An image taken by Israel spacecraft, Beresheet, upon its landing on the moon, obtained by Reuters from Space IL on April 11, 2019. Courtesy Space IL/Handout via REUTERS
April 11, 2019
YEHUD, Israel (Reuters) – The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet reached the moon on Thursday but its planned controlled, or “soft”, landing was unsuccessful, the support team said.
The spacecraft had a number of technical problems during its final descent to the lunar surface, the team said.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Rose family attorney, S. Lee Merritt, left, and Michelle Kenney, center, mother of Antwon Rose II, walk towards members of the media following the closing arguments in the homicide trial of former East Pittsburgh Police officer Michael Rosfeld, Friday, March 22, 2019. at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh. A jury has started deliberating in the homicide trial of Rosfeld, a white former police officer charged with killing Rose, an unarmed black teenager outside Pittsburgh last summer.(Nate Smallwood/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP, Pool)
PITTSBURGH – A jury began deliberating Friday over whether a white former police officer was "judge, jury and executioner" when he shot an unarmed black teenager in the back, as prosecutors claimed, or was justified in using lethal force to stop a fleeing suspect whom he said he perceived as a threat.
Former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld fired on 17-year-old Antwon Rose II last summer outside Pittsburgh in a killing that sparked weeks of unrest.
Rosfeld, 30, shot Rose in the back, arm and side of the face after pulling over an unlicensed taxi that had been used in a drive-by shooting. Rosfeld ordered the driver to the ground, but Rose and another passenger got out and began running away.
Jurors saw video of the fatal confrontation, which showed Rose falling to the ground after being hit.
Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Fodi declared in his closing argument Friday that Rosfeld had acted as "judge, jury and executioner."
Rosfeld could have waited for backup or given chase, Fodi said, adding that teenagers sometimes run from police. "Is it foolish? Yes. Does it deserve death? No. Is it reasonable? Absolutely not," Fodi said. "There was no need to use deadly force."
Rosfeld told the jury he thought Rose or the other passenger had a gun. The defense said the shooting was justified because Rosfeld believed he was in danger and couldn't wait for other officers to get there.
"He's a sitting duck," defense attorney Patrick Thomassey told jurors in his closing, asking them to consider "the standard of what a reasonable police officer would do under the circumstances."
Prosecutors charged Rosfeld with an open count of homicide, meaning the jury can convict him of murder or manslaughter.
The defense asked Judge Alexander Bicket to acquit Rosfeld of all charges, but the judge declined.
"We believe the jury has enough information to arrive at the right conclusion: that Antwon Rose was murdered," the family's attorney, S. Lee Merritt, told The Associated Press in a courthouse hallway. Merritt said "it's pretty obvious" Rose was not a threat to Rosfeld.
Rose had been riding in the front seat of the cab when another occupant in the back, Zaijuan Hester, rolled down a window and shot at two men on the street, hitting one in the abdomen. A few minutes later, Rosfeld spotted their car, which had its rear windshield shot out, and pulled it over.
Hester, 18, pleaded guilty last week to aggravated assault and firearms violations. Hester told a judge that he, not Rose, did the shooting.
At the beginning of the trial's fourth day Friday, a defense expert, retired Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Clifford W. Jobe Jr., returned to the stand and repeated his belief that Rosfeld followed his training when he shot Rose.
Under cross-examination, Jobe agreed with Fodi that a police officer can lie, violate the law or be unreasonable. He also agreed with the prosecutor that, in some circumstances, it is reasonable to refrain from shooting or to disengage from a situation.
But Jobe said that Rosfeld was within his rights to use "deadly force" to stop fleeing suspects he thought had been involved in a shooting.
"What did Michael Rosfeld do wrong on June the 19th?" asked Thomassey, the defense attorney.
"I don't think he did anything wrong. He was following his training," Jobe replied.
A day earlier, Rosfeld testified that he thought Rose or the other passenger had pointed a weapon at him. Neither teen was holding a gun at the time, though two guns were later found in the car.
"It happened very quickly," Rosfeld said. "My intent was to end the threat that was made against me."
Prosecutors say Rosfeld has given inconsistent statements about the shooting, including whether he thought Rose was armed.
A prosecution witness has said that after the shooting, he heard Rosfeld say repeatedly, "I don't know why I shot him. I don't know why I fired." Another prosecution witness said he heard the officer ask, "Why did he do that? Why did he take that out of his pocket?"
In his closing, Fodi said the video evidence shows "there was no threat" to Rosfeld, who he said "squared up" on the taxi "with plenty of time to do something about it."
"We don't shoot first and ask questions later," Fodi said.
But Thomassey said prosecutors did not produce a single witness "to say Michael Rosfeld did not do what he was supposed to do. They knew he was doing it by the book."
One juror, a white woman who had taken copious notes, was dismissed from the panel Friday and replaced with a white man. No reason was given for her dismissal. The jury now consists of seven men and five women. There are three black jurors.
Also Friday, Bicket lifted a gag order he imposed on the parties in the case. Thomassey made the request, saying that while he and prosecutors had abided by the judge's order, the attorney for Rose's family had not. Merritt released a letter to the media this week that Rose's mother wrote to prosecutors urging them to show what a "kind, loving and funny" person her son was.
Italian Interior Minister and Vice Premier Matteo Salvini answers reporters during a media conference at the G7 Interior Ministers meeting in Paris, Friday, April 5, 2019. The world's security challenges are on the top of the agenda of foreign and interior ministers of the Group of Seven countries who are gathering in France. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
MILAN – Italy's hard-line vice premier is meeting with like-minded leaders of European right-wing party as he seeks to form a broad alliance ahead of the European elections next month.
Matteo Salvini of the the anti-migrant League says that the coalition that he is forming with Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Rally, "will be a great event for Europe for the next 30 years."
Salvini is meeting Monday in Milan with leaders of the Danish People's Party, The Finns Party and Alternative for Germany.
Peter Kofod Poulsen, the Danish People's Party's top candidate for the European Parliament elections, said in a statement that the parties are looking to form a new group of parties with common interests after the European-wide elections next month.
BERLIN – Germany is pressing Venezuelan authorities to reverse a decision to take German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle's Spanish-language channel off the air.
Deutsche Welle said Sunday that the channel had been pulled and urged Venezuelan broadcasting authority Conatel to return it to its cable network.
On Monday, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said the Venezuelan decision was "very regrettable" and noted that freedom of the press and opinion "have a high value for this German government."
Conatel did not make any public statement about why it had removed Deutsche Welle's Spanish-language channel from its service.
Germany is one of the countries that have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Last month, the Venezuelan government ordered German ambassador Daniel Kriener to leave the country.
Feb 20, 2019; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Zion Williamson (1) reacts after falling during the first half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
February 21, 2019
By Melissa Fares and Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Nike Inc sneaker worn by a college basketball superstar split in half less than a minute into a highly anticipated game between Duke University and North Carolina, prompting an outcry on social media as the company sought to figure out what caused the malfunction.
Zion Williamson, a 6-foot-7-inch freshman forward for the Duke Blue Devils who is anticipated to be the top 2019 NBA Draft pick, suffered a mild sprain to his right knee because of the incident, according to his coach Mike Krzyzewski.
A closeup video replay showed Williamson slipping and crumpling to the ground, clutching his knee in pain. His left shoe is seen split in half, with part of the sole ripped off the base of the sneaker.
Williamson did not return to play in the match-up, which ended with No. 1-ranked Duke losing 72-88 to the No. 8-ranked Tar Heels team.
“We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery,” Nike said in a statement.
“The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.”
Shares of the sportswear maker were down more than 1 percent in afternoon trading Thursday, a day after the incident, wiping off some $1.46 billion from Nike’s market capitalization since Wednesday’s close.
Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel said in a note he was optimistic “any lasting damage to the company and its shares will prove minimal.”
Williamson was wearing the Nike PG 2.5 basketball shoe when he was injured, Nike confirmed to Reuters in an email.
The line of sneakers, launched in summer of 2018, sells for $95-$105 on Nike’s website.
The shoe received mixed reviews and a rating of 4 out of 5 stars on Nike.com as of Thursday.
Nike is Duke’s exclusive supplier of uniforms, shoes and apparel under a 12-year contract that was extended in 2015 and has had an exclusive deal with the private university since 1992, ESPN reported.
The company’s latest results showed signs of a rebound as it speeds up new product launches and expands partnerships with online retailers. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company has forecast sales growth for 2019 approaching low double digits.
Williamson, who averaged 21.6 points a game, has been tipped as the “next Lebron James” and is expected to be selected first in the NBA Draft this June.
Krzyzewski said it was unclear how long Williamson would be out because of the injury.
Former President Barack Obama, director Spike Lee and star NFL running back Todd Gurley attended the game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the home court of the Blue Devils.
A video from the match posted on Twitter showed Obama sitting courtside, expressing shock and mouthing the words, “his shoe broke!”
The incident lit up social media, with celebrities and some of basketball’s biggest stars expressing shock and dismay.
“Hope young fella is ok!” tweeted LeBron James (@KingJames) on Wednesday. “Literally blew thru his [shoe],” he added, using a shoe emoji.
“Again let’s remember all the money that went into this game…. and these players get none of it,” Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell), a former first-round NBA draft pick and current guard for the Utah Jazz, tweeted on Wednesday. “And now Zion gets hurt… something has to change.”
This is not the first time Nike has faced controversy over the craftsmanship of its sportswear. In 2017, the company faced a backlash when several NBA jerseys worn by basketball stars, including James, ripped apart.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Siddharth Cavale and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bangalore, Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, and Melissa Fares, Amy Tennery and April Joyner in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr and Bernadette Baum)
The sweeping "Green New Deal" proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., could cost as much as $93 trillion, or approximately $600,000 per household, according to a new study co-authored by the former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The sobering and staggering cost estimate came as Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris pointedly declined in an interview broadcast Sunday to put a price tag on the Green New Deal and "Medicare-for-all," saying "it's not about a cost," but rather return on investment. The Green New Deal's botched rollout included the release of an official document by Ocasio-Cortez's office that promised economic security even for those "unwilling to work," and called for the elimination of "farting cows" and air travel.
The unprecedented plan doesn't come cheap, American Action Forum president Douglas Holtz-Eakin and his co-authors wrote in the study.
"The Green New Deal is clearly very expensive," the study concluded. "Its further expansion of the federal government’s role in some of the most basic decisions of daily life, however, would likely have a more lasting and damaging impact than its enormous price tag."
At the same time, "the breadth of its proposals makes it daunting to assess the GND (Green New Deal) using the standard tools of policy analysis," the study stated, noting that "many of the policies proposed in the GND are redundant with other aspects in it, which also complicates a precise analysis, as the interactions are difficult to predict."
Nevertheless, Holtz-Eakin, who previously served as an economic adviser to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, assessed that the resolution's sweeping jobs guarantee would likely run somewhere between $6.8 trillion to $44.6 trillion, or approximately $49,000 to $322,000 per household.
Universal health care would tally roughly $36 trillion, according to the study. That aligns with other figures: According to the nonpartisan Mercatus Center at George Washington University, for example, Ocasio-Cortez's plan for universal Medicare would end up costing more than $30 trillion, even after factoring in the sweeping tax hikes that would offset the expense by only about $2 trillion.
Charles Blahous, a senior strategist at the Mercatus Center and an author of its study, later charged that Ocasio-Cortez had wildly misinterpreted his findings to try to argue that "Medicare-for-all" would save money.
Throwing in the more clearly environmentally-focused Green New Deal initiatives, Holtz-Eakin determined, would drive costs even higher.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaking in the New York City borough of the Bronx borough earlier this month. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen, File)
The cost of a 10-year transition to an exclusively low-carbon electricity grid: $5.4 trillion. Net-zero emissions from the transportation network, to the point that air travel is no longer a necessity: from $1.3 to $2.7 trillion. Guaranteed green housing, including potential building renovations: $1.6 to $4.2 trillion. Food security for every living person in the U.S.: $1.5 billion.
The study acknowledged that some double-counting may have occurred, due to apparent flaws in the Green New Deal resolution introduced by Ocasio-Cortez in Congress earlier this month.
"A costly retrofitting of every structure in the United States seems considerably less environmentally beneficial once the electricity grid is completely transformed to use 100 percent clean energy than it would be if undertaken with today’s energy mix," the study stated. "Such a retrofit would have no impact on emissions. Similarly, the GND promises to ensure that every person has a guaranteed job, a family-sustaining rate of pay, and benefits such as paid leave and paid vacations. If everyone has good pay with good benefits, why is it simultaneously necessary to provide targeted programs for food, housing, and health care?"
In her remarks Sunday, Harris suggested that the return on investment from the Green New Deal would make the project worthwhile, despite a high initial cost.
"One of the things that I admire and respect is, the measurement that is captured in three letters: ROI," Harris told CNN's John King. "What's the return on investment? People in the private sector understand this really well. It's not about a cost. It's about an investment. And then the question should be, is it worth the cost in terms of the investment potential? Are we going to get back more than we put in?"
But, the study found that total savings would pale in comparison to the prohibitive price tag of the sweeping proposal.
Cows have been targeted for potential elimination in the Green New Deal. (iStock, File)
"The GND envisions enough high-speed rail to make air travel unnecessary. We conclude that the rail itself would cost between $1.1 and $2.5 trillion," the study stated. "As a matter of perspective, total 2017 revenue in the airline industry was $175.3 billion, with expenses of $153.9 billion. Fuel expenses were $26.3 billion. It would take decades to pay off the capital investment required for [high-speed rail], and the fuel savings that would presumably be the most important cost difference would only be a fraction of the total investment required."
Separately, on energy, the study found that electricity costs, optimistically, could be expected to increase by 22 percent and that "with an average monthly electric bill in 2017 of $111, the average household could expect around $295 of increased annual expenditures on electricity."
"Total retail revenue in the electric power sector was $390 billion in 2017," the study found. "Generation costs were 59 percent of that, and would go from $230 billion to $387 billion each year in the above scenario, about a $157 billion difference, though if $70.5 billion of annual fuel costs are avoided by 2029 the net annual difference falls to $86.5 billion. That increase (accounting for avoided fuel costs) would drive up total electricity costs by 22 percent."
On Friday, a group of children visiting California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office suggested that cuts to "the military" could pay for the Green New Deal, after Feinstein said that it was impossible to afford the planned legislation as-is. The fiscal-year 2019 budget for the military includes under $700 billion in appropriations -- far less than the $93 trillion estimate from the American Action Forum.
On Monday, protesters from the same group that organized the children's trip -- the Sunrise Movement -- flooded the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and several reportedly were arrested. Democrats recently have complained that McConnell was "rushing" a vote on the Green New Deal resolution.
Meanwhile, the White House has shown signs it's angling for socialism to become the defining issue in the 2020 debate amid Democrats' evolving vows for higher minimum wages and a new array of costly, universal benefits. Even some labor leaders -- who represent typically Democrat-leaning rank-and-file constituents -- have pushed back in recent weeks against the Green New Deal, saying its call for a total economic transformation could lead to widespread poverty.
Aside from the Green New Deal, conservative commentators have argued that most proposed solutions to climate change would do more harm than good, and also have accused climate activists of crying wolf. In 2006, a NASA scientist declared that the world had only 10 years to avert a climate catastrophe -- a deadline that has come and gone.
The left and the media are wondering why Democrats haven’t already started impeachment proceedings against President Trump, evidenced by NBC host Chuck Todd’s grilling of House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (N.J.).
“Some might ask: why haven’t you opened an impeachment inquiry, or in fairness, is that what you’re doing right now?” Todd asked Nadler Sunday on Meet The Press.
“I don’t think we’re doing that, we may get to that, we may not,” Nadler said, adding the Democrats had to “go through all the evidence.”
Todd asked if politics was the reason for the Democrats’ apprehension to put forward articles of impeachment, before asking an extremely political question.
“Do you believe this [results of Mueller’s report] is impeachable?” he asked.
Nadler hesitated a few seconds before responding, “Yes, I do.”
The Democratic party is actually the party of the globalists and has promoted violence and censorship against conservatives and patriots. Alex explains that now is the time to investigate those deep state actors that use the Democrats to gain power.
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis
April 26, 2019
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.
The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.
Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.
The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.
Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.
“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.
“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”
Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.
One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.
The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.
Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.
The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.
A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.
(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
April 26, 2019
LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.
The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.
The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo
April 26, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.
The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.
Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.
But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.
Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.
High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.
It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.
Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.
“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.
The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.
Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.
Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.
Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.
Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.
This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff
April 26, 2019
By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh
(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.
The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.
Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.
Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.
“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.
Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.
“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.
U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.
Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.
Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.
Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.
Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.
Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.
Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.
Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.
Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.
Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.
(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
April 26, 2019
By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan
(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.
Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.
Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.
WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?
The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.
Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”
Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.
HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?
The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.
Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.
The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.
The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.
No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.
Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.
Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.
CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?
No.
Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.
“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.
“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”
PROOF OF WRONGDOING?
In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.
Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”
PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?
Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.
In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.
The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.
WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?
A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)
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