Spy poisoning: Russia expels 60 US diplomats in tit-for-tat measure

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Image captionThe US Consulate in St Petersburg is to be closed

Russia has expelled 60 US diplomats and closed the St Petersburg consulate in a tit-for-tat response to US action over a spy poisoning case in the UK.

Russia's foreign minister said other countries that expelled Russians could expect a "symmetrical" response.

It comes amid a row over the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in southern England.

The White House said Russia's move to expel its diplomats had been "not unanticipated".

It marked "a further deterioration in the United States-Russia relationship", it said in a statement.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the city of Salisbury on 4 March, and the UK government has blamed Russia for the attack.

Image copyrightEPA/ YULIA SKRIPAL/FACEBOOK

Image captionSergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital since the attack

Russia has vehemently denied any role in the Salisbury attack. Mr Skripal remains in a critical but stable condition. His daughter's condition is said to be improving.

More than 20 countries have expelled Russian envoys in solidarity with the UK. Among them is the US, which earlier this week ordered 60 diplomats to leave and closed the Russian consulate general in Seattle.

• What the diplomat expulsions tell us
• What next for Russia’s spy networks?
• Full coverage of the Russia spy poisoning

Whom is Russia expelling?

Russia declared 58 US diplomats in Moscow and two in the city of Yekaterinburg to be "personae non gratae".

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionForeign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would respond "in kind"

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said US ambassador Jon Huntsman had been informed of the "retaliatory measures".

"As for the other countries, everything will also be symmetrical in terms of the number of people from their diplomatic missions who will be leaving Russia," he added.

Later, a US state department spokeswoman said America reserved the right to take further action.

The Russian foreign minister also accused Britain of "forcing everyone to follow an anti-Russian course".

He said Moscow was responding to "absolutely unacceptable actions that are taken against us under very harsh pressure from the United States and Britain under the pretext of the so-called Skripal case".

He reiterated Russian calls for consular access to Yulia Skripal - a Russian citizen.

Russia, he said, was also seeking a meeting with leaders of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to "establish the truth".

• Sergei Skripal: Who is the former Russian colonel?
• What was the Cold War?
• Russian spy: The story so far

How did the tit-for-tat expulsions begin?

Following the incident in Salisbury, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a series of sanctions, including the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats alleged to be intelligence agents.

The Kremlin responded by expelling an equal number of UK diplomats and closing the country's British Council.

Then - in what has been cited as the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history - more than 20 governments expelled diplomats in their countries.

UK National Security Adviser Mark Sedwill, speaking in Washington on Thursday, said expulsions by Western countries were aimed at rooting out covert Russian intelligence networks.

What do we know about the nerve agent?

Britain says the chemical used in the attack was part of a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union known as Novichok.

Experts from the OPCW arrived in the UK on 19 March to test samples. The results are expected to take a minimum of two weeks, the government says.

Police say the Skripals first came into contact with the nerve agent at Mr Skripal's home in Salisbury, with the highest concentration found on the front door.

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Breaking news:

The minister of security(Uganda) and the inspector of police have been fired  by the president of the republic of Uganda, this has come as a result of many fights and accusations of each side pointing at each other as the source of insecurity in the country. 

Today evening  the president of uganda His excellence Yoweri Kaguta Museveni decaired officially that He had replaced the two( minister of security and inspector general of police) 

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

25 mins · 
In exercise of powers granted to me by the Constitution, I have appointed Gen Elly Tumwine as the Security Minister. I have also appointed Mr Okoth Ochola as the Inspector-General of Police. He will be deputised by Brig Sabiiti Muzeei. 

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DRC's army recovers largest Ugandan rebel stronghold

Beni - Democratic Republic of Congo's army says it has captured the largest stronghold for the Uganda-born Allied Democratic Forces rebels in Congo's northeast.

Capt. Mak Hazukay Mongba, spokesperson for Operation Sukola, said on Monday the army released hostages and took control of the "grand bastion" of ADF rebels in Mwalika, about 80km from Beni.

According to Human Rights Watch, ADF rebels have killed about 1 000 people in the Beni region over the last three years. The Congolese army has captured dozens of rebels including a dozen who were sentenced to death.

A December 7 attack on a UN base outside Beni killed 14 Tanzanian peacekeepers in the deadliest single assault on a peacekeeping mission in almost 25 years.

The ADF, which formed in the 1990s, eventually relocated from Uganda to eastern DRC.

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North Korea slams Trump's State of the Union address

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 22, 2018 file photo, a North Korean girl walks past the Taedong Gate in Pyongyang, North Korea. Temperatures were forecast to drop below -19 degree Celsius (-2.2 degree Fahrenheit) this week in the North Korean capital. North Korea on Sunday, Feb. 4, slammed President Donald Trump's State of the Union address and said its nuclear capabilities would "deter Trump and his lackeys from showing off on the Korean peninsula."(AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Sunday slammed President Donald Trump's State of the Union address and said its nuclear capabilities would "deter Trump and his lackeys from showing off on the Korean peninsula."
In his address last week, Trump said that "no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea."
"We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and to our allies," Trump said.
On Sunday, a North Korean foreign ministry official shot back at the president.
"If Trump does not get rid of his anachronistic and dogmatic way of thinking, it will only bring about the consequence of further endangering security and future of the United States," the official said, in comments carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The official disputed Trump's claim in his address that the United States had "made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success" over the last year, calling it "the height of Trump-style arrogance, arbitrariness and self-conceit."
Trump also said in his speech that the U.S. was "waging a campaign of maximum pressure" to prevent North Korea from being able to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons.
The foreign ministry official said that North Korea's "self-reliant defense capability with the nuclear force as its backbone will, however, completely deter Trump and his lackeys from showing off on the Korean peninsula."
On Friday, Trump sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear program by consulting with allies and highlighting the human rights abuses suffered by defectors from North Korea.
Trump hosted about a half-dozen North Korean defectors in the Oval Office, including Ji Seong-ho, who had used crutches to escape the reclusive country after a train ran over his limbs. Days earlier, Ji raised his crutches in triumph when Trump singled him out during his State of the Union address.
Trump has expressed a willingness to deal with rising tensions with Pyongyang through diplomacy, but he has said the United States would use military force on North Korea if needed.

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Police arrest suspected killer of singer Mowzey Radio

Godfrey Wamala (in red shirt), who is suspected to have assaulted Mowzey Radio in a bar in Entebbe, being led by Katwe Police Station commander Frantile Lwamusaayi to the police pick up on Monday morning. The suspect was transferred to Entebbe Police Station where the offence was allegedly committed. Photo by Andrew Bagala.  

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By just the facts

Police have arrested a man suspected to have beaten Uganda singer Moses Ssekibogo alias Mowzey Radio causing his head injuries that later led him to his death at Case Hospital where he had been admitted for about a week.

Radio was beaten into coma at De Bar, a popular hangout in Entebbe town on the night of January 22.
Godfrey Wamala alias Troy was arrested at Kyengera in Wakiso District on Sunday night after a tip off by a team led by Katwe Division Police commander Frantile Lwamusaayi.
Upon arrest, Wamala was taken to Katwe Police Station where he recorded a statement before he was transferred to Entebbe Police Station where the offence was committed.

Mr Lwamusaayi confirmed the arrest but said the details can be got from the Commander Kampala Metropolitan Police, Mr Frank Mwesigwa, whom he said supervised the tracking of the suspect and his operation.
“We have handed him over to Entebbe Police Station where he is facing a charge of murder. Details of what he told police should be got from the police spokesmen or Kampala Metropolitan Police commander,” Mr Lwamusaayi said.

At the time of his arrest, Wamala was staying with a friend.

Deceased: Singer Mowzey Radio. COURTESY PHOTO

According to officers, who participated in his arrest, said he confirmed to them that he was with Mowzey, David Washington Ebangit, Pamela Musiimire, one Hassan and others on the fateful day.
He said when the fracas started they were seated on the same table.
He said the fracas was sparked off when Mowzey poured alcohol on Hassan, who got angry and attempted to fight but two were separated before they could even exchange fists.

He said the bar personnel intervened.
He reportedly told investigators that during the scuffle, men whom he didn’t know came and grabbed Mowzey near the table and dragged him outside of the bar.
He said Mowzey’s colleagues, including Washington, remained seated, but he moved out of the bar only to find Mowzey lying down motionless near the entrance.

Although he denied beating Mowzey, De Bar managers, who are currently detained by the police accuse him of have assaulted the deceased.
He said it was then that all the people came to his aid and Pamela, Washington and others took the motionless Mowzey to the medical centre.
He said thereafter, he went back to home but learnt two days after the incident that the police was hunting for him, which triggered him to go into hiding.
Mowzey died at Case Hospital on February 1 and he was buried on Saturday at Nakawuku in Wakiso District.

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Uganda's Museveni: I love Trump for being frank with Africans

https://justfacts.blogspot.ug/Uganda's Museveni: I love Trump for being frank with Africans

Image caption Mr Museveni has said he appreciates Trump's frank language

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has given a speech declaring his "love" for US President Donald Trump.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump was accused of referring to African nations as "shithole" countries during an immigration meeting.
Mr Trump has denied making the remarks but US senators who attended the meeting say that he did.
The African Union demanded that Mr Trump apologise for his "clearly racist" comments.

"America has got one of the best presidents ever," Mr Museveni said to laughter during the opening of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
"I love Trump because he tells Africans frankly. The Africans need to solve their problems, the Africans are weak."
Mr Museveni's comments are in opposition to the reaction of many leaders who have condemned Mr Trump's language.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC that he shared Africa's outrage.

On Monday, people in Haiti, another country that Mr Trump disparaged, protested against the president's remarks.
Mr Museveni's defence of the US president came just hours after the US ambassador to Uganda criticised Mr Trump.
"[His words] are obviously quite disturbing and upsetting," Deborah Malac said.
Mr Trump allegedly used the term "shithole countries" when asking why the US should accept immigrants from Haiti and some countries in Africa.
In 2017, Mr Trump allegedly said that Afghanistan was a terrorist haven; all people from Haiti "have Aids", and that Nigerians would never "go back to their huts" once allowed into the US,
The White House denied Mr Trump made the comments.

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UPDF involvement in Case Clinic murder investigations explained

Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki, the Deputy UPDF Spokesperson and his Police Counterpart, Emilian Kayima addressing journalists on Monday about the joint city operations

Details have emerged showing how the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) got involved in the investigations into the murder of Francis Ekalugar, the former Accountant of Case Clinic. Police opened up investigations shortly after Ekalugar’s burnt body was recovered from Kajjansi, a city suburb on January 3rd, 2018.
Ekalugar was kidnapped and killed on January 02, 2018 on his way to bank Shillings 15 million. Police recorded statements from Ekalugar’s workmates and also analyzed the CCTV footage recovered from Case Clinic. Police picked up two security guards who were on duty when Ekalugar is believed to have disappeared but released them shortly.
According to police sources, after analyzing the CCTV footage police investigators noticed that there were two Boda boda riders who tracked the deceased from the clinic. However, the police investigations stalled as police couldn’t trace the Boda boda riders but something happened about a week ago.
It is alleged that an operative from CMI overheard someone in a bar talking about a man who had got Shillings 15 million from a deal just as the year begun.
The operative, whose identity has been withheld for his own safety, pushed the conversation a little further and after a couple of beers, the source named Huzairu Kiwalabye, a member of Boda boda 2010 and brother to the Association chairman, Abdallah Kitatta. On getting this information, CMI tipped Kajjansi Police Station that Kiwalabye could have been behind the death of Ekalugar.
As police detectives were busy trying to put the pieces together and get additional information that could place Kiwalabye at the crime scene, the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task force (JATT) where the CMI operative is deployed received orders to arrest Kiwalabye.
A reliable source from JATT told this publication that things changed from one day to the other. “At first JATT was not interest in handling this matter then after a day or two, we were told that there were orders for us to trace and arrest Kiwalabye,” said the source on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, JATT swung into action without notifying police and picked up Kiwalabye on Friday last week and dragged him to Mbuya for interrogation. Kiwalabye reportedly confessed his involvement in the kidnap and murder of Ekalagur and named his accomplices.
Some of those mentioned included Muzamiru Mawa, the driver to Dr. Ssebale Kato, the Proprietor of Case Clinic, Kikandi Muhindo and David Bizimani, both Congolese nationals at whose residence Ekalugar’s was found. He also mentioned four other Boda boda riders. The information from the source is collaborated by revelations from the Defense Ministry, Deputy Spokesperson, and Lt. Col Deo Akiiiki.
He told the media that the army acted on intelligence from a CMI operative. “We got intelligence information from a CMI operative working with JATT,” Lt Col. Akiiki told journalists at the government owned media center while explaining the UPDF involvement in the operations, which should have ideally been the work of police.
“We didn’t know if the murder was a terror activity or if it was a threat to National security so we had to work together,” he said.
How the Kidnap was planned
According to the source, Mawa approached some of his friends in Boda boda 2010 including Kiwalabye with the deal. He reportedly told them how one of their accountants usually moves with a lot of cash to the bank.
The group resolved to kidnap Ekalugar and rob him of the cash. On January 02, 2018, Mawa tipped off his accomplices that Ekalugar was moving money to the bank. Kiwalabye drove to the scene of the robbery in a super custom while four others tracked Ekalugar on motorcycles.
Two of the cyclists deliberately knocked Ekalugar’s vehicle a Toyota Premio registration number UAW 899U adjacent to the Health Ministry headquarters in Wandegeya. Ekalugar reportedly moved out of the vehicle to check on the damage.
Two of the suspects intercepted Ekalugar as he was returning to his vehicle, and dragged him to super custom that has parked nearby. One of the riders took charge of Ekalugar’s vehicle and sped off to Kabowa. Ekalugar’s body that was burnt beyond recognition was recovered the next day from a bush in Kajansi.
Six of those who were part of the robbery and subsequent killing of Ekalugar are under police custody. Four other suspects are still at large.
Kitatta’s Involvement in the Case
According to the source, Kitatta who also doubles as the Lubaga National Resistance Movement (NRM) party chairman and a close confidant of the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, got involved in the case after the arrest of his brother.
Trouble for Kitatta started when he appeared on Top Radio and started mobilising members of Boda boda 2010 to push for the release of his brother, despite the fact he wasn’t aware of why he had been picked up.
Kitatta reportedly made threatening statements against the army and the state, prompting Military Police to raid the station and pick him up. Some members of Boda boda 2010 attempted to put up resistance but were contained by the military Police officers.
The officers also raided the officers of Boda boda 2010 to conduct a search, but met some resistance leading to several arrests bringing the number of suspects to 28. During the joint press conference held on Monday, Police spokesperson, Emillian Kayima, said they were scrutinising the suspects. “Whoever will be found culpable will be held to account,” he said.
Reaction to Arrest of Boda boda 2010 members
The arrest of the members of Boda boda 2010 has drawn excitement among rival boda boda factions, which accuse the group of mistreatment and torture. On Monday, members of the rival factions raided the offices of Boda boda 2010 in Natete, Wakaliga and Bakuli and destroyed property.
At least 14 suspects were picked up by police in connection to the attacks and destruction of property. Police also impounded 45 motorcycles left behind some of the riders believed to have been behind the attacks.

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Democrats withdraw offer to fund Trump's border wall

https://justfactsuganda.blospot.ug/Democrats withdraw offer to fund Trump's border wall

https://justfactsuganda.blospot.ug/Democrats withdraw offer to fund Trump's border wall

 

People protest to call for a new DREAM Act to replace DACA in Los Angeles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats said on Tuesday they had withdrawn an offer to fund U.S. President Donald Trump's border wall, as tough negotiations over the future of young illegal immigrants known as "Dreamers" resumed in the Senate.

A day after the end of a government shutdown linked to wrangling over immigration, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he pulled the offer because of what he said was Trump's failure to follow through on the outlines of an agreement the two men discussed on Friday.

"So we're going to have to start on a new basis and the wall offer is off the table," Schumer told reporters. An aide said the offer was withdrawn on Sunday.

Trump said on Twitter late on Tuesday night: "Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA. We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!"

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus expressed fears on Tuesday that Republicans in the House of Representatives would pursue a harsh immigration bill written by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte.

The House measure would allow Dreamers to renew their legal status for three years, instead of putting them on a pathway to citizenship, and would call for hiring 10,000 more agents at U.S. borders while shutting down some visa programs and taking other steps to find people who are in the country illegally.

Republican Trump said during the 2016 election campaign Mexico would pay the cost of building a wall along the southwestern border of the United States to keep out illegal immigrants. Mexico has rejected the idea.

As a result, Trump has been forced to ask Congress for U.S. taxpayer funds for the wall. Government estimates are that it could cost more than $21 billion.

With Democrats and many Republicans arguing there are more effective border enforcement tools than a wall, the proposal has become a major sticking point in immigration negotiations, which in turn have complicated talks about funding federal agencies.

The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, asked by a reporter whether Schumer offered Trump $25 billion for the wall in a major concession to the president, did not dispute the figure, but said: "He did it in the context of a negotiation."

PROTECTING THE 'DREAMERS'

Democrats have been spearheading an effort to protect about 700,000 young Dreamers after Trump announced in September the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program instituted by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

The program, which began in 2012, gave qualified Dreamers, who were brought illegally to the United States as children, temporary protection from deportation and the ability to study and work in the United States.

Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, criticized Schumer for pulling the wall funding offer.

"That basically sets the DACA discussion back," he told reporters.

Cornyn said there had been discussions of he and Durbin being a "clearing house" for suggestions from senators on legislation to rescue Dreamers from the threat of deportation and provide permanent protections for them.

In agreeing on Monday to end a three-day government shutdown - the first since 2013 - and fund the government until Feb. 8, Senate Democrats got a promise from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he would allow an immigration debate on the Senate floor in the near future.

Durbin said a similar commitment was now needed from Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, where a Dreamer bill would presumably face a much harder path to passage than in the Senate.

The White House on Tuesday rejected the idea that a bipartisan bill sponsored by Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham could be the core of a solution.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the proposal was "totally unacceptable to the president and should be declared dead on arrival."

Trump himself has vacillated on immigration between tough rhetoric demanding a U.S. border wall and a softer tone urging a "bill of love" for Dreamers.

"Nobody knows for sure that the Republicans & Democrats will be able to reach a deal on DACA by February 8, but everyone will be trying," Trump tweeted.

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Kentucky school shooting kills 2, wounds 13, teen arrested

By Micheal k

Just the facts 

,

Kentucky school shooting kills 2, wounds 13, teen arrested

By micheal k

BENTON, Ky  A 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun just before classes started at his high school in rural western Kentucky on Tuesday, killing two fellow students and wounding 13 other youths before he was arrested, the state's governor and police said.

The shooter, who has not been officially identified, entered a common area at Marshall County High School in Benton shortly before 8 a.m. (1400 GMT), pulled out a pistol and began firing at students, witnesses told Kentucky media.

The suspect will be charged with two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder, the Kentucky State Police said. Police have not released a motive for the shooting but said they believed the gunman acted alone.

The bloodshed at the school of nearly 1,150 students in a small farming town was the latest outbreak of gun violence that has become a regular occurrence at schools and college campuses across the United States over the past several years.

The students killed were Bailey Hope, a 15-year-old girl, and Preston Cope, a 15-year-old boy, state police said. Five of the victims were in critical condition, police said, but hospital officials said they expected all those wounded in the incident to survive.

"I see this guy draw from his side and he pulls out a pistol. I didn't even know what was going on. And then it registered. About the time it registered, this guy was sitting here pulling the trigger into all of us," student Bryson Conkwright told TV station WKRN.

"I can hear the gunshots. He was shooting in our group," said Conkwright, showing where a bullet grazed his hand.

Kentucky State Police previously reported that 14 people were shot, including the two who died, but changed that number to 15 late on Tuesday. Apart from those who were shot, five other people were also injured in the chaos, police said. All 20 of the victims were between 14 and 18 years old.

At least one hospitalized student suffered a broken jaw from falling and being trampled while trying to escape, Marshall County prosecutor Jeff Edwards said in a phone interview.

Edwards toured the school, from which he, his wife and their children all graduated, describing signs of the scramble to flee from the gunfire.

Backpacks, cellphones and clothes were strewn in the main area where the shooting occurred, he said.

"When it happened, apparently everyone left everything laying," Edwards said. "It made it real, seeing the disarray."

A WOUNDED COMMUNITY

The school serves Marshall County, which has a population of about 31,000, and the shooting hit the community hard. Churches held vigils on Tuesday night, including the First Christian Church in Benton, where about 150 people gathered for prayers for the victims.

"I don't know how to start healing myself and I don’t know how the students will be able to heal because they will have to be in that school every day," said Alexandra Smith, a former student at the school who attended the church vigil.

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin's voice choked with emotion and he paused to collect himself at a news conference earlier on Tuesday where he spoke of the shooting.

"There's no good answer for it," Bevin said.

Bevin said the suspect was apprehended at the school "in a non-violent" manner but did not elaborate.

Students followed training they had recently received from state police in how to respond to such incidents, authorities said, crediting police for arriving on the scene quickly and apprehending the suspect.

Helicopters took five victims, including the boy who later died, to the nearest Level 1 Trauma Center, about 120 miles (190 km) away at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families there," she said.

(Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, N.C., Peter Szekely in New York, Suzannah Gonzales and Chris Kenning in Chicago, Ben Klayman in Detroit and Ian Simpson in Washington; Writing by Steve Gorman and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Peter Cooney and Paul Tait)

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