Source: MSNBC

Boris Johnson speaking now on his victory.

Read more: Link to source

Source: WSJ

MOSCOW—Russia has withdrawn key defense advisers from Venezuela, an embarrassment for President Nicolás Maduro as Moscow weighs the leader’s political and economic resilience against growing U.S. pressure.

Russian state defense contractor Rostec, which has trained Venezuelan troops and advised on securing arms contracts, has cut its staff in Venezuela to just a few dozen from about 1,000 at the height of cooperation between Moscow and Caracas several years ago, said a person close to the Russian defense ministry.

The gradual pullout, which has escalated over the lpast several months, according to people familiar with the situation, is due to a lack of new contracts and the acceptance that Mr. Maduro’s regime no longer has the cash to continue to pay for other Rostec services associated with past contracts.

Russia has been among Mr. Maduro’s biggest international supporters, but the winding down of Rostec’s presence shows the limits of Russia’s reach in the South American country at a time when Moscow is facing economic difficulties—in part due to the impact of U.S. sanctions—at home. Venezuela has been one of Moscow’s largest customers in South America.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-a-blow-to-maduro-russia-withdraws-key-defense-support-to-venezuela-11559486826

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The fat, murdering criminal just lost another chip.

The question is, "If the primary were held TODAY who would you vote for"
So you 40% couldnt make a choice of ANYONE if the vote were held TODAY? Which means right now, today, you wouldnt vote in the primary? Of course you would! So WHO would get that vote?
As tuned in as DU members are, everyone pretty much knows where most of the candidates stand on most issues. You STILL cant pick one to vote for TODAY?
Sorry to ramble, it just worries me that the largest group of DUers cant pick a person if the vote was TODAY.

Source: The Hill

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Thursday hammered President Trump for in the past saying he had bone spurs to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War, saying he faked the disability.

“Well, I have a pretty dim view of his decision to use his privileged status to fake a disability in order to avoid serving in Vietnam,” Buttigieg, an Afghanistan War veteran, said during a livestreamed interview with The Washington Post.


“Yeah, at least not that one,” he doubled down when asked if he thought the condition was faked. “This is actually really important because I don’t mean to trivialize disability, but I think that’s exactly what he did.”

The South Bend, Ind., mayor has shot to national prominence in recent months following a media blitz that has included various interviews with national outlets as well as more niche publications.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445220-buttigieg-trump-faked-being-disabled-to-get-out-of-vietnam

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I think THIS should be shouted from the rooftops. PROVE it, Trump.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/440201-buttigieg-to-appear-on-fox-news-town-hall-in-may

Fox News announced Tuesday that it will host a town hall with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on May 19.
The live event will take place in Claremont, N.H., at 7 p.m. and will be moderated by “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace.

“We look forward to hosting Mayor Buttigieg in New Hampshire and again showcasing our first-in-class journalism and election coverage,” Jay Wallace, Fox News and Fox Business's president and executive editor, said in a statement.

“We’ve said from the beginning of this campaign that Pete will talk to every audience and meet voters where they are,” campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith told The Hill on Tuesday following the announcement. “For Democrats to win back the White House, we can’t just retreat to our safe spaces, we need to aggressively make our case everywhere — that’s exactly what Pete is doing.”

SO many delegates will have been picked by that time it will be hard to play catch-up
My prediction for the final 5 are (not in order):

Biden
Harris
Sanders
Buttigieg
O'rourke

Source: WSJ

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—U.S. and Indian security services warned the Sri Lankan government of a planned attack weeks before a devastating series of bombings killed at least 290 people at churches and tourist hotels on Easter Sunday.

Sri Lanka government officials said some of the suicide bombers and others arrested were linked to an obscure radical Islamist group known as National Thowheeth Jamath, a group the government singled out to police for monitoring as a possible threat after the foreign security services issued their warning.

The sophistication of the Easter-morning attacks indicated to Sri Lankan and international terror experts that whoever carried them out likely had help from experienced international terrorists, perhaps even al Qaeda or Islamic State, Sri Lankan officials said.

“We have found that NTJ was involved in the attacks,” said Rajitha Senaratne, a government spokesman and the country’s health commissioner, using an abbreviation for what he called “a local organization.”

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sri-lanka-makes-arrests-in-easter-bombing-attacks-11555918580

Source: Yahoo News

Caracas (AFP) - Walking for hours, making oil lamps, bearing water. For Venezuelans today, suffering under a new nationwide blackout that has lasted days, it's like being thrown back to life centuries ago.

El Avila, a mountain that towers over Caracas, has become a place where families gather with buckets and jugs to fill up with water, wash dishes and scrub clothes. The taps in their homes are dry from lack of electricity to the city's water pumps.

"We're forced to get water from sources that obviously aren't completely hygienic. But it's enough for washing or doing the dishes," said one resident, Manuel Almeida.

Because of the long lines of people, the activity can take hours of waiting.
Elsewhere, locals make use of cracked water pipes. But they still need to boil the water, or otherwise purify it.

"We're going to bed without washing ourselves," said one man, Pedro Jose, a 30-year-old living in a poorer neighborhood in the west of the capital.

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-returns-middle-ages-during-power-outages-143506671.html

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Meanwhile, the fat dictator transfers the country's wealth to Russia

Source: KTLA News

A sword-wielding suspect was shot and critically injured by police and two officers were injured during a shooting at a Church of Scientology in Inglewood Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The incident was reported at the church about 3:30 p.m. at 315 Market St., Inglewood Police Lt. Neal Cochran told KTLA.

The person entered the location with a sword and possibly a gun, Cochran said. As police responded, two officers were shot, one in the hand and one in the arm, and the person with the sword was shot in the head, police said.

The person, described only as an Asian male, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Scott Elliott told KTLA.

Read more: https://ktla.com/2019/03/27/person-with-sword-killed-2-officers-shot-after-incident-at-church-of-scientology-in-inglewood/

Source: AP

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s top aide was taken away in the middle of the night by masked intelligence agents who broke down his door early Thursday, drawing condemnation from the United States and other countries pushing to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Washington demanded the immediate release of Guaido chief of staff Roberto Marrero, whose whereabouts after the raid on his Caracas home were not immediately disclosed.
Marrero was detained as part of an operation against a “terrorist” cell conspiring against the Venezuelan government, Interior Minister Nestor Luis Reverol said on national television. Weapons were confiscated from Marrero and a bodyguard was also arrested, according to Reverol.

The arrest represented a sharp increase in police pressure on the opposition after a period of relative calm. Guaido, however, characterized the operation as a sign that Maduro is losing his grip on power in a country suffering from years of economic hardship and political polarization.

“Either he doesn’t dare to jail me, or he’s not in charge,” Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, said during an appearance at a school. He also said some Venezuelan intelligence chiefs called him to say they weren’t involved, in what would suggest a split in their ranks.

Read more: https://www.apnews.com/dc2c5f751aa04454b79769d17748ee94

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Such a shame. The weakness of a failed dictator