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European lawmakers urge end of golden visa schemes, name EU tax havens

Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in Strasbourg
Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session in Strasbourg, France, March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

March 26, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Parliament urged EU member states on Tuesday to curb money-laundering in the bloc by ending programs to sell visa and passports, a step the multi-billion-dollar industry said would cause economic damage.

The recommendation is part of a hard-hitting report which also accused seven EU countries of acting as tax havens: Luxembourg, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The document is the result of a year’s work by the parliament’s committee on financial crime and tax evasion. The report has now been adopted by the whole assembly, boosting its political weight, though it remains non-binding.

Lawmakers said EU states should “phase out” as soon as possible all existing schemes to market citizenship and residency permits to wealthy foreigners. Currently 20 of the 28 EU states run these programs.

The economic advantages of these schemes “do not offset the serious security, money laundering and tax evasion risks they present”, the resolution said, echoing a report from the European Commission in January.

The industry’s trade association, the Investment Migration Council, said that ending the programs would threaten vital investments in “peripheral economies”.

Lawmakers upheld the Commission’s warnings on risks posed mostly by programs run by Malta and Cyprus.

“A good first step to combat intra-EU money laundering would be to get rid of the so-called ‘golden visa’ which are a gateway for money laundering and organized crime,” said Markus Ferber, head of the conservative group in the parliament’s economic committee.

In the report, lawmakers also urged the creation of an EU-wide financial police to counter the laundering of proceeds from criminal activities, which they estimated amount to 110 billion euros ($124.19 billion) annually in the EU.

They called for stricter rules and supervision to counter money laundering in the face of the series of scandals which hit several banks, noting that the latest overhauls maintained several loopholes in the EU legal framework.

The report further urged the EU Commission to assess money- laundering risks posed by legal arrangements such as special purpose vehicles and non-charitable purpose trusts, especially in Britain and its crown dependencies and overseas territories.

More broadly, deputies called for tougher EU rules against tax evasion and tax avoidance, saying the bloc should counter these practices in foreign tax havens and also in the seven EU states that “facilitate aggressive tax planning”.

($1 = 0.8859 euros)

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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The battle for Citgo: How Venezuela opposition leaders seized control

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: The corporate logos of the state oil company PDVSA and Citgo Petroleum Corp are seen in Caracas
FILE PHOTO: The corporate logos of the state oil company PDVSA and Citgo Petroleum Corp are seen in Caracas, Venezuela April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

February 22, 2019

By Marianna Parraga

(Reuters) – Asbrubal Chavez, chief executive of Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp, boarded the Venezuelan-owned firm’s corporate jet in Caracas on Jan. 30, after meeting with top officials of the embattled administration of socialist President Nicolas Maduro about the latest U.S. oil sanctions.

Upon landing in the Bahamas – where Chavez has worked for about a year after being denied a U.S. visa – he had received word from Houston that it would be his last trip on a company plane and that his Citgo email account had been shut off.

Day-to-day control of the company had passed to Citgo’s top U.S. executive, Rick Esser, who with the backing of Venezuela’s rising political opposition and the U.S. government would begin clearing the way for a new, anti-Maduro board of directors at Citgo. Esser oversaw the moves to isolate Chavez – a cousin of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez – and would soon start ousting other Citgo executives close to the Maduro administration.

The house-cleaning at the prized U.S.-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), marked a crucial early victory for the country’s rising opposition government – led by self-declared president Juan Guaido – as it struggles to remove Maduro from office and break his grip on the OPEC nation’s oil assets. The account of the transition of power at Citgo is based on Reuters interviews with more than a dozen current and former Citgo and PDVSA executives, employees, and U.S. and Latin American advisors.

Guaido, head of the nation’s congress, announced he would seize the presidency on Jan. 23 because Maduro’s re-election last year was a sham, rendering the socialist leader illegitimate under Venezuela law. Guaido’s claim to interim leadership, until fair elections can be held, was quickly backed by the United States and dozens of other nations.

But Maduro remains in control of the nation’s military and PDVSA – making Citgo the obvious first target among national asset for Guaido’s opposition movement to claim, with the help of the U.S. government. The battle for Citgo could prove pivotal in the effort to unseat Maduro because full control of a major U.S. refiner would provide a crucial source of revenue to a post-Maduro administration.

Citgo, with more than $23 billion in annual sales and operations that supply about 4 percent of U.S. fuels, may be the last remaining asset owned by PDVSA with a healthy balance sheet. As PDVSA’s oil production and revenue have plummeted amid crippling debt, mismanagement and international political pressure, Citgo’s U.S. location and financial independence have shielded the firm from the worst of its parent company’s meltdown.

At the end of September, Citgo had net income of about $500 million, according to a creditor with access to financial statements that are not public. The company had almost $500 million in cash and an available credit line of $900 million.

(Graphic: An interactive look at Venezuela’s crude exports to the United States – https://tmsnrt.rs/2S4YIXB)

Inside Citgo’s Houston headquarters, many employees weary of operating under the control of a failing socialist state eagerly await an expected official announcement of the appointments of new company directors, who were chosen by Venezuela’s congress.

The new board met together for the first time in Houston on Thursday and named executives to replace those who were ousted, according to two Citgo employees with knowledge of the board actions, which the company has not publicly disclosed.

“We are not expecting any resistance” to the new board inside the company, said one manager who spoke on condition of anonymity. “On the contrary, we are waiting for directions to lay out the red carpet.”

Spokespeople for Citgo and Esser did not respond to requests for comment or declined comment. PDVSA did not respond to requests for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request Friday morning.

(graphic: Citgo’s Louisiana refinery was 2018’s top U.S. consumer of Venezuela’s crude – https://tmsnrt.rs/2t4ullS.)

SHIFTING ALLEGIANCES

As U.S. sanctions on Jan. 28 shifted the balance of power to Citgo’s anti-Maduro faction of executives, Maduro loyalists scrambled to find their place in the emerging corporate structure.

Two of four senior executives appointed by Chavez openly pledged support for the incoming board of directors in meetings with employees, said two sources who attended the meetings.

But all four – Frank Gygax, Nepmar Escalona, Simon Suarez and Eladio Perez – were escorted out of the building on Monday, according to four people with knowledge of their departures. Gygax declined to comment and the others did not respond to requests.

It’s unclear whether Chavez has yet been formally terminated, an action that can only be taken by company directors, but he has been effectively shut out of the firm, Citgo employees said. Chavez did not respond to a request for comment.

Esser has essentially run the company since Chavez’ ouster, in close consultation with U.S. government officials, according to three Citgo employees and two people close to the incoming company board.

A Jan. 30 meeting between White House National Security Advisor John Bolton and Citgo executives thrust the low-key Esser into the spotlight after Bolton tweeted a photo of the meeting, calling it “very productive.”

U.S. officials have voiced concern that Guaido and his supporters had been too slow in seizing control of Citgo and also have pushed for a say in choosing members of the refiner’s new board – a request Guaido’s team declined, according to two people familiar with the talks.

Since clearing Citgo’s upper ranks of Maduro allies, Esser has focused on securing alternatives to the Venezuelan oil that feeds its refineries. Recent U.S. sanctions prevent the firm from importing Venezuelan crude after April 28, which could cripple the company unless it can ensure it has the cash, credit and contracts for alternate supplies.

Advisors to the incoming Citgo board have separately urged U.S. officials to exempt Citgo from sanctions and protect its assets from creditors once it is officially controlled by Guaido’s team.

Esser saw this crisis coming two years ago and put together a group to find new suppliers and test their oils in the event Venezuelan crudes were restricted by sanctions, according to a person familiar with the effort. The firm’s efforts to sustain operations face a threat from creditors owed money by Venezuela and PDVSA, who could try to use that leverage to hamstring Citgo’s finances, said Carlos Jorda, a former Citgo chairman and now a Houston business consultant. The U.S. government could help the company hold off that threat, he said.

“The U.S. Treasury could say, ‘Hold your horses, you’ll get paid – but not paid by Citgo, but by Venezuela – when the Maduro regime exits,'” Jorda said.

Esser and Citgo finance executive Curtis Rowe traveled to Washington this week to meet with U.S. government officials for at least the second time in three weeks, according to two Citgo employees.

‘FROGS AND SNAKES’

Opposition leaders had difficulty recruiting candidates willing to join the new Citgo board, according to three people familiar with the recruitments.

“There are many risks,” one of the people said, “and if these people have family members in Venezuela, they could be putting them at risk, too.”

In late 2017, six Citgo executives were called to Caracas and jailed amid a graft probe over a failed debt refinancing. Their detention led to Chavez’s appointment as CEO and the arrival of several Maduro loyalists at Citgo’s Houston headquarters.

New Citgo Chairwoman Luisa Palacios – appointed by the Venezuelan congress last week – has been huddling with newly appointed directors and legal advisers to guard against the threat of a potential U.S. court challenge by PDVSA to the new board’s legitimacy, according to two sources close to her team.

Palacios and other board members, which include former Citgo and PDVSA executives living in the United States, did not respond to requests for comment.

One of their priorities will be to audit the finances of a refinery project in Aruba, said the two people close to Palacios. PDVSA and Citgo agreed to a $685 million overhaul of the idled facility in 2016, causing some Citgo executives to resign in protest, arguing the deal made no business sense.

On Monday, Citgo Aruba Refining officially put the money-losing venture on hold and laid off workers, citing the impact of U.S. sanctions on PDVSA. The project has been clouded by corruption allegations, according to four former and current Citgo employees and two people close to the new Citgo board.

“There is also worry about the audits to come. We are expecting ‘frogs and snakes’ to come from there,” said a Citgo employee, using a Venezuelan figure of speech similar in meaning to the opening of a Pandora’s box.

REDECORATING

Since Esser took over Citgo operations, the company has sent clear signals of a return to its century-old American roots.

“We the people of Citgo have a story to tell you” read an advertisement in Tuesday’s Washington Post, borrowing language from the U.S. constitution. The text emphasized the firm’s 6,000 U.S. workers, fiscal strength and U.S. charity work.

Workers at the company’s Houston headquarters also have purged the company website and marketing materials of references to PDVSA and stripped the building of the symbols of Venezuela’s socialist government.

For years, the hallways have been decorated with renderings of a controversial painting of Latin American independence leader Simon Bolivar that had been commissioned by former president Hugo Chavez – and looked more like Chavez than any historical Bolivar painting.

The portraits began to disappear, Citgo employees said, soon after Venezuela’s congress appointed the company’s new board of directors.

(Graphic: Venezuela in 2017 was the world’s second-largest producer of heavy crude – https://tinyurl.com/y2dzohtq)

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; additional reporting by Gary McWilliams, Matt Spetalnick and Luc Cohen; writing by Gary McWilliams; editing by Brian Thevenot)

Source: OANN

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President Trump could have first 2020 GOP challenger

President Trump could have first 2020 GOP challenger

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:46 AM PT — Friday, February 15, 2019

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld on Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

President Trump may soon have a 2020 challenger on the GOP side. On Friday, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld announced he is launching an exploratory committee as he eyes a possible White House run.

Weld would be the first Republican candidate to announce a bid against the president as all major polls indicate President Trump would crush any GOP opponent in a hypothetical 2020 primary.

Weld looks to be trying to frame himself as a candidate who moderate Republicans and Independents can get behind, but still maintains the president has skills others will never have.

“He may have great energy and considerable raw talent, but he does not use them in ways that promote democracy, truth, justice and equal opportunity for all,” he stated when referencing President Trump.

Weld decided earlier this month to rejoin the Republican Party after switching to the Libertarian Party in 2016. He served as Massachusetts governor from 1991 to 1997.

Source: OANN Top News

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Source: InfoWars

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Sudan’s opposition accepts invitation to meet military council for talks

Sudanese demonstrators gather as they attend a mass anti-government protest at the Nyala market in South Darfur
Sudanese demonstrators gather as they attend a mass anti-government protest at the Nyala market in South Darfur, Sudan April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

April 24, 2019

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s opposition late on Wednesday accepted an invitation to talks with the ruling Transitional Military Council amid rising tension over how long it will take to move to civilian rule after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The TMC and the opposition umbrella group Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change have appeared on a collision course in recent days over popular demands for democratization under civilian government.

“The Transitional Military Council declares that the doors of dialogue and negotiation are open,” the TMC said in a statement on Wednesday. The opposition movement, which includes protest organizers the Sudanese Professionals’ Association (SPA), said it would come to talks with the TMC.

“The Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change decided to respond to the invitation and listen with an open mind to what the president of the military council will propose, asserting that our desire is the peaceful transfer to a transitional civilian authority that reflects the forces of the revolution,” the SPA said in a statement.

The SPA had declared on Sunday it would suspend talks with the military council.

While the opposition has insisted on a swift handover of power to civilians, the TMC has said the process could take up to two years. Bashir ruled for 30 years after taking power in a military coup.

On Tuesday, the SPA and witnesses said security forces tried to break up a protester sit-in outside Khartoum’s Defence Ministry. The group instead encouraged protesters to put up more barriers and continue their demonstration.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum and Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Writing by Lena Masri; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Lara Trump Blasted for Saying Allowing in Refugees Was “Downfall of Germany”

Lara Trump received a huge backlash after she said that Angela Merkel’s policy of allowing millions of “refugees” to enter was the “downfall of Germany”.

During the show on Fox Business, host Stuart Varney said that Merkel’s policy was “catastrophic” for Germany.

“It was the downfall of Germany, one of the worst things that ever happened to Germany – this president knows that, he’s trying to prevent that from happening here,” said Trump.

The president’s daughter was immediately faced with a wave of condemnation from leftists.

While obviously nowhere near on par with what happened during the 1930s and 40s, the outrage directed towards Trump only serves to hide the fact that Merkel’s migrant policy has indeed been a disaster for Germany.

Merkel went from being the most popular leader in Europe to one of the most unpopular, primarily because of her “refugee” policy.

According to figures from the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), migrant crime targeting German citizens soared by over 23 per cent in a single year.

As Reuters acknowledged, Germany has suffered a “two-year increase in violent crime,” rising 10 per cent in 2015 and 2016. 90 per cent of that increase was attributed to “young male refugees”.

German women have also been directly targeted, such as during the mass molestation incident in Cologne and other cities on New Year’s Eve 2015, when 1,200 women were sexually assaulted, with 22 being raped.

Only a tiny number of perpetrators being the attacks were ever identified or charged.

Police are also being ordered to cover-up migrant crimes in order not to stoke tensions.

There have also been numerous high profile murders of German women by “refugees,” including that of 19-year-old Maria Ladenburger, who was found raped and drowned in October 2016.

Her murderer was Afghan migrant Hussein Khavari, who entered Germany as a refugee in November 2015.

In December 2017, another Afghan refugee, Abdul D, stabbed his 15-year-old German girlfriend to death because she broke up with him.

If only leftists were as angry over these cases as they are at Lara Trump for making a silly statement on television.

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The Latest: Defense: Officer who killed woman feared ambush

The Latest on the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in the fatal 2017 shooting of an unarmed woman (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

The defense attorney for a former Minneapolis police officer on trial in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman in 2017 says his client drew his gun to protect his partner and himself.

During opening statements Tuesday, Mohamed Noor's attorney, Peter Wold, told jurors the fatal shooting of Justine Ryszcyk Damond was a "perfect storm with tragic consequences."

Wold said that as Noor and his partner were responding to Damond's report of possible rape behind her home, they saw a bicyclist and heard a "bang." He says that in Noor's mind it was a classic setup for what could have been an ambush.

Noor, who is Somali American, is charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia.

Prosecutors charged Noor with second-degree intentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, saying there was no evidence he faced a threat that justified deadly force.

___

11:30 a.m.

A prosecutor says just 1 minute and 19 seconds passed from the time an unarmed woman hung up from a cellphone conversation with her fiance to the time she lay on the ground dying from a gunshot fired by a Minneapolis police officer.

That officer, Mohamed Noor, is on trial in Hennepin County accused of murder and manslaughter in the 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia. The 40-year-old was shot after calling police to report a possible rape in the alley behind her home. Damond told her fiance in a phone call that police had arrived to take her report.

Noor and his partner were in a squad car in the alley. During opening statements Tuesday, prosecutor Patrick Lofton told jurors that Noor fired his gun across his partner through the driver's side open window without saying a word. Lofton says there's no forensic evidence that Damond touched the police vehicle before being shot.

The defense is expected to argue that Noor acted in self-defense.

____

11 a.m.

The judge hearing the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman has reversed a ban on what video evidence may be viewed by the media and public.

Judge Kathryn Quaintance ruled Tuesday that body camera video introduced as evidence in the murder trial of Mohamed Noor will be shown to the entire courtroom.

Quaintance had earlier said such video would be shown only to the jury, citing a desire to protect the privacy of the victim, Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

Quaintance said she has to follow the law even if she disagrees with it.

Noor shot Damond when she approached his squad care minutes after calling 911 to report a possible assault in the alley behind her home. The video doesn't capture the shooting but shows efforts to save Damond.

___

Midnight

With a jury in place, opening statements are set to begin Tuesday in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an unarmed woman.

Thirty-three-year-old Mohamed Noor, who is Somali American, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Justine Ruszczyk Damond's death. Damond, a 40-year-old dual Australian-American citizen who was white, was killed in July 2017 after calling 911 to report a possible rape near her home.

It took a week to select a jury. After 75 prospective jurors answered questions about their views on Somalis and police officers, as well as their experiences with firearms and other issues, 12 men and four women were selected Monday to hear the case. In the end, only 12 will deliberate.

Six of the jurors are people of color.

Source: Fox News National

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A Florida measure that would ban sanctuary cities is set for a vote Friday in the state’s Senate after clearing its first hurdle earlier this week.

The bill would effectively make it against the law for Florida’s police departments to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“The Governor may initiate judicial proceedings in the name of the state against such officers to enforce compliance,” a draft version of the Senate bill reads.

A House version of the bill, which passed by a 69-47 vote Wednesday, adds that non-complying officials could be suspended or removed from office and face fines of up to $5,000 per day. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign off on the measure, although it’s not clear which version.

FLORIDA MAY SEND A BIG MESSAGE TO SANCTUARY CITIES

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, speaks out against bills in the House and Senate that would ban sanctuary cities in the state.

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, speaks out against bills in the House and Senate that would ban sanctuary cities in the state. (AP)

LAWRENCE JONES: NEEDLES, DRUG USE AND HUMAN WASTE ARE THE NEW NORMAL IN SAN FRANCISCO

Florida is home to 775,000 illegal immigrants out of 10.7 million present in the United States, ranking the state third among all states.

Nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas — already have enacted state laws requiring law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Florida doesn’t have sanctuary cities like the ones in California and other states. But Republican lawmakers say a handful of their municipalities — including Orlando and West Palm Beach – are acting as “pseudo-sanctuary” cities, because they prevent law enforcement officials from asking about immigration status when they make arrests.

“There are still people here in the state of Florida, police chiefs that are just refusing to contact ICE, refusing to detain somebody that they know is here illegally,” Florida Republican Rep. Blaise Ingoglia said earlier this month. “So while the actual county municipality doesn’t have an actual adopted policy, they still have people in power within their sheriff’s department or police department that refuse to do it anyway.”

Florida’s Democratic Party has blasted the anti-Sanctuary measures, while the Miami-Dade Police Department says it should be up to federal authorities to handle immigration-related matters.

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“House Republicans today sold out their communities to Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis by passing this xenophobic and discriminatory bill,” the state’s Democratic Party said Wednesday after the House passed their version of the bill. “It’s abhorrent that Republican members who represent immigrant communities are now turning their backs on their constituents and jeopardizing their safety.

“Florida has long stood as a beacon for immigrant communities — and today Republicans did the best they could to destroy that reputation,” they added.

Fox News’ Elina Shirazi contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities.

The U.S. Census Bureau says the county added about 2,500 people in 2018. LNP reports that about 1,000 of them were Amish.

Elizabethtown College researchers say Lancaster County’s Amish population reached 33,143 in 2018, up 3.2% from the previous year.

The Amish accounted for about 41% of the county’s overall population growth last year.

Some experts are concerned that a planned 75-acre (30-hectare) housing and commercial project will make it more difficult for the county to accommodate the Amish.

Donald Kraybill, an authority on Amish culture, told Manheim Township commissioners this week that some in the community are worried about the development and the increased traffic it would bring.

___

Information from: LNP, http://lancasteronline.com

Source: Fox News National

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Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera has warned that if Democratic 2020 presidential candidates don’t take the crisis at the border seriously, they’ll do so at their own risk.

Speaking with “Fox & Friends” hosts on Friday morning, Rivera discussed the influx of candidates entering the race, including former Vice President Joe Biden, and gave an update on the newest developments at the border.

“If [Democrats] don’t take it seriously they ignore it at their peril,” Rivera said.

He went on to discuss the fact that Mexico is experiencing the same problems dealing with volumes of people at the border as the United States is. Processing facilities, as many have argued, are understaffed and underresourced, resulting in conditions that have been controversial.

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

FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: INTERNAL FBI TEXT MESSAGES REVEAL DOJ CONCERNS OVER ‘BIAS’ IN KEY WARRANT TO SURVEIL TRUMP AIDE

“It is very, very difficult when hundreds and hundreds become thousands and thousands ultimately become tens of it is very difficult to have an orderly system,” he said.

Rivera asserted his opinion that the United States could lessen the influx of migrants coming into the country by investing in the development of Central American countries, where many are fleeing from violence and economic instability.

“I believe, as I have said before on this program, that we have to stop the source of the migrant explosion, by a comprehensive system of political and economic reform in Central America where people have the incentive to stay home,” Rivera said.

“I think we have help Mexico with its infrastructure. Mexico has a moral burden, as the president made very clear, not to let unchecked herds of desperate people flow through 2,000 miles of Mexican territory to get our southern border.”

Rivera also brought up President Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during his campaign in 2016.

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The Fox News correspondent said that having been so excited about Trump’s campaign, the comments made him feel “deflated” as a Hispanic American.

However, as the crisis at the border has accelerated over the last few years, Rivera argued that ultimately, the president’s comments weren’t incorrect.

“He is now in a position where he can justly say I was right, that the that the anarchy at the border doesn’t serve anybody,” Rivera said. “Maybe he said it in a language I felt was a little rough and insensitive, but there is no doubt.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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