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Is Trump Really About to Attack Venezuela?

Last week Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the last of the US diplomats out of Venezuela, saying their presence was a “constraint” on US policy toward the country. The wording seemed intended to convey the idea that the US is about to launch military action to place a Washington-backed, self-appointed politician to the presidency. Was it just bluster, designed to intimidate? Or is the Trump Administration really about to invade another country that has neither attacked nor threatened the United States?

While US Administrations engaged in “regime change” have generally tried to mask their real intentions, this US-backed coup is remarkable for how honest its backers are being. Not long ago the National Security Advisor to the president, John Bolton, openly admitted that getting US companies in control of Venezuelan oil was the Administration’s intent. Trump Administration officials have gone so far as mocking the suffering of Venezuelans when a suspiciously-timed nationwide power failure heightened citizens’ misery.

According to media reports, Vice President Mike Pence is angry with the Venezuela coup leader, Juan Guaido, because he promised the whole operation would be a cake walk – just like the neocons promised us about Iraq. Guaido said hundreds of thousands of protesters would follow him to the Colombian border to “liberate” US aid trucks just over the border, but no one showed up. So Pompeo and the neocons made up a lie that Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s thugs burned the aid trucks to prevent the people from getting relief from their suffering. Even the pro-war New York Times finally admitted that the Administration was lying: it was opposition protesters who burned the trucks.

Was the US behind the take-down of Venezuela’s power grid? It would not be the first time the CIA pulled such a move, and US officials are open about the US goal of making life as miserable as possible for average Venezuelans in hopes that they overthrow their government.

Congress has to this point been strongly in favor of President Trump’s “regime change” policy for Venezuela. Sadly, even though our neocon foreign policy of interventionism has proven disastrous – from Iraq to Libya to Syria and elsewhere – both parties in Congress continue to act as if somehow this time they will get it right. I have news for them, they won’t.

Even weak Congressional efforts to remind the president that Congress must approve military action overseas sound like war cries. In Rep. David N. Cicilline’s (D-RI) statement introducing his “Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act” last week, he sounded more hawkish than John Bolton or Elliott Abrams! The statement makes all the arguments in favor of a US military attack on Venezuela and then – wink wink – reminds the president he needs authorization beforehand. As if that’s going to be a hard sell!

So is President Trump about to attack Venezuela? At a recent US House hearing, one of the expert witnesses testified that such an invasion would require between 100,000 and 150,000 US troops, going up against maybe three times that number of Venezuelan troops in a country twice the size of Iraq. With a lot of jungle. All for a “prize” that has nothing to do with US security. If the president makes such a foolish move he might find the current war cheerleaders in the Democrat Party changing their tune rather quickly. Let’s hope Trump changes his tune and returns to his promises of no more regime change wars.

This article first appeared at RonPaulInstitute.org.


Source: InfoWars

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Atlanta Fed raises U.S. first quarter GDP view to 2.4%

A container ship is shown at port in Long Beach, California
FILE PHOTO: A container ship is shown at port in Long Beach, California, U.S. July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 17, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. economy grew at a 2.4% annualized rate in the first quarter as government data showed the U.S. trade deficit hit an eight-month low in February, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Wednesday.

This was a tad quicker than the 2.3% pace for the first-quarter gross domestic product that the Atlanta Fed’s GDP program calculated on April 8.

(Reporting by Richard Leong)

Source: OANN

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Israeli ex-spy who helped capture Nazi mastermind Eichmann dies at 92

FILE PHOTO: Eitan, who was involved in the capture of Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, sits during a ceremony at Israeli President Rivlin's residence in Jerusalem
FILE PHOTO: Rafi Eitan, who was involved in the capture of Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, sits during a ceremony to mark 55 years since the Eichmann trial of at Israeli President Reuven Rivlin's residence in Jerusalem January 27, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

March 23, 2019

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Rafi Eitan, a former Israeli minister and veteran spy who led the operation to capture fugitive Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann, died on Saturday at the age of 92.

“We have lost a brave fighter whose contribution to Israel’s security will be taught for generations to come,” President Reuven Rivlin said.

Eitan died after being hospitalized in Tel Aviv, YNET news website and other Israeli media reported.

Eitan played an influential role in the early years of Israel’s intelligence agencies.

In 1960, he was in charge of the Mossad operation that led to the capture of Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, who was living in Argentina under an assumed identity. Eichmann was taken to Israel where he stood trial for crimes against humanity, was found guilty and hanged.

Eitan was also involved in the planning and implementation of the attack on the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

He then headed Israel’s Bureau of Scientific Relations, which was involved in the scandal surrounding Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. naval intelligence analyst arrested in 1985 and sentenced in 1987 to life imprisonment for spying for Israel.

Israel has said Pollard was recruited in a rogue operation by the since-disbanded bureau. Eitan assumed responsibility for and resigned over the affair, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Eitan was elected to parliament in 2006 for three years and served as pensioners minister.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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Chronology of key events in the killing of Kim Jong Nam

Two Southeast Asian women were the only suspects charged with murder after an outcast from North Korea's ruling family was poisoned with VX nerve agent at a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, airport two years ago. The trial ended abruptly Monday after a Vietnamese woman, Doan Thi Huong, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and is expected to be freed next month. It comes just three weeks after prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Siti Aisyah of Indonesia.

A chronology of key events in the case:

___

Feb. 13, 2017: A North Korean man, waiting to board a flight to Macau at a low-cost airport terminal in Malaysia, complained to airport officials that someone grabbed him from behind him and smeared his face with some liquid. He was sent to the airport clinic and pronounced dead on the way to a hospital.

Feb. 14, 2017: International media broke the news that Kim Jong Nam was murdered in Malaysia. Police later said the victim was a North Korean man known as Kim Chol based on his passport.

Feb. 15, 2017: Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam was detained at the same airport terminal where Kim was killed.

Feb. 16, 2017: Indonesia's Siti Aisyah was detained. Malaysia's then-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed that Kim Chol was Kim Jong Nam.

Feb. 18, 2017: Police arrested North Korean Ri Jong-chol, 47, who is believed to be a chemical expert.

Feb. 19, 2017: Police announced they were looking for seven North Korean suspects in connection with the murder. Police later said four of them were believed to have left the country and later sought Interpol's help to detain them.

Feb. 24, 2017: Officials said Kim was killed by the toxic VX nerve agent, listed by the U.N. as a weapon of mass destruction.

Feb. 26, 2017: Officials said they found no hazardous material nor any trace of VX after a sweep of the airport terminal where Kim was killed, and declared it safe.

Feb. 27, 2017: South Korean lawmakers said the country's National Intelligence Service had told them that four of the North Koreans identified as suspects by Malaysian authorities were spies from North Korea's Ministry of State Security. The lawmakers also said they were told that two other suspects were affiliated with North Korea's Foreign Ministry and that leader Kim Jong Un directed a "state-organized terror" to kill his half brother. The lawmakers didn't say how South Korea's spy agency got the information.

March 1, 2017: Aisyah and Huong were charged in a Magistrate's Court with Kim Jong Nam's murder and faced the death sentence if convicted.

March 2, 2017: Ri Tong Il, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations who was leading a high-level delegation to Malaysia to seek Kim's body, said a heart attack likely killed the victim, not VX nerve agent as the autopsy showed.

March 3, 2017: North Korean Ri Jong-chol was released due to a lack of evidence and deported.

March 4, 2017: The Malaysian government expelled North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol, days after scrapping a visa-free entry for North Koreans. Kang Chol, who had denounced Malaysia's investigations into Kim's death and accused Kuala Lumpur of colluding with outside forces to defame Pyongyang, was given 48 hours to leave the country.

March 7, 2017: North Korea banned Malaysian citizens in its country from leaving as tension escalated over Kim's killing. Malaysia responded with a similar ban.

March 30, 2017: Nine Malaysians held in Pyongyang returned home after the two countries struck a deal to end a diplomatic row. Malaysia released Kim's body to Pyongyang and also allowed North Koreans to leave, including a North Korean Embassy official and an Air Koryo employee wanted by police for questioning over Kim's death.

Oct. 2, 2017: The joint trial of Aisyah and Huong began in the High Court. They pleaded not guilty. Their lawyers said they were pawns in a political assassination orchestrated by four North Korean suspects who fled Malaysia on the day of Kim's killing. The four men were accused in the charge sheet of conspiring with the women to kill Kim.

Aug. 18, 2018: A High Court judge ordered the two women to enter their defense after ruling there was enough evidence to infer that they had engaged in a "well-planned conspiracy" with the four missing North Korean suspects to kill Kim.

Nov. 7, 2018: The judge set Jan. 7 for the trial to resume after Aisyah's lawyers complained that some witnesses were unreachable.

Jan. 7, 2019: The trial was postponed to March. Aisyah's lawyers sought time to appeal to higher courts to obtain statements given by witnesses to police that they said are crucial for her case.

March 11, 2019: Prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the murder against Aisyah, without giving any reason. Aisyah was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the court. She was flown back to Jakarta in a private jet on the same day. Indonesian officials said her release was due to Jakarta's continual high-level lobbying. A distraught Huong, who was supposed to start her defense, said she was in a shock. Her lawyers sought a postponement of the trial and asked prosecutors to also withdraw the murder charge against Huong.

March 12, 2019: Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh phoned his Malaysian counterpart, Saifuddin Abdullah, requesting the court to be fair and also free Huong. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Aisyah's release was based on the rule of law, amid allegations the government had interfered in the trial.

March 13, 2019: Law Minister Liew Vui Keong said Malaysia's attorney general has sole discretion in withdrawing the charge against Aisyah and that the government cannot interfere with the attorney general's power.

March 14, 2019: Prosecutors told the court that the attorney general ordered the murder case to proceed against Huong. They didn't explain why the attorney general refused to acquit her. Huong's lawyers accused the attorney general of being unfair and discriminating against her. The judge postponed hearing to April 1 after Huong told the judge she was unwell and stressed.

April 1, 2019: Prosecutors said the attorney general offered a reduced charge of "voluntarily causing injury with a dangerous weapon" to Huong following renewed pleas from the Vietnamese government and her lawyers. Huong pleaded guilty and the judge sentenced her to three years and four months in jail. Her lawyers said she will be freed early next month after a one-third remission for good behavior. Huong said she was "very happy" and that the sentence was fair.

Source: Fox News World

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Anti-Trust: Warren’s Phony Attack on Fascist Censorship

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Source: InfoWars

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U.S. states probing Hyundai, Kia over vehicle fires: Connecticut AG

The Hyundai logo is seen outside a Hyundai car dealer in Golden
The Hyundai logo is seen outside a Hyundai car dealer in Golden, Colorado, November 3, 2014. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

March 19, 2019

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – A group of U.S. states is investigating Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp for potential unfair and deceptive acts related to reports of hundreds of vehicle fires, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said on Monday.

The South Korean automakers have recalled more than 2.3 million vehicles since 2015 to address various engine fire risks in a series of recalls. In November, Reuters reported that federal prosecutors had launched a criminal investigation into Hyundai and Kia to determine if vehicle recalls linked to engine defects had been conducted properly.

“We are aware of multiple fires involving Connecticut vehicles, including some allegedly already repaired through the recall process. This is a serious matter, and we are moving aggressively and responsibly to uncover the facts and to ensure accountability,” Tong said in a statement.

Hyundai said late Monday it is “fully cooperating with the government in this matter, and is committed to providing American motorists with safe, high quality, efficient and affordable vehicles.” The company added it “has made numerous improvements to our engine manufacturing, and has enhanced our customer service efforts to address every single impacted customer.”

Kia did not immediately comment. A spokeswoman for the Connecticut attorney general declined to say how many states were taking part.

Reuters reported in January that the companies would offer software upgrades for 3.7 million vehicles not being recalled.

A South Korean whistleblower in 2016 reported concerns to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has been probing the timeliness of three U.S. recalls and whether they covered enough vehicles.

In 2015, Hyundai recalled 470,000 U.S. Sonata sedans, saying engine failure would result in a vehicle stall, increasing the risk of a crash. At the time, Kia did not recall its vehicles, which share the same “Theta II” engines.

In March 2017, Hyundai expanded its original U.S. recall to 572,000 Sonata and Santa Fe Sport vehicles with those Theta II engines, citing the same issue involving manufacturing debris. On the same day, Kia also recalled 618,000 Optima, Sorento and Sportage vehicles, all of which use the same engine.

Last month, the Center for Auto Safety, which has petitioned NHTSA to demand the recall of additional vehicles, told Congress that Kia and Hyundai must recall more vehicles at risk of fires after reports of 300 fires not the result of a collision.

On Monday, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, asked NHTSA to launch a safety defect investigation into Hyundai and Kia vehicles with the “Theta II” engines and order an immediate recall of vehicles.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Sandra Maler and Richard Chang)

Source: OANN

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Pennsylvania police investigating viral video showing an officer striking a woman

A Pennsylvania police department says an internal investigation is underway after a viral video emerged showing one of its sergeants striking a woman.

The Chester Police Department, in a statement, said it was responding to a call of “what was described to them as a riot” on Saturday afternoon and “located a large group of people fighting in the street.

“While police were gaining control of the situation a female identified as Dominique Difiore, 20, struck a police sergeant,” they said. “She was taken into custody by officers on the scene.”

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

The brawl, police said, was linked to a group of people who kicked down the door of a home where a party was happening, after being denied entry. Police added there were “numerous assaults and a college age St. Patrick's celebration going on in the neighborhood at the time of this incident.”

Video footage shows a woman appearing to take a swing at an officer before he hits her back in response, causing her to fall to the ground.

“I think it was excessive force,” Matt Pfaff, a neighbor, told CBS Philly. “I think it was ridiculous to do something like that, no matter how frustrated you get. They’re trained to do better.”

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Police are warning though that the “partial video of the event [that] is circulating on various social media platforms” doesn’t tell the whole story.

“The incident, the video, and level of force used in connection with the event are all currently under investigation, the Chester Police Department said.

Source: Fox News National

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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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