duty after merry weekend, it came as a total surprise. The security was at the lowest in and around Naval Headquarters, while everyone failed to apply the drills rehearsed over time and again. It is a usual practice in all the military and sensitive installation that false alarms are sounded in case of terrorist attacks or disaster, however, on Monday, 16 September 2013, no one followed the drills and displayed a complete scene of disarray and panic. Navy Admiral Bill French was reportedly helplessly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

Buddhist Education – Bedrock for the Growth of Buddha Dhamma
By Lim Kooi Fong
On February 16, 2002, the Buddhist News Network (BNN, now Buddhist Channel, www.buddhistchannel.tv) interviewed the late Chief Venerable Dr. K. Sri DhammanandaMahaNayakaThera. This candid interview revealed rare and important details of the growth of local Buddhist education during the lifespan of Chief as a monk in Malaysia. It can be said that the institution of Malaysian Buddhist education, spiritual bedrock to a generation of inspired youths which bloomed in the late 60s right till today, was very much the result of sheer dedication of thishonoured venerable. The BNN interviewmanaged to bring out many inspired stories... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

Election related confusion mounting in Bangladesh
By NJ Thakuria
Political crisis and confusion galore are mounting in Bangladesh over the next general election, which must be completed between October 25, 2013 and January 24, 2014. Before the fiver-year term of the present Awami League led coalition government is over by December 2013, it has to pave way for handing over the political power to a new regime elected by the millions of voters in the populous country. With the 15th amendment of Bangladesh Constitution in June 2011, the ruling Sheikh Hasina Wajed government is sitting pretty to conduct the polls to form the next Parliament.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/13)

US, Russian deal over Syrian CWs a great defeat for Zionism
RT
The agreement between the United States and Russia on a diplomatic proposal to resolve the Syrian crisis is a “great victory” for the whole world and a “great defeat for Zionism,” according to an American philosopher. “This agreement about Syrian chemical weapons which has been reached between the United States and Russia is in fact a great victory for Syria, for the American people and indeed for the world a large,” James Fetzer told Press TV on Saturday.... -Full Story- (presstv.ir - 17/09/13)

Al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra in Syria may have significant amounts of sarin
RT
The US military have reportedly proved that sarin gas production is going on among some Sunni salafists in Iraq, and via Turkey, can reach Syrian rebels, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT, citing classified sources. RT: France, the US and UK are saying the UN report clearly points to the Assad government-s involvement in the August attack . But how can they be so sure, especially as the document states that improvised rockets may have been used, possibly pointing to rebel involvement?... -Full Story- (rt.com - 17/09/13)

What TNA says it does not mean – What TNA means it does not say
Shenali D Waduge
Tamil National Alliance leaders headed by R. Sambandan, Abraham Sumanthiran and Chief Ministerial Candidate Wigneswaran have gone on the defensive all of a sudden. This itself reveals that things are not going so smoothly on the TNA camp or campaign trail. TNA’s 2013 manifesto has not shown to be anything different to its manifestos released in 2001, 2004, 2010. If it did not defend itself in any of these previous years what is the reason for the current stand? Is it possible that there are some cracks in the TNA? Will its chief ministerial candidate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/13)

TNA RACIST, NOW CASTEIST
Chaminda Perera in Jaffna Courtesy The Daily News
* Massive exodus from party fold * Local leaders ditch TNA, join govt A majority of TNA supporters are being marginalised by the TNA leadership for being ‘low caste’ and they have started leaving the party in droves, many leaders of local government bodies controlled by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) stated yesterday. These local government leaders said the TNA has allocated only two seats for so called ‘low castes’ in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/13)

EXPOSING THE EXPOSED
By  GOMIN DAYASRI
Lady trudges looking like a tramp but holds a trump being the High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Her roots beckon a South Indian origin; born to a South African family belonging to the Tamil Valhalla caste and responds to the name of Nevenatham Pillai. Should create no ripple being a South Indian Tamil if she is objective in her determination. True, the issue relates to Sri Lankan Tamils: but that does not deserve a stamp with a bias tag. Tamils are a world apart from the terrorists. Binding the two is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/13)

Reconciliation in Sri Lanka - Some significant issues
Shenali D. Waduge
Unless and until anyone can prove that ethnic animosities between the Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus had prevailed throughout Sri Lanka’s history there is no compelling need to use uncritically western concepts such as ‘reconciliation’. Genesis of Reconciliation The Government and people of Sri Lanka must be warned of embracing ideas that have had origin in western settler countries to meet contingencies that were peculiar to their societies and irrelevant to older countries with rich civilizations such as India and Sri Lanka which have been built on Hindu and Buddhist religious foundations which place a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/13)

DON’T GRANT VISA TO CALLUM MACRAE AND HIS TEAM TO VISIT SRI LANKA FOR CHOGM
Malin Abeyatunge
Today’s Daily Mirror (13/9/2013)reported that Channel 4 News & Documentary maker Callum Macrae is to travel to Sri Lanka for the CHOGM. Let us be blunt. Under no circumstances that the GoSL should grant Callum Macrae and his Channel 4 team visa to visit Sri Lanka for any reasons. He and his Channel 4 team should not be allowed to step in to Sri Lanka as they are coming to do more harm than good to Sri Lanka knowing their fabricated documentaries with manufactured clips and scenes to humiliate Sri Lanka. Probably, their hidden agenda under the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/13)

Obama defends deal with Russia on Syria, says it could end war
Shashank Bengali
Defending his handling of the biggest international crisis of his second term, President Obama said a deal to seize Syria’s chemical arsenal could be the foundation for a political settlement to resolve that country’s civil war without U.S. military intervention. In an interview taped Friday, the day before the United States and Russia reached a deal that would impound or destroy Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical stockpile by mid-2014, Obama said his decision to seek a diplomatic resolution, which critics have sharply derided, would stop Assad’s use of his most indiscriminate weapons.... -Full Story- (baltimoresun.com - 15/09/13)

Disarming Syria brings Israel’s suspected WMD arsenals into focus
RT
One way to reduce the tensions surrounding the Syrian crisis would be for Israel to also give up its alleged stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. Both Russia and the US are likely to ask Israel to dismantle its stocks. Recently declassified CIA documents suggest that Israel secretly built up its own stockpile of chemical and biological weapons decades ago. This has added more fuel to the lingering complaint of Arab states, who accuse Israel of possessing nuclear weapons.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 15/09/13)

Op-Ed Contributor A Plea for Caution From Russia What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria
By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN
MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.... -Full Story- (nytimes.com - 15/09/13)

United States had given its fullest support to destroy the LTTE's floating armouries in the deep sea between 2006 and 2008- Defence Secretary.
Courtesy The Daily News
  Defence Secretary in an an interview with The Australian newspaper said that the United States had given its fullest support to destroy the LTTE's floating armouries in the deep sea between 2006 and 2008. "One turning point in the war came when the Sri Lankan navy was able to sink these Tiger supply ships: "Between 2006 and 2008 we destroyed 12 of these floating armouries." What made this possible? "The Americans were very, very helpful. Most of the locations of these ships were given to us by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/13)

Is There a Hidden Agenda in Rejecting Organic Farming ?
Ranil Senanayake
 It is tragic when proponents of industrial agriculture attempt to deceive us with subversive methods to defend the ‘debt trap’ that our farmers have got into. Further, use of the LTTE bogey seems to be a new trick in the arsenal of the multi national agents to keep our farmers hooked onto using agro-toxins in their fields (Difficulties in reverting to traditional Agriculture, or adopting organic farming.  Island September 13, 2013,)  One example of this,  is his bogus claim that the studies quoted as ‘inaccessible’ with out paying about ‘ten pounds sterling’. The paper that was presented... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/13)

Sri Lankan Tamils and Tamil Eelam - I
by Thamizhchelvan Courtesy: Vijayvaani.com
on 14 Sep 2013 Present scenario: It is more than four years since the LTTE was crushed, and it is sad and unfortunate that the Sri Lankan Tamils are yet to see a lasting solution to their continuing problems. President Rajapakse has not lived up to the commitments he made during his victory speech; Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) which control the Sri Lankan Diaspora are trying to revive Tamil militancy; the UPA government is inadequate and has no idea how to go about the issue; Tamil Nadu... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/13)

TN politicians exploiting Lankan Tamils issue: C.V. Wigneswaran
By Breaking News
Tamil Nadu politicians use the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue for their own gains, much to the detriment of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, said Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, the chief ministerial candidate of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the upcoming Northern Provincial Council elections. Speaking to The Hindu in the midst of his campaign here, Mr. Wigneswaran said: “In Tamil Nadu, our problems have been taken to be the ball to be played in the tennis court between the two or three parties. They [Tamil Nadu politicians] start hitting the ball from one side to the other... -Full Story- (nation.lk - 14/09/13)

Putin Steps Into World Leadership Role
By Paul Craig Roberts
Putin-s article in the September 11 New York Times has the stuck pigs squealing. The squealing stuck pigs are just who you thought they would be -- all those whose agendas and profits would be furthered by an attack on Syria by the obama Stasi regime. Included among the squealing stuck pigs are Human Rights Watch bloggers who seem to be financed out of the CIA-s back pocket. Does any institution remain that has not been corrupted by Washington-s money?... -Full Story- (opednews.com - 14/09/13)

Dr. Ifthikar Ayaz on Response to criticism on the Holy Qur-an.
By A. Abdul Aziz.
In the recently concluded Ahmadiyya International Convention, various Ahmadi Scholars delivered speeches on various topics. One of them was: Response to criticism on the Holy Qur;an by Dr. Ifthikar Ahmad Ayaz O.B.E (in English). Dr. Ayaz visited Sri Lanka on several occasion. He was the Chief Guest at the Peace Symposium, organized by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama-at – Sri Lanka, held in November last year. His full address in English at the Convention, the video link of which is:... -Full Story- (alislam.org - 14/09/13)

Channel 4 and Macrae Deserve To Be Apprehended And Indicted If They Set Foot On Sri Lankan Territory!
In Hindsight By Sarath Kumara
September 14th 2013 The nerve of Channel 4 News and documentary maker Callum Macrae intending to travel to Sri Lanka to cover the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as they continue to highlight war crimes committed against the country’s minority Tamil population!! As though they have not caused enough harm to the reputation of Sri Lanka with unsubstantiatable, unprovable, innuendo and documentaries laced with lies and conjecture they now want to cover the CHOGM? They should be let into the country and under existing laws apprehended, tried, indicted and dealt with although perhaps... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/13)

Navy Pillay’s grim silence on Tamil war criminals
H. L. D. Mahindapala
On May 26, 2009 when the UNHRC met for the first time to consider the post-war situation in Sri Lanka Ms. Navi Pillay was busy elsewhere. Because she could not attend she sent a recorded message to UNHRC. It was pre-recorded on May 25, 2009, which was only eight days after the total collapse of “the murderous organization” (Navi Pillay) of Tamil Tigers on the banks of Nandi Kadal. It is the haste with which she slammed Sri Lanka in her recorded speech that exposes her political agenda. The war ended on May 18. 2009.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

Tamil National Alliance-LTTE separatist manifestos – 2001, 2004, 2010 and now 2013
Shenali D Waduge
Separatism and TNA go hand in hand. Its election manifestos of 2001, 2004, 2010 and now 2013 see no major difference. There is no major difference in the fact that Tamils have kept on voting for the TNA despite its allegiance to the LTTE. What must be also reiterated is that though their numbers are hardly representative of the entire Tamil population, given the nature of the election voting system minority political parties will continue to find themselves seated in parliament dividing the country or dividing the people. In 2001 TNA obtained just 3.89% of total... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

President's Language Suggests What Many Sri Lankans Believe That the TNA Are Still Tamil Tiger Propagandists.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
September 12th 2013 It all points to the decorum and pragmatism of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who has made a statement on an issue which he has probably witheld all along towards maintaining certain related protocols yet endorsed by many discerning Sri Lankans that the TNA are indeed aspiring Tamil Tiger activists which they openly were when Velupillai Prabhakaran was at his mendacious worst and began backpedalling to cover their hides when he was eliminated.  Today their bodylanguage and rhetoric are not much different albeit the surreptitious manner they choose to manoeuvre being indicative of a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

Why Shared Sovereignty Coupled with Tamil Nationalism is More Dangerous than It Sounds
Dilrook Kannangara
UNHRC is under de facto Tamil rule and so is India that bends to every Tamil demand. Next year being an election year where the ruling coalition struggles to maintain its shrinking power, Indian rulers will fall for Tamil demands particularly leading up to the UNHRC sessions when another resolution against Sri Lanka is being prepared by India. In Sri Lanka, the ruling Rajapaksa clan fearing war crimes charges, bends backwards to satisfy any and all Tamil demands at the expense of Sinhala interests. Emboldened by these moves, TNA is fearlessly campaigning for  independence for Tamil majority... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

UN Secretary General's Spokesperson Haq Attempts To Justify The Trail Of Derision Left Behind By Naveen Pillai Who Seems To Have Overstepped Her Mandate.
Insight By Sunil Kumar September 9th 2013
It appears that the UN is either a bunch of mixed up deadbeats with agendas often laced heavily in bias or circumspect myopia starting from the top with secretary general Ban Ki Moon, human rights ambassador Naveen Pillai and now an associate spokesperson by name of Farhan Haq who in the typical manner of his peers quoted has made comments typical of what the UN appears to stand for these days, misguided biased and blinkered, clutching at straws sometimes and in playing follow my leader to Naveen Pillai has typified why it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

Deport Callum Macrae from UK Channel 4 for his anti-Sri Lanka campaign
P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Callum Macrae from the UK Channel 4 News, produced a documentary highlighting so called 'war crimes' in Sri Lanka during the war in 2009. The feature length documentary titled, ' No Fire Zone' depicted Eelam war iv through a doctored film that it was violence against the Tamils. In 2011 he directed another documentary titled, ' Sri Lanka's killing fields'. Macrae produced these documentaries calling the 'international community' for an independent investigation on Sri Lanka. In both these documentaries Macrae had perpetrated the Govt  as violators of crime against the Tamils despite the fact that the Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

In Sri Lanka Muslims cannot complain because....
Jay J
In Sri Lanka Muslims cannot complain because.... 1. The Muslims are not indigenous people of Sri Lanka. 2. The Muslims came as traders/visitors and NEVER owned land in Sri Lanka until after the British. Anyone in doubt can read Robert Knox 3. The Muslims follow Islam and Islam's holy text refers to Buddhists, Hindus as kafirs - people meant to be killed. 4. The Muslims demand equality for Islam but do Muslims give equality to other religions in Muslim nations? 5. The Muslims go to live in foreign countries which are not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

Life Abroad – Part 44:GETTING RECORDS STRAIGHT
Dr. Tilak Fernando
I am very grateful to Peter Wijesinghe who contacted me recently having read some of my ‘Life Abroad’ columns, as I consider him as an encyclopaedia of Sri Lankans and their activities in London considering his knowledge, experience and the vivid memory over six decades of life in the UK. Peter qualifies as the longest serviceman who has worked at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London from day one of its ceremonial opening. Although he did not fall into the top notch category of Diplomats, he was well read, knowledgeable,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

Why this “No U turn" board”?
Sent by: Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai, Vanderwert Place, Dehiwela
Someone has decided to put up a No U turn board on Galle road in Dehiwela where the Waidya road joins the Galle road. Even after 8pm when the opposite lane is almost empty  the motorists travelling from Wellewathe side  have to go all the way to the Dehiwela station road  junction to turn around and come to enter any lanes up to the 2nd lane. Does anyone realize what a lot of wastage this is of fuel, time and man power? This loss is not only for the motorists... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

LTTE flag removed from British Police web site
By R. Madduma Bandara
The Metropolitan Police of London were embarrassed today (11 September) by mistakenly publishing Tamil Tiger flag in its web site in section under ‘Information about contact points’ (http://www.met.police.uk/contact_points/). This particular web page contains the key information about the new Met contact points translated into few languages such as Bengali (Bangladesh), Lithuanian, Portuguese (Portugal), Punjabi (India), Romanian, Somali, Spanish (Spain), Turkish (Turkey) and Tamil. To highlight those languages the Met Police web has used respective country flags but for Tamil language they have used the Tamil Tiger flag. After lodging a complaint by the President of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/13)

SYRIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS- Putin lures Obama towards engagement
By M K Bhadrakumar
Through an agonizing Tuesday, with the prospects alternating between good, indifferent or bad, the idea of the international community taking control over Syria-s chemical weapon stockpiles seemed struggling to take off. But at the end of the day, President Barack Obama decided to set aside false pride and revive the idea with his extraordinary national address, virtually relegating his own earlier decision to undertake a "limited action" against Syria as his Plan B, while... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 12/09/13)

THE ROVING EYE- Al-Qaeda-s air force still on stand-by
By Pepe Escobar
It was 12 years ago today. Historians will register that, according to the official narrative, 19 Arabs armed with box cutters and minimal flying skills pledged to a transnational Terror Inc turned jets into missiles to attack the US homeland, fooling the most elaborate defense system on Earth. Fast forward to 2013. Here-s a 15-second version of the President of the United States (POTUS) address on Syria, one day before the 12th anniversary of 9/11:... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 12/09/13)

The enemy whose name we dare not speak
By John Pilger
On my wall is the front page of Daily Express of September 5, 1945, and the words: "I write this as a warning to the world." So began Wilfred Burchett-s report from Hiroshima. It was the scoop of the century. For his lone, perilous journey that defied the US occupation authorities, Burchett was pilloried, not least by his embedded colleagues. He warned that an act of premeditated mass murder on an epic scale had launched a new era of terror. Almost every day now, he is vindicated. The intrinsic criminality of the atomic bombing is borne... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 12/09/13)

TNA manifesto a product of muddled political thinking
By Philip Fernando
TNA candidates have pledged allegiance to the unitary state of Sri Lanka when submitting nomination papers to PC elections. Not to have commented on that seemed muddled thinking.  Worse, it smacked of mendacity-not being forthright with the electorate. The vitality that should have surrounded the aspirations of a manifesto escaped the framers.  Instead TNA’s political rhetoric encapsulated nothing but the same old Eelam myth. Mollifying the electorate for the purpose of garnering votes is unworthy of a party striving to better the lives of people still writhing in pain after a mythical freedom fight inflicted by the Tigers.  The TNA’s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/13)

Remembrance of today the 11 Sept. exactly 12 years ago! Horror in New York, an eye witness
By mahinda karunaratne
My tribute to those who dies at site, After both Aircrafts were broken in to the two towers (file photo)  Although a nostalgia to me after 12 years, but the fear, uncertainty and pain I had to endure by me in particular in my own situations I was in new York that time will never be forgotten. In fact that incident was the main candidate that destroyed my ambitions of going there to get out of my woos and difficulties due to which I left Sri Lanka. Simply to say my American Dream was broken... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/13)

China lauds economic growth in Sri Lanka
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Yunshan who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to promote bilateral cooperation at the President’s House on Tuesday (10 September). During the meeting with the President the Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, lauded the significant development of the bilateral ties since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957. He said that Sri Lanka’s political environment and economic growth are tremendous. He assured continued assistance for Sri Lanka’s economic growth. The visiting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/13)

TNA separatist Manifesto leaves India betrayed again
Shenali D. Waduge
There is nothing to be surprised about the TNA manifesto – while it attempts to distance itself from the LTTE it continues to cling on to the one slogan that it can bind the Tamils and that is the dream of a separate Tamil State. That dream appears to be close to reality that it must be sending shockwaves to the Indian establishment who are being told that the 13th amendment is not the solution. This means the TNA baby is now beyond Indian control and in the hands of a surrogate mother or mothers and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/13)

Three Tamils probing:Navi Pillay,Tamara Kunanayakam and Subramanian Swamy
By Susantha Goonatilake
That “gentleman”, wanted to marry Navi Pillay. This would not even fit in to the category of “beauty and the beast” because she definitely is not a beauty. But the “beast” part – I will let you decide that. But into our problems,she has definitely married most acutely. Navi Pillayas part of her UNHRC job spent the longest time of any country in Sri Lanka. She was herebecause the US had sponsored a successful resolution against Sri Lanka. But behind these human rights verbiage,there is geopolitics. Our former ambassador in Geneva Tamara Kunanayakam, an ethnic Tamil,pointed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/13)

When TNA lives in Colombo and ‘Eelam’ is elsewhere
Shenali D Waduge
Let’s explore a very simple question. Exactly how does the TNA propose to give dignity to the Tamils by living away from them? Do they propose to run 'Eelam' by remote control from Colombo? How many trips have the chief ministerial candidate made to Sri Lanka’s North or even East during LTTE reign or even after its demise apart from the recent visits to campaign? Do the TNA even know areas of the North now given a new life and look courtesy of the Sri Lankan military personnel who are rebuilding all that the LTTE destroyed?... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/13)

If Royal College celebrates Islam Day - Why doesn't Zahira College celebrate Buddhist Day?
Jay
 This is written on behalf of the many Buddhists whose voice is being taken away by politicians who have fallen prey to the 'Multicultural' googly. The Muslims of late have found it a good excuse to play victim and use the power of the petrodollars that are used as carrots upon politicians to get their cunning way. Do Muslims respect and tolerate other religions? The answer to that is to take a good look at the Muslim nations of the world.   How many Muslim nations treat other religions on par with Islam? When Muslims headed by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/13)

Never again Pillai has disappeared-“A week of madness” :
Lalin Fernando
Navaneethen (Tamil for freshly churned butter for the Gods) Pillai (Pillay in SA) came blowing hard to make waves in a country that had faced natural and manmade tsunamis. She knew there were turncoats here. She left with her credibility if not her facial expressions in tatters. It confirmed her propensity for voicing her concerns on what she has ‘heard’ blinding her to what she must and should have come to see. Did she not know that almost all what one hears in Sri Lanka is based... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/13)

BASIL PASSES TORCH IN ‘VADDUKODAI DECLARATION’-Tells people of North to think wisely about their choice TNA wants power ‘not to work for the people’
Courtesy The Daily News
“I will stop handling the Uthuru Wasanthaya Program from September 22 and pass the onus of continuing this program for the benefit of all northerners to the new Provincial Council which will be elected by the people of the province,” Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, pioneer of the Uthuru Wasanthaya program launched to develop the Northern Province said in a historic ‘Vaddukkoddai declaration’, Sunday. “I make this proclamation from this historic place,” he said addressing a political meeting in support of UPFA members contesting the forthcoming Northern Provincial Council... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/13)

THE ROVING EYE- Do warmongers dream of playing chess?
By Pepe Escobar
The frantic spin of the millisecond is that the White House is taking a "hard look" at the Russian proposal for Bashar al-Assad to place Syria-s chemical weapons arsenal under UN control, thus defusing (or at least postponing) yet another US war in the Middle East. Oh, the joys of the geopolitical chessboard - Russia throwing a lifeline to save US President Barack Obama from his self-spun "red line".... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 10/09/13)

Kerry becomes first war casualty
By M K Bhadrakumar
Launching the military attack against a far away country in real slow motion is not an easy thing to do and the most taxing part of the diplomatic acrobatics by the United States as it embarks on the strikes against Syria is to be borne by Secretary of State John Kerry. The strain is beginning to show. It seems certain now that Kerry will have to take the collateral damage of a US military strike against Syria ultimately.... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 10/09/13)

Intrigue surrounds Obama-s intel
By Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON - Contrary to the general impression in the United States Congress and the news media, the Syria chemical warfare intelligence summary released by the Barack Obama administration August 30 did not represent an intelligence community assessment, an IPS analysis and interviews with former intelligence officials reveals. The evidence indicates that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper culled intelligence analyses from various agencies and by the White House itself, but that the White House itself had the final say in the contents of the document.... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 10/09/13)

THE ROVING EYE-The (farcical) emperor is naked
By Pepe Escobar
There is nothing tragic about the Obama presidency, capable of drawing the analytical talents of a neo-Plutarch or a neo-Gibbon. This is more like a Pirandello farce, a sort of Character in Search of An Author. Candidates to Author are well documented - from the Israel lobby to the House of Saud, from a select elite of the industrial-military-security complex to, most of all, the rarified banking/financial elite, the real Masters of the Universe.... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 10/09/13)

China trying on Syria-s skin
Pravda
China has been consistently blocking the attempts of the West to adopt the anti-Syrian resolution in the UN Security Council. At the summit of G20 in St. Petersburg, a representative of the country again warned the United States against a military intervention in Syria. Beijing has its own powerful arguments in support of Bashar al - Assad that it prefers not to disclose. Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said at a press briefing of the G20 summit that a military action in Syria would negatively impact the world economy, especially in terms of oil prices as it would lead... -Full Story- (english.pravda.ru - 10/09/13)

Obama wants UN to hear Russia’s plan for Syrian chemical weapons
RT
The Associated Press is reporting that United States President Barack Obama has agreed to discuss with the UN a Russian proposal that will require Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to relinquish his stockpile of chemical weapons. A White House official has told the AP that the Obama administration will let the Russian-brokered deal be heard by the United Nations. The compromise would require Assad’s regime to surrender a stockpile of chemical weapons that the US says the Syrian leader used to kill more than 1,400 people outside of Damascus on August 21.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 10/09/13)

Putin: Syria chem arms handover will work only if US calls off strike
RT
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Syria-s chemical arms handover will only work if the US and its allies renounce the use of force against Damascus. Follow RT-s Live Updates "Of course, all of this will only mean anything if the United States and other nations supporting it tell us that they-re giving up their plan to use force against Syria. You can’t really ask Syria, or any other country, to disarm unilaterally while military action against it is being contemplated," President Putin said on Tuesday.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 10/09/13)

Syrian FM: We are ready to sign Chemical Weapons Convention
RT
Syria said it would sign the Chemical Weapons Convention, following Russia-s proposal that it hands over its chemical weapons to international supervisors. Damascus pledged to open its storage sites and provide full disclosure of its stocks immediately. Follow RT-s Live Updates “We fully support Russia’s initiative concerning chemical weapons in Syria, and we are ready to cooperate. As a part of the plan, we intend to join the Chemical Weapons Convention,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said in an interview with Lebanon-based Al-Maydeen TV.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 10/09/13)

JHU withdrawing from the PSC highlights danger of not removing13A .
By Charles.S.Perera
Science and Technology Minister, Champika Ranawaka stated, that the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has decided not to participate at future sittings of the Special Parliamentary Select Committee to resolve the national question,  as the PSC  has failed to revise the 13th constitutional amendment before the upcoming elections. We have to felicitate JHU for  its withdrawal  from the PSC to make the people understand the Government’s lethargy and hesitation to take a decision to remove the 13 Amendment or remove the provisions it had decided remove at a Cabinet meeting, when every right thinking citizen agrees that the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/13)

UN Secretary General's "Damning Statement " About To Be Released Is More Damnable Than Damning In The Context Of Bias And Misconstruence.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
September 10th 2013  The expectation that United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay is about to make a damning statement about Sri Lanka does not come as a surprise at all. Her entire visit which appears to be none but a De Trop aberration of the norms of her job description where she seems to think that her mandate is to role play as a corrective mechanism for an already smooth functioning Sovereign Nation, is a lop sided, idealogical and misconceived one designed to suit none other than the Tamil tiger sympathetic diaspora... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/13)

Is Tamil Eelam really for Tamil Hindus?
J. Jayachandra
 A lot of Tamils have been mesmerized over the years by an ideology calling for a separate Tamil nation. In fact most Tamils have bought this lock stock and barrel totally ignoring the ground realities.  Yet, how many Tamils have seriously given thought to the consequences of such an Eelaam if in fact it is not meant for them at all - by them we mean the TAMIL HINDUS because afterall HINDUS make up the majority Tamils and not the Christian TAMILS who are representing them?  Let's see how far the Tamils have remotely thought... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/13)

'Call for Indian intervention' - Neelakandan
P.A.Samaraweera
The Sri Lanka-India Friendship Society gathered last week-end at the Taj Samudra to celebrate the Indian Independence Day. At this meeting, its President, Attorney at Law, Kandiah Neelakandan had, in an unscheduled speech ,'...called for Indian intervention to save the civil society in Sri Lanka'. Neelakandan & Neelakandan law firm represented Shiranie Bandaranayake, former CJ., for her impeachment motion. However, many guests who had been taken aback by these remarks had made their comments about it to the Indian High Commissioner who was the chief guest at this function. Because it was not the venue for political speeches.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/13)

Mavittapurm , Keeramalai and some questions raised by place-names folk lore.
Chandre Dharmawardana Ottawa, Canada.
In an  interesting recent internet article published in  http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/25031, Ms. Dushyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai  has repeated one version of an  old anecdotal explanation of the place-name "Mavittapuram". This story is somewhat in the same tradition as the story given to "explain" the place-name "Yalpanam" in terms of a blind lute player; the latter story does not find favour with historians as well as older authorities like Fr. Rasanayagam. The story  regarding 'Mavittapuram' claims that 'Ma' could refer to horse in Tamil, while 'Vitta' could be construed to mean 'removed', while 'puram' (Sanskrit, 'Pura'  and  '(p)Ur' in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/13)

‘Let’s go for China!’– India’s Zohra
PRESS COMMUNIQUE – MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY & COMMERCE, SRI LANKA
·        First Indo-Lanka textile agreement inked in Colombo ·        ‘India wants a bigger role’ – Indian Secy Zohra ·        ‘Involving private sector to move forward’ – Secy Siriwardena ·        Exhibitors from India’s  schiffli & Manchester hubs now in Colombo ·        Lanka textile exports to India jumps beyond 40%  As the first ever textile agreement between India and Sri Lanka became a reality, both neighbours mulled joining to enter a coveted global textile foothold-China, the world’s largest textile market. “China’s textiles are gradually moving from production to consumption. Using... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/13)

Syria welcomes Russia-s offer to put its chemical weapons under intl control
RT
Damascus welcomes Russia-s call to hand control over its chemical weapons to the international community, the Syrian Foreign Minister said responding to Sergey Lavrov-s statement after the two met in the Russian capital. “Syrian Arab Republic welcomes Russia-s initiative, based on the Syrian-s government care about the lives of our people and security of our country,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said in response to the statement by his Russian counterpart.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 09/09/13)

RT sources: Syrian rebels plan chem attack on Israel from Assad-controlled territories
RT
A chemical attack may be launched on Israel by Syrian rebels from government-controlled territories as a "major provocation," multiple sources told RT. The report comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed that Syria puts its chemical weapons arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction in order to prevent a possible military strike against the war-torn country.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 09/09/13)

Was Weliweriya manifestation planned as a springboard to the like of an Arab Spring ?
 By Charles.S.Perera
When Ranil Wickramasinghe is reported to have said  with a certain assurance at the 67 anniversary celebration of UNP that, “this would be the last anniversary the party would celebrate as the opposition. And “ predicted the party would celebrate its 68th anniversary under a UNP government” It is time that these political effusions are given serious consideration.  Ranil Wickramasinghe’s statement  has  a sinister objective if we would read carefully  what he is purported to have said after: “ The UNP Leader noting that those who died in the Katunayake and Weliweriya incidents were innocent youngsters .A... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/13)

Defence Seminar 2013: Secretary Defence, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s vision for Sri Lanka
Shenali D Waduge
Making the keynote address at the 3rd consecutive Sri Lanka Army organized ‘Defence Seminar-2013 on the theme ‘Post-Conflict Sri Lanka: Challenges and Regional Stability’, held from 3rd to 5th September at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, Secretary Defence Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa delivered a spectacular and visonary speech to the more than 300 participants including 66 foreign delegates from 29 countries. The 1st Defence Seminar focused on Lessons Learnt by the Sri Lankan Defence establishment in defeating LTTE terrorism. The 2nd Defence Seminar focused on Post-war efforts to create lasting peace and stability examining steps under 5 areas... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/13)

Marking the success and contribution of Sri Lanka to the uplift of modern day Cricket
Shenali D. Waduge
Sri Lanka achieved Test Cricket status in 1981 becoming the eighth Test cricket playing nation. It has since achieved considerable success particularly beginning in the 1990s, rising from minnow status to becoming one of the world’s most admired cricket nations. It won the Cricket World Cup under the remarkable captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996. Following this trail blazing achievement by a relatively new entrant to international cricket, Sri Lanka has catapulted to be reckoned as a force in world cricket. Sri Lanka reached the finals of the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups consecutively though ending... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/13)

අපි දකිණ දේ හා එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ මානව හීමීකම් කොමසාරිස් නවීන් පිල්ලේ මහත්මියට පෙනෙන දේ!
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
අැයට ඇයගේ කරුමය විසින් උරුම කරන ලද කාර්යභාරය වූයේ, පසුගිය යුධ සමයේදී, මෙරට සිඳුකරන ලද යුධ අපරාධ සම්බන්ධව සොයාබැලීමේ කාර්යය; භාර කිරීමයි. අැයට වසර තිහක යුද්ධයේ සියලු යුධ අපරාධ සම්බන්ධව සොයා බැලීමට මේ රටතුල සතියක කාලයක් ගතකිරීමේ අවස්ථාව ලබාදී තිබිණ. ලෝකයේ බලවත්ම රට වන අැමරිකාව විසින් අපට එරෙහිව මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සලයේදි, අප අසල් වැසි බලවත් ඉන්දියාවේ පූර්ණ සහය අැතිව සම්මත කරගත් යෝජනාව බලගැන්වීමට අැවැසි පදනම සකස් කිරීම අැයට උරුම කාර්ය විය. පෙර සූදානම් කරණ ලද වාර්තාවක් එලි දැක්විමට අැය ලද කාලය යන්තම් සෑහුණද, වසර තිහක යුද්ධයක තබා, යුද්ධයේ  අවසාන භාගයේ සිදිවූ සිඳුවීම්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/13)

Syria: If Obama and others want wars – let them put their boots and fight
Shenali D Waduge
It is getting a wee bit tiring to have supposed leaders think that electing them to office gives them a right to declare wars and military interventions without any aggression to their own nations and sending troops to a hotbed of chaos much of which have been orchestrated by them. The armed forces of a nation are enlisted to ‘defend’ the nation – defending does not translate to mean they are supposed to be the aggressor. Why have successive American Governments and Governments of NATO sent their troops to nations when none of these nations ever... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/13)

Some questions for Sri Lanka’s Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Shenali D. Waduge
There is little doubt that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (now re-named as Ministry of External Affairs) plays an important role in the way the international community looks at Sri Lanka. Similarly, it falls upon the shoulders of the Ministry to conduct foreign affairs of the country in a manner consistent with the mandate given to the Government by the people at the elections while not compromising on the National Constitution of the country. We are concerned as to the current direction of the Ministry, the nature of the message being carried and would like to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/13)

Naveen Pillai Came, Saw Through Biased Eyes And Conquered The Capacity To Be Forthright And Probably Misinformed The World.
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial, September 7th.2013
It has become almost painfully obvious that the UN Human Rights Ambassador Pillai came to Sri Lanka with her own agenda, saw what she wanted to see while there was much more to observe and turned her head away from portraying to the world the salient truth about Sri Lanka other than dabble in rhetoric that the world has already heard a million times over incorporating lies, innuendo and fabrications portrayed by Tamil Tiger sympathisers with no tangible proof to substantiate them.  Not surprising at all as this in all probabilities was the objective of her mission to Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/13)

How many Tamils think like Arun Thambimuttu
Shenali D Waduge
Would anyone imagine that a Tamil would say that Tamils were pinching themselves still because they did not believe that the LTTE could be defeated? Would a Tamil say that Tamils thought that LTTE would be revived months after its demise? Would a Tamil say that Tamils were mostly economic refugees and NGOs were using them to project a wrong picture. Well one gentlemen has come forward to confront the lies and his questions are simple – where were the calls for war crimes against LTTE when his parents were gunned down, where were the human... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/13)

International Ahmadiyya Convention.
By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at held its three-day International Annual Convention recently at Hadeeqa-tul-Mahdi in Alton, Hampshire, U.K. Dignitaries from all over the world representing 89 countries attended. The Convention commenced with Friday Prayers led by His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the World Leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The three-day international event has attracted global interest with around 30,000 delegates attending from dozens of countries. During a faith inspiring address on the second day of the Convention, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Hazrat... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/13)

There are health effects of fast food but some have to depend on takeaways if they are unaware of simple cooking.
Dr Hector Perera     London
While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951. Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants). Franchise operations which are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations. Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten "on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/13)

Putin-s wall Obama-s fall
By Xavier Lerma
Even though the US thinks they are in charge of humanity the reality is they are not. In their imaginary world the toothless media supports their spit ball shooting president. They actually think their words are supreme and final. Kerry and McCain keep dancing in a parade trying to influence a congress which is neither conservative nor moral but nevertheless war weary. The once drug addict now US leader cannot fight against Vladimir Putin who brought Russia from poverty in the 90-s to a more stable economy today. Obama-s buffoonery selling the war against Syria has hit... -Full Story- (english.pravda.ru - 07/09/13)

Russia publishes 100-page report proving rebels involvement in chemical attack
Pravda
On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry provided additional evidence to prove that chemical weapons were used by Islamist insurgents. The evidence referred to the report by Rusia al-Yaum channel. Correspondents of the channel talked to Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, who served in the monastery of St. James in Qara, Syria.... -Full Story- (english.pravda.ru - 07/09/13)

EU to US: Assad guilty of Syria gas attack, but no military backing before UN report
RT
The European Union says the Syrian government was the likely perpetrator of the Damascus chemical attack on August 21, but will not be rushed into any military action before an official UN report is released. "Information from a wide variety of sources confirms the existence of such an attack and seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for this attack," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement following a meeting between European foreign ministers and US Secretary of State John Kerry in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Saturday.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 07/09/13)

Position of the Syrian government in response to allegations
PravDa
Position of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic on the Western allegations and accusations on use of chemical weapons Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria , about two and a half years , the United States and its Western and regional allies, especially Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and its instruments, the armed terrorist groups and Al Qaeda Organization, act to destroy Syria and its infrastructure, killing its people. These terrorist groups staged terrible massacres against the Syrian citizens, both civilian and military, and the countries that support them provided financial support, military and logistical support,... -Full Story- (english.pravda.ru - 07/09/13)

A Cleaning job for Navanethem Pillay
C. Wijeyawickrema
N. Pillay was against the Buddhist flag flying at the Independence Square in Sri Lanka. If the bogus UN agency that she is now a paid worker is opposed to a country with (1)  70% of its population Sinhala Buddhist (2) hoisting a flag which does not belong to Sinhala Buddhists anymore but universal (3) which was created in 1885 with active participation of the first white Buddhist  in the world, an American by the name of Col, Henry Steele Olcott (4) which was created as a peaceful reaction to the suppression of Buddhism by Christians supported... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/13)

"Pro LTTE elements trying to use PCs to destabilize Sri Lanka"
Courtesy The Daily News
The pro LTTE elements may try to bargain with the excessive powers vested in the Provincial Councils, such as Police and Land powers. They may even try to re-merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces. These things could happen. After the next Parliamentary elections, they would definitely know that it would be difficult to obtain a two-thirds majority and may use the Provincial Council system to destabilize Sri Lanka totally. It may even end up in the UN like the Palestinian cause, Technology, Research and Atomic Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Daily News... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/13)

LIFE ABROAD - Part 43: KINGDOM OF DEATH
Dr.Tilak Fernando
If there is anything certain in this life’s sojourn it has certainly to be the death, and nothing else! Death, in other words, is the termination of all corporeal functions that endures a particular living being or organism. Death in a human being can take place under many circumstances such as biological aging, malnutrition, sickness, suicide, murder, accidents and so forth. The awareness of mortality in human societies is always interconnected but varies with different religious and philosophical divergences making a marked divide between monotheistic (belief in one God) in Abrahamic religions and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/13)

PILLAI TO DN: NO DENIAL TNA ANSWERABLE FOR LTTE CRIMES
Courtesy The Daily News
On whether the TNA that was called 'the representatives of the LTTE' by the LTTE, can be prosecuted and whether Adele Balasingham now in London could be prosecuted for training terrorists and whether those who negotiated on behalf of the Tamil Tigers can be prosecuted for Tamil Tiger atrocities, Ms. Navi Pillai the UN High Commsioner for Human Rights said it is upto governments affected to pursue such matters and obtain international cooperation to persecute people. She said so answering questions posed by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/13)

Putin: Syria chemical attack is -rebels- provocation in hope of intervention
RT
The alleged chemical weapons use in Syria is a provocation carried out by the rebels to attract a foreign-led strike, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the G20 summit. There was no 50/50 split of opinion on the notion of a military strike against the Syrian President Bashar Assad, Putin stressed refuting earlier assumptions. Only Turkey, Canada, Saudi Arabia and France joined the US push for intervention, he said, adding that the UK Prime Minister-s position was not supported by his citizens.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 06/09/13)

Troubled waters: Naval forces line Syrian shores
RT
Mounting pressure for a Western strike on Syria has seen naval forces both friendly and hostile to Damascus build up off the embattled country-s coastline. The potential of a US strike against Syria in response to an August 21 chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb gained steam on Wednesday, when a resolution backing the use of force against President Bashar Assad-s government cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a 10-7 vote.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 06/09/13)

Mind the gap! Democratic deficit in UK, US has never been bigger
RT
The issue of Syria has demonstrated the massive gap that has opened up between the elite and ordinary people in both the US and Britain. Poll after poll after poll shows very large majorities against strikes on Syria. People are war-weary, and the last thing they want is for their countries to become embroiled in another Middle-East war. One Congressman in the US tweeted earlier this week that he had asked 200 people if they supported strikes on Syria and only four said -Yes- that-s just 2 percent. Another said that 99 percent of calls to his office were... -Full Story- (rt.com - 06/09/13)

US Preparing attack on Syria! Who wants and why?
by mahinda karunatane
The current scenario is a part of the middle-east geopolitical road map that was drawn in late 19th ( i.e. 1990' ties) century and scene in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Egypt has been anyway achieved although the end results in each case has transpired differently and that subject itself is lengthy to discuss and by now is history.  Syria scene Since long being after Russia became the largest LNG supplier to Europe, Saudi Arabia and Qatar the second largest producers of LNG have been eyeing the European market and transporting LNG need a pipeline.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/13)

Russia warns of nuclear disaster if Syria is hit
RT
A military strike on Syria could lead to a nuclear catastrophe if a missile were to hit a reactor containing radioactive uranium, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman warned. The remark comes as the US continues to push for a military strike on Syria. "If a warhead, by design or by chance, were to hit the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) near Damascus, the consequences could be catastrophic," Aleksandr Lukashevich said in a Wednesday statement.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 05/09/13)

WHAT IS THE RATIONAL BEHIND THIS THRUST TO DISMEMBER SYRIA, BY THE SUNNI JILHADIST & THE WESTERN NEXUS!
Mahinda Weerasinghe
It is intriguing to conjecture what factors lay behind this urgency for the disembodiment of Syria? We find in this conflict, that there are wheels within wheels. And to isolate the motivating factors will be constructive for tolerant Buddhist nations such as Lanka in order to figure out; what unmitigated power, religious fanaticism and hate worked in concert to take a shot at annihilation of a comparatively innocent nation such as Syria.  For indeed we have just escaped from such a debacle ourselves but not Libya. So let us to begin with isolation of the players behind... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/13)

Who is afraid of the Buddhist flag? (Educating Navanethem Pillay)
C. Wijeyawickrema
Pillay’s guts before a multi-cultural President Would a Pillay dare to ask a US president why he always ends his public speeches with parting words, “God bless you” or “God bless America”? Would she ask so from the Queen of England or the King of Norway? But it is alleged that she had the nerve to ask the president of Sri Lanka why the Independence Square has a Buddhist flag flying.  She is justified in asking this because if Sinhala Buddhist politicians now say that Sri Lanka is not the country of the Sinhala Buddhists but a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/13)

Lousy game theory in Syria
By Chan Akya
"Because it-s there" - Edmund Hillary on why he climbed Mount Everest There are multiple humanitarian considerations to whatever is going on in the Middle East region, be it the military coup in Egypt or the mass murders of citizens in Syria. Then again, one does find it difficult to distinguish between the folks who are supposedly the friends of the West and those that are described as the other side. What, for example is the difference between the repression and killing of Shiite protestors in Bahrain and the killings of civilians in Syria?... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 04/09/13)

Russia releases key findings on chemical attack near Aleppo indicating similarity with rebel-made weapons
RT
Probes from Khan al-Assal show chemicals used in the March 19 attack did not belong to standard Syrian army ammunition, and that the shell carrying the substance was similar to those made by a rebel fighter group, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. RT-s LIVE UPDATES on Syrian -chemical weapons- crisis A statement released by the ministry on Wednesday particularly drew attention to the “massive stove-piping of various information aimed at placing the responsibility for the alleged chemical weapons use in Syria on Damascus, even though the results of the UN investigation have not yet been revealed.”... -Full Story- (rt.com - 04/09/13)

Navanethem Pillay and the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS)
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
Misuse of religion to incite youth Addressing the Youth Parliament, the visiting UNHR high commissioner Navanethem Pillay talked about the misuse of religion to incite youth. This shows how worried were the UN agents and NGOs in Colombo about the effectiveness of the Bodu Bala Sena Movement, because Pillay was telling what she was fed by these locals.  A major task of BBS is to pump oxygen to dead-like Sinhala Buddhist warm bodies and the UN and NGO Christians and rich Christians in Colombo and useless politicians in Sri Lanka are all worried about the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/13)

Who or what made Navi Pillay conclude Sri Lanka is heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction ?
By Charles.S.Perera
 At her meeting with the press  before leaving Sri Lanka after visiting it  with the  complete freedom of movement for seven days she said, “ I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction.”  That was a very strange statement from the United Nations High Commissioner  for Human Rights, who came to the country in quest of the truth of  violations of human rights of which she had heard, without reliable evidence. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/13)

The self appointed viceroy with many vices
By Nalin de Silva Courtesy Island
September 3, 2013, 6:07 pm She came, she was blind and she could not conquer. Ms Navaneethan arrogance could be seen from what she did and spoke while she was in Sri Lanka. Of course one’s judgment of Ms. Pillay would depend on one’s political and other alliances but unfortunately most of what is being circulated is that of anti Sinhala Buddhists, anti government lobby and many people who read some of the newspapers, log into the websites, listen to and watch electronic media would come to the conclusion that the Sri Lankans... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/13)

Pillai: Your conflict of interest is damning, recuse yourself
By Philip Fernando
Commissioner Navi Pillai has dug herself into a damning abyss feigning impartiality despite the irremediable conflict of interest she carries.  She is in a pickle and could not  in good faith proclaim that her ethnicity (South African born and of Tamil descent) does not present a hindrance trying to be impartial carrying out her public or fiduciary duties as Human Rights Commissioner.  Her ethnic affinity creates an obvious conflict of interest which threatens the impartiality required of a Commissioner, a judicial position she now holds. If a person with Sinhala ethnicity were to be named Commissioner—he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/13)

NAVI PILLAY WILL NEVER CHANGE HER STRIPES
Malin Abeyatunge
Navi Pillay came and left. But some of her comments on Sri Lanka lingers bad taste in the air. Her comments over various matters proved that she visited with pre-conceived judgments against Sri Lanka and proved that she had a hidden agenda. I would like to scrutinise  a few of her comments at various press conferences, meetings with officials, NGOs , citizenry and the final speech at the press conference before her departure after her one  week stay in Sri Lanka. LTTE was a 'murderous organisation', she said, "Those in the diaspora who continue to revere... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/13)

Slogans of Velu Pillai and Navi Pillay
S. Akurugoda
There is no introduction  to describe how and what Velu Pillai, did to our country for nearly three decades, since the inception of his LTTE in 1976. Velu Pillai had chosen the slogans of "discrimination of the Sinhala government against the Tamils" and " the right to self determination of the people of Tamil homeland" etc to justify his so-called arm struggle for separatism. There is also no need to describe in length who provided the necessary weapons, training, finance, publicity, etc  in support of  the so-called arm struggle for separatism led by Velu Pillai, since all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/13)

Navi Pillay visits Sri Lanka – what’s next on agenda
  Shenali D Waduge
Navi Pillay must thank her lucky stars that those who garlanded her did not do what they did to Rajiv Gandhi inspite of both he and mother helping LTTE rise to power. That was because LTTE was annihilated by Sri Lanka’s armed forces and the woman who garlanded her was a former LTTE cadre successfully rehabilitated. Probably that prompted her to tell the Tamil Diaspora holding foreign passports but calling for Eelam in Sri Lanka not to ‘honor the LTTE’ and that there was ‘no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organization’. It... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/13)

UN High Commissioner Pillai's Visit A Worthless One Which Has Merely Exposed Her Transparencies And Bias.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
August 31st 2013 While the direction, objectives and end result of UN Human Rights Ambassador Naveen Pillai ( herself a Tamil) was almost predictable towards bias, sympathy and posturing towards the defunct Tamil Tiger terrorists and their supportives for very apparent reasons from the very outset, she has played out her role accordingly and not surprisingly although there has been a touch of Machiavellian subterfuge enacted by her  in so doing.  What has revealed this almost precisely is the statement she made that the LTTE were murderous criminals while condemning them heinously yet seeking to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/13)

Connecting Communities: Newly constructed Panichchankarni Bridge opens
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared open the newly constructed Panichchankarni Bridge located on A15, Batticaloa- Trincomalee road in Wakarai yesterday (August 01). This bridge was destroyed by the Tsunami disaster in 2004. The new bridge constructed at a cost of 1,060 million rupees.  The bridge, which is 132 metres in length and 10.4 metres wide, has been constructed utilising local funds and 769 million rupees granted by the Japanese government. In line with the construction of the bridge, a new causeway with an average length of 207 metres has also been constructed on either side of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/13)

Evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria should not be kept secret - Lavrov
RT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that a -regime of secrecy- by the West is unacceptable with regard to Syria and evidence of the use of chemical weapons there. Information sharing is a must. The Foreign Minister spoke during an address to the students of the Moscow State University of International Relations.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 02/09/13)

Little Britain: The mouse that (finally) roared
RT
A horrific sarin gas attack in a suburb of Damascus kills hundreds of men, women and children: the perfect pretext for Western military intervention after two years of civil war have left 100,000 people dead and turned 2 million into refugees. President Barack Obama, flying in Air Force One to the G20 summit in Russia, calls in the Tomahawk cruise missile strikes from US warships in the Mediterranean, and drones take out selected targets in the Syrian capital, Damascus.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 02/09/13)

Navineetham Pillai had learnt nothing from her visit, she goes back with the same prejudices she came with.
By Charles.S.Perera
Navi Pillai has gone. She made a statement to the press.  But from her statement , it appears that after seven days in Sri Lanka she has learnt nothing  new. She goes back with the same notions and prejudices with which she came. There are different ways of listening, one is  as one who knows nothing- a neutral objective listener, and the other as one who already knows, therefore listen to find evidence to confirm what one already knows. In the case of Navi pillai, she had listened only to confirm her prejudices against Sri Lanka. After... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

Tamil ethnic bias and potential conflict of interest disqualifies Navi Pillay from conducting investigations against Sri Lanka
Shenali D Waduge
Ms. Navanethem "Navi" Pillay has impressive credentials.  A South African of Indian Tamil origin, she is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was also the first non-white woman on the High Court of South Africa, and she has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She attended Harvard Law School, obtaining an LL.M. in 1982 and a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degree in 1988. Pillay is the first South African to obtain a doctorate in law from Harvard... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

WHAT CAN BE THE REAL REASON FOR UGLY BETTY’S ARRIVAL TO LANKA?
Mahinda Weerasinghe
That is what’s in most concerned peoples mind? Is it really due to her concerns of abuses of people rights? Or is she simply a front line solider for the anticipated World War III and an agent of the western powers? As usual Lankans are easily diverted by red herrings and chimeras. It is high time they gaze at the larger canvas. Currently all the information is available at their finger tips. It is a simple matter of logically stacking them accurately till one get a proper visual rendering. The questions they should be asking is; why... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

Madras Café: An engaging combo of fact and fiction
The Express Tribune Home Pakistan Business World Sports Life & Style Multimedia Opinion Magazine Blogs Urdu News Books Music TV & Film Fashion Food Gossip Alerts Madras Café: An engaging combo of fact and fiction 8:10 PM PST < > Madras Café: An engaging combo of fact and fiction By Nida Ameen
Madras Café is a bold, interesting combination of fact and fiction that is intricately layered around a real-life conspiracy and packaged in a blood-bathed, spy thriller.if your sole purpose of watching a movie is to take a break from reality and delve into a three-hour long,... -Full Story- (tribune.com.pk - 01/09/13)

US / UK and UN serial liars – why should we believe them now on Syria
Shenali D Waduge
Hands off Syria until US / NATO/ EU and the UN admit in public to lying about all of the military invasions that have taken place starting with Iraq. It is time the world knew every manipulation that went into the bombing blitz that turned ancient cities to ruins and left scores of people as refugees inside their own homes and not a word gets said about resettling or rebuilding their destroyed homes. The world should not allow a handful of people who have been replicating the same lies in each of the countries they have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

Pillai caricatured Sri Lanka’s greatest humanitarian rescue of civilians trapped by Prabhakaran
By Philip Fernando in Los Angeles
Commissioner Navi Pillai’s brief visit to Sri Lanka could only garner a piecemeal assessment of waning recollections of highly biased acquaintances assembled to frame Sri Lanka’s culpability en masse.  Pillai thus caricatured the largest humanitarian operation in recent times rescuing trapped civilians running away from Prabhakaran’s human shield. UN is mandated to find verifiable facts and not rely on hearsay, the plain and simple tittle-tattle.  The glaring and derisory attempt to be prosecutor, judge and the jury would never pass muster.  Recalling 26-year-old war’s collateral damage with all its quirks as a prosecutorial... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

Different agenda behind her visit - Minister Rambukwella: Pillay attempts to pay floral tribute to terrorist leader
by our Diplomatic Correspondent Courtesy The Sunday Observer
UNHRC chief Navi Pillay’s request to pay a floral tribute during her recent visit to the North had been rejected by the Government. Informed sources said that Pillay had initially informed of her desire to offer a floral tribute to the late LTTE terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran at a location in the North. However, the Government had turned down Pillay’s request. Pillay’s controversial behaviour would prove that she had arrived in Sri Lanka on a specific mission with presumptions. Though she had declared that she was coming to Sri Lanka with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

An Army during Peace Time
By Garvin Karunaratne
The fact that the Sri Lankan Army has been deployed for development tasks after the war with the LTTE was over is worrying some Non Government Organizations and this is a matter taken up with Navi Pillai. by Nimalka Fernando and others. Any one who studies current happenings in Tamil Nadu will understand that it is a de facto LTTE State though it is yet within the Government of India. Even Buddhist monks have been assaulted in Tamil Nadu and there is massive agitation that India should not participate in the Commonwealth Meeting in Sri Lanka.  ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/13)

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