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NYC jogger Karina Vetrano murder case juror says he felt pressure to convict

Moments after Chanel Lewis was found guilty of murdering New York City jogger Karina Vetrano, one of the jurors who had just voted to convict Lewis said he felt pressured to deliver the verdict and had doubts about whether the man he'd just sent to prison was really Vetrano's killer.

Lewis faces life in prison after a 12-person jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting and killing Vetrano, whose body was found in a marshland near her Queens home in August 2016. The jury deliberated for five hours Monday and convicted the 22-year-old despite defense attorneys' claim that key evidence that may have proved exculpatory was withheld during the retrial.

One juror, described by the New York Post as a man in his 30s, voiced skepticism about the prosecution's case.

“He seems like such a good kid. Did he really do this?” the juror told the Post outside the courthouse Monday night following the guilty verdict.

Chanel Lewis at the defense table at Supreme Court in the Queens Borough of New York for the retrial of Karina Vetrano's murder. (AP)

Chanel Lewis at the defense table at Supreme Court in the Queens Borough of New York for the retrial of Karina Vetrano's murder. (AP)

He added: “I kept thinking, ‘How tall is Karina? How tall is Chanel?’ She looked pretty buff me to."

DEFENSE IN NYC JOGGER KARINA VETRANO MURDER CASE SAYS ANONYMOUS LETTER SHOWS EVIDENCE WITHHELD DURING RETRIAL

The juror said he felt pressure to convict Lewis, but he didn't go into detail about why he felt that way or who he felt was applying the pressure. Despite his doubts, the juror said he believes “justice was served.”

“For both sides of the family it’s an awful, awful situation,” he told the New York Post.

Video showed Vetrano’s parents, family members and friends erupting in cheers as the Queens jury read the verdict.

"Jubilation. Justice. Justice has been served," the victim's father, Phil Vetrano, told reporters while leaving court.

The retrial risked ending in a hung jury -- just like Lewis' first trial in the case in November -- after Lewis’ attorneys, the Legal Aid Society, said they received a letter with “troubling and reliable information” over the weekend about other potential suspects. The lawyers said that evidence hadn't been turned over prior to the start of the retrial. They filed motions for a hearing Monday, but were unsuccessful in the last-ditch effort.

NORTH DAKOTA QUADRUPLE HOMICIDE SUSPECT AT LARGE; TIGHT-LIPPED COPS SAY VICTIMS 'DIDN'T DO IT THEMSELVES'

The Legal Aid Society said the verdict was a “complete miscarriage of justice.”

"Our client did not receive a fair trial," the Legal Aid Society said, adding that it would appeal.

Phillip and Catherine Vetrano, parents of Karina Vetrano, arrive to court in New York.

Phillip and Catherine Vetrano, parents of Karina Vetrano, arrive to court in New York. (AP)

Lewis was arrested in February 2017 after police said his DNA, obtained through a cheek swab, proved to be a match for DNA found on Vetrano’s neck, cellphone and under the 30-year-old’s fingernails. Lewis also admitted to the crime in a taped confession.

Lewis' defense team, however, insisted the DNA evidence hadn't been gathered properly and the confession had been coerced. The lawyers said Lewis' taped account at times didn't match up with facts in the case, including inconsistencies between what Lewis said and how Vetrano was injured.

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The New York Police Department disputed the last-minute anonymous letter touted by the defense team, saying the document was "riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies” and "the evidence clearly shows that Chanel Lewis is responsible for her death."

Lewis is expected to be sentenced April 17.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News National

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US says it will deliver aid blocked by Venezuela, setting up confrontation with Maduro regime

The U.S. government says it will position 190 metric tons of supplies by Friday, ready to deploy throughout Venezuela, according to Mark Green, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The problem is figuring out how to get that aid into Venezuela.

“That really is up to Juan Guaido and his people and his team," Green told Fox News. "We are working with them to try and pre-position that assistance and give them the tools to lead their people and provide hope.”

FATE OF AMERICAN CITGO EXECUTIVES HELD IN VENEZUELA UP IN THE AIR AS MADURO'S REGIME PLUNGES DEEPER INTO CRISIS

Pallets of food, medicine and hygiene kits are in neighboring Colombia and warehouses throughout the region.

Contested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is blocking international aid, calling it an American attempt to overthrow his government.

"This not an earthquake. This is not a hurricane.  This is not a tornado or a flood,” Green said. “This is one man and one regime imposing dictatorial rule, imposing suffering and pain on people."

"This not an earthquake. This is not a hurricane.  This is not a tornado or a flood. This is one man and one regime imposing dictatorial rule, imposing suffering and pain on people."

— Mark Green, administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Green said he’s coordinating with the Colombian government to ensure that Guaido, the opposition leader, has the aid his country needs -- though he said the next step is up to Guaido.

“We know it's not enough that the humanitarian aid enters,” Guaido said at a Caracas news conference. “We must open the humanitarian channel, no matter what."

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Guaido is organizing aid caravans to try to cross Saturday into Venezuela, potentially setting up a confrontation with the Venezuelan military.

The day before Guaido’s caravans leave for Venezuela, billionaire Richard Branson says he’s organizing a benefit concert to fund more aid for Venezuelans. Branson told the Associated Press that he’s trying to raise $100 million from viewers who would pay to watch it streamed on the internet.

Also on Friday, and on the other side of the Colombia/Venezuela border, Maduro’s government has announced a competing concert, calling it “Hands Off Venezuela.”

Source: Fox News World

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Trump  Considers Powell, Craft, Grenell, James for UN Job

President Donald Trump is considering four people to be his next UN ambassador: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Dina Powell, the current ambassadors to Canada and Germany, Kelly Craft and Richard Grenell, and John James, a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, according to people familiar with the matter.

The people asked not to be identified because Trump hasn’t made a decision. Top White House aides have also discussed nominating Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump if no front-runner emerges.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert withdrew her nomination to replace former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the job, partly due to issues that arose around a nanny Nauert once employed. The nanny was a legal U.S. immigrant but wasn’t authorized to work, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Powell is a veteran of the Trump administration who served as a deputy national security adviser before returning to Goldman Sachs last year. Craft was deeply involved in Trump’s renegotiation of Nafta and is married to Joe Craft, a billionaire Republican fundraiser and executive at coal producer Alliance Resource Partners.

Grenell manages the U.S. relationship with the German government, which has grown tense because of a variety of conflicts with the Trump administration, including a dispute over a gas pipeline deal between Germany and Russia and the president’s consideration of tariffs on imported cars.

James fell short in an attempt to unseat Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow last year, but the Michigan businessman is well liked within the White House and has been considered for other administration jobs.

Nauert announced she would withdraw her nomination on Saturday in a State Department statement that didn’t acknowledge her nanny issue or any other particular problem. The situation with her nanny would have likely come out in her confirmation hearing and is a political liability because of Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants and illegal migration.

A day before Nauert withdrew, Trump declared a national emergency to secure more money for his proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico after Congress approved only about $1.4 billion in a spending deal.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Mike Spann’s daughter on John Walker Lindh’s early release: it’s a slap in the face

It was a text message that, for 26-year-old Alison Spann, ripped open old wounds of mourning.

“My grandfather wrote that he needed to talk to me about news of an early release of John Walker Lindh,” Spann told Fox News on Friday, two days after that dread message ping. “It floored me. This man sat in front of my father and let him be killed. The fact that he is now able to get out early is unacceptable. It feels like such a slap in the face.”

Alison was just nine years old when her father, Johnny “Mike” Spann, a U.S Marine turned CIA paramilitary operative, became the first American to be killed in combat in Afghanistan, amid the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

In November 2001, U.S forces learned that an American – Lindh – was among the cluster of Taliban fighters left in limbo after their leader surrendered to the Northern Alliance in the northern Afghanistan province of Mazar-i-Sharif. Spann was first into the compound, serving as a prison, to interview Lindh, peppering him with questions about where he was from and what he was doing. But Lindh refused to respond.

“In those moments, when he chose to stay silent, he sealed his fate as a traitor to the United States,” Spann said. “At any point, he could have warned him that something was being planned.”

TWO US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

Hours later, Lindh’s fellow detainees erupted in a violent revolt that left Mike Spann dead.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Lindh – who is currently behind bars in Terra Haute, Indiana – will be discharged on May 23, several years in advance of his initial 20-year jail sentence. The initial charges leveled against the then 20-year-old Lindh in 2002 included one for murder conspiracy for the part he played in the killing of Americans, including Spann, in the prison rebellion.

John Walker Lindh

John Walker Lindh (AP)

However, nine of the ten counts in the indictment were dropped and he ended up pleading guilty to disobeying an executive order outlawing support to the Taliban and for possessing a weapon in Afghanistan.

It is not apparent why Lindh, now 38, has been made eligible for a premature release, and the BOP did not immediately respond to a comment request. Yet his sentencing reports indicated that “good behavior” could serve as justification.

“I was so young when it all happened, but I knew there was a man named John Walker Lindh, who was an American and had been at the prison when my father had been killed,” Spann said. “I saw his image on television, but my family tried to shield me from too many details. As I got older, I started to ask questions and understand what happened.”

In Spann’s view, 20 years was a “measly” sentence to begin with, but the notion of that being reduced is heartbreaking.

The forthcoming release of Lindh, however, has prompted steep security concerns. In 2017, the National Counterterrorism Center, according to documents obtained by Foreign Policy, underscored that he has continued to "advocate for global jihad and write and translate violent extremist texts."

Furthermore, he is alleged to have told a TV producer last March that he would “continue to spread violent extremism Islam upon his release.”

In 2013, the designated “detainee number 001 in the war on terror” was able to obtain Irish citizenship from behind bars as result of his father’s ancestry, and is reported to have expressed an intention to relocate to Ireland after being freed.

EXILED AFGHAN LEADER, AND ONE-TIME U.S. ALLY, WARNS AGAINST "PEACE" WITH TALIBAN FROM POSITION OF WEAKNESS

A convert to Islam and hailing from northern California’s Marin County, Lindh made the journey to Afghanistan after Yemen and Pakistan as a 19-year-old shortly before the September 11 attacks. He underwent training in Kandahar, where he met with mastermind Usama bin Laden on at least one occasion.

While Lindh quickly became labeled as the “American Taliban” in the western media, one investigator and documentarian who interviewed the young jihadist in northern Afghanistan, Robert Young Pelton, emphasized that he very much belonged to the outfit who “ran planes into our buildings.”

“John Walker Lindh was al Qaeda, and that was why we were in Afghanistan,” Pelton said. “And now we are grappling with the same thing over what to do with the American ISIS. These are the same types of people.”

Nonetheless, the early release news has triggered a renewed wave of emotion and frustration for the Spann family.

“He’s as much responsible for Mike’s death as the people who beat him and shot him,” Spann’s father, Mike, told a local Alabama outlet this week, stressing that if Lindh had identified himself as a fellow U.S. citizen and revealed that a prison uprising was being orchestrated, his son may never have lost his life.

Furthermore, Alison Spann is also preparing to send a letter to the White House requesting the Executive Branch to intervene and put a stop to the early release. In the letter viewed by Fox News, Spann asks that her father’s sacrifice “not be in vain.”

“He should be made to serve his full sentence – one that pales in comparison to the one that so many American families have had to pay in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism,” she writes.

Alison Spann, 26, wants the White House to stop the early release of John Walker Lindh

Alison Spann, 26, wants the White House to stop the early release of John Walker Lindh (Spann family)

In contrast, in the ensuing years since the Afghanistan war was ignited, Lindh’s father, Frank, has decried much of the terrorist characterization of his son. Rather, he has painted him as a spiritual youngster who made a “rash and blindly idealistic” decision but was not “sinister or traitorous” in his intentions.

Spann isn’t buying it.

“If John was so innocent, why didn’t he jump at the chance to be saved or pulled out by another American? Instead, he refused to speak up. I find it hard to believe he didn’t have a role,” she said. “This isn’t just a slap in the face to me and my family, but to the U.S. military and anyone else who have sacrificed their lives in the war, as well as the victims of 9/11 and the millions of Muslims worldwide who aren’t radical.”

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Johnny Spann, a native of Winfield, Alabama and the father of three, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in late 2001, where he was revered by then-CIA Director George Tenet as an individual devoted to building a “better, safer world” and that it was his “quest for right” that led him to Afghanistan.

Johnny "Mike" Spann with his three children

Johnny "Mike" Spann with his three children (Spann family)

Spann’s star serves as the 79th one chiseled on the Agency’s Memorial Wall.

“Our family is serving a life sentence. We are forever affected by what happened. John Walker Lindh is 38, an age my father never got to live to. John Walker Lindh gets to go on and have a life regardless,” Alison Spann added. “Why are we giving him any extra years of freedom?”

Source: Fox News National

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Ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s murder conviction reinstated

Former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez arrives in the courtroom at Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River
FILE PHOTO: Former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez arrives in the courtroom at Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Massachusetts April 1, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

March 13, 2019

(Reuters) – Massachusetts’ top court on Wednesday reinstated former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez’s conviction on charges of murdering an acquaintance in 2013, making it easier for the victim’s family to sue his estate.

Hernandez hung himself in his prison cell in 2017, days after being cleared of a separate 2012 double murder, leading a lower-court judge to toss his conviction under a longstanding state legal doctrine that vacated guilty sentences for people who died before they had exhausted the appeals process.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court scrapped that legal doctrine, saying that it was not in keeping with norms of “contemporary life.”

“When a defendant dies irrespective of cause, while a direct appeal as of right challenging his conviction is pending, the proper course is to dismiss the appeal as moot,” the court said.

Hernandez was convicted in 2015 of murdering acquaintance Odin Lloyd in an industrial park near his home by the Patriots’ stadium and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. In 2017, he was cleared in a separate case of murdering two Cape Verdean men outside a Boston nightclub after a dispute over a spilled drink.

After the 27-year-old former athlete hung himself, his family turned his brain over to scientists who determined that Hernandez had the one of the worst cases of the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy that they had ever seen.

CTE, which can cause premature dementia and violent behavior, is a condition caused by the sort of repeated head hits that have long been part of football. Multiple former players have sued the league over it and the NFL has scrambled to change rules to reduce the risk.

The high court’s decision clears the way for the victim’s family to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Hernandez, who had a $41 million contract when he was arrested for Lloyd’s killing, said Robert Bloom, a professor at Boston College Law School.

“What it means is that Lloyd’s family might be able to collect from the estate,” Bloom said. “They would have an action against the estate because of the wrongful death of their family member.”

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Scott Malone and Tom Brown)

Source: OANN

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Portugal declares ‘energy crisis’ as fuel supply runs low

FILE PHOTO: A plane takes off at Lisbon airport
FILE PHOTO: A plane takes off at Lisbon airport, Portugal July 5, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante/File Photo

April 16, 2019

By Catarina Demony

LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal declared an “energy crisis” on Tuesday after a strike by fuel truck drivers hit the country, forcing the government to order striking workers to get back on the road immediately as airports resorted to emergency reserves.

Demanding better workers’ rights, fuel truck drivers started a strike on Monday but guaranteed the operation of minimum services. According to the Socialist government, however, the minimum service has not been provided and fuel supplies are running out.

In Faro, one of the country’s biggest tourist hubs, the airport resorted to emergency fuel reserves. Lisbon airport has also been affected.

“At both airports, where fuel supply wasn’t ensured, we have reached critical levels of fuel reserves for aircraft refueling,” Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira told reporters.

Alongside oil companies, Portugal’s government and security forces are sending dozens of tanker trucks to Lisbon to supply the capital’s airport with fuel.

An energy crisis was declared by the government on Tuesday evening, meaning security and emergency services now have priority when it comes to refueling at gas stations. In addition, an alert was issued to ensure security forces are mobilized to run fuel supply operations and guarantee people’s safety.

The government said in a statement the strike was also affecting fire stations, ports, public transport companies and gas stations.

“I want to ask drivers to comply with the law and with the determined minimum services required,” Siza Vieira said, explaining the decree passed ordering drivers to return to work.

The National Union of Dangerous Goods Drivers said the strike would continue until its demands are met.

Across the country, panicked drivers queued outside gas stations to fill up their tanks. More than 200 gas stations were already shut.

Only one flight has been canceled, but according to the minister, there could be more cancellations in the next few hours if supplies are not resumed.

Air traffic controllers said on Twitter that a Ryanair flight had to stop in Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain, to refuel the aircraft before heading back to Lisbon.

Portugal’s national airline, TAP, has a contingency plan to reduce the impact of the strike.

Airport authority ANA is monitoring the situation and has asked passengers traveling from Lisbon or Faro to check their flight status with airlines.

Fuel company Prio, which operates in Portugal, told news agency Lusa that it expected almost half its stations to run out of gas or diesel by the end of the day.

“This could aggravate if the truckers’ union does not advise its members to comply with the order issued by the government to fulfill the minimum services to supply stations,” Prio said in a statement.

Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said the government was trying to “stabilize and normalize the situation”, especially with families traveling home for Easter.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Goncalo Almeida; Editing by Axel Bugge, Ed Osmond and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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Oil rises on Iran sanctions threat, Venezuela shutdown

FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a pump-jack outside Saint-Fiacre
FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind an oil pump outside Saint-Fiacre, near Paris, France March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

April 2, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices rose to fresh highs for the year on Tuesday, after a U.S. official said Washington is considering more sanctions on Iran and a key Venezuelan export terminal halted operations.

Price were also underpinned by a Reuters survey showing OPEC oil supply sank to a four-year low in March, and positive data from the world’s biggest economies, the United States and China.

Brent crude rose 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $69.27 a barrel by 0025 GMT, having earlier touched $69.29, a new high for 2019.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 28 cents, or 0.5 percent to $61.87 a barrel, earlier reaching $61.89, also a new high for 2019. WTI closed up 2.4 percent on Monday.

The U.S. government is considering additional sanctions against Iran that would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before, a senior Trump administration official told reporters on Monday.

The official also suggested that the U.S. may not extend waivers from sanctions on Iranian oil exports to a group of eight importers that expire next month.

“That, I think, is where we’re headed,” the official said.

Venezuela’s Jose crude export terminal has halted operations due to a lack of electricity supply, two sources with knowledge of the situation said, after restarting on Friday following a prolonged blackout.

Production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) helped push the group’s supply to a four-year low in March, a Reuters survey found.

The world’s biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, over-delivered on the group’s supply-cutting pact while Venezuelan output fell further due to U.S. sanctions and earlier power outages.

Markets also rallied on Monday after upbeat economic numbers from the United States and China eased worries about slowing global growth.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; editing by Richard Pullin)

Source: OANN

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Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner said Tuesday that a detailed plan for a merit-based immigration system will be presented to President Trump, giving priority to skilled immigrants rather than those with family ties to the U.S.

“I do believe that the president’s position on immigration has been maybe defined by his opponents by what he’s against as opposed to what he’s for,” Kushner said at the Time 100 Summit in New York City. “What I’ve done is I’ve tried to put together a very detailed proposal for him.”

KUSHNER: RUSSIA INVESTIGATION HAD ‘HARSHER IMPACT’ ON US THAN ELECTION MEDDLING

Kushner announced that the new immigration proposal, which Trump will receive this week or next, will resemble the point-based systems in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and will unify people by ensuring strong wages and secure borders while protecting humanitarian values.

“We want to protect our country’s humanitarian values. We want to make sure we’re reunifying families, and we want to do this in a way that allows our country to be competitive long term,” he said. “And my hope is we can really do something that unifies people around what we’re for on immigration.”

“We want to protect our country’s humanitarian values. We want to make sure we’re reunifying families, and we want to do this in a way that allows our country to be competitive long term. And my hope is we can really do something that unifies people around what we’re for on immigration.”

— Jared Kushner

JARED KUSHNER RESPONDS AFTER HASAN MINHAJ CALLS OUT HIS TIES TO SAUDI PRINCE

Kushner denied in the same talk that he has clashed with White House staffer Stephen Miller, who’s seen as tougher on immigration than others, adding that the plan was concocted with the help of Miller and Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

“And I say that If that if I can get Stephen Miller and Kevin Hassett to agree on an immigration plan, then Middle East peace will be easy by comparison,” Kushner joked, referring to the Israel-Palestine peace plan he’s working on.

“And I say that If that if I can get Stephen Miller and Kevin Hassett to agree on an immigration plan, then Middle East peace will be easy by comparison.”

— Jared Kushner

After the plan gets presented to Trump, it will likely undergo some changes and then he will decide when to proceed with it, Kushner said.

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“It’s very, very complicated, but it’s a very interesting issue, and if we can solve it, I do think it’s a critical component for America’s long-term competitive advantage,” he added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said his government must make men aware of the dangers of poor hygiene after expressing dismay over the 1,000 penis amputations that apparently occur in his country each year.

“In Brazil, we have 1,000 penis amputations a year due to a lack of water and soap,” he said while speaking to reporters in Brasilia after visiting the Education Ministry. “We have to find a way to get out of the bottom of this hole.”

The far-right leader called the figure “ridiculous and sad,” Reuters reported. A spokeswoman for the Brazilian urology society told the news agency the number is based on its official data for penis amputations.

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The amputations were conducted out of necessity over untreated infections, along with complications from HIV and various cancers, she said.

Source: Fox News World

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A top Russian diplomat says Russia is willing to negotiate a new nuclear weapons treaty with the United States and China.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Friday Moscow is closely following reports in the United States that the U.S. would like to reach a nuclear weapons deal with both Russia and China, and is “willing” to negotiate. The story was reported by CNN earlier Friday.

Ryabkov also said that Russia “would like to convince” the U.S. to adopt a joint statement that would condemn any use of nuclear weapons.

Ryabkov’s comments come just months after the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a cornerstone of the post-Cold War security, and Russia followed suit. Each claims breaches by the other.

Source: Fox News National

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Government dysfunction and an intelligence failure that preceded the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka are traced to simmering divisions between the president and prime minister after a weekslong political crisis that crippled the country last year.

The government has admitted to a “lapse of intelligence” after officials failed to act upon near-specific information received from foreign agencies. Suicide bombers exploded themselves last Sunday in three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 253 people and wounding 400 more. Authorities said eight Muslim militants blew themselves up at their targets while the wife of one of the attackers blasted herself on being rounded up by police.

The carnage has brought forth arguments that worshippers and holidaymakers fell victim to the rivalry and a lack of communication between the country’s two leaders — President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Cabinet led by Wickremesinghe says neither he nor his ministers were informed of the intelligence received by the defense authorities. Sirisena is the head of state, defense minister, minister in charge of the police and head of the armed forces. He also chairs the National Security Council, which includes the heads of security agencies and departments. Traditionally the prime minister also plays an important role on the council.

According to Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, Sirisena has not included Wickremesinghe in national security affairs since a dispute between them came into the open in October last year. This is an unusual departure from the protocol, he said.

Senaratne said that Sirisena was overseas when the attacks took place and even after that, the National Security Council refused to meet with Wickremesinghe as he tried to give them instructions.

Sirisena has also said that he was not informed of the intelligence received and vowed to overhaul the leadership of the defense forces.

The top bureaucrat at the Defense Ministry, Hemasiri Fernando, has resigned at Sirisena’s insistence.

“It is a major factor,” said Jehan Perera, the head of local activist group National Peace Council, referring to the alleged lack of coordination between the leaders contributing to the failure to prevent the attacks.

“The primary responsibility has to be taken by the president, he did not give the information and he did not act,” Perera said. “He had the Ministry of Defense, took the police from the prime minister, chaired the National Security Council meetings and did nothing,” Perera said.

Kusal Perera, a journalist and political commentator, says security and intelligence officials should have acted on the information whether or not they received orders from politicians.

“If they (Wickremesinghe and his party) were not invited to the National Security Council, why did not they say in Parliament that they were not responsible for the security of the country any longer,” said Perera, who is not related to Jehan Perera.

“Saying that now is taking political advantage, not taking responsibility,” he said.

Sirisena and Wickremesinghe belong to different political parties but came together for Sirisena’s presidential campaign in 2015. Their relationships broke down and their differences exploded last year when Sirisena suddenly sacked Wickremesinghe as prime minister and appointed in his place former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom he defeated in the presidential election. The crisis crippled the country for more than seven weeks to the point of not being able to pass this year’s national budget on time.

A court decision compelled Sirisena to reappoint Wickremesinghe, but the two leaders have been rivals within the same government.

Rajapaksa, who is the minority leader in Parliament, blames the government for weakening intelligence and dropping its guard, which he had maintained to defeat the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels 10 years ago to end the 26-year-old civil war. He also criticized the government for the detention of intelligence officers accused of extrajudicial killings and abductions during the closing days of the war, which he said crippled the security apparatus before the bombings. According to conservative U.N estimates, some 100,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka’s conflict.

Sirisena summoned an all-party conference Thursday to which Wickremesinghe was also invited. At the conference, Sirisena stressed “setting aside all the political beliefs and difference (so that) everybody should collectively commit towards building a peaceful environment within the country,” a statement from his office said.

“It is not a secret that the disagreements between me and the government aggravated over the past two years,” Sirisena told the country’s media executives Friday. “One of the reasons for that is weakening of military intelligence and arresting military officials unnecessarily and my speaking up against it within and outside the government.”

Jehan Perera said that the security threat could prove politically advantageous to Rajapaksa and his family, with a presidential election scheduled at the end of this year. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, a younger brother of Mahinda, was the powerful defense secretary during his brother’s reign and has expressed his interest to join the contest.

“People are saying we want a stronger leader and they are talking about Gotabhaya. It (the blasts) has worked to their benefit,” Perera said.

Source: Fox News World

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Cyprus police are intensifying a search for the remains of more victims at locations where an army officer, who authorities say admitted to killing five women and two girls, allegedly had dumped their bodies.

Police said Friday’s search will concentrate on a military firing range, a reservoir and a man-made lake near an abandoned mine approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital Nicosia.

On Thursday, the 35-year-old suspect told investigators that he had killed four more people than he had previously admitted to. All the suspect’s alleged victims are foreign nationals.

Police have already found the bodies of a 38-year-old Filipino woman and two as yet unidentified women.

Search crews are now looking for the daughter of the 38-year-old, a Romanian mother and daughter and another Filipino woman.

Source: Fox News World

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