Senate intelligence panel rejects Trump wiretap claim

There are "no indications" that Trump Tower was under surveillance by the US government before or after the election, a Senate committee has said.

The statement from Republican Senator Richard Burr, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, dismissed Donald Trump's claim his phones were tapped.

Mr Trump had accused his predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the presidential race.

But White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Mr Trump maintains his claims.

"He stands by it," Mr Spicer said at a daily news briefing on Thursday.

The press secretary refused to accept the Senate Intelligence Committee report, saying "they're not findings".

Mr Spicer quoted at length from an unproven Fox News report suggesting Mr Obama had dodged US restrictions by asking Britain's GCHQ electronic surveillance agency to monitor Mr Trump, an allegation already dismissed as "utterly ridiculous" by the Cheltenham-based complex.

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• Russia: The scandal Trump can't shake

Mr Burr joins a cadre of Republican lawmakers who have rejected the allegation.

"Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016" Mr Burr said in a joint statement with Senator Mark Warner, the committee's vice-chairman.

Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan also said "no such wiretap existed".

Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee Devin Nunes said on Wednesday he doesn't believe "there was an actual tap of Trump Tower".

But that has not deterred Mr Trump, who on Wednesday told Fox News a "wiretap covers a lot of different things".

He also hinted that more details about the alleged surveillance could be revealed in the coming weeks.

"Wiretap covers a lot of different things. I think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks," he said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday night.

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No evidence of wiretapping, according to:

• former President Barack Obama
• FBI Director James Comey
• ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper
• ex-CIA Director John Brennan
• Republican chairman of House intelligence committee, Devin Nunes
• Republican John McCain, who chairs Senate Committee on Armed Services
• House Speaker Paul Ryan
• Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough

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Mr Trump echoed comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who said the president used the word "wiretap" in quotes to broadly refer to "surveillance and other activities".

The White House has yet to provide any evidence of the president's claims, and instead has asked Congress to examine the allegation as part of a wider investigation into alleged Russian interference in last year's election.

BBC NEWS

Trump White House sees 'deep state' behind leaks, opposition

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                      sri lanka beautiful forest photo

There are very large image collection rarely you can find about Meemure nature. Meemure is located near the border between Kandy District and Matale District in the Knuckles Mountain Range. You can only get these images via this site. Thanks for visiting.

Meemure is a village in Sri Lanka with a population of about 400.Meemure is located near the border between Kandy District and Matale District in the Knuckles Mountain Range. It is one of the most remote villages in Sri Lanka with the only access via a 14 km (9 mi) trail from the town of Loolwatte. There is no landline telephone service to the village, but cellular service is available. There is no direct mail delivery to the village; a villager journeys each day to Thapal Junction (literally meaning Mail Junction) to exchange incoming and outgoing postal mail with a postman.

Residents of the village depend on several staple crops including pepper, cardamom, paddy and ginger.Sri Lanka is a country which is not second to any other nation from her Natural Beauty. The Village like “Meemure” proves this to the world. The village Meemure is Rich with natural Beauty and Traditional Sri Lankan styles. It is a remote village far away from Colombo Capital and it is about 175 km. If you go there from an Off Road vehicle it is 6 Hour Drive from Colombo.

Lakegala mountain is in Meemure village. It is the place where King Ravana lifted the Dhadu Monara or Dhandu Monara

.

Here is how you can go there; First go to Kandy city which is 116 km away from Colombo. Then Kandy-Mahiyangana Road (A26) towards to Mahiyangana. Turn to Left from Hunnasgiriya Junction which is 35 km away from Kandy. Then go towards the Loolwatte Village which is 15 km away from Hunnasiriya Junction. Then from Loolwatte it is about another 15 km to the Meemure Village.

Sri Lankan housemaid murdered – Kuwait media reports

A Sri Lankan housemaid has been murdered in Kuwait. Kuwait media has revealed that her employer’s son had allegedly murdered her at the house in which she was employed in.  The house is...


link :- http://newsfirst.lk/english/2015/11/sri-lankan-housemaid-murdered-kuwait-media-reports/117021

Dengue outbreak forces school closure in Kinniya

All schools in the Kinniya educational zone in Trincomalee will be closed for three days due to an outbreak of  Dengue. Trincomalee Zonal Director in charge of education, Ahmed Lebbe said that these..


link :- http://newsfirst.lk/english/2017/03/kinniya-zone-schools-close-due-dengue-outbreak/163906

Shana Grice murder accused 'whispered "she'll pay" to friend'

The man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend whispered to a friend "she'll pay for what she's done" five days before she was killed, a court heard.

Shana Grice ended her relationship with "obsessed" Michael Lane who stalked her when she started up a new relationship, Lewes Crown Court has heard.

The 19-year-old's body was discovered with her throat slit in her bedroom, which had been set alight, in August.

Mr Lane denies murder.

Giving evidence, his friend Natalie Fines said she bumped into him during an evening out with her parents on Saturday, 20 August.

Ms Fines told the court: "He told me she'd dumped him and gone back to her ex. He wasn't very happy about it, he told me he was depressed.

"As we were all leaving and hugging goodbye, he whispered in my ear 'she'll pay for what she's done'."

During cross-examination by Simon Russell Flint QC, defending, she added: "I didn't think that much of it. He'd often say things like that.

"For example, that he'd kill himself, and do it that night, but he didn't act on it."

The trial has previously heard Mr Lane, of Thornhill Rise, Portslade, East Sussex, put a tracker device on Miss Grice's car after hearing about her rekindling of the relationship with Ashley Cooke.

He was also cautioned by police after he stole a key to her back door before letting himself into her bedroom in Chrisdory Road, Portslade, to watch her sleep.

Driverless cars 'could lead to complacency'

Certain types of driverless vehicles may not be safe, peers have warned.

Over-reliance on technology could mean drivers react slowly to taking back control of a semi-autonomous vehicle in an emergency, they said.

However, the Lords Science and Technology Committee noted that some technology could reduce accidents caused by human error.

The Department for Transport said driverless cars "have the potential to transform the way we travel."

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Vehicles can be split into different levels of automation, according to industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Level 0 is a vehicle with no automation, while level 5 is fully automated.

There is a "very dangerous" problem that lies with vehicles on the midway point of this scale, peers on the Lords Science and Technology Committee said.

Vehicles at level 3 still need a driver, but can shift critical operations to the car, and back again.

The risk that the vehicle may need to hand back control to an unprepared driver in an emergency may be "too great to tolerate", the Lords Science and Technology Committee said.



Professor Neville Stanton of the University of Southampton told the committee: "As vehicles become fully autonomous, even the most observant human driver's attention will begin to wane.

"Their mind will wander… This is particularly true if they are engaging in other activities such as reading, answering emails, engaged in conversations with passengers, watching movies or surfing the internet."

In general, research suggested drivers of automated vehicles were not as effective at dealing with emergencies as drivers of manual cars.




For example, they had been found to take six times longer to respond to emergency braking by other vehicles.

Complacency could also negatively affect other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, the Lords committee said.
The government should give priority to research into people's behaviour around autonomous vehicles, it added.
The Department for Transport said: "Automated vehicles could make our roads even safer and easier to use, as well as promising new mobility for those who cannot drive.
"We have committed over £200m to research and development and are also changing regulations to unblock barriers to this exciting new technology."