The local election day is on next Monday. Large number of Tamils are contesting in this election. All eyes are on Ward 7 in Markham as 5 Tamil candidates are competing against each other. Unfortunately mud slinging is on the rise and its sad to see what is unfolding. We offered the Tamil candidates an opportunity to express their views. Kethika responded positively and here is the interview.

                                                                                           By Benedict Thomas

The use of cannabis ( marijuana) will be legal in Canada as from October 17,2018.This article discusses its impact on Canadian society in general.
Cannabis Act

Cannabis Act ( Bill #C-45) was passed by the Canadian Federal Government in June 2018 with the support of the Canadian Senate. Cannabis is currently legal in Canada for medicinal use only but under this Act, Canada becomes the second country in the world ( after Uruguay) and also the first country among the G-7 and G-20 to legalize its use. It will be freely available for sale in retail outlets to adults over 18 years of age . Under certain conditions with Medical Officers’ prescriptions, even those under 18 can use them.

The Cannabis Act creates a strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis across Canada and aims to accomplish 3 goals:-
• keep cannabis out of the hands of youth,
• keep profits out of the hands of criminals and
• protect public health and safety.

Cannabis was banned in Canada from 1923 until regulated medical cannabis became legal in 2001. In response to popular public opinion, Justin Trudeau, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada committed to legalize cannabis for recreational use while campaigning during the 2015 Federal elections. The Liberals won the elections with 184 seats and formed a majority Government. The new Governent’s plan was to bring in legislation to amend the existing ‘Controller Drugs and Substances Act’ and enact new laws to permit cannabis for recreational use among adults and control the supply of cannabis to minors as well as criminals.

The Federal Government announced in October 2017 that it’s budget would include $ 546 million over the next 5 years to prepare the legal framework to strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis . A further $ 150 milllion would be budgeted over the next 6 years to enforce the restriction on drug impaired driving. Health Canada and the RCMP will receive a share of this amount, a portion of which will be passed on to Municipal and Indigenous Police Services.

Controlling Access and Possession Limits With the enforcement of the Cannabis Act, subject to Provincial and Territorial restrictions, adults who are 18 years of age would be able legally to
• possess up to 30 grams of legal cannabis;
• shares up to 30 grams of legal cannabis with other adults;
• buy dried or fresh cannabis and cannabi oil from a licensed retailer or federally licensed
producer.
• grow from licenced seed or seedlings up to 4 cannabi plants per residence for
personal use and
• make food products and drinks out of cannabis .

In short, Cannabis Act while seeking to discourage youth from accessing cannabis, does in fact permit its free usage among adults and this cannot be considered a healthy development .

Federal and Provincial Governments’ Responsibilities

Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments share the responsibility for overseeing the proposed new system. While the Federal Government’s responsibilities are to set strict requirements for producers who grow and manufacture cannabis and impose rules and standards and issue licences , Provinces and Territories are responsible for developing, implementing, maintaining and enforcing systems to oversee the distribution on sale of cannabis. They would also be able to add their own safety standards.

Regulations vary province to province. For instance, while the Cannabis Act allows householders to grow up to 4 cannabis plants in their homes, Quebec and Manitoba Provincial Governments have announced that they would not permit this option. Alberta Province will allow only indoor growing while New Brunswick Government will allow but in a separate locked spot.

Each Provincial and Territorial government is making its own arrangement to implement the provisions of the Cannabis Act. In the Ontario Province, cannabis stores modelled on LCBO outlets will hold the monopoly of wholesale dealership. The earlier Liberal Government had decided to open its own retail outlets, but the newly elected Tory Government has now decided to work with the private sector and permit it to open retail outlets under licence. Other Provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador also plan to allow private retailers. The Province of Nova Scotia intends to sell recreational cannabis through both on-line and existing Liquor Corporation outlets. The Provicial Quebec Government would have its own retail outlets to sell Cannabis. It also decided in June this year to limit the cannabis that can be purchsed at one time to 30 grams as well as to cap the amount of dried cannabis people can have at home to 150 grams.

Municipalities in each province are being given the option to opt out of the Provincial Government’s decision to permit private retail outlets. The Municipality of Richmond Hill in the Ontario Province has already announced that it would opt out of the Ontario Provincial Government’s decision. In the Province of Saskatchewan, 5 out of the 36 Municipalities have also announced similar decisions.

Excise and Sales Tax

From the early planning stages, the Federal Government indicated that cannabis would be subject to tax. An estimate in late 2016 suggested revenue of $ 618 million per year from a federal tax initially and eventually billions. A recent study also revealed that the illegal cannabis industry is worth $7 billions per year.

The Federal Government announced in November 2017 that a federal excise tax would be levied on sale of cannabis across the land, the proceeds of which would be shared 50/50 basis with the Provinces and Territories. The tax should not exceed $1 per gram or 10 per cent of the producers’ price, whichever is higher. After demands from the Provinces for a higher share, a two-year agreement wa later signed to provide a full 75% of the collected tax to the Provinces and Territories. Also, the maximum amount to be taken by the Federal government would be $100 million per annum with the excess paid to the Provinces and Territories. The final retail price of the product will include a provincial sales tax ranging from 5 % to 15% depending on the Province or Territory. This agreement will be reviewed in December 2018.

A Critical Analysis

Until a few years back, cannabis was generally viewed as a harmful hallucinating drug as it contains chemicals such as THC which has a side effect of depression, concentration skills., short term memory loss and demotivation. Perhaps, the greatest impact of this piece of legislation will be on motorists and pedestrians. Imagine the instance of a driver of a motor vehicle who had consumed cannabis and the harm he or she can cause on the roads. Canadian regulators are now introducing legal limits for blood concentration of THC, the main component of the cannabis. Roadside Saliva Testing Devices are to be introduced which will work when the internal temperatures are at least 4 Deg. C but the Canadian winters are much below this limit. Scientific studies have revealed that while alcohol , a simple molecule eliminates from the body at a constant rate, cannabis have complicated metabolic pathways and get stored in the body’s fat releasing it at different rates.

It is also found that cut-off-points are harder to generalize for cannabis’ users because THC affects everyone so differently depending on a variety of factors, everything from a personal history of cannabi’s user to the amount of fat tissues each has in his or her body. The present regulatory limit for motorists who consume cannabis is a concentration of 5 nanograms (n) per milliliter or more. Motorists found to be of more than this limit will be imposed a fine of $1,000 and sentenced to jail for repeat offences.

Research in Denmark has discovered that heavy cannabi usage can result in schizophrenia and bi-polarism. The risks increase when the user is young. The Chairman of the Schizophrenic Society in Canada has testified that there is a misconception among the public that cannabis i.e. marijuana is completely safe for consumption. He adds that cannabis consumption does in fact affects the brain . Adolescent cannabis usage could potentially undermine the ability of the brain to properly pass along stored information.

Many heavy-weight organizations such as the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Psychologists Association, Canadian Pediatrics Society have opposed this legislation as many other social and religious groups. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has called it a seriously flawed piece of legislation as it disregards documented harm that legal pot would inflict on public health, family life and spiritual well-being.

While politicians argue that legalizing cannabis would eliminate illegal sellers and put organized criminals out of business, the end- result will be quite different. Street dealers will be there as long as they can sell cannabis cheaper than the Government or private retailed outlets.

The logic of trying to eliminate the social and moral evil of illegal drugs by normalizing its use is farcical. In fact, it indirectly promotes its use at every home. The society is made worse not better by making cannabis which is dangerous drugs, fashionable and commonplace. It appears that both at Federal and Provincial level, the lure of the revenue that can be earned from cannabis has taken precedence over the deleterious impact the product has on the society in general.
The enactment of this legislation is a very retrograde step.

Benedict Thomas (Benny) for the Tamil Mirror

Sri Lanka: Tamil Rights Are Human Rights

                                                                          Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah

As the world marks both the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the current political fiasco in the island dictates a reaffirmation of some historical truths and a reassertion of our entitlements, as a people, under international law.

 Tamil rights are human rights.

As the Sinhalese in the South rise up in protest against a threat to their democracy and constitution in the wake of a political crisis brought about by a power struggle between two feuding Sinhala parties in Sri Lanka, for Tamils, the subjugated race in the island, there is an urgency which necessitates the reiteration of some historical truths – that need to be heard by the world, as it celebrates two landmark enactments that restated human rights principles like never before – that Tamil rights and freedoms are not to be trampled upon – that those rights and freedoms are rightfully theirs under international law – rights they have long been agitating for – rights that still elude them.

The continuing crisis, another national shame for Sri Lanka is turning into a major catastrophe with the possibility of all essential services coming to a standstill – there is a real concern that government hospitals could run out of drugs and government servants and pensioners may not be paid. The country has no functioning government, has no working prime minister or cabinet; worse it has a president, who, in an act of downright betrayal of the trust Tamils placed in him, when they voted for him, when he ran as a common candidate against Rajapaksa, not only brings him back, appointing him Prime Minister, but behaves https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/with-maithri-ranil-mangala-real-change-should-occur-for-tamils-too/  like a dictator, answerable to no one; it has a parliament that has turned violent and has shown a propensity for violence, that has shocked the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lca-AsMVJtE; a parliament that’s unable to conduct business, and whose speaker has lost his authority in parliament.

Finance Minister, Mangala Samaraweera told it like it is:  As per article 148 of the constitution, parliament has full control over public finances and in the absence of a legitimate government, a grave situation has arisen..there’s no legal way to meet public expenditure and obligations of the state, from 2019. With the Central Bank chief warning of a fiscal slippage http://www.ft.lk/front-page/CB-Chief-warns-against-fiscal-slippage/44-668278, with its credit rating downgraded by three agencies http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Credit-rating-agencies-downgrade-Sri-Lanka-on-political-crisis-159366.html, Sri Lanka, is by definition, at the brink of being declared a failed state – if things don’t return to normal. As of writing the volatile situation hasn’t changed one bit.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu summed it up in human rights terms: The constitutional crisis could lead to a return to the past where we had a widespread culture of enforced disappearances, self censorship, and extra-judicial killings. 

The only redeeming feature in this chaos seems to be the judiciary – with the Supreme Court expected to rule on whether the president’s actions to dissolve parliament was legal. The Appeals Court had earlier made an interim stay order restraining Rajapaksa from acting as prime minister, otherwise Sri Lanka had two prime ministers – one was Mahinda Rajapaksa, appointed by president Sirisena and the other Ranil Wickremesinghe who refused to vacate his post despite being sacked by him. The Rajapaksas and the SLPP – their political party, have vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court and are calling for a general election. In the mean time there is a move to impeach Sirisena, while he insists he would honour a new no confidence motion – but is not prepared to re-instate Ranil. I did express pessimism in Dec 2014 when plans were a foot to form a rainbow coalition and make Maithripala Sirisena a common presidential candidate to run against Mahinda Rajapaksa. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/no-rainbow-just-a-way-out-sinhala-presidential-election/

This is a critical time for Tamils. The time has come for Tamils to move forward with a new narrative, a new thinking and a new approach. As long as Tamil people’s destiny continues to be tied to Sri Lanka, Tamil rights become inconsequential – when during just normal days, Tamil issues get put in the backburner https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/tamil-issues-in-back-burner-the-problem-the-broken-covenant-uks-future-role/, how much more at this time.     

Undoubtedly the trajectories of the Sinhala and Tamil nations are poles apart. With their aspirations still not fulfilled, their entitlement taken from them, their fundamental rights not granted but violated, the needs of the Tamil nation are different, their grievances are different and therefore their demands are different.  

 “Two different nations, from a very ancient period, have divided between them the possession of the Island: the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior in its Southern and Western parts from the river Wallouwe to Chilaw, and the Malabars (Tamils) who possess the Northern and Eastern Districts. These two nations differ entirely in their religion, language and manners.” 

– Sir Hugh Cleghorn, British Colonial Secretary, June 1879.

“As to the qualification required in the knowledge of the native languages, the Portuguese and Sinhalese only being mentioned excludes one which is fully necessary in the Northern Districts as the Sinhalese in the South. I mean the Tamil language, commonly called the Malabar language, which with a mixture of Portuguese in use through all the provinces is the proper native tongue of the inhabitants from Puttalam to Batticaloa northward inclusive of both these districts.. Your Lordship will therefore, I hope have no objection to my putting Tamil on an equal footing of encouragement with the Sinhalese” – Sir Robert Brownrigg, Governor of Ceylon, 1813 Dispatch to the British Colonial Secretary of State, Reported in the Tribune, 12 January 1956)

These are two statements of fact from two high ranking British officials who said it like it was in pure, unadulterated, clear language, free from ulterior political motives, when describing the traditional habitats, demography and languages of the inhabitants of the island of Ceylon, as it existed, the way these officials found it, in the early and late 19^th century.

They are historical truths that can neither be distorted nor disputed.

Fast forward to the 21^st century, we are now living in an era, where the, “Sinhalese nation has, since independence from Britain, systematically put in place an institutionalized ethnocracy http://www.atimes.com/an-evaluation-of-sri-lankas-democratic-credentials// – yes an ethnocracy – “a type of political structure in which the state apparatus is appropriated by a dominant ethnic group to further its interests, power and resources.” Despite strong opposition from the Tamil nation, the island underwent a name change from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, creating a republic, cutting political ties with Britain, producing two constitutions so far, all the while  purporting to deny equality of status to the Tamils, that which the Tamil nation is owed and entitled to. This the Sinhala nation did by essentially discounting and disregarding that which was envisaged and advocated by the two British officials – that the Tamil nation in the North and East and the Sinhalese nation in the South and West, “divided between them the possession of the island.” And that the Tamil language should be put on an equal footing of encouragement with Sinhalese.

The grievances of these people need to be heard because their situation is dire. When Britain gave Ceylon its independence in 1948, Tamils acquiesced in the hope that they will be treated equally, fairly and justly. To the contrary, the Tamils were betrayed right from the start, slowly but surely they have been now relegated to 2^nd class and worse have had a genocide perpetrated on them.

It’s a sad irony, in the midst of this crisis, created by Sinhala politicians, the whole world has called on Sri Lanka to return to democratic values and to respect and abide by the constitution. http://www.ft.lk/top-story/US-urges-responsible-and-quick-end-to-SL-crisis/26-668274  In actual fact those very instruments, expected to provide protection for the Tamil people, were utilized to crush them and deprive them of their fundamental human rights. The very same democratic institutions, the so called constitution of Sri Lanka and laws of the land, those instruments that are held sacred, in truth, violated their rights.

Tamils stand stripped of the protection laid down by the Soulbury constitution – a constitution that the British colonial power left behind in the island. Incorporated into the Soulbury constitution, drafted by Sir Ivor Jennings, was section 29/2 – a safeguard provided for Tamils, the majority in the North and East, from the tyranny of the majority in the South. Section 29/2, a provision that was supposed to be entrenched, was removed in the new 1972 republican constitution. Furthermore, the 13^th amendment to the 1978 constitution that provides for provincial councils have no teeth, no fiscal powers, no land or police powers; while power was centralized these councils were tantamount to glorified municipal councils or worse (www.TamilNation.com).

Sadly, a constitution that would guarantee the right to self determination https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx for Tamils where they have control over their affairs, and create laws and policies in their best interest, would never materialize – as long as power to draft and facilitate its passage lies in the hands of a Sinhala Buddhist hegemonic nationalist parliament. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides that – all peoples have the right of self-determination – by virtue of that right they are entitled to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Furthermore the 6^th amendment is a flagrant violation of Articles 18 and 19 of the same ICCPR – the right to freedom of thought and conscience and freedom of speech.

Again as long as the 6th Amendment which criminalises any and all advocacy for an independent state is not abolished, the Tamil people’s right to, “freely determine their political status,” would never be theirs. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/solidifying-legitimacy-for-an-independent-tamil-eelam/ The fair and the right way forward is to conduct a referendum, sponsored by the international community, to determine what the people of the North and East including the Tamil diaspora, who have as much a stake, want – whether they want to stay subjugated in a unitary, united, undivided, indivisible Sri Lanka under a majoritarian stranglehold, or desire a federal system under a power sharing arrangement, or favour an independent state.   https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/vaddukoddai-resolution-more-relevant-now-than-ever-before/  

In the case of the most critical of issues for the Tamil people, that of securing a political solution, it is imperative that major powers led by the UK, make the call for such a referendum, that’s monitored by the international community, to ensure ‘Tamil destiny is in Tamil hands’ – UK, which has a historical duty to put things right, as the last colonizer, which unified the three kingdoms in the island under one administration and left a unitary system in place.

Tamils need to be inspired by East Timor, South Sudan, Kosovo, Scotland and Catalonia to name a few who had huge challenges before them but still conducted referenda to get the views of their people and let them decide – some won independence, others aren’t giving up. The passion, commitment, dedication and sacrifice of the leaders and people who never gave up, and are not willing to give up, are the attributes that finally helped them, and will help them to emerge victorious, and will hopefully help us too. 

Tamils have been crying out for an independent international investigation for mass atrocities committed in Mullivaikkaal – international crimes that include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – none of which Sri Lanka is capable of litigating, when the perpetrators are the Sri Lankan armed forces and senior political leaders in the government in power at the time. Despite co-sponsoring a UNHRC resolution providing for a domestic mechanism with foreign participation, Sri Lanka has not taken any action to towards establishing a war crimes court. Tamils knew a domestic mechanism was a non-starter when the president himself has said he would neither allow his soldiers to be prosecuted nor agree to any foreign participation – in fact he himself is an alleged war criminal. It was crystal clear Sri Lanka cannot be relied upon to prosecute its armed forces  https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/unhrc-cannot-rely-on-sri-lanka-to-prosecute-its-armed-forces-part-iii/ .

Tamils have a right to justice for such heinous crimes, under international law, provided under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – this year it’s 70 years since http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/OpEd_Genocide%20Convention%20Appeal_ENG.PDF  this enactment was adopted but sadly Tamils are unable to litigate these mass atrocities in an independent court – this is due to the fact that Sri Lanka has not signed on to the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court. The way forward to end impunity and make Sri Lanka accountable for the mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people, it is imperative for the UN Human Rights Council, led by the ‘Sri Lanka core group’ in March 2019, to ask the UN General Assembly to call on the UN Security Council to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court or to appoint a Special Tribunal for that purpose. At the 39^th session of UNHRC, the Sri Lanka core group made up https://www.gov.uk/government/news/human-rights-council-39-sri-lanka-core-group-statement of UK, Germany. Montenegro and Macedonia released a statement asking Sri Lanka to establish the national accountability mechanisms provided in resolution30/1 which it co-sponsored, expecting it to make progress towards delivering its council commitments with a time bound action plan, “prioritizing” and “driving forward implementation of resolutions 30/1 and 34/2 before  the council next considers Sri Lanka in March.”

Although suspects can also be prosecuted in individual countries, invoking ‘universal jurisdiction’, so far https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/brazil-lawsuit-accuses-jagath-jayasuriya-war-cimes-170829055025990.html there has been no success in that front. The ‘International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka’ (ITJP) last year, “filed a law suit against Jagath Jayasuriya, a former Srilankan army General who was appointed Ambassador to Brazil, who, it is alleged attacked hospitals and disappeared and tortured thousands of Tamils.” Jayasuriya escaped to Sri Lanka.

This is also the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted at the United Nations 70 years ago. http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/. While the Tamil homeland is heavily militarized and occupied with the threat of check points coming back, with members of Sri Lanka’s armed forces involved in civilian activities and where strong surveillance operations by them are ongoing; while forensic testing of all the mass graves and the hundreds of skeletal remains that have been discovered are not undertaken by foreign firms accredited to the UN; while the remains of those who were summarily executed, and extra-judicially killed haven’t been handed over to relatives, while the truth of secret prison camps, known also as death camps or torture chambers where Tamil prisoners were subjected to torture and sexual violence are not revealed; while the Prevention of Terrorism Act is not abolished, where arbitrary arrests and imprisonment without charge are still taking place; while political prisoners incarcerated under the PTA are not released; while the families of the enforced disappeared don’t get answers to the whereabouts of their loved ones still missing; while the promised list of the disappeared hasn’t still been provided by president Sirisena; while the claim made by Ranil Wickremesinghe that they are all probably dead, without providing evidence is unacceptable; while lands are still not been returned to their owners; while the lives of journalists are in danger; while Sri Lanka fails to implement its transitional justice commitment; the rights of the Tamil people remain violated.

It is worrying that the Northern Provincial Council’s term has expired in September and elections haven’t been called yet. It’s feared that elections may only be forthcoming after the general elections or the presidential elections, whenever that is. At present there is no provincial administration in the hands of elected officials in the north. The Northern Province is being administered by Governor Reginald Cooray, a Sinhala Buddhist who is unelected, who is bent on trying to change the social, cultural and religious landscape of the Tamil north. The north, one of the bastions of the Tamil homeland, the other being the east, is without a provincial government, although it has lacked real teeth anyway; yet the NPC gave a semblance of authority in name, because of the stature of Chief Minister, Justice Wigneswaran, it was a means to facilitating foreign dignitaries to meet with him and members of the Council – that helped with the exchange of information.

The unbridled expansion of the army, the state sponsored colonization of the traditional homeland of the Tamils, the Sinhalisation and Buddhisisation of Tamil areas, the erection of Buddhist shrines where there aren’t any Buddhists, the change in place names and historical sites in the Tamil homeland (for example changing Manal Aru to Weli oya), lack of translation facilities (for example Sri Lanka’s National Disaster Management Center does not post warnings in Tamil) http://www.dmc.gov.lk/index.php?lang=en, the numerous errors in translation appearing in sign boards –  are all symptomatic of Sinhala Buddhist hegemony, leading to the obliteration of the Tamil language, systematic demographic engineering, the distortion of history, the extermination of Tamil culture and the extinction of the Tamil nation, affecting the Tamil people’s right to nationhood.  

The growing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka is ongoing while the Tamil people watch helplessly – having no power to prevent it from spreading to the North and East. While the South is pawned heavily to China, Sri Lanka is now caught up in what’s described as China’s ‘debt trap diplomacy’- a modus operandi China has embarked on, designed for China to grow its empire – that has left Sri Lanka to carry a huge debt burden it cannot service and won’t be able to pay off for generations to come. The Tamil people have to not only suffer the consequences of this bad alliance – the danger of China extending its tentacles to the North and East, a location strategic in the Indian Ocean is real; while Tamils have no say in such serious incursions into their independence, affecting their economic and security interests – the rights of the Tamil people in the island are seriously violated.  

Regardless of who’s in power, for Tamils the chances of securing their rights are nil. Rights that would improve their situation, making it favourable for them to flourish, prosper and thrive as a people.

And while those human rights are in peril, international intervention becomes a necessity. This is the considered view of the former Chief Minister, Justice Wigneswaran https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/continuous-chaos-in-parliament-underscores-need-for-international-input-in-war-crimes-investigations-wigneswaran/ : 

“The World community will now be able to gauge if this is how peers and equals in Parliament are treated by our Parliamentarians most of whom belong to the majority community, how their soldiers would have treated the minority communities under their complete authority and power. The World community should now realise why we insist on International input into the war crimes’ inquiry..No Sri Lankan Government will grant anything to Tamils and the responsibility to solve the ethnic conflict lies with the International Community. The International Community should now act with greater responsibility knowing the type of people they are dealing with to place a proper war crimes’ investigation mechanism before the forthcoming UNHRC sessions in Geneva regardless of who is in power in Sri Lanka.”

Tamils are very vulnerable, no matter who’s in power. Whoever wins this power struggle, the situation for Tamils won’t change – they would still wake up to a Sinhala president and a prime minister – neither self rule nor justice will be within sight. Tamils have gained nothing by holding the balance of power – it has never worked in their favour – never, it is purely illusory – It’s been the case, in times of crisis, in the event of a power struggle or at elections or after, Tamils are forced to align with one party or other, but end up being betrayed by them, only to be used and discarded, “like a disposable napkin.”

This opportunity brought about by the crisis in Sri Lanka would indeed be persuasive to convince the international community. This may be the best chance available for Tamils to force some urgent international action to win back their inalienable rights and freedoms. Tamil parties must prioritise the needs of the Tamil people and go forward with a new narrative, new thinking & a new approach, regardless of whether it will be acceptable to the South – Supporting Ranil Wickremesinghe may be a fait accompli, but it would be best not to go further and help prop him up without asserting our independence. Hence forward they must not compromise Tamil needs to fit in to the Sinhala Buddhist agenda. They must stop behaving like paid servants. 

Shakespeare’s words are so apt in these circumstances: There is a tide..which taken at the flood leads to fortune.. we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures.

Tamil Rights Are Human Rights.

“I hate you, mom!”

                                                                                                             By Ted Thana

This is the story of Philomena (Lolo) and her mother Jennifer. Jennifer wishes to protect her daughter’s relationship, which she yearns for, and her well-meaning advice.

Lolo takes offense at everything and Jennifer kept stayed in control in order to avoid having arguments that escalate into hurtful, ugly fights. Tantrums and tears were a normal emotional outburst in their home. They were typical mother-daughter conflicts. Jennifer, struggled to understand Lolo, whom she thought she knew her inside out, as she thought of her own teenage years and her toddler years.

To LoLo, the experience of being a teenager thrilled and overjoyed her as she would be given more responsibility and freedom. However, over the last few months, an invisible barrier had insinuated itself between them.  Lolo was raring to fly…. she objected to restrictions of any kind. Overnight her mother had turned into a witch of sorts.

“There’s no point in talking to you: you don’t understand me. You don’t even know me.”

LoLo spits these words at Jennifer,  who is hurt and outraged. How can her own child say these things? She’s worked hard to know her own child. How can her own child now say to her, “You don’t know who I really am?”

The communication that flowed easily, with words, glances and touch, that her once affectionate daughter is now, at 15, surly and guarded, with “porcupine-like spines a minefield, that bristle whenever I get near her.”

“No, you can’t go out tonight,” causes more than a problem in  LoLo’s  social diary. It implies that Jennifer doesn’t trust her to make her own decisions. And, in LoLo’s eyes, that’s not only unfair; it’s humiliating.

“No Lolo, you can’t stay out so late. Fifteen is no age to go alone to coffee shops and discos, that usually spiral into a night filled with pills and unknown men at the back of clubs.  unless you want to end up at some police station,” said Jennifer.

“You’re such a wet blanket… Other parents don’t object…. They treat their children like adults” yelled LoLo.

“Other parents may be rich enough to bail their children out of trouble. I have neither the means nor the inclination. Besides, I earn just enough to keep the wolf from the door.” answered Jennifer.

“I hate you!” screamed Lolo. “I wish you weren’t my mother! You are the worst mom ever! I can’t wait to get out of this house…. I hate it here!”

This earnest speech made Jennifer’s blood boil. Controlling herself with difficulty she said, “Do you have any idea how silly you sound? Lolo, you are only fifteen years old!”

Lolo was confused at her mother’s reaction. She allowed any number of her classmates, boys and girls, at her age to come home to study. Jennifer always bought her the latest in fashion fads.  Her friends called them the best mother any fifteen-year-old could have! Instead, why was she so upset?

Jennifer, in turn realized that some days she felt the same way. Ugly words, unmet expectations and uncontrollable crying, screaming at me that she was a terrible person can fill a mother-daughter relationship with tension. So much tears and crying, when will all this end?

There are few things in the world that hurt Jennifer more than hearing LoLo say,“I hate you.” The words cut like a knife. The child I love so much and sacrificed for in so many ways now hates me.

“I hate you, mom! I wish you were dead!”           

“Don’t you appreciate all that I have done for you?”

It’s so easy to take this as a personal attack because when we give up so much for someone, we almost always expect good things from them in return. Doesn’t Lolo understand the sacrifices that I have made for her and that I love her?

Lolo stood staring at the framed portrait on the wall. A tall handsome man with the most endearing smile looked out at her.

“Where is he anyhow? Shouldn’t he be providing for us?” LoLo couldn’t hide the anger in her voice.

Jennifer stifled a sob. “I told you a thousand times…. He lived just long enough to hold you in his arms.”

“I don’t believe a word you say. I’m not a kid anymore. I can put two and two together.”
Jennifer bit her lip from crying. She must not let her daughter ruffle her.

“Whether you believe it or not it’s the truth. It doesn’t matter what you think. But if you live under my roof, I’ll expect respect from you, and compliance with the rules I lay down.”

LoLo walked away even before she could finish and banged her bedroom door shut. Jennifer sat motionless for a while.

I just don’t know what’s passing through LoLo’s mind. Why would I tell her my husband is dead if he is living elsewhere?’

In her room LoLo paced the floor, seething with frustration.

I’m so angry I can cry, she thought, how can any mother be so inconsiderate? She wants me tied to her apron strings, as though I can’t take care of myself. What’s a little fun with my friends going to do? Perhaps what they say about her is true. She doesn’t want me to repeat the mistakes she made….“I’m sure I was born out of wedlock.”The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that Jennifer had been a teenage mother, jilted by her lover. The man in the picture must have disappeared when he found she was pregnant. She’s never fallen in love again because she trusts nobody. But why must I suffer for her folly? No one can take me for a ride. She decided to get to the bottom of this come what may. She would track down the man, who called her mother as Paul, and tell him what a despicable creature he was.

Jennifer worked as a Supervisor of a large Super Market. She had been working there ever since her bereavement. Though the salary was not too high, she felt secure and happy in her job.

“Of course I can never afford to buy any of the clothes on sale here. But, occasionally when there are discounts, I pick up some affordable pieces for Lolo.”

Jennifer was not yet forty. From her appearance no one could tell she had a fifteen-year-old daughter. She was well proportioned and always neatly dressed. There was about her a charm which made her attractive. Though many young men had sought to woo her, she had quietly turned them down.

“Why don’t you go out on a date?” her friends would ask, “Do you want to turn into a sour old maid?”

“I’m not ready for dates as yet. Perhaps after LoLo has grown up.”

“Don’t leave it too long. Time waits for no one.”

That evening, she took a bus to the Centennial Park. Of late, the thought of going home bothered her.
“Our home has been turned into a war zone,” she thought, “Everything I say has to be contradicted. Everything I do is wrong. I didn’t realise that teenagers can be so cruel.”

From the bus stop she walked a good fifteen minutes to Eden Gardens, overlooking a small hill. When Paul was alive this used to be their rendezvous point. When he died, he wanted his ashes to be scattered over this place. “I don’t want to be trapped in a cold grave. I want to be borne on the wings of the wind,” he had said. In troubled times, she often came and sat here for a while. Jennifer and Paul had enjoyed an incredibly happy life together – never apart from their first meeting, working together in a successful field, travelling to far away places.

“Jenny dear,” he used to say, “When you’re worried or in pain, look above the clouds and you’ll see a rainbow there. If only I could glimpse that rainbow today!” she thought.

Meanwhile, Lolo was sure that her mother would not return till evening. She had never peered into her mother’s cupboards before. Now she was determined to unearth the truth about Jennifer’s past, so that she could blackmail her mother into giving her more freedom. She ransacked the cupboard but could find nothing incriminating there. Then she moved down to the bottom drawer. It was filled with a man’s belongings. Hidden away inside the folds of a shirt, was a diary and an envelope with photographs. LoLo squatted on the floor impatient to read what was inside. It was addressed to “My daughter, when she turns eighteen. I’m sorry I cannot be there for her.”

Now LoLo was sure that the man had deserted her mother. But, as she began to read, she became more agitated, and tears flowed down in rivulets.
“I had just won the gold medal for being the fastest athlete in the State. It was also the day when I met this charming girl. I looked into the limpid depths of those eyes when she took my hand to congratulate me. And I knew that one day I would hold that hand in mine forever. She became my inspiration, and I went on to become the National Athletic Champion.”

But soon after this glory, Paul was diagnosed with a malignant testicular tumour. He was just twenty-four years old. He would have to undergo surgery followed by radiotherapy and would not be able to sire a child. The doctors decided that in view of his age, they would cryopreserve his semen, so that he could have his biological child at a later date.

“We’ll call off the wedding,” he told Jennifer, “You cannot marry me now.”

But marry they did, soon after his therapy, and shared two blissful years together. “Now is the best time to have our baby. You’re fine now,” Jennifer insisted.

“No,” Paul protested, “I might not be there long enough to care for the baby.”

Jennifer had her way and went through the IVF procedure. When she became pregnant, they were both overjoyed. Paul’s excitement made him forget his illness.

However, when Jennifer was in her eighth month, Paul became very ill.
“I know I’m going to die,” he wrote in his diary, “I’m never going to see my little one.”

Jennifer had other plans. She was determined that Paul would see his daughter before he died. The doctors objected.

“She’s too tiny. You’ll have to wait. “We can’t wait,” Jennifer pleaded, “He’s dying, and he must see his child before that.”

Paul’s writing had become spidery. In some parts, words were almost illegible.
“Today I held our tiny baby in my arms,” he wrote, “How beautiful you are my little doll! All I wanted was to hug my Angel just once. Now I can die in peace. I’m your Dad. Will you remember me?”

LoLo pulled out a photograph from the envelope.

“My God!” she cried, “Is this the same person whose portrait is on the wall?”

This was a shrunken man holding a tiny baby in his arms. Yet he looked so happy.
LoLo hurriedly replaced everything in the drawer and ran out of the room. She was standing at the framed portrait, looking at her father’s picture with tears in her eyes when Jennifer walked in, dreading more tears and tantrums. But everything was so peaceful for a change.

“Is this the calm before another storm?” she wondered.

But before she could even think further, two arms were around her.

“I’m sorry Mom,” LoLo sobbed, “I’m so sorry I disbelieved you, and for the worry that I have put you through as I learned my mistakes. I love you Mom. There’ll be tears no more, ever!”

Ted Thana – Mississauga

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Mathew 25:40

This is the Christmas Season – traditionally regarded as the season of hope and reconciliation – both spiritually and as a purpose of living. Though we have moved away for the most part from the spiritual aspect directly, our purpose of living warrants clear thinking of what our obligations are to the society that we live in – many of the aspects are hard wired in the teachings of Christ.

We as Sri Lankan Tamils, now living in the comforts of guaranteed Western democratic values, comforts and safety nets have a greater responsibility, to our fellow humans, who are in unfortunate situations all around the world.We should always remember that we were once worthless, penniless and faceless – running for our dear lives as refugees across the countries and continents.

As our eyes fall upon the familiar birth of Christ manger scenes with cattle and hay scattered throughout our churches and homes this Christmas season, it is hard not to think about the millions of people from that same manger land who are seeking refuge from terror and oppression now 2,000 years later.

Where will they go? Who will give them shelter?

As somebody not long ago quipped comparing the conditions under which Jesus was born -” if only we had a seasonally appropriate story about middle eastern people seeking refuge being turned away by the heartless.”

The many conservative commentators reacted to this sentiment arguing that “Christmas is about Christ and not about Syrian or Iraqi refugees and that the holy family was simply returning to Bethlehem for a census.” Factually, these critics are right. But, they miss the much larger point of the Christmas narrative.

The Christmas story is not about a refugee family, but it is about a family seeking refuge. Ordered by an occupying government to travel by foot for days on end so that Caesar Augustus could count the number of people under his order – an expectant mother at the peak of her pregnancy is forced to undergo the single most dangerous experience of a first-century woman’s life not at home, but away in a manger.

It was a fiercely political environment through which they wandered. The land of Palestine including Jerusalem and its environ, were occupied by the Roman Emperor and his powerful army and administered by his appointed Governors. Why should we pretend like it wasn’t?

The Christmas story should open our eyes and our hearts to those most vulnerable in our midst. To those whose only hope is to travel by foot and inflatable  raft for days in search of a livable life—many of whom look very much like the Middle Eastern parents of Jesus.

Then there is the crux that divides the people of the Middle East as Muslims and the rest, in our hearts and minds. Religious discrimination is not simply an anti-democratic notion and value, it flies in the face of foundational Christian values.

When Jesus is asked how one inherits eternal life, he responds with the story of the Good Samaritan. The ‘parable of the Good Samaritan’ told by Jesus is about a traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First a priest and then a learned scribe comes by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan happens upon the traveler. Despite Samaritans and Jews despised each other, the Samaritan helps the injured man. Jesus tells the parable, the conclusion of which is that the neighbor figure in the parable is the man who shows mercy to the injured man—that is, the Samaritan.

Imagine the Pope, when asked how one gets into heaven, answering with a story about a young Muslim from Syria. This is the story Jesus tells.

Jesus tells us to welcome the stranger, to feed the hungry, to go and sell our possessions and give the money to the poor. Jesus asks that we treat all of humanity with the same love, kindness and generosity that he modeled throughout his life.

The Christmas story reminds us of a family struggling under the yoke of an oppressive regime. Of a God who became human to take on our struggles and strife and to embody divine love, whose light shines equally on all. As he tells us, whatever we have done for the least among us, we have done to him.

As followers and admirers of Jesus we are called to welcome the strangers of our time. To return the care shown by the Good Samaritan to today’s marginalized communities. And to open our hearts and our doors to those seeking refuge this Christmas season.

The above Report was released on March 2019 which is without doubt forthright, frank and candid and has highlighted the ground situation in Sri Lanka as far as its implementations of the UNHRC Resolutions 30/1 and 30/4 despite lapse of almost four years.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed her criticisms, concerns and disappointments regarding the political attitude of Sri Lanka in implementing these Recommendations. Her conclusion and own Recommendations confirm the realities in Sri Lanka.

This letter is a summary of some important matters including her own plea to the member UNHRC countries requesting them to initiate steps to ensure Justice and Accountability for the war crimes and ensure proper remedies for the war victims in Sri Lanka.

[1] She has “Questioned the capacity and willingness of the Sri Lankan State to address complex and emblematic cases”.
Example: War crimes prosecutions.

[2] She has also observed “Instances of political interferences in judicial and investigative process including limited progress towards achieving Accountability”.
Example:  Killing of 5 students in Trincomalee in 2006 and the killings of 17 Action Farm Aid workers in Muthur in 2007

[3] She is “Concerned about State capacity and willingness to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of serious crimes when they are linked to Security Forces or linked to State power.

4. She has also “Exposed the political interference in Judicial and investigative process and the lack of political support of leadership including failure to establish a domestic trustworthy judicial mechanism to address impunity”.

[5] She also confirmed “Lack of decisive steps taken so far on Accountability, Rule of Law and Human Rights”.

With a view to remedy the grievances of affected victims and to ensure Accountability and Justice while closing the door of impunity, she has rightly and justly recommended:

            [a] “Universal Jurisdiction for enforcement by United Nations member states against accused war criminals”.

            [b] “Some forms of international investigation to ensure prosecution of suspected perpetrators of war crimes etc. like United Nations Investigations by UN Special Tribunal or by UN’s Ad-hoc Tribunal.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged the UNHRC Members to act on her above Recommendations and as such a solemn duty and responsibility lies on them to seriously consider implementing her above Recommendations without any delay only to ensure the compliance of Human Rights enshrined in the United Nations and Human Rights Charter and related United Nations Conventions.

 It is also suggested for all Member States to explore the options of imposing Economic, Political and/or Diplomatic sanctions either individually or collectively as punitive measures as well as deterrents against Sri Lanka to honor the UNHRC Recommendations.

 Tamils sincerely hope and trust that you and your reputed Country will stand firm and support hand in hand with the respected UN High Commissioner to guarantee the credibility, reputation and standing of UNHRC and UN particularly to uphold and dispense the delayed justice to the victims of human rights in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

                                                              Michelle Bachelet – U.N. Commissioner For Human Rights

           By Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] . Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The above Report was released on March 2019 which is without doubt forthright, frank and candid and has highlighted the ground situation in Sri Lanka as far as its implementations of the UNHRC Resolutions 30/1 and 30/4 despite lapse of almost four years.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed her criticisms, concerns and disappointments regarding the political attitude of Sri Lanka in implementing these Recommendations. Her conclusion and own Recommendations confirm the realities in Sri Lanka.

This letter is a summary of some important matters including her own plea to the member UNHRC countries requesting them to initiate steps to ensure Justice and Accountability for the war crimes and ensure proper remedies for the war victims in Sri Lanka.

[1] She has “Questioned the capacity and willingness of the Sri Lankan State to address complex and emblematic cases”.
Example: War crimes prosecutions.

[2] She has also observed “Instances of political interferences in judicial and investigative process including limited progress towards achieving Accountability”.
Example:  Killing of 5 students in Trincomalee in 2006 and the killings of 17 Action Farm Aid workers in Muthur in 2007

[3] She is “Concerned about State capacity and willingness to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of serious crimes when they are linked to Security Forces or linked to State power.

4. She has also “Exposed the political interference in Judicial and investigative process and the lack of political support of leadership including failure to establish a domestic trustworthy judicial mechanism to address impunity”.

[5] She also confirmed “Lack of decisive steps taken so far on Accountability, Rule of Law and Human Rights”.

With a view to remedy the grievances of affected victims and to ensure Accountability and Justice while closing the door of impunity, she has rightly and justly recommended:

            [a] “Universal Jurisdiction for enforcement by United Nations member states against accused war criminals”.

            [b] “Some forms of international investigation to ensure prosecution of suspected perpetrators of war crimes etc. like United Nations Investigations by UN Special Tribunal or by UN’s Ad-hoc Tribunal.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged the UNHRC Members to act on her above Recommendations and as such a solemn duty and responsibility lies on them to seriously consider implementing her above Recommendations without any delay only to ensure the compliance of Human Rights enshrined in the United Nations and Human Rights Charter and related United Nations Conventions.

 It is also suggested for all Member States to explore the options of imposing Economic, Political and/or Diplomatic sanctions either individually or collectively as punitive measures as well as deterrents against Sri Lanka to honor the UNHRC Recommendations.

 Tamils sincerely hope and trust that you and your reputed Country will stand firm and support hand in hand with the respected UN High Commissioner to guarantee the credibility, reputation and standing of UNHRC and UN particularly to uphold and dispense the delayed justice to the victims of human rights in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

From left to right: Presenter Robbie Greenfield discusses the future of golf tourism with Christopher May, Mark Chapleski and Tom Phillips at AHIC on the Road in Dubai Earlie

Golf tourism in the Middle East has been able to make use of the Covid-19 shutdown to significantly grow its market position, delegates at AHIC on the Road have heard.

Following a brief shutdown in March, the sector has quickly rebounded, taking advantage of its safe reputation to welcome record demand over the summer.

Christopher May, chief executive of Dubai Golf, said: “It was a challenging time initially, but what it did was bring everybody in the industry together to create a safe environment to play the game.

“We focused on the important areas, collaborating to make golf as safe as possible.

“The demand to be outside, which golf provides, was very high – the challenge we then faced over the summer was managing demand.

“Summer can be a low season here in the Middle East, but we saw an uptick this year.

“The measures we took were then embraced in the region, as well as for the game of golf globally – we have been able to offer advice to golfers around the world.”

Dubai Golf manages the three leading golf clubs in the region including Emirates Golf Club and Jumeirah Golf Estates.

The third course, Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, will this month host the World Golf Awards, an industry leading showcase of the global golf tourism sector.

Taking place on October 29th, attendees will enjoy 18-holes at Dubai Creek, before joining a sumptuous gala ceremony at the Park Hyatt Dubai in the evening.

May continued: “The Park Hyatt Dubai has a fantastic general manager, Mattheos Georgiou, who really understands golf; that it is important to have the right mix, to integrate golf so the location works as one.

“We had 2,500 golfers last year, who played at Dubai Creek, and that number will continue to grow.

“The importance of golf is significant, and a hotel that understands that can really benefit.”

Mark Chapleski, president of Troon International, echoed the sentiments, arguing golf had seized a window of opportunity.

He told AHIC delegates: “Our properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were ground zero for overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We saw there were going to be issues, and began to develop protocols to overcome them.

“We knew golf was a safe sport and we developed the safety measures – thermal screening, masks, sanitisation and single-use cards – so we could reopen on April 7th.

“There has been tremendous supported by the government, which meant we were only closed for a couple of weeks.”

He added: “There is huge pent up desire for travel – so when it does come back, demand is going to be astronomical.

“We are seeing a surge in demand for gold; across the summer in the UK demand was up 60 per cent, while the United States is seeing rises of 30 per cent.

“Golf is seen as a safe activity, and people who have not played for five-to-ten years, latent golfers, have returned as a way to get outside.”

Tom Phillips, head of the European PGA Tour in the Middle East, also confirmed the DP World Tour Championship would go ahead this year, although in the slightly later slot of December 10th-13th.

Hosted at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, the event is seen as the traditional season finale.

“Golf is a $25 billion industry, so it will come back; there are 390 million golfers around the world each year – and they are drawn to courses where the PGA Tour visits.

“From a hotel perspective, we need a team of at least 500 people to make a tournament, and they all need to stay in a hotel – so the economic return of hosting a tournament can be significant.”

Copied From : www.breakingtravelnews.com

By Laurence Broers
South Caucasus expert, Chatham House

Renewed hostilities have been raging between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces around the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the southern Caucasus.In scale and scope, the fighting that broke out on Sunday surpasses the periodic escalations of recent years, involving heavy artillery, tanks, missiles and drones.So far there are more than 100 confirmed deaths among civilians and Armenian combatants killed in action. Azerbaijan does not release data on its military losses, but these can be assumed to be at least as high.The fighting appears to be driven by an attempt by Azerbaijani forces to recapture swathes of territories occupied by Armenian forces in the Karabakh war after the Soviet Union collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Azeris were displaced from these areas in 1992-4.The escalation follows a tense year – a diplomatic standoff, belligerent rhetoric and clashes in July to the north in the area of the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

• What are Armenia and Azerbaijan fighting over?
• Nagorno-Karabakh: BBC visits Azerbaijan’s side of frontline

What are the dangers?

Previous escalations between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been contained after a few days. The intensity of the current fighting indicates that this may not be possible this time.

Populated areas within the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh have been hit by missile strikes and bombardments for the first time since the 1990s. Civilian targets in Armenia and in Azerbaijan have also been hit.

Both sides appear to be digging in for a longer conflict. Azerbaijan has rejected renewed negotiations with Armenia, and unlike in previous escalations it has a greater degree of Turkish support to count on. The danger is that a longer, protracted conflict will see increased involvement by outside powers, risking a wider regional war.

What is Turkey’s role?

Turkey has traditionally provided moral and diplomatic support to its fellow Turkic nation and key geo-strategic partner Azerbaijan. Contacts between defence officials of both states intensified after July’s clashes, and joint military exercises followed.Since the fighting started on Sunday, Turkey has declared its unconditional support to Azerbaijan, and appears to be lending Azerbaijani various kinds of military capability. There is little doubt that highly regarded Turkish military drone technology is being deployed.Yerevan has also accused Ankara of shooting down an Armenian SU-25 aircraft on 29 September, which Ankara denies. Although such claims have been made before and found to be untrue, there are also unconfirmed – but growing – claims that Turkey has mobilised mercenaries from Syria to fight for Azerbaijan.

What is Russia’s role?

Russia plays diverse, often contradictory, roles in the conflict. Through bilateral ties and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, Moscow provides Armenia with security guarantees, but these do not extend to the combat zone in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

Moscow also supplies weapons to both sides and is one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group mediating the conflict.Russia has called for a ceasefire, but unlike previous large-scale escalations it has yet to convene a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani political or military leaderships.

Moscow has an uneasy relationship with Armenia’s new post-2018 leader Nikol Pashinyan, and Yerevan would undoubtedly prefer to handle the escalation as far as possible on its own. Russia was not able in the 1990s to deploy peacekeeping forces on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian misgivings that Moscow’s assistance would come with strings attached drives caution in asking for Russian support.

For as long as combat is contained to contested territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the optics of preserving Russian neutrality make Moscow’s overt involvement unlikely. However, a longer conflict with increasing Turkish participation would threaten Russia’s dominance in an area it considers part of its sphere of privileged interests, and invite a response.

How has the international community reacted?

With the exception of Turkey, other regional and global powers have called for restraint. Iran, Georgia and Qatar have offered to mediate. A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on 29 September affirmed the primary role of the Minsk Group, chaired by France, Russia and the United States, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, in mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

• Learn more about Nagorno-Karabakh

But concentrating sufficient international attention and commitment to renewing diplomacy will be challenging. The fighting coincides with a period of international distraction due to the global pandemic, the US elections and a traditional pattern where focus falls away once a ceasefire is agreed.

How might events play out?

Rapid and consolidated military success, either through recapture of significant territory by Azerbaijan, or the repelling of Azerbaijani operations by Armenian forces, could open up scope for a ceasefire, but trigger domestic instability in whichever side fares worse.

The longer that fighting goes on, and/or if one side is seen to be losing in a more protracted struggle, the more likely it is that Russia and Turkey will face difficult choices over whether to become more involved.

Laurence Broers is Caucasus programme director at peace-building organisation Conciliation Resources and author of Armenia and Azerbaijan: Anatomy of a Rivalry

Copied From : http://www.bbc.com

Dancehall music, as well as its surrounding community, were cornerstones of artist, designer, stylist, and creative director Akeem Smith’s formative years. “There would be sound systems being put up every day, just blasting music,” he says, summoning early memories of his time spent in Kingston, Jamaica’s Waterhouse district. “No specific event or reason, that’s just the way it was.” The Ouch Collective, a fashion atelier that created outré ensembles for dancers on the scene, was co-founded by Smith’s aunt, Paula, and grandmother. Still, for all of Smith’s familiarity with the dancehall scene, he says there was a time that he held it at a distance. “I never saw myself fitting into it at all,” he says. “It started to shift when I began working in more predominantly white spaces.” As a design consultant, he found that clients were often looking for something new and fresh, and the scene he’d grown up in could easily fit the bill. “You’re working with people who inherently lack what you have, and they’re hunting for it. And I just had it,” Smith says.

He made a decision early on to keep his dancehall knowledge to himself—“I wasn’t going to be the Mayflower, conquistador, or nothing like that”—but not anymore. Smith has been compiling a comprehensive archive of ephemera, and soon it will all be on display. For more than a decade, Smith has been reaching out to family and friends to build an archive of photos and videos documenting ‘90s dancehall as it happened. At one point, he had the idea of making a textbook out of his images “to riff on posterity, and these sort of insurgent narratives,” but it soon became clear that something on a larger scale was needed to capture Smith’s vision. The culmination of these efforts is his first major solo show, called “No Gyal Can Test” at Red Bull Arts New York. The multidisciplinary exhibition in some ways has been a lifetime in the making, drawing on Smith’s upbringing in both Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Kingston. Asked how long his work days have been in the lead-up to opening, Smith answers without hesitation: “Twenty-two hours,” he says. “Deadass.”

The name “No Gyal Can Test” made its way to Akeem via one of the photos in his collection. Scribbled on the back of a snapshot, it’s a testament to the brash, bold look and sound of ‘90s dancehall, in which party attendees wore increasingly dramatic outfits in an attempt to outdo everyone else on the scene. Walking through the exhibit feels akin to wandering through a late-night dance floor labyrinth, videos of dancehall queens everywhere you turn. “It was a sort of nocturnal economy,” he says of the original purpose of the party videos. “There would be stores in London [where you could buy videos], stores in New York, or wherever there was a Caribbean neighborhood. It felt like a form of social media because the video acted as the platform to show yourself, and you were really performing for unknown viewers.” That idea of the unknown viewer looms in “No Gyal Can Test,” as Smith, at once appreciative and protective of the culture that raised him, obscures many of the exhibition’s visuals. “Not all images will be clear,” he says. “Some of them are covered with some of the actual looks that were worn.”

The photos and videos at the heart of Smith’s multilayered show are surrounded by sculptures by artist Jessi Reaves and music by Total Freedom, Alex Somers, and Physical Therapy. In one part of the exhibition, dancehall icon Bounty Killer can be heard reading passages by Jamaican scholar Carolyn Cooper. Throughout the show, a number of free-standing walls have been created from pieces of knocked-down Kingston structures. “A lot of it is from social spaces, little stalls and bars and stuff,” Smith explains. “Nothing is replicated. It’s all salvaged material that we repurposed.”

Original outfits by Ouch Collective are featured prominently throughout Smith’s work. His Aunt Paula, the driving force behind the fashion house, recently flew up to New York to attend the show’s opening. As for how the label’s name came to be, she says, “When you would come out dressed in your clothes, the guys hanging out on the street would say, ‘Ouch! You’re hurting me, you’re so gorgeous. My cousin said, ‘Why don’t we call ourselves Ouch? They’re already saying it,’ and it kind of stuck.”

The line got its start in 1992 with a couple of embellished and airbrushed tees and went on to have its designs carried at stores like Patricia Field, but the bulk of the business revolved around churning out custom, one-time-use creations for the community. “That’s a part of the dancehall scene—you cannot repeat the fashion,” Paula says. “It’s too extravagant, it’s too detailed. Everyone would remember.” She has fond memories of Smith being in the shop “when he was knee-high to a grasshopper,” and was eager to help out with the exhibition in any way she could. “There’s hardly anything that’s really pre-arranged in dancehall, so I liked the idea from the onset because I wanted it to be documented. I wanted the greater public to understand what dancehall depicted, what it really meant.”

Originally slated to open on April 10, the opening of “No Gyal Can Test” has adapted to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. In lieu of a typical opening party, Red Bull Arts plans to fete the show from September 24-25 with a 24-hour event so that viewers can see the show while remaining socially distanced. (Gallery attendants will be outfitted in uniforms by Grace Wales Bonner.) Post kick-off, guests can reserve a 30-minute time slot for themselves and a friend anytime during the show’s run, which ends on November 15.

Aunt Paula, who’d already done a walkthrough of the show when we spoke, was transported by the final result. “I felt like I was back home within my culture and the time. It just brought me back.” Smith, however, is thinking far beyond nostalgia when he envisions the impact of his work. “I don’t really live in the present. I live 20 minutes ahead. This show, for me, is not even for this generation of people,” he says. “It’s for 2130. The present will be ancient one day, and that’s something that I’m aware of as a researcher, as a daydreamer with a wild imagination.”

Copied From : www.vogue.com

The national federation, though, did not disclose the names of the players who are being kept under “medical supervision” in an isolated environment.

A player each from second division teams FC Bengaluru United and Bhawanipore FC have tested positive for COVID-19 days before the start of I-League Qualifiers, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said on Thursday.

The national federation, though, did not disclose the names of the players who are being kept under “medical supervision” in an isolated environment.

The I-League Qualifiers are slated to kick off in Kolkata on October 8.

“It is to be notified that one player each from FC Bengaluru United and Bhawanipore FC have tested positive,” the AIFF said in a statement.

The AIFF, in close coordination with the I-League Qualifiers host Indian Football Association (IFA) and medical authorities, are conducting regular COVID-19 tests on all participating officials, players and support staff.

“All appropriate medical support is being given to the teams, and the players who tested positive are under medical supervision in a quarantined environment as required by the safety measures and COVID-19 protocols put in place for the tournament,” the AIFF added in the statement.

“In addition, and as part of our commitment to ensure the safety of all participating teams and operational staff, the AIFF and the IFA will continue to conduct COVID-19 tests for all required personnel in line with the agreed safety regulations.”

The qualifiers will take place at two venues – Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata and the Kalyani Municipal Stadium in Kalyani.

All teams have reached the venue. The AIFF is taking care of the teams’ lodging and transportation.

Copied From : indianexpress.com

KEY POINTS

• First-time jobless claims totaled 837,000 last week, a decline of 36,000 from the week before.
• Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 850,000.
• Continuing claims fell by nearly 1 million to 11.8 million.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 837,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday as the jobs market continues its plodding recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 850,000. The weekly total represented a decline of 36,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised 870,000, according to seasonally adjusted numbers.

This was the fifth consecutive week that claims were under 1 million after staying there for five months following the Covid-19-related economic shutdown in mid-March. However, the total is still well above anything the U.S. has seen since before the crisis.

Continuing claims provided some better news, with those collecting benefits for at least two weeks falling by 980,000 to 11.77 million. The continuing claims number runs a week behind.

However, the overall trend remains stubbornly high, with the four-week moving average of first-time claims edging lower by just 11,750 to 867,250. Prior to the pandemic, weekly claims had been around 200,000.

Those collecting benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program edged higher to 650,120. The program provides payments to those not normally eligible for benefits, such as freelancers and independent contractors.

The total for all those collecting benefits under the various government programs rose by nearly half a million to 25.53 million for the week ended Sept. 12.

More than two-thirds of individual states reported declines last week, according to unadjusted data. The biggest drops came from Florida, with 9,668, and Texas, with 8,353.

The claims number comes a day before the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report. The Labor Department is expected to report a jobs gain of 800,000 for September, which would represent a slowdown from August’s 1.37%, according to Dow Jones.

The unemployment rate is forecast to tick down two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.2%.

Copied From : https://www.cnbc.com

The Duchess of Cambridge has revealed that Prince George is currently ‘learning about volcanoes’ at school and even talked about her ‘love of cuddles’ during a call to one of the entrants from her Hold Still photograph project.

Kate, 38, who is now back at Kensington Palace, in London, after living at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, with Prince William, 38, and their three children following the COVID-19 outbreak, launched the digital exhibition for the National Portrait Gallery during lockdown.

Ceri Edwards, from South Wales, was one of the 100 finalists chosen as part of the project after submitting a sweet photograph of her daughter, Poppy, giving a big hug to her father, with the piece titled ‘Be Safe Daddy X’.

The finalist recently received a private phone call from Kate, with the royal speaking about Prince George’s current subject of volcanoes to the mother and revealing her ‘love of cuddles’ when speaking to youngster Poppy, according to Hello!.

‘The Duchess was so down-to-earth and was so wonderful with Poppy,’ Ceri told the publication following the chat.

‘She asked Poppy about her favourite topic at school and put her at ease. They talked about how important cuddles are and how they both love to give them.

‘We talked about Poppy and Prince George being in the same school year and their current school topics [Poppy’s is Brazil and Beyond and George’s is The Active World – Volcanoes].

Kate, who is a keen amateur photographer, also expressed her admiration for Ceri’s moving black-and-white photograph.

Ceri explained how the royal thanked her for the photograph and said how it ‘resonated with her and other judges’ by showing the special bond between father and daughter. 

Prince George, seven, and his sister Princess Charlotte, five, returned to Thomas’s Battersea school in London this month after months of homeschooling. 

Meanwhile, Prince George’s interest in the natural world was apparent in recent photographs of the Cambridge family with naturalist Sir David Attenborough, 94.

The young royal was gifted a fossilised giant shark’s tooth by the veteran broadcaster, after Sir David discovered Prince George was a ‘massive fan’.

Prince George was photographed looking intrigued as he handled the fossilised tooth from an extinct Carcharocles megalodon – one of the most feared predators to have swum in the seas.  

The giant shark tooth was found by Sir David during a family holiday to Malta in the late 1960s.

It was embedded in the island’s soft yellow limestone, which was laid down during the Miocene period some 23million years ago.

Copied From : www.msn.com

Viral video shows an egg being destroyed by a hammer, and what happens next will surely take you by surprise. Take a look!

The internet is a treasure trove of satisfying videos. These include food videos as well that showcase the near-hypnotic behind-the-scenes action of some of our favourite dishes. These mesmerising food videos have plenty of takers online – whether it’s a cookie being adorned with sugar icing, or an ice cube melting in a cup of hot coffee. A recently-surfaced satisfying food video shows an egg being destroyed by a hammer, and what happens next will surely take you by surprise. Here’s the video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CFe8J0lnh5b/?utm_source=ig_embed

(Also Read: Here’s The Easiest Way To Poach Eggs. All You Need Is 10 Minutes And An Oven!)

The video showed a hammer slowly dropping towards a perfect-looking egg. However, when the two came in contact, it was the hammer which exploded into pieces upon impact. How strange, right?

The video was shared on Instagram by @satisfyingxtimes, and it received 67k likes on the social media application. It was actually the brainchild of Germany-based animator, Franco Melanieh, who created the illusory video of an egg with the help of animation through a digital software.

The stunning video looked too real to users, who were quite taken aback with the visuals of it. Netizens were divided about the video – some found it weirdly satisfying while others did not take a liking to it. A user commented, “This Egg is Nokia,” while another responded, “That’s one hard-boiled egg.”

Copied From :food.ndtv.com

Under normal circumstances, aviation and the tourism it facilitates supports 87.7 million jobs worldwide. Over 11 million jobs are within the sector itself, employed at airlines, airports, civil aerospace manufacturers and air traffic management.

GENEVA – The severe downturn in air traffic this year caused by Covid-19, followed by a slow recovery will result in a loss of up to 46 million jobs normally supported by aviation around the globe, according to new industry figures released today.

Under normal circumstances, aviation and the tourism it facilitates supports 87.7 million jobs worldwide. Over 11 million jobs are within the sector itself, employed at airlines, airports, civil aerospace manufacturers and air traffic management. The near total shutdown of the system for several months, as well as the stop / start nature of the reopening means that air travel will not recover to pre-Covid levels until around 2024.

Executive Director of the cross-industry Air Transport Action Group, Michael Gill said: “With the expectation that we will see less than half the passenger traffic this year than we carried in 2019, we know that a lot of jobs in air transport and the wider economy relying on aviation are at risk. Some companies are already making difficult decisions, with many colleagues being impacted by the downturn.

“Our analysis shows that up to 4.8 million jobs in aviation may be lost by the beginning of next year, a 43% reduction from pre-Covid levels. When you expand those effects across all the jobs aviation would normally support, 46 million jobs are at risk. These include highly-skilled aviation roles, the wider tourism jobs impacted by the lack of air travel and employment throughout the supply chain in construction, catering supplies, professional services and all the other things required to run a global transport system.

“It is absolutely incumbent on governments to do whatever they can to help the sector get back on its feet so we can bring back those jobs and that economic activity. And this must go beyond schemes to support employment. Passengers and businesses need certainty around travel – not to be subject to random quarantine declarations and constantly changing lists of acceptable and unacceptable destinations.

“We know it is tough to make these decisions. But as testing improves and the prospect of a vaccine becomes clearer, we hope that more stability in the travel environment also leads to a more stable return to the wider economic role of air transport.”

Key facts outlined in Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders, include that in a normal year:

• Air transport supports 87.7 million jobs and $3.5 trillion in global economic activity.
• Over 11 million people work directly for the industry itself. Aviation jobs are, on average, 4.3 times more productive than other jobs in the economy.
• Air travel carries 35% of world trade by value ($6.5 trillion worth in 2019), but less than 1% by volume (61 million tons in 2019).
• Airfares today are around 90% lower than the same journey would have cost in 1950 – this has enabled access to air travel by greater sections of the population.
• Scope of the industry: 1,478 airlines flew 33,299 aircraft on 48,000 routes between 3,780 airports in airspace managed by 162 air navigation service providers.
• 58% of world tourists travel to their destinations by air.

Impact of Covid-19:

• Aviation-supported jobs potentially fall by 46 million to 41.7 million (-52.5%)
• Direct aviation jobs (at airlines, airports, manufacturers and air traffic management) fall by 4.8 million (a 43% reduction compared with pre-Covid situation)
• Nearly 39,200 special repatriation flights took nearly 5.4 million citizens home after borders closed in March 2020.
• Nearly 46,400 special cargo flights transported 1.5 million tons of cargo, mostly medical equipment, to areas in need during the height of the pandemic response.

Copied From : www.traveldailynews.com

When it comes to tourism, communication and transparency are vital in gaining customers’ trust and growing business. Language barriers have been a barrier for decades, deterring those looking to spend money in other countries, but this no longer needs to be the case.

When it comes to tourism, communication and transparency are vital in gaining customers’ trust and growing business. Language barriers have been a barrier for decades, deterring those looking to spend money in other countries, but this no longer needs to be the case.

Simply put, products, packages, and experiences do not sell when the target market do not understand what is on sale.

We have worked to simplify tourism marketing communications across languages and cultures. Removing language barriers and cultural misunderstandings, we help businesses across the industry to reach their target customers with effective marketing in their native tongue.

Being able to provide tourism promotion tools and unique industry news in many of the world’s most-spoken languages, those who speak English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic can now fully understand any message sent through.

Eliminate the issues often associated with attracting foreign visitors, catering to those from all cultural backgrounds with ease. There is no need to limit your business to those who speak the same language as your staff, capturing the attention of international markets.

By implementing marketing which can translate across languages, you are able to convey your chosen messaging to any specific audience, creating trusting relationships with customers. Effective communication with these customers greatly increases the likelihood of repeat business, creating regular conversation. In addition, our services mean you can successfully acquire new customers and partners across the number of foreign markets, including remoted ones.

While translation tools can help to create message designed for those in specific countries, there are often parts which are lost in translation, not using colloquialisms or translating poorly. This is an area many businesses fail to master, with countless companies marketing ineffectively and leaving a bad impression with potential customers. Because of this, multilingual marketing communications are a certain way to get ahead of competitors, remaining at the forefront of customers’ minds.

Multilingual publicity does not only allow you to reach your target market, but it means you can do so effectively, taking cultural differences into account and creating tourism marketing communication which works.

When it comes to tourism, communication and transparency are vital in gaining customers’ trust and growing business. Language barriers have been a barrier for decades, deterring those looking to spend money in other countries, but this no longer needs to be the case.

Simply put, products, packages, and experiences do not sell when the target market do not understand what is on sale.

We have worked to simplify tourism marketing communications across languages and cultures. Removing language barriers and cultural misunderstandings, we help businesses across the industry to reach their target customers with effective marketing in their native tongue.

Being able to provide tourism promotion tools and unique industry news in many of the world’s most-spoken languages, those who speak English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic can now fully understand any message sent through.

Eliminate the issues often associated with attracting foreign visitors, catering to those from all cultural backgrounds with ease. There is no need to limit your business to those who speak the same language as your staff, capturing the attention of international markets.

By implementing marketing which can translate across languages, you are able to convey your chosen messaging to any specific audience, creating trusting relationships with customers. Effective communication with these customers greatly increases the likelihood of repeat business, creating regular conversation. In addition, our services mean you can successfully acquire new customers and partners across the number of foreign markets, including remoted ones.

While translation tools can help to create message designed for those in specific countries, there are often parts which are lost in translation, not using colloquialisms or translating poorly. This is an area many businesses fail to master, with countless companies marketing ineffectively and leaving a bad impression with potential customers. Because of this, multilingual marketing communications are a certain way to get ahead of competitors, remaining at the forefront of customers’ minds.

Multilingual publicity does not only allow you to reach your target market, but it means you can do so effectively, taking cultural differences into account and creating tourism marketing communication which works.

Copied From : www.tourism-review.com/tourism-marketing-communication-across-languages-news11191

Behind in the polls, it appears Donald Trump is looking for a bit of divine intervention in the US presidential race.The President dropped into the International Church of Las Vegas on Sunday morning (local time) for a service and received a blessing from the pastor.Mr Trump could be seen counting out a number of $20 bills which he placed in the collection bucket.He attended the church, which he has visited before, ahead of his rally in Carson City, in the safe Democrat state of Nevada.He was accompanied by advisor Hope Hicks, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

Copied From :www.9news.com.au