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Kamala Harris reacts to Jussie Smollett arrest: 'Sad, frustrated, and disappointed'

Sen. Kamala Harris, who once labeled the Jussie Smollet attack claim an "attempted modern day lynching," spoke out on Thursday after Smollett was charged and arrested with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report.

The California lawmaker tweeted a statement expressing her sadness, frustration, and disappointment on the same day Smollett, who’s been released from jail, appeared before Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr.

“When anyone makes false claims to police, it not only diverts resources away from serious investigations but it makes it more difficult for other victims of crime to come forward,” Harris wrote.

CHICAGO POLICE BLAST JUSSIE SMOLLETT ‘PHONY ATTACK’: ‘BOGUS POLICE REPORTS CAUSE REAL HARM’

Smollett, who is openly gay and black, reported that on Jan. 29 he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Subway restaurant. He claimed that the men shouted racial and anti-gay slurs at him, poured a substance on him, threw a rope around his neck and shouted, "This is MAGA country!"

Harris tweeted on the matter following the alleged assault, likening it to a lynching.

“No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin,” she tweeted on Jan. 29 while describing Smollett as “one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know.”

Continuing her statement Thursday, the lawmaker cited FBI statistics while claiming that more and more hate crimes were occurring in the U.S.

SHARPTON, AT MEETING WITH KAMALA HARRIS, SAYS SMOLLETT SHOULD FACE ‘MAXIMUM’ PUNISHMENT IF ALLEGATIONS TRUE

“Part of the tragedy of this situation is that it distracts from the truth, and has been seized by some who would like to dismiss and downplay the very real problems that we must address. We should not allow that,” she wrote, vowing to stand up against racism and homophobia.

“We must always confront hate directly, and we must always seek justice,” she continued. “That is what I will keep fighting for.”

Earlier this week, Harris appeared to be caught off guard when a female reporter asked her whether she wanted to amend her Jan. 29 tweet amid developments in the case.

"Which tweet? What tweet?" Harris asked. As the reporter specified the tweet to which she was referring, Harris appeared to look around for a campaign staffer before responding.

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"OK, so, I will say this about that case," she said Monday. "I think that the facts are still unfolding, and, um, I’m very, um, concerned about obviously, the initial, um, allegation that he made about what might have happened.

"And it’s something we should all take seriously whenever anyone, um, alleges that kind of behavior, but there should be an investigation," Harris added. "And I think that once the investigation has concluded then we can all comment, but I’m not going to comment until I know the outcome of the investigation."

Smollet's legal representatives have denied all claims against the actor.

Fox News’ Sasha Savitsky, Samuel Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Exclusive: Ford likely to end independent India business with new Mahindra deal – sources

FILE PHOTO: The logo is seen on the bonnet of a new Ford Aspire car during its launch in New Delhi
FILE PHOTO: The logo is seen on the bonnet of a new Ford Aspire car during its launch in New Delhi, India, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo

April 9, 2019

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is nearing a deal with Mahindra & Mahindra to form a new joint-venture company in India, a move that will see the U.S. automaker cease its independent operations in the country, two sources with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.

Under the terms of the deal being negotiated, Ford will form a new unit in India in which it will hold a 49 percent stake, while India’s Mahindra will own 51 percent, the two sources said.

The U.S. carmaker’s India unit will transfer most of its current automotive business to the newly created entity, including its assets and employees, according to one of the sources. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Ford said it does not comment on speculation, but added both companies continue to work together “to develop avenues of strategic cooperation that help us achieve commercial, manufacturing and business efficiencies”.

Mahindra too said it does not comment on speculation. It said in a statement it was “working together in identified areas” with Ford after a 2017 partnership arrangement, and “will announce further definitive agreements as we progress on some of the other areas.”

Currently, Ford manufactures and sells its cars in India through its wholly-owned subsidiary. In 2017, it also formed a strategic alliance with Mahindra under which, among other things, they plan to build new cars together, including sport-utility vehicles and electric variants.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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Judge blocks Trump’s small-business health insurance plan

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has struck down a small-business health insurance plan widely touted by President Donald Trump, the second setback in a week for the administration's health care initiatives.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates wrote in his opinion late Thursday that so-called "association health plans" were "clearly an end-run" around consumer protections required by the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

On Wednesday, another federal judge blocked the Trump administration's Medicaid work requirements for low-income people.

The plans at issue in Bates' ruling Thursday allow groups of small businesses and sole proprietors to band together to offer lower-cost coverage that doesn't have to include all the benefits required by the ACA, often called "Obamacare." They also can be offered across state lines, an attempt to deliver on a major Trump campaign promise.

Trump, a Republican, has eagerly talked up the plans, saying they're doing record business by offering "tremendous health care at very small cost." But the Labor Department regulation authorizing them only took effect last summer, and they don't seem to have made a major impact on the market. Initial estimates said 3 million to 4 million people eventually would enroll, compared with more than 160 million Americans covered by current employer plans.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who joined other Democratic state officials in suing the Trump administration, said the judge "saw past the Trump administration's transparent effort to sabotage our health care system and gut these critical consumer protections in the service of its own partisan agenda."

Many state officials see federal insurance regulation of small-business plans as infringing on their own traditional authority.

The Trump administration, unable to repeal "Obamacare" in Congress, has tried to use its rule-making powers to open up a pathway for alternatives. In the case of small-business plans, the administration's regulation granted them similar flexibility on benefits as enjoyed by big companies. Most large employer plans are not subject to state regulations, and the Obama law did not make major changes to them either.

But Bates wrote that treating small businesses and sole proprietors similarly to major employers "creates absurd results."

Bates was nominated to the federal bench by then-President George W. Bush, a Republican. His ruling seems to signal limits to how far the Trump administration can advance with its strategy of relying on regulations to transform health care.

It wasn't immediately clear how the Trump administration would respond, but officials have said they will keep moving ahead with the president's agenda.

Trump has made a sharp turn back to health care this week, with the administration joining the side of Texas and other GOP-led states seeking to completely overturn "Obamacare" as unconstitutional. At the same time, Trump has been promising a new health care plan that would be much better than "Obamacare," tweeting that Republicans will become "the Party of Great HealthCare!"

But there's no indication that the White House, executive branch agencies like Health and Human Services or Republicans in Congress are working on a comprehensive plan. Many congressional Republicans see the Texas lawsuit as a political land mine. If "Obamacare" is overturned Republicans would be on the hook in the 2020 election year to come up with an alternative.

The GOP turmoil over health care has come as a boon to Democrats, who are looking to change the subject from special counsel Robert Mueller's conclusion that the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russian government to sway the 2016 election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week joined in unveiling legislation that would shore up and expand the ACA, allowing many more middle-class households to qualify for assistance paying their premiums.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Lawsuit targets Facebook, hotel over teen's sex trafficking

A Nashville lawsuit claims a teenage sex trafficking survivor was the victim of "quests for profits" by Facebook and a hotel chain.

The then-15-year-old girl's mother sued Facebook, Rodeway Inn and related companies this week.

The lawsuit says Facebook didn't verify a 35-year-old man's identity, prevent communication with minors or intervene before he persuaded the teen to leave home via private Facebook messaging.

It says a Nashville Rodeway Inn ignored visible signs of physical and sexual abuse.

The girl's attorney, Annie McAdams, is suing Facebook in Houston over two other human trafficking cases.

Facebook and Choice Hotels didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.

Federal law generally protects tech companies from liability for user actions.

There's some gray area depending on how extensively a company moderates services.

Source: Fox News National

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EU to Slap US With Retaliatory Tariffs Worth Billions

Europe is reportedly preparing a list of US imports worth some €20 billion ($22.6 billion) that will be subject to retaliatory tariffs in what appears to be the latest development in an incipient trade spat that helped crash the S&P 500’s eight-day winning streak earlier this week.

As the two sides inch closer to an all-out trade war, here’s more from Reuters:

The European Commission has drawn up a list of U.S. imports worth around 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion) that it could hit with tariffs over a transatlantic aircraft subsidy dispute, EU diplomats said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to impose U.S. tariffs on $11 billion worth of European Union products over what Washington sees as unfair subsidies given to European planemaker Airbus.

The EU measures would relate to the European Union’s World Trade Organization complaint over subsidies to Boeing.

A WTO adjudicator still has to set a final amount of potential countermeasures.

Offering a slightly different version of the facts, Bloomberg reported that the EU is considering retaliatory tariffs on €10.2 billion euros ($11.5 billion) of goods ranging from foods to helicopters. The list reportedly includes frozen seafood, vegetable oil, chocolate, rum, ketchup, orange juice, vodka, tobacco, trunks and many other items.

The WTO ruled last week that the European Union had unfairly subsidized French aerospace company and Boeing archrival Airbus, prompting President Trump to chime in and threaten tariffs on $11 billion of goods, though the WTO has not yet ruled on the proper retaliatory measures to which the US would be entitled.

That reportedly prompted the EU to start preparing retaliatory tariffs, though the scope of those tariffs hadn’t yet been disclosed.

Especially now that the trade spat has been blamed for hitting the market, traders will be watching closely to see how this takes shape. Europe has of course filed its own complaints about Boeing with the WTO, and has won at least one victory in that effort. The tit-for-tat recriminations between the two companies have been gestating for 15 years, but Trump’s aggressive trade stance could ignite a full-scale trade war between the US and one of its largest trading partners and – at least on paper – historical allies. What’s worse, the war would come at a time when anxieties about further downside in global trade have inspired the IMF and a handful of European governments to slash their growth expectations.

The US and Europe narrowly avoided tariffs on cars and auto parts when Jean-Claude Juncker reached an informal truce with Trump in July in which both sides pledged to work toward scaling back transatlantic trade barriers, including tariffs on industrial goods. But Trump could still move ahead with tariffs on autos, as he has threatened to do.

Last year, the EU imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on €2.8 billion ($3.2 billion) of American goods in response to Trump’s metal duties. Meanwhile, Europe has threatened to tariff some €20 billion ($22.6 billion) in response to any auto tariffs Trump might impose.


Matt Bracken exposes who specifically was involved in the intelligence operation to frame Donald Trump for working with the Russian government to win the 2016 Presidential election.

Source: InfoWars

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Croatia weighs budgetary costs for saving troubled dock

FILE PHOTO: Part of Uljanik shipyard is seen in Pula
FILE PHOTO: Part of Uljanik shipyard is seen in Pula, Croatia, August 20, 2018. Picture taken August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic

March 20, 2019

ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia will decide in coming days whether to place troubled shipbuilder Uljanik into bankruptcy or try to restructure the business at a cost to the state of around one billion euros, a top official said on Wednesday.

Last month Uljanik, the country’s largest shipbuilder, chose local rival Brodosplit as a strategic partner to restructure its operations, with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri acting as an adviser in the process.

“The restructuring would cost us 1.009 billion euros ($1.15 billion), while bankruptcy would cost us 557 million euros,” Branko Bacic, a leading official of the biggest party in the ruling coalition, the conservative HDZ, said after a meeting of the ruling conservative-liberal coalition.

“Now we know the figures, but given the significance of the issue not just for Uljanik, but for our shipbuilding industry as a whole, we took a few days more for a decision,” he said.

Uljanik, which owns two shipyards in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka and is 25 percent owned by the state, has been working to stave off bankruptcy due to liquidity problems that began in 2017. Workers staged strikes twice last year over unpaid wages.

The latest difficulties for the government arose when it became clear that restructuring costs might reach two percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Some analysts believe that shipbuilding no longer holds strategic importance for Croatia, meaning further state funding to save the dock would be the wrong economic choice.

Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Wednesday that despite the lower initial cost of bankruptcy, it was debatable which option was more favorable in the long run.

The government has already paid out 3.1 billion kuna ($474.57 million) on the basis of state guarantees extended in previous years to help Uljanik stay afloat, driving the general budget into deficit in 2018.

Sound public finances and lower public debt, which is currently just below 75 percent of gross domestic product, are important to Croatia’s drive to adopt the euro in the next four to five years.

Croatia’s once-prosperous shipbuilding industry has struggled since the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, losing business to competitors, particularly in South Korea and other Asian nations.

Croatia has spent more than 33 billion kuna in the past 25 years to save and then sell state-owned shipyards, but those efforts yielded little success.

(Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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Rapids looking for first season win in matchup vs. FC Dallas

MLS: FC Dallas at Columbus Crew SC
FILE PHOTO: Mar 16, 2019; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Crew SC celebrate a goal by defender Gaston Sauro (22) in front of the supporters during the game against FC Dallas at MAPFRE Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

March 22, 2019

While FC Dallas looks to rebound from its first defeat on the young season, the Colorado Rapids will again try to earn their first victory of 2019.

Both sides get the chance Saturday, when they meet in Frisco, Texas.

Through the first three matches of the MLS season, it’s probably too early to clearly make anything of Dallas (1-1-1). FCD opened with a 1-1 draw against New England and beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0.

Last Saturday, Dallas hit the road for the first time and lost 1-0 at Columbus. Gaston Sauro’s goal in the 10th minute held up and the visitors managed just two shots on target.

Now, Dallas returns home looking to regroup, but must do so with midfield starters Bryan Acosta (Honduras) and Carlos Gruezo (Ecuador), and keeper Jesse Gonzalez (United States) all on international duty.

“We’ll be confident that whatever lineup we put out, and whatever roster we form, is because guys were stepping up this week,” first-year manager Luchi Gonzalez told Dallas’ official website.

Colorado (0-2-1), meanwhile, has Diego Rubio tied to international obligations with Chile.

After scoring three times in a season-opening draw versus Portland, the Rapids have totaled one goal in their last two matches. It appeared Rubio’s 54th-minute score would stand Sunday against Sporting Kansas City, but Johnny Russell equalized for the visitors in the 88th.

Despite that frustrating finish, Rapids coach Anthony Hudson feels good about his club heading into this matchup.

“We go there confidently,” Hudson told the Rapids’ official website. “We believe in ourselves, and (though) we had a tough start to the season in terms of our position, I think we have been solid and strong.”

History backs up Hudson’s thinking, with Colorado amid a 3-1-6 league stretch against Dallas.

This contest marks Rapids defensive midfielder Kellyn Acosta’s return to Dallas for the first time since his hometown club traded him to Colorado last season after six-plus seasons in Frisco.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.

Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.

Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Representatives of Russian Transneft, Ukranian Ukrtransnafta, Polish Pern and Belarusian Belneftekhim gather to hold talks on fixing tainted oil supplies to Europe, in Minsk
Representatives of Russian Transneft, Ukranian Ukrtransnafta, Polish Pern and Belarusian Belneftekhim gather to hold talks on fixing tainted oil supplies to Europe, in Minsk, Belarus April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

April 26, 2019

By Katya Golubkova and Andrei Makhovsky

MOSCOW/MINSK (Reuters) – Russia is confident it can soon resolve a problem of polluted Russian oil contaminating a major pipeline serving Europe and affecting supplies as far west as Germany, a senior official said on Friday at talks with importers about the issue.

Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin did not give a precise timeframe but Moscow has previously said it would pump clean oil to the border with Belarus from April 29, seeking to end a crisis hitting the world’s second-largest crude exporter.

Sorokin was speaking at talks with officials from Belarus, Poland and Ukraine in Minsk on the issue. Belarus said the issue had cost it $100 million, while analysts say alternative supply routes for refiners cannot fully fill the gap.

Poland, Germany, Ukraine and Slovakia have suspended imports of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Halting those supplies has knock-on effects further along the network.

The problem arose last week when an unidentified Russian producer contaminated oil with high levels of organic chloride used to boost oil output but which must be separated before shipment as it can destroy refining equipment.

Russia’s Energy Ministry said pipeline monopoly Transneft and other Russian companies had a plan to mitigate the effects of the contaminated oil. It did not give details.

Russian officials have said contaminated oil has already been pumped into storage in Russia and Friday’s talks would focus on how to partially withdraw the tainted crude from the Druzhba pipeline running via other countries.

The suspension cuts off a major supply route for Polish refineries owned by Poland’s PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos, as well as plants in Germany owned by Total, Shell, Eni and Rosneft.

Some refiners have outlined plans for alternative supplies, but analysts say other routes cannot meet the shortfall.

OIL PRICES

Ukraine’s Ukrtransnafta suspended the transit of oil through the pipeline on Thursday, closing supplies via Druzhba’s southern route to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The pipeline issue, which has supported global oil prices, lifted Russian Urals crude differentials to an all-time high on Thursday.

With pipeline supplies to Europe shut, Russia faces a challenge of how to divert about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) that was meant to be shipped through the network to other destinations at the time when export capacity is at its limits.

State-run Russian Railways held talks with energy firms on using up to 5,000 rail tankers to transport crude, RIA news agency reported on Friday.

Concerns about the quality of Urals crude also caused delays in loadings at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga, when buyers refused to lift cargoes, resulting in a brief shutdown of the port on Wednesday and Thursday. An Ust-Luga official and traders said on Friday loadings had resumed.

Russian loading plans indicate it aims to boost Urals exports in May before the expiry of a deal on output cuts agreed with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, Reuters calculations and Energy Ministry data show.

The provisional loading plan for Russia’s Baltic Sea ports and Novorossiisk in May show exports rising to 10.7 million tonnes, the highest level in half a decade.

Minsk estimated its loss from lower oil product exports due to contaminated Russian oil at around $100 million, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing Belarusian state oil company Belneftekhim.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, in charge of government energy policy, said this week that those found responsible for contaminating the oil could be fined. He did not provide names.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko in WARSAW, Sandor Peto in BUDAPEST, Jason Hovet in PRAGUE, Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets in KIEV, Katya Golubkova, Olesya Astakhova, Gleb Gorodyankin, Olga Yagova and Maxim Rodionov in MOSCOW, Andrei Makhovsky in MINSK; writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Michael Perry and Edmund Blair)

Source: OANN

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