Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Japanese science university professor taught students how to make ecstasy: report

A 61-year-old science college professor in Japan channeled his inner Walter White when he allegedly taught his students how to manufacture ecstasy to “further their knowledge” of pharmaceuticals.

Tatsunori Iwamura, a professor at Matsuyama University in Ehime prefecture, faces up to 10 years in prison for showing his pharmaceutical students to make MDMA – commonly known as ecstasy – as well as “designer drug” 5f-QUPIC, the Kyodo News Agency reported.

Sources told the news agency that Iwamura allegedly instructed his students to make ecstasy in 2013, despite not being licensed to produce the drug for academic purposes.

WRECKAGE OF MISSING JAPAN'S F-35 FIGHTER JET FOUND, PILOT REMAINS MISSING

Japan requires researchers to obtain a license from regional authorities to manufacture illegal drugs for academic purposes. Kyodo reported that Iwamura’s government-issued license had expired.

'BREAKING BAD' TEACHER GOING TO PRISON FOR MAKING METH

Eleven of Iwamura’s former students were suspected of being involved in producing the illegal drugs, the university told Kyodo news. Four of those students, plus an assistant professor, are under investigation by prosecutors.

The drugs they produced have not been found, but traces of other drugs were discovered in the laboratory used by Iwamura and his students.

"We sincerely apologize for causing major concern to students and their parents," said Tatsuya Mizogami, president of the university, in a statement.

He added that the university will take disciplinary action against Iwamura and the assistant professor, who has not been identified.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Iwamura has been conducting research on what are called dangerous drugs in Japan, sources told the Kyodo news agency.

Walter White is the main character in the critically acclaimed TV show "Breaking Bad." White, a mild-mannered chemistry teacher played by Bryan Cranston, turns to a life of drug manufacturing and dealing in a desperate bid to earn money after learning he has terminal cancer.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Red Cross to get armed escorts in violent Mexican city

Red Cross ambulances in the Mexican city of Salamanca will get armed escorts for the most risky calls, after the organization briefly closed over the weekend because of violence.

The government of the north-central state of Guanajuato said Sunday that state or local police will accompany Red Cross ambulances "on the high risk or high-impact calls." That would presumably be calls related to gunshot victims.

In a statement, the Mexican Red Cross said it "is an impartial and neutral institution before all conflicts and its purpose is to relieve human suffering," adding the "#We are not part of the conflict" hashtag.

On Saturday, a man wounded by gunfire was abducted by gunmen from a Red Cross ambulance in Salamanca, which has been plagued by violence between fuel theft gangs due to its gasoline refinery. The Guanajuato state chapter of the first-aid group shuttered operations in the city of 270,000 but later resumed ambulance service.

Earlier this month, a woman with gunshot wounds was executed inside an ambulance in Mexico's Pacific state of Guerrero, and paramedics were reportedly beaten by the perpetrators. In northern Mexico several years ago, private hospitals and ambulances sometimes refused to treat or transport gunshot victims.

Violence in Mexico has worsened in the last year, with homicides running at their highest rate on record.

Last week, in the central state of Puebla, a 78-year-old priest was apparently tortured during a robbery attempt.

The archdiocese of Puebla said in a statement that Rev. Ambrosío Arellano Espinoza had been found with severe burns on his hands and feet. It said the priest was at a hospital in stable but serious condition.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

‘Largest pill seizure in New Jersey’s history’ made by authorities, DA’s office announces

Authorities in New York on Tuesday announced charges against three individuals accused of using the dark web to sell fake Xanax, among other substances, and laundering millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

Law enforcement started looking into the alleged crime following reported “suspicious activity” taking place at ATMs in New York and New Jersey, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance said in a news release.

The investigation led to the indictment of Chester Anderson, 44, Jarrette Codd, 41, and Ronald Maccarty, 51, in connection to the operation of “storefronts on the dark web that sold and shipped hundreds of thousands of counterfeit Xanax tablets and other controlled substances to buyers in 43 states, and laundering $2.3 million in cryptocurrency by using preloaded debit cards and withdrawing cash at ATMs in Manhattan and New Jersey,” according to the DA’s office.

Law enforcement started looking into the alleged crime following reported “suspicious activity” at ATMs in New York and New Jersey, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance said in a news release.

Law enforcement started looking into the alleged crime following reported “suspicious activity” at ATMs in New York and New Jersey, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance said in a news release. (Manhattan District Attorney’s Office)

HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN AGAINST RAPIDLY TAPERING DOWN OPIOIDS FOR PAIN PATIENTS: ‘IT’S A GAME-CHANGER’

Authorities carried out undercover purchases during the investigation and the case yielded a record pill-seizure in New Jersey after the suspects’ properties and vehicles were searched, the news release said.

Included in the seizure were alprazolam tablets, fentanyl-laced heroin, meth, ketamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), among other items, officials said.

“When our office received reports of suspicious activity at ATMs in New York and New Jersey, our talented investigators followed the money, using our state-of-the-art Cyber Lab to uncover a dark web counterfeit pill seller whose $2.3 million operation spanned the U.S.,” Vance said. “Not only is this the first time state prosecutors in New York have taken down a dark web storefront, this takedown represents the largest pill seizure in New Jersey’s history.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

All three suspects were charged in a New York court with conspiracy and money laundering, the news release said. Anderson was also charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance and identity theft, officials said.

“The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is handling the prosecution of the items seized in New Jersey,” according to the news release.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

More U.S. states push ahead with near-bans on abortion for Supreme court challenge

Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) attends Republican State Convention in Grand Forks
FILE PHOTO:Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND) speaks to delegates at the Republican State Convention in Grand Forks, North Dakota, U.S. April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Dan Koeck

April 11, 2019

(Reuters) – North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum signed legislation on Wednesday making it a crime for doctors to perform a second-trimester abortion using instruments like forceps and clamps to remove the fetus from the womb.

The move came the same day that Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature passed one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans – outlawing the procedure if a doctor can detect a heartbeat. The bill now goes to Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who is expected to sign it.

Georgia’s Republican-controlled legislature in March also passed a ban on abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can often occur before a woman even realizes she is pregnant.

Activists on both sides of the issue say such laws, which are commonly blocked by court injunctions, are aimed at getting a case sent to the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservatives hold a 5-4 majority, to challenge Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

The North Dakota bill, which Burgum’s spokesman, Mike Nowatzki, confirmed in an email that the governor signed, followed similar laws in Mississippi and West Virginia.

Known as HB 1546, it outlaws the second-trimester abortion practice known in medical terms as dilation and evacuation, but which the legislation refers to as “human dismemberment.”

Under the North Dakota legislation, doctors performing the procedure would be charged with a felony but the woman having the abortion would not face charges.

Similar legislation exists in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, but is on hold because of litigation, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights group.

Abortion-rights groups challenging such bans argue they are unconstitutional as they obstruct private medical rights.

North Dakota has one abortion provider, the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo. Clinic Director Tammi Kromenaker did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She previously said her clinic would wait for a decision in a case involving similar legislation in Arkansas before deciding on a possible legal challenge to HB 1546.

(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

0 0

Algeria leaders ready to discuss system based on ‘will of the people’

A demonstrator offers a flower to a police officer as teachers and students take part in a protest demanding immediate political change in Algiers,
A demonstrator offers a flower to a police officer as teachers and students take part in a protest demanding immediate political change in Algiers, Algeria March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

March 13, 2019

By Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria’s government on Wednesday declared itself ready for talks with protesters seeking rapid political change, saying it sought a ruling system based on “the will of the people” after opposition groups rejected proposed reforms as inadequate.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday reversed a decision to seek a fifth term in the face of weeks of mass rallies by protesters fed up with authoritarian rule and decades of economic and political stagnation.

But the initiative by Bouteflika, who also delayed elections and said a conference would be held to discuss political changes, has failed to satisfy many Algerians who continue to want power to move to a younger generation with fresh ideas.

“Dialogue is our duty. Our top priority is to bring together all Algerians,” deputy prime minister Ramtane Lamamra told state radio.

“The new system will be based on the will of the people,” he said, adding participants in a conference to write a new constitution would include mainly young people and women.

Earlier, Armed Forces Chief of Staff and deputy defense minister Ahmed Gaed Salah told Ennahar TV the army would preserve Algeria’s security “in all circumstances and conditions”.

Tens of thousands of people from all social classes have demonstrated over the last three weeks against corruption, unemployment and a ruling class dominated by the military and veterans of the 1954-62 independence war against France.

The protests have shaken up a long moribund political scene marked by decades of social and economic malaise and behind-the-scenes power broking by an influential military establishment.

CRITICISM FROM CELEBRATED WAR VETERAN

In an unusual sign of a rift within the political elite, a prominent independence war veteran described Bouteflika’s plan for reform and political transition as a “coup d’etat.”

Former guerrilla fighter Djamila Bouhired said Algeria’s post-independence governments had continued to be subject to what she called France’s tutelage, something she said was illustrated by French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for Bouteflika’s initiative.

“The latest revealing sign of these perverse links of neocolonial domination, the support of the French president for the coup d’etat programmed by his Algerian counterpart is an aggression against the Algerian people…,” she wrote in a letter to El Watan daily.

Young Algerians have no bond with the independence war except through their grandparents. Their priorities are to find jobs and better services that the North African country is failing to provide despite its oil and gas.

In an illustration of the disconnect between the aging Bouteflika and restless young Algerians, the president announced his transition plan in a letter to a nation where people vent frustrations through social media.

“When you read the letter closely, it is very crafty. He says ‘I’m retiring’, but the further you read on, the clearer it becomes that it’s a ruse, that he’s side-stepping and hedging,” said Kader Abderrahim, analyst at Sciences Po university in France.

“It’s about extending his fourth mandate into eternity. It took Algerians only a few hours to realize what was going on and to understand what he was up to.”

The pressure on Bouteflika — who has ruled for 20 years but has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 — is unrelenting.

A mass protest is planned in Algiers for Friday.

On Wednesday, school teachers held a strike in several cities and were joined by other Algerians.

“We want to uproot the system,” said 25-year-old student Messaoud Meki.

(Additional by Sophie Louet in Paris; Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

0 0

Huawei presents flagship smartphone in Paris during Chinese leader’s visit

Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei Consumer Business Group, unveils the new Huawei P30 and P30 Pro smartphones during a launch event in Paris
Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei Consumer Business Group, unveils the new Huawei P30 and P30 Pro smartphones during a launch event in Paris, France, March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

March 26, 2019

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) – Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, presented its new flagship phone in Paris on Tuesday with the hope of making further gains in Europe, a region where its other products could face in-depth scrutiny for security reasons.

Huawei’s P30 Pro, which has four rear cameras – including a so-called “time of flight” camera that helps its artificial intelligence create better exposures – will aim to take on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Apple’s iPhone X.

The phone has a new light sensor that detects yellow rather than green, which Huawei said would significantly boost light absorption to create better results, even in near darkness.

The P30 Pro, Huawei’s P30 premium version, also uses electromagnetism to vibrate the screen to create a speaker when the device is held up to the face, minimizing any sound problems when taking a telephone call, added the company.

The starting prices of the P30 Pro and P30 are due to be released later.

The unveiling of Huawei’s smartphone in Paris coincides with the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the French capital, where President Emmanuel Macron held a meeting along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss climate and trade.

Huawei, which also makes telecoms network equipment, has been under much international scrutiny following U.S. allegations that the Chinese giant’s products could be used by Beijing for spying.

The company has strongly rejected the allegations and earlier this month sued the U.S. government over the issue.

Before his Paris visit, Xi stopped in Monaco, the tiny sovereign enclave on the Mediterranean, to mark the principality’s decision last year to agree a deal with Huawei to develop its 5G network, prompting concerns among European officials that other countries could follow suit.

The European Commission is poised to urge EU countries to share more data to tackle cybersecurity risks related to the next generation of mobile technology, or 5G, but will ignore U.S. calls to ban Huawei, people familiar with the matter said last week.

(Additional reporting by Paul Sandle in LONDON; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

0 0

May might not announce resignation until lawmakers back Brexit deal: FT

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in Parliament in London, Britain
British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in Parliament in London, Britain March 25, 2019, ©UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS

March 27, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Aides to British Prime Minister Theresa May are discussing a timetable for her to resign but could delay the announcement of her intention to quit until after a third vote by parliament on her Brexit plan, the Financial Times said.

“This would avoid the unseemly impression that some Tory MPs, eg Boris (Johnson), were backing the deal for base motives,” the FT’s political editor George Parker said on Twitter.

There would be an understanding that May would announce her departure when or if eurosceptic lawmakers in her Conservative Party back her deal and it clears parliament, he said.

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist