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Georgia Sen. Perdue’s Campaign Fined $30,000 for Violations

The campaign of U.S. Sen. David Perdue paid a $30,000 fine to federal regulators for violations discovered in the Georgia Republican's fundraising reports from the 2014 election.

The civil penalty to the Federal Election Commission was disclosed Monday in Perdue's campaign finance report for the first three months of 2019.

FEC documents show the fine stemmed from violations uncovered by an audit of Perdue's fundraising and expenditures from five years ago, when the former Dollar General and Reebok CEO was first elected to the Senate. Now an outspoken ally of President Donald Trump, Perdue will seek reelection in 2020.

"After undergoing an exhaustive four-year-long random audit process, we reached a reasonable settlement agreement regarding some typical bookkeeping errors that occur on a campaign of this size in order to bring this matter to close," Perdue campaign consultant Derrick Dickey said.

The settlement says an FEC auditor found Perdue's campaign took more than $117,000 in prohibited contributions during the previous campaign, as well as more than $325,000 that exceeded legal limits on campaign donations. The FEC also found Perdue's campaign failed to disclose $128,972 in debts and obligations.

The document says Perdue's campaign disputed the amount of illegal contributions and presented documentation that "reduced the amount of apparent excessive contributions." But it doesn't say by how much. The agreement also says the campaign amended its financial disclosures to account for the unreported debt.

Perdue raised more than $14 million for the 2014 election in which he defeated Democrat Michelle Nunn, the daughter for former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn.

Former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson has filed paperwork with the FEC to position herself as a potential Democratic challenger to Perdue. Democrat Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost the race for Georgia governor last year, has also been weighing a 2020 Senate campaign. Abrams has not announced a decision.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Independent march in Havana believed first for communist-run Cuba, organizers say

People carry a banner reading
People carry a banner reading "Cuba against animal abuse", during a march in defence of animal rights, in Havana, Cuba April 7, 2019. REUTERS/Fernando Medina

April 7, 2019

By Sarah Marsh

HAVANA (Reuters) – Hundreds of Cubans marched peacefully through Havana calling for an end to animal cruelty on Sunday in what organizers believe was the first independent march authorized by the one-party state.

Accompanied by their pets, the activists carried placards calling for an animal protection law and chanted “down with animal abuse” as they walked through the central district of Vedado to the surprise of curious onlookers.

That the Communist government authorized ordinary citizens to stage the march could point to an expanding tolerance for Cubans to express their views and even make demands, albeit still within limits, analysts and participants said.

Authorities still crack down on opposition attempts to hold demonstrations and detain dissidents who they say are subversives in the pay of the United States, however.

It was ironic that the first authorized independent march would be in support of animal and not human rights, but it could be a pilot test for greater freedoms, some march participants said.

“This could be the new Cuba,” said organizer Beatriz Batista, a 21-year-old communications student who received a permit for the march from the municipal authority of her Havana borough.

Others were more skeptical.

“This enables the government to say ‘look how permissive we are’. But is it really?” said dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, who was briefly detained last week over a piece he plans to show on the sidelines of the upcoming Havana Biennial.

Previous marches have been largely restricted to those organized by the government to celebrate Cuba’s 1959 leftist revolution or criticize its Cold War foe, the United States, religious processions, and an annual march by gay rights activists under the umbrella of a government organization.

While physical public spaces in Cuba remain tightly controlled, a recent expansion of internet access in what was long one of the western hemisphere’s least connected countries has allowed citizens to mobilize more in the virtual realm.

Sunday’s event was publicized on social media and independent online media.

“Social media has really brought about miracles,” Batista said.

The government appears to have become more tolerant of and even responsive to online activity since Miguel Diaz-Canel last April replaced Raul Castro as president last April.

In December, the government postponed the full implementation of a decree clamping down on the arts after an online campaign protesting the law, and rowed back on regulations governing the private sector after entrepreneurs and experts complained.

Some participants said they hoped in Sunday’s march signaled that people would now be able to take to the streets as well as the web.

“Let’s hope this opens the door for more people to be able to hold such initiatives,” said Cuban artist Abu Tamayo.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Source: OANN

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Tennis: ITF’s new pathway to help dreamers reach the top

FILE PHOTO: Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club
FILE PHOTO: Britain Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England - 30/6/16 General view over an outside court REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo

February 19, 2019

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) – Armed with his talent and a racket bag full of hope, Frenchman Evan Furness is one of the dreamers hoping to climb from tennis’s lowest rungs up onto the biggest stages of all.

The trouble is the vast majority of the thousands of players who venture, like 20-year-old Furness, into the jungle of world tennis find the path leads not to fame and fortune, but to a dead end and debt.

Far from emulating the likes of Roger Federer or Serena Williams, most never even reach the lucrative ATP or WTA Tours, and hundreds never earn a bean for all their hard graft.

In 2017, there were 14,000 so-called tennis professionals, but fewer than 600 broke even before coaching costs.

While the likes of Novak Djokovic and Serena earn fortunes from the sport and even men’s 100th-ranked Vasek Pospisil has banked $5.2 million in a decade on Tour, around 80 percent of professionals quit having earned next to nothing.

In truth, for the majority, a career as a tennis pro has been more fantasy than reality.

Which is why the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has acted on its three-year Player Pathway review, a comprehensive study into the professional game published in 2017, and why players like Furness now see light at the end of the tunnel.

The new ITF World Tennis Tour, a transition circuit of 1,600 junior and entry-level tournaments, began in January to provide a streamlined progression between the junior and senior game, enabling more professional players to make a living.

Prize money pools of $15,000 and $25,000 will be available for entry-level men’s and women’s events while, crucially, “reserved places” will be available in higher level tournaments.

Jackie Nesbitt, Executive Director of the ITF Pro Circuits, said the initial indications were positive.

“As a sport it was clear we needed to do much better for the players,” she told Reuters by telephone. “The new structure has a clear aim and that is to support the best young male and female players and to deliver them to the ATP and WTA Tours.

“It’s about fast-tracking on merit, allowing the best players in the entry-level tournaments to move up through the professional pathway quicker and at less cost to themselves.”

The new system features an ITF World Tour ranking list which will run separately from the ATP and WTA rankings, both of which will be trimmed back to 750 players.

Top-100 ranked juniors will be eligible for reserved places in $15k tournaments, while Level 2 $25k draws will also have places for players doing well at a lower level.

Four reserved places will be available for ITF-ranked players in ATP Challenger, one level below the full ATP Tour.

Frenchman Furness took advantage of a reserved spot to win a $25k event in Hong Kong and then won another title in Switzerland – proof, Nesbitt said, that the system worked.

“We are really encouraged,” Nesbitt said. “It shows they are competing at the right level and are competitive at that level.”

While reducing the quantity of players might seem counter-intuitive, ITF president David Haggerty said offering better rewards will help “retain the best talent”.

But how many players will make money?

“Too many people were competing for the prize money available,” Nesbitt said. “We want to see a significant uplift (in players making money). It will be one of our key performance indicators that tell us how successful these reforms have been.”

With minimal rewards, the lowest rungs of professional tennis have been vulnerable to potential match-fixing.

Of the 264 match alerts flagged up to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) by the betting industry in 2018, 163 were in entry-level men’s events compared with five on the ATP Tour.

Nesbitt believes offering a clearer path to the higher echelons of the game can help fight corruption.

“Better-targeted prize money will help more players earn a living from the game,” she said. “We are creating a good environment for juniors to learn their trade, be educated in integrity and doping matters, and they know they will be rewarded for doing well in the juniors.”

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

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2 paragliders killed after colliding mid-air, crashing into California cliff, officials say

Two paragliders were killed Saturday after colliding mid-air and plummeting about 75 feet into a California cliffside as stunned onlookers watched below.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Lt. Rich Stropsky said at a news conference the "tragic incident" happened around 2:40 p.m. at Torrey Pines Gliderport in the northern coastal part of San Diego County.

"Apparently what happened was the student individual was heading southbound and made a turn, a hard-right turn, right in this area where the flag is and ended up running into the other flyer that was in the northbound direction," he told reporters. "They became entwined, and they started to fall."

One of the men was an experienced pilot who was certified to fly on his own, while the other one was working on getting his advanced certification, according to Stropsky.

HANG GLIDER CLUTCHES TO AIRCRAFT AT 4,000 FEET AFTER PILOT FORGETS TO ATTACH HIM

Madeline Henderson told KGTV she was stunned when she saw the collision take place.

"I initially heard the collapse of the chute," she told the television station. "I heard a collision and some kind of sound, and looked over and saw two people falling from the sky."

Stunned witnesses said the paragliders were "falling out of the sky" after colliding.

Stunned witnesses said the paragliders were "falling out of the sky" after colliding. (FOX5)

Stropsky said the two men, who have not yet been identified, were not flying together and were pronounced dead at the scene.

UTAH WOMAN SAYS CROWBAR CRASHED INTO WINDSHIELD ON FREEWAY: 'I’M LUCKY TO BE ALIVE'

Another witness told FOX5 San Diego it was "very traumatizing" to witness.

"We've seen the hang gliders, paragliders around but we've never seen anything like this," Tommy King told the television station.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

San Diego Fire-Rescue had to use a helicopter to recover the bodies because of their position on the cliff, according to officials.

The gliderport where the collision took place is a spot not meant for beginners, with intermediate pilots and advanced pilots needing to check in and show a license before taking to the air, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The last fatal crash at the site took place in 2012 when a woman from South Carolina crashed into a cliff about 200 feet above Black's Beach, according to the newspaper.

“I don’t recall the last time 2 gliders became entwined,” Stropsky told reporters.

Source: Fox News National

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Spring training roundup: Wainwright sharp in ’19 debut

MLB: Spring Training-St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
Feb 26, 2019; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) delivers a pitch against the Washington Nationals at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

February 27, 2019

Right-hander Adam Wainwright pitched two perfect innings in his first start of the spring as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the host Washington Nationals 6-1 on Tuesday at West Palm Beach, Fla.

The 37-year-old Wainwright was limited to just eight starts last season due to elbow troubles. He is trying to regain the form that saw him win 19 or more games four times during 13 big league seasons.

“The difference today was that I was focused on command and trusting my stuff, and last year I was focused on surviving,” Wainwright told reporters. “Making a pitch and trying to make it to the next pitch. My focus today was on pitching instead of on health.”

Marlins 3, Astros 0

Right-hander Dan Straily struck out three in two perfect innings as Miami blanked visiting Houston at Jupiter, Fla. Houston right-hander Gerrit Cole pitched a perfect inning in his spring debut.

Tigers 14, Mets (ss) 4

Harold Castro and Pete Kozma each clubbed three-run homers as visiting Detroit routed New York at Port Fort Lucie, Fla. Rajai Davis went deep for the Mets.

Rays (ss) 11, Orioles 5 (8 innings)

Jesus Sanchez hit a go-ahead, three-run homer during a 10-run eighth-inning splurge as Tampa Bay rallied to knocked off host Baltimore at Sarasota, Fla. Chris Davis smacked a two-run blast for the Orioles in a game that was stopped due to rain.

Braves 4, Mets (ss) 3

William Contreras hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning as Atlanta defeated visiting New York at Kissimmee, Fla. Sebastian Espino hit an inside-the-park homer for the Mets.

Twins 6, Pirates 5

Ryan Jeffers delivered the go-ahead pinch-hit, two-run single during a four-run fifth-inning uprising as visiting Pittsburgh edged Minnesota at Fort Myers, Fla. Patrick Kivlehan homered for the Twins.

Angels 17, Athletics 5

Jose Rosas hit a three-run homer and Peter Bourjos had a solo shot as Los Angeles routed Oakland at Mesa, Ariz. The Angels’ Roberto Baldoquin also knocked in three runs. Oakland reliever Fernando Rodney gave up four runs on four hits, two walks and a wild pitch in one-third of an inning.

White Sox 9, Royals (ss) 7

Tim Anderson drove in runs with a triple and a single, and Yonder Alonso added a two-run homer as Chicago beat Kansas City at Phoenix. MJ Melendez, Hunter Dozier and Taylor Jones hit two-run shots for the Royals, and Jecksson Flores added a solo homer.

Padres 3, Brewers 1

Fernando Tatis Jr. belted a two-run homer and Austin Hedges added a solo shot as San Diego defeated Milwaukee at Phoenix. Zach Davies threw two hitless, scoreless innings for the Brewers.

Giants 4, Reds 3

Jose Lopez struck out three in two scoreless innings, and San Francisco beat Cincinnati at Goodyear, Ariz. Jesus Reyes tossed two shutout innings for the Reds.

Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 4

Wilmer Flores hit a three-run double to lead Arizona to a win over Chicago at Mesa, Ariz. Chicago’s Yu Darvish walked four in 1 1/3 hitless innings, and he was charged with two runs (one earned).

Royals (ss) 8, Dodgers 2

Kansas City exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning, two on a single by Humberto Arteaga, in a victory over Los Angeles at Surprise, Ariz. The Dodgers’ Shane Peterson homered.

Indians 5, Rockies 3

Carlos Santana homered and knocked in three runs as Cleveland topped Colorado at Scottsdale, Ariz. The Rockies’ Brian Mundell hit a two-run double.

Rangers 4, Mariners 4

Jake Fraley and Chris Mariscal hit ninth-inning home runs to lift Seattle into a tie with Texas at Peoria, Ariz. The Mariners’ Marco Gonzales struck out five in three scoreless innings.

Phillies-Yankees, canceled

New York right-hander Masahiro Tanaka’s spring debut was washed out by rain as the host Yankees and Philadelphia were unable to play at Tampa, Fla.

Red Sox-Blue Jays, canceled

Right-hander Matt Shoemaker was slated to make his first Toronto appearance before rain prevented the contest between the Blue Jays and visiting Boston at Dunedin, Fla.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders enters crowded 2020 presidential race

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Tuesday he will make another bid for president by entering the already crowded 2020 race, as he tries to rekindle the grassroots energy from his 2016 primary run against Hillary Clinton.

Sanders made the announcement in an interview with Vermont Public Radio, followed by a web video and email to supporters.

DEMOCRATS IGNORE BERNIE SANDERS' 2020 ANNOUNCEMENT WHILE EMBRACING HIS SOCIALIST POLICIES 

"Together, you and I and our 2016 campaign began the political revolution. Now, it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision that we fought for," he told supporters.

While blasting President Trump as a "pathological liar," Sanders said in the radio interview he's running to pursue policies like universal health care and a $15 minimum wage. His challenge this time, however, will be standing out in a field of candidates who largely have adopted the big-government policies he championed three years ago.

The Republican National Committee cited his influence on the field's present-day policies in blasting his announcement. "Bernie Sanders is a self-avowed socialist who wants to double your taxes so the government can take over your health care. The vast majority of voters oppose his radical agenda, just like they are going to oppose all the 2020 Democrats who have rushed to embrace it," RNC Spokesman Michael Ahrens said.

Sanders, a progressive populist who identifies as a democratic socialist, put up a serious fight against Democratic contender Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary.

He joins a field already that already consists of top Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker. And two of the most progressive lawmakers in the Senate – Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jeff Merkley of Oregon – are also seriously considering presidential bids. Merkley was the only senator to endorse Sanders in 2016. Another progressive, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii – who also backed Sanders’ first White House bid – is also in the race.

Sanders, 77, has had to deal in recent months with a sexual harassment and mistreatment controversy stemming from his 2016 campaign staff, which elicited apologies from the senator.

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2018, file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks about his new book at a George Washington University/Politics and Prose event in Washington.

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2018, file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks about his new book at a George Washington University/Politics and Prose event in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

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But Sanders still enjoys widespread name recognition and strong support from progressives across the country. In New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the race for the White House, a steering committee of top supporters of his 2016 campaign continues to meet on a monthly basis.

While many of those Granite States supporters will stick with Sanders, some are eyeing other candidates. And the state will be considered a "must win" for Sanders, as well as for Warren, who comes from neighboring Massachusetts.

The senator also slammed Trump, telling Vermont Public Radio that "I think the current occupant of the White House is an embarrassment to our country."

"I think he is a pathological liar,” he added. “I also think he is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, somebody who is gaining cheap political points by trying to pick on minorities, often undocumented immigrants."

Sanders spread the news of his announcement through an email to his supporters nationwide. And he conducted a national interview with CBS News. Asked what would be different the second time around, he answered that this time, “we’re going to win.”

Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Why the “Golden Rule” Is an Obstacle to the Government’s Agenda

The golden rule—“Do to others as you would have them do to you” being the most common variant I have heard–may be the most common ethical touchstone for human interactions.

After all, Simon Blackburn wrote in his 2001 book, Ethics, that the Golden Rule is “found in some form in almost every ethical tradition.” I doubt there is anyone I know who has not heard of it. And I have often heard it used as the gold standard for behavior, applied to individuals, groups and governments.

However, fewer seem familiar with the silver rule, which is the converse of the golden rule—“do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you”—even though it has been expressed in far more ways in various religious and ethical traditions. What it instructs us not to do has included “what you would not choose for yourself,” “what you do not want to happen to you,” what would anger if done to you by others,” “what you yourself dislike,” “that which is hateful to you,” “that which one regards as injurious to oneself,” and “that which is unfavorable to us,” among others, presenting a more thorough delineation of what not to do than the golden rule provides for what to do.

The silver rule follows the traditional definition of justice—giving each his own. It is reflected by Adam Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, where he writes “We can often fulfill all the rules of justice by sitting still and doing nothing.” That leaves it below the golden rule on most people’s ethical medal stands, because it seems to hold us to a higher standard. That is true when we are talking about individuals and voluntary associations but when we are talking about governments, the silver rule takes the gold.

When we are considering individuals, the golden rule need not conflict with the silver rule. You and I are each free to go beyond doing nothing harmful to others and do as much good unto them as we choose, using our own resources.

The same is true for individuals who voluntarily associated into groups. You and I together can agree to go beyond doing nothing harmful to others and do as much good unto them as we choose, using our own resources.

When we come to government, however, the golden rule, as commonly understood, conflicts with the silver rule. Say a government decision maker determines to do good, as they see it, unto others. The problem is that government has no resources of its own; only what it commandeers from citizens. Without unanimous consent (which happens how often in government, where control only requires 50%-plus-one consent for most decisions?), resources will necessarily be taken for that purpose against the will of some, and often many. That violates the supposedly less demanding silver rule. That is why Grover Cleveland could say that the U.S. government is “pledged to do equal and exact justice to all men,” without contradicting himself when he said that “though the people support the Government, Government should not support the people.”

The problem arises in such cases because focusing on the golden rule can lead people to perceive someone’s needs or wants, decide that someone should do something about it, and so volunteer the government for the task. But that leaves out a central part of the story. They could have sought to ameliorate the problem in a manner that would not violate the silver rule–doing something about it as an individual or as a voluntary association—but instead decided to employ government’s coercive power to force a substantial part of the tab for their ethical concerns onto others who don’t share their opinions or conclusions.

Another way of saying this is comes from what Adam Smith wrote just before his quote above: “The man who barely abstains from violating either the person, or the estate, or the reputation of his neighbors…does everything which his equals can with propriety force him to do, or which they can punish him for not doing.” That is, government is to be our protector against invasions from outsiders and neighbors. Laws, like the Bill of Rights, should focus on applying “thou shalt nots,” as Justice Hugo Black once put it, against violators of our rights. When it goes further, it treats some citizens as a predator rather than a protector, undermining its central purpose.

Fortunately, there is a form of the golden rule that can reconcile government with the silver rule as well as a truncated view of the golden rule that ignores where the resources must come from. It comes from the hadith, collected accounts of Muhammad and his teachings: “Prophet said: ‘As you would have people do to you, do so to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don’t do to them.’” In other words, “do only those things under the golden rule that do not violate the silver rule.”


Stewart Rhodes and Alex Jones reveal to listeners how lawmakers in the Texas State Government are taking building the wall into their own hands.

Source: InfoWars

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Tiger woods celebrates after winning the 2019 Masters
FILE PHOTO: Golf – Masters – Augusta National Golf Club – Augusta, Georgia, U.S. – April 14, 2019 – Tiger Woods of the U.S. celebrates on the 18th hole after winning the 2019 Masters. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

April 26, 2019

Tiger Woods is sending a message that he thinks he still has enough left, emotionally and physically, to win three more major championships to tie Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 titles.

Speaking to GolfTV in his first sit-down interview since the Masters, Woods said he has taken some time off since his victory at Augusta National, which still doesn’t feel real.

“Honestly, it’s hard to believe,” Woods said. “I was texting one of my good friends last night … that I couldn’t believe that I won the tournament. That it really hasn’t sunk in. I haven’t started doing anything. I’ve just been laying there. And every now and again, I’ll look over there on the couch and there’s the jacket.”

That’s the fifth green jacket for the 43-year-old Woods, who hadn’t won a major tournament since the 2008 U.S. Open. Along the way, four back surgeries, a divorce and other personal issues derailed him.

He said he has been spending time with his children – daughter Sam, 11, and son Charlie, 10 – who weren’t born when their father was the most dominant golfer on the planet.

“They never knew golf to be a good thing in my life and only the only thing they remember is that it brought this incredible amount of pain to their dad and they don’t want to ever want to see their dad in pain,” Woods said. “And so to now have them see this side of it, the side that I’ve experienced for so many years of my life, but I had a battle to get back to this point, it feels good.”

He said he hopes – maybe expects — they’ll see this side again.

And no one will take Woods for granted at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black Course on Long Island, N.Y., which starts May 16.

Woods said he’ll be ready for a course he already conquered once in a major: the 2002 U.S. Open.

“I’m doing all the visual stuff, but I haven’t put in the physical work yet. But it’s probably coming this weekend,” he said.

Before Woods encountered health and personal problems, it was expected that topping Nicklaus’ major mark was “when” and not “if.” Then the certainty went away, but Woods thought he still had a chance.

“I always thought it was possible, if I had everything go my way. It took him an entire career to get to 18, so now that I’ve had another extension to my career – one that I didn’t think I had a couple of years ago – if I do things correctly and everything falls my way, yeah, it’s a possibility. I’m never going to say it’s not.

“Now I just need to have a lot of things go my way, and who’s to say that it will or will not happen? That’s what the future holds, I don’t know. The only thing I can promise you is this: that I will be prepared.”

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Maria Butina, the Russian woman who was accused of being a secret agent for the Russian government, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday by a federal judge in Washington after pleading guilty last year to a conspiracy charge.

Butina, who has already served nine months behind bars, will get credit for time served and can possibly get credit for good behavior, the judge said. She will be removed from the U.S. promptly on completion of her time, the judge added, and returned to Russia.

MARIA BUTINA, ACCUSED RUSSIAN SPY, PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY

An emotional and apologetic Butina said in court Friday she is “truly sorry” and regrets not registering as a foreign agent.

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed,” she said, adding that her “reputation is ruined.”

Butina has been jailed since her arrest in July 2018. She entered the court Friday wearing a dark green prison jumpsuit and spoke in clear English, with a slight Russian accent.

“Please accept my apologies,” Butina said.

Butina’s lawyer, Robert Driscoll, said after the sentencing they had hoped for a “better outcome,” but expressed a desire for Butina to be released to her family by the fall.

Prosecutors had claimed Butina used her contacts with the National Rifle Association and the National Prayer Breakfast to develop relationships with U.S. politicians and gather information for Russia.

Prosecutors also have said that Butina’s boyfriend, conservative political operative Paul Erickson, identified in court papers as “U.S. Person 1,” helped her establish ties with the NRA.

WHO IS MARIA BUTINA, THE RUSSIAN WOMAN ACCUSED OF SPYING ON US?

In their filings, prosecutors claim federal agents found Butina had contact information for people suspected of being employed by Russia’s Federal Security Services, or FSB, the successor intelligence agency to the KGB. Inside her home, they found notes referring to a potential job offer from the FSB, according to the documents.

Investigators recovered several emails and Twitter direct message conversations in which Butina referred to the need to keep her work secret and, in one instance, said it should be “incognito.” Prosecutors said Butina had contact with Russian intelligence officials and that the FBI photographed her dining with a diplomat suspected of being a Russian intelligence agent.

Fox News’ Jason Donner, Bill Mears, Greg Norman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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An official Sri Lankan police Twitter account was deleted after it misidentified an American human rights activist as a suspect in the country’s Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

On Thursday, police posted the names and photos of six people that they said were at-large suspects in the bombings that killed more than 250 people.

However, one of the names on the list was Muslim U.S. activist Amara Majeed, who quickly tweeted that she had been falsely identified.

“I have this morning been FALSELY identified by the Sri Lankan government as one of the ISIS terrorists that committed the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka. What a thing to wake up to!” she wrote.

SRI LANKA AUTHORITIES SAY EASTER ATTACK LEADER KILLED IN ONE OF NINE HOTEL BOMBINGS

She wrote in a follow-up tweet that the claim was “obviously completely false” and asked social media users to “please stop implicating and associating me with these horrific attacks.”

“And next time, be more diligent about releasing such information that has the potential to deeply violate someone’s family and community,” she continued.

Later, she wrote an update saying police apologized for wrongly mistaking her as a suspect.

Police said in a statement: “However, although one of the released images was identified as one Abdul Cader Fathima Khadhiya in the information provided by the CID, the CID has now informed that a) the individual whose image was labeled as Abdul Cader Fathima Khadiya is not in fact Abdul Cader Fathima Khadiya b) the individual pictured is not wanted for questioning c) Abdul Cader Fathima is the correct name of the suspect wanted by the CID.”

On Friday, the account, @SriLankaPolice2 was deleted with no explanation. Police did not release more information regarding the mistake.

Majeed, who founded “The Hijab Project” when she was 16 years old, told the Baltimore Sun that it was hurtful to be linked to the attacks.

“Sri Lanka is my motherland,” the Brown University student said. “It’s very painful to be associated with [the bombings].”

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Mohamed Zahran, the suspected leader of the attacks which targeted six hotels and churches, killed himself in a suicide bombing at the Shangri-La hotel. Police also said they had arrested the second-in-command of the group, called National Towheed Jamaat. Catholic churches in Sri Lanka canceled all Sunday Masses until further notice over concerns that they remain a top target of Islamic State-linked extremists.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: Sri Lankan Special Task Force soldiers stand guard in front of a mosque as a Muslim man walks past him during the Friday prayers at a mosque, days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday, in Colombo
FILE PHOTO: Sri Lankan Special Task Force soldiers stand guard in front of a mosque as a Muslim man walks past him during the Friday prayers at a mosque, five days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on Catholic churches and luxury hotels across the island on Easter Sunday, in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Lasseter and Shri Navaratnam

KATTANKUDY, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran was 12 years old when he began his studies at the Jamiathul Falah Arabic College. He was a nobody, with no claim to scholarship other than ambition.

Zahran and his four brothers and sisters squeezed into a two-room house with their parents in a small seaside town in eastern Sri Lanka; their father was a poor man who sold packets of food on the street and had a reputation for being a petty thief.

“His father didn’t do much,” recalled the school’s vice principal, S.M. Aliyar, laughing out loud.

The boy surprised the school with his sharp mind. For three years, Zahran practiced memorizing the Koran. Next came his studies in Islamic law. But the more he learned, the more Zahran argued that his teachers were too liberal in their reading of the holy book.

“He was against our teaching and the way we interpreted the Koran – he wanted his radical Islam,” said Aliyar. “So we kicked him out.”

Aliyar, now 73 with a long white beard, remembers the day Zahran left in 2005. “His father came and asked, ‘Where can he go?’.”

The school would hear again of Mohamed Zahran. And the world now knows his name. The Sri Lankan government has identified him as the ringleader of a group that carried out a series of Easter Sunday suicide bombings in the country on April 21.

The blasts killed more than 250 people in churches and luxury hotels, one of the deadliest-ever such attacks in South Asia. There were nine suicide bombers who blew apart men, women and children as they sat to pray or ate breakfast.

Most of the attackers were well-educated and from wealthy families, with some having been abroad to study, according to Sri Lankan officials.

That description does not, however, fit their alleged leader, a man said to be in his early 30s, who authorities say died in the slaughter. Zahran was different.

INTELLIGENCE FAILINGS

Sri Lanka’s national leadership has come under heavy criticism for failing to heed warnings from Indian intelligence services – at least three in April alone – that an attack was pending. But Zahran’s path from provincial troublemaker to alleged jihadist mastermind was marked by years of missed or ignored signals that the man with a thick beard and paunch was dangerous.

His increasingly militant brand of Islam was allowed to grow inside a marginalized minority community – barely 10 percent of the country’s roughly 20 million people are Muslim – against a backdrop of a dysfunctional developing nation.

The top official at the nation’s defense ministry resigned on Thursday, saying that some institutions under his charge had failed.

For much of his adult life, Zahran, 33, courted controversy inside the Muslim community itself.

In the internet age, that problem did not stay local. Zahran released online videos calling for jihad and threatening bloodshed.

After the blasts, Islamic State claimed credit and posted a video of Zahran, clutching an assault rifle, standing before the group’s black flag and pledging allegiance to its leader.

The precise relationship between Zahran and Islamic State is not yet known. An official with India’s security services, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that during a raid on a suspected Islamic State cell by the National Investigation Agency earlier this year officers found copies of Zahran’s videos. The operation was in the state of Tamil Nadu, just across a thin strait of ocean from Sri Lanka.

“LIKE A SPOILED CHILD”

Back in 2005, Zahran was looking to make his way in the world. His hometown of Kattankudy is some seven hours’ drive from Colombo on the other side of the island nation, past the countless palm trees, roadside Buddha statues, cashew hawkers and an occasional lumbering elephant in the bush. It is a town of about 40,000 people, a dot on the eastern coast with no clear future for an impoverished young man who’d just been expelled.

Zahran joined a mosque in 2006, the Dharul Athar, and gained a place on its management committee. But within three years they’d had a falling out.

“He wanted to speak more independently, without taking advice from elders,” said the mosque’s imam, or spiritual leader, M.T.M. Fawaz.

Also, the young man was more conservative, Fawaz said, objecting, for instance, to women wearing bangles or earrings.

“The rest of us come together as community leaders but Zahran wanted to speak for himself,” said Fawaz, a man with broad shoulders lounging with a group of friends in a back office of the mosque after evening prayers. “He was a black sheep who broke free.”

Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed Thaufeek, a friend who met Zahran at school and later became an adherent of his, said the problems revolved around Zahran’s habit of misquoting Islamic scriptures.

The mosque’s committee banned him from preaching for three months in 2009. Zahran stormed off.

“We treated him like a spoiled child, a very narrow-minded person who was always causing some trouble,” said the head of the committee, Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Naushad, a timber supplier who shook his head at the memory.

Now on his own, Zahran began to collect a group of followers who met in what Fawaz described as “a hut”.

At about that time, Zahran, then 23, married a young girl from a small town outside the capital of Colombo and brought his bride back to Kattankudy, according to his sister, Mathaniya.

“I didn’t have much of a connection with her – she was 14,” she said.

Despite being “a bit rough-edged”, Zahran was a skilled speaker and others his age were drawn to his speeches and Koranic lessons, said Thaufeek. He traveled the countryside at times, giving his version of religious instruction as he went.

Also, Zahran had found a popular target: the town’s Sufi population, who practice a form of Islam often described a mystical, but which to conservatives is heresy.

Tensions in the area went back some years. In 2004, there was a grenade attack on a Sufi mosque and in 2006 several homes of Sufis were set afire. Announcements boomed from surrounding mosques at the time calling for a Sufi spiritual leader to be killed, said Sahlan Khalil Rahman, secretary of a trust that oversees a group of Sufi mosques.

He blamed followers of the fundamentalist Wahhabi strain of Islam that some locals say became more popular after funding from Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Wahhabism, flowed to mosques in Kattankudy.

It was, Rahman said, an effort “to convert Sufis into Wahhabis through this terrorism”. Rahman handed over a photograph album showing charred homes, bullet holes sprayed across an office wall and a shrine’s casket upended.

ONLINE RADICAL

It was an ideal backdrop for Zahran’s bellicose delivery and apparent sense of religious destiny.

He began holding rallies, bellowing insults through loudspeakers that reverberated inside the Sufis’ house of worship as they tried to pray.

In 2012, Zahran started a mosque of his own. The Sufis were alarmed and, Rahman said, passed on complaints to both local law enforcement and eventually national government offices. No action was taken.

The then-officer in charge of Kattankudy police, Ariyabandhu Wedagedara, said in a telephone interview that he couldn’t arrest people simply because of theological differences.

     “The problem at the time was between followers of different Islamic sects – Zahran was not a major troublemaker, but he and followers of other sects, including the Sufis, were at loggerheads,” Wedagedara said.

Zahran found another megaphone: the internet. His Facebook page was taken down after the bombings, but Muslims in the area said his video clips had previously achieved notoriety.

His speeches went from denouncing Sufis to “kafirs”, or non-believers, in general. Zahran’s sister, Mathaniya, said in an interview that she thought “his ideas became more radical from listening to Islamic State views on the Internet”.

In one undated video, Zahran, in a white tunic and standing in front of an image of flames, boomed in a loud voice: “You will not have time to pick up the remains of blown-up bodies. We’ll keep sending those insulting Allah to hell.”

“HARD TO TAKE”

Zahran spoke in Tamil, making his words available to young Muslims clicking on their cellphones in Kattankudy and other towns like it during a period when, in both 2014 and 2018, reports and images spread of Sinhalese Buddhists rioting against Muslims in Sri Lanka.

In 2017, Zahran’s confrontations boiled over. At a rally near a Sufi community, his followers came wielding swords. At least one man was hacked and hospitalized. The police arrested several people connected to Zahran, including his father and one of his brothers. Zahran slipped away from public view.

That December, the mosque Zahran founded released a public notice disowning him. Thaufeek, his friend from school, is now the head. He counted the places that Zahran had been driven away from – his school, the Dharul Athar mosque and then, “we ourselves kicked him out, which would have been hard for him to take”.

The next year, a group of Buddha statues was vandalized in the town of Mawanella, about five hours drive from Kattankudy. There, in the lush mountains of Sri Lanka’s interior, Zahran had taken up temporary residence.

“He was preaching to kill people,” said A.G.M. Anees, who has served as an imam at a small mosque in the area for a decade. “This is not Islam, this is violence.”

Zahran went into hiding once more.

On the Thursday morning before the Easter Sunday bombings, Zahran’s sister-in-law knocked on the door of a neighbor who did seamstress work near Kattankudy. She handed over a parcel of fabric and asked for it to be sewn into a tunic by the end of the day.

“She said she was going on a family trip,” said the neighbor, M.H. Sithi Nazlya.

Zahran’s sister says that her parents turned off their cellphones on the Friday. On Sunday, when she visited their home, they were gone.

She does not know if Zahran arranged for them to be taken somewhere safe. Or why he would have carried out the bombing.

But now in Kattankudy, and in many other places, people are talking about Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran.

(Reporting by Tom Lasseter and Shri Navaratnam; Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani, Shihar Aneez and Alasdair Pal; Editing by John Chalmers and Alex Richardson)

Source: OANN

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