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Bomb threats made against Trump cabinet nominees
Several of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and picks for his White House team have been targeted by bomb threats.
The FBI said it was aware of “numerous bomb threats” as well as “swatting incidents”, in which hoax calls are made to attract a police response to the target’s home.
Threats were made against at least nine people chosen by Trump to lead the Departments of Defence, Housing, Agriculture and Labor, as well as his pick for US ambassador to the United Nations, among others.
Police are investigating the incidents, which happened on Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said the Trump appointees “were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them”.
She said “law enforcement acted quickly to ensure” the nominees’ safety.
“With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us,” she said.
Neither Leavitt nor the FBI identified any of the targets by name.
New York Republican Elise Stefanik, who Trump has named to be the US ambassador to the United Nations, was the first to say her family home had been targeted by a bomb threat. Her office said the congresswoman was informed of the threat while she was driving with her husband and three-year-old son from Washington DC to New York for Thanksgiving.
Defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth later confirmed that he was also targeted.
On X, he said that a police officer had shown up at his home on Wednesday morning, as his seven children were sleeping inside to notify him they had received “a credible pipe bomb threat”.
“I will not be bullied or intimidated. Never,” he wrote. “President Trump has called on me to serve – and that is what I intend to do.”
Trump, who survived two assassination attempts during his campaign, was not among those who received the hoax calls, law enforcement sources told US media.
He has received genuine threats recently, according to officials in Arizona who arrested a man earlier this week for posting videos on a “near-daily basis” in which he threatened to kill Trump and his family.
None of those targeted this week were protected by the US Secret Service, according to media reports.
Lee Zeldin, who Trump has nominated to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, also confirmed he was targeted, saying a “pipe bomb threat” was sent to his home with a “pro-Palestinian themed message”. “My family and I were not home at the time and are safe,” he said. “We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers.”
Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Agriculture, posted on X to thank police in Fort Worth, Texas, for their “swift efforts” to investigate a threat to her family on Wednesday morning. “We were unharmed and quickly returned home,” she wrote.
Scott Turner, Trump’s pick for Department of Housing, and Lori Chavez-Deremer, his pick for Labour Secretary, also posted on social media that they had been targeted. They each vowed that they would not be deterred by the threats.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incidents, the White House said in a statement.
“The White House is in touch with federal law enforcement and the President-elect’s team, and continues to monitor the situation closely.”
US Capitol Police, which protects Congress, said in the statement that it was working with federal law enforcement agencies on any “swatting”, but declined to provide further details “to minimise the risk of copy-cats”.
Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, who recently dropped out of the running to become US attorney general, was also targeted. The sheriff’s office in Florida’s Okaloosa County confirmed that a bomb threat targeted an address in the town of Niceville.
The home’s mailbox was cleared and no devices were located, police said, and a search of the area did not uncover anything.
New York police told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the New York home of Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, was also threatened.
Pam Bondi, who was selected to replace Gaetz as Trump’s nominee, was also targeted along with incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to CBS.
Fox News reports that John Ratcliffe, Trump’s nominee to be director of the CIA, also received threats.
Similar hoax tactics have been recently used against other high-profile political figures, including against the judges and prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against Trump.
Last year, US politicians around the country were swatted over Christmas. Most were Republican, but some Democrats were targeted as well.
[BBC]
The Sri Lanka Cricket selection panel has handed the white-ball captaincy to Kusal Mendis for the upcoming all-format tour of the West Indies next month. Dhananjay de Silva will continue to lead the side in the two Tests.
Kusal Mendis takes over the ODI captaincy from Charith Asalanka, who was named in the 16-man squad, while Kamindu Mendis was named vice-captain. In T20Is, Kusal Mendis takes over the leadership from Dasun Shanaka, who led the side until the recent T20 World Cup, where Sri Lanka failed to make the knockouts. While Shanaka retained his place in the 16-man T20I squad, Asalanka did not.
Wanidu Hasaranga is set to return to action – named in the ODI and T20I squads – after his injury during the T20 World Cup has kept him off the field since early February. He tore his left hamstring at the time and missed the ongoing IPL after that for Lucknow Super Giants.
The tour starts with three ODIs from June 3 to 8 followed by the three T20Is on June 11, 13 and 14. The two Tests will be played at the Viv Richards Stadium in North Sound from June 25 to 29 and July 3 to 7.
Sri Lanka Test squad:
Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kamindu Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Udara, Nishan Madushka, Dinesh Chandimal, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Sonal Dinusha, Kusal Mendis, Milan Rathnayake, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Isitha Wijesundara, Kasun Rajitha
Sri Lanka ODI squad:
Kusal Mendis (capt), Kamindu Mendis (vice-capt), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Pavan Rathnayake, Janith Liyanage, Charith Asalanka, Milan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan
Sri Lanka T20I squad:
Kusal Mendis (capt), Kamindu Mendis (vice-capt), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Pavan Rathnayake, Lasith Croospulle, Dasun Shanaka, Milan Rathnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, Eshan Malinga, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara
(Cricinfo)
Cambodia’s former opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was serving a 27-year sentence for treason, has been pardoned, the country’s former prime minister said.
Hun Sen, who is currently Cambodia’s acting head of state, said he signed a decree pardoning Sokha on behalf of King Norodom Sihamoni.
Sokha, the former leader of the now-dissolved Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was first arrested in 2017 over a video where he said he had received support from US pro-democracy groups.
He has been held under house arrest since he was found guilty of treason in 2023. The charges have been widely derided as politically motivated by human rights groups.
Hun Sen posted on Facebook that Sokha had been “pardoned”, alongside a photo of the royal decree signed by him.
The pardon came after an appeal against Sokha’s sentence was rejected last month. But it did not include overturning a ban on the politician leaving Cambodia for five years.
Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, has been accused of weaponising the country’s courts to target his opponents. He stepped down as prime minister in 2023 and handed power to his eldest son, Hun Manet.
However, Hun Sen still wields immense power in Cambodia and is acting head of state while King Norodom Sihamoni receives medical treatment abroad.
Sokha’s CNRP party came close to securing a shock victory in the 2013 general election victory over Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
The opposition leader was arrested in 2017, less than a year ahead of the next general election, which the CNRP was banned from contesting.
[BBC]
A consignment of 134 single cabs gifted by the Government of India under the Indo–Sri Lanka Friendship Programme for the use of the Sri Lanka Police was officially handed over to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday (25) morning at the Presidential Secretariat.
The Government of India has incurred an expenditure of approximately LKR.300 million for this initiative and the vehicles are scheduled to be distributed among police stations in the Northern Province.
Speaking at the occasion, Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha stated that similar assistance would continue to be extended to Sri Lanka in the future.
In appreciation of this gift by the Government of India, Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya presented a commemorative memento to Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha.
Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Ananda Wijepala, Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Sunil Watagala, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security Ravi Seneviratne, General Manager of DIMO Rajeev Pandithage, officials of the Indian High Commission and senior officers of the Sri Lanka Police were also present at the occasion.
(PMD)
Sri Lanka name Kusal Mendis as ODI and T20I captain for West Indies tour
Cambodia’s former opposition leader receives royal pardon for 27-year sentence
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India gifts 134 cabs to Sri Lanka Police
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