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Kaieteur News
Wednesday February 27, 2019
Pakistan vows retaliation after Paul Manafort’s lawyers say long Indian airstrikes, as hostilities rise prison term would ‘likely amount between nuclear powers to a life sentence’ for Trump aide New Delhi, India (CNN)Pakistan has promised to retaliate against India after the latter conducted airstrikes on an alleged terrorist training camp — which Pakistani officials say occurred outside the limits of the disputed Kashmir region — in a significant escalation of hostilities between the nuclear armed powers. “India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing,” Prime Minister Imran Khan’s office said in a statement. Indian authorities confirmed Tuesday its aircraft had crossed the line of control (LoC) to carry out airstrikes, but did not give details on where their planes went or where munitions landed. The apparent strike took place early Tuesday across the LoC, the de facto border between India and Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region, and came in response to what India said was “credible intelligence” about potential terrorist attacks, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters in New Delhi. Gokhale said the alleged camp was run by Jaish-eMohammed, the group India blames for a suicide car bomb attack in Pulwama in Indian administered Kashmir that
killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers on February 14. (Bloomberg) — It’s the biggest escalation between South Asia’s nuclear-armed rivals in decades and with a bitterly contested national election in India just weeks away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to exploit his military’s air strikes on a terrorist camp inside Pakistan Tuesday. Speaking to a huge, cheering crowd at an election rally in the state of Rajasthan, Modi twice stated that India was “in safe hands” and declared it a “glorious day,” without explicitly mentioning the attack. India’s fighter jets destroyed a major terrorist camp in Pakistan early Tuesday “in the face of imminent danger,” Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said in New Delhi. More than 300 people were killed in the air strikes on militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to an Indian official speaking on condition of anonymity. Pakistan had its own version of events. After scrambling its jets in response to India’s earlymorning incursion across the border, it released photographs of missile remnants it said had fallen on unoccupied territory. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s office said Pakistan would respond
“at the time and place of its choosing,” rejecting India’s claim that it had hit a terror camp or inflicted heavy casualties. “Once again the Indian government has resorted to a self-serving, reckless and fictitious claim,” a statement from Khan’s office said. Facing the first major geopolitical challenge of his term, Khan directed the country’s armed forces and the public to “remain prepared for all eventualities.” With both nations able to demonstrate a show of military strength, it now gives diplomats a chance to try and ensure the situation does not further deteriorate. Relations between the two countries have been tense since a Feb. 14 suicide car bombing in Kashmir, claimed by the Pakistanbased Jaish-e-Mohammed, killed 40 members of India’s security forces. The question now is how will Pakistan respond. Yesterday’s strikes represent the worst escalation since 2001, when Pakistan and India moved ballistic missiles and troops to their border following an attack on parliament in New Delhi that was also blamed on Jaish-e-Mohammad. India and Pakistan have fought three major wars since partition and independence in 1947.
Dutch seize 90,000 bottles of vodka ‘bound for North Korea’ Acting on a tip-off, Dutch authorities boarded a ship and seized 90,000 bottles of vodka they believe may have been headed to the North Korean regime. UN sanctions levied on North Korea because of its nuclear programme forbid the importing of such luxury items. The ship’s destination was listed as China, but a Dutch foreign ministry source told BBC News they had suspected its real final port was Pyongyang. The haul was found last Friday aboard a Chinese ship in the port of Rotterdam. The vessel had a total of 8,000 to 9,000 containers on board, said customs official Arno Kooij. “One of those containers was the one we were looking for,” he said. The container in question was found hidden beneath an airplane fuselage being transported by ship. Despite fears that the fuselage could
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, pleaded Monday to avoid a lengthy prison term that would “likely amount to a life sentence” for his convictions in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced twice next month, first by a federal judge in Virginia where he was convicted of tax and bank fraud; then a week later by another federal judge in Washington, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to investigators. Together, those cases could produce what is effectively a life sentence for the 69-yearold political operative. Prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller have described Manafort as a “hardened” criminal who “brazenly violated the law” through years of fraud and illicit lobbying work. They have urged both judges to order that he serve a significant prison sentence. Manafort, who pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges in the District of Columbia, said the harsh descriptions of his crimes weren’t for “murder, drug cartels, organized crime, the Madoff Ponzi scheme or the collapse of Enron.” And the charges aren’t about “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia, which was the core of what Mueller ’s office is
investigating, his lawyers argued. Rather, Manafort pleaded guilty in Washington to crimes related to his lucrative lobbying work in Ukraine, failing to report it to the government and attempting to conceal it from the authorities, his lawyers argued in a 47-page filing late Monday. They said that in the past, the government has prosecuted such cases only rarely, and had not viewed them as particularly serious. Manafort faces a maximum of 10 years when U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentences him March 13. Manafort’s lawyers didn’t say exactly what sentence they think would be appropriate, but argued it should be “significantly below” the decade he could face. That sentence will come after U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis sentences March 8 in Virginia. Mueller’s office said in that case that federal guidelines call for him to spend 20 to 24 years in prison following his conviction on eight counts of bank- and taxfraud. Mueller’s office said in a court filing on Saturday that it might ask Jackson to serve first one sentence and then the other. But Manafort’s lawyers said if a prison term is imposed in Virginia, the D.C. term should run at the same time. The cases stemmed from when Manafort served as a political consultant for a pro-
Russian faction in Ukraine during the decade before he joined Trump’s campaign from March to August 2016. Manafort was a key figure in Mueller’s Russia probe because he was a top aide to Trump’s campaign who also had extensive connections to Russian interests. Manafort attended a Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with Russians offering damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Manafort’s partner in the Ukraine work, Russian national Konstantin Kilimnik, also faces conspiracy charges in the D . C . c a se. Court filings described Manafort meeting more than he acknowledged with Kilimnik during the Trump campaign and sharing polling data. None of the charges against Manafort involve his work for the campaign. In August, Manafort was convicted in Virginia of hiding tens of millions of dollars in overseas banks and corporations, to avoid paying taxes. His guilty plea in September in D.C. dealt with conspiracy charges for failing to report lobbying for Ukraine and for tampering with witnesses to get them to change their stories. Manafort may find it difficult to pay the fines and restitution. He has already forfeited properties worth an estimated $27 million, including a $7.3 million compound in the Hamptons and a $3.8 million apartment in Trump Tower.
(BBC) President Donald Trump’s convicted former lawyer Michael Cohen is expected to accuse him of criminal conduct during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Speaking on Wednesday to a House of Representatives panel, Cohen will allege possible tax fraud and racist language by Mr Trump, say US media. The White House has questioned why lawmakers invited someone who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen was sentenced to three years and will begin his custodial term in May. On Tuesday, he was officially disbarred from practising law by the New York State Supreme Court, New York media reported.
The penalty came as he began three consecutive days of testimony in a closeddoors hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. His Wednesday testimony to the House Oversight Committee will be public. The 52-year-old was convicted last year by New York federal prosecutors of campaign finance violations and tax evasion and by special counsel Robert Mueller of lying to Congress about Trump Organization plans in Moscow. Mr Mueller is nearing the end of a 21-month justice department investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, which both Mr Trump and Russia have denied.
At his December sentencing Cohen, a former Trump loyalist, blamed his misdeeds on “a blind loyalty” to Mr Trump. Ahead of the hearings, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called Cohen a “disgraced felon”, saying it was “laughable that anyone would take a convicted liar like Cohen at his word”. Mrs Sanders’ statement added it was “pathetic to see him given yet another opportunity to spread his lies” before Congress.
Michael Cohen ‘to accuse Trump of racism and lies’
be damaged, Dutch trade officials decided to extract the container. Mr Kooij, the customs official, said the seizure followed a tip-off from Hamburg - the ship’s last port of call - that the container might be in violation of the sanctions against North Korea. Economic sanctions have been in place against North Korea for more than a decade, severely limiting access to
many goods - consumer and military - in the politically isolated nation. Most ordinary citizens in the country live in poverty, but the wealthy manage to live in relative luxury despite the ban on imports. Mr Kim, in particular, is known to enjoy the finer things, including expensive cars, a luxury yacht, and a private government plane. Photo in Wednesday as vodka for north korea
A mini health check is the first step to donating blood