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Sanders warns against increase in Supreme Court justices and term limits

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., diverged from some of his fellow candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination on Monday by arguing against expanding the number of justices on the United States Supreme Court.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said he was concerned that if Democrats take the White House in 2020 and decide to add more justices to the Supreme Court, then the Republicans will just do the same the next time they win the presidency.

“My worry is that once the Republicans are in power, they will just do the same thing,” Sanders said while answering a question at the We The People summit in Washington.

Sanders added that he wasn’t totally sold on the idea of also issuing term limits to Supreme Court justices, but instead favored rotating justices on and off the bench from the lower appellate courts.

BERNIE SANDERS ANNOUNCES TOP STAFFERS IN WAKE OF SHAKEUP

The idea of expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court has been discussed in Democratic circles since Neil Gorsuch was confirmed after former President Barack Obama's choice -- Judge Merrick Garland -- languished in the Senate without a hearing or vote during the 2016 election year.

But the movement has taken on more of a public face as a number of high-profile 2020 Democratic candidates have embraced the move in the aftermath of Brett Kavanaugh's controversial confirmation process to the court.

Democratic anger over Trump's success filling the range of federal courts with conservative jurists has been fueling much of the recent court expansion talk. A private advocacy group called "Pack the Court" says it's raised a half-million dollars to gin up support among the 2020 contenders. The group is partnering with other like-minded organizations.

"We strongly believe that reforming the court — especially by expanding it — is the cornerstone for re-building American democracy,” said Brian Fallon, head of Demand Justice and former Hillary Clinton press secretary. "The Kavanaugh court is a partisan operation, and democracy simply cannot function when stolen courts operate as political shills."

ELIZABETH WARREN PITCHES POLICIES TOTALING $100 TRILLION AT TOWN HALL: ESTIMATES

Candidates including Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have all signaled an openness to overhauling the court if they become president.

"First they steal a Supreme Court seat, and then they turn around and change the rules on the filibuster on a Supreme Court seat," Warren said in a recent radio interview. "So when it swings back to us, what are we going to do? I think all the options are on the table."

Many constitutional scholars agree with Sanders’ assessment that the political implications of expanding the court could be perilous.

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"Something this controversial could be bad for Democrats indeed in the 2020 election," said Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. "Where does it end? If President Kamala Harris adds two justices, then the next Republican president adds two more in a constant cycle, until we end up with 134 people on Supreme Court."

The Constitution does not establish a set number of justices; that is up to Congress. There were initially six members of the high court -- then seven, then nine, then down to eight, then up to ten for a while, then back down to eight, and then at last ticking up to nine more than a century ago, in 1869.

Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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UN says 220 killed in fighting over Libya’s capital

The U.N. health agency says at least 15 more people died in fighting over control of Libya's capital in the past two days, bringing the total to 220 dead including civilians.

The World Health Organization said late Friday that 1,066 others have been wounded since the self-styled Libyan National Army launched an offensive on April 5 to take Tripoli.

The fighting pits the LNA, led by Khalifa Hifter, against rival militias affiliated with a weak U.N.-supported government in the capital.

The clashes threaten to ignite civil war on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Libya is split between rival governments in the east and west.

President Donald Trump phoned Hifter earlier this week, expressing U.S. support for the leader's perceived stance against terrorism.

Source: Fox News World

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New York prosecutors pursuing criminal charges against Manafort: source

Manafort arrives for arraignment on charges of witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives for arraignment on a third superseding indictment against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on charges of witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., June 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

February 22, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Manhattan district attorney’s office is pursuing criminal charges against Paul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, whether or not Trump pardons him for his federal convictions, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The charges originate from unpaid state taxes and likely are also related to loans, the source said. Manafort, 69, was convicted last August in a federal court of bank and tax fraud and pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal case in Washington, D.C..

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Lisa Lambert)

Source: OANN

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Klobuchar Urges Town Hall Audience to Cheer

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota urged a town hall audience in New Hampshire to cheer after one of her answers was met with silence.

The 2020 Democratic presidential contender’s seemingly lighthearted appeal came after she responded to a question on how she planned to appeal to middle-class voters from the Midwest who picked Donald Trump in the last election.

"I guess you look at what I've done, and that is that I am someone that runs in a purple state," Klobuchar said of Minnesota. "Every single time I have run, I have won every single congressional district in my state, including Michele Bachmann's."

Her answer was greeted with silence.

“That’s when you guys are supposed to cheer, OK?” she said.

The CNN town hall was one of five in New Hampshire featuring presidential hopefuls – Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg were set to follow Klobuchar and field questions directly from students and young New Hampshire Democrats.

Klobuchar’s “clap” moment was reminiscent of former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s “Please Clap!” moment in 2016 during the GOP primary contest for the presidential campaign.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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McDonald’s pulls Signature Crafted burgers, doubles down on Quarter Pounders

The logo of a McDonald's Corp restaurant is seen in Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO: The logo of a McDonald's Corp restaurant is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

April 18, 2019

(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp said it would remove costlier, premium burgers from its menus in favor of its more popular Quarter Pounders, shifting its focus to simpler and quickly-served burgers.

The burger chain added the Signature Crafted burgers to its menu two years ago to keep up with competition from Wendy’s and Shake Shack, which serve more premium burgers using fresh ingredients.

But putting together the burgers took time, slowing down service lines at drive-thrus and at stores.

These premium beef, grilled or crispy chicken burgers came with condiments like pico guacamole, sweet BBQ bacon or maple bacon dijon, compared with the Quarter Pounders, which are beef patties served with ketchup, pickles and onions.

The company said its new deluxe and bacon Quarter Pounders received good feedback and it would continue to focus on such items.

“It (the removal) probably has more to do about the process of cooking the burger in McDonald’s than it does what the consumer is saying about the food,” said Howard Penney, a managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management.

Big franchisees also did not buy into the idea of McDonald’s pricier burgers initially, mindful of the cooking time required for these made-to-order burgers.

“It makes it easier for the people running the stores and operating the stores … simple is good,” Penney said.

The move is seen as a positive, coming at a time when quick service restaurants are moving away from customization and focusing more on transparency in the ingredients used.

This is the second time McDonald’s has tweaked its menu this month, after trimming down its late-night menu to keep only eights items.

Shares of the Dow component have risen nearly 18 percent in the past year, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Index’s 6.7 percent rise.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: OANN

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Potential 2020 Dem Michael Bennet blasts Omar's comments as 'hateful'

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Potential presidential contender Sen. Michael Bennet took aim Friday at recent controversial comments by freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota that were widely condemned as anti-Semitic, calling them "hateful."

“I think that what she said was something that shouldn’t be said,” the Democrat from Colorado said in an interview on Friday, as he made a swing through New Hampshire as he weighs running for the White House.

REP. OMAR CRITICIZES FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

Omar, a Somali-American and one of two Muslim women in Congress, ignited a intra-party firestorm last week when she once again suggested that groups supportive of Israel were pushing members of Congress to have "allegiance to a foreign country."

After several days of infighting by Democrats, the House of Representatives on Thursday passed a broad anti-bigotry and anti-hate resolution prompted by Omar's comments. The resolution was overwhelming approved in a bipartisan vote, but some Republicans argued the broadening of the language was a ploy to distract from Omar’s remarks.

“I’m comfortable with what they passed,” Bennet said. “I think that it was right in this case to demonstrate that the House of Representatives wasn’t going to tolerate hateful statements like the one that was made.”

And Bennet spotlighted his heritage, saying “my mom and her parents were Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust and almost all the rest of the family was killed.”

He explained that “they eventually made their way to America” to escape anti-Semitism.

TRUMP CLAIMS DEMOCRATS HAVE BECOME 'ANTI-ISRAEL PARTY'

Republican President Donald Trump on Friday – pointing to the final resolution – attacked the Democrats and said they “have become an anti-Israel party. They have become an anti-Jewish party.”

Bennet took issue with the president’s comments, saying “he’s way off base. It’s absolutely untrue. Look. This is part of what Donald Trump does and people should understand it. At every turn – because he knows he’s fading – he tries to disqualify Democrats and the Democratic Party.”

“The Democratic Party in Washington supports Israel,” he emphasized.

And taking aim at the president, he called Trump’s tenure in the White House “a sorry chapter.”

BUTTIGIEG URGES SCRAPPING ELECTORAL COLLEGE DURING NH SWING

The Republican National Committee questioned whether Bennet could resonate in Democratic nomination race that they say is moving further to the left.

“Bennet will be forced to choose between endorsing out-of-touch policy proposals that will cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, or staying barely known and barely registering with voters,” RNC Spokesperson Mandi Merritt said.

Bennet sat down for an interview during a jam-packed quick trip to New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House. Last month he stopped in Iowa, which votes first in the presidential caucus and primary calendar.

He said his decision on running for the White House would come in “weeks, not months.

Bennet, who traveled to the Granite State with his teenage daughter and an aide, said his family seems to be OK with a potential presidential run.

“I need know there’s a real opportunity for me to make difference in the race and that I could have a chance to win the race. That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he explained.

But he added that “I’m inclined to do it.”

If he runs, Bennet would face off against a large field of contenders (it currently stands at 14), many with bigger name ID and bigger campaign war chests. And there’s already a candidate from Colorado in the race. The state’s former two-term governor – John Hickenlooper – launched his campaign on Monday.

“I don’t think two candidates from Colorado are a bad thing at all,” he said.

Bennet, who used to work for Hickenlooper, added that the former governor’s “a good friend of mine” but added “we’ve very different people with very different experiences.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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New Zealand Mosque Shooter Flashes “White Power” Sign As He Is Charged With Murder

Accused Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Harrison Tarrant smiled as he flashed an internet-memed “white power” gesture during a brief court appearance on Saturday when he was charged with murder in a shooting rampage that left 49 people dead in two New Zealand mosques. He did not request bail and was ordered to remain in custody until the date of his next hearing, scheduled for April 5. Police said more charges will be filed against him.

Tarrant, 28, originally from Grafton, New South Wales but more recently a resident of Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island, had his hands chained to his waist as he wore white prison overalls. The police allege that after opening fire inside the Al Noor Mosque Tarrant drove to the Linwood Masjid Mosque across town and continued his rampage.

Tarrant began his shooting rampage at the Al Noor Masjidal Mosque in the city’s east, before driving across town to the Linwood Masjid Mosque and again opening fire

Daniel John Burrough, 18, has also been charged with ‘exciting hostility or ill-will’ in relation to the mosque attacks but he did not appear in court, according to Daily Mail. Police arrested three men – including Tarrant and Burrough – and a woman following Friday’s attack. The unnamed woman remains in custody, while the third man who was arrested is not linked with the attacks and has been released.


Dozens of people in a New Zealand mosque were gunned down by a terrorist who live-streamed the entire massacre. Additionally, at least 48 are suffering injuries ranged from minor to critical. Today’s special guests include regional expert Syrian Girl, SEAL graduate Matt Bracken, and founder of the Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes breaking down the terror attack. Millie Weaver and Dr. Nick Begich join Alex Jones in the final hour.

The investigation is headed by New Zealand police and assisted by Australian police in New South Wales, according to Reuters. NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing told media that the region’s joint counterterrorism unit has joined the investigation. Tarrant’s relatives have been assisting the police as well.

Tarrant was escorted to a heavily-guarded courtroom under unprecedented security measures as angry people flocked to the Christchurch District Court, even though it was closed to the public and only accredited media members were allowed in.

The short stocky man stood squarely in place beside two officers throughout the hearing. He turned around to repeatedly glance at the media, at District Court Judge Paul Kaller and out the windows of the Christchurch District Court, the Mail details:

At the beginning of the hearing he appeared to have a faint smile on his face, but it faded into a neutral expression as the hearing continued.

Security was tight, with about six security guards and police in total, the guards wearing black protective vests.

The hearing, which was closed to the public “in the interest of public safety” was all over in just a few minutes, with Tarrant taking one final look at those gathered and marched away. Some victims’ relatives were waiting at the front doors to the court.

Tarrant was photographed and filmed in court by New Zealand cameras but they have been ordered to pixellate his face in images from inside court.

Just as he was about to be brought into court, a member of the public tried to storm the court to ‘knife’ the attacker before proceedings began, the New Zealand Herald reported. The man reportedly told the paper that he wanted to stab the suspect.

“What the f*** has happened here,” he told reporters. Another man was cited shouting “rot in f****** hell” as he drove by the courthouse.

* * *

Police Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed the death toll stands at 49, with 42 injured. He said that after receiving the initial emergency call at 1.42pm local time, police took 36 minutes to track down and detain Tarrant.

‘That is an incredibly fast response time. You had a mobile offender across large metropolitan city. I am very happy with the response of our staff,’ Bush said.

A surgeon from Christchurch Hospital described Friday’s events as ‘carnage’.

Commissioner Bush said that the third man was spotted carrying a gun by a police officer, but after questioning it was revealed the man was on his way to collect his children from school and took the weapon to protect himself.

* * *

 

Tarrant, who would later go on to become a personal trainer, inherited a love of physical fitness from his father, who reportedly died of an asbestos-related illness.

A woman who claims to have previously known Tarrant through the gym, alleged it was him in the live stream. She told Daily Mail Australia that he followed a strict dietary and exercise regime and worked at the gym after he finished school. The woman, who did not wish to be named, said Tarrant always ‘threw himself into his own personal training’ before he later became a qualified a trainer and started training others. ‘He was in the gym for long periods of time, lifting heaving weights. He pretty much transformed his body,’ she said.

The woman also said she had not spoken to him or heard him talk about his political or religious beliefs. ‘From the conversations we had about life he didn’t strike me as someone who had any interest in that or extremist views,’ she said.

“But I know he’s been travelling since he left Grafton. He has been travelling overseas, anywhere and everywhere. I would say it’s something in the nature of his travels, something he’s been around. I know he’s been to lots of different countries trying to experience lots of different things in life and I would say something’s happened in that time in his travels,” she said.

In a prior Facebook post about a trip to Pakistan on Facebook, he wrote it was ‘an incredible place filled with the most earnest, kindhearted and hospitable people in the world,’ The Sydney Morning Herald reported. ‘The beauty of hunza and nagar valley in autumn cannot be beat,’ he stated.

As ABC reported, Tarrant reportedly hails from the town of Grafton, in northeastern New South Wales, but has been living in Dunedin, New Zealand, for quite some time, according to the reports in the local media.

* * *

In a 74-page manifesto titled “The Great Replacement” that he posted online before the massacre, Tarrant described himself as an ‘ordinary, white man’, who was born into a working class, low income family of Scottish, Irish and English decent. The shooter wrote that he had ‘little interest in education’ growing up, and did not attend university as he had no great interest in anything offered at the schools. He claimed he made some money investing in Bitconnect – a type of digital currency – before he then used the money to travel overseas.

In the manifesto, Tarrant also delves into what had inspired him to carry out the shootings and vows “revenge” against Muslim “invaders.” The manifesto was reportedly written two weeks before the attacks. The manifesto Tarrant drew inspiration from other infamous shooters including Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in Oslo, Norway in 2011. His weapons bore neo-Nazi inscriptions and slogans, names of extremists, as well as historic figures who waged wars against Muslims.

He described himself as ‘just a regular white man’. He said he was born to ‘working class, low-income family… who decided to take a stand to ensure a future for my people’.

‘My parents are of Scottish, Irish and English stock. I had a regular childhood, without any great issues,’ he wrote.

The gunman said he carried out the massacre to ‘directly reduce immigration rates to European lands’.

He said New Zealand was not his ‘original choice’ for the attack but said the location would show ‘that nowhere in the world was safe’.

‘We must ensure the existence of our people, and a future for white children,’ he wrote.

He wrote that the shooting was an ‘act of revenge on the invaders for the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by foreign invaders in European lands throughout history’.

‘For the enslavement of millions of Europeans taken from their lands by the Islamic slavers… for the thousands of European lives lost to terror attacks throughout European lands,’ the gunman wrote.

He shared photos to his now-removed Twitter account ahead of the attacks, showing weapons and military-style equipment.

In posts online before the attack Tarrant wrote about ‘taking the fight to the invaders myself’. – Daily Mail

Tarrant livestreamed his rampage online on Facebook. The footage in which he goes from room to room gunning down worshippers was promptly taken down on police request. Forty-nine people died in the Al Noor mosque and the Linwood mosque and over 40 were injured, some critically.

In the wake of the attack, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed to overhaul the country’s gun laws banning semi-automatic rifles. The suspected shooter held the “category A” firearms license since 2007.

Source: InfoWars

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FILE PHOTO - A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat
FILE PHOTO: A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – India has once again delayed the implementation of higher tariffs on some goods imported from the United States to May 15, a government official said on Friday.

The new tariff structure was to come into force from May 2, the spokeswoman said without citing reasons for the delay.

Angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminum tariffs, New Delhi decided in June last year to raise the import tax from Aug. 4 on some U.S. products including almonds, walnuts and apples.

But since then, New Delhi has repeatedly delayed the implementation of the new tariff.

Trade friction between India and the U.S. has escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans earlier this year to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.

In a further blow, U.S. on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers including India to continue importing limited volumes.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

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One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.

Symone Sanders, a prominent Democratic strategist and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., staffer in 2016, was announced as one of the big-name members of Team Biden on Thursday.

But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.

“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.

BIDEN HIRES FORMER BERNIE SANDERS’ SPOKESPERSON AS SENIOR ADVISER

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.

Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”

Footage of the interview was resurfaced by RealClearPolitics.

After news of her hiring broke on Thursday, Sanders backed her new boss on Twitter.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG

“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.

The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.

While Sanders himself didn’t torch Biden as he jumped into the race, it’s clear that many of his progressive supporters view the former vice president as a threat.

Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.

BIDEN VOWS THAT ‘AMERICA IS COMING BACK,’ SPARKING ‘MAGA’ COMPARISONS

Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”

And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”

Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”

Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is facing increased calls for her immediate resignation, remains in poor health and is not “lucid” enough to decide whether to step down, her attorney told reporters late Thursday.

Steve Silverman, speaking outside one of Pugh’s residences which was raided by the FBI and IRS earlier in the day, said the embattled city leader could make a decision as early as next week.

“She is leaning toward making the best decision in the best interest in the citizens of Baltimore City,” he said, adding that Pugh has “several options” to consider.

“She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”

BALTIMORE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, ON LEAVE AMID BOOK PROBE, HAS HOMES AND CITY HALL OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDS

Silverman said Pugh met with a doctor at home Thursday and plans to do so again Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

In the latest image-tarnishing scandal for struggling Baltimore, the first-term Democratic mayor faces accusations that she used children’s book deals to cover up kickbacks for favorable treatment as a state lawmaker and city leader that earned her roughly $800,000 over several years.

BALTIMORE’S ACTING MAYOR SAYS HE ‘WOULD HATE TO SEE’ EMBATTLED MAYOR RETURN AFTER BOOK SCANDALS

As a state senator, 69-year-old Pugh sold $500,000 worth of her self-published “Healthy Holly” illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, a major state employer whose board she sat on for nearly 20 years.

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

UMMS reportedly paid Pugh for 100,000 copies of her books between 2011 and 2018 with the stated intention of distributing the books to schools and day care centers. But some 50,000 copies remain unaccounted for and officials are probing if they were even printed.

Pugh also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including health carriers that did business with the city of Baltimore.

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL CALLS ON EMBATTLED MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY

The politically isolated Pugh slipped out of sight on April 1 after a hastily organized press conference where she called her no-contract book deals a “regrettable mistake.” That same day, Maryland’s governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing.”

Pugh took an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health deteriorating intensely after a bout with pneumonia.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide. (Loyd Fox/Baltimore Sun via AP)

On Thursday morning, agents with the FBI and IRS searched her two Baltimore homes, her City Hall offices, and a nonprofit organization she once led. The home of at least one of Pugh’s aides was also scoured.

Silverman said federal agents also served a subpoena at his law firm, retrieving Pugh’s original financial records. They did not seek any attorney-client privileged communications, he said.

Pugh’s attorney said she was “emotionally extremely distraught” following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.

“There was nothing incriminating that came out of her home,” Silverman said.

UMMS spokesman Michael Schwartzberg told reporters that the medical system received a grand jury witness subpoena seeking documents and information related to Pugh.

Other probes against Pugh include a review by the city ethics board and the Maryland Insurance Administration.

BALTIMORE MAYOR’S $500G DEAL FOR ‘HEALTHY HOLLY’ CHILDREN’S BOOKS DRAWS SCRUTINY

In recent weeks, the calls for Pugh’s resignation have intensified with the strongest voice coming from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who did not mince words after Thursday’s early morning raids.

“Now more than ever, Baltimore City needs strong and responsible leadership. Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” he said. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP)

Many of her fellow Democrats, including those on Baltimore’s demoralized City Council and state lawmakers, are also insisting that Pugh put the citizens’ interests above any attempt to preserve her political career.

City Council member Brandon Scott called the Thursday raids “an embarrassment to the city.”

However, only a conviction can trigger a mayor’s removal from office, according to the city solicitor. Baltimore’s mayor-friendly City Charter currently provides no options for ousting its executive.

Six of Pugh’s staffers joined her on paid leave earlier this month; three of them were fired this week by the acting mayor.

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Pugh came to office in late 2016 after edging out ex-Mayor Sheila Dixon, who had spent much of her tenure fighting corruption charges before being forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal connected to the misappropriation of about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

She would certainly face a bruising 2020 Democratic primary if she were to return and run for reelection. Veteran City Council leader Bernard “Jack” Young, who is serving as acting mayor, said as she went on leave that he would merely be a placeholder. But this week, before the raids, he said “it could be devastating for her” if she tried to return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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)

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