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Undeterred by Khashoggi murder, global executives return to Saudi Arabia

FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo

April 24, 2019

By Stephen Kalin and Saeed Azhar

RIYADH (Reuters) – Global finance chiefs who boycotted a Saudi investment summit last year following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi returned to Riyadh this week as the Gulf kingdom gets business back on track.

Dozens of Western politicians and business executives pulled out of Saudi Arabia’s showcase summit in October amid global uproar over Khashoggi’s killing at the hands of Saudi agents inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate three weeks earlier.

A Saudi court has charged 11 suspects in a secretive trial and Western allies imposed sanctions on individuals. But Riyadh still faces criticism with some Western governments saying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder. Saudi authorities have denied any connection to the country’s de facto ruler.

Big investors in Saudi Arabia appear to be focused on potential deals in the largest Arab economy and the world’s top oil exporter as it opens up under a transformation drive led by Prince Mohammed.

HSBC CEO John Flint and Blackrock CEO Larry Fink, who had stayed away from last year’s event, joined panels at the two-day financial forum that began on Wednesday, as did co-president of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Daniel Pinto.

“This is an economy that we have a lot of confidence in, I think the future is bright,” Flint told the gathering. “We are excited about the role that we can continue to play here.”

Fink told another panel: “The changes here in the kingdom in the last two years are pretty amazing.”

The CEO of the London Stock Exchange, who had pulled out of last year’s event, is also scheduled to speak at the financial conference. Also slated to attend is the chairman of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, whose CEO decided to abstain from the October summit.

Riyadh has been trying for months to refocus attention on its reforms, sending a senior delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos and unveiling an industrial plan to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in January.

The summit is taking place days after Saudi security forces thwarted an attack on a state security building in central Riyadh province, which authorities blamed on Islamic State.

On Tuesday Saudi Arabia announced it had executed 37 people in connection with terrorism crimes, the majority of whom were Shi’ite Muslims. Amnesty International criticized the executions as a “gruesome indication of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush dissent” in the kingdom.

Asked how Saudi Arabia was addressing national security issues, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told the audience the Gulf region is “one of the safest worldwide”.

“These incidents will happen,” he said of the Riyadh province attack. “We are working with the world to make sure that we combat the financing of terrorism… and we work very closely with the West and the regional forces to make sure that we intercept and fight terrorism.”

MARKET CONFIDENCE

Earlier this month, state oil giant Saudi Aramco received more than $100 billion in orders for its first international bond issue, a record breaking vote of market confidence.

Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told the forum that Aramco would be active in debt markets and that the $12 billion it raised in its debut bond issue was “only the beginning”.

The Saudi stock market has also seen an upsurge in foreign fund flows since the start of 2019 as the market enters global emerging market benchmarks. The index is up nearly 18 percent year-to-date, one of the best performing markets in the region.

The domestic financial sector is seeing a relative uptick in activity this year, fueled by an economic recovery from higher oil prices and government-led spending on big projects.

Jadaan told the forum that the ministry is launching a 12.5 billion riyal($3.33 billion)initiative to support private sector growth in the kingdom.

While some foreign investors are pushing ahead, other firms continue to keep Saudi Arabia at arm’s length, fearing a potential backlash at home over Khashoggi’s murder, the Yemen war and Riyadh’s detention of women’s rights activists.

Virgin Group last year suspended talks with the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) over a planned $1 billion investment. Hollywood talent agency Endeavor and PIF “parted ways” after talks on the fund investing $400 million, a source familiar with the matter has said.

(Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Venezuela reports collapse in oil supply, tightening global market: OPEC

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seen outside their headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seen outside their headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 10, 2019

By Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) – Venezuela told OPEC that the country’s oil output sank to a new long-term low last month due to U.S. sanctions and blackouts, deepening the impact of a global production curb and further tightening supplies.

Supply cuts by OPEC and partners led by Russia, plus involuntary curbs in Venezuela and Iran, have helped drive a 32 percent rally in crude prices this year, prompting pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for the group to ease its market-supporting efforts.

In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Venezuela told the group that it pumped 960,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, a drop of almost 500,000 bpd from February.

The figures could add to a debate within the so-called OPEC+ group of producers on whether to maintain oil supply cuts beyond June. A Russian official indicated this week Moscow wanted to pump more, although OPEC has been saying the curbs must remain.

OPEC, Russia and other non-member producers are reducing output by 1.2 million bpd from Jan. 1 for six months. The producers are due to meet on June 25-26 to decide whether to extend the pact.

One of the key Russian officials to foster the pact with OPEC, Kirill Dmitriev, signaled on Monday that Russia wanted to raise output when it meets OPEC in June because of improving market conditions and falling stockpiles.

In a development that will ease OPEC concern about a new supply glut, the report on Wednesday said oil inventories in developed economies fell in February, after rising in January.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Caravan of 40 Salvadoran migrants sets out for US border

The "mother of all caravans" expected to depart from Central America looks more like the baby of all caravans.

A group of about 40 migrants was leaving Saturday for the U.S. from the capital of El Salvador.

It was not immediately clear whether they were planning to meet up with other migrants from Guatemala and Honduras, but the Honduran government has denied there's another mass migration from its country.

Mexican Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero said earlier in the week that a caravan of migrants from Central America could be forming with more than 20,000 people.

The U.S. state department has cut aid to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, and President Donald Trump accused their leaders of doing "nothing" to prevent illegal immigration to the United States.

Source: Fox News World

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Japan’s Motegi may visit U.S. next week to meet trade official Lighthizer

Japan's Minister of Economic Revitalization Toshimitsu Motegi speaks during the signing agreement ceremony for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, in Santiago
FILE PHOTO: Japan's Minister of Economic Revitalization Toshimitsu Motegi speaks during the signing agreement ceremony for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, in Santiago, Chile March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido

April 18, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Thursday he might travel to the United States next week to meet U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

If a meeting does take place, it would happen before a summit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump, Motegi added.

Motegi and Lighthizer are negotiating for a trade pact the U.S. government hopes will lower its trade deficit.

(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Source: OANN

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LDS missionary from Utah, 18, dies in Dominican Republic after falling off apartment building roof

A missionary from Utah died Wednesday after he fell off an apartment building roof in the Dominican Republic, the church said.

Brennan Conrad, an 18-year-old missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was pronounced dead Wednesday morning in the Dominican Republic, where he had been serving since August, FOX13 reported.

REMOTE INDIAN TRIBE WHO KILLED AMERICAN MISSIONARY UNLIKELY TO FACE PUNISHMENT, STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS

“Our deepest condolences go out to his family,” LDS Church said in a statement. “We pray they will be comforted as they deal with this tragedy and mourn Elder Conrad’s passing.”

Conrad, who was from Hyde Park, Utah, was assigned to the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission.

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It’s unclear what caused Conrad to fall off the apartment building roof.

Source: Fox News World

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Editorial Roundup: Excerpts from recent editorials

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

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April 25

The Japan News on the bombings in Sri Lanka:

This was a despicable, inexcusable act of violence that targeted innocent people.

Terrorist bombings struck Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka almost simultaneously, killing and injuring hundreds of people, including Japanese nationals.

The blasts targeted churches where many Christians had gathered for Easter events, and luxury hotels that have many foreign guests. There were explosions at eight venues, including suicide attacks.

Sri Lankan authorities have detained members of a domestic Islamic extremist group that allegedly conducted the attacks. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government believes "there may be links" between this group and the Islamic State extremist group.

IS has claimed responsibility for the bombings and released footage that purported to show the men who committed the attacks. The authenticity of these claims is unclear, but based on the targets chosen and the elaborate methods used, it seems IS provided some kind of support to the group that carried out the bombings.

In March, the United States declared that all territory that was under IS control had been recaptured. However, the group's radical thinking continues to spread over the internet and through other channels. There is a lingering risk that the tentacles of these beliefs could reach into societies plagued by poverty, discrimination and other problems.

Alarmingly, there is a possibility Sri Lankan authorities missed signs that a terrorist attack was coming. Although foreign intelligence agencies had warned of a planned suicide bombing attack on Christian churches, the Sri Lankan prime minister and Cabinet ministers reportedly did not receive this information.

Tensions could be rekindled.

Political wrangling between Wickremesinghe and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena apparently formed a backdrop to these events. It is essential that a government operates in unison and quickly deals with a possible terrorist attack to prevent it from happening. The Sri Lankan government must seriously take to heart that it was one step behind in dealing with the situation and take steps to prevent any recurrence.

Cooperation with investigative agencies in the United States and elsewhere also will be crucial for fully uncovering the truth of what happened.

Beginning in the 1980s, Sri Lanka's government, which was led by the majority Buddhists, clashed fiercely with an extremist Hindu group that was demanding a separate, independent state. Terrorist bombings perpetrated by the extremists often occurred, but the nation's security situation had improved since the civil war ended in 2009.

There are concerns the latest attacks could again trigger heightened tensions between people of different religions and ethnicities. A chain of terrorist attacks and retaliation must not be allowed to occur.

About 40,000 Japanese visit Sri Lanka each year for tourism and other purposes. The Foreign Ministry has called for Japanese people to avoid nonessential and nonurgent travel to Sri Lanka. Many people are planning overseas trips for the upcoming 10-day Golden Week holiday. Travelers should make sure they check the latest information about the security situation in their holiday destination.

Sharing information with other nations is essential for counterterrorism measures. Japan should spearhead discussions on this issue, including at the summit meeting of the Group of 20 major and emerging economies to be held in Osaka in June.

Online:

http://the-japan-news.com/

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April 24

Evening Standard on U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit to the U.K. in June:

Many of us have issued hasty invitations we later regret to people we don't know that well — but Theresa May topped the scale with her offer of a state visit to Britain when she saw Donald Trump in the first week of his presidency.

Naively, she hoped it would mark the start of a warm alliance between them, leading to an easy trade deal after Brexit.

Instead, President Trump pocketed her offer, went on to praise Boris Johnson as someone who "would be a great prime minister", made London the target of some of his most boorish tweets and never had any intention of opening up US markets to our goods without flooding Britain with low-standard food products in return.

Now the Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives he can't even offer that — as a more thoughtful US visitor, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, reminded us last week.

So how should we react to news that the President is set to turn up for a state visit at the start of June, amid events marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings?

We could just wish he wasn't coming. But that won't stop him.

He'll enjoy provoking protesters who will, in return, enjoy taking to the streets to taunt him. Maybe the Extinction Rebellion crowd will try to stay camped in trees in Parliament Square until then. He's a better target for their call for action on climate change than a British Government which agrees it exists, after all.

Or we could hide in the detail and ask whether Mr. Trump deserves the honour of a state rather than a working visit.

But this is pointless. Some first-term presidents have been given one but most haven't and the difference is more in the title than anything else.

It's not the white-tie dinner at Windsor Castle that people object to. It's the presence of the President himself.

So the question which matters is simply: should he come here? And the answer to that has to be yes — just as President Macron was right to welcome him to Paris.

We can't pick and choose other world leaders. Diplomacy demands that countries engage, even when the leaders involved are undiplomatic.

Online:

https://www.standard.co.uk

___

April 24

Houston Chronicle on the recent execution of a man for a 1998 killing of a black man:

The execution Wednesday of John William King for the 1998 lynching of James Byrd Jr., who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to death, won't bring the victim back to life. It won't erase the heartbreak of the loved ones Byrd left behind. Neither will it remove the stain that the atrocity left on the East Texas town of Jasper, where the murder occurred. So, what purpose will King's execution serve?

King's death by injection occurred less than two weeks after a white man was arrested for setting fire to three black churches in Louisiana. The proximity of those events makes one wonder if race relations have changed since Byrd was lynched. Clearly there have been improvements in the past 21 years, but the FBI says hate crimes in America, most of them motivated by race or ethnicity, have increased. Few compare to what happened to Byrd.

While walking home late at night, he accepted a ride from three white guys in a pickup. The driver was Shawn Berry. The other two, King and Lawrence Russell Brewer, had been members of a skinhead prison gang called the Confederate Knights of America. They attacked Byrd, beat him into submission, wrapped one end of a chain around his ankles, the other end to the truck's ball, and dragged him for three miles. Part of Byrd's body was found near a cemetery; the rest a mile and a half up the road.

It wasn't hard for police to find Byrd's assailants. They clumsily left evidence where it was easily found. All three men were convicted of capital murder. Brewer was executed in 2011. Berry, who cooperated with authorities, was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2038. King's fate was set after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute appeal Wednesday evening.

King was a walking, talking advertisement for racism. His many body tattoos included a black man hanging from a tree, a robed Ku Klux Klansman, a swastika, and the words "Aryan Pride." Prosecutors said King was as an "exalted cyclops" of the Confederate Knights of America and recruited white troops for an imagined race war.

Did King's execution have a purpose other than vengeance? Executions usually don't. Research has shown them to also be poor deterrents to future crimes. Capital punishment has more to do with retribution than justice. But King's execution could be different. That's if his story of unbridled racism could be used to bury the misguided notion that memorials and traditions honoring the Confederate States of America should be treated with reverence.

Klan and skinhead groups use emblems that link them to the Confederacy for a specific reason: Like them, the rebel states were united by racism. Failing to preserve slavery, the former Confederate states continued to treat black people as inferior to whites by enacting segregation laws that stayed on the books into the 1960s.

Many African-Americans and others view commemorations of the Confederacy as endorsements of the historical subjugation of black people. That doesn't mean other folks can't be proud of their ancestors. They were fighting for a racist cause, but most were soldiers, not murderers like King and two others who killed Byrd. That pride, however, shouldn't be endorsed by state governments whose citizens also include people who aren't descendants of Confederate soldiers and sympathizers.

...

Online:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com

___

April 24

The Free Press of Chattanooga, Tennessee, on U.S. President Donald Trump, the phrase "Easter worshippers," and Christian voters:

Democrats, with good reason, have frequently chided deeply religious American Christians for voting for Donald Trump in 2016.

The president, who is a thrice-married, frequently mean-spirited, largely nonreligious individual, nevertheless has favored legislation important to that segment of voters.

Religious voters, if they can't have a candidate whose personal life inclines closely to their values — a Jimmy Carter or a George W. Bush, who were more forward about their religious convictions — at least want somebody who talks a good game but follows the talk with action.

Right or wrong, they see Trump that way. But, increasingly, they see neither the convictions nor the talk from Democrats.

Take last weekend's bombings in Sri Lanka, which targeted a Christian minority in a predominantly Buddhist country. Nearly 300 people died and more than 500 were injured at three churches, three hotels and a housing complex.

Whether or not Democrats played follow the leader or had a strategy in some convoluted way for responding, former President Barack Obama weighed in on Twitter at 10:02 a.m. on Easter Sunday by saying "the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity."

By definition, "Easter worshippers" are Christians, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to use that term.

It was mindful of Obama's presidency when he was unable to characterize the radical Muslims carrying out terrorist attacks as members of the Islamic faith. He didn't want to lump the terrorists in with good Muslims, he said, and impugn an entire religion.

The president, of course, had also pointed out at the 2015 National Prayer Breakfast that Americans should not "get on our high horse" about radical Islam since "people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ" centuries ago.

Yet, the terrorists continued to slaughter innocents in the name of Islam.

On Sunday, following Obama's tweet, at 10:45 a.m. U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-California, tweeted that he was "deeply saddened over the horrific acts of violence against Easter worshippers and tourists."

At 11:08 a.m., Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado, tweeted that he was heartbroken "to learn about the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka."

At 12:59 p.m., former San Antonio, Texas, Mayor Julian Castro, who is a declared 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted that "the evil of these attacks on Easter worshippers and tourists in Sri Lanka is deeply saddening."

And, finally, at 1:17 p.m., former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she was "praying for everyone affected by today's horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers" — at least she didn't say "tourists" — "in Sri Lanka."

The wording, though perhaps just Democrats falling in behind their former leader's phrase, was nonetheless eerie.

If Democrats can't embrace the word "Christian" or "Jesus" — a video of once and future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to do just that in 2010 went viral — how will they attract deeply religious voters who chose Trump, flaws and all?

Several already have made attempts and wound up as the hypocrites they accuse the president of being.

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a self-avowed Christian, is the latest to fall in the trap. In a recent interview with USA Today, he allowed as to how God has chosen a side.

"We need to not be afraid to invoke arguments on why Christian faith is going to point you in a progressive direction," he said.

Buttigieg went on to say he was "reluctant to comment on another person's (faith)," then preceded to comment negatively on Trump's. Since then, he's also trashed the Christian faith of Vice President Mike Pence.

On Monday, though, during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, perhaps knowing some who might be on the fence about Trump might be watching, he decided God hadn't chosen sides.

"At the very least," Buttigieg said, "we should be able to establish that God does not have a political party."

For him and for the rest of the crowded Democratic field, it's a matter of authenticity. Voters didn't find it in Obama, who got 4.5 million fewer votes in 2012 than in 2008 but won a second term against a weak Republican. Some of them oddly found it in Trump, who wasn't the solid family man his predecessor was but was willing to give voice to — and try to accomplish — what members of the electorate wanted.

The deeply religious part of that electorate is no different. They're not looking for perfection — and wouldn't ever find it, anyway — but do want a candidate who gives more than lip service to their faith and then works toward honoring what has been promised.

We don't believe at this point skeptical Trump voters have found such a candidate on the Democratic side.

Online:

https://www.timesfreepress.com

___

April 23

The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida, on allowing guns in schools:

For much of last week, residents of Littleton, Colorado, paused to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

Two student gunmen murdered a dozen students and a teacher that spring day, then committed suicide, the culmination of a plot designed to kill 500 people using guns and homemade bombs. The shock of such violence on a pacific, affluent suburban school campus shook much of America, and causes Columbine to live on in our consciousness, even as its death toll has been superseded by massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

During last week's tearful recollections, candlelight vigils, survivors' updates, and the weird and sad tale of a reportedly Columbine-obsessed young woman from Florida whose trek to Colorado led many to fear violence during the activities but ended with her taking her own life, many may have missed the story of Evan Todd.

Twenty years ago Todd was a 15-year-old sophomore in the school library working on an English paper when the shooters entered the room. They immediately shot in his direction, wounding him, and then made their way around the room, shooting 22 fellow students, killing 10. At one point one of the shooters approached Todd, pressed a gun against his head and asked why he shouldn't be killed. Todd recalled stammering an answer about never having done anything to either of them, and after a pause, the shooters left the library, and let Todd live. He was the last student to speak to them.

Todd has said he believes prayer saved his life that day. But since then, he has pushed for a different kind of intervention in instances such as Columbine.

Todd has become a gun-rights activist, including carrying a concealed weapon of his own, and his pet cause is allowing teachers to carry guns in schools.

This month, as the Columbine anniversary neared, he told a Colorado radio reporter, "What actually stops these from happening? And in the world we live in, a firearm is one of those ways. And a firearm would have saved lives at Columbine."

"Had I not gone through it, I don't know if I would have the same perspective," Todd added. "But I've seen evil in this world. And ignoring it never does anything."

That reiterated a message he shared last year, both with the media around the 19th anniversary of the massacre and to community groups and state lawmakers in campaigning for a bill permitting teachers to carry guns, which was proposed by one of Todd's former schoolmates and a survivor of the massacre.

...

Gun opponents repeatedly maintain this is a bad idea that does nothing to enhance school safety. In fact, as the gun-control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America argues, panicky, ill-trained teachers will make things more dangerous. That's quite a commentary about the judgment of people we entrust with our children for six to eight hours each day.

Additionally, we know it's a fallacy to argue that more guns means more murder. The gun-related homicide rate in America today is half what it was a quarter-century ago, even as millions more guns have been sold in that time. And we know from reviews of both Columbine and Douglas high schools that law enforcement did not respond adequately to save lives, thus leaving victims, like Evan Todd, to the mercy of the killers.

The urge to deny people the right to defend themselves — and in the case of Florida schools, to defend children — from homicidal maniacs is a strange one. Lawmakers cannot make teachers or anyone else carry guns, but if we learn anything from the recent Columbine retrospective, it should be that prohibiting self-defense via gun can be a matter of life and death.

Online:

https://www.theledger.com

___

April 22

The New York Times on the U.S. Supreme Court considering whether federal employment law protects LGBTQ workers:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of a person's sex. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to address whether gay and transgender workers are covered by the landmark provision, in a trio of cases — two concluding that federal law protects such employees, and one resolving that it doesn't.

The cases open the door for the justices to settle the issue for the whole nation. The cases are expected to be decided by the summer of 2020 — that is, in the heat of the presidential campaign, when voters will be judging candidates in part on where they stand on gay and transgender rights. That will make this a political issue, to be sure, but there is significantly more at stake for individual workers.

The Justice Department sowed confusion in 2017 when it went against the stated position of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that oversees enforcement of Title VII, and argued before an appeals court that Congress never intended to extend protections to gay workers. That much may be true; the law as written makes no mention of sexual orientation or transgender status. Which could also explain a separate brief filed in October, in which the department told the Supreme Court that Title VII, as lawmakers wrote it, "does not apply to discrimination against an individual based on his or her gender identity."

With the passage of time, however, a number of courts, including the Supreme Court, have interpreted the prohibition against sex discrimination generously. Over the past 55 years, thanks to that forward-looking reading of the law, Title VII has addressed harms that Congress never foresaw, such as forbidding sexual harassment and gender stereotyping.

Relying on some of those precedents — and the guidance of the E.E.O.C., which in recent years has extended the reach of Title VII to lesbian, gay and transgender employees — modern-day courts have also begun to reconsider their prior decisions on such rights in the workplace, expanding the reach of the law.

As Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a unanimous 1998 ruling in favor of a male worker who was subject to same-sex harassment, "statutory prohibitions often go beyond the principal evil to cover reasonably comparable evils, and it is ultimately the provisions of our laws rather than the principal concerns of our legislators by which we are governed."

So Congress may not have the last word on this matter. What's more, absent direct action from lawmakers, the Supreme Court would be wise to keep the current progress of the law in place — and not undermine its own prior cases that helped make the American workplace more welcoming and inclusive to all.

Online:

https://www.nytimes.com

Source: Fox News National

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The Latest: Injuries reported in Mississippi from tornado

The Latest on severe weather in the South (all times local):

12:45 a.m.

Multiple people have been reported injured as tornadoes continued to flare along the Mississippi-Alabama state line late Saturday and early Sunday.

Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley says multiple people were injured and multiple homes were damaged in Hamilton, Mississippi, which is 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Memphis, Tennessee. A tornado was reported in the area at the time.

At least one mobile home was destroyed, throwing a man from the mobile home. No fatalities were reported.

The roof of a hotel in New Albany, Mississippi, was damaged, although the cause was unclear.

A twister hit Vicksburg, Mississippi early Saturday evening. Earlier, two children died in East Texas after a tree fell on their moving car.

___

11:30 p.m.

Deadly storms continue to move across the South after spawning suspected tornadoes and damaging several homes.

The National Weather Service says a twister was reported Saturday night in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, area. No injuries were reported, and news footage showed shattered windows and rooftop debris.

In East Texas, authorities say two children were killed when high winds toppled a tree onto the back of the family car while it was in motion. The Angelina County Sheriff's Office says an 8-year-old and 3-year-old died after the tree hit the back of the car in Lufkin, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Houston. The parents in the front seats were not hurt.

The weather service also says preliminary information showed an EF-3 tornado with winds of 140 mph touched down in Franklin, located about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Dallas.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has sued four Indian farmers for cultivating a potato variety that the snack food and drinks maker claims infringes its patent, the company and the growers said on Friday.

Pepsi has sued the farmers for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, exclusively grown for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.

PepsiCo is seeking more than 10 million rupees ($142,840.82) each for alleged patent infringement.

The farmers grow potatoes in the western state of Gujarat, a leading producer of India’s most consumed vegetable.

“We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn’t face this problem ever, as we’ve mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year’s crop,” said Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued by Pepsi.

Patel did not say how he came by the PepsiCo variety.

A court in Ahmedabad, the business hub of Gujarat, on Friday agreed to hear the case on June 12, said Anand Yagnik, the lawyer for the farmers.

“In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety,” A PepsiCo India spokesman said. “This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefiting from seeds of our registered variety.”

PepsiCo, which set up its first potato chips plant in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 potato variety to a group of farmers who in turn sell their produce to the company at a fixed price.

The All India Kisan Sabha, or All India Farmers’ Forum, has asked the Indian government to protect the farmers.

The farmers’ forum has also called for a boycott of PepsiCo’s Lay’s chips and the company’s other products.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PepsiCo is the second major U.S. company in India to face issues over patent infringement.

Stung by a long-standing intellectual property dispute, seed maker Monsanto, which is now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, withdrew from some businesses in India over a cotton-seed dispute with farmers, Reuters reported in 2017. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

(Reporting by Amit Dave in AHMEDABAD and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

CHICAGO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Friday it was considering spinning off its ethanol business after slim biofuel margins and Midwestern floods slammed the U.S. grains merchant’s profit, which tumbled 41 percent in the first quarter.

ADM said it was creating an ethanol subsidiary, which will include dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Peoria, Illinois.

The ethanol subsidiary will report as an independent segment, the company said, allowing options “which may include, but are not limited to, a potential spin-off of the business to existing ADM shareholders.”

Results were hit by the “bomb cyclone” blizzards that devastated the Midwest and Great Plains this year, causing massive flooding across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, washing out rail lines and wreaking havoc in the moving and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat. One-sixth of U.S. ethanol production was halted.

In March, ADM warned Wall Street that flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest would reduce its first-quarter operating profit by $50 million to $60 million.

“The first quarter proved more challenging than initially expected,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano, with earnings down in its starches, sweeteners and bioproducts unit. Luciano said impacts of the severe weather ultimately “were on the high side of our initial estimates”.

Ongoing problems in the ethanol industry added to the problems and “limited margins and opportunities” for ADM, Luciano said.

The ethanol industry has been in the midst of a historic downswing due to the U.S.-China trade war, excess domestic supply and weak margins.

ADM, which had been an ethanol pioneer, signaled to Wall Street in 2016 that it was hunting for options and considering sales of its U.S. dry ethanol mills. Luciano told Reuters this year that offers ADM had received for the mills were too low.

In addition, ADM said it planned to repurpose its corn wet mill in Marshall, Minnesota, to produce higher volumes of food and industrial-grade starches.

Other major traders are alsy trying to distance themselves from struggling ethanol businesses. Louis Dreyfus Company BV spun off its Brazilian sugar and ethanol business Biosev in 2013. Rival Bunge sold its sugar book and has sought a buyer for its Brazilian mills since 2013.

ADM, which makes money trading, processing and transporting crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, has been looking to strengthen its core business. Last month it said it would seek voluntary early retirements of some North American employees and cut jobs as part of a restructuring effort.

The company expects to lower 2019 capital spending by 10 percent to between $800 million and $900 million.

Net earnings attributable to the company fell to $233 million, or 41 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $393 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $15.30 billion from $15.53 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 46 cents per share, while analysts on average had estimated 60 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration
FILE PHOTO: The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Slack Technologies Inc, operator of the popular workplace instant-messaging app, reported a loss of $140.7 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2019, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing ahead of its planned public market debut.

The company said its daily active users exceeded 10 million in the three months ended Jan. 31, 2019.

Slack expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SK”, it said.

The San Francisco-based company is seeking to go public via a direct listing, making it the second big technology company after Spotify Technology SA to bypass the traditional route of listing shares through an initial public offering.

A direct listing is a cheaper way of becoming a public company as the process requires fewer investment banks and therefore lower fees.

In a direct listing, however, a company does not sell any new shares to raise money. Instead, it gives existing shareholders the opportunity to cash out.

Slack is the latest in a string of high-profile technology companies looking to go public this year. Lyft Inc, Pinterest and Zoom Video Communications have completed IPOs so far in 2019.

The company is hoping for a valuation of more than $10 billion in the listing, Reuters had previously reported. Some early investors and employees have been selling the stock at around $28, valuing the company close to $17 billion, Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge, a brokerage company, told CNBC on Thursday.

Slack set a placeholder amount of $100 million to indicate the size of the IPO. The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.

Its competitors include Microsoft Teams, a free chat add-on for Microsoft’s Office365 users.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena and Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Candidate Zelenskiy reacts following the announcement of an exit poll in Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacts following the announcement of the first exit poll in a presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Matthias Williams

KIEV (Reuters) – Russia’s decision to make it easier for residents of rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine to obtain a Russian passport is meant to test Ukraine’s new leader and the West should not recognize the documents, Lithuania’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the order on facilitating passports on Wednesday, three days after comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice, won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election.

Linas Linkevicius, whose own country also has strained relations with Moscow, told Reuters in an interview that the West should consider imposing new sanctions on Russia.

“This is a blatant violation of international law. And basically also a kind of test to the new (Ukrainian) leadership, which is also a usual game,” Linkevicius said.

“The least we can do (is) we shouldn’t recognize these passports. How to do that technically, it’s another issue to discuss. Also (we need) to look at additional sanctions,” said Linkevicius, whose small Baltic nation is a member of NATO and the European Union.

Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and its support for armed separatists battling Kiev’s forces in eastern Ukraine. Some 13,000 people have been killed in that conflict despite a notional ceasefire signed in Minsk in 2015.

Linkevicius, who in Kiev on Friday became the first minister of an EU country since Ukraine’s election to meet President-elect Zelenskiy, said they had discussed the passport issue.

Zelenskiy also raised the possibility of resetting the Minsk ceasefire agreement without giving any concessions to Russia, Linkevicius said.

“DANGEROUS CANCER” OF GRAFT

The minister urged Zelenskiy to deliver on his electoral promise of tackling corruption, which he described as the “most dangerous cancer” facing Ukraine, which hopes one day to join the EU.

Last month, Lithuania’s own relations with Russia came under renewed strain after a Vilnius court found former Soviet defense minister Dmitry Yazov, in absentia, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in a 1991 crackdown against Lithuania’s pro-independence movement.

Russia branded the verdict “extremely unfriendly and essentially provocative” and opened a probe into the judges involved.

Linkevicius accused Russia of seeking to politicize the judicial process by trying to take revenge on the judges, adding: “This is lamentable.”

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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A Cook County judge recently called out embattled State Attorney Kim Foxx for upholding a double standard by prosecuting a woman for filing a false police report — but dropping similar charges against embattled “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

Foxx has faced intense criticism over her office’s decision to drop a 16-count indictment against Smollett, just weeks after bringing the charges against the high-profile TV star. Foxx’s deal with Smollett, which did not require him to admit guilt, drew ire from the public, the city’s top cop and the former mayor who called it a “whitewash of justice.”

JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHICAGO PROSECUTOR KIM FOXX CHIDED BY NATIONAL ATTORNEYS GROUPS AFTER JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHARGES DROPPED 

Cook County Judge Marc Martin, who was presiding over an unrelated case, chastised Foxx and her office for creating a situation where anyone charged with filing a false report would expect the same leniency her office afforded Smollett.

Candace Clark, 21, is facing one felony count of making a false report. Prosecutors accused her of giving a friend access to her bank account and then telling authorities the money had been stolen. She denies the charges and claims she’s the victim of Foxx’s double standard — something the judge weighed in on.

“Well, Ms. Clark is not a movie star, she doesn’t have a high-price lawyer, although, her lawyer’s very good. And this smells, big time,” Martin said to prosecutors during a recent hearing, Fox 32 reported. “I didn’t create this mess, your office created this mess. And your explanation is unsatisfactory to this court. She’s being treated differently.”

The judge continued, “There’s no publicity on this case. She doesn’t have Mark Geragos as her lawyer or Ron Safer or Judge Brown. It’s not right. And (if) I proceed in this matter, you’re just digging yourselves further in a hole. (If the) press gets a hold of this, it’ll be in a newspaper. Why is Ms. Clark being treated differently than Mr. Smollett?”

Foxx recused herself from the Smollett case in February but continued to oversee the investigation through text messages with her assistant Joseph Magats.

The text messages revealed Foxx called Smollett a “washed up celeb who lied to cops.” They also show she cautioned Magats about throwing the book at Smollett.

“Sooo……I’m recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases…16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A,” Foxx wrote to Magats on March 8.

“Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16. On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it’s indicative of something we should be looking at generally. Just because we can charge something doesn’t mean we should,” she added, referring to the case of R&B singer R. Kelly, who was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with four women, three of whom were underage.

KIM FOXX’S CHIEF ETHICS OFFICER RESIGNS FOLLOWING SMOLLETT CONTROVERSY

President Trump said last month he asked for a federal review of Foxx’s decision to drop the charges against Smollett. He also called the actor “an absolute embarrassment to our country.”

The Smollett case garnered national attention and threatened to tear Chicago apart. It pit the police department and mayor against prosecutors and underscored the idea that wealthy people are somehow above the law.

Smollett told police he was attacked on Jan. 29 around 2 a.m. as he was returning home from a sandwich shop in Chicago. He said two masked men shouted racial and anti-gay slurs, poured bleach on him, beat him and tied a rope around his neck. He claimed they shouted, “This is MAGA country” — a reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

CLICK HERE FOF THE FOX NEWS APP

After an intense investigation, police said Smollett staged the entire incident to drum up publicity for his career.

Smollett has strongly denied the accusations.

Source: Fox News National

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