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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP)-Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence on Saturday shortly before protesters, angered by an unprecedented economic crisis, overran the compound and stormed his nearby office. Thousands of people had surrounded the leader's home to demand his resignation, blaming government mismanagement for a downturn that has subjected this island nation's 22 million people to months of bitter hardship. As the crowd surged the gates of the presidential palace, troops guarding the compound fired in the air to hold them back until Rajapaksa was safely removed...

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced he is stepping down from office on Saturday. The announcement comes hours after tens of thousands of protesters stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's residence in Colombo, forcing him to move to safety. Demonstrations across the country led to an imposed curfew as the economic crisis continues. https://twitter.com/i/events/1545674271325769730

Thousands of protesters have stormed the prime minster's house in the capital of Colombo and set it on fire today, hours after he said he would resign when a new government is formed, in the biggest day of angry demonstrations on Saturday that also saw crowds storming the president's home and office. Protesters have set the Prime Minister's residence on fire and broken into the President's home, hours after the Prime Minister he said he would resign over a worsening economic crisis. In videos on social media, red smoke can be seen rising into the sky, as flames take hold....

Mueller and Weissmann involved in the two biggest scandals in FBI history Special Counsel Robert Mueller III and lead attorney in the Special Counsel’s Office Andrew Weissmann have been connected to one another throughout most of their careers, and both men moved quickly to the top tackling major crime syndicates and white-collar crime. Ironically, both men were also connected in two of the biggest corruption investigations in FBI history. But rarely are Weissmann and Mueller’s past cases discussed in the media. Their past is relevant because it gives a roadmap to the future — now that these two longtime colleagues...

Archbishop of Colombo Reportedly Accuses US, Daesh of Creating Conflicts The archbishop’s criticism of the US and Daesh comes almost three weeks after several cities of Sri Lanka – Colombo, Negombo, and Batticaloa — were rocked by serial bomb blasts on Easter Sunday (21 April). About 253 people were killed in the explosions that severely damaged three prominent churches and an equal number of up-market hotels. New Delhi (Sputnik): Countries like the US and terror groups like Daesh* are both creating disharmony and conflicts to achieve their respective selfish objectives to gain control of territory, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has said, according to a report...

COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Sri Lankan housewife Fathima Fazla thought of her neighbours in the grand three-storey home across the street as the wealthy celebrities of her humble Colombo suburb. She had no idea how infamous they would become. A person mourns at a grave of a victim, two days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels across the island on Easter Sunday, at Sellakanda Catholic cemetery in Negombo, Sri Lanka April 23, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha Two brothers who lived at the white house on Mahawela Gardens have emerged as key players in suicide attacks on...

Sri Lanka: Jihad murderer Mohamed Azzam Mohamed blew himself up in busy Easter Sunday hotel buffet line “‘It was 8:30 am and it was busy. It was families,’ the manager told AFP. ‘He came up to the top of the queue and set off the blast,’ he added.” He wanted to maximize the carnage; his god promised Paradise for those who “kill and are killed” for him (Qur’an 9:111), so he might have thought he could increase the reward he would receive by killing as many people as possible. “Eight blasts at churches, hotels across Sri Lanka kill at least...

Longtime Colombo under-boss John “Sonny” Franzese is the living embodiment of the ultimate mob rule — bragging in an interview about refusing to rat despite it making him the oldest federal prisoner at the age of 100. Wheelchair-bound Franzese, now 102 and living in a nursing home, told Newsday about his life of crime — and how he stuck to the “Goodfellas” adage of “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut” despite facing 50 years behind bars.

Carmine J. Persico, the unpredictable leader of the New York-based Colombo crime family who the authorities believe had a strong hand in the assassinations of the mob bosses Albert Anastasia and Joey Gallo, died a prisoner on Thursday in a hospital in Durham, N.C. He was 85. His lawyer, Benson Weintraub, confirmed the death, at Duke University Medical Center, but said he did not know the cause. Mr. Persico was serving a combined 139-year sentence at a nearby federal prison, in Butner, N.C. Mr. Weintraub had been representing Mr. Persico in litigation against the Bureau of Prisons. Mr. Persico contended...

<p>STRANGE CELL-FELLOW: Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the '93 WTC bombing, in 1996, when he began spilling to a jail "friend."</p> <p>April 11, 2004 -- The 9/11 commission has been given an FBI report detailing mobster-turned-spy Gregory Scarpa Jr.'s 1996 prison exchanges with terrorist Ramzi Yousef. The Post's Al Guart reports how a Brooklyn hood became America's unlikely agent in the war on terror.</p>

pecial Counsel Robert Mueller III and lead attorney in the Special Counsel’s Office Andrew Weissmann have been connected to one another throughout most of their careers, and both men moved quickly to the top tackling major crime syndicates and white-collar crime. Ironically, both men were also connected in two of the biggest corruption investigations in FBI history. But rarely are Weissmann and Mueller’s past cases discussed in the media. Their past is relevant because it gives a roadmap to the future — now that these two longtime colleagues are charged with one of the most controversial investigations into a president...

In 1997 Andrew Weissmann was officially reprimanded by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for withholding evidence. Weissmann was reported to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Senate Judiciary Committee for alleged “corrupt legal practices.” A formal letter from U.S. Attorney Eastern District of New York Zachary Carter requested the judge to remove Weissman’s name, according to documents. Civil rights and Criminal Defense Attorney David Schoen said Weissmann needs to be investigated for alleged past misconduct in court cases. UPDATED The top attorney in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s office was reported to the Department of Justice’s...

Dennis Delucia faces 46 months when sentenced on an extortion conviction, and his lesbian daughter Donna has submitted a letter to Brooklyn federal judge Kiyo Matsumoto in an attempt to humanize the reputed Colombo capo who was supportive of her coming out process as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News: "My dad accepted me, embraced me and has supported me. His love and acceptance helped me through the rough times and growing pains." Donna now lives in Kentucky with her partner and their 9-year-old boy, and she would like a light sentence for her gangster dad because "I...

Nine people including one foreigner were killed and 45 injured in a suspected bomb blast in the German Bakery at Koregaon Park which also houses a Jewish prayer house and the Osho Ashram here this evening. Pune Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh said there were five women among the victims. The blast took place at the German Bakery, an old business establishment, at around 7:15pm. Initial reports have suggested that the Indian Mujahideen is being suspected to be behind the blast. "There was a bomb blast. There have been eight deaths and 33 people were injured", said Pune joint commissioner...

(Aug. 25) -- A 50-year-old Sri Lankan woman who worked as a maid for a large family in Saudi Arabia for five months was allegedly tortured by some of the family members hammering nails into her body, doctors said. The woman, who flew back to Colombo, Sri Lanka, from Riyadh on Saturday night, was brought to the hospital by her concerned children Monday. X-rays showed there were 23 nails embedded in her body. "Some of the nails were 2 inches long," Dr. Prabath Gajadeera of Kamburupitiya Base Hospital told AOL News today. "Most of the nails were embedded in her...

NEW DELHI — Indian airports were on high alert Friday after intelligence services received information that Al Qaeda-linked militants were plotting to hijack a plane. Such an attack would be the first major terror strike against India since 10 militants rampaged through the city of Mumbai for three days in November 2008, killing 166 people. Aviation spokeswoman Moushumi Chakravarty said that the airports were placed on alert Thursday after the government received warnings from the intelligence agencies.(continued)

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

COLOMBO, May 16 (Reuters) - A loud explosion shook a commercial quarter of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Friday, a military spokesman said. "There is an explosion near the Hilton Hotel," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, adding there were no details of any injuries or damage.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - A suicide bomber attacked the opening ceremony of a marathon outside Sri Lanka's capital Sunday, killing a government minister and 11 other people, authorities said. Dozens were wounded. Officials blamed the bombing, the second this year resulting in the death of a senior government official, on Tamil Tiger rebels. Minister of Highways and Road Development Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was opening the race at Weliweriya town, 12 miles outside Colombo. He died in a hospital of injuries sustained in the blast, said government spokesman Lakshman Hulugalla, blaming Tamil rebels. Eleven others were killed—including former Olympic marathoner K.A....

Sri Lankan fighter jets bombed a secret rebel communications center early yesterday, killing the Tamil Tigers' political chief and five others in a strike expected to deal a sharp blow to the guerrillas' morale. The killing of S.P. Tamilselvan, who acted as the public face of the rebels, was widely seen as a public relations coup for the government. But analysts feared it would further escalate the more than two-decade-old civil war and spark a cycle of political assassinations across this Indian Ocean island nation. "This is a message that we know their leaders' location," Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said....