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Explainer: How the EU will vote and why it matters

An election campaign poster for the upcoming European Parliament elections depicting German Justice Minister Katarina Barley, the SPD top candidate, is pictured in Berlin
An election campaign poster for the upcoming European Parliament elections depicting German Justice Minister Katarina Barley, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) top candidate, is pictured in Berlin, Germany April 10, 2019. The words on the posters read "solidarity." REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

April 18, 2019

BRUSSELS/STRASBOURG (Reuters) – A poll for the European Parliament showed that last-minute British participation in next month’s elections to the European Union’s legislature means eurosceptic groups will gain ground but pro-EU parties will keep a majority.

WHO’S VOTING AND FOR WHAT?

Some 400 million people in the European Union’s 28 member states can vote from May 23 to 26 — including nearly 50 million Britons who were due to leave the bloc in March. Their votes for 73 lawmakers who may have to quit within weeks has upset some calculations following a delay to Brexit agreed last week.

By proportional representation, Europeans will elect 751 members to the European Parliament, which divides its time between Brussels and Strasbourg. Ranging from Malta with six seats to Germany with 96, for five years the MEPs will check and amend laws proposed by the European Commission, subject to approval by national governments in the EU Council.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

campaign issues range from spending — though the EU budget is equal to just 1 percent of member states’ gross domestic product — to climate change and labour rights. But some who want the EU broken up see it as a Brexit-style referendum on the EU’s very survival, pitting advocates of historic, ethnic-based nations against the idea of pooling sovereignty to defend Europe’s wealth and values in a world of rising authoritarian powers and global corporations.

Caught up in this centre-versus-states debate are refugees. Nationalists blame the EU for a surge in arrivals in 2015. Federalists say only cooperation can control migration.

Leaders of some eastern states such as Hungary and Poland slam Brussels over migrants and its complaints that they are undermining EU rules on democracy in Warsaw and Budapest; some westerners speak of cutting their EU subsidies in retaliation.

The election in Britain is considered a new referendum on Brexit by some, one that could help block withdrawal — or accelerate it.

ARE THERE EU POLITICAL PARTIES?

Yes. And no. Eight party groups sit in the chamber. The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) has 29 percent and ensures an establishment majority by often cooperating with the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D — 25 percent) and ALDE liberals (9 percent). Two right-wing, anti-EU groups led by Britain’s UKIP and France’s National Rally share 10 percent.

But all the groups are unruly, and EU elections are mainly contested by national parties on issues familiar to voters.

IS BRITAIN A PROBLEM?

Some EU officials think it might be better to delay approving key post-election appointments until after British MEPs leave, to avoid accusations parliament’s decisions will lack legitimacy.

The British vote will favour eurosceptics, socialists and Greens but hurt the EPP, which has no members in Britain since the ruling Conservatives quit the group to form their own bloc.

By taking part, Britain has forced the EU to postpone the redistribution of 27 of its 73 seats to other countries. France, for example, will elect 79 MEPs, five more than it has now, but five of them will not be able to take up their seats until after Britain leaves and Parliament shrinks by 46 members to 705.

DOES THE WINNER GET TO RUN THE EU?

Not really. Well, maybe. Parliament’s leaders say they are the heart of European democracy. National leaders scoff at the 43 percent turnout in the 2014 EU elections. In practice, states wield most power and little happens that big countries dislike.

The EU executive Commission is led by Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg. A historic power struggle between Parliament and Council will get an airing in the election. Parliament has pledged to force the Council to nominate as Juncker’s successor a lead candidate from a winning party in the vote. Leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron say they won’t be bound by that. Parliament could reject the Council’s Commission nominee.

I’M CONFUSED. SO WHO REALLY RUNS THE EU?

It’s complicated. But the voting and lead candidate rumpus is part of horse-trading among governments to get compatriots or allies into top positions, not just in the Commission and Council but also in the European Central Bank.

Germany and France, the two biggest states, have the most clout, but even the smallest can play. Juncker is the third EU chief executive from little Luxembourg.

AND SO WILL THE ELECTIONS CHANGE MUCH?

A push by eurosceptics could mean a bigger, more cohesive minority to disrupt EU legislation. But EU optimists also say a campaign that grabs more people’s attention could reinvigorate post-Brexit efforts to pull the EU together.

Polls suggest the far right could increase its share but probably not enough to sound the death knell of the EU. It seems improbable that either camp, for or against closer integration in Europe, can land a knockout blow.

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels and Peter Maushagen and Foo Yun Chee in Strasbourg; editing by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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IMF forecast: Global growth will weaken this year to 3.3%

The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its outlook for growth in the United States, Europe, Japan and the overall global economy and points to heightened trade tensions as a key reason.

The IMF expects the world economy to grow 3.3% this year, down from 3.6% in 2018. That would match 2016 for the weakest year since 2009. In its previous forecast in January, the IMF had predicted that international growth would reach 3.5% this year.

For the United States, IMF economists downgraded their growth forecast for this year to 2.3% from 2.9% in 2018.

The IMF's World Economic Outlook comes on the eve of meetings in Washington this week of the fund and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

In Europe, the IMF expects the 19 countries that use the euro currency to expand 1.3% collectively in 2019, weaker than last year's 1.8% growth or in any year since 2013.

Japan is expected to eke out 1% growth this year, up from 0.8% in 2018 but slightly down from the fund's earlier forecast.

The IMF foresees the Chinese economy growing 6.3% this year, down from 6.6% in 2018. But the fund's latest 2019 outlook was a slight upgrade from the 6.2% growth it had forecast for China in January.

China's prospects brightened, the fund said, after President Donald Trump decided to suspend a planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of U.S.-bound Chinese exports.

Still, the fund is expressing worries about tensions between the world's two biggest economies, which have traded tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of products in a fight over China's aggressive push to supplant American technological supremacy. The prospect of Britain's messy departure from the European Union also weighs on the global economy.

The IMF expects growth in world trade to drop to 3.4% this year — a sharp slowdown from the 4% it had expected in January and from 3.8% trade growth in 2018.

Source: Fox News National

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NFL notebook: Defending champion Patriots open against Steelers

FILE PHOTO: NFL: Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys
FILE PHOTO: Oct 8, 2017; Arlington, TX, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates with tight end Richard Rodgers (82) after scoring the winning touchdown at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

April 18, 2019

The New England Patriots will open the defense of their Super Bowl LIII title against the Pittsburgh Steelers on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 1, the NFL announced in its unveiling of the 2019 schedule.

The league announced in late March that the opening game of the season would pit the Green Bay Packers at the Chicago Bears on Thursday, Sept. 5. The defending Super Bowl champion normally opens the season with a home game on Thursday night, but the NFL wanted to feature its oldest rivalry to open its 100th season, which bumped New England to Sunday night, Sept. 8.

The Patriots will also be in prime time on Oct. 10 vs. the New York Giants (Thursday night), Oct. 21 at the New York Jets (Monday night), Nov. 3 at the Baltimore Ravens (Sunday night) and Dec. 1 at the Houston Texans (Sunday night), with a Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 home meeting with the Buffalo Bills as a possible flex option to Saturday night in prime time.

Joining the Patriots with five scheduled prime-time games are the Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, who have three in a row from Nov. 24-Dec. 8. The Cleveland Browns have four, plus several games that could be flexed later in the season, as do the Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints.

–Fresh off receiving the richest deal in NFL history, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson declared he wants to “be a Seahawk for life.”

“My goal is to play 20 years, so I would be 43ish around then,” said Wilson, who was born in 1988. “So, that would be my goal to be honest with you, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

The next five years are taken care of after Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million extension on Tuesday afternoon. He received a $65 million signing bonus and is signed with the Seahawks through the 2023 season.

–A Florida judge issued a temporary protective order Wednesday halting the impending release of videos allegedly showing Patriots owner Robert Kraft soliciting prostitution at a massage parlor.

Judge Joseph Marx scheduled a hearing for April 29 to rule on whether police surveillance videos of Kraft and 24 other men from the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla., will be released.

Kraft has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution following two January visits to the spa. He has pleaded not guilty and is requesting a jury trial.

–Recently retired Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski dented the team’s newest Lombardi Trophy by “bunting” a pitch from teammate Julian Edelman before the Boston Red Sox’s Opening Day game at Fenway Park last week.

As detailed in a story and video on the team’s website, the incident happened as a portion of the team was preparing to throw out the first pitch on April 9, a little over two months after the Patriots’ triumph over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

As a warm-up pitch approached, Gronkowski squared and used the “bat” to bunt, making square contact with the back of the football shape atop the trophy. A loud clank can be heard on the video as the ball hits and bounces back toward the mound, followed by a bunch of players howling — some in laughter, others in surprise.

–The Miami Dolphins do not plan to trade safety Reshad Jones, general manager Chris Grier said.

Jones skipped the first two days of the Dolphins’ volunteer workouts, which prompted speculation that he might be moved. He is due to earn $13 million, including $11 million in guarantees, with Miami this season.

“I haven’t given him permission to seek a trade,” Grier said in comments published by the Miami Herald. “He doesn’t want a trade. At least he has not informed me. Yeah, Reshad is going to be here.”

–The Seattle Seahawks hosted former Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Corey Liuget and former Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Al Woods on a visit to the team facility, according to a report from ESPN.

The Seahawks also hosted Allen Bailey, a free-agent defensive end who last played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Hyundai Motor, Tencent tie up to develop self-driving cars software: report

The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 6, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co and Chinese technology firm Tencent Holdings have signed a preliminary deal to develop software for driverless vehicles, South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Saturday.

Both companies plan to conduct joint research and development on safety and security systems for self-driving cars, which Hyundai seeks to roll out commercially by 2030, the report, which cited unnamed industry sources, said.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a business forum held in Seoul on Thursday by the South Korean government and China’s Guangdong province, it said.

Hyundai and Tencent did not offer any immediate comments on the report.

The two companies are also exploring ways to utilize Tencent’s popular WeChat messaging app in developing China-targeted car models, the newspaper said.

Hyundai, the world’s 5th largest automaker together with affiliate Kia Motors, has been fostering partnerships with self-driving tech and social media firms as it aims to introduce highly automated vehicles by 2020 and fully autonomous vehicles by 2030.

Hyundai Mobis, another affiliate of the car maker, clinched an agreement last month with Russia’s largest internet search engine Yandex to jointly develop control systems for driverless vehicles.

Shenzhen-based and Hong Kong-listed Tencent has also ventured into self-driving tech and had advertised to recruit engineers in Silicon Valley last year.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and Norihiko Shirouzu in BEIJING; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: OANN

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Worried about nickel supply, China battery maker BYD welcomes JV discussions

FILE PHOTO: Women walk in front of the logo of Chinese car manufacturer BYD Auto stage before the opening of the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition
FILE PHOTO: Women walk in front of the logo of Chinese car manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) Auto stage before the opening of the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai April 19, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

April 11, 2019

By Tom Daly

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Securing enough nickel is a major worry for electric vehicle firms, an executive from Chinese electric car and battery maker BYD Co Ltd said on Thursday, adding that the company would welcome joint ventures that help guarantee supply.

Nickel is one of several metals that are key components of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. A shift in battery chemistry toward higher nickel content, which would allow cars to go further on a single charge, is expected to boost demand further.

“The supply of nickel going forward is a big concern in everybody’s mind,” said Coco Liu, procurement director at BYD, at the Fastmarkets Battery Materials conference. BYD counts Warren Buffet among its investors and is also German automaker Daimler AG’s partner in China.

Analysts had earlier told the conference that the market would be short of nickel if Chinese-led projects in Indonesia fail to deliver.

BYD looks not only for suppliers who can provide high-quality products but also those who have experience in setting up joint ventures covering the whole EV value chain from upstream mining to precursor battery materials and finished products, Liu said.

Joint ventures are “a good way to go forward” and can save costs, she said, adding that BYD prefers to have diversity in its supplier base to reduce risks.

Liu said buying shares in a mine requires a large investment and entails risks, despite a potential rise in demand for raw materials for battery.

“We hope despite the volatility we can have a secure, stable supply with a relatively steady price. Then it will help with our final product sales and development,” she said.

(Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Source: OANN

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Students who protested Border Patrol visit should have charges dropped, professors say

More than 70 University of Arizona professors are calling on university police to drop charges against two students who disrupted a campus speaking event last month featuring agents from the federal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.

The professors, part of a group called Professors of Color, urged university President Robert Robbins to focus on student and faculty safety instead, according to a letter dated Wednesday.

"We ask that you, in your role as President, end the investigations and harassment of the students by demanding that UAPD Chief, Brian Seastone, drop the charges against them," the letter read. "We also implore you to ask the Dean of Students to support rather than investigate the two students."

10 STUNNING DISPUTES OVER FREE SPEECH BETWEEN STUDENTS, FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATORS

They wrote that Mexican-American studies faculty have received death threats since video of the protest on the Tucson campus went viral, the Arizona Republic reported.

"Rather than its current emphasis on investigating and criminalizing free speech, the UAPD and administration's highest priority should be an immediate UA response to the death threats and the impact that the Border Patrol on campus has on many of our students, staff, and employees," they wrote.

Students were protesting a March 19 visit by Border Patrol agents to a meeting of the Criminal Justice Association, a student club, according to the paper. Videos of the protest showed the agents speaking to students, with some calling the agents “Murder Patrol” and “an extension of the KKK.”

Some followed the agents to their car, chanting “Murder Patrol” until they left.

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Robbins called the protest a "dramatic departure from our expectations of respectful behavior and support for free speech on this campus" in a March 29 letter posted online. He announced that two students – who have not been publicly identified – would be charged with misdemeanors for their actions.

A university spokesperson told the paper that Mexican-American studies faculty alerted the school about a threat. University police and other law enforcement agencies "evaluated the message and the source of the message and determined there was not a threat to campus or to public safety, the spokesperson said.

Source: Fox News National

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight from Los Angeles taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport shortly after an announcement was made by the FAA that the planes were being grounded by the United States over safety issues in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc cut its 2019 profit forecast on Friday, saying it expected to take a $350 million hit from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes after cancelling 1,200 flights in the first quarter.

The company said it now expects its 2019 adjusted profit to be between $4.00 per share and $6.00 per share.

Analysts on average had expected 2019 earnings of $5.63 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

The No. 1 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said net income rose to $185 million, or 41 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $159 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue rose 2 percent to $10.58 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Reuters) – Four years ago, Donald Trump campaigned in small towns like Marshalltown, Iowa, vowing to restore economic prosperity to the U.S. heartland.

In his bid to replace Trump in the White House, Pete Buttigieg is taking a similar tack. The difference, he says, is that he can point to a model of success: South Bend, Indiana, the revitalized city where he has been mayor since 2012.

The Democratic presidential contender has vaulted to the congested field’s top tier in recent weeks, drawing media and donor attention for his youth, history-making status as the first openly gay major presidential candidate and a resume that includes military service in Afghanistan.

But Buttigieg’s main argument for his candidacy is that he is a turnaround artist in the mold of Trump, although the Democrat does not expressly invoke the comparison with the Republican president.

“I’m not going around saying we’ve fixed every problem we’ve got,” Buttigieg, 37, said after a house party with voters in Marshalltown. “But I’m proud of what we have done together, and I think it’s a very powerful story.”

Critics argue improving the fortunes of a Midwestern city of 100,000 people does not qualify Buttigieg, who has never held national office, for the presidency of a country of 330 million. Others say South Bend still has pockets of despair and that minorities, in particular, have failed to benefit from its growth.

Buttigieg has told crowds in Iowa and elsewhere that his experience in reviving a struggling Rust Belt community allows him to make a case to voters that other Democratic candidates cannot. That may give him the means to win back some of the disaffected Democratic voters who turned their backs on Hillary Clinton in 2016 to vote for Trump.

Watching Buttigieg at a union hall in Des Moines last week, Rick Ryan, 45, a member of the United Steelworkers, lamented how many of his fellow union workers voted for Trump. The president turned in the best performance by a Republican among union households since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Ryan said he hoped someone like Buttigieg could return them to the Democratic fold.

“He’s aware of the decline in the labor force in America, not just in Indiana or Des Moines or anywhere else,” Ryan said. “Jobs are going overseas. We need a find to way to bring that back.”

Randy Tucker, 56, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Trump appealed to union members “desperate for somebody to reach out to them, to help them, to listen to their voice.”

Buttigieg could do the same, he said. “In my heart right now, he’s No. 1.”

PAST VS. FUTURE

Buttigieg stresses a key difference in his and Trump’s approaches.

Trump, he tells crowds, is mired in the past, promising to rebuild the 20th century industrial economy. Buttigieg argues the pledge is misleading and unrealistic.

Buttigieg says his focus is on the future, and he often talks about what the country might look like decades from now.

“The only way that we can cultivate what makes America great is to look to the future and not be afraid of it,” Buttigieg said in Marshalltown.

Buttigieg knows his sexual preference may be a barrier to winning some blue-collar voters. But he notes that after he came out as gay in 2015, he won a second term as mayor with 80 percent of the vote in conservative Indiana.

Earlier this month, he announced his presidential bid at the hulking plant in South Bend that stopped making Studebaker autos more than 50 years ago. After lying dormant for decades, the building is being transformed into a high-tech hub after Buttigieg and other city leaders realized it would never again attract a large-scale industrial company.

“That building sat as a powerful reminder. We hoped we would get back that major employer that would fix our economy,” said Jeff Rea, president of the regional Chamber of Commerce.

Buttigieg is praised locally for spurring more than $100 million in downtown investment. During his two terms, unemployment has fallen to 4.1 percent from 11.8 percent.

But a study released in 2017 by the nonprofit group Prosperity Now said not all of the city’s residents had shared in its rebound. The median income for African-Americans remained half that of whites, while the unemployment rate for blacks was double.

Regina Williams-Preston, a city councilor running to replace Buttigieg as mayor, credits him for the revitalized downtown. But she said he had a “blind spot” when it came to focusing on troubled neighborhoods like the one she represents and only grew more engaged after community pressure.

“He understands it now,” she said. “The next step is figuring out how to open the doors of opportunity for everyone.”

‘ONE OF US’

Trump touts the fact that the United States added almost 300,000 manufacturing jobs last year as evidence he made good on his promise to restore the industrial sector. But that growth still left the country with fewer manufacturing jobs than in 2008.

The robust U.S. economy is likely the president’s greatest asset in his re-election bid, particularly in states he carried in 2016 such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He won Buttigieg’s home state by 19 points over Clinton in 2016.

Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Democratic Party in Polk County, Iowa, said Buttigieg would be well positioned to compete with Trump in the Midwest.

“People love the fact that he’s a mayor,” said Bagniewski, who has not endorsed a candidate in the nominating contest. “If you can talk about a positive future, and if you actually have experience that can do it, that’s a compelling vision in Iowa.”

Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, which faces many of the same challenges as South Bend, agreed.

“He’s one of us,” Whaley said. “That helps.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau
A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 26, 2019

MONTREAL/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Rising waters were prompting further evacuations in central Canada on Thursday, with the mayor of the country’s capital, Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency and Quebec authorities warning that a hydroelectric dam was at risk of breaking.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared the emergency in response to rising water levels along the Ottawa River and weather forecasts that called for significant rainfall on Friday.

In a statement on Twitter, Watson asked for help from the Ontario provincial government and the country’s military.

He warned that “flood levels are currently forecasted to exceed the levels that caused significant damage to numerous properties in the city of Ottawa in 2017.”

Spring flooding had killed one person and forced more than 900 people from their homes in Canada’s Quebec province as of 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to a government website.

Ottawa has received 80 requests for service related to potential flooding such as sandbagging, a city spokeswoman said.

The prospect of more rain over the next 24 to 48 hours triggered concerns on Thursday that the hydroelectric dam at Bell Falls in the western part of Quebec could be at risk of failing because of rising water levels.

Quebec’s provincial police said 250 people were protectively removed from homes in the area as of late afternoon in case the dam on the Rouge River breaks.

The dam is now at its full flow capacity of 980 cubic meters per second of water, said Francis Labbé, a spokesman for the province’s state-owned utility, Hydro Quebec. He said Hydro Quebec expected the flow could rise to 1,200 cubic meters per second of water over the next two days.

“We have to take the worst-case scenario into consideration, since we`re already at the maximum capacity,” Labbé said by phone.

The dam is part of a power station that no longer produces electricity, but is regularly inspected by Hydro Quebec, he said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

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FILE PHOTO: Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
FILE PHOTO: Pallbearers carry the coffin of journalist Lyra McKee at her funeral at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

April 26, 2019

BELFAST (Reuters) – Detectives investigating the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Northern Ireland last week suspect the gunman who shot her dead is in his late teens as they made a further appeal to the local community who they believe know his identity.

McKee’s killing by an Irish nationalist militant during a riot in Londonderry has sparked outrage in the province where a 1998 peace deal mostly ended three decades of sectarian violence that cost the lives of some 3,600 people.

The New IRA, one of a small number of groups that oppose the peace accord, has said one of its members shot the 29-year-old reporter dead in the Creggan area of the city on Thursday when opening fire on police during a riot McKee was watching.

The killing, which followed a large car bomb in Londonderry in January that police also blamed on the New IRA, has raised fears that small marginalized militant groups are exploiting a political vacuum in the province and tensions caused by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

Police released footage on Friday of immediately before and after the shooting showing three men who were involved in the rioting and identified one as the gunman who they believe is in his late teens. 

“I believe that the information that can help us to bring those responsible for her murder to justice lies within the community. I need the public to tell me who he is,” Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy told reporters.

Murphy said those involved in the disorder on the night were teenagers or in their early 20s, and that about 100 people were on the ground watching the trouble as it unfolded.

He added that police believed the gun used in the attack was of a similar caliber to those used before in paramilitary type attacks in Creggan. 

“I recognize that people living in Creagan may find it’s difficult to come forward to speak to police. Today, I want to provide a personal reassurance that we are able to deal with those issues sensitively,” Murphy said, echoing similar appeals in recent days.

(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, editing by Padraic Halpin and Toby Chopra)

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