| Ambassador: US had no prior knowledge of Sri Lanka threat Posted: 24 Apr 2019 12:07 PM PDT  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The U.S. had no prior knowledge of the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that killed over 350 people, the American ambassador said Wednesday, despite local claims that foreign officials had been warned an attack was looming.
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| Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia for summit with Putin as US nuclear talks remain in limbo Posted: 24 Apr 2019 06:04 AM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday for a summit he is likely to use to seek support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Pyongyang's nuclear talks with Washington remain in limbo. The armoured train carrying Kim on his first official visit to Russia pulled into the quayside station in Vladivostok, on the Pacific Ocean, a few hours after crossing from North Korea into Russia. After a brief delay while the door of Kim's carriage was lined up with a red carpet laid out on the platform, the door opened and a smiling Kim stepped out. A red carpet was rolled out to meet Kim's train Credit: Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov Earlier, at a stop on the border, Kim told Russian state television he was hoping for useful and successful discussions with Putin. "I hope that we can discuss concrete questions about peace negotiations on the Korean peninsula, and our bilateral relations," he said through an interpreter. Kim will sit down for talks with Putin on Thursday at a university campus on an island just off Vladivostok. It will be the first summit between the two leaders, and the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear programme will top the agenda, according to a Kremlin foreign policy aide. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia for a meeting with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday Credit: Alexander Safronov/TASS via Getty Images The meeting comes two months after a summit in Vietnam between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump ended in failure, leaving the North Korean leader looking elsewhere for international support and relief from sanctions. For Putin the summit is an opportunity to show that Russia remains a major global player despite being under sanctions itself over its intervention in Ukraine and allegations that it meddled in U.S. elections. But analysts predicted that Kim is unlikely to emerge from the summit with any substantial promises of sanctions relief. The meeting is likely to focus more on showing camaraderie. Kim was pictured smiling as he stepped off the train Credit: Alexander Safronov/TASS via Getty Images Vladivostok is located a few hours from the Russian-North Korean border by rail, Kim's preferred mode of international transport. On arrival in the city, the North Korean leader reviewed an honour guard of Russian troops in a square in front of the train station, with bodyguards looking on. He removed his black fedora while a military orchestra played first the North Korean national anthem, then the Russian anthem. After officials from the Russian and North Korean delegations exchanged handshakes, Kim climbed into a black limousine and drove off. About 10 North Korean security guards in black suits jogged alongside the vehicle for about the first 100 metres (yards) of its journey. Bodyguards surrounded Kim's limousine Credit: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP Russian media reported that Kim would be heading to Russky island, linked by bridge to the mainland part of Vladivostok, where the summit will take place and where he is also expected to be staying. Artyom Lukin, a professor at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, said Kim would want to be seen as a world leader who has international interlocutors besides Washington, Beijing or Seoul. "As for Russia, the Putin-Kim summit will reaffirm Moscow's place as a major player on the Korean peninsula. This meeting is important for Russian international prestige," Lukin said. Putin held a summit in 2002 with Kim Jong-un's father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, who also met in 2011 with Dmitry Medvedev, the Putin lieutenant who was then Russian president.
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| Easter Massacre Opens Door for Strongman to Return in Sri Lanka Posted: 24 Apr 2019 12:03 AM PDT  The star-studded event, featuring both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, underscored the importance of the property beyond simply attracting more tourists: It was also a monument to Sri Lanka's resurgence following a brutal three-decade civil war between the mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority and predominately Hindu Tamils. The Shangri-La was built on the old site of the army headquarters, which was shifted outside the city after former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa's government won a decisive victory in 2009 with tactics criticized by human-rights activists. While Sri Lankan officials are attributing the attacks to National Thowheed Jamaath, a local Islamist organization, the Islamic State has asserted responsibility, saying it had targeted Christians and citizens of "alliance countries" -- those involved in the U.S.-led military coalition against IS in Syria.
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