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At least 207 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in a series of bomb blasts that hit luxury hotels and churches across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, leaving the entire country in a state of lock-down.
The first wave of attacks struck at the heart of the country's minority Christian community during busy Easter services at churches in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa on Sunday morning. Additional blasts ripped through three high-end hotels, the Shangri La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury, all in capital city Colombo.
"A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian High Commission in Colombo..."That's pretty much what just happened. Which foreign intelligence agency, inquiring minds would like to know...
"We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country.He also stated that there was "an international network," without which the attacks "could not have succeeded."
Approximately 20,000 citizens of all ages and backgrounds - although especially lower income workers and middle class social-media users - took part in a peaceful protest.
The people were seriously pissed! Chants and cries inundated the streets:"Traitor! Traitor!... Free Julian Assange... You betrayed our Sovereignty!... Out with the Son of a Bitch!... Lenin Moreno, You're going down!"There were a considerable amount of activists with Anon Guy Fawkes masks. The historical center was made inaccessible by riot police and at around 7:30pm, some of the younger men couldn't contain their indignation and things got violent, from both sides: stone throwing, tear-gas bombs, swinging batons...
At the moment of this writing, the privately-owned mass media has kept the general public seriously misinformed of international reactions to Assange's arrest event...
"To think that the UK has become such a willing accomplice and satellite of the American Empire that it would do such a thing in contravention with all laws, moral, ethical, and actual legal restrictions is absolutely, stunningly appalling and makes me ashamed to be an Englishman.See also:
"If we let the UK get away with allowing him to be extradited to the United States, we allow the United States government, at their whim, to torture him and to detain him possibly for the rest of his life."
"I don't understand this at all. The fire's spread is extremely curious. With really old oak like that, it's super-hard, so you'd need a lot of smaller wood to first get the fire hot enough for the oak beams to burn.
In 2010 we replaced all the electrical wiring, so there's no way this was sparked by a short-circuit. We put new wiring in place according to modern standards. And we went even further; we installed state-of-the-art fire protection and detection systems in the cathedral.
At all times, there are always two men on standby in the Cathedral, day and night, to go investigate anything the moment an alarm goes off, then if necessary to call the fire emergency services.
I am really stunned that this [the fire] has happened. It's incomprehensible."
Comment: See also: