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United Continental pulls 737 MAX flights out of schedule

FILE PHOTO: A worker from United attends to some customers during their check in process at Newark International airport in New Jersey
FILE PHOTO: A worker from United attends to some customers during their check in process at Newark International airport in New Jersey , November 15, 2012. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

April 15, 2019

(Reuters) – United Continental Holdings Inc said on Monday it had pulled Boeing Co’s 737 MAX flights out of its schedule through early July, following similar moves by rivals American Airlines Group Inc and Southwest Airlines Co.

United, with 14 MAX jets, had largely avoided cancellations by servicing MAX routes with larger 777 or 787 aircraft.

But the airline’s president, Scott Kirby, warned last week that the strategy was costing it money and could not go on forever.

Boeing’s 737 MAX planes have been grounded worldwide since March after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed, killing all 157 aboard, just five months after a similar crash of Indonesia’s Lion Air flight.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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Extinction Rebellion to end two London blockades on Thursday

The Extinction Rebellion protest in London
Drawing are pictured at the Extinction Rebellion protest site at the Marble Arch in London, Britain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville

April 24, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Environmental campaigners Extinction Rebellion will shut down their two remaining central London protest sites on Thursday, the group said after 10 days of disruption in the British capital.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested during the protests, which started last Monday, as part of the group’s campaign of non-violent civil disobedience with the aim of stopping what it calls a global climate crisis.

The protesters said it would end its blockades at Marble Arch and Parliament Square, and said direct action was the only way to bring the issue to public attention.

“We know we have disrupted your lives. We do not do this lightly. We only do this because this is an emergency,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday

“Around the planet, a long-awaited and much-needed conversation has begun.”

The protests took place after months of wrangling in Britain over its decision to leave the European Union, with Brexit dominating the political agenda and leaving little room for anything else.

The environment is back in focus in Westminster now. Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg met opposition leaders on Tuesday to discuss what the teenager calls an “existential crisis” for humanity, and criticizing Britain’s “ongoing irresponsible behavior”.

Environment minister Michael Gove said he felt “admiration but also a sense of guilt” after he heard Thunberg speak.

Britain has lowered net emissions by 42 percent since 1990, and currently aims to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Government advisors will suggest new targets next month.

Extinction Rebellion said that the disruption of the last 10 days was just a taster of what was to come.

“The truth is out, the real work is about to begin. The International Rebellion continues,” it said. “Expect more actions very soon.”

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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Final Four: Izzo set for 8th, Texas Tech, Auburn debut

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-East Regional-Michigan State vs Duke
Mar 31, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo celebrates by cutting the nets after beating the Duke Blue Devils in the championship game of the east regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

April 1, 2019

Virginia is the lone No. 1 seed remaining in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and Auburn is the long shot, coming out of the Midwest Region as a No. 5 seed.

Tom Izzo is back for the eighth time with Michigan State, and Chris Beard guided Texas Tech into the national semifinals for the first time ever.

The teams converge on Minneapolis on Thursday, two days before games begin Saturday night at US Bank Stadium.

“I think it’s a great city,” Izzo said Monday. “The facility is off the charts. This is going to be a tremendous setting. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Beard spent plenty of time on the horn on Monday, talking to anyone he felt could help his team get an edge, from Dick Vitale to common opponents. He also decided to reach out to Izzo to make sure their first conversation wasn’t an informal intro in the hallway this week.

“Coach Izzo is one of my idols,” Beard said. “He’s someone I look up to. He’s been great to coaches. We have terminology in our program — Tom Izzo rebounding — so it’s a little bit surreal. I did have a chance to talk to him one time, at Peach Jam when recruiting started, and he was really nice to me.

“I reached out to him this morning just to congratulate him on another Final Four.”

PREP FOR LANDING

The road to the program’s first ever Final Four was unexpected for Auburn.

The Tigers ousted North Carolina in the regional semifinal, sandwiched by wins over Kansas and Kentucky. In the win over the Tar Heels, most valuable player Chuma Okeke was lost to a season-ending knee injury.

“We said this is all for Chuma,” Auburn junior Jared Harper said. “Going to the Final Four and trying to compete for a national championship is all for Chuma. He put so much on the line for us this year.”

Tigers coach Bruce Pearl knows Virginia’s Tony Bennett well. When he was head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pearl said he first bought a Dick Bennett defense video focused on not allowing ball reversals — well before he established the pack-line defense.

“He taught me a lot about how we try to guard even to this day,” Pearl said.

To that end, Tony Bennett said he has chastised his father for being “an open book,” but noted Dick Bennett has openly influenced a lot of people in the game.

Virginia is in the Final Four for the third time, the first since 1984. Tony Bennett said he will reach out to his father, plus former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and others to be as prepared as possible.

“It still always comes down to preparing well with the right kind of focus and enjoying it,” Bennett said. “That’s the advice I’ve always gotten from those people and I think would be common sense in these situations.”

EXPERIENCE: COMMON WINNING INGREDIENT

In the era of one-and-done, Pearl is in Minneapolis with a backcourt featuring senior Bryce Brown, who Pearl recalled was ranked in the 300s on most recruiting services. Brown agreed to wait for a scholarship to open — Pearl offered it to Jacob Evans, who went to Cincinnati — and his patience eventually paid off. Another small guard, Harper, was not offered scholarships by bigger schools.

“The biggest impact as far as our roster is concerned, before Chuma went down we were playing 10 guys double-digit minutes,” Pearl said. “When Chuma went down — he was and still is our most valuable player — we went down to nine. I’ve always played 10 guys double-digit guys. … If Bryce Brown and Jared Harper don’t step up and have two great games, we don’t have a chance to get by a really good Kentucky team. Their experience.

“Last year, when we got down to seven scholarship players, we got destroyed by Clemson in the second round. … From that moment forward, our motive was unfinished business. The reason the freshmen and a lot of these teams (don’t make) the Final Four is they don’t have the experience of having not gotten there.”

Izzo agreed Monday with that sentiment. He also said he’s rooting for Bennett because of their history together. Izzo worked at camps run by Dick Bennett, and has known Tony for decades. Izzo said he became an even bigger fan of Tony Bennett last season when the Cavaliers were the first team ever to lose to a No. 16 seed as a No. 1.

“It teaches you that it’s not just about being really good,” Izzo said. “I kind of have that feeling. We were really good in, I don’t know, ’13 or ’14 with that team and didn’t make it. We were really good in ’16 and didn’t make it. We were really good in ’18 and didn’t make it. So I kind of have that feeling, and yet when you go a four-year stretch, you thought you would in ’16. You thought you might in ’18, and you didn’t even get close. You’ve got to be good and you’ve got to be lucky. With that being said, I know one thing, I look at it now as ‘who knows if you’ll ever get back.'”

Beard and Texas Tech lost to Villanova in the Elite Eight last year and said the plan as a coach is to “stay old,” referencing the fact that his lineup led by four seniors was very much by design.

He also credited the Big 12 schedule for prepping the Red Raiders for this moment.

“The coaching is great in this league. Everybody has NBA players,” Beard said. “For sure, no doubt about it, I’ve always grown up studying this stuff and a student of the game. You always hear about the grind helping you. And it does. … As good as Michigan State is, we’ve played Kansas, Kansas State, we played Duke in the nonconference.”

NEXT STEP PREP

Izzo said he shared with Beard earlier Monday one piece of advice: Get your tickets set today.

“I’m going to hope experience helps me on the (peripheral) things,” Izzo said, noting his seven previous trips to the Final Four. “The experience helps. We’re going to have a big meeting on hotels and tickets … that’s pressure that builds on these kids as the week goes.”

The celebratory lather from advancing to the Final Four by beating Kentucky will soon rinse clean, but Pearl didn’t want to put players on the spot so soon after that overtime victory.

“We just had a little time this morning to begin to look at Virginia,” Pearl said, noting his team’s reliance on the 3-point shot (14 made per game this season). “They allow just 29 percent shooting from 3. They’ve got big guards, they’re able to extend enough defensively to challenge shots.”

Bennett said he was into film watching Monday and getting a feel for the Tigers.

“Seeing the years he’s had at Auburn, you understand their quickness, how scrappy they are,” Bennett said. “Because of their depth, they can really absorb different types of things — foul trouble — they have a different range of guys.”

WEEKEND FORECAST

Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s this weekend outdoors, but coaches are spending the early part of the week unpacking as much game film as possible of their on-court opponents.

Pearl noted Virginia is second nationally in offensive efficiency, and the Cavaliers average fewer than 10 turnovers per game.

Pearl’s team thrives on causing havoc, and turnovers, with pressure defense and had plenty of praise for Bennett’s bunch on Monday.

“They’ve got some great balance. They have a number of guys that can and will shoot the 3-ball at great percentages,” Pearl said. “They do a really good job of getting to the free throw line, they value possessions. We are a defense, or a team, that relies on being able to turn our opponents over to get some offense out of our defense.”

Pearl said the team will attempt to maintain a routine this week while admitting Auburn knows the schedule at the Final Four is a major grind, as has been the case since the team arrived in Utah for the first round. After winning in the opening round, Pearl described his team and staff as “tired.”

Pearl gave the team a day off Monday and won’t bring up Virginia until Tuesday.

“We don’t play until Saturday,” Pearl said. “If I tried to give them anything on Virginia today, it’d be lost by Saturday.”

Bennett said his team is working quickly to reset for Minneapolis.

“It is the same formula — try to balance both, get your rest and prepare well,” Bennett said. “When you have a thankful heart with things and a strong desire to do well — they’re passionately wanting to do well in this setting.”

Beard said he goes to the Final Four every year, but this year gets to coach in it. Among those he’s leaning on this week are his own assistants, including Sean Sutton, and his Big 12 peers.

“The Big 12 family. I’ve gotten a text from probably every coach in the league. I’ve had a chance to talk to coach (Bill) Self and coach (Bruce) Weber,” Beard said. “Just trying to give my guys all the information they need.”

–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Truck driving preacher charged with killing Alabama teens

A truck driving preacher charged with killing two Alabama teenagers found shot to death in a car trunk nearly 20 years ago was tied to the killings through a DNA match uncovered with genetic genealogy testing, authorities said Monday.

The analysis linked evidence that sat in a police freezer for years to Coley McCraney, 45, of Dothan, Alabama, police said. The man now faces a potential death penalty in the killings in 1999 of Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley, both 17.

Hawlett's mother, Carol Roberts, said she went numb when she heard of McCraney's arrest.

"God gave her to me. He didn't have the right to do that. I just want to know why," said Roberts, who wore a button featuring her daughter's photo at the news conference announcing the arrest.

McCraney, who has own church and preached recently, is cooperating with authorities, said defense attorney David Harrison.

"My heart goes out to the victims' families," Harrison said. "It's a tragedy. We don't need to make it make three tragedies by convicting him."

Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker said he knew McCraney from living in the same city and was surprised when DNA testing linked him to the slayings. He credited science, diligence and divine intervention with the arrest.

"I'm a spiritual guy, so it was all God's work," Walker said.

The girls left Dothan the night of July 3, 1999, to attend a party, but never arrived. They were found the next day in the trunk of Beasley's black Mazda along a road in Ozark, a city of 19,000 people located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Montgomery. Each had a gunshot wound to the head.

Sherry Gilland, who lived near a store where the girls were last seen, said the killings changed the community. Afterward, Gilland said, she was afraid to let her own daughter ride her bicycle or walk too far from home.

"It has been a cloud over the town, but now it's lifted," she said.

A judge ordered McCraney to submit to DNA testing less than a month after the slayings because a woman filed suit claiming he was the father of her daughter, court documents show. But he failed to submit a sample and was ordered to pay child support.

Last year's arrest of "Golden State Killer" suspect Joseph DeAngelo in California — in which genealogy testing helped identify the suspect — helped prompt police to send their evidence to Parabon NanoLabs in Reston, Virginia, for DNA analysis, Walker said.

Walker described three rounds of genetic testing that led to McCraney's arrest. The first gave authorities an unknown suspect and then a genetic genealogy test identified a family. Kinship testing "ultimately narrowed it down to a single person," Walker said.

District Attorney Kirke Adams said he would seek the death penalty. The multiple capital charges against McCraney include one of killing Beasley during a rape, he said.

A different suspect was previously cleared after his DNA didn't match semen found on Beasley.

Harris, the defense lawyer, said McCraney is an outstanding community member who is married with children and grandchildren. Aside from preaching, records show he worked as a truck driver for years for several different companies.

The slayings haunted the community for years and Harrison said he was concerned about his client getting a fair trial.

"It's going to be difficult to find a jury that's not already aware of the facts," he said. "I might have to ask that it be moved to another venue to get a fair trial. A lot of emotions are flying."

Hawlett had two school-age brothers at the time of her death and Roberts said the whole family slept in the same bed for a time after the slayings out of fear. She still remembers her last conversation with her daughter, who called to see if Beasley could spend the night after the party, which was for Beasley's birthday.

"Last words out of her lips were, 'mama, I love you,'" said Roberts. "Last words out of my mouth to her were, 'I love you.'"

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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French investigators set to examine black box data from Ethiopia crash

FILE PHOTO: Men unload a case containing the black boxes from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 outside the headquarters of France's BEA air accident investigation agency in Le Bourget
Men unload a case containing the black boxes from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 outside the headquarters of France's BEA air accident investigation agency in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

March 15, 2019

By David Shepardson, Richard Lough and Aaron Maasho

WASHINGTON/PARIS/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – French investigators on Friday will begin analyzing data from the black boxes of the Boeing 737 Max plane that crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa killing 157 people, the second such calamity involving the aircraft since October.

Experts will be looking for any links between Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash and the October crash of a 737 Max operated by Lion Air in Indonesia that killed 189 people. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Boeing MAX jets in service because of similarities between the two crashes.

Boeing said it had paused deliveries of its fastest-selling 737 MAX aircraft built at its factory near Seattle, but continues to produce the single-aisle version of the jet at full speed while dealing with the worldwide fleet’s grounding.

Possible links between the accidents have rocked the aviation industry, scared passengers, and left the world’s biggest planemaker scrambling to prove the safety of a money-spinning model intended to be the standard for decades.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders were handed over to France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) on Thursday. Technical analysis would begin on Friday and the first conclusions could take several days.

U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday the 737 Max fleet would be grounded for weeks if not longer until a software upgrade could be tested and installed.

Boeing has said it would roll out the software improvement “across the 737 MAX fleet in the coming weeks.”

The captain of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 requested permission to return to Addis Ababa airport three minutes after takeoff as it accelerated to abnormal speed, the New York Times reported.

All contact between air controllers and Flight 302 to Nairobi was lost five minutes after it took off, a person who reviewed air traffic communications told the newspaper.

Within a minute of the flight’s departure, Captain Yared Getachew reported a “flight control” problem as the aircraft was well below the minimum safe height during a climb, the Times reported, citing the person.

After being cleared by the control room to turn back, Flight 302 climbed to an unusually high altitude and disappeared from radar over a restricted military zone, the person added.

Relatives of the dead stormed out of a meeting with Ethiopian Airlines on Thursday, decrying a lack of transparency, while others made the painful trip to the crash scene.

“I can’t find you! Where are you?” said one Ethiopian woman, draped in traditional white mourning shawl, as she held a framed portrait of her brother in the charred and debris-strewn field.

Nations around the world, including an initially reluctant United States, have suspended the 371 MAX models in operation, though airlines are largely coping by switching flights to other planes in their fleets.

Nearly 5,000 MAXs are on order, meaning the financial implications are huge for the industry.

“We continue to build 737 MAX airplanes while assessing how the situation, including potential capacity constraints, will impact our production system,” Boeing spokesman Chaz Bickers said.

Boeing would maintain its production rate of 52 aircraft per month, of which the MAX, its newest version, represents the major share. However, Boeing declined to break out exact numbers.

CONNECTION TO INDONESIA CRASH?

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cited satellite data and evidence from the scene that indicated some similarities and “the possibility of a shared cause” with October’s crash in Indonesia.

The head of the Asian nation’s transport safety committee said the report into the Lion Air crash would be speeded up so it could be released in July to August, months earlier than its original timeframe.

Though it maintains the planes are safe, Boeing has supported the FAA move. Its stock is down about 11 percent since the crash, wiping more than $26 billion off its market value. It fell 1 percent on Thursday.

U.S. and Canadian carriers wrestled with customer calls and flight cancellations and Southwest Airlines Co and American Airlines Group Inc, the largest U.S. operators of the 737 MAX, said they had started flying empty MAX aircraft to be parked elsewhere during the ban.

U.S. President Donald Trump, an aviation enthusiast with deep ties to Boeing, said he hoped the suspensions would be short. “They have to figure it out fast,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

A software fix for the 737 MAX that Boeing has been working on since the Lion Air crash in October will take months to complete, the FAA said on Wednesday.

In what may presage a raft of claims, Norwegian Air has said it will seek compensation from Boeing for costs and lost revenue after grounding its fleet of 737 MAX.

Airline Garuda Indonesia said there was a possibility it would cancel its 20-strong order of 737 MAXs, while Malaysia Airlines said it was reviewing an order for 25 of the aircraft.

Under international rules, Ethiopians are leading the investigation but France’s BEA will conduct black box analysis as an adviser. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was also sending three investigators to assist.

The cause of the Indonesian crash is still being investigated. A November preliminary report, before the retrieval of the cockpit voice recorder, focused on maintenance and training and the response of a Boeing anti-stall system to a recently replaced sensor, but gave no reason for the crash.

(For an interactive graphic on ‘Ethiopian Airlines crash’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2ChBW5M)

(Reporting by Richard Lough, Tim Hepher and John Irish in Paris, Duncan Miriri and Aaron Masho in Addis Ababa, Jeff Mason and David Shepardson in Washington, Omar Mohammed and Maggie Fick in Nairobi; Danilo Masoni in Milan, and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, Allison Lampert in Montreal; Writing by Stephen Coates; Editing by Neil Fullick)

Source: OANN

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2 killed in military helicopter crash in Algeria

The Algerian defense ministry says a military helicopter crashed overnight in a remote area of the northwestern province of Tiaret, killing the two officers on board.

The helicopter that crashed in Rechaiga, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers, was on a "night mission of reconnaissance", the ministry said Thursday without providing details.

An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the crash.

Source: Fox News World

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Mick Jagger ‘in great health’ after heart valve procedure: Billboard

FILE PHOTO: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones performs during a concert of their
FILE PHOTO: Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones performs during a concert of their "No Filter" European tour at the Orange Velodrome stadium in Marseille, France, June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier/File Photo

April 5, 2019

(Reuters) – Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger underwent a heart valve replacement procedure and is recovering “in great health,” according to a report in Billboard magazine.

Doctors were able to access the valve through his femoral artery and were monitoring the 75-year-old singer for any complications, Billboard said in a report that was posted on Thursday and cited unnamed sources.

The procedure, known as transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, is an increasingly widely-used alternative to surgical valve replacement that requires the chest to be opened. TAVR typically allows for shorter hospital stays and quicker recovery times.

Representatives for Jagger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jagger had announced on Twitter on Sunday that the band was postponing a tour of the United States and Canada to give him time to recover from unspecified medical treatment.

“I’m devastated for having to postpone the tour but I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can,” Jagger said at the time.

Originally slated to begin in April, the tour is now expected to begin in July, Billboard said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Source: OANN

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attends the funeral service for murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland April 24, 2019. Brian Lawless/Pool via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday he had turned down an invitation to a state dinner which will be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in June.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honor a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

He said maintaining the relationship with the United States did not require “the pomp and ceremony of a state visit” and he said he would welcome a meeting with Trump “to discuss all matters of interest.”

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

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Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli
Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli, Libya April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s U.N.-recognized government has budgeted up to 2 billion dinars ($1.43 billion) to cover costs of a three-week-old war for control of the capital, such as treatment for the wounded, to be funded without new borrowing, the economy minister said.

Ali Abdulaziz Issawi suggested the government hoped for business to continue more or less as usual despite the assault on Tripoli, in the country’s northwest, by forces tied to a parallel administration based in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Once Africa’s third largest producer of oil, Libya has been riven by factional conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country now broadly split between eastern-based forces under Khalifa Haftar and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, in the west, under Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Still, with Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces unable so far to pierce defenses in Tripoli’s southern suburbs, normal life and business activities continue in much of the capital and western coastal towns.

Issawi, in an interview with Reuters in his Tripoli office, also said Libya’s commercial ports and wheat imports were still functioning normally, although some roads have been blocked.

He said the Serraj government estimates it will spend up to 2 billion dinars extra on medical treatment for wounded, aid for displaced people and other “emergency” war costs.

He said this was not military spending but analysts believe that the sum will also cover expenditures such as pay for allied armed groups or food for fighters.

“We could actually spend less,” he added, in comments that gave the first insight into the economic impact of the fighting.

Issawi said the Tripoli government, which controls little territory beyond the greater capital region, would not incur new debt to fund the war costs, sticking to a plan to post a 2019 budget without a deficit.

Tripoli derives revenue largely from oil and natural gas production, interest-free loans from local banks to the central bank, and a 183 percent surcharge on foreign exchange transactions conducted at official rates.

But with centralized tax collection greatly diminished, public debt has piled up – to 68 billion dinars in the west, including unpaid state obligations such as social insurance.

Some analysts expect Serraj’s government will be forced to raise new debt if the war for control of Tripoli drags on.

With much of Libya dominated by armed factions that also act as security forces, the public wage bill for both the western and eastern administrations has soared as fighters have been made public employees in efforts to buy their loyalty.

The east has sold bonds worth 35 billion dinars outside the official financial system as the Tripoli central bank does not fund the parallel government apart from some wages.

Despite its limited reach, the Tripoli government still runs an annual budget of around 46.8 billion dinars, mainly for public salaries and fuel subsidies.

“This year we cannot finance via debt…we will not borrow (by agreement with the central bank),” Issawi said.

According to International Monetary Fund data, Libya’s central government debt-to-GDP ratio is 143 percent, making it one of the most heavily indebted in the world on that measure.

Issawi declined to say what parts of the budget would be trimmed to support the extra outlay for war costs.

However, with some 70 percent of the budget allocated to public wages, fuel subsidies and other welfare benefits, a portion devoted to infrastructure is most likely to be axed.

Widespread lawlessness has meant there have been no major infrastructural projects since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi, leaving schools, hospitals and roads in acute need of restoration.

FOREX SURCHARGE

Issawi said the government planned to raise as much as 30 billion dinars by the end of 2019 from hard currency deals after imposing in September a 183 percent surcharge on commercial and private transactions done on the official rate of 1.4 to the U.S. dollar. That fee has effectively devalued the official rate to 3.9, much closer to the black market equivalent.

Some 17 billion dinars have been raised since then, with hard currency allocated for import credit letters now issued without delays, Issawi said. The forex fee has helped the government forecast a budget in the black for 2019.

Despite the narrowing spread between the two rates, the black market continues to thrive. Dozens of traders remained at their favorite spot behind the central bank headquarters in Tripoli when Reuters reporters visited it last week.

But traders said it could take time for the Serraj government to register the extra forex receipts as official banking channels were taking up to six months to approve import financing, keeping the black market in play for dealers.

Issawi said authorities planned to lower the forex fee from 183 percent, without saying when. The black market rate has dropped from 6 to around 4.1 since September but it has hardly moved of late as demand for black market cash remains high.

The Tripoli government has stopped subsidizing food and bread, which used to be cheaper than drinking water in Libya. Wheat imports are now being arranged by private traders and there are surplus stocks of flour at the moment, Issawi said.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing in Tripoli with additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., threatened possible jail time for White House officials refusing to comply with subpoenas to testify before the House Oversight Committee.

Connolly, a member of the House panel, made his comments during an interview on CNN on Thursday. He said that “if a subpoena is issued and you’re told you must testify, we will back that up.”

He added: “And we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it’s backed up — whether that’s a contempt citation, whether that’s going to court and getting that citation enforced, whether it’s fines, whether it’s possible incarceration.”

“We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government.”

His comments came after three officials have refused to comply with congressional requests to testify, CNN noted.

Trump told The Washington Post that his staff should not testify on Capitol Hill, explaining that the White House cooperated fully with special counsel Robert Mueller and “there is no reason to go any further, especially in Congress where it’s very partisan.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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“Outdated laws” need fixing to deal with the surge in illegal immigrant families crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, a top Border Patrol official said Friday.

Migrant families face no consequences if apprehended trying to cross the border illegally under present law, Border Patrol chief of Operations Brian Hastings claimed during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“We need a change in the current outdated laws that we’re dealing with for this current demographic and this crisis that we have,” he said.

Hastings said as of Thursday there have been 440,000 apprehensions along the southwest border. There were 396,000 apprehensions all of last year.

SOUTHERN BORDER AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ AFTER MORE THAN 76,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TRIED CROSSING IN FEBRUARY, OFFICIALS SAY

And those numbers continue to rise, he said.

Historically 70 to 90 percent of apprehensions at the border were quickly returned to Mexico, Hastings said.

Now, 83 percent of those apprehended have come from the Central American northern triangle which includes Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and of those 63 percent are “family units” and children who cannot be returned, he said.

“There are no consequences that we can apply to this group currently,” Hastings said. “We’re overwhelmed. If you look at agents there doing a tremendous job trying to deal with the flow.”

The law dictates children have to be released after 20 days of detention.

FLORIDA SHERIFF ON BORDER CRISIS AFTER MAJOR DRUG BUST: ‘IT MAKES ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says that has forced immigration officials to release entire families because “you don’t want to separate families.”

Recently, he said he is drafting legislation that would allow children to be detained for more than 20 days.

Hastings said agents are frustrated with the situation but are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

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“Up to 40 percent of our agents are processing at any given time,” he said. “That should say that in and of itself is pulling from those border security resources.”

Source: Fox News National

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