Bond Commission and PRECIFAC reports tabled in Parliament

The reports of the Bond Commission and the Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate into serious acts of fraud and corruption have been presented in Parliament, a short while ago.

A special party leaders’ meeting was held yesterday (22nd Jan.) at the parliamentary complex to decide on further action on the recommendations of the Bond Commission report.

The two reports, which were handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena on December 30, 2017 and January 2, 2018 respectively, were sent to the Speaker’s Office on January 17.

The Speaker’s Office said that 26 copies (English) of the Bond Commission report and a summarized report and 34 copies (Sinhala) of the PRECIFAC report were handed over by a legal officer of the Presidential Secretariat to the Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake.

President walks out of the Cabinet meeting

A deeply dejected and disappointed President Maithripala Sirisena stormed out of the Cabinet meeting this morning after making an emotional speech over the personal attacks levelled at him by the certain members of the UNP, a senior Cabinet Minister said.

President naming those UNP Parliamentarians, who are making statements against him, had also said that a country cannot be ruled in this manner.

He has informed the Ministers present that the Presidential Commission was established by him not to attack the UNP, but to punish the thieves and requested the Ministers to state whether they agree to punishing the thieves or not.

The President who arrived for the Cabinet meeting carried with him a Tape Recorder, and showing it to those present he had said” Some may like to listen to my speech and some may not. But I will make this speech and those who wants to listen to it can do so later”.
(Daily Mirror)

'Pickpocket President' trying to attack UNP: SM Marikkar

Colombo district UNP MP S.M. Marikar today slammed President Maithripala Sirisena and even described him as a 'pickpocket President'.

Addressing a meeting in Colombo, he said the President had let down former president Mahinda Rajapaksa after partaking in a hopper meal with him. The MP charged that the same conspiratorial activity was being mooted to fix the UNP.

"The President accused us of being thieves. We call him the pickpocket President. We are asking him not to back-stab the UNP like what he did to Mahinda Rajapaksa," he said.

Mr Marikar was responding to a statement made by the President on the brawl that took place in Parliament on January 10.

“The President said the UNP and the joint opposition are calling each other ‘thieves’ but people are aware as to who the real thieves are. He called us pickpocket karayas. Yes we are pick pocket karayas but the President should not forget that we pick-pocketed him out of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s pocket. He should not forget that it was the UNP which made him the President. He is a pickpocket President,” Mr Marikar said. “The president is planning to disassociate with us during the next national elections after becoming the president with our support,” Mr Marikar added. (Daily Mirror)

Simone Biles: Larry Nassar abused me, says four-time Olympic champion

Four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles says she was sexually abused by former Team USA gymnastics sports doctor Larry Nassar.

In an emotional statement, Biles, a star of the Rio Games, said she would not let Nassar "steal my love and joy".

Nassar was jailed for 60 years for possessing child sex abuse images and has also admitted assaulting gymnasts.

"I know this horrific experience does not define me, I am much more than this," said Biles, 20.

Three former US Olympians have accused Nassar of sexual abuse under the guise of medical treatment, including Gabby Douglas, who won gold with Biles in the team event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Nassar will be sentenced this month over two cases in which he admits assaulting female gymnasts.

The 54-year-old was jailed in December for three counts relating to child sex abuse images on his computer.

Nassar's lawyers told BBC Sport they would not comment on Biles' statement.

USA Gymnastics said in a statement it was "absolutely heartbroken, sorry and angry that Simone Biles or any of our athletes have been harmed by the horrific acts of Larry Nassar".

'My story will be much greater than this'

Biles, who won four golds and a bronze in Rio, accused Nassar in a post on Twitter headed 'Feelings #MeToo'.

"I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually abused by Larry Nassar," the Texan wrote.

"Most of you know me as a happy, giggly and energetic girl. But lately I've felt broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams. I am not afraid to tell my story any more."

She added: "It is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences and it breaks my heart even more to think that as I work towards my dream of competing in Tokyo 2020, I will have to continually return to the same training facility where I was abused.

"I am unique, smart, talented, motivated and passionate. I have promised myself that my story will be much greater than this and I promise all of you that I will never give up.

"I love this sport too much and I have never been a quitter. I won't let one man, and the others that enabled him, to steal my love and joy." (BBC)

The Indian woman who chose a bull over marriage

Selvarani Kanagarasu, a daily wage labourer from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, has shunned marriage so that she can take care of a prize-fighting bull. BBC Tamil's Pramila Krishnan talks to her about her life.

Ms Kanagarasu, now 48, was only a teenager when she decided that she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, who raised bulls that competed in the state's traditional bull taming contests known as Jallikattu.

Jallikattu has been popular for centuries in Tamil Nadu and is traditionally practised during the harvest festival of Pongal in January. Thousands of men chase bulls to grab prizes tied to their horns.

The sport was not practised for two years, following a ban by the Supreme Court on the grounds of animal cruelty. But following mass protests in the state, the federal government cleared the way for it to resume in January 2017, bypassing the ban.

"My father and grandfather both raised bulls and also considered them their children," she says.

Facebook plans major changes to news feed

Facebook is to change how its news feed works, making posts from businesses, brands and media less prominent.

Instead, content that sparks conversations among family and friends who use the site will be emphasised, explained chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on his page.

Organisations on Facebook may see the popularity of their posts decrease as a result, the firm acknowledged.

The changes will take effect over the coming weeks.

"We've gotten feedback from our community that public content - posts from businesses, brands and media - is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other," wrote Mr Zuckerberg.

He said that he and his team felt a responsibility to make sure Facebook was good for people's wellbeing.

If public content is to be promoted, it will now have to be seen to encourage community interaction - as happens within the tight-knit groups that discuss TV programmes and sports, he said.

Another example given by Facebook in a separate post was live video feeds, which tend to generate much discussion.

"By making these changes, I expect the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement will go down," added Mr Zuckerberg.

"But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable."

(BBC)

Ricky Ponting: Australia name former captain as Twenty20 assistant coach

Ricky Ponting will join Australia's coaching staff for next month's Twenty20 tri-series against England and New Zealand.

The former Australia captain will act as assistant coach to Darren Lehmann, and will join Troy Cooley and Matthew Mott in a new-look backroom team.

Ponting worked with the side during a series against Sri Lanka last year.

The 43-year-old was recently named head coach of Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.

Lehmann said: "It's an exciting prospect for us, as coaches, to have the chance to take advantage of Ricky's Twenty20 knowledge and, for the players, the chance to work with one of Australia's all-time greats will be just as exciting for them."

His regular deputies - David Saker, Brad Haddin and former England batsman Graeme Hick - will all be in South Africa beginning preparations for a four-match Test tour.

Australia play New Zealand in Sydney on 3 February and Auckland on 16 February. They will play England in Hobart on 7 February and Melbourne on 10 February.

(BBC)

US revamps travel warning system; SL is okay

The United States revamped its warnings about the risks of traveling to other countries and Sri Lanka is listed among countries that the lowest advisory level for safety and security risks in the new four-point safety ranking system.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka is listed as a Level-1 country which means ‘Exercise normal precautions when traveling to Sri Lanka’.

However, neighbouring India and Maldives were listed as Level-2, ‘Exercise increased caution.’ 
For India, it states, “Exercise increased caution in India due to crime and terrorism. Some areas have increased risk”, while for Maldivesits, “Exercise increased caution in Maldives due to terrorism.”

Among the other countries in Level-1: “Exercise normal precautions” are Australia, Singapore, Brunei, Sweden and Switzerland.Level-1 is the lowest advisory level.

The United States unveiled the new system on Wednesday (Jan 10), along with an interactive world map to warn its citizens about the dangers of foreign travel.

AFP reports that some countries have complained in the past that the travel warnings exaggerate dangers and damage tourism, or suspect they have been subjected to a US diplomatic rebuke.

Ten war zones and failed states are ranked Level Four, "Do Not Travel": Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

North Korea is also Level Four, with the additional restriction that US law prohibits American travelers from using their passports there, effectively banning visits.

(Daily Mirror)

Apple Park: World’s most expensive building

Apple Park in Cupertino, Apple’s new “spaceship” campus, tops the list of the most expensive buildings in the United States.

With an estimated $5 billion price tag for construction, Apple Park tops a U.S. list of priciest buildings that includes six casinos, a Manhattan skyscraper and a baseball stadium.

“Apple Park is our Pentagon building; it’s got that kind of a footprint,” said Mark Ritchie, president of San Jose-based Ritchie Commercial Real Estate.

The new Apple Park complex seems destined to be forever intertwined with Apple’s history and the life of the company’s co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, said Chad Leiker, a first vice president with Kidder Mathews, a commercial realty firm.

“This new campus was designed with the intent of becoming an icon to Steve Jobs, and it will be an icon for the entire company,” Leiker said.

All told, eight buildings in the United States are among the 25 most expensive buildings in the world.

Ranked by their construction costs, these structures join the $5 billion Apple Park on the list of most expensive U.S. buildings, according to company information, regulatory filings and estimates in published reports:

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, costing $4.24 billion; One World Trade Center, also known as Freedom Tower, in Manhattan, costing $3.92 billion; Wynn Resort in Las Vegas, $3.28 billion; Bellagio resort in Las Vegas, $2.33 billion; The Palazzo, Las Vegas, $2.06 billion; Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with a construction expense of $2 billion; and Yankee Stadium in New York City’s Bronx borough, at $1.66 billion, just a little more than the $1.3 billion estimated cost for Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium. All building costs are adjusted for inflation, to reflect the construction cost in today’s dollars.

Some of those buildings were touted as the nation’s No. 1 most expensive to build when they were completed. They included the Freedom Tower, built on the site of the World Trade Center, where the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 brought down the twin towers.

YouTube cuts ties with Logan Paul over Japan suicide video

YouTube has cut business ties with Logan Paul, the hugely popular vlogger who posted a video showing the body of an apparent suicide victim in Japan.

Paul's channels were removed from YouTube's Google Preferred programme, where brands sell ads on the top 5% of the platform's content creators.

YouTube also said it had put on hold original projects with the US vlogger.

Paul posted the video with a man's body on 31 December, triggering widespread criticism. (BBC)

Lamborghini Urus SUV Launched In India; Priced At ₹ 3 Crore

Lamborghini has launched the Urus SUV in India and has priced it at ₹ 3 crore (ex-showroom India). The Italian car maker’s performance SUV has been in the making for a long time now and is only the second SUV in the company's history, as supercars had taken precedence. The Lamborghini Urus, however, distinguishes itself as a slightly practical car that is less demanding in its seating (it can seat five) and can be taken on broken tarmac as well.

We’d already told you all there is to know about the Urus and in fact broke the story that the company will launch the car in India just 38 days after the global premiere of the car. The newest Lamborghini is based on the MLB platform that underpins the Bentley Bentayga, Porshce Cayenne, and the Audi Q7.

Sporting a front engined layout, the Lamborghini Urus gets a 4.0-litre Twin Turbo V8 engine, a first turbo in the automaker's history, which can easily find its place beside the Aventador and Huracan. The engine is tuned to produce 641 bhp and 850 Nm of peak torque, while the performance SUV can hit the 0-100 kmph in 3.6 seconds and 200 kmph in 12.8 seconds. The Urus has a top speed of 305 kmph, which is not bad at all for something that weighs 2.2 tonnes. Oh, by the way, the Urus is also the fastest SUV in the world. The V8 engine is paired with an 8-speed torque converter, and comes with a central torsion differential 4 Wheel Drive with torque vectoring rear differential. (NDTV)

Eight foods nutritionist experts want you to eat less of

1. Meat

Unless you have an allergy or intolerance, you don't need to cut any food from your life — but there are foods you should eat a lot of, and foods you should eat in moderation. Chief among them is meat, which Australians eat a lot more of than we need (an average 93kg a year, well above the global average of 30kg).

2. Diet soft drink

“These offer very little in terms of nutrients, and unfortunately are often used to suppress hunger or boost energy levels when eating nutritious food will fix both of these situations,” Ali Patterson, accredited practising dietitian and advanced sports dietitian, told Coach.

3. White bread (and some brown breads)

We know white bread is higher in processed carbohydrates and sugar, and lower in nutritional value than other breads. But it turns out not all brown breads are created equal, and some are still high GI and don’t offer much more benefit than white.

4. Turkish bread

Susie Burrell, author and founder of the Shape Me program, says Turkish bread should only be consumed rarely, if ever. “One piece of Turkish bread is the equivalent of three to four regular slices of bread,” Burrell told Coach. “It normally comes in a large serving size, has holes readily filled with butter or margarine, and large amounts of white flour giving it its high GI and carb load.”

5. ‘Health’ products with high amounts of added sugar

“So many ‘natural’ products that are marketed as healthy are absolutely loaded with added sugars,” Landau said. “If the first or second ingredient is derived from dates, date paste, honey, maple syrup, coconut nectar, coconut sugar, brown rice syrup, or anything that is predominantly sugar, choose something else or only consume a very small portion.”

6. Dried fruit

Dried fruits like apricots or dates should only be eaten in small serves, Burrell explained. “Dried fruit are a concentrated source of sugars — an average box of sultanas contains as much carbohydrate or sugar as two pieces of regular fruit.” One banana and just six dried apricots are both around 400 kilojoules, but the banana is the better choice as it offers more fibre, and is more filling.

7. Soy sauce

Soy sauce makes Asian dishes and many other meals taste delicious, But Burrell warns it should be used sparingly due to the high sodium content. “It’s packed full of salt,” Burrell warned. Don’t have soy sauce every day, and measure how much you’re adding to meals.

8. Cheese

In devastating news for cheese lovers, McGuckin says Australians tend to consume far bigger portions of it in one sitting than is healthy. But you can still have your beloved brie, cheddar, blue or gouda… just not too much. “Many people don’t realise that a serving of cheese is only 40g – about the size of a regular matchbox," she said. “Most hard cheeses are extremely energy (calorie/kilojoule) dense and high in fat, particularly saturated fat as they are an animal-based product, so those watching their weight/cholesterol levels should stick to the recommended serving sizes.” (9Honey)

Sri Lanka removes ban on sale of alcohol to women

Sri Lanka is to allow women over the age of 18 to buy alcohol legally for the first time in more than 60 years.

The government said that it was amending a 1955 law that it agreed was discriminatory against women.

The amendment to the law, announced on Wednesday, also means that women will be permitted without prior approval to work in places that sell alcohol.

While the previous law was not always strictly enforced, many Sri Lankan women have welcomed the change.

Women took to social media to thank the government for its decision, which was announced by Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Under the new law, women will no longer require the approval of the state's excise commissioner in order to work or drink "in licensed premises", including restaurants.

While the move has been widely welcomed, some argue that it might lead to more women becoming addicted to alcohol.

In Sri Lanka, a majority of women traditionally choose not to drink alcohol as they see it as contrary to Sri Lankan culture.

However in 2016, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, who runs an anti-alcohol campaign in the country, said that alcohol consumption among Sri Lankan women had increased "drastically" in recent years.

"We all are aware that drug abuse has become a pressing national issue," he said at the time. (BBC)