Gay couple who married in US cheered by 200 banquet guests in Malaysia

A pastor who married gay boyfriend music producer in New York last year has fulfilled the promise to hold a wedding reception in his native Malaysia in what they believe is the first event of its kind in the Muslim-majority country.

Born in Malaysia NGEO Boon Lin and African-American husband Phineas Newborn III, took the silence closed the reception Saturday - with kisses and public karaoke performances of ballads - with about 200 guests, including a handful of journalists in Chinese that asked not to report on the case until later.

In this photo taken on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012 and released by Ngeo Boon Lin, Malaysian-born Ngeo Boon Lin, right, and his American partner Phineas Newborn III kiss during their wedding banquet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Gay pastor Ngeo who married his musical producer boyfriend Newborn III in New York last year has fulfilled a vow to hold a wedding banquet in his native Malaysia. The couple believes that Saturday’s reception was the first such event in the Muslim-majority country. (AP Photo/Ngeo Boon Lin) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

The couple risked the wrath of a government that has banned a gay arts festival, a politician persecuted for sodomy and declared that homosexuality has no place in Malaysian society.

"We are grateful to Malaysia to make history here," said the newborn.

NGEO, pastor of Chinese origin who has lived mainly in the United States since 1998, attracted criticism from Malaysian officials and religious groups when she married newborn, a Broadway musical producer, last August.

Although NGEO is identified as a Christian minister for Islamic affairs Malaysian Cabinet expressed concern at the time of their marriage could promote "extremism" among the 28 million people in Malaysia, including ethnic Malay Muslims, who comprise nearly two thirds of the population. A newspaper owned by the ruling party urged the authorities to avoid NGEO the performance of any wedding celebration in Malaysia.

But this summer, the couple, both 40, believe that enough time had passed so they can travel to Malaysia for a few days without fanfare and invite NGEO mother, friends, former colleagues and classmates for a party Traditional wedding china.

"It is my right to celebrate my joy with people I care about," he told The Associated Press NGEO. "The government can make noise, religious conservatives can make noise, but they are not welcome here."

The Malaysian government had no immediate reaction to news of Saturday's event.

Banquet guests to their seats introduced in a Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur had found small, heart-shaped chocolates wrapped in Chinese indicates that resulted in "God loves gays."

Two guests sang each other with Lionel Richie and Diana Ross duet "Endless Love", while a transgender artist tearfully praised NGEO and Newborn to remind everyone that "sexual orientation only: love."

One guest, Eric Goh, Malaysian Gay said "the need to leave in larger numbers and we need straight people to support us."

NGEO made his way back to Malaysia, a month after Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a speech in which homosexual behavior, lesbian and transsexual was part of a "deviant culture" should "has no place in this country. "

Najib made a statement reiterating the government's stance and trigger new concerns. But for gay Malaysians, especially Muslims, however, meant that the door to the public for self-expression remained slammed shut.

Most Malaysians live gay live free from harassment from the authorities, and a law establishing 20 years in prison for sodomy, even consensual, is rarely applied. The most prominent person charged under the law was Anwar Ibrahim, opposition leader acquitted this year of sodomizing a former male assistant in what he said was a politically motivated case.

"I understand the sensitivities. I'm not asking for gay marriage being allowed in Malaysia now," said NGEO, adding that his advice to gay Malaysian was "go ahead and be creative."

Staring at breasts is good for men's health - Study supposedly suggests

From: pedestrian.tv

A study conducted last year revealed it is actually healthy to stare at a woman's breasts.

The study, which was documented over a five year period, involved 500 men - half of whom were encouraged to 'ogle women daily', and the other half were instructed to abstain from ogling.

The study's designer, German Gerontologist Dr. Karen Weatherby, concluded that men who stared at breasts more often showed lower rates of heart problems, a lower resting heart rate and lower blood pressure.

Dr. Karen Weatherby recommended that "men stare at breasts for 10 minutes a day" to improve their heart health.

China summons US diplomat in South China Sea row

CHINA: China has summoned a senior US diplomat over American criticism of Beijing's decision to set up a new military garrison in the South China Sea, in an escalating row over the tense waters.

Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Kunsheng called in the US embassy's deputy chief of mission Robert Wang on Saturday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It came the same day Beijing publicly lashed out after the US said China had raised tensions in the region with the announcement late last month it had established a new city and garrison in the disputed Paracel islands.

Zhang told Wang that US State Department remarks on Friday”sent a seriously wrong message”, echoing the strong public criticisms.

“The Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction of and firm opposition to it. We urge the US side to correct its mistaken ways, respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Zhang urged Wang to convey Beijing's message to the “highest level” of the US government, the statement said.

The new garrison has infuriated Vietnam and the Philippines who accuse Beijing of stepping up harassment at sea.

China says it controls much of the South China Sea, but the Philippines, Vietnam,Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan all claim portions.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement Friday the US was “concerned by the increase in tensions in the South China Sea and are monitoring the situation closely”.

AFP

Forty-eight Iran pilgrims abducted in Damascus

IRAN: Forty-eight Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped from a bus in the Syrian capital on Saturday, their embassy’s consular chief in Damascus told Iran’s state television. “Armed terrorist groups kidnapped 48 Iranian pilgrims on their way to the airport,” Majid Kamjou told the IRIB network, which gave the report on its website.

“There are no reports about the fate of the pilgrims. The embassy and Syrian officials are trying to trace the kidnappers,” he said.

Syria’s state news agency SANA later gave the same account, without giving a number for those kidnapped, and added that “authorities are working to resolve the situation.” Hundreds of thousands of Iranians travel each year to Syria to visit a Shiite pilgrimage site, the Shrine of Zaynab, in Damascus.

Tehran is the staunchest ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are locked in a bloody conflict in Damascus and other cities against rebels his regime describes as “terrorists”.

Several dozen Iranian pilgrims and engineers were abducted in December and January, with most being released months later.

Many of the rebels come from Syria’s Sunni majority, which is hostile to the support Shiite Iran has shown to the regime of Assad, whose family is Alawite, a Shiite offshoot.

AFP

Advance Level Exam started on 2012.08.06 in Srilanka

Advanced Level Examination started at 2,093 yesterday centers across the country, tests Jagath Pushpakumara Commissioner said. He said the examination was carried out without problems, no complaints.

A total of 277.452 candidates for advanced level exam this year. Of this, 220,535 are school candidates taking the exam under the new curriculum, while private candidates also 15.239 to take the exam under the new curriculum.

Meanwhile, 41,323 private candidates feel their examination this year under the old curriculum including 355 candidates who sat for AL in 2011, Pushpakumara said.

The AL examination under the new curriculum will be held in 1,746 centers, while examination under the old syllabus will be held in 347 centers.

The review is being coordinated through 289 centers, the Commissioner of the tests, he said.

Over 277,000 sit ALs at 2,093 centres

Anti-nuclear nun released by magistrate judge in US

 KNOXVILLE, Tennessee -- A U.S. magistrate judge on Friday ordered the release pending trial of an 82-year-old nun and another anti-nuclear activist charged with breaching security fences at one of the most sensitive U.S. nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where weapons-grade uranium is kept.

Officials said the facility was shut down on Wednesday at least until next week after peace activists Megan Rice, 82, Michael Walli, 63, and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, cut through perimeter fences to reach the outer wall of a building where highly enriched uranium, a key nuclear bomb component, is stored. The activists painted slogans and threw what they said was human blood on the wall of the facility, officials said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley ruled the threat of violence was low and decided to release Rice, who according to her attorney has a thyroid and heart condition and has not been receiving her medication. The judge also released Walli. Both were given travel and other restrictions, according to defense attorneys.

Boertje-Obed waived his right to a defense attorney and will remain in detention.

Man, 60 age completes secondary school

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has praised top musician Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse for finishing secondary school at the age of 60.

Mabuse enrolled in adult classes near his home in Soweto, Johannesburg, after dropping out of school in the 1960s.

"I needed my #matric to feel complete even with all my musical success. 45 years out of class is no childs play," he tweeted.

About 12% of South Africa's adults are illiterate, according to the UN.

Mabuse says he now intends to study anthropology.

"Now he's being inundated by universities who want him as a student," his manager Martin Myers is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Mr Zuma praised Mabuse for reaching an "amazing milestone".

"You are indeed an inspiration to all of us by showing us that one is never too old for education," he said.

"We admire your tenacity, discipline and your zeal to succeed and wish you well in all your future endeavours."

Mabuse is one of South Africa's most popular musicians, having launched his career as a drummer with the soul group Beaters in the 1970s.

His "Burn Out" album was a big hit in the 1980s, selling more than 500,000 copies.South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has praised top musician Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse for finishing secondary school at the age of 60.

Mabuse enrolled in adult classes near his home in Soweto, Johannesburg, after dropping out of school in the 1960s.

"I needed my #matric to feel complete even with all my musical success. 45 years out of class is no childs play," he tweeted.

About 12% of South Africa's adults are illiterate, according to the UN.

Mabuse says he now intends to study anthropology.

"Now he's being inundated by universities who want him as a student," his manager Martin Myers is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Mr Zuma praised Mabuse for reaching an "amazing milestone".

"You are indeed an inspiration to all of us by showing us that one is never too old for education," he said.

"We admire your tenacity, discipline and your zeal to succeed and wish you well in all your future endeavours."

Mabuse is one of South Africa's most popular musicians, having launched his career as a drummer with the soul group Beaters in the 1970s.

His "Burn Out" album was a big hit in the 1980s, selling more than 500,000 copies.

Pakastini parents found guilty of 'honor killing' in UK

Justice Roderick Evans sentenced Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, to life in prison for killing their daughter, Shafilea, in 2003. The couple — first cousins from the Pakistani village of Uttam — were ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.

“She was being squeezed between two cultures — the culture and way of life that she saw around her and wanted to embrace, and the culture and way of life you wanted to impose on her,” Evans said during the sentencing at the Chester Crown Court in northwest England.

In Britain, more than 25 women have been killed in so-called “honor killings” in the past decade. Families have sometimes lashed out at their children on the belief that they have brought their household shame by becoming too westernized or by refusing a marriage.

Shafilea was only 10 when she began to rebel against her parents' strict rules, according to prosecutor Andrew Edis.

The young girl would hide makeup, false nails and western clothes at school, changing into conservative clothes before her parents picked her up.

But it was the last year of her life that proved to be the most traumatic.

During the trial that began in May, jurors heard from Shafilea's younger sister, Alesha, who said she witnessed the murder when she was 12.

After an argument about Shafilea's dress, her parents pushed her down on a couch, stuffed a thin white plastic bag into her mouth and held their hands over her mouth and nose until she died, Alesha testified.

US immigrants to pay for temporary work permits

SAN DIEGO -- The Obama administration said Friday that it will begin charging US$465 this month for temporary work permits for many young illegal immigrants as it laid out details of one its signature new policies on immigration.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting applications Aug. 15 for permits, which are subject to renewal for two years. It will consider a limited number of fee exemptions but expects costs to be shouldered by applicants, not taxpayers.

Under the program, which President Barack Obama announced in June, immigrants must have arrived in the United States before their 16th birthday, be 30 or younger, lived in the U.S. at least five years and be in school, graduated or served in the military. They are ineligible if convicted of a felony, three misdemeanors or one “significant” misdemeanor.

Significant misdemeanors, as defined by Homeland Security, include driving under the influence and gun and sex offenses. AFP

Activists launch kiss protest at Chick-fil-A

ATLANTA -- Gay rights activists kissed at Chick-fil-A stores across the U.S., just days after the company set a sales record when customers flocked to the restaurants to show support for the fast-food chain president's opposition to gay marriage.

The dueling displays of activism this week demonstrated an unusual amount of staying power over a flap that erupted weeks ago. The prolonged controversy speaks to underlying regional tensions in the U.S. that transcend the issue of gay rights.

Coursing throughout the conversations on social media, in letters to the editor and in long lines to buy chicken sandwiches is the sense among proud Southerners that the outcry over Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's comments smacks of regional stereotyping. When public officials in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago tell a Southern icon such as Chick-fil-A that it's no longer welcome, and that Cathy should keep his opinions to himself, many in the Atlanta-based chain's home region hear more than a little northern condescension.

“Maybe the reaction is just because we're Southerners,” said Rose Mason, who was lunching Friday at a Chick-fil-A in suburban Atlanta.

Mason, who described herself as Christian, said she grew up in New York City. Now, she said, “I deal with my sister telling me we're a little backward. People have this idea that we're just behind on everything. So they view anything we say through that (perception).”

Cathy, a devout Southern Baptist whose family has always been outspoken about its faith, sparked the controversy by telling the Baptist Press that he and his family-owned restaurant chain are “guilty as charged” for openly — and financially — supporting groups that advocate for “the biblical definition of a family unit.” He later added that the United States is “inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, `We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.”

For Marci Alt, organizer of a protest Friday at a Chick-fil-A in the relatively liberal Atlanta suburb of Decatur, it's Cathy's financial backing of conservative groups such as the Family Research Council that takes the conversation beyond merely what he said.

Alt said Cathy has a constitutional right to speak out against same-sex marriage.

“But when he puts a pen to paper and writes a check to an organization that is about to squash my equal rights, I have a problem with that.”

Cathy's comments were in keeping with the tradition established by his father, Truett Cathy, who started the chain in 1967 and never allowed franchises to open on Sundays.

Beyond Friday's organized displays of affection, there were other signs that the furor still had legs. Police were investigating graffiti on the side of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Torrance, California, that read “Tastes like hate” and had a painting of a cow, in reference to the chain's ubiquitous ads featuring cows encouraging people to eat poultry.

In Tucson, Arizona, an executive at a medical manufacturing company lost his job after filming himself verbally attacking a Chick-fil-A employee and posting the video online.

For William Klaus, a 26-year-old X-ray technician with traditional views on marriage, the debate starts at and ends with Cathy's liberty to voice his beliefs.

“He said what he said. Freedom of speech. Bottom line,” Klaus said at a Chick-fil-A in Jackson, Mississippi.

However, that goes for Cathy's critics, too, said Klaus, adding that he stopped by the Jackson store simply to pick up some good food.

“For someone to blast him for his opinion, so be it — they have that right.”  AFP

Philippine floods worsen; 14 dead more hit

MANILA -- Waves swept over seawalls and flooded shanty towns in the Philippine capital on Wednesday as the death toll from four days of storms that have battered large swathes of the country rose to 14.

More than 150,000 people across the Philippines have been forced to flee their homes this week as Typhoon Saola, hovering to the north of the country, has added to monsoon weather, the national disaster management council said.

The death toll rose to 14 after four died in a landslide in the northern mountains late Tuesday, then two drowned Wednesday in a flooded marshland community about 1,100 kilometers (around 700 miles) to the south, the council said.

The capital of Manila and nearby areas that are home to more than 15 million people saw some of the worst flooding.

The district of Navotas, a tightly packed, fishing community of about 130,000 people along Manila Bay, was battered by huge waves, ravaging shanties built on the coast.

Navotas widow Gloria Alkaroke, 56, said she and her six children and grandchildren were forced to flee their wooden shack just as huge waves began to demolish it.

“I only saved a sack of my clothes but my cabinet, my cooking appliances, they were all washed out to sea. At least my children and grandchildren are okay. They were my first priority,” she told AFP.

Dockworker Renaldo Abad, 15, said he punched a hole through the ceiling of his house and then made his way over the rooftops to avoid chest-deep floodwaters.

“I was hit by the waves carrying garbage and junk. They drenched me but fortunately, I was not hurt,” Abad said at a school functioning as an evacuation center.

Large military trucks helped people flee their homes in Navotas, while other residents used boats or improvised vessels made of scrap wood and plastic foam.

Navotas authorities said while there were no deaths reported, about 20 people were injured and more than 2,000 forced to seek shelter at evacuation centers.

The scenic Roxas Boulevard, a major coastal road beside Manila's historic bay and only a few kilometers from Navotas, was also flooded as storm surges smashed spectacularly over the seawall.

Traffic had to be rerouted and the U.S. Embassy, located on Roxas Boulevard, shut down for the day due to knee-deep flooding.

While Typhoon Saola is moving north away from the Philippines, it continues to affect the monsoon rains, which have been pouring on the country since Sunday, said civil defense chief Benito Ramos.

“We can expect more rains and the floods may get worse,” he told AFP.

Man back from the dead after 23 years in Bangladesh

A man given up for dead shocked his family by returning to his home village in Bangladesh after 23 years.

Relatives had given up on ever seeing Moslemuddin Sarkar again until he returned home for the first time since 1989.

Sarkar had been in prison in Pakaistan for the last 15 years and was helped home by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets of Bishnurampur village, in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district, to catch a glimpse of him and congratulate his tearful and jubilant family.

In a telephone interview, Sarkar revealed he had entered India without valid documents in 1989 without informing his family.

He was then caught as he tried to cross into Pakistan in 1997 where he was jailed for trying to enter the country illegally.

"I requested that embassy officials send me back to Bangladesh but no one listened to me," he told the BBC.

"I suffered a lot in the prison and was crying for help. But no-one came to my rescue. Still I don't understand why I was kept in jail for such a long time. At last, I am back with my family and I feel great."

Julhas Uddin, Mr Sarkar's younger brother, said their mother "passed out as he hugged her" after returning to his home village.

"It was a heartbreaking scene. He could not control his tears for hours," he said.

AP

Fake doctor boosted woman's bottom with cement and super glue

A 'fake doctor' suspected of injecting a woman's bottom with cement, super glue and tyre sealant to give her a more 'shapely' rear has been arrested.

Transgendered woman Oneal Ron Morris, who by his own picture appears to have undergone the 'butt-boosting' procedure himself, is accused of administering the potentially lethal shots to at least one victim.

The 30-year-old, who police say is a man but appears to look like a woman, was detained in Florida Sunday for the alleged incident in May 2010.

Miami Gardens Police Department Sgt William Bamford said Morris first met with the as-yet unidentified victim to discuss the procedure.

He said: 'They agreed on the price of $700, which was intended for cosmetic purposes.'

But instead, police say the victim was given a series of injections containing cement, mineral oil and Fix-A-Flat tyre inflator and sealant.

The incision was sealed with super glue. Shortly after the surgery was carried out, she went on to suffer 'severe complications'.

Bamford told WPLG: 'A short time later, she develops very serious pains, abdomen, throughout her body. She knows something is wrong.'

He said the woman visited two local hospitals, before heading to Tampa General Hospital, where she received treatment.

She had developed an infection of drug-resistant bug MRSA at the wound and also developed pneumonia, but refused to reveal how it had happened.

Doctors at the hospital, worried it was the work of an unlicensed practitioner, reported the case to the Florida Department of Health.

But by the time they started to investigate, the victim had left the area.

Morris was eventually arrested in North Lauderdale in March 2011. He has been charged with practising medicine without a license and causing bodily harm.

The alleged incident is the latest in a long line of instances where women have suffered complications following illegal bottom enhancement procedures.

In February, 20-year-old British student Claudia Aderotimi, from London, died following a cosmetic buttocks injection administered in a Philadelphia hotel room.

In January, Whalesca Castillo, an unlicensed practitioner in New York City, was arrested for running an illegal business out of her home injecting women with liquid silicone in the buttocks and breasts.

And in 2010, a Miami woman, Ana Josefa Sevilla, was charged with a similar crime after one of her clients ended up in the emergency room with complications.

Buttock enhancement surgery is becoming popular in the U.S., among women who aspire to the shapely curves of Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and singer Nicki Minaj.

The illusion of a larger backside has become increasingly more fashionable among young women since the rise of the 'Hip Hop Honey' phenomenon.

But experts have said undergoing unlicensed procedures is ‘like playing Russian roulette’.

From: Dailymail.co.uk   

US Couple remarry - after 48 years

 A couple of U.S. are to remarry - almost half a century later divorced.

Roland Davis and Lena Henderson, both 85, got hooked in their teens and divorced 20 years later and four children.

Her youngest daughter, Renita Chadwick, also a grandmother, said: "We are all so ridiculously excited as we are children again ..

"It's the dream of every child, every child who has ever been in a family where divorce has occurred, that their parents back together."

The couple met in their teens in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and were married by a justice of the peace.

On this occasion, a church wedding is planned in Buffalo, New York, followed by a reception at a local restaurant.

"I'm glad you're here," said Davis, who recently moved to Buffalo to Colorado after the death of his second wife in January. .

Mr. Davis proposed to Mrs. Henderson, who is also a widow after remarrying, via phone around Easter and she accepted, although he had not seen since the funeral of the family in 1996.

Before that, the two had not been face to face since splitting in 1964, although he had kept in touch and keep up with the other's life through the children.

Her eldest daughter, Johnnie Mae Funderbirk, had urged his father to return to New York since the death of his wife.

"I had always kind of had that in mind, especially children," he said. "You never forget someone you care at one time or another."

Child forced to feed on dog milk (Video)

A six year old is so hungry to be fed milk from the teat of a stray dog ​​in India.

Chotu Kumar is so comfortable with the pack of dogs, you can see in grabbing the hind legs of the dog so you can take a drink.

And surprisingly allows the stray dog.

Chotu said: "Our family is very poor, sometimes I get hungry.

"The dog did not bite me. I like and I like to treat me like one of his puppies. I love playing with the dogs, they are my friends."

Chotu Shanichari lives with his mother Devi, 37, her grandmother Amiya Devi, 60, and two Ball brothers, 14, and Mahesh three years in a mud house in Jharkhand, eastern India.

After the death of his father four years ago the family fell below the poverty line.

His older brother was forced to go to work to earn money for the family, but only brings home less than £ 20 a month (1200INR) works in a nearby hotel.

Chotu mother and grandmother out to the forest to collect firewood and everything possible to find food to the forests.

However, on average, their daily meals consist of vegetables and roti, homemade bread India.

According to UNICEF 90 percent of children under three are malnourished in rural areas of Jharkhand and another 25,000 children die each year.

Chotu began to spend all his time with the package two years ago. Not going to school so I had no friends - and now it says that dogs are friends only.

The family had not eaten solid food or milk to the days when Shanichari first saw her son sitting on the floor drinking milk from the nipples of the dog.

She said: "While I was playing with dogs outside the house I saw the dog drinking milk.

"I was so surprised, that ran over and pulled him away. But since then every time you are hungry, has always slipped back. I quit because I know how hungry he is.

"The dog has always been kind to him and never attacks. Often mounted on the back and then he jumps up and nurse her along with her cubs."

The dog has been known to sit in front of the house of mud and bark Chotu to come and play.

However, when local residents learned of Chotu and his new friends began to get angry. They were concerned were the other children at risk and have a rabies outbreak.

Shanichari said: "The villagers told us that he would die of disease if performed on drinking and had spread to other children. But Chotu of their business."

Finally, villagers reported Chotu local officials and interventions

Chotu was admitted to the school, where you get a free lunch and the authorities gave his family a food card, allowing them to obtain food aid.

But still the dog is visiting Chotu and has become a habit for him to drink his milk.

Shanichari said: "The villagers told us that he would die of disease if performed on drinking and had spread to other children. But Chotu of their business."

Finally, villagers reported Chotu local officials and interventions

Chotu was admitted to the school, where you get a free lunch and the authorities gave his family a food card, allowing them to obtain food aid.

But still the dog is visiting Chotu and has become a habit for him to drink his milk.

Chotu: "I suck the milk three times a day and it tastes sweet like sugar.

"Many people in town do not like my friendship with the dogs, but I'm happy - if she is not near my home I will find her outside the village.

"He's always happy to see me and leave me some milk."

SLPA targets US$ 500m new projects in Hambantota, Srilanka

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Several new Hambantota Port related projects would be commissioned this year. Among them are a sugar refinery plant, fertilizer storage, processing and packing plant, petrol chemical plant and a cement plant. The main stakeholders of these investments would consist of Singaporean, Indian and Pakistani investors along with several local companies .

An official from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), said with the Phase II operations commencing, they had identified 15 investment projects worth US $ 1 billion.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will be targeting US $ 2 billion foreign direct inflows to the country this year, while most of them would be for infrastructure related development and tourism. One of the first projects that would be launched, would be the IndiOcen condominium project near the Gangaramaya temple which would be the country's tallest building with 63 floors. Simultaneously, the Nelum Kuluna project too is being constructed at D. R. Wijewardane Mawatha, which would be the 16th tallest tower in the world.

Hutchinson Telecom is also making its presence in Sri Lankan and they are expected to contribute to the FDI’s of the country. The Heavy Industry Zone in Sampur, three mixed development projects by a Malaysian developer, work on the Colombo – Kandy expressway, are some of the other key projects that would take Sri Lanka towards the record US $ two billion FDI mark. In addition, the petroleum refinery in Trincomalee is another major investment that would boost the economy.

The Shangri-La Colombo and Hambantota projects are two more major invesments along with Sun City Hotel in Muthurajawela and the developments in the Kalipinya intergraded tourism zone, are the key foreign funded tourism projects for 2012.

Similarly, the Colombo Port Expansion Project, China Merchants Holding (International) Company Ltd., and Colombo International Container Terminals Ltd), would boost the country's investments.

These major investments would help Sri Lanka to raise the per capita income from US$ 2,400 in 2010 to US$ 4,000 in 2016, which would position Sri Lanka as a strong middle income country.

shirajiv@yahoo.com 

Srilanka Orient Wealth signs trust deeds with Deutsche Bank

Orient Wealth Limited signed three trust deeds with Deutsche Bank Sri Lanka on July 19, 2012. Under the provisions of the trust deeds, Deutsche Bank will play the role of trustee and custodian for the three newly licensed funds to be managed by Orient Wealth. The three funds include Orient Gilt Edged Fund, Orient Corporate Debt Fund and Orient Equity Fund which are licensed by the Securities Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka to be managed by Orient Wealth. “As a unit trust management company we shall ensure that our customers’ money is transferred to the Trustees to keep in safe custody in respective funds. This arrangement is safer for the investors,” said S Jeyavarman, CEO of Orient Wealth on his thoughts about the new agreement. Ravi Goonetilleke, Head of Custody Operations - Deutsche Bank, S Jeyavarman, Chief Executive Officer – Orient Wealth Limited, Tyrone Hannan, Head – Global Transactions Division – Deutsche Bank, Prakash Schaffter, Director – Orient Wealth Limited, Rohan Senanayake, Director – Orient Wealth Limited at the event Orient Wealth was officially established in February 2012 and its main focus is developing innovative investment schemes to help small investors to invest in the capital markets conveniently. With a highly reputed board of directors, management and experienced staff, Orient Wealth offers professional fund management services to investors who will be investing in the investment schemes of Orient Wealth that will enable them to participate in the capital markets and to ensure that their capital grows over time. Orient Wealth is a fully owned subsidiary of Orient Capital Limited (OCL) which is a 100% equity financed company with diverse capital market services for individual and corporate clients with a highly experienced board of directors and senior management. Orient Finance PLC and First Alliance Money Brokers Limited (FAMB) also come under the OCL umbrella.

Romney ‘embarrassed’ US at Olympics - Obama aide

US: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's criticism of the London Olympics was a national embarrassment for the United States, a top aide to President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

Romney's remarks were widely seen as a gaffe and were ill-timed as his visit to Britain kicked off an important foreign tour aimed at burnishing his diplomatic credentials ahead of the US presidential election in November. “I'm happy (British Prime Minister) David Cameron had the last word, because I thought it was embarrassing for our country,” Robert Gibbs, a senior advisor on Obama's re-election team, told ABC's “This Week” program.

Within hours of landing in London, NBC television broadcast an interview in which Romney said it was “hard to know just how well” the Olympics would turn out and said there were “a few things that were disconcerting.”

He even questioned the British Olympic spirit, adding: “Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? That's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin.”

Cameron duly responded with what was believed to be a veiled attempt to belittle one of Romney's crowning achievements, his rescue of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from financial ruin.

“We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world,” the British leader said.

“Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.” Gibbs said Romney's decision to “stand in the country of our strongest ally,” and question whether or not Britain was ready for the Olympics “does make you wonder whether or not he's ready to be commander-in-chief?” “It's clear that voters in this country wonder aloud whether Mitt Romney is ready for the world, and I think the world is not yet ready for Mitt Romney,” the former White House press secretary said.

AFP

Romney angers Palestinians

ISRAEL: White House hopeful Mitt Romney Sunday held top-level talks in Israel over Iran's nuclear ambitions but quickly drew fire from the Palestinians for endorsing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

“We must lead the effort to prevent Iran from building and possessing nuclear weapons capability,” the Republican challenger said in a speech given on a rooftop overlooking Jerusalem's Old City in which he laid out key foreign policy issues facing Israel.

“We should employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course,” he said, expressing hope that diplomatic and economic measures would help achieve this aim, but adding that “in final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded.” “We recognise Israel's right to defend itself, and that it is right for America to stand with you,” said Romney, the Republican challenger who will face off against President Barack Obama in November's US election.

Israel, which is widely believed to have the Middle East's only, albeit undeclared, nuclear arsenal, has warned that a military option cannot be ruled out to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons capability.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

According to Israeli public radio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Romney it was important to have “a strong and credible military threat” because sanctions and diplomacy “so far have not set back the Iranian programme by one iota.” The White House hopeful, who arrived in Israel from Britain late Saturday on a one-day visit, stepped into the quagmire of Middle Eastern politics when during his policy speech he hailed Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

“It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” he said, in an apparent endorsement of a position held by the Jewish state but never accepted by the international community.

Netanyahu thanked him for his remarks, later telling him: “I want to thank you for those very strong words of support and friendship for Israel and for Jerusalem that we heard today.” But the Palestinians were infuriated, saying his remarks were “harmful to American interests in our region.” “They they harm peace, security and stability,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

“Even if this statement is within the US election campaign, it is unacceptable and we completely reject it. The US election campaign should never be at the expense of the Palestinians,” he said.

“Romney is rewarding occupation, settlement and extremism in the region with such declarations.” Israel, which occupied the largely Arab eastern sector during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claims both halves of the city to be its “eternal and undivided capital.” But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of their promised state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there.

AFP

Syrian army overruns part of Aleppo

Aleppo assault ‘nail in Assad’s coffin’-Panetta

US: US Secretary of State Leon Panetta warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that if he continues this assault on his own population in Aleppo it will be a nail in his coffin.

“It's pretty clear that Aleppo is another tragic example of the kind of indiscriminate violence that the Assad regime has committed against its own people,” Panetta told reporters on a military plane en route to Tunisia.

“And in many ways, if they continue this kind of tragic attack on their own people in Aleppo, I think ultimately it will be a nail in Assad's coffin.”AFP

SYRIA: The Syrian army on Monday overran part of the rebel-held Salaheddin district of Aleppo, the country's most populous city, a security source in Damascus told AFP.

“The Syrian army took control of part of Salaheddin district and continues its offensive,” the source said on the third day of an army onslaught against rebel districts in the northern city.

However, Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi, head of the Free Syrian Army military council of Aleppo, denied the report and insisted government troops had “not progressed one metre.”

“We launched a new assault from Salaheddin during the night, and we destroyed four tanks,” the rebel commander told AFP by phone. Aleppo was opened as a battle front on July 20, and a regime assault on rebel-held areas began after military reinforcements arrived on Saturday.

Int’l community condemned

LEBANON: Syria's Muslim Brotherhood denounced on Sunday President Bashar al-Assad, his allies Iran and Russia, and the international community's for its “silence” and failure to protect civilians.

In a statement issued amid raging battles in Syria's commercial capital Aleppo, the influential Islamist movement said Assad was “legally and morally responsible for the death of every victim in Syria.” The Brotherhood also said that both Iran and Russia -- the powerful allies of the embattled Assad regime -- were “drowning in the blood of the Syrian people.” “Neither the Russians nor the Iranians will relieve (Assad) of responsibility for his crimes,” it added.

The Brotherhood also said the international community was “a partner” to violence in Syria, “by standing silent for too long... and failing to respect its obligation under international law to protect civilians.” Echoing a statement issued earlier on Sunday by the opposition Syrian National Council -- in which the Brotherhood plays an important role -- the exiled Islamist group warned of an imminent “massacre” in Aleppo.

Over 200,000 flee Aleppo - UN

The United Nations said Sunday that 200,000 people have fled the Syrian city of Aleppo in two days as President Bashar al-Assad’s forces step up their assault.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in a statement that an unknown number of people are trapped in the city and appealed for safe access to Aleppo for aid groups.

The UN under secretary general said the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had estimated that 200,000 people have fled Aleppo and surrounding areas in the last two days.

Another Syrian General defects to Turkey

Another brigadier General has defected from Syria’s army to join the ranks of opposition fighters, pushing the total number of rebel generals based in Turkey to 28, a diplomatic source said Monday.

The General was accompanied by 11 other officers, the source added on condition of anonymity. Senior Syrian officers have been crossing over into Turkey to link up with rebel forces on a near daily basis in recent months, often accompanied by rank-and-file troops, to join the ranks of the Free Syrian Army.

Turkey is also home to some 44,000 refugees who fled the violence in Syria, currently housed in several camps established along the border.

AFP

106 of the most beloved Street Art Photos - Year 2010 (Shapes of Conscious)- 16

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106 of the most beloved Street Art Photos - Year 2010 (Shapes of Conscious)- 13