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Privatbank case interference would hurt Ukraine’s credit rating: Moody’s

Logo of PrivatBank, the Ukraine's biggest lender, is seen on a bank's branch in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Logo of PrivatBank, the Ukraine's biggest lender, is seen on a bank's branch in Kiev, Ukraine April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

April 24, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Ukraine’s credit profile would be badly damaged, Moody’s warned on Wednesday, if the country’s new president interfered in an acrimonious legal battle over the 2016 nationalization of the country’s biggest lender Privatbank.

Moody’s said the banking sector changes, including the Privatbank move, had been one of the biggest economic reform successes of the last five years.

“Any threat to that progress – such as the potential that the new president would interfere in favor of (former owner) Igor Kolomoysky’s appeal of the Privatbank nationalization in local courts – would constitute a serious setback to the reform agenda,” Moody’s said.

“While not our base case as we attach a low probability to such a scenario, it would have a material adverse impact on Ukraine’s credit profile if it were to materialize.”

(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Tom Wilson)

Source: OANN

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Netroots make it rain for Bernie: $6M in one day


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On the roster: Netroots make it rain for Bernie: $6M in one day - I’ll Tell You What: Off topic - Trump campaign’s new look is corporate, complex - Bombshell testimony in N.C. House race inquest - ‘What can you do?’

NETROOTS MAKE IT RAIN FOR BERNIE: $6M IN ONE DAY
Fox News: “Sen. Bernie Sanders has raised nearly $6 million since launching his 2020 bid for the White House -- a day ago. The independent senator from Vermont’s presidential campaign announced Wednesday morning that they received an eye-popping $5.9 million in contributions in the 24 hours since 7 a.m. Tuesday, when Sanders officially announced his candidacy. The campaign touted that 223,047 individuals made contributions, averaging nearly $27 per person just like during his 2016 bid. The haul was the product of an aggressive fundraising push by the Sanders campaign, with emails and texts asking for contributions late into Tuesday evening. One email, hitting inboxes around 9 p.m. ET, pointed out that ‘as the clock ticks toward midnight, we’re pretty close to reaching a pair of milestones we frankly didn’t think would be possible on day one.’ The large fundraising haul is more than double the $1.5 million Sen. Kamala Harris of California … raised last month…”

Could Klobuchar outdo Schultz? - WaPo: “Former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz appears to believe he could perform well in a presidential race with voters turned off by President Trump and those fearful that the Democratic Party is moving too far left. … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) might be able to change those numbers. While Schultz believes he has ideas and solutions to the problems concerning moderate voters, Klobuchar has actually been able to communicate them when asked, in addition to having a policy record on many of these topics, winning her support from both sides of the aisle. During a CNN town hall Monday, she put some meat on the bones of ideas that are popular — or at least of interest — to left-leaning voters. … Schultz did not fare as well when asked to address similar issues at his town hall and has not done much to answer lingering questions since.”

Beto as beta? - AP: “Beto O’Rourke said Tuesday that he hasn’t ruled out being a 2020 vice presidential candidate — even as he plans to decide in the next 10 days if he’ll seek the presidency. Answering a question in Spanish about the possibility of being another candidate’s running mate, the Democratic former Texas congressman answered in Spanish: ‘I’m going to consider every way to serve this country. And, yes, that will include anything.’ … He said in English that he may yet opt to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Republican whip, in 2020. … Advisers to former Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a White House run of his own, said in December that they’d approached O’Rourke’s camp about his being a vice presidential candidate. O’Rourke said then that he’d not spoken to Biden, and his camp hasn’t dismissed the idea since.”

Tim Ryan warns party perceived as ‘hostile to business’ - Fox News: “Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who is considering a 2020 presidential run, said Wednesday that his party has to be ‘very careful’ not to appear too anti-business as it tries to win back the White House. ‘I think we’ve got to be very careful. We come off sometimes as hostile to business,’ the Ohio congressman lamented as he spoke with Fox News and two New Hampshire news organizations on Wednesday. … Ryan, who raised his national profile with an unsuccessful leadership challenge against Nancy Pelosi in 2016, said Wednesday he’s ‘getting close’ to making his own decision on whether to run for president. … Ryan spoke during a three-day swing through the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire. The trip is full of private meetings with leading Democratic state and local lawmakers, rainmakers and union leaders.”

Infighting continues over location of 2020 Democratic convention - AP: “Leaders in three major cities are in a last-minute scramble to win the 2020 Democratic National Convention, an event that could funnel millions of dollars into the local economy and put them at the center of the political world for one week next summer. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez is choosing among Houston, Miami and Milwaukee. In recent weeks, some Democrats have privately suggested Milwaukee would get the nod… But since then, a fierce debate has unfolded behind the scenes… [Perez is] insisting that each finalist still has a legitimate chance to win and that he would decide by the end of February. Perez has promised a convention that showcases the nominee and gives the Democratic ticket an opportunity to unify the party after what’s expected to be a bruising, wide-open primary fight.” 

THE RULEBOOK: TWO IF BY SEA
“When a nation has become so powerful by sea that it can protect its dock-yards by its fleets, this supersedes the necessity of garrisons for that purpose…” – Alexander HamiltonFederalist No. 24

TIME OUT: THE ABSTRACT IN REFLECTIONS
NatGeo: “[Photographer Jodi Cobb’s] mission was to document [Venice’s] vulnerability to water—the threat of flooding and how the Venetians were trying to prevent it. [Cobb] made a few photographs of the reflections, but [she] was there to investigate the only unknown: Would Venice vanish underwater? Those reflections held no clues. … The reflections in the canals inexplicably enticed [her]. [Cobb] often stopped to photograph them, confounding [her] young Italian assistant who knew the magazine did not publish abstract images and thought [she] was just wasting time. … When the assignment was over, [Cobb] didn’t show those reflection pictures to anyone. … Five years later [she] found them … [and as she] began to edit, strange creatures emerged from the depths of the images: bizarre mythical beasts, cartoon characters, carnival masks, snakes, and gargoyles. They had been there all along, waiting for my imagination to bring them to life.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval:
 41.8 percent
Average disapproval: 54.4 percent
Net Score: -12.6 points
Change from one week ago: up 0.8 points 
[Average includes: Fox News: 46% approve - 52% disapprove; Gallup: 44% approve - 52% unapproved; CNN: 42% approve - 54% disapproval; IBD: 39% approve - 57% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 57% disapprove.]

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT: OFF TOPIC
This week, Dana Perino and Chris Stirewalt discuss relatable moments on the campaign trail, the importance of civics and expensive naps. Plus, Dana goes through the mailbag and Chris answers trivia. LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE HERE

TRUMP CAMPAIGN’S NEW LOOK IS CORPORATE, COMPLEX  
Politico: “President Donald Trump is assembling a sprawling, corporate-style reelection campaign with 10 divisions reporting to a single senior adviser, campaign manager Brad Parscale — a top-down structure that represents everything Trump’s improvisational 2016 effort was not. … The campaign has hired more than 30 full-time staffers so far and has begun building out a surrogate network devoted exclusively to putting pro-Trump talking heads on TV and radio and in newspaper op-eds — a move that reflects Trump’s fixation with how he’s portrayed in the media. … The setup has the hallmarks of a more traditional campaign associated with a president running for reelection. But coming from this ad-lib president — whose 2016 effort was wracked by constant infighting that spilled into the press, no apparent organizational structure, and unclear lines of authority — it marks a major departure from business as usual.

Hogan: Trump looks ‘pretty weak’ for 2020 - CBS News: “Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan says that while President Trump is likely to fend off a GOP primary challenger, he may be vulnerable in the general election against the eventual Democratic nominee. ‘The issue I'm concerned about is he has a very low re-elect number, I think in the 30s, high 30s, low 40s,’ Hogan said of Mr. Trump's poll numbers in an exclusive interview with CBS News Tuesday. ‘So the chance of him losing a general election are pretty good. I'm not saying he couldn't win but he's pretty weak in the general election.’ If the president's approval ratings continue to dip heading into the campaign cycle, Hogan said the Republican Party will need to consider what his potential defeat next November could mean for GOP office holders across the country. ”

‘TOM WHO?’: HOUSE DEMS BUCK STEYER’S IMPEACHMENT DRIVE
Politico: “House Democrats are rallying behind Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler as he faces growing pressure from the left flank to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Driving the campaign is billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer, who is spearheading a $40 million campaign to push key House Democratic chairs investigating Trump and his administration to begin holding impeachment hearings. Steyer’s Need to Impeach PAC held a town hall in Nadler’s Manhattan district Tuesday evening, and the group is running a 30-second television ad powered by a six-figure digital buy encouraging Nadler’s constituents to press him to back immediate impeachment…. When asked about Steyer’s efforts targeting Nadler, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New York Democrat and Judiciary Committee member who also has found himself under scrutiny from the left, quipped: ‘Tom who?’”

BOMBSHELL TESTIMONY IN N.C. HOUSE RACE INQUEST 
Raleigh News & Observer: “Contradicting his father, the son of Republican Mark Harris testified Wednesday that he told his father as early as 2017 he had concerns about a political operative hired to run an absentee ballot campaign in Bladen County. The testimony from John Harris contradicted suggestions by Harris and his campaign that they’d seen no red flags about McCrae Dowless, who is now at the center of allegations into voting irregularities in the 9th Congressional District. John Harris’s often dramatic testimony came on the third day of a hearing by North Carolina’s State Board of Elections that could decide the nation’s last unresolved congressional race and has drawn national attention. Mark Harris, sitting next to his wife, began crying as he watched his son’s testimony.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Tim Carney: ‘The one trait that predicts Trump fever’ - Politico 

Which Republican senators are for, or against, Trump’s national emergency declaration - WaPo

Michael Cohen prison date pushed back to May 6 Fox News

Trump backs away from March 1 deadline for China tariffs - WSJ

Marc Short heads back to the White House, this time as Pence's chief of staff Politico

Justice Clarence Thomas calls for SupCo to reconsider case that shields reporters - NYT

AUDIBLE: MAYBE EVEN A CUP OF COFFEE  
“I would say I'm being approached from a lot of different people. And I guess the best way to put it is I haven't thrown them out of my office.” – Gov. Larry Hogan when asked if he is thinking about running for president by CBS News

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“I do not understand your polling methodology and my concern is that you don't either. The polls you use have never successfully predict[ed] any election in my memory. I admit I don't know their polling pool but [I] suspect that the criteria is they must be breathing and most likely never held a paying job. Polling anybody but likely voters are of no practical use. There are polling organizations that have good predictive records but they seem to be excluded from you list.” – Paul Hill, New Bern, N.C.

[Ed. note: We don’t want to be repetitive, but we get so many letters about polling from readers that from time to time we like to talk a little about what we’re doing and why. First, we believe that in the long term it’s more useful to focus on polling averages than individual polls. We’re keenly interested in the findings beneath the surface on individual polls, but to track a race, or for now, the president’s job approval, the average is more useful. We set some pretty high standards for the polls that we use for our average, too. The surveys have to be 1) non-partisan, 2) conducted by live interviewers using a representative mix of cellular and landline numbers, 3) have a sample of sufficient size to be representative and 4) have been conducted over an appropriate period of time to capture a single snapshot of voter attitudes. At this point so far from an election it’s too soon to talk about who will be a likely voter. That’s only germane once the candidates and issues are set since the first choice many Americans is whether to participate or not. I’m not sure which surveys you mean, but I know that several of the most predictive pollsters from 2016 are included in our current average. Most of all, I would encourage you to not put too much stock in polling. It’s a useful snapshot of a moment in time and can help us see which way voters are moving and, ideally, what’s driving those moves. But they are not oracles that predict the future.]     

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

‘WHAT CAN YOU DO?’
The [Adelaide, Australia] Advertiser: “It can get boring on test flights. Hours spent quietly winging it from point A to point B with no other purpose than testing out a new engine. But then inspiration strikes. For one pilot, that inspiration was to use the Mid North as his own personal canvas to voice how boring test flights can get. Written in letters dozens of kilometers long, the pilot spelt out the words ‘I’m bored’ during a return flight from just north of Port Broughton. The pilot, who is understood to be a recently qualified instructor at Flight Training Adelaide, left Parafield Airport in a single propeller Diamond Star plane at 8.53am on Tuesday, taking a circuitous route north. … Flight Training Adelaide director Pine Pienaar said the pilot’s actions were not condoned and that ‘apparently he got bored.’ ‘Young instructors, what can you do?’ Mr Pienaar said.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Hillaryism embodies the essence of modern liberalism. Having reached the limits of a welfare state grown increasingly sclerotic, bureaucratic and dysfunctional, the mission of modern liberalism is to patch the fraying safety net with yet more programs and entitlements.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on June 23, 2016.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Source: Fox News Politics

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How some in the media embraced Jussie Smollett's discredited tale

The Chicago police superintendent made no effort to hide his fury as he denounced Jussie Smollett for "despicable" conduct in falsely claiming to be the victim of a racist and homophobic assault.

He also had a few choice words for the media for overplaying the melodrama.

"I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention," Eddie Johnson said.

It still seems incredible that a star of the Fox show "Empire" would blow up his career and traumatize his city for what the cops say was an effort to force his bosses to give him a raise. And it left his defenders scrambling for something to say.

Johnson was extremely forceful at a televised news conference, saying he had to divert precious resources to investigate what was billed as a hate crime and turned out to be a hateful hoax.

"Why would anyone — especially an African-American man — use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?" Johnson asked. "How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?"

And it was a hoax with a political twist since Smollett claimed his faux attackers — two Nigerian brothers he had hired — had shouted that this is "MAGA country." This fueled a corrosive narrative, which some journalists and commentators were way too quick to believe, that Trump supporters were roaming the streets with a rope, looking to beat up a prominent gay black man.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT RETURNS TO 'EMPIRE' SET AFTER ARREST OVER ALLEGED STAGED ATTACK

Indeed, the president, who once called the supposed attack "horrible," tweeted about the smearing of his Make America Great Again followers. "What about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!?"

So many things didn't smell right from the beginning. But journalists had little choice but to report the chilling charges being made by a television actor, especially with Chicago police saying they were seriously investigating the matter as a possible hate crime.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES

Most news organizations, in my view, acted with restraint in attributing the allegations to Smollett — and comments to the cops — after TMZ broke the story. And as red flags emerged — such as why Smollett delayed in calling the police and was reluctant to turn over his phone — those were reported as well.

But some journalists and pundits were quick to use the supposed incident to score political points.

Washington Post Global Opinion Editor Karen Attiah tweeted:

"Regarding the heinous attack on @JussieSmollett, yet another reminder that  Trump’s ascendance and the resulting climate of hate has meant that lives have been increasingly at stake since 2015."

DAN GAINOR: SMOLLETT GOT LOTS OF OXYGEN FROM CNN, OTHER NEWS OUTLETS -- NO WONDER PEOPLE DON'T TRUST THE PRESS

Buzzfeed writer Kevin Fallon tweeted: "Anyone who thinks supporting You Know Who isn't tantamount to providing artillery for weaponized bigotry needs to take a hard look in the mirror."

Fallon did do a followup post: "I deleted previous inaccurate tweets as more reports about Jussie Smollett come out. What a despicable act if updates are true: exploiting & amplifying the hate, division, & politicization; abusing media & police resources; and making it all the harder for victims to report."

Don Lemon said he called Smollett every day to see how he was doing. And the CNN host didn't exactly condemn him.

"If Jussie's story isn't true," he told viewers, "he squandered the goodwill of a whole lot of people. He even lied to a lot of people if it's not true, including me, and that's not cool."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Not cool doesn't begin to describe it.

What's also not cool are the journalists who not only rushed to judgment but rushed to use the supposed beating against Trump. In fact, there's been a whole lot of rushing to judgment lately, and precious little in the way of soul-searching.

Eddie Johnson called on Jussie Smollett to apologize. Some in the media should take that advice as well.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Feds charge Georgia woman with supporting cyber caliphate

Federal prosecutors in New York have charged a 20-year-old Georgia woman with conspiring to support the Islamic State.

Kim Anh Vo was arrested Tuesday and scheduled to appear in federal court in Augusta on charges of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

It was not immediately clear whether she had a defense attorney.

Authorities said Vo joined an online group called the United Cyber Caliphate that pledged allegiance to Islamic State Group and spread propaganda on its behalf.

Prosecutors said Vo recruited members to the group to assist in hacking efforts.

They said the group published so-called "kill lists" containing the names of American soldiers and State Department officials.

One list included the names and address of more than 3,600 people in the New York City area.

Source: Fox News National

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The Collapse of Western Civilization

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Italy seizes rescue ship, permits migrants to land in Italy

A humanitarian rescue ship carrying 48 migrants entered the port of Lampedusa, where they were being allowed to disembark Tuesday evening despite an earlier refusal by Italy's hard-line interior minister.

The boat was allowed to enter the port after Sicilian prosecutors ordered it seized, ending the latest standoff with Italy's populist government, which has closed its ports to rescue ships. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini welcomed the seizure of the Mare Jonio, saying "now in Italy there is a government that defends the borders and ensures respect for the law, most of all for human traffickers. Whoever errs pays."

As the boat approached the pier, the migrants on board, all males and mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, yelled "Freedom, freedom." The migrants, including a dozen minors, had been rescued Monday off the coast of Libya by the Italian aid group Mediterranea Saving Humans.

The Mare Jonio had sailed earlier to Italy's southernmost island Lampedusa, where it was flanked by Italian coast guard and finance police boats.

The mayor of Lampedusa challenged Salvini's assertion that Italian ports are closed. Toto Martello said that more than 3,000 migrants arrived in Lampedusa last year on smuggler's boats.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump Extends China Tariff Deadline, Cites Progress in Talks

President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would delay an increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods thanks to “productive” trade talks and that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet to seal a deal if progress continued.

The announcement was the clearest sign yet that China and the United States are closing in on a deal to end a months-long trade war that has slowed global growth and disrupted markets.

Trump had planned to raise tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States if an agreement between the world’s two largest economies were not reached by Friday.

After a week of talks that extended into the weekend, Trump said those tariffs would not go up for now. In a tweet, he said progress had been made in divisive areas including intellectual property protection, technology transfers, agriculture, services and currency.

As a result, he said: “I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!”

Mar-a-Lago is the president’s property in Florida, where the two men have met before.

The president did not set a new deadline for the talks to conclude, but he told U.S. state governors gathered at the White House that there could be “very big news over the next week or two” if all went well in the negotiations.

The White House did not provide specific details on the kind of progress that had been made.

The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, told a forum in Beijing on Monday that the talks had made “substantive progress”, providing positive expectations for the stability of bilateral ties and global economic development, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary that the goal of an agreement was getting “closer and closer”, but also warned that negotiations would get more difficult as they approached the final stages.

“The emergence of new uncertainty cannot be ruled out, and the long-term nature, complexity, and difficulty of China-U.S. trade frictions must be clearly recognized,” Xinhua said.

Trump and Xi called a 90-day truce last year to give their advisers time to negotiate a deal. The threat of tariff increases represented significant leverage for the Trump team as Beijing is trying to stabilize China’s cooling economy.

“We can’t be sure whether this constitutes a major cave or success because we don’t know the details of what has been negotiated. But ... agreeing to extend negotiations a few more weeks definitely is in China’s interests,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“At this point, the U.S. has likely gotten all it’s going to get out of China.”

J.P. Morgan Asset Management market strategist Tai Hui said the move suggested both sides wanted a settlement of the dispute and added that further tariff escalation would have added to concerns about the U.S. growth outlook.

Markets, which have been sensitive to the dispute as it has slowed global growth, and some U.S. trade associations cheered Trump’s move.

U.S. equity index futures opened higher on Sunday evening as trading kicked off for the week. S&P 500 e-mini futures ticked higher after Trump’s tweets on trade, suggesting Wall Street would open on positive footing on Monday morning.

Asian shares scaled a five-month high and the Australian dollar, a proxy for China investments, got a 0.4 percent lift from the news. 

Trump inclined to extend China trade deadline

Chinese stocks and the yuan jumped at the start of trade, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index up 2.1 percent, its highest since Aug. 1, and the yuan hit its strongest level against the dollar since July.

Trump leaves on Monday for Vietnam, where he will hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The president, who faces a re-election battle next year, has portrayed his engagement with Kim and forcefulness with China as key successes of his presidency.

ENFORCEMENT STICKING POINT

Trump said on Friday there was a “good chance” a deal would emerge. But his lead trade negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, emphasized then that some major hurdles remained. Lighthizer has been a key voice in pushing China to make structural reforms.

China’s negotiators stayed for the weekend and the two sides discussed the thorny issue of how to enforce a potential trade deal on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the talks. Tariffs and commodities were also on Sunday’s agenda, he said.

Negotiators have been seeking to iron out differences on changes to China’s treatment of state-owned enterprises, subsidies, forced technology transfers and cyber theft.

Washington wants a strong enforcement mechanism to ensure that Chinese reform commitments are followed through to completion, while Beijing has insisted on what it called a “fair and objective” process. Another source briefed on the talks said that enforcement remained a major sticking point as of Saturday.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that both sides were drafting memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade, including subsidies.

Trump said he did not like MOUs because they are short-term, and he wanted a long-term deal. That sparked a back-and-forth with Lighthizer, who argued that MOUs were binding contracts, before saying they would abandon the term altogether going forward.

The source familiar with the talks played down the apparent tension between the top trade negotiator and the president, saying Trump, a former New York businessman, had viewed MOUs from a real estate perspective, while Lighthizer had done so from a trade perspective. There was no daylight between the two men, the source said.

At the White House event with governors on Sunday, Trump said Lighthizer was doing a “fantastic” job.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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A Baha’i advocacy group has expressed concerns over the fate of minority Baha’is at the hands of Yemen’s Houthi rebels ahead of the appeals hearing for one of the community leaders sentenced to death.

The Baha’i International Community said in a statement Friday that the hearing for Hamed bin Haydara, detained in 2013 and sentenced to death last year on espionage and apostasy charges, is due on Tuesday.

The statement quotes Bani Dugal, the Baha’i community representative at the United Nations, as saying the prosecution hasn’t addressed Haydara’s appeal but is instead making “absurd, wide-ranging accusations.”

International rights groups have decried the prosecution of Yemeni Baha’is by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Iran has banned the Baha’i religion, which was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by followers.

Source: Fox News World

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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