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PM Modi files nomination papers in India’s general election

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has filed nomination papers in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh state, hoping to hold onto the seat for a second time in India's general election.

Modi was flanked Friday by Amit Shah, president of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party, and several state chief ministers.

Modi arrived at the local lection office after offering prayers at a local temple. As his car passed, people shouted slogans such as "Har Har Modi, or, Hail Modi!

Voting in three of the seven phases of the election have finished. Voting concludes on May 19 and counting is scheduled for May 23.

Varanasi goes to polls on May 19.

The election is seen as a referendum on Modi and his party.

Source: Fox News World

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At Ethiopia flight memorial, white roses mark passing of lives

Candles arranged in a heart-shape at a prayer session, as relatives mourn their kin, during a commemoration ceremony for the victims at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, at the Kenyan Embassy in Addis Ababa
Candles arranged in a heart-shape at a prayer session, as relatives mourn their kin, during a commemoration ceremony for the victims at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, at the Kenyan Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 16, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

March 17, 2019

By Maggie Fick

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – An aircraft hangar in the Ethiopian capital was filled with the white roses as aviation staff gathered on Sunday to remember the two pilots and six crew, who perished along with 149 passengers in the Ethiopia Airlines crash a week ago.

Weeping women held slender single stems in their shaking hands and banks of the flowers, traditionally used to mark the passing of lives, were placed in front of a row of empty coffins at the ceremony.

A band – some of the musicians in tears – played traditional Amharic music. The music stopped temporarily as band members ran to comfort bereaved relatives who lunged forward, wailing to grieve over the coffins.

“Our deep sorrow cannot bring them back,” an Orthodox priest in a traditional black turban and black robes told the crowd.

“This is the grief of the world,” he said, as Ethiopian Airlines staff sobbed in each other’s arms.

At least the crash had taken place in Ethiopia – the holy land – he said, prompting “amens” from the crowd.

In faraway Paris, investigators are examining black box recorders to determine why the aircraft plunged into field shortly after take off from Addis Ababa, searching for similarities to an October Lion Air crash that killed 189 people.

Both crashes involved the same model of plane – a Boeing 737 MAX 8 – causing aviation authorities to ground the model around the world after last week’s accident.

But in the Ethiopian capital, families and airline staff were focused on honoring their dead.

In the aircraft hangar, a banner offered “deepest condolences and comfort” to the families of the deceased crew.

A female flight attendant spoke warmly of the deceased captain, Yared Getachew.

“He was a really nice person, a good person, all the words you can find to talk about a good person apply. He was a very kind human being,” she said, before dissolving in tears.

A service for the families of passengers is scheduled later on Sunday. Relatives of the families – more than 30 nationalities were onboard – will gather beneath the pink stone spires of Addis Ababa’s Holy Trinity Cathedral.

The families have been given charred earth from the crash site to bury, because most of the bodies were destroyed by the impact and fire. Identifying the small remains that have been collected may take up to six months.

(GRAPHIC – Ethiopian Airlines crash: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ChBW5M)

(GRAPHIC – Grounded flights: https://tmsnrt.rs/2O6jQbI)

(Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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Twitter Erupts After Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro Kicked Off Air After Attacking Ilhan Omar

Social media users have responded with joy, anger, and mandatory memes after Fox News host Jeanine Pirro was booted from the airwaves on Saturday, one week after she hinted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s Muslim faith was un-American.

Pirro’s weekly program, ‘Justice’, was replaced by a rerun of a documentary series, sparking a flurry of speculation that Fox News had pulled the plug on the conservative firebrand. In a rare move, the network condemned Pirro, a former New York prosecutor, after she questioned the patriotism of left-leaning Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

“Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which is antithetical to the US Constitution?” Pirro asked during the broadcast.

Fox said the comments “do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly,” while several advertisers have reportedly cut ties with the show. Curiously, Pirro hasn’t tweeted since last Saturday.

The network has refused to comment about whether the host is facing a suspension or even termination. A spokesperson told CNN that Fox won’t comment on “internal scheduling matters.”

The schedule change was met with a colorful mix of applause, disappointment, and of course, meme-dipped snark.

“Let’s all say a prayer for the poor bartender that Jeanine Pirro is berating right now,” joked former theater agent Roland Scahill.

Others found creative ways to say that they wouldn’t miss Pirro’s voice on television.

“Jeanine Pirro always sounds like she’s dictating a one star yelp review for a plastic surgeon into her phone while driving to divorce court,” quipped another blue checkmarked pundit.

Still, others took the news more seriously.

“@JudgeJeanine wasn’t merely Islamophobic, she insinuated that wearing a hijab is Unconstitutional/illegal in the USA – and this woman is meant to be Judge in US Courts? She should be fired on basis of her lack of understanding of US law and rights,” wrote journalist Patrick Henningsen.

Not everyone was celebrating Pirro’s removal from the airwaves, however.

Infowars reporter and proud MAGA hat-wearer Millie Weaver argued that the television host had said nothing wrong.

“Judge Jeanine Pirro was correct that the US Constitution & Sharia Law are incompatible,” Weaver tweeted.

Pirro’s conservative fan base was also up-in-arms.

“We stand with @JudgeJeanine !! @FoxNews do not give in to leftists’ hate,” wrote conservative author Janie Johnson.

Even Donald Trump weighed in on the scandal, with the US president claiming that the “radical left Democrats” were trying to “silence” the “majority of our country.”

The Fox News host is far from the first talking head to face blowback for purportedly uncouth remarks. Fox News alum Megyn Kelly was shown the door by NBC after getting grilled for comments she made about blackface Halloween costumes. She still received $30 million as part of her exit deal, so everyone lived happily ever after.


Reports are now emerging that the Mosque shooter is not the white “Christian conservative” the MSM says that he is. Alex Jones exposes the false narrative surrounding this tragedy.

Source: InfoWars

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U.S. calls for probe of bombing of hospital in Yemen

People stand inside a hospital damaged by an air strike that hit a nearby gas station in Kutaf district of the northwestern province of Saada
People stand inside a hospital damaged by an air strike that hit a nearby gas station in Kutaf district of the northwestern province of Saada, Yemen March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Naif Rahma

March 28, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. State Department spokesman on Thursday called the bombing earlier this week of a Save the Children hospital in Yemen “awful” and urged the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to conduct an investigation.

“I saw those reports, they’re awful. The United States takes them seriously and we’re seeking more information,” spokesman Robert Palladino told a media briefing.

“We understand that the Saudi-led coalition has referred the results of this targeting operation to the joint incidents assessment team for their review and their investigation,” he said. “The United States urges a transparent investigation,” Palladino said.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: OANN

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Japan’s March factory output declines, rise in inventories raises concerns

FILE PHOTO: Employees of Toyota Motor Corp. work on assembly line in Toyota
FILE PHOTO: Employees of Toyota Motor Corp. work on the assembly line of Mirai fuel cell vehicle (FCV) at the company's Motomachi plant in Toyota, Aichi prefecture, Japan May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato

April 26, 2019

By Stanley White

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s factory output fell in March for the first time in two months and inventories rose at the fastest pace in a year as the U.S.-Sino trade war dents the country’s manufacturing sector.

Separate data showed retail sales picked up in March and labor demand remains the strongest in decades, but these positive figures are unlikely to ease policymakers’ concerns about a slowdown in global trade flows.

Factory output fell 0.9 percent in March, data by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed, more than a median estimate for a 0.1 percent decline in a Reuters poll of economists. That followed a 0.7 percent increase in February.

The mounting pressure on Japan’s economy from weak external demand has hurt exports and threatens corporate profits, which could weigh on capital expenditure and make it more difficult to keep growth on track, analysts say.

Industrial output fell in March due to a 3.4 percent decline in car output and a 6.7 percent decline in the production of machines used to make semiconductors and flat-panel displays, the data showed.

In another source of concern, inventories rose 1.6 percent in March, the fastest increase in a year, due to higher inventories of metals, plastics, and heavy equipment.

The rise in inventories suggests makers of these goods could curb output in the future.

Manufacturers surveyed by the ministry expect production to rise 2.7 percent in April and 3.6 percent in May, but METI changed its assessment of output to say it is weakening recently.

Retail sales – a key gauge of private consumption that makes up about 60 percent of the economy – rose 1.0 percent in March from a year earlier, more than a 0.8 percent annual gain expected by economists.

Friday’s batch of data comes a day after the Bank of Japan said it would keep interest rates low for at least another year, in a move to dispel uncertainty over its commitment to support the economy and drive inflation.

Japan’s policymakers are nervously monitoring developments overseas but have few policy options if weakness in the global economy continues to damage the country’s outlook, some economists say.

The Sino-U.S. trade war has also had a negative effect on domestic growth, as a slowing Chinese economy curbed demand for mobile phone parts and chip-making equipment from Japan.

Uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union and jittery global financial markets have added to a growing list of worries for policymakers.

Additional data released on Friday showed Japan’s jobless rate edged up to 2.5 percent in March from 2.3 percent previously, and job availability held steady at 1.63 per applicant, hovering at a 44-year high.

Tokyo’s core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products but excludes fresh food prices, rose an annual 1.3 percent in April from a year earlier, more than the median estimate for a 1.1 percent annual increase.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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Karl Rove: No matter what Barr does, it will be ‘unacceptable’ to Democrats

Karl Rove has argued that no matter what Attorney General William Barr does, it will be “unacceptable” to Democrats.

Rove said that was made evident Tuesday when Barr was questioned by lawmakers on Capitol Hill about his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.

“I heard that no matter he does, it’s going to be unacceptable to members of the committee. I thought some of them were very pointed in their comments that they wanted everything and they would be unhappy if they received anything less than that and the law be darned,” Rove, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for George W. Bush and a current Fox News contributor, told “America’s Newsroom” Tuesday.

The heated hearing marked Barr’s first appearance before lawmakers on Capitol Hill since releasing his four-page memo on the key findings of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

AG WILLIAM BARR TESTIFIES AT HOUSE HEARING, FIRST SINCE MUELLER REPORT MEMO RELEASE -- LIVE BLOG 

During the hearing, Barr vowed to release a redacted version of Mueller's Russia report "within a week," as he pushed back at Democrats blasting him for what they called his "unacceptable" handling of the initial summary of that document.

Barr said that he identified four areas of the report that he believed should be redacted, including grand jury material and information the intelligence community believes would reveal intelligence sources and methods. Barr maintained that he will make “as much information as possible available to Congress.”

“They (Democrats) didn’t care whether it was grand jury testimony or sources and methods. They wanted an unredacted report and then they would make up their minds as to what would be released and not released,” said Rove. “Barr made it very clear, he has to uphold the law and that there are grand jury testimonies, sources and methods and also some sense that we shouldn’t be trashing the reputation of people who were not charged or indicted or really consequential in the whole action.”

KENNETH STARR 'VERY PROUD' OF WILLIAM BARR'S HANDLING OF MUELLER REPORT

In a fiery opening statement, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., accused Barr of seeming to "cherry pick" from the report to "draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president" in releasing the four-page summary last month on its findings.

Other Democrats made similar comments as Barr appeared before the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee for a hearing originally meant to address Barr’s fiscal 2020 spending request for the Justice Department.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I think we are likely to see no surprises in this (Mueller report) and as a result, because it lacks surprises, we can expect some Democrats to be highly critical of the report,” said Rove.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Klobuchar hits Beto O'Rourke: 'I wasn't born to run' in 2020

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar took a swipe at fellow Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke — saying she "wasn't born to run" for the White House.

“It was probably more when I got to college. When I was growing up, in high school, that's not what girls thought they were going to do,” the Democratic senator said during a Sunday interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

“My parents, I think, thought it was a possibility. But I really didn't. And so for me, it's something that’s happened over time, as I've realized I can do things,” Klobuchar reportedly said. “I can get elected to the secretary-treasurer of my high school class. I can move on from there. And so I think it's something that I didn't have from birth.”

JEB BUSH: TRUMP NEEDS REPUBLICAN CHALLENGER IN 2020

Her reported comments appear to reference O'Rourke's statements about being "born" for a White House run in a glowing Vanity Fair profile that has drawn criticism.

"I want to be in it," O'Rourke said in the magazine's cover story. "Man, I'm just born to be in it, and want to do everything I humanly can for this country at this moment."

The Texan's comments to Vanity Fair, along with his decision to rule out a second Senate run last month, have been called emblematic of his white male privilege, amid a race with several viable female and African-American candidates, by critics within the Democratic Party.

Former Democratic Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke laughs during a live interview with Oprah Winfrey on a Times Square stage at "SuperSoul Conversations," in New York, on Feb. 5, 2019.  (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Former Democratic Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke laughs during a live interview with Oprah Winfrey on a Times Square stage at "SuperSoul Conversations," in New York, on Feb. 5, 2019.  (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

“If a woman was presented with a similar choice: Do that less ambitious, but better-for-the-party thing, versus more ambitious but longer-shot thing, I don’t see people being super understanding when she takes the latter,” Jess McIntosh, a Democratic strategist and former Hillary Clinton aide, told The New York Times.

BETO BOASTS OF HAVING REPUBLICAN MOM, DESPITE HER FREQUENT VOTES FOR DEMOCRATS

Klobuchar continued, saying, “But no, I wasn't born to run for office, just because growing up in the '70s, in the middle of the country, I don't think many people thought a girl could be president. I wasn't born to run. But I am running.”

Fox News' Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: Naqvi Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos
FILE PHOTO: Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court case to extradite Arif Naqvi, founder of collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group, to the United States on fraud charges was adjourned until May 24, a court official said on Friday.

Naqvi was remanded in custody until that date, the official said. A former managing partner of Dubai-based Abraaj, Sev Vettivetpillai, was released on conditional bail to appear again at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 12, the official said.

Under the U.S. charges, both men are accused of defrauding U.S. investors by inflating positions held by Abraaj in order to attract greater funds from them, causing them financial loss, the official said.

Vettivetpillai could not be reached for a comment.

Naqvi, in a statement released through a PR firm, has pleaded innocent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Naqvi and his firm raised money for the Abraaj Growth Markets Health Fund, collecting more than $100 million over three years from U.S.-based charitable organizations and other U.S. investors.

Naqvi and Vettivetpillai were arrested in Britain earlier this month. Another executive, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court on April 11.

Abdel-Wadood appeared at the Manhattan hearing and pleaded not guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his 2020 candidacy
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in this still image taken from a video released April 25, 2019. BIDEN CAMPAIGN HANDOUT via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his first interview as a Democratic presidential candidate, said on Friday that he does not believe he treated law professor Anita Hill badly during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Biden had joined the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field a day earlier.

Biden’s conduct during those hearings, when he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, became a renewed subject of controversy after the New York Times reported that Biden had called Hill earlier this month in the run-up to his presidential bid and that Hill was dissatisfied with Biden’s expression of regret.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Biden largely defended his actions as a senator almost 30 years ago, saying he believed Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment levied at Thomas and tried to derail his confirmation.

Activists have long been unhappy that Hill was questioned in graphic detail by the all-white, all-male committee chaired by Biden.

“I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated,” Biden said, but later, he asserted, “I don’t think I treated her badly. … How do you stop people from asking inflammatory questions?”

“There were a lot of mistakes made across the board and for those I apologize,” he said.

Biden praised Hill as “remarkable” and said she is “one of the reasons we have the #MeToo movement.”

Asked why he had not reached out to Hill earlier, Biden said he had previously publicly stated he had regrets about her treatment and that he “didn’t want to quote invade her space.”

That seemed to be a reference to another controversy that looms over Biden’s presidential run: allegations by several women that he made them uncomfortable by touching them at political events.

Biden also addressed that criticism, saying he was now more “cognizant” about a woman’s “private space.” But he maintained that he had been “trying to bring solace.”

He suggested he was still trying to sort out the guidelines for his conduct going forward.

“I should be able to read better,” he said. “I have to be more careful.”

Pressed by the show’s panel for an apology to his accusers, Biden would not entirely capitulate.

“So, I invaded your space,” he replied. “I mean, I’m sorry this happened. But I’m not sorry in a sense that I think I did anything that was intentionally designed to do anything wrong or be inappropriate.”

Biden, 76, served as former President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms. He is competing with 19 others for the Democratic presidential nomination and the chance to likely face President Donald Trump next year in the general election.

His first public event as a presidential candidate is scheduled for Monday in Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s stock slumped over 4% on Friday to its lowest price in two years, rounding out a rough week that included worse-than-expected quarterly results and a pitch by Chief Executive Elon Musk on autonomous cars that failed to win over investors.

With investors betting Tesla will soon raise capital, the stock has fallen 13% for the week to its lowest level since January 2017, before the launch of the Model 3 sedan aimed at making the electric car maker profitable.

One positive development for Tesla: a U.S. District Court judge on Friday granted a request by Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission for a second extension to resolve a dispute over Musk’s use of Twitter.

On Wednesday, Tesla posted a worse-than-expected loss of $702 million for the March quarter. Musk said Tesla would return to profit in the third quarter and that there was “some merit” to raising capital.

Musk is still battling to convince investors that demand for the Model 3, the company’s first car aimed at the mass consumer market, is “insanely” high, and that it can be delivered efficiently to customers around the world.

Tesla ended its first quarter with $2.2 billion, down from $3.7 billion in the prior quarter, and the company is planning expansions including a Shanghai factory, an upcoming Model Y SUV, and other projects.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s cash – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DyJjX6)

On Monday, Musk hosted a self-driving event, where he predicted Tesla would have over a million autonomous vehicles by next year. Some analysts perceived the presentation as a way to deflect attention from questions about demand, margin pressure, increasing competition and even Musk’s ongoing battle with U.S. regulators.

Tesla’s stock has now fallen 29 percent in 2019 and the company’s market capitalization has declined to $41 billion from $63 billion in mid-December.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s declining market cap – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dwd62r)

Analysts now expect Tesla’s revenue to expand 19% in 2019, compared with 83% growth in 2018 and 68% growth in 2017, according to Refinitiv.

Following Tesla’s quarterly report, 12 analysts recommend selling the stock, while 11 recommend buying and eight are neutral. The median analyst price target is $275, up 16% from the stock’s current price of $236. Berenberg analyst Alexander Haissl has the most optimistic price target, at $500, while Cowen and Company’s Jeffrey Osborne has the lowest, at $160, according to Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said Friday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s rare public criticism of the Obama administration was a “soft” way of accusing the previous administration of covering up Russia’s attempts at hacking the 2016 presidential election.

While speaking Thursday in New York at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, Rosenstein said that the Obama administration “chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to Russia’s broader strategy to undermine America.”

During an appearance on “America’s Newsroom” Friday morning, Huckabee called the comments an “unusually candid moment for Rosenstein.”

“I thought it was a soft way of him saying there was a cover-up,” Huckabee said. “They knew the Russians were attempting to influence the election and attempting to hack the election but they didn’t fully disclose that to the American people and certainly didn’t disclose it to the Trump campaign.

SWALWELL NOT CERTAIN TRUMP ISN’T A ‘RUSSIAN ASSET’

“Instead they tried to set a trap for them. It failed. The Trump team did not take the bait. And that’s the one conclusion that we can certainly come away with from the $35 million worth of investigation,” Huckabee continued.

Next week, Attorney General William Barr will testify before Congress and is expected to answer questions about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump, which found that there was not adequate evidence to conclude that President Trump and his administration colluded with Russia, though the president could not be exonerated in terms of the possibility that he obstructed justice.

Barr will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday and to the House Judiciary Committee the following day.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG 

“It is going to be a theater, an absolute show,” Huckabee said of the hearings. “Just like the Kavanaugh hearings were and like everything else is in Congress. We ought to close the curtain on them and can’t come back until after the election. They aren’t doing their job anyway. We aren’t paying them because they’re doing a wonderful service to the country and spare us the hypocrisy of thinking they’re interested in getting to the bottom of the facts,” he continued.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ultimately, Huckabee argued, if Americans “took their partisan hats off,” they would see that President Trump was exonerated by the investigation.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Sri Lanka's former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake
Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

April 26, 2019

By Sanjeev Miglani and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said on Friday he would run for president in elections this year and would stop the spread of Islamist extremism by rebuilding the intelligence service and surveilling citizens.

Gotabaya, as he is popularly known, is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two led the country to a crushing defeat of separatist Tamil rebels a decade ago after a 26-year civil war.

More than 250 people were killed in bomb attacks on hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that the government has blamed on Islamist militants and that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.

Gotabaya said the attacks could have been prevented if the island’s current government had not dismantled the intelligence network and extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and later on.

“Because the government was not prepared, that’s why you see a panic situation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Gotabaya said he would be a candidate “100 percent”, firming up months of speculation that he plans to run in the elections, which are due by December.

He was critical of the government’s response to the bombings. Since the attacks, the government has struggled to provide clear information about how they were staged, who was behind them and how serious the threat is from Islamic State to the country.

“Various people are blaming various people, not giving exactly the details as to what happened, even people expect the names, what organization did this, and how they came up to this level, that explanation was not given,” he said.

On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said the government led by premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should take responsibility for the attacks and that prior information warning of attacks was not shared with him.

Wickremesinghe said earlier he was not advised about warnings that came from India’s spy service either, presenting a picture of a government still in disarray since the two leaders fell out last October.

Gotabaya is facing lawsuits in the United States, where he is a dual citizen, over his role in the war and afterwards.

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project, in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld, filed a civil case in California this month against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor.

In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father.

Gotabaya said the cases were baseless and only a “little distraction” as he prepared for the election campaign. He said he had asked U.S. authorities to renounce his citizenship and that process was nearly done, clearing the way for his candidature.

‘DISMANTLE THE NETWORKS’

He said that if he won, his immediate focus would to be tackle the threat from radical Islam and to rebuild the security set-up.

“It’s a serious problem, you have to go deep into the groups, dismantle the networks,” he said, adding he would give the military a mandate to collect intelligence from the ground and to mount surveillance of groups turning to extremism.

Gotabaya said that a military intelligence cell he had set up in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with Arabic language skills and that was tracking the bent towards extremist ideology some of the Islamist groups were taking in eastern Sri Lanka was disbanded by the current government.

“They did not give priority to national security, there was a mix-up. They were talking about ethnic reconciliation, then they were talking about human rights issues, they were talking about individual freedoms,” he said.

President Sirisena’s government sought to forge reconciliation with minority Tamils and close the wounds of the war and launched investigations into allegations of rights abuse and torture against military officers.

Officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings.

Muslims make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, which is predominantly Buddhist.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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