The source said his jet landed at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport and his whereabouts in Thailand will be treated confidentially.

Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said in a social media post Wednesday that Thailand had received a request from Rajapaksa to enter the country,

and as a holder of a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport, he can enter Thailand without a visa for up to 90 days, emphasizing the ousted leader’s stay is temporary and he is not seeking political asylum.

Who paid for the private jet is unknown.

Sri Lanka tri forces raided protest sites occupying government grounds in the main city of Colombo early on Friday and cleared it, a sign that the country’s new president was cracking down a day after his appointment. Chameera Dedduwage, Protest organiser, told namo magazine that they had planned to hand over the presidential secretariat to government authorities on Friday afternoon. Disputed police said they had no information on that.

Sri Lanka is under a state of emergency since Monday

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa tweeted, A cowardly assault against PEACEFUL protestors, who agreed to vacate the sites today; A useless display of ego and brute force putting innocent lives at risk & endangers Sri Lanka’s international image, at a critical juncture.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka said the crackdown could destabilise the country, which is in need of foreign aid and a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

More than 50 protesters were injured, the organisers said, including some men, women and journalists who were beaten by tri forces.

U.S. British and Canada diplomats already expressed concern.

He had been in hiding after crowds stormed his residence on Saturday. He was due to resign as president on Wednesday to make way for a unity government, after thousands of protesters stormed his and the prime minister’s official residences, on Saturday demanding their resignation.

Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards escaped by a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, the report added, citing the official.

The 73-year-old narcissist arrived in the capital of the Maldives, Male, at around 03:00 local time (22:00 GMT), the namo understands. His next destination is not known.

Mr Rajapaksa’s departure ends a family dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for decades.

Veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while reporting on an Israeli army raid in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for Al Jazeera, the TV network reported on Wednesday. Al Jazeera says an Israeli force killed Abu Akleh; Israel’s government says it believes she may have been hit by Palestinian gunfire.

Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian American, had been covering a military raid on the Jenin refugee camp “when she was shot in the face by a single bullet, despite wearing a press vest,” Al Jazeera said. It said the TV correspondent had been “assassinated in cold blood” after she was targeted by the Israeli forces.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued a statement saying, “According to the information we have gathered, it appears likely that armed Palestinians — who were firing indiscriminately at the time — were responsible for the unfortunate death of the journalist.”

Most recognisable figures from the capitol hill siege after being pictured with a US flag painted on his face and wearing horns and a bearskin headdress. He referred to himself as “the QAnon Shaman”. Just days after the riots, he got arrested and was in custody for nearly 11 months.

Chansley told the FBI that he came to DC in January “at the request of the president” that all “patriots” come to the city.

Also he stated to the judge, he wants to “evolve” and was “wrong for entering the Capitol”. “I have no excuse,” he said.

Adding more, he has been asking himself “what would Jesus do?” and likened himself to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, saying: “What if we all judge Gandhi based on the fact that he beat his wife before his spiritual awakening?”

Chansley was carrying a spear in the Capitol. Prosecutors also say he led other protesters in and he left a threatening note for former Vice-President Mike Pence saying “It’s only a matter of time,Justice is coming!”

According to the prosecutor, “His consistent rhetoric before and after the event, and his apparent ability to carry out his intentions of violently removing the ‘traitors’ in our government, is clear from the evidence in this case,” .

Now he claims to have disavowed Mr Trump and QAnon both.

In September, his attorney told the court that his client was “non-violent, peaceful and possessed of genuine mental health issues”. That defence didn’t work.

Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory believe that former President Donald Trump was waging a secret war against a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media.

I did not discuss what happened in Sri Lanka for this long, not because I am not interested in, or do not care, but I had to take time to read and study before I talk about it. Today I would like to share my views and understanding of what is happening in Sri Lanka which I still consider as my mother land.

There is no such a thing as Buddhist extremism

According to what I gathered during my childhood surroundings by my buddhist relatives and their practices, there is no place for extremism in Buddhism. It is the Middle-Way Approach that Buddhism upholds. Moreover, philosophy of Buddhism is based on compassion, peace and wisdom. If someone is an extremist, then he or she is not Buddhist, no matter what that person claims. Zero, absolute lack of any Buddhist doctrine which mentions the despicable actions of criminal activities which are taking place.

Political incitation

I strongly believe there was a political invitation behind these crashes and riots between Buddhist and other religious communities and there shouldn’t be an argument about it. That is the dirtiest game politicians play from behind the curtain to fulfil their political gain. As in most democratic countries the great majority of people are religious in some sense, and in Sri Lanka politicians follow majorities which are Buddhist in order to get elected. No, I don’t think Buddhism has any legitimate role in politics. If a proposed law has a non-religious justification, then religion is not needed to justify it.

It is important and critical to be clear that not all Buddhist are real Buddhist. It is easy to call ourselves Buddhist but to be a real Buddhist is not that easy. People become Buddhist because they are born into a Buddhist family, it is the same for other religions.

It is wrong to treat this way

I strongly oppose the way some of our people, i.e, Buddhist in Sri Lanka, treated other religions. That, including authority, should handle any situations more intelligently, and in the correct ways. I know and understand very well about the concerns and worries that we Sri Lankans have today. They became very sensitive and defensive in such kinds of religious affairs. What we need is, in my view, to have an accountable, responsible and superlative government, and leadership that can manage, govern and guide the whole nation and all people of Sri Lanka, that includes muslims, with care, consideration, and wisdom.

We also need to educate and develop our people’s minds, so that they know how to handle and solve problems, differences and unhappiness as well as grievance issues caused among different religious communities and people. So, we have to focus on education.

To order to understand these serious and delicate issues, we need to explore fundamental questions and analyse all underlying factors that start and cause, and who are responsible for these crises. Media reporting is just one source of information and data. It means that these issues and problems are to be discussed, explored and solved by really serious people, this is not a  piece of work to be done or undertaken by weak-minded and eccentric persons.

Powell, a four-star general who last held public office in 2005, passed away on Monday, due to the Covid 19 complications. His family posted this statement on Facebook. He was 84.

Mr Powell remembered as one of the greatest leaders and a very good family man in the US history.

Whether it’s the Grassy Knoll, the moon landings or the Covid-19 vaccine, nearly every major event in history spawns conspiracy theories. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the people that subscribe to conspiracy theories usually believe in all of them rather than just one or two.

As such, conspiracy theorists have developed an arsenal of diversionary tactics to confound and frustrate their opponents in debates.

Let’s examine a few of them and how you can best deal with them:

1. ʺYou’re taking it out of contextʺ 

If you want to find a conspiracy theorist, just search online for the word “context.” This is often used by those with some agenda or ideology to intentionally confuse people about a topic they don’t agree with. If nothing else, it gives them something to argue about so that they can keep a conversation going and make themselves feel superior in the process. 

The first step here is figuring out what context is being used and then explaining how it has been taken out of context. The deeper point here isn’t necessarily proving whether someone was right or wrong, but instead getting across that there are many different contexts at play when discussing any given subject matter – even if you happen to disagree on this particular issue.

2. ʺWhy is it so important to you?ʺ 

A conspiracy theorist will often be so concerned with finding proof of what they’re saying that they can find absolutely no other way to explain why an event or series of events happened as it did. The truth might be unfortunate or unpleasant, which is why so many people choose to believe in these things – even when the evidence isn’t there.

This question gives you the chance to ask directly what their motivations are for believing in all these conspiracy theories: are they just trying to make themselves feel better – superior even? Are we accusing someone of being a narcissist here? What does this mean for our relationship and friendship if I become aware of this fact? 

There may well also be some childhood trauma at play here too… but let’s save that conversation for another time. Once again it’s important not to attack anyone personally,  but instead focus on discovering more about how others think by asking questions rather than making assumptions or bringing up controversial points yourself (unless you really know what you’re doing). 

This question is a sign that the conspiracy theorist is feeling cornered and defensive because they’re losing the argument, and they need to attack their opponent themselves rather than the subject at hand. This tactic is called ‘ad hominem’, meaning ‘to the man’.

3. ʺIt’s not a conspiracy theory if it’s true!ʺ

If you can get the conspiracy theorist to admit that it is true in this situation, then they will have no choice but to back down and change their position – even if they don’t want to accept your argument yet. This doesn’t mean agreeing with them on everything, only proving one point at a time so as not to overwhelm or confuse them. 

Often just getting someone who thinks like this that “everything is connected and controlled by some shadowy body of people pulling strings from afar behind the scenes for nefarious purposes” is enough for them finally ease up on all these theories and begin looking into more balanced sources of information about current affairs again instead of having such an extreme viewpoint.

4. ʺYou’re probably just confused by the logical fallacies you use to support your claimsʺ

Logical fallacies happen all the time as people try to make their point and convince others that they are correct. These can be arguments in themselves where someone is forced to defend why something like a conspiracy theory makes sense – even when it doesn’t. 

This is usually because of some logical fallacy that has been used somewhere along the line, such as arguing from authority (someone who should know what they’re talking about said this), appeal to emotion (something bad happened here which proves your argument) or even using a straw man argument which only exists so that you can easily knock it down and “prove” how right you are.

These things may not seem too important at first but if we think back to the second dialogue above where we ask “why does this matter?” then surely there must be an answer for us here? We already know there are many different theories on any given subject, so do these logical fallacies help us find out more about each one or just give rise to more questions without providing any answers? It might sound crazy, but by asking these questions directly we have another way of trying to understand our friends better; perhaps leading them away from wanting to believe in unfounded claims anyway.

5. ʺIf this was true, I wouldn’t be hearing about it now would I?ʺ

This one’s a classic and can be used in just about any situation where someone has engaged with some conspiracy theory or another (even if they don’t necessarily want to admit it). Because of this we should all have the ability to use the “someone would have leaked it by now” argument in our back pocket for those occasions when someone starts talking like this. 

Conclusion

As you can see, many of the argumentative tactics used by conspiracy theorists are diversionary and do nothing but confirm our suspicions of insecurity within the theorist themselves.

It’s not clear whether it’s nature or nurture that makes someone a conspiracy theorist, but either way, it’s nigh-on impossible to change their mind with a few lines of debate. You may sow the seeds of doubt but a few minutes of dialogue won’t undo a lifetime of indoctrination.