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9th Circuit mulls Trump WH policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico temporarily

Another Trump administration immigration control effort went before the critical eye of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday -- and appears likely to suffer a similar fate as previous government programs that the court's judges have struck down.

Wednesday's case before a three-judge panel examined the legality of the Department of Homeland Security’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), an initiative announced in December to address what the feds called the “dramatically escalating burdens of unauthorized migration, which is causing irreparable harm.”

The idea: for Central American migrants who’ve crossed the U.S. border asking for asylum to be returned to Mexico temporarily. MPP was designed to provide relief to overburdened U.S. detention facilities by targeting people who were unlikely to make successful asylum claims.

Judge Paul Watford took issue with how the migrants have been processed and whether the government was giving them a fair opportunity to express their concerns about returning to Mexico – even if on a temporary basis.

“I don’t understand how that’s not arbitrary and capricious,” Watford said about current protocols which do not demand government border agents ask about fears migrants might have about staying in Mexico.

Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, a Reagan appointee who seemed favorably disposed to the government’s case, asked the lawyer representing migrants held in Mexico why her clients would rather be in detention in the United States than have freedom of movement in Mexico. “We don’t want to be in Mexico. We’d rather be in the United States,” Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU replied.

Outside the courthouse after the hearing, Rabinovitz, who said she was cautiously optimistic for a favorable ruling, went on further to say, “we have... heard of people who are kidnapped and given death threats – didn’t matter – they were returned to Mexico.”

Judge William Fletcher criticized the government’s legal justification for the migrants it's placed in Mexico under existing laws that appear to have given separate classifications for different types of asylum seekers.

“We’ve got dogs and cats who go to the pound but that doesn’t turn a dog into a cat or vice versa,” Fletcher, who was appointed by President Clinton, analogized. President Obama appointed Watford.

BORDER GROUP LEADER INJURED IN NEW MEXICO JAIL FIGHT

Earlier this month, a lower court judge determined the Trump administration's policy violated existing federal law and failed to give adequate protection to migrants who feared for their safety in Mexico.

Judge Richard Seeborg issued a nationwide injunction immediately stopping immigration authorities from placing migrants in Mexico. President Trump blasted the decision, tweeting: “A 9th Circuit Judge just ruled that Mexico is too dangerous for migrants. So unfair to the U.S. OUT OF CONTROL!”

But, several days later, Seeborg’s injunction was stayed temporarily to allow each side to present Wednesday's arguments. That prompted another presidential tweet, “Finally, great news at the Border!”

Over the past couple of years, the 9th Circuit has ruled against the Trump administration’s travel ban and attempt to end protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. It also has ruled in favor of "sanctuary" laws giving protection to illegal immigrants.

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The judges gave the packed third-floor courtroom no guidance on when a decision would be announced. The tenor of the arguments suggested the stay would be lifted but it wasn't clear whether the underlying injunction would be preserved in full or modified in a way that would keep MPP in place under an altered state.

If the judges decide to reinstate the injunction, the government has asked for a one-week delay to file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Mediaset to make decision on pan-European TV project by July 25 board meeting: CEO

Mediaset's Chief Executive Pier Silvio Berlusconi speaks after media conference at the headquarter in Cologno Monzese, near Milan
FILE PHOTO: Mediaset's Chief Executive Pier Silvio Berlusconi speaks after media conference at the headquarter in Cologno Monzese, near Milan, Italy, April 8, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

April 18, 2019

By Giancarlo Navach

COLOGNO MONZESE, Italy (Reuters) – Italy’s Mediaset will make a decision on a possible pan-European free-to-air television alliance by the time of a July 25 board meeting, its chief executive said on Thursday.

The board meeting had already been scheduled to review the broadcaster’s decision not to pay a dividend for 2018.

The broadcaster, owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s holding company Fininvest, has in recent months repeatedly raised the idea of creating a pan-European TV player to fend off competition from established rivals and new entrants.

Speaking to reporters after the group’s annual general meeting, CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi, who is the son of the former premier, said there were several options for Mediaset’s pan-European project.

“Once we have all the elements, we’ll understand how to go about this,” he said.

Most recently, speculation has intensified that Mediaset and German rival ProSiebenSat.1 Media could strike a deal, but the two companies denied last Saturday a press report that they were in merger talks.

Mediaset’s Chief Financial Officer Marco Giordani told the shareholder meeting there were currently no plans to expand in Germany with ProSiebenSat.

Like other European free-to-air broadcasters, Mediaset is suffering competition from internet giants such as Google and Facebook in the advertising market and is struggling to keep up with investments in content production by video-streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

France’s largest private TV broadcaster, TF1 has also been mentioned in the press as a possible partner for Mediaset, though the company said last September it was not discussing a major cross-border deal with its Italian rival.

Thursday’s shareholder meeting approved a loyalty share scheme that rewards longer-term investors with additional votes under an Italian law that is traditionally used by controlling shareholders to strengthen their grip on companies. Fininvest currently owns 44 percent of Mediaset.

Under the new scheme, investors will have two voting rights for each share held for at least 24 straight months.

Mediaset has been embroiled in a legal battle with hostile shareholder Vivendi, the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, since 2016 when Vivendi pulled out of a deal to buy Mediaset’s pay-TV unit.

After the failed pay-TV sale, Vivendi built a stake of 29 percent in Mediaset but was later forced by Italian regulators to transfer most of its voting rights into a trust because of antitrust concerns. Vivendi is also the top shareholder in Telecom Italia.

As Mediaset considers Vivendi’s stake illegitimate, its board rejected requests from both the French group and the trust in which it has transferred most of its stake to vote at Thursday’s shareholder meeting.

Vivendi said in a statement that it could challenge the validity of the decisions approved by the meeting.

(Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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Darkness lingers for Venezuela's most vulnerable

Darkness has yet to lift for 72-year-old Elizabeth Guzman and thousands of her poor neighbors in a forgotten corner of Venezuela's capital that was barely getting by even before the lights went out over a week ago.

As the sun sets each day, Guzman lights a homemade oil lamp and holds it in one hand as she navigates the stairs and narrow passages up to the windowless room that she calls her "little cave."

"I've never see a crisis like this. It's the first time," said Guzman, who is malnourished and frail. "It makes me so sad."

Venezuela's power grid crashed on March 7, throwing almost all of the oil-rich nation's 30 million residents into chaos. Many struggled to find cell phone signals to call loved ones, the Caracas metro ground to a halt, hospital services collapsed, and massive looting was reported across the country.

President Nicolas Maduro blamed the blackouts on a U.S.-led cyberattack targeting the Guri Dam, the main engine of Venezuela's power grid. U.S. officials and Juan Guaido countered that the allegation is absurd and that the socialist government had looted public coffers for years, causing key infrastructure to collapse.

While the power eventually surged back to life across most of Venezuela, however, residents in the hillside Caracas slum of Santa Cruz of the East only say they are losing hope they'll ever have lights again.

As a result of a second explosion at a substation near the slum, manhole covers were blown into the air, flames burst into the night sky, and charred electrical machinery smoldered for days.

Irritated residents have been left to see the darkness as a symbol of their misery.

Guzman, whose health troubles and age prevent her from working as a housekeeper, says she moved to Santa Cruz of the East from a nearby neighborhood last year after her home of 43 years burned in an electrical fire.

Now, each time she lights her oil lamp, she fears a terrifying repeat of the day when she lost nearly everything.

On a recent evening, Guzman held up a candle to illuminate pictures of her two sons and grandchildren.

She had already unplugged her microwave, toaster oven and television in case a surprise power surge sparked another fire.

"I'll sincerely tell you that I have no hope this will ever get fixed," she said, managing to smile. "Never."

Guzman's meager government pension equals $6 a month, which enables her to pay rent equivalent to 66 cents.

But affording food is a daily struggle. Her weight dropped from 143 pounds (65 kilograms) to below 100 pounds (45 kilograms) in the last two years, and she said her doctor diagnosed her as malnourished. She also lives with painful hernias and can't afford pills needed to control her hypertension, causing her to sometimes slip into depression.

As day turned to night, singing poured out from the nearby House of Mercy Church, where fading sunlight had turned the figures of members into silhouettes.

Other residents held up flashlights as two men lugged drums of water up several twisting flights of stairs to a house.

"Do you see how the poor people live?" said Charles Belisario, adding that he and his wife would use the water to bathe and clean.

Belisario, 49, said he's able to survive better than most of his neighbors because his daughter sends money she earns from working in medical research in New Jersey.

In the distance, two modern high rises glowed with lights.

Dilia Rosa Gelis, 74, said she holds firm to her faith, but was struggling with the harsh reality.

Her daughter had gone to bed without eating, which gives her headaches, Gelis said the following morning.

"If God created us, why does he make us suffer?" she wondered aloud, wiping tears from her eyes.

Guzman, like Gelis, also asked hard questions.

She said she had tuned out the political debate over whether political newcomer Guaido has what it takes to oust Maduro.

Instead, she said, she is focused on meeting her basic needs.

"We don't have water. We don't have lights," she said. "How am I supposed to see in this cave where I live? I'm desperate."

___

Follow Scott Smith on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ScottSmithAP

Source: Fox News World

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Russia’s Putin, North Korea’s Kim on track to meet by end of April: Kremlin

A combination of file photos North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin
A combination of file photos shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam March 2, 2019 and Russia's President Vladimir Putin looking on during a joint news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma after their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/Pool/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool

April 22, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’ President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are on track to meet by the end of April, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

Last week the Kremlin said that Kim Jong Un would travel to Russia this month, announcing the first Russia-North Korea summit since Kim came to power in 2011.

(Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva; editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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Emissaries from round world gathering in Christchurch for remembrance

People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch
FILE PHOTO - People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

March 28, 2019

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Representatives of governments from around the world are expected to attend a national remembrance service in New Zealand on Friday for the 50 victims of a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch.

“This is an event that affected New Zealand deeply. But it was our Muslim New Zealanders who were targeted. So rightly so, that would be reflected in the remembrance service,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will be represented at the service, but the full list of the attendees from 59 countries was withheld for security reasons, as the country has been on high alert since the March 15 attack.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the governor general Peter Cosgrove and opposition leader Bill Shorten will be among foreign leaders attending the service, Ardern said.

Heads of state from Pacific countries, including Fiji’s President Jioji Konkrote will also be in attendance, she added.

The service will be held in Christchurch in Hagley Park, where tens of thousands of New Zealanders have gathered since the attack to mourn the deaths. It will be televised live on state television networks.

Britain’s Prince William will visit New Zealand next month to honour the victims, his office said.

The massacre in New Zealand was carried out by a lone gunman at two mosques. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with one murder following the attack and is likely to face more charges when he is presented in court on April 5.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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McConnell vows to be ‘grim reaper’ of socialist Dem proposals

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, known for years by the hardboiled moniker "Cocaine Mitch," told community leaders in his hometown Kentucky on Monday that he wants a new nickname to reflect what he plans to do to a slew of far-left progressive policy proposals: "grim reaper."

McConnell has long framed the upcoming 2020 elections as a referendum on what he has called the "full socialism on display" from prominent Democrat Party members, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and presidential contenders Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Kamala Harris.

On Monday, the longtime incumbent was positioning the Senate as a bulwark to defend capitalism, even in the event President Trump doesn't win re-election in 2020.

"You pass the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, you have fundamentally changed this country, fundamentally changed it into an unproductive place with significant unemployment and huge problems," McConnell told supporters in Owensboro, Kentucky. "I don't want you to think this is just a couple of nutcases running around on the fringe. This is pervasive policy view on the other side."

NYC MAYOR SAYS GREEN NEW DEAL WILL GET RID OF PESKY GLASS SKYSCRAPERS

McConnell added, according to multiple reports: "If I'm still the majority leader of the Senate after next year, none of those things are going to pass the Senate. They won't even be voted on. So think of me as the grim reaper. None of that stuff is going to pass. None of it."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., arrives to speak to members of the media following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., arrives to speak to members of the media following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

McConnell brought Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal resolution to a vote in the Senate in March, and it did not secure a single affirmative vote from Democrats, who charged that the the move was a stunt. McConnell later admitted in an interview with Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the vote was indeed "for show."

But it would be a grave mistake, McConnell warned Monday, to underestimate the threat posted by the "pervasive" rise of socialism.

"We are having a legitimate debate about the virtues of socialism, and I don't want you to think it's just a 28-year-old congresswoman from New York," McConnell said. "This is much broader than that. I've got five colleagues in the Senate, five colleagues running for president, who have signed on to the Green New Deal and Medicare For All."

"Think of me as the grim reaper."

— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

McConnell has also cautioned that Amy Klobuchar, a relative moderate 2020 Democratic contender who has called for a public option instead of universal Medicare, would similarly destroy the private insurance industry and cause major problems for the health care system.

McConnell, who first became a senator in 1985, is up for reelection in 2020, and he formally launched his campaign last week by emphasizing his work on tax cuts and federal judicial confirmations.

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But Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have reportedly sought to recruit a challenger, despite apparent long odds.

Earlier this year, Matt Jones, a Kentucky sports radio personality who has weighed a bid against McConnell, told reporters that he wanted to see a new face in office.

“Somebody in Kentucky has got to step up and do this," Jones said. "And it will be a huge challenge, this guy is almost impossible to beat, but it’s possible."

Last month, a campaign to enlist former figher pilot Amy McGrath to run against McConnell began fundraising.

“There is incredible grassroots energy for Amy McGrath to run against Mitch McConnell,” Ryan Aquilina, who runs the Ditch Mitch project, said at the time. “We had one of our best days ever in terms of fundraising, and that proves in no uncertain terms just how much appetite there is for Amy to run and to defeat Mitch McConnell."

Source: Fox News Politics

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Golf: Women get their day at Augusta but Burk still teeing off

MARTHA BURK CHAIRPERSON OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS ATRALLY IN AUGUSTA
FILE PHOTO: Martha Burk, (R), Chairperson of the National Council of Women's Organizations speaks during a rally near Augusta National golf course where the group is protesting the club's policy of no women members, in Augusta, Georgia on April 12, 2003. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

April 5, 2019

By Steve Keating

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – Women will have their day at Augusta National on Saturday when the golf club, once ground zero in the gender equality battle, hosts the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).

The word historic has been attached to the first ever competitive women’s round at the home of the Masters and the occasion will be given the full treatment, with NBC providing live coverage and Augusta National rolling out the pomp, ceremony and tradition that is its trademark.

The image of 30 women competing at a club which only seven years ago did not have a single female member is being held up as another small victory for equality.

Martha Burk, who put Augusta National’s all-male membership policy under a microscope, will not be celebrating mocking the ANWA as a public relations stunt but the 77-year-old activist says she and her group of protesters will take credit for sparking the little progress that has been made.

“I just don’t have any doubt about that at all if no public pressure or international spotlight had been shined on it thanks to us they would still be doing the same thing and getting away with it,” Burk told Reuters. “I’m sorry I’m just not buying it.

“People are going to say it is just sour grapes because she did not succeed in her crusade back in 2003 but I think what progress we are seeing is a direct result of what we did.”

What Burk did 16 years ago was put unwanted scrutiny on Augusta National Golf Club and its gender discrimination policy.

Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and opened for play in 1933, Augusta National became a sanctuary for some of the world’s most powerful men and for decades remained unmoved by outside forces and events.

It would be nearly 80 years until Augusta National relented in 2012, with former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and financier Darla Moore becoming the first women to don the iconic Green Jackets that distinguish members and Masters champions.

Holding up Augusta National as a relic of the past, the National Council of Women’s Organisations spearheaded by Burk took their fight to the club’s doorstep during 2003 Masters week, drawing the attention of the world’s media.

Augusta National could not stop the protest but was able to keep it well away from the club’s doorstep, a court order restricting the event to a muddy field out of view of patrons and sponsors.

The protest failed to draw the numbers it hoped for, collapsing into a near farce with clowns and an Elvis impersonator getting as much attention as Burk herself.

While the mood was light, the seriousness of the issue was underscored by Burk having to demonstrate wearing a bullet proof vest while the FBI tapped her phone chasing down death threats.

“If social media had been around I would be dead,” Burk said. “I got so many death threats over Augusta, that day I was wearing a bullet proof vest and I had hired body guards because people were just rampant about it and I really do believe if social media had existed somebody would have tracked me down and shot me.”

ABSOLUTE SECRECY

One of the world’s most exclusive clubs, Augusta National operates in absolute secrecy. Even the smallest detail such as who dry cleans the Green Jackets is classified.

The club’s most heavily guarded secret, however, is its membership and when Burk was leaked a list of the 300 Green Jackets her group mounted a campaign urging consumers to boycott Masters sponsors.

Her organization also facilitated two sex discrimination lawsuits against Smith Barney, a division of Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, whose CEOs were Augusta members, and collected $79 million in settlements.

It was that legal action, Burk believes, that produced the first cracks in Augusta National’s resolve.

“I did not feel particularly defeated,” said Burk, reflecting on her 2003 protest. “I know people expected me to go crawl into a hole and never come out because we weren’t successful but we just kept trucking along.

“We had a list of all the members and the companies they were affiliated with and I think the club knew that they weren’t going to be the last two lawsuits.

“I knew you could not put that genie back in the bottle it was going to come up as it has every year.

“I knew that eventually something would come of it.

“Will they ever be true converts as opposed to Easter Sunday Christians? I don’t know but at least they are making the right noises.

“It is never going to go away for them.”

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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Well, Joe Biden didn’t exactly clear the field.

I don’t think it matters much that Biden waited until yesterday to become the 20th Democrat vying for the nomination, even though it exposed him to weeks of attacks while he seemed to be dithering on the sidelines.

A much greater warning sign, in my view, is the largely negative tone surrounding his debut. He is, after all, a former vice president, highly praised by Barack Obama, who has consistently led in the early primary polls, and beating President Trump in head-to-head matchups. Yet much of the press is acting like he’s an old codger and it’s just a matter of time before he keels over politically.

This is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that the vast majority of journalists and pundits know and like Joe Biden and his gregarious personality.

The reason is that Biden, after a half-century in politics, lacks excitement, and the press is magnetically attracted to novel and unorthodox types like Beto and Mayor Pete. You don’t see Biden on the cover of Vanity Fair, and a grind-it-out win by a conventional warrior doesn’t set journalistic hearts racing.

JOE BIDEN ANNOUNCES 2020 PRESIDENTIAL BID: 3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT

For many in the media, Biden isn’t liberal enough, at least not for the post-Obama era. He doesn’t promise free college and free health care and has a history of working with Republicans, such as John McCain (whose daughter Meghan loves him, and Biden will hit “The View” today.)

What’s more, Biden’s campaign style — speak at rallies, rack up union endorsements — seems hopelessly old-fashioned when we measure popularity by Instagram followers. News outlets are predicting he’ll have trouble getting in the online fundraising game, leaving him reliant on big donors, which used to be standard practice.

And then there’s the age thing. Biden would be the oldest president to be inaugurated, at 78, and he looked a step slow in encounters with reporters yesterday and a few weeks ago.

But what if the journalists are in something of a Twitter bubble, and the actual Democratic Party is much more moderate? We saw that with the spate of allegations by women of unwanted touching, which dominated news coverage until polls showed that most Dem voters weren’t concerned. In that wider world, the Scranton guy’s connection to white, working-class voters could help him against Trump in the industrial Midwest.

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Biden denounced the president’s term as an “aberrant moment” in his launch video, saying four more years would damage the country’s character and “I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

But first, he’d have to win the nomination in the face of an unenthusiastic press corps.

A New York Times news story said Biden would be “marshaling his experience and global stature in a bid to lead a party increasingly defined by a younger generation that might be skeptical of his age and ideological moderation.”

The Washington Post quoted Democratic strategists as saying that Biden faces an “uphill battle” and “isn’t necessarily the heir apparent to Obama, despite being his No. 2 in the White House for eight years. They argue voters will judge Biden by the span of his decades-long career and are worried the veteran pol hasn’t yet found a winning formula for his own candidacy.”

The liberal Slate said the ex-veep’s rivals view him as a “paper tiger”:

“Biden is something more like a 2016 Jeb Bush: a weak establishment favorite whose time might be past … Biden’s biggest challenge in the primary will be a compromised past spanning nearly 50 years.”

“Compromised” suggests a history of scandal, yet what Slate means is political baggage, such as his backing of a Clinton-era crime bill unpopular with black voters today. Yet I think the rank and file isn’t as concerned about a vote back in 1994, or even the Anita Hill hearings, as the chattering classes.

BIDEN’S SENATE RECORD, ADVOCACY OF 1994 CRIME BILL WILL BE USED AGAINST HIM, EX-SANDERS STAFFER SAYS

One of the few left-leaning pundits to suggest the press is underestimating Biden is data guru Nate Silver at 538:

“Media coverage could nonetheless be a problem for Biden. Within the mainstream media, the story of Biden winning the nomination will be seen as boring and anticlimactic. That tends not to lead to favorable coverage. Meanwhile, some left-aligned media outlets may prefer candidates who are some combination of more leftist, more wonkish, more reflective of the party’s diversity, and more adept on social media.

“If Biden is framed as being out of touch with today’s Democratic Party and that narrative is repeated across a variety of outlets, it could begin to resonate with voters who don’t buy it initially. If he’s seen as a gaffe-prone candidate, then minor missteps on the campaign trail could be blown up into big fumbles.”

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Look, it’s entirely possible that Biden could stumble, get lapped in fundraising and just be outclassed by younger and savvier rivals. He was hardly a great candidate in 1987 and in 2008.

But if the former vice president finds his footing and the field narrows, the press will be forced to change its tune, and we’ll see a spate of stories about how Joe Biden has “grown.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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South Africa's 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston
South Africa’s 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston, South Africa, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

April 26, 2019

GERMISTON, South Africa (Reuters) – Olympic 400 meters champion Wayde van Niekerk has backed South African compatriot Caster Semenya in her battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which now appears to have taken a new twist.

Semenya, a double 800 meters Olympic gold medalist, is waiting for the outcome of her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to halt the introduction of new regulations by governing body IAAF that would require her to take medicine to limit her natural levels of testosterone.

The IAAF wants female athletes with differences of sexual development who run in events from 400 meters to a mile, to reduce their blood testosterone level to below five (5) nmol/L for a period of six months before they can compete, saying they have an unfair advantage.

“She’s fighting for something beyond just track and field, she’s fighting for woman in sports, in society and I respect her for that,” Van Niekerk told reporters.

“I will support her and with the hard work and talent that she’s been putting into the sport. With what she believes in and what she’s dreaming for, I’ve got a lot of respect for her.

“I really hope and pray that everything just goes from strength to strength for her.”

Semenya has sprung a surprise at the on-going South African Athletics Championships though, ditching the 800 meters and instead competing over 1,500 and 5,000-metres – the latter one would not require her to medically lower her testosterone level.

She stormed to victory in the 5,000-metres final in a modest time of 16:05.97, but looked to have lots left in the tank as she passed the finish line.

Semenya beat fellow Olympian and defending national 5,000m champion Dominique Scott in Thursday’s final but the latter admitted she is unsure whether the 800m specialist could be a serious Olympic contender over the longer distance.

“Honestly‚ I have no idea‚” Scott said. “Before today I probably would have said no. It’s hard to compare a 5,000 at altitude to a 5,000 at sea level.

“But I think she’s an amazing runner and I don’t think there’s any limit or ceiling on what she can do.”

Van Niekerk, the 400m world record holder, had to abort his comeback from a knee injury, that had sidelined him for 18 months, following a combination of cold weather and a wet track.

“We are trying to take the correct decisions now early in the year so as not to put myself in any harm,” he said.

“It was a bit chilly this entire week prepping and coming through here as well it was quite cold and it caused bit of tightness in my leg. We decided to not risk it.

“My recovery is going well and I would like to be back in competition this year, but will only do so if I can deliver a good performance.

“I am a competitor and respect my opponents, so I need to be at my best when I return.”

(Reporting by Nick Said, additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

Source: OANN

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The suspected leader of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka died in the Shangri-La hotel, one of six hotels and churches targeted in the attacks that killed at least 250 people, authorities said.

Police said Mohamed Zahran, leader of the National Towheed Jamaat militant group, had been killed in one of the bombings. The group’s second in command was also arrested, police said.

Zahran amassed an online following for his hate-filled sermons. Some were delivered before a banner depicting the Twin Towers.

Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people. 

Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people.  (YouTube)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that the attackers responsible for the bombings were supported by the Islamic State group. Around 140 people in Sri Lanka had connections to ISIS, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said.

“We will completely control this and create a free and peaceful environment for people to live,” he said.

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Investigators determined the attackers received military training from someone called “Army Mohideen.” They also received weapons training overseas and at some locations in Sri Lanka, according to authorities.

A copper factory operator arrested in connection with the bombings helped Mohideen make improvised explosive devices, police said. The bombings have led to increased security throughout the island nation as authorities warned of another attack.

Source: Fox News World

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