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Human rights agency rejects Assange complaint against Ecuador

FILE PHOTO: Julian Assange's cat sits on the balcony of Ecuador's embassy in London
FILE PHOTO: Julian Assange's cat sits on the balcony of Ecuador's embassy in London, Britain, July 30, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

March 15, 2019

WASHINGTON/QUITO (Reuters) – An international human rights organization has turned down a request by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that Ecuador, which has sheltered him for more than six years at its embassy in London, ease the conditions it has imposed on his residence there.

A spokeswoman for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is linked to the Organization of American States, said the group rejected Assange’s complaint.

Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson had no immediate comment. 

Assange took refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation. That probe was later dropped, but Assange fears he could be extradited to face charges in the United States, where federal prosecutors are investigating WikiLeaks.

He says Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum and has put pressure on him to leave by requiring him to pay for his medical bills and phone calls, as well as clean up after his pet cat.

He had sought the support of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in his case against Ecuador. While the commission did not back Assange, it said it reminded Ecuador of international law that no state should deport, return or extradite someone to another country where that person might face human rights abuses.

A friend who regularly visits Assange says he privately complains that Ecuador’s government recently replaced Embassy diplomats sympathetic to Assange with officials who are much less friendly.

Last year, U.S. federal prosecutors in the state of Virginia mistakenly made public a document saying that Assange had been secretly indicted. Officials have since declined to confirm or deny he has been charged.

U.S. federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, have maintained a long-running grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks. One source said it includes a probe into leaks of Central Intelligence Agency documents to the WikiLeaks website.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Alexandria ordered former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to be jailed for contempt after she refused to testify about WikiLeaks before the grand jury.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Engel, McCaul Forge Rare Bipartisan Bond

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Most top Republicans and Democrats squared off this week in fierce warfare over the Mueller report and its findings clearing President Trump of criminal collusion with Russia, but there was one island of calm in the sea of partisan enmity.

Eliot Engel, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Mike McCaul, the panel’s ranking Republican, on Monday shared the stage at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington and publicly lauded each other’s personal integrity and shared commitment to protecting the U.S.-Israel alliance.

The easy rapport between the two lawmakers -- particularly the absence of biting words or outward signs of vitriol -- was almost jarring in an era of Twitter storms and continuous partisan recriminations.

“First of all, I think when it comes to foreign affairs, I think it’s very important that partisan politics should stop at the water’s edge – I think it’s very important that other nations see us working together – and we’ve had that tradition on the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Engel told the crowd.

McCaul, the former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, was wholeheartedly on board.

“Eliot and I are very protective of the integrity of the committee — it should not be politicized. It should not be partisan,” he said. “In fact, when we travel overseas, we travel not as Republicans or Democrats but as Americans representing the United States of America, and that’s what is so great about it.”

The genial conversation between New Yorker Engel and Texan McCaul came the same week many Republicans were calling for several prominent Democratic lawmakers, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, to resign over their role in fueling the Trump-Russian collusion narrative.

Engel was notably absent from that list even though, as a chairman of the top foreign policy panel, he has often joined his Democratic colleagues in questioning President Trump’s ties to Russia and those of his close associates.

In the last month, Engel, along with five other Democratic chairmen, signed a letter to administration officials pressing for documents and interviews related to Trump’s communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Late last week, he also signed onto a Democratic missive demanding that the Justice Department release the full Mueller report and underlying evidence to the relevant congressional committees.

Still, unlike Schiff, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings, and other Democratic anti-Trump bulldogs, Engel hasn’t leveraged his perch on the Foreign Affairs Committee into a leading Russia-collusion antagonist on the cable news circuit, alienating Republicans in the process.  

He also hasn’t let party loyalties hinder his willingness to work with McCaul and other Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans on their many areas of broad agreement.

For the last six years, Engel and former Rep. Ed Royce, the California Republican who previously chaired the panel, enjoyed a similar camaraderie. The same type of bipartisan comity has traditionally extended across the Capitol to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but during the Trump administration that has become increasingly rare.

In the last two years, the cross-party collaboration actually took a perverse turn in the Senate: The former Republican chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, a top Trump GOP adversary, and the top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, worked together to stymie the confirmation of dozens of the president’s State Department nominations.

Republican Sen. James Risch, who is generally viewed as more closely aligned with Trump, now chairs the panel and is expected to push back against efforts by Menendez to continue blocking the president’s nominees.

Engel and McCaul are hardly natural political allies. They share nearly opposite views when it comes to climate change, abortion, gun control and Obamacare.  But it doesn’t hurt that Engel, who is Jewish, and McCaul are both stalwart defenders of Israel even though Engel’s Democratic caucus is in the middle of a divisive public feud over support for that Mideast ally.

In recent weeks, Engel, a 30-year House veteran and one of the most senior members of his party’s caucus, has been making headlines sparring with freshmen Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, both of whom have been accused of making anti-Semitic comments. Both also support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel.

When Omar accused U.S. supporters of Israel of dual loyalties by pushing for “allegiance to a foreign country,” Engel led the bipartisan condemnation. He called the comment a “vile anti-Semitic slur” and demanded an apology. Omar previously had accused Israel of “hypnotizing” the world and claimed in her “it’s all about the Benjamins, baby” tweet that lawmakers support Israel in exchange for campaign funds.

Omar eventually apologized for both statements but has continued to take swipes at other Democratic leaders. On Tuesday, she pointedly criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s condemnation of the BDS movement.

After Omar’s first comments sparked a bipartisan backlash, Engel pushed for passage of a resolution denouncing anti-Semitism, but Democratic leaders pivoted and included language condemning Islamophobia and white supremacy, which Republicans derided as an effort to water it down.

During their joint AIPAC appearance, both Engel and McCaul pledged do everything in their power to fortify the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

“I’m very proud of my Jewish heritage, and I’m very proud of the fact that the United States and Israel have remained good friends,” Engel said while sharing the stage with McCaul. A few minutes later he pledged to make sure “that strong bond is never broken.”

They two also readily expressed their concerns about the divisions in the Democratic caucus and what they viewed as anti-Semitic efforts to undermine the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“Yes, we have some people who say things they should not say, and I’m very happy to voice my objection to it publicly,” Engel said.

“I am deeply disturbed by some in Congress who are threatening this alliance. I don’t think I’ve seen this in the 15 years I’ve been in Congress, and I don’t have any tolerance for that,” McCaul said.

Both lawmakers also expressed deep concern about Trump’s decision, now reversed, to significantly draw down troops in Syria, where Iranian Shia militias have made inroads and ISIS could reconstitute without U.S. troops to help stabilize the area.

The two leaders, along with Risch and Menendez, are circulating a letter to Trump highlighting the mounting threats to Israel’s northern border and supporting U.S. action to stand by Israel.

Last month, the pair also teamed up on a letter demanding answers from the administration on how U.S. military equipment ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Yemen. The letter complained about unauthorized transfers of U.S. equipment and weapons by the Saudi and UAE governments. McCaul was one of just three Republicans to sign the letter.

In early January, soon after Engel took over as chairman and the same day the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the true president of Venezuela, Engel and McCaul wrote a joint letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to prioritize the safety of U.S. diplomats in Caracas and requesting an “immediate” briefing on the unfolding events there.

Susan Crabtree is a veteran Washington reporter who has spent two decades covering the White House and Congress.

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Japan’s PM vows to help France in rebuilding Notre Dame

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pledging to help France rebuild the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral.

Abe stopped in France Tuesday as part of his tour of Europe and North America.

Speaking alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, Abe said through a translator he "was deeply saddened by the damage inflicted to the World Heritage" building.

He said the Japanese government "will spare no effort to bring its cooperation" in the reconstruction.

Macron and Abe will discuss the agenda for the upcoming Group of Seven and Group of 20 leaders' summits that France and Japan will respectively host this year.

In their statement at the Elysee palace, they said they will also talk about boosting economic growth through free trade, and address issues including North Korea and plastic waste in ocean.

Source: Fox News World

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Roger Stone to judge: Let my lawyers see full Mueller report

President Trump's longtime confidant, Roger Stone, asked a federal judge Friday to compel the Justice Department to turn over a full copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation as part of discovery in his criminal case.

STONE INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT

Stone has pleaded not guilty to charges he lied to Congress, engaged in witness tampering and obstructed a congressional investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. In a court filing late Friday night, his lawyers said Stone is entitled to see the confidential report — which was submitted to the attorney general late last month — because it would help prove their allegation that there are constitutional issues with the investigation.

In a separate action, a former aide to Stone who was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury asked a federal appeals court to determine whether he still needs to testify now that the Russia probe has concluded.

Stone's team also filed motions Friday night arguing he was selectively prosecuted, challenging the constitutionality of Mueller's appointment and that the special counsel didn't have the ability to prosecute him for lying to Congress. They allege that Congress did not formally make a referral to the Justice Department about Stone's testimony and because of that, Mueller's investigation was "a violation of the separation of powers."

In court documents, the lawyers argue they are entitled to a private disclosure of the nearly 400-page report that Mueller submitted to Attorney General William Barr late last month and said they "must be allowed to review the Report in its entirety because it contains the government's evidence and conclusions on matters essential to Stone's defense."

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"To be clear, Stone is not requesting the Report be disclosed to the world - only to his counsel so that it may aid in preparing his defense," the lawyers wrote.

Stone, who is set to go on trial in November, has maintained his innocence and blasted the special counsel's investigation as politically motivated. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from conversations he had during the campaign about WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that released material stolen from Democratic groups, including Hillary Clinton's campaign.

In a four-page letter to Congress that detailed Mueller's "principal conclusions," Barr said the special counsel did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump associates during the campaign, but did not reach a definitive conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Instead, Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the obstruction question, but Barr said he did not believe the evidence was sufficient to prove that Trump had obstructed justice.

Barr has said he expects to release a redacted version of Mueller's report next week that will be sent to Congress and made public.

Source: Fox News Politics

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French parliament adopts proposals for privatizations and ADP stake sale

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris) is seen during the company's Investor day in Paris
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris) is seen during the company's Investor day in Paris, France, April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo

April 11, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – French lawmakers adopted on Thursday a government bill aimed at kickstarting a wave of privatizations, including a sale of the state’s stake in airports group ADP, to raise cash for a new innovation fund.

The Assemblee Nationale – in which President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist LREM party has a commanding majority – voted in favor of the so-called “Loi Pacte” legislation bill, with 147 votes in favor of the bill versus 50 against.

“This is a law which will help our economy and prepare us for the future,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters in the parliament.

“We want to make ADP a world champion in terms of airport traffic,” he added.

Macron’s government has consistently said it aims to start the ADP privatization process in 2019, but the plan has been criticized by some opposition parties over fears it could result in job cuts or a loss of control for a key national asset.

Those privatization proposals form part of a broader strategy to raise cash to boost the economy and finance technological innovations in France.

Le Maire had said last year that France would block any moves by a foreign power to gain control of ADP.

Based on current market prices, the French state’s 50.6 percent shareholding in ADP is worth around 8.8 billion euros ($9.92 billion).

Privatizations are only part of the wide-ranging law, which also reduces red tape for starting new firms and makes it easier to introduce employee profit-sharing schemes.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Leigh Thomas)

Source: OANN

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Euro zone headline, core inflation slowdown confirmed for March

FILE PHOTO: The euro sign is photographed in front of the former head quarter of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: The euro sign is photographed in front of the former head quarter of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

April 17, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation slowed in March and the core figure dipped, the European Union’s statistics office said on Wednesday, confirming its initial estimates and providing an uncomfortable signal for the European Central Bank (ECB).

Eurostat said prices in the 19-nation currency bloc rose 1.4 percent in March on the year, from a 1.5 percent increase a month earlier, confirming the previous reading.

The ECB targets an inflation rate below, but close to 2.0 percent, and last week raised the prospect of more support for the euro zone in the face of an economic slowdown.

On the month, inflation accelerated to 1.0 percent, as markets had expected, from 0.3 percent in February.

The core indicator watched closely by the ECB for its monetary policy decisions, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, dropped to 1.0 percent in March on the year from 1.2 percent in February. That was the weakest reading since April 2018, Eurostat data showed, confirming earlier estimates.

This can add to the pressure on the ECB as it battles an economic slowdown which threatens to undo years of stimulus, while many of its own rate-setters think the bank’s economic projections are too optimistic.

A narrower inflation indicator that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco was also confirmed dipping to 0.8 percent from 1.0 percent a month earlier.

Inflation was held back by a slowdown in price rises of food, alcohol and tobacco, which rose 1.8 percent on the year in March after a 2.3 percent rise in February.

Inflation in the services sector, the largest in the euro zone economy, also slowed to 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent in February.

Energy prices were the only major component of the index that accelerated in March, to a rise of 5.3 percent year-on-year from 3.6 percent in February.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

Source: OANN

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AutoNation says Liebert to replace veteran Mike Jackson as CEO

Vehicles for sale are pictured on the lot at AutoNation Toyota dealership in Cerritos
Vehicles for sale are pictured on the lot at AutoNation Toyota dealership in Cerritos, California December 9, 2015. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

February 22, 2019

(Reuters) – AutoNation Inc, the largest U.S. auto retail chain, said on Friday Carl Liebert will succeed longtime Chief Executive Officer Mike Jackson.

Jackson said last September that he will step down as CEO and will stay on as executive chairman of the board until 2021.

Liebert is currently the chief operating officer at financial services company USAA and will assume charge on March 11. He has served as executive vice president-stores at home improvement chain Home Depot Inc, where he was responsible for international sales, strategy, execution and operations.

The change of guard comes against the backdrop of a likely drop in sales of new vehicles in the United States this year as higher interest rates and rising prices prompt customers to delay their buying plans.

AutoNation has said it plans to limit investment in higher-margin service and used car operations to offset the squeeze on profits from new vehicle sales and cut overhead costs in 2019.

The company is looking to consolidate its regional structure from three regions to two and expects to save about $50 million annually.

Four senior AutoNation executives, including the chief operating officer, left the company as part of the restructuring in January.

The company’s shares have more than tripled since Jackson became CEO in 1999 after the company’s founder Wayne Huizenga hired him from Mercedes-Benz USA, where Jackson was president.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru and Joe White in Detroit; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Credit Suisse logo is pictured on a bank in Geneva
FILE PHOTO: The Credit Suisse logo is pictured on a bank in Geneva, Switzerland, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

April 26, 2019

ZURICH (Reuters) – Shareholders approved Credit Suisse’s 2018 compensation report with an 82 percent majority on Friday, overriding frustrations expressed at its annual general meeting over jumps in executive pay during a year its share price plummeted.

Three shareholder advisers had recommended investors vote against Switzerland’s second-biggest bank’s remuneration report, while a fourth backed the report but expressed reservations about whether management pay matched performance.

The approval marked a slight increase over the 80.8 percent support garnered for the bank’s 2017 compensation report.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Michael Shields)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London, Britain December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Simon Jessop and Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) – Activist investor Edward Bramson is likely to fail in his attempt to get a board seat at Barclays’ annual meeting next week, even though shareholders are dissatisfied with performance of the group’s investment bank.

New York-based Bramson’s Sherborne Investors and the board of the British bank have been sparring for months over Barclays’ strategy.

Bramson wants to scale back Barclays’ investment bank to reduce risk and boost shareholder returns. Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley remains staunchly committed to growing the business out of trouble.

After failing to persuade Staley to change course since he began building a 5.5 percent stake in the bank in March last year, Bramson hopes a board seat will rachet up the pressure.

Both sides have written to shareholders pitching their case and Bramson has courted investors in one-on-one meetings, although none have publicly backed him yet.

Interviews by Reuters with five institutional investors in Barclays suggest Bramson has failed to persuade them.

Sherborne declined to comment.

Mirza Baig, head of investment stewardship at top-40 shareholder Aviva Investors, said Bramson was welcome on the bank’s register but the boardroom was a step too far.

“He has created a lot of value at other businesses, but, generally, when he has come in as executive chair and taken full control. This would be a different case where he would just be one lone voice on the board,” he said.

A second Barclays shareholder said he backed Bramson’s goal of improving returns but via an “evolutionary” approach.

“If you look at banks that have tried to restructure their operations in investment banking – you look at Natwest Markets, Deutsche Bank – I struggle to think of an example where a roughshod restructuring has been accretive to shareholder value.”

A third, top-30 investor said he had been impressed by incoming Chairman Nigel Higgins’ grasp of the challenge in hand, and felt investors would give him time.

“Management know they have to execute and deliver improved returns… [Higgins] will continue to re-shape the board but obviously he didn’t feel that having someone with a diametrically opposed view on it would be helpful.”

A fourth, top-30 investor agreed: “We voted for the chairman to come in and it would be crazy to allow an activist to join the board (at this time).”

Jupiter Fund Management, the 24th largest investor, said it also planned to vote against Bramson.

Barclays has nearly 500 institutional shareholders, Refinitiv data showed.

Since Staley joined Barclays in 2015, the investment bank returns relative to capital invested have increased but are still underperforming the overall business.

Barclays’ first-quarter figures showed the investment bank posted a 6 percent drop in income from its markets business and a 17 percent fall in banking advisory fees.

Returns in the investment bank fell to 9.5 percent from 13.2 percent a year ago.

Famed for successful campaigns against smaller British companies in sectors from chemicals to advertising, Bramson’s board seat pitch has been rebuffed by shareholder advisory firms.

Institutional Shareholder Services, the world’s biggest, said Bramson’s proposal “falls short of what can reasonably be expected from a shareholder trying to address issues at a 28 billion pounds, systemically important bank”.

Glass Lewis also flagged concern about Bramson’s lack of banking experience and “questionable” shareholding structure, referring to Sherborne’s use of derivative contracts to hedge losses should its strategy fail.

Critics said the arrangement meant his interests are not truly aligned with those of other long-term shareholders.

British advisory firm Pirc, however, said it recommended that investors abstain in the vote on Bramson’s proposal as a challenge to the board to do better in the year ahead – or face a similar contest in 2020.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

After an over 15-month pregnancy, “Akuti,” a 7-year-old Greater One Horned Indian Rhinoceros, gave birth as a result of induced ovulation and artificial insemination at Zoo Miami, April 23, 2019.

Ron Magill/Zoo Miami

https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: File photo of a Chevron gas station sign in Del Mar, California
FILE PHOTO: A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Del Mar, California, in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – U.S. oil and natural gas producer Chevron Corp reported a 27 percent fall in quarterly earnings on Friday, hit by lower crude prices and weaker margins in its refining and chemicals businesses.

Net income attributable to the company fell to $2.65 billion, or $1.39 per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, from $3.64 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier.

Earlier in the day, larger rival Exxon Mobil Corp reported earnings well below analysts’ estimates, as margins in its refining business were hurt by higher Canadian prices and heavy scheduled maintenance.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan
FILE PHOTO: The Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Friday the U.S. Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into the automaker’s emissions certification process in the United States.

The potential concern does not involve the use of defeat devices, the company said in a regulatory filing. (https://bit.ly/2VqjHpl)

Ford had voluntarily disclosed the matter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board in February.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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