Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am


Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Ghost workers sap Tunisia’s phosphate wealth

A bulldozer transports a treated phosphate to be put in wagons at a phosphate production plant in Metlaoui
A bulldozer transports a treated phosphate to be put in wagons at a phosphate production plant in Metlaoui, Tunisia February 8, 2019. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

March 9, 2019

By Tarek Amara

METLAOUI, Tunisia – Tunisia’s state phosphate firm CPG pays Abdel-Basset Klifhi a salary of $280 a month, even though he spends most days in his favorite cafe in the southern town of Metlaoui.

He is one of 21,000 people taken on by the Companie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) since Tunisia’s autocrat president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011.

Since then, the economy has been in crisis and CPG has lost its spot as the country’s top exporter. Unemployment, inflation and deficits have shot up and the value of the dinar currency has plummeted. Loans from the International Monetary Fund have kept the government afloat.

CPG’s hiring spree brought its total workforce to about 30,000 and aimed to reduce the number of unemployed to stop protests destabilizing the transition to democracy. Thousands more are still jobless, however, and some block roads to CPG daily to demand work. Others on the payroll want pay rises and frequently go on strike.

Phosphate production has halved since 2011 and CPG’s losses have accumulated as the wage bill grew. Employees point to other inefficiencies at the company.

CPG’s declining fortunes have highlighted the government’s failure to reform the bloated state companies that dominate the economy and have put Tunisia on a collision course with international donors.

They have also deprived the government of crucial export revenues needed to turn the economy around and create real jobs to end the daily protests and unrest, which largely target CPG.

“I get 850 dinars ($279.62) a month without doing any work,” said former protestor and CPG employee Abdul-Basset.

The company spends about $70 million a year of its $180 million annual budget on salaries, Industry and Energy Minister Slim Feriani told Reuters. His ministry oversees CPG.

“The hirings that took place after the revolution years were aimed at buying social peace but increased the suffering of the company,” he said.

“We are aware that they are not doing anything.”

IMF DELAYS

He said the company has lost almost $1 billion a year since 2011 because of disruption caused by the protests. It has only had 4,500 production days out of a possible 14,000 at its five mines since 2011, according to company documents seen by Reuters.

“This…could have prevented us from borrowing from the IMF,” said Feriani.

Phospates accounted for about 10 percent of Tunisia’s exports before 2011, when olive oil replaced it as the top export. In 2018 phosphate had shrunk to about 4 percent.

Tunisia agreed a $2.6 billion loan with the IMF in 2016. So far four installments worth $1.4 billion have been paid but each one was delayed because reforms fell behind the agreed program. Public sector salaries and reform of public companies were among the sticking points with the IMF.

Analysts expect a new confrontation with the lender after the government raised salaries at public companies, including CPG, state airline Tunisair, and state energy firm STEG in November.

An IMF spokeswoman said it was “in a continuous dialogue with the authorities on the policies” in the next loan review but declined to say when it would take place.

“The IMF supports the Tunisian authorities’ economic program to reduce macroeconomic imbalances, including by strengthening external competitiveness, reducing inflation, and lowering debt, and to improve job-creating growth prospects through structural reforms,” she said.

CPG’s phosphate production fell from a record 8.2 million tons in 2010 to about 3 million tons in 2018, official data showed.

In contrast, nearby Morocco raised output to 30 million tons last year from 13 million in 2010. A stable social climate allowed it to develop the industry including the use of a phosphate pipeline.

“Tunisia is no longer on the global phosphate production radar,” Feriani said.

Until 2011, Tunisia was one of the world’s top 5 producers but now stands in 11th place, far behind the leaders China, the United States, Morocco, Russia and Jordan.

CPG said it could raise production by between 5 and 6 million tons this year but only if the protests stop. In 2017, President Beji Caid Essebsi ordered the army to guard phosphate sites but has not dispersed the protests fearing a backlash.

INEFFICIENT

Some staff in the company say CPG has also lost money through other inefficiencies.

At CPG’s headquarters employees showed a Reuters team dusty, unused train carriages, purchased four years ago to ship phosphate to the coast.

“They have not been used because of a (technical) problem at the railway track near the production sites,” said CPG production director Rafaa Ben Nassib.

A CPG employee told Reuters that the company sometimes ordered replacement pieces for parts that were not broken.

Nassib said this was “wrong and unfair”. Feriani said there was no proof.

“We are constantly receiving petitions about corruption suspicions, but there is no proof of that. Yet we are seeking to strengthen corporate governance,” said Feriani.

Union officials and mining town residents say CPG also pays too much to transport phosphate to coastal plants where it is turned into fertilizer.

It costs $3 a ton to ship phosphate by train but the track is often blocked so CPG then uses truckers who charge up to $10 a ton, CPG officials say.

Feriani said he wants to upgrade the railways and eventually follow Morocco’s example and ship phosphate by pipeline.

The government has set aside $90 million for 20 new trains but this may not be enough.

Analyst Moez Joudi said the government must spend “significant sums” to repair the railways and develop transport rather than “dumping the company with imaginary jobs.”

(Editing by Ulf Laessing and Anna Willard)

Source: OANN

0 0

TSMC books steepest quarterly profit drop in over seven years

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is seen at its headquarters in Hsinchu
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is seen at its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan August 31, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

April 18, 2019

By Yimou Lee and Roger Tung

TAIPEI (Reuters) – TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, posted on Thursday its steepest profit decline in over seven years in the first quarter of the year, amid fears about the impact that slowing electronics demand could have on its business.

TSMC, formally Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, posted net profit of T$61.4 billion ($1.99 billion) for January-March, 31.6 percent less than a year earlier, and the steepest fall since the third quarter of 2011.

The result also lagged the T$64.3 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

The company, a proxy for global technology demand as its clients include iPhone maker Apple Inc, Qualcomm Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, forecast second-quarter revenue of $7.55 billion to $7.65 billion. That would be 2.5 percent to 3.8 percent lower than the year earlier.

It also forecast gross margin for the second quarter of 43 percent to 45 percent, while operating margin will be 31 percent to 33 percent, compared with 47.8 percent and 36.2 percent a year earlier, respectively.

The forecast comes as investors fret about a global tech slowdown after chip suppliers including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd recently flagged weak demand.

Slowing global demand for smartphones, as well as concerns over the prolonged U.S.-China trade war, has also taken a toll on Taiwan’s supply chain manufacturers.

Analysts said TSMC would gradually recover from sluggish smartphone sales in coming months and new demand including for devices equipped with fifth-generation (5G) communications technology could help keep full-year revenue at least broadly flat.

“Fortunately 5G should put TSMC back to growth and help it deliver double-digit earnings per share expansion in 2020 and 2021,” Mark Li, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote in a research note prior to the earnings announcement.

Analysts said TSMC could also benefit from Chinese clients stocking up on semiconductor products in case of any adverse outcome from the U.S.-China trade negotiations.

Revenue in U.S. dollar terms fell 16.1 percent to $7.1 billion in the first quarter, versus the company’s previously estimated range of $7.0 billion to $7.1 billion, and compared with the $7.15 billion average of 22 analyst estimates.

Prior to the earnings announcement, shares in TSMC closed up 1.15 percent versus a 0.6 percent fall in the wider market. The stock has risen around 18 percent so far this year.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Roger Tung; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Source: OANN

0 0

Sudanese opposition leader’s daughter jailed over protests: party

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese opposition figure Sadiq al-Mahdi meets his supporters after he returned from nearly a year in self-imposed exile in Khartoum
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi meets supporters in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

March 10, 2019

CAIRO (Reuters) – The deputy head of Sudan’s opposition Umma Party was sentenced to a week in prison on Sunday for demonstrating against the president, party officials said, as activists protested against emergency laws imposed last month.

Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, the daughter of Umma leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, was among a group of 19 arrested while demonstrating in front of Umma’s headquarters in Omdurman, across the Nile from the center of the capital, Khartoum, said Mohamed al-Mahdi Hassan, head of the party’s political bureau.

The court also fined her 2,000 Sudanese pounds ($42) for participating in the protest, which was calling on President Omar al-Bashir to step down, he said.

Bashir declared a state of emergency last month after weeks of demonstrations, the most sustained challenge to his rule since he came to power in the coup that overthrew Sadiq al-Mahdi in 1989.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds took to the streets in different areas of Omdurman to protest against the emergency laws. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.

The measures include an expansion of powers for the security services and a ban on unlicensed public gatherings. More than 800 people have been tried in the emergency courts, according to the Democratic Alliance of Lawyers, an opposition group.

On Saturday, nine female Sudanese protesters were sentenced to 20 lashes and one month in prison for rioting, the alliance said.

Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi was briefly arrested at the end of January in connection with the protests. Another of Sadiq al-Mahdi’s daughters, Rabah, was also arrested on Sunday.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: OANN

0 0

Pelosi tells crowd to clap for her: ‘That’s a line for applause!’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did her best Jeb! impression on Tuesday when she told the crowd to clap for her.

During a news conference to unveil Democrats’ “Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act,” Pelosi instructed the crowd to applaud her bill, which she claims will protect the health care law from “Republicans’ monstrous health care lawsuit.”

“Today, under the leadership of our three distinguished Chairmen: Mr. Pallone of Energy and Commerce, Mr. Scott of Education and Labor, and Mr. Neal of Ways and Means Committee – the three Committees of jurisdiction, we’re going forward with the Protecting Pre-existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act,” Pelosi began.

When no one in the room clapped, she awkwardly shouted: “That’s a line for applause!” and cut the air with her hand for effect.

The audience obliged her and clapped even though they were apparently not excited about her comments.

“They and other Members, and Members of our Freshman Class will be speaking more to the particulars of the legislation, but suffice to say it lowers health care insurance premiums, stops junk plans, strengthens protections for pre-existing conditions and reverses the GOP health care sabotage,” Pelosi said.

“Protecting and strengthening health care is why Democrats are here. On day one, the first day, as we were sworn in the 116th Congress, the House voted to intervene against Republicans’ monstrous health care lawsuit,” she added.


Alex Jones presents video footage of Texas Representative Mike Conaway calling out California Representative Adam Schiff on the house floor for his open participation in pushing propaganda on the American public that suggested President Trump colluded with the Russian Government in 2016.

Pelosi’s comments were in response to the U.S. Justice Department filing a federal lawsuit on Tuesday to challenge elements of the Affordable Care Act.

But more importantly, this isn’t the first time the California Democrat has instructed the audience to clap for her.

While speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in January, Pelosi found herself in trouble again when her comments weren’t exciting the crowd.

“That’s an applause line! I’ll let you know,” Pelosi said after thanking a member in the audience.

After claiming Democrats support “strong border security initiatives,” Pelosi said, “Do you want to— let’s hear it for border security!” as she held her hand up to call for a response.

Moments later, she called for applause a third time after telling the crowd that Democrats took back control of the House of Representatives.

“The American people elected a House majority that would— that’s an applause line! Not for everybody maybe,” she said.

During a Congressional ceremony in early January honoring former Sen. Bob Dole, Pelosi told President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress, and guests when to clap during her remarks.

“I first want to pay tribute to the sponsors of the resolution,” Pelosi said, “Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, Congressman — Whip Steny Hoyer, Sen. Roberts and Sen. Leahy. Thank you. Thank you for your leadership in getting this done so expeditiously.”

“It is fitting — that was an applause line for our sponsors,” Pelosi said, interrupting herself to scold the room for not clapping for her comments.

She turned to look at Trump and weirdly laughed.

A few moments later, Pelosi had to tell the audience again to clap.

“It gives my colleagues in the House and me great deep pride to know that Sen. Bob Dole first served in Washington as a member of the House of Representatives. That could be an applause line, but I guess not,” she said.

The crowd lightly clapped before moving on.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Warren Buffett says prospects poor for ‘elephant-sized acquisition’

FILE PHOTO - Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, gestures while playing bridge as part of the company annual meeting weekend in Omaha
FILE PHOTO - Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, gestures while playing bridge as part of the company annual meeting weekend in Omaha, Nebraska U.S. May 6, 2018. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

February 23, 2019

By Jennifer Ablan, Jonathan Stempel and Trevor Hunnicutt

(Reuters) – Warren Buffett is hunting for “an elephant-sized acquisition,” but he is not optimistic about getting it done.

The billionaire investor wrote in an annual letter to shareholders on Saturday that the prospects of landing a mega-deal for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc conglomerate are “not good,” because “prices are sky-high for businesses possessing decent long-term prospects.”

It is a problem for the Berkshire chairman and chief executive, whose company is sitting on $112 billion in cash and other low-returning assets that it has been struggling to invest for years.

“In the years ahead, we hope to move much of our excess liquidity into businesses that Berkshire will permanently own. The immediate prospects for that, however, are not good: Prices are sky-high for businesses possessing decent long-term prospects,” Buffett wrote. “That disappointing reality means that 2019 will likely see us again expanding our holdings of marketable equities. We continue, nevertheless, to hope for an elephant-sized acquisition.”

The prospect of such a deal, “causes my heart … to beat faster,” the 88-year-old investor said.

NO ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

But Buffet said he would not get caught short of cash that he could use should market conditions deteriorate. Some of Buffett’s transactions over the last decade or so have included complex deals with distressed companies, including in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Buffett’s insurance business, meanwhile, collects premiums from businesses and individuals, cash that Buffett and his deputies use to make other investments.

But the U.S. stock market has been on a stride since the financial crisis a decade ago, leaving little room for the bargain-hunting value investor to make his mark, much as had been the case for Buffett during the run-up in technology stocks in the 1990s.

Buffett often invests in stocks, such as Apple Inc , when he cannot find whole companies to buy. On Saturday, he said his inability to find a company to buy meant more stock buying is likely in 2019.

The Omaha, Nebraska, investor has also been snapping up more shares of his own stock. Berkshire bought back about $1.3 billion of its common stock in 2018, the company said.

But Buffett slammed corporate bosses who buy stock back when prices are lofty. Stock buybacks “should be price-sensitive,” and “blindly buying an overpriced stock is value-destructive, a fact lost on many promotional or ever-optimistic CEOs,” Buffett said in the closely watched letter.

Several U.S. lawmakers have proposed restricting share buybacks, saying companies are incurring debt or wasting money to prop up their stock prices, while not making investments in their business or properly paying employees. Companies often argue they are just returning cash they cannot use to shareholders who can put the money to work.

(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan, Jonathan Stempel and Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

0 0

Tennessee survives second-half scare for OT win vs. Iowa

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round: University of Iowa vs University of Tennessee
Mar 24, 2019; Columbus, OH, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Grant Williams (2) steals the ball from Iowa Hawkeyes forward Tyler Cook (25) in the second half in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

March 24, 2019

Junior power forward Grant Williams scored six of his 19 points in overtime as Tennessee blew a 25-point lead before posting an 83-77 victory over Iowa on Sunday in NCAA Tournament second-round play at Columbus, Ohio.

Senior guard Admiral Schofield also scored 19 points in the South Region contest for the second-seeded Volunteers (31-5). Junior guard Lamonte Turner scored 15 points and junior point guard Jordan Bone added 14 for Tennessee, which never trailed.

The Volunteers will face third-seeded Purdue in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in Louisville, Ky.

Junior guard Jordan Bohannon scored 18 points and junior guard Isaiah Moss added 16 for the 10th-seeded Hawkeyes (23-12). Sophomore forward Luka Garza tallied 13 points and junior power forward Tyler Cook and freshman guard Joe Wieskamp added 11 apiece for Iowa, which shot 39 percent from the field and went 7 of 21 from 3-point range.

Williams made two free throws, Bone knocked down a 3-pointer and Williams added a hoop during Tennessee’s seven-point flurry to begin the overtime. The Hawkeyes finally scored on Garza’s two free throws with 2:24 left and Williams responded with a basket 26 seconds later to push the Volunteers’ lead to 80-73.

Iowa later moved within 81-77 on Bohannon’s layup with 11.2 seconds remaining but Bone made two free throws with 9.5 seconds left as Tennessee closed it out.

The Volunteers shot 46.7 percent from the field and were 8 of 20 from long range.

Turner buried a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:17 left in regulation to give Tennessee a 70-67 lead. Junior guard Jamie Bowden split two free throws with 57.9 seconds before Iowa recovered to tie it at 71 as Moss drove for a hoop with 50.9 seconds left and Wieskamp made two free throws with 20.8 seconds remaining.

Iowa began digging itself out of a 21-point halftime deficit behind Cook, who scored 11 points during a 16-4 surge that saw the Hawkeyes pull within 53-44 with 13:35 remaining.

Iowa used a 10-0 run later to trim Tennessee’s lead to 61-58. Bohannon drained a 3-pointer with 8:14 left and Garza added two free throws to cap it.

Garza later converted a three-point play and Moss barely beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer from the left corner to pull the Hawkeyes with 65-64 with 4:23 to play.

Iowa finally caught Tennessee at 67 with 2:39 left when Bohannon made three free throws after a controversial foul call on Turner.

Schofield scored 17 first-half points as the Volunteers built a 49-28 halftime lead.

Schofield’s driving hoop elevated the margin to 25 at 44-19 with 4:22 remaining.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Thomas Cook approached by potential bidders: Sky News

Illustration photo of a Thomas Cook logo
The Thomas Cook logo is seen in this illustration photo January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration

April 20, 2019

(Reuters) – Thomas Cook has been tentatively approached about a takeover of its tour operating unit, or the entire company, by several parties as its lenders prepare for crunch talks over the state of its finances, Sky News reported on Saturday.

The company, which has put its airline business up for sale, last month announced a review of its money division to help focus on its core holiday business after a rough 2018.

Citing unnamed sources, Sky News reported https://news.sky.com/story/bidders-try-to-land-thomas-cook-as-lenders-chart-new-course-11698817U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co and Swedish buyout group EQT Partners were potential bidders for the group, while China’s Fosun International was understood to be among those to have lodged a preliminary interest in the tour business.

Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest tour operator, has brought in advisers from AlixPartners to work on its balance sheet and cost-reduction plans, while its syndicate of more than a dozen lenders has hired FTI Consulting to advise on their financial exposure to the company, the report added.

Thomas Cook and KKR said they won’t be commenting on the report. EQT declined to comment, while Fosun could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Sathvik N in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



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.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

A California man who allegedly fatally shot his ex-girlfriend in broad daylight last month before fleeing the country has been returned to the U.S. following his arrest in Mexico on Wednesday, authorities said.

Julio Cesar Rocha, 25, of Montlcair, is accused of shooting his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend Thalia Flores and a second unidentified male victim March 21 around 2:45 p.m. while the two were sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot of a discount store in Chino. Both communities are about 36 miles east of Los Angeles.

ARREST MADE IN DOUBLE HOMICIDE OF EX-PRO HOCKEY PLAYER, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE, POLICE SAY

Julio Cesar Rocha, 25, of Montlcair, Calif. was located in Mexico Wednesday and returned to California where he faces murder and attempted murder charges related to the death of his ex-girlfriend, Thalia Flores.

Julio Cesar Rocha, 25, of Montlcair, Calif. was located in Mexico Wednesday and returned to California where he faces murder and attempted murder charges related to the death of his ex-girlfriend, Thalia Flores. (City of Chino Police Department)

Flores died at the scene. The man, whose name was not released, walked to a nearby hospital where he’s recovering from his gunshot wounds.

Rocha allegedly fled the scene and remained at large for more than a month, the Daily Bulletin reported. He was formally arrested at 4:30 p.m. after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from Mexico, KTLA-TV reported.

The suspect was booked at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on murder and attempted murder charges, the City of Chino Police Department said on Facebook.

Flores ended her seven-year relationship with Rocha just two months before her death and still lived in fear of him until that point, a sister of the victim, Bernice Flores, told the Daily Bulletin.

“He said himself so many times to other people, ‘If I can’t have her, no one will.’ ” Flores said, adding that her sister stayed in the relationship longer that she would have liked in fear that Rocha would hurt her or her family if they broke up.

Rocha was convicted on misdemeanor battery in 2016 and sentenced to 60 days in prison. He was originally charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon, but the charges were lowered in a plea deal, the Daily Bulletin reported.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Rocha was convicted of misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer in 2014. A second charge of misdemeanor battery was dropped in a plea deal, and Rocha was ordered to complete a 26-week anger management course, according to San Bernardino County Superior Court records. Rocha was later arrested and sentenced to 10 days behind bars for failing to complete the course.

Source: Fox News National

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist