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Lufthansa looking to merge European catering unit with peer: sources

Meals are prepared by employees of LSG Group, Lufthansa's airline catering division, at the LSG headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany
FILE PHOTO: Meals are prepared by employees of LSG Group, Lufthansa's airline catering division, at the LSG headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, November 11, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

March 27, 2019

By Arno Schuetze

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Lufthansa is looking to merge the European operations of its catering unit LSG with a peer as it struggles with low margins in a competitive market on the continent, people close to the matter said.

Lufthansa has provided information to potential bidders and has asked them to make offers for the business in early April, the people said, adding that Lufthansa was not interested in a deal with private equity.

Austria’s Do&Co and Switzerland’s Gategroup are expected to make offers for the European LSG operations, the people said, adding that given its low profitability and low expected value even medium-sized Do&Co could do a deal without a partner.

Lufthansa reiterated that it was considering options for LSG, while Gategroup declined to comment and Do&Co was not immediately available for comment.

While Lufthansa is currently focused on finding a solution for its European operations, a deal for its international business could follow at a later stage, the people said.

The catering business is challenged by a large number of locations it serves, high staff costs and exposure to currency exchange rates, Lufthansa’s Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said recently.

Lufthansa’s LSG group saw adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rise 39 percent to 181 million euros last year on flat revenues of 3.2 billion euros. It employs 35,500 staff.

The bulk of profits came from the international business, the sources said. Lufthansa does not provide a regional split of the figures.

The figures were helped by lower restructuring costs.

Do&Co, backed by gastronomy entrepreneur Attila Dogudan, has a market capitalization of 735 million euros. It serves customers at 60 airlines including Lufthansa’s Austrian unit and its core catering business posted 61 million in 2018 EBITDA on sales of 574 million.

Gategroup is owned by Chinese conglomerate HNA, whose current financial strains may dissuade the company from doing a major cash deal, people familiar with the matter have said in the past.

After a failed 2018 listing of Gategroup, Temasek and RRJ Capital subscribed to a five-year mandatory exchangeable bond which upon conversion will account for up to 49 percent of its share capital.

Morgan Stanley is helping Lufthansa in finding a buyer for parts or all of LSG, sources told Reuters in 2018.

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Editing by Tassilo Hummel/Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Key Senate panel split on Trump-Russia collusion: sources

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Burr arrives inside Hart Senate Office Building in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) arrives inside the Hart Senate Office Building before former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen testified behind closed doors before the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

March 19, 2019

By Mark Hosenball and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, known as perhaps Congress’ most bipartisan panel, is split along party lines over whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, sources told Reuters.

The division is unsurprising in Washington’s bitterly partisan climate but raises a broader question: If the Senate intelligence panel cannot produce a consensus view of what happened with Trump and the Russians, what committee can?

It would in turn stir doubts about whether congressional investigations into Trump will result in lawmakers trying to start impeachment proceedings against the Republican president.

At least six congressional committees are probing whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow in its efforts to sway U.S. voters to support Trump in 2016; whether Trump has tried to obstruct investigations; whether his businesses have ties to Moscow; and whether he has used his office to enrich himself.

The inquiries have months to go and much could change, especially with a long-running probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller not yet completed and many hours of congressional hearings, both open and closed, still to play out.

But at the moment, sources said, Intelligence Committee members have been considering the production of dueling final reports, one from the committee’s eight Republicans and one from its seven Democrats, reaching different conclusions.

Congressional sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that both Republicans and Democrats on Senate Intelligence agreed there was a lack of direct evidence pointing to collusion. The two sides disagree on circumstantial evidence.

The Democrats say there is enough circumstantial evidence to support a finding of collusion in the committee’s final report. Trump’s fellow Republicans on the panel say there is not.

“There is no hard evidence of collusion,” a Democratic source said, but “plenty of circumstantial evidence.”

Senate Intelligence oversees America’s spy agencies, from the CIA to the intelligence-related functions of the FBI.

Led by Republican Chairman Richard Burr, the panel’s members also include Republicans Marco Rubio and Susan Collins, as well as Democrats Mark Warner, Dianne Feinstein and Ron Wyden.

A spokeswoman for Burr declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Wyden, a senior committee Democrat.

Burr told CBS last month that the committee, at that time, had found no proof that Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow.

Trump denies any collusion occurred and has repeatedly blasted such inquiries as a “witch hunt.”

DUELING REPORTS

If Senate Intelligence, and possibly other committees in Congress, end up producing conflicting reports, Americans looking to Congress for explanations about links between Moscow and the Trump campaign are likely to be disappointed.

Moreover, experts said, such an outcome could reduce the odds of an eventual Trump impeachment. Under the Constitution, the impeachment process would begin in the Democratic-led House of Representatives, but it would fall to the Republican-led Senate to decide whether to remove Trump from office.

“This may indicate that Republicans don’t think there’s a smoking gun, nothing that ties the president to a conspiracy,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington.

“It leaves things with no impeachment, probably. … If the Republicans are saying: ‘Uh uh, this is not impeachable,’ then I don’t think it’s going to happen,” she said.

Entrusted with some of the most sensitive U.S. secrets, Senate Intelligence began its Trump-Russia probe shortly after Trump took office. It is now moving to re-interview key witnesses, with senators joining staff investigators in the questioning for the first time, the sources said.

The committee will assess a January 2017 report from the U.S. spy agencies that found Russia interfered in the 2016 election in various ways. Russia denies any meddling.

Also being scrutinized by the panel are the role of social media in the 2016 campaign, the security of U.S. voting systems and steps former President Barack Obama’s administration took – or did not take – after initial reports of Russian interference.

But the central topic of the committee’s probe will be the question of collusion.

Bipartisan oversight on those questions is crucial, said Norman Ornstein, a political analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

“If there is a bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee, assuming it’s a full exposition, that would make a difference, even if Burr and Warner had different interpretations,” he said.

Separate, partisan reports would tell a more familiar story, he said. “Then we’re back to the dynamic where Republicans will believe the Burr report, while Democrats, the mainstream media, the intellectual community and the Never-Trumpers are going to believe the Warner report,” Ornstein said.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball and David Morgan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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Golf: Koepka writing new Masters memory after Mickelson brush-off

Phil Mickelson of the U.S. warms-up on the driving range during the second day of practice for the 2019 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Phil Mickelson of the U.S. warms-up on the driving range in inclement weather during the second day of practice for the 2019 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, U.S., April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

April 9, 2019

By Steve Keating

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuters) – Like many golf fans, one of Brooks Koepka’s most vivid Masters moments involves three-times champion Phil Mickelson.

Pulling it up from deep inside his childhood memory banks, Koepka recalled in detail on Tuesday his meeting with Mickelson near the Augusta National parking lot two decades ago when a starry eyed kid with dreams of being a Masters winner one day cornered ‘Lefty’ for an autograph.

“He turned me down, (I am) probably about the only kid Phil’s ever turned down,” recalled Koepka with a chuckle. “He told me years later, I shouldn’t have been in the parking lot so fair enough.

“He doesn’t remember. I mean, I can’t believe he doesn’t remember the first time he ever said no to a kid, signing an autograph.

“I told him, I think in 2014, I think we were playing a practice round at the British Open. I had to tell him. I was like, ‘Listen, man, you stiffed me and I really didn’t like you for a long time’.

“We can laugh about it now.”

Fast forward 20 years and Koepka is a three-times major winner signing autographs at Augusta National — the only hint of a scar left from the Mickelson brush-off is his difficulty in saying ‘no’ to a little kid.

Koepka said he has since got Mickelson’s autograph and this week will be focused on getting his own name on the Masters trophy and slipping into a Green Jacket.

In each of his three previous Masters, the 28-year-old American has made progress but is still without a top-10, with his best finish a tie for 11th in 2017.

He watched last year’s tournament from his couch recovering from a wrist injury.

He returns to Augusta National as a far different player, having since won three majors, back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2017 and 2018 along with the 2018 PGA Championship.

“I’ve got three trophies that I haven’t had any time I’ve teed it up (here),” said Koepka. “I’ve never been a major champion when I played here.

“Completely different player probably. (I) Understand how to handle pressure a lot better, understand this golf course a lot better. Even sitting out a year, there are certain things you can pick up on when you’re watching.

“And (I have) really kind of matured on and off the golf course. I think it is a big deal.”

“It’s nice to be back here. It’s always a special place to be playing.”

(Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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Curling: Former NFLers take aim at becoming Olympic curlers

FILE PHOTO: Minnesota Vikings defensive end Allen celebrates his second quarter sack of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Roethlisberger during their NFL football game at Wembley Stadium in London
FILE PHOTO: Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen celebrates his second quarter sack of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during their NFL football game at Wembley Stadium in London, September 29, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

February 19, 2019

By Frank Pingue

(Reuters) – A group of former NFL players who took up curling with Olympic-sized dreams may not have struck fear in opponents’ eyes like they did on the gridiron but they still consider their inaugural campaign a sweeping success.

Former Minnesota Vikings great Jared Allen and his team had no curling experience between them when they formed last March but that has not deterred them from chasing the lofty goal of representing the United States at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“You tell people that and they think that’s very boastful, very aggressive. But setting mediocre goals is setting yourself up for mediocrity,” Allen told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“I always like to shoot for the moon and see what happens.”

That drive led Allen, who terrorized quarterbacks during a 12-year NFL career that ended in 2016, to recruit former St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, Tennessee Titans linebacker and offensive tackle Keith Bulluck and Michael Roos.

The quartet, who were all Pro Bowl selections during their National Football League careers, shared the desire of competing at either the summer or winter Olympics but they were not initially sure what sport they would pursue to try and reach their goal.

Allen, 36, said the original plan was to take up badminton, an idea that was quickly abandoned after he realized just how nimble and agile players need to be.

“After watching videos of badminton it was like ‘man these guys are actually pretty darn athletic.’ They were flying all over and diving on the hard court and I was like I don’t think my back would hold up,” said Allen.

“So we went to a less physically taxing sport, and I figured when the winners have to buy the losers a beer as a customary tradition (in curling), how rough can that sport actually be.”

TRYING NOT TO FALL

The Nashville-based team, who practice on ice provided by the city’s National Hockey League team, will compete at the Feb. 21-24 Mile High Open in Colorado to cap a campaign in which they failed to qualify for the U.S. national championships.

Known as the All Pro Curling Team, the quartet have come a long way from the first handful of times they stepped foot on a curling sheet, when Bulger says simply trying not to fall was the main goal.

While the team are confident they will soon master the sliding technique and physical demands of sweeping, they need to focus mainly on strategy, admitting it is difficult for them to see what seems obvious to their more experienced opponents.

“When I first watched curling … you just think you are going for the button, the center of the house, every time. And that’s not the case,” Bulger, 41, told Reuters. “There’s just so much more to it and so that’s our biggest thing.”

But Bulger said that what his team mates lack in experience on the pebbled ice, they more than make up for it when it comes to having to handle outside pressures given their former careers competing in America’s most popular sport.

“We had TV cameras following us and media (while we were playing in the NFL) and unless it’s the Olympics there’s never really that attention around the curling circuits,” said Bulger.

“So people get a little nervous around that but we are so used to it and kind of thrive on it. Even on pressure shots we thrive on it.”

‘DEVELOP OUR SKILLS’

The four have come quite a long way in a short period of time and while they have not experienced much success when it comes to winning actual matches, they say competitors are often surprised that they have only been curling for less than a year.

Bulluck said opponents have not looked down at the former NFLers’ attempt to make some noise in the curling world and instead have welcomed them with open arms, offering tips and advice along the way.

While some onlookers might not consider a group of newcomers much of a threat, Bulluck suggests his team possess a different type of advantage given the never-say-die mindset the former professional athletes honed in the NFL.

“We were All-Pro caliber players in the NFL, which means at some point we were the top players at what we did. We are able to focus and put in the time that it takes to become elite at something you do,” said Bulluck. “So we are kind of banking on that.”

The team’s first pro tournament came last November when, without the services of Bulluck and Roos and in their place a pair of regular curlers, they were easily beaten 11-3 by the reigning U.S. Olympic champions.

But the former NFLers were undeterred and despite tempered expectations, they remain committed to booking a spot in Beijing, which means by the 2020-21 season they need to be earning enough points at World Curling Tour events to qualify for the Olympic trials.

“Having no preconceived notions about how this was going to go, I think it was successful in terms of just getting started and figuring things out,” Roos told Reuters.

“We’re definitely at that point now where we’ve got to put more effort in and work hard and really, really start to develop our skills if we really want to make this a legitimate chance.”

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth almost never happened

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are still enjoying their blissful honeymoon period, but they almost never dated at all.

MILEY CYRUS SHARES SWEET NEW PHOTOS OF WEDDING TO LIAM HEMSWORTH

Hemsworth, 29, revealed that he almost wasn't cast in "The Last Song," in which he co-starred with Cyrus, 26.

"That was the first job I got [in the U.S.], and it was literally right at the end of my three-month visa," Hemsworth said on "Today" (via People). "They cast another kid, and it didn't work out with him."

MILEY CYRUS TWEETS LIAM HEMSWORTH A RISQUE VALENTINE'S DAY MESSAGE

He continued, "My agent calls me like, whispering, like, 'You've got to go to Disney right now. It's not working out with the other guy. You've got to go in and read with Miley again.' I come in and everyone starts clapping like, 'We should have gone with you first!'"

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Cyrus and Hemsworth tied the knot in December after nearly a decade together.

The former "Hannah Montana" star shared more photos from their intimate wedding on Instagram, including one in which she pretends to smoke her wedding flowers.

MILEY CYRUS ATTENDS 'ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?' PREMIERE FOR HUSBAND LIAM HEMSWORTH FOLLOWING HIS HOSPITALIZATION

Hemsworth gushed of his bride, "I'm really hapyp and really fortunate to be with such a great person."

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ECB rate-hike prospects before next downturn are fading: Reuters poll

Sign of the European central Bank (ECB) is seen ahead of the news conference on the outcome of the Governing Council meeting, outside the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt
Sign of the European central Bank (ECB) is seen ahead of the news conference on the outcome of the Governing Council meeting, outside the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

March 15, 2019

By Shrutee Sarkar

BENGALURU (Reuters) – The European Central Bank may have missed its opportunity to raise interest rates before the next downturn, according to a Reuters poll that shows a majority of central bank policy watchers aren’t confident they will.

In a poll taken after the ECB said it would offer new long-term loans to banks later this year, nearly 90 percent of economists who answered an extra question also said it would not conduct any more asset purchases until at least the end of 2020.

That comes even though the ECB cut its 2019 growth forecasts to their lowest since polling began for the period, more than two years ago, according to the poll of about 100 economists. Inflation is not expected to pick up to the ECB’s target until at least 2022.

The consensus forecast now is that the ECB will not raise rates until even later next year compared with last month’s poll. More than 60 percent of economists who answered an extra question said they were not confident the central bank will raise them before the next economic downturn.

“Definitely, the cycle has already reached the highest point and we are now already in the slowdown phase,” said Peter Vanden Houte, chief euro zone economist at ING.

“So, the ECB probably did miss the bus in increasing rates. But the situation remains that from conventional tools, there is no scope at all to do something more if the economy goes into a more severe downturn.”

(GRAPHIC: Reuters Poll: Confidence ECB hikes before downturn – https://tmsnrt.rs/2UAVycj)

The survey was conducted against a backdrop of a slowing global economy, an ongoing U.S.-China trade conflict, and an impasse in Britain over leaving the European Union, and it found economists trimming growth forecasts.

“We think the euro zone is a shock away from a recession,” noted Luigi Speranza, chief global economist at BNP Paribas. “Against this background, we think monetary policy normalization is now over. The ECB is likely to leave rates on hold in 2019 and 2020. The debate is soon likely to shift to how the ECB could ease monetary conditions if needed.”

A series of weak economic reports have confirmed a euro zone growth slowdown, including just 0.2 percent growth in the fourth quarter, a recession in Italy, the euro zone’s third-largest economy, and a near-miss for Germany, its biggest.

Quarterly growth is set to nudge up to 0.3 percent this quarter, according to the poll, but average economic growth for 2019 was cut to 1.2 percent from 1.3 in the previous poll.

Inflation is forecast to slip this year to 1.4 percent. It is expected to average 1.5 percent next year and 1.7 percent in 2021.

But the median probability of a euro zone recession in the next year and the next two years slipped to 20 percent and 30 percent from 25 percent and 35 percent in the previous poll.

Some economists pointed to the ECB’s offer of new targeted long-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) as one reason for trimming their recession probabilities.

“With negative shocks that we have seen over the past few quarters … banks will be a little more cautious in extending credit. Now, that risk has been to some extent tackled by the ECB with the new TLTROs,” said Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank.

“The TLTROs may help prevent further weakening of the economy at best, but that wouldn’t really boost growth.”

Several others said the TLTROs will be more effective by keeping liquidity stable in the euro zone.

“With the TLTROs, most probably, the ECB will prevent a credit tightening, and I think it will be quite successful, given the fact that a number of banks will just be replacing the previous TLTROs coming to maturity (with) the new ones,” ING’s Vanden Houte saod.

(Additional reporting by Richa Rebello; polling by Sumanto Mondal and Manjul Paul; editing by Ross Finley, Larry King)

Source: OANN

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Kazakh activist complains of pressure by authorities

A prominent activist from Kazakhstan who is campaigning for the release of ethnic Kazakhs in China says he was forced to sign blank documents under house arrest.

Serikzhan Bilash, head of the advocacy group Atajurt, was accused of "inciting ethnic hatred" and placed under house arrest in the Kazakh capital of Astana earlier this week.

The charges against him have not been officially announced.

Bilash said in an audio message relayed by his lawyer that unknown officials visited his place on Wednesday and pressured him to sign blank documents.

The detention of possibly over a million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities in Chinese internment camps has raised acute concerns in Kazakhstan which heavily relies on trade with neighboring China. Bilash's group has been actively supporting relatives of those detained.

Source: Fox News World

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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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