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Peru: British environmentalist was dead when he was burned

A Peruvian forensic expert says a British Catholic missionary and environmental activist died before his body was burned at a youth hostel he ran in the Amazon region.

Loreto region chief forensic doctor Francisco Moreno told The Associated Press that that no carbon dioxide was found in Paul McAuley's blood, ruling out burning as the cause of death.

The 71-year-old missionary was found death on Tuesday at the shelter he founded for indigenous schoolchildren.

Prosecutors have not yet said if McAuley was murdered or what the motive might have been. They have been collecting evidence and interviewing the students.

Moreno said Thursday that additional tests are being carried out.

In 2004, McAuley and environmentalists opposed then-President Alan Garcia's moves to open up the Amazon to mining and oil exploration.

Source: Fox News World

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Comedian faces scrutiny over oligarch ties in Ukraine presidential race

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian comic actor and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks following the announcement of the first exit poll in a presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian comic actor and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks following the announcement of the first exit poll in a presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine March 31, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

April 1, 2019

By Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets

KIEV (Reuters) – Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy is leading the race to become Ukraine’s next president thanks to an insurgent campaign that rails against corrupt politicians influenced by rich oligarchs.

Yet it is his own relationship with one of the country’s wealthiest tycoons that could prove an Achilles’ heel.

One of Ukraine’s most popular TV channels 1+1, owned by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, has given Zelenskiy a powerful platform in recent months during his meteoric rise to the brink of the presidency.

On Saturday, a day before Zelenskiy won the first round of the presidential contest and set up a run-off with the incumbent Petro Poroshenko, 1+1 filled its schedule with back-to-back shows by the comedian and actor.

The fact that Zelenskiy is a major star on the channel has stoked worries among some investors and voters, and accusations from his political opponents, that he is in the pocket of Kolomoisky.

Both Zelenskiy and Kolomoisky say their relationship is strictly professional, and centered on the comedian’s TV work. Both say no undue influence is being exerted by the oligarch, whose businesses range from banking and energy to aviation.

“I’m more his puppet than he is mine,” Kolomoisky said last year.

“It is impossible to influence me,” Zelenskiy told the news website Gordon in December. “Neither Kolomoisky, nor any other oligarch, no one will influence me.”

Zelenskiy said last month he was in the process of exiting all his businesses, which includes the production company whose shows run on 1+1. Asked whether the relationship was a weak spot for him, Zelenskiy told Reuters: “We are working according to TV contracts and it is fine. It is business.”

However President Poroshenko has sought to make political capital out of the connection between the two men as he fights to make up ground to the comedian before the run-off vote on April 21.

“In the past few weeks my opponents have poured on me rivers of shameless lies. The main source of these lies in recent months – deplorable as it may be – has been 1+1. 1+1 has turned into the obedient implementer of the political assignments of its owner,” Poroshenko said.

“Though the latter may have fled abroad, he still plays the pre-election political chessboard, sometimes moving the Ze (Zelenskiy) pieces, sometimes the Yu (former prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko) pieces. Kolomoisky is motivated by a desire for revenge against the state,” he wrote on Twitter.

Kolomoisky has lived abroad since clashing with Poroshenko over Ukraine’s largest bank, which he used to own. In a November interview to Ukrainian news site lb.ua, he worried Ukraine’s judicial system would stop him from leaving the country if he came back.

Zelenskiy announced he was running for president on December 31 on 1+1, upstaging Poroshenko, who was giving a traditional New Year’s Eve address to the nation at the same time.

On Saturday, the channel’s Zelenskiy-themed schedule included shows where he and fellow actors performed jokes, sketches and songs, and a documentary voiced by Zelenskiy about Ronald Reagan, a popular actor who became U.S. president.

Poroshenko is part of the same wealthy elite as Kolomoisky, having made a fortune from confectionery that earned him the sobriquet of “Chocolate King”.

“The strategic dilemma will be what do you prefer, an oligarch or someone possibly controlled by an oligarch, the puppet or a puppeteer?” said regional analyst and political consultant Radu Magdin.

‘AM I THAT CRAZY?’

Kolomoisky makes no secret of his dislike for Poroshenko, and the two have clashed repeatedly over issues that threatened Kolomoisky’s businesses.

No hard evidence has been presented by any of Zelenskiy’s opponents that Kolomoisky is indeed pulling the strings behind the campaign.

But the ties between the two men have led some political analysts and Western diplomats to question how zealously Zelenskiy would try to implement reforms needed to speed up economic growth and keep foreign aid flowing if they clashed with Kolomoisky’s interests.

In particular, the relationship puts the spotlight on the fate of PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest lender, which the government wrested from Kolomoisky in 2016 in a clean-up of the banking system under an International Monetary Fund bailout program.

The government pumped billions of dollars into shoring up PrivatBank’s finances, saying money had been fraudulently siphoned off from the lender while Kolomoisky owned it. Kolomoisky denied any wrongdoing and has challenged the nationalization in court.

Asked if there were concerns about Zelenskiy’s ties to Kolomoisky, Edwin Gutierrez, head of Emerging Market Sovereign Debt at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said: “That is there, but at the end of the day the oligarchs always rule the roost in Ukraine.”

“Maybe this will be another Yanukovich moment where everyone gets excited but then in the end Ukraine disappoints,” he added, referring to former President Viktor Yanukovich, who fled to Russia after the 2014 Maidan street protests.

Asked in a Reuters interview whether he would hand PrivatBank back to Kolomoisky if elected, Zelenskiy said in February: “Am I that crazy? Do I want to lose my life, reputation?”

Accusations from Poroshenko and his allies that Zelenskiy is being controlled by an oligarch has lent an ironic twist to the presidential race.

Zelenskiy’s campaign has been propelled by his TV show, Servant of the People, where he plays a scrupulously honest history schoolteacher who becomes president by accident.

He challenges the old way of doing things, outwitting shadowy oligarchs and corrupt politicians. The series blurs the line between fiction and reality, between the make-believe president and the real-life challenger.

In the first scene of the first series, three shadowy power-brokers are surveying Kiev’s Maidan square from a rooftop balcony at night while sipping drinks and talking about how they spend money to bring their puppet politicians to power.

“It’s one week before the election. We worked hard for our candidates. They’re almost neck and neck, now let the best man win,” says one.

“What good will that bring me?” asks another.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: OANN

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How Indonesia’s president has tried to claw back voter support in Muslim heartland

FILE PHOTO: Indonesia's President and presidential candidate for the next election Joko Widodo and his running mate for the upcoming election Ma'ruf Amin gesture as they greet their supporters at a carnival during campaign rally in Tangerang
FILE PHOTO: Indonesia's President and presidential candidate for the next election Joko Widodo and his running mate for the upcoming election Ma'ruf Amin gesture as they greet their supporters at a carnival during campaign rally in Tangerang, Banten province, Indonesia, April 7, 2019. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

April 12, 2019

By Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Kanupriya Kapoor

GARUT, Indonesia (Reuters) – When Wawan Setiawan, a volunteer for Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s re-election campaign, goes door-to-door in this conservative part of Java, his opening line is: “If you hear he is anti-Islam or a communist, remember, it’s all lies.”

The 41-year-old is one of thousands of volunteers – armed with T-shirts, stickers, pins, and other giveaways – seeking to bolster support for Widodo in the teeming villages of West Java, the most populous province and a key battleground in the April 17 vote in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

Widodo’s aides say such mobilizing of grassroots support and canvassing of thousands of Islamic boarding schools in this and other conservative provinces is crucial to prevent a repeat of 2014, when a smear campaign accusing Widodo of being a bad Muslim beholden to Chinese interests nearly cost him the presidency, with the heaviest losses in West Java.

As in 2014, Widodo is running against retired general Prabowo Subianto, whose military background and strong ties with hardline Islamist groups make him a popular choice in West Java, with a voting population of 32.5 million, or about 17 percent of the electorate.

On a national level most opinion surveys give Widodo a double-digit lead, but he trails in West Java, which is known to be among the country’s most conservative regions.

As conservative Islam gains greater traction in Indonesia, many politicians including Widodo have taken pains to appear “more Islamic” to appeal to Muslim voters. The worry for many investors is whether this appeal for conservative votes will translate into populist policy.

Around the hilly city of Garut, which favored Prabowo in 2014, gigantic banners show the president dressed in a peci cap and sarong – traditional garb worn in Islamic boarding schools – saying, “let’s pray”.

To the disappointment of some of his more moderate and progressive supporters, Widodo also picked 76-year-old Islamic cleric Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate – part of a deliberate strategy to enhance his ticket’s appeal among Muslims.

“The one thing that I really like about the Jokowi campaign is that they understand where they failed in 2014,” said Achmad Sukarsono, a senior analyst at Control Risks in Singapore, using the president’s nickname.

“They made a mathematical calculation that Jokowi lost in areas where the Muslim population was above 97 percent,” he said.

FORGING TIES

Religious leaders say Widodo’s most effective strategy has been forging closer ties with Islamic boarding schools – which hold huge cultural and social sway in many parts of Indonesia – and his decision to choose Amin as running mate, a respected Islamic scholar from the country’s biggest moderate Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama.

“The key difference now is Jokowi has systematically shown his appreciation for pesantrens and santri,” said a young cleric, Hilman Uman Basori, using the Indonesian words for Islamic boarding schools and their students.

Basori, who runs nine pesantrens in Garut, said Widodo has visited regularly, channeled funding, and introduced much-needed vocational training programs to complement religious education and allow graduates to find jobs.

“Picking Ma’ruf Amin as vice presidential nominee made the choice final for us…We have mobilized all the resources in our pesantrens to make sure they win,” Basori added.

Aides say Widodo has also sought to appeal to more voters in opposition strongholds by making public appearances with his family and subtly drawing a contrast with his rival Prabowo, who is divorced.

DEEP SUSPICIONS

But not everyone is convinced. West Java, which has a history of bloodshed between Muslims and leftists, remains a stronghold for conservative Islamists who harbor suspicions about Widodo, a moderate Muslim hailing from Central Java whose government has sought to crack down on some hardline groups.

“Jokowi has criminalized clerics and that has been very hurtful for the Muslim public,” said cleric Cecep Abdul Halim.Authorities have launched investigations into prominent Muslim figures on charges of violating pornography laws or defamation. The government also banned the hardline Hizb-ut Tahrir Indonesia group, which advocates a caliphate to replace Indonesia’s secular ideology.

Halim says he also suspects that Widodo, who is the first leader to come from outside Indonesia’s military and political elite, may have links to communist groups – which are illegal in Indonesia – and is allowing “millions” of Chinese workers into the country.

The president has repeatedly denied such claims and urged voters not to be taken in by such falsehoods.

In late 2016, Widodo scrambled to distance himself from a one-time ally, the popular ethnic Chinese, Christian governor of Jakarta who was accused by hardline groups of insulting Islam. As hundreds of thousands of Muslims took to the streets to oust the governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Widodo sought to reassure Islamists and the broader public that his government was not anti-Islam.

Purnama eventually lost the next election for governorship, was jailed for blasphemy and released earlier this year.

Prabowo’s provincial campaign team say voter dissatisfaction over these issues and Widodo’s performance on the economy are swaying voters.

“We’re not just optimistic, we are sure we will win,” said Yusuf Supriadi, at a campaign post piled high with banners and t-shirts, as well as a poster of Prabowo calling to “Make Indonesia Great Again”.

“MORE ISLAMIC”

Surveys show that although Widodo trails in West Java, his focused campaign has narrowed a gap that in 2014 stood at 20 points. His support rose from 39 percent at the start of the campaign in September to 42 percent last month, while Prabowo’s numbers have slipped from 50 to 47 percent.

“The hardest part has been changing public perception of Jokowi at the very grassroots level,” said Yuda Puja Turnawan, a member of Widodo’s party, the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle. “Our volunteers spend most of their time countering hoaxes.”

According to his national campaign manager, Erick Thohir, the president’s choice to reside in the presidential palace in the West Java city of Bogor, rather than in Jakarta, had also boosted his visibility in the region.

Since taking office, Widodo has also made efforts to bring religious parties into his coalition – something analysts say has provided more “tools in his arsenal to approach voters not reached in 2014”.

PANDERING

Liberal supporters of Widodo have criticized him for pandering to conservatives, raising concerns over the erosion of Indonesia’s reputation for religious tolerance and pluralism.

Analysts say Widodo’s overtures to Islamic groups and voters point to a potential populist turn in policymaking if he wins a second term.

“There’s a space opening for Islamic identity politics,” political analyst Sukarsono said.

“What we will have is Jokowi having to accommodate the interests of the majority, the mainstream Muslim groups and the Islamic parties that backed him, in policymaking, so he is likely to become more populist.”

(Additional reporting by Yerica Lai and Ed Davies; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: OANN

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Court Won’t Immediately Stop Trump from Returning Asylum Seekers to Mexico

A U.S. appeals court won't immediately stop the Trump administration from returning asylum seekers to Mexico.

More to come ... 

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Maldives leader heads for landslide win at parliament poll

Maldives President Mohamed Solih and former president Nasheed arrive at an election campaign rally ahead of their parliamentary election on Saturday, in Male
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and former president Mohamed Nasheed arrive at an election campaign rally ahead of their parliamentary election on Saturday, in Male, Maldives April 4, 2019. REUTERS/ Ashwa Faheem

April 7, 2019

By Mohamed Junayd

MALE (Reuters) – Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s party is heading for a historic landslide victory in parliamentary elections, provisional results showed, a move that will help him to investigate the scale of debts to China.

With 85 percent of ballot boxes counted, candidates from Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) lead in more than 60 out of 87 constituencies, according to local media projections.

The Indian Ocean archipelago has been caught in a battle for influence between India and China, which invested millions of dollars during Yameen’s rule as part of its Belt and Road plan.

Since he unseated pro-China leader Abdulla Yameen in September, Solih’s MDP, which has governed in a coalition with three other parties, has warned that a building boom has left huge debts to Chinese lenders.

The MDP has pledged to investigate the infrastructure projects and determine the islands’ true debt to China, which it fears could run as high as $3 billion and risks sinking the economy. Yameen denies any wrongdoing in relation to the Chinese debt.

According to the current projections, the MDP could take a near two-thirds majority in parliament, the first time a party has had such a majority since the first multi-party elections in 2008.

The party’s leader, former president Mohamed Nasheed, also won his seat in a newly formed constituency in the capital Male.

MDP supporters gathered at the eastern end of the capital to celebrate. Jubilant supporters waving the party’s yellow flags embossed with blue scales of justice sang and danced in celebration.

Addressing the supporters at the victory rally, President Solih reiterated his zero tolerance policy for corruption.

“This is the moment for all the citizens to work together in unity. We are ready to work together to fulfill the needs of the people and serve them, without any discrimination, ” Solih said.

“You will see the commission tasked with investigating corruption and recovering state assets function with the support of the new parliament,” he added.

“The work of the commission investigating unresolved deaths and enforced disappearances will go ahead more quickly with the support of this parliament.”

The MDP only had a majority in the previous parliament with the support of its coalition partners, including The Jumhooree Party, which has been absent from votes to begin any graft investigation.

The Jumhooree Party and Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) are both campaigning on a nationalist, religious platform.

Last month, Yameen spent more than a month in police custody over a graft scandal aimed at siphoning money from the islands’ tourism board.

He was released on bail on March 28 in time for the last week of campaigning, and denies the charges.

(Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by by Ranga Sirilal/Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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No-frills no longer: GM’s China brand Baojun attempts a major makeover

FILE PHOTO: Shen Yang, general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, attends a Baojun launching event in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: Shen Yang (3rd R), general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, a joint venture of General Motors and its Chinese partners, attends a Baojun launching event in Shanghai, China April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yilei Sun/File Photo

April 16, 2019

By Yilei Sun and Norihiko Shirouzu

LIUZHOU, China/BEIJING (Reuters) – By many measures, General Motors’ China brand Baojun has been an exceptional success story, growing at breakneck speed by selling low-cost no-frills vehicles in smaller cities and rural areas.

But as Chinese consumer tastes shift away from basic and affordable, Baojun is engineering a different image for itself – launching mid-market models that will sport a redesigned logo and be sold through new or revamped showrooms.

The move is aimed at ensuring Baojun has offerings in the 100,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan ($15,000-$22,300) range that holds the most potential for the brand, said Mike Devereux, executive vice president at SGMW, GM’s venture with Chinese partners SAIC Motor Corp and Guangxi Automobile Group.

“When you look at what might happen in terms of some of the shrinking segments, you are going to make sure you don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” he told Reuters in an interview.

The first model off the block is the RS-5 SUV, which went on sale last week.

More sleekly designed than other Baojun vehicles, it is the first to feature semi-autonomous driving technology and will be priced from 96,800 yuan to 132,800 yuan. By comparison the most expensive model under Baojun’s old badge is priced from 85,800 yuan to 117,800 yuan.

Another three models will be rolled out this year, Devereux said, declining to provide further details on the cars.

GM executives and analysts see Baojun’s move upmarket as a natural progression as the brand seeks to stay relevant to younger consumers.

It is also supported by a large existing customer base. Most of Baojun’s sales are in smaller and less economically developed cities, but those were areas few Western automakers sought to target and the brand, which only got its start in 2011, rocketed to sales of almost 1 million in 2017.

Amid a slowing economy, sales slipped last year to around 840,000, accounting for 23 percent of GM vehicles sold in China.

For a graphic, click: https://tmsnrt.rs/2X5Th9E

Han Dehong, senior sales manager at SGMW, said the venture had been exploring a makeover of the Baojun brand since 2014 in tandem with a wide-ranging overhaul of its R&D, supply chain and distribution system.

“Younger groups have become the main force of consumer spending in our society and we need to respond to this new younger wave with brand upgrades and revamped models,” he said.

NEW SHOWROOMS, BIGGER CITIES

Compared to 10 years ago when there few models in the mid-market price range, competition has become fierce. Popular models include Toyota Motor Corp’s Corolla and Volkswagen’s Lavida. VW’s newly launched Jetta brand, which like Baojun is a China-only brand, is expected to also be sold in the same range.

“Baojun will need a competitive edge,” said Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, noting that Volkswagen is known for quality, Geely Automobile Holdings is known for design while Great Wall Motor vehicles offer roomy interiors.

To set itself apart, the revamped Baojun brand will emphasize self-driving technology and internet connectivity, GM officials said.

The new models will be sold in 365 new or refurbished showrooms, equivalent to 60 percent of Baojun stores across China. The brand will also strengthen its presence in bigger cities like Chengdu, Tianjin and Nanjin.

A new mobile phone app was also recently launched, allowing customers to arrange a test drive and buy the new models online.

GM officials declined to say how much the automaker had invested in the new models, the logo redesign and new stores.

The move upmarket for Baojun is partial as some cheaper models will still carry the old Baojun badge although others will be folded into the Wuling brand, – the other marque sold by SGMW, said Matt Tsien, GM’s chief in China.

Tsien said GM had little concern that a more upmarket Baojun might eat into sales of GM’s Chevrolet as Chinese customers interested in buying a Chevy tend not to be attracted to domestic brands.

Roughly equivalent vehicles would also be priced differently. Whereas the most expensive version of the RS-5 will cost 132,800 yuan, the Chevy Equinox SUV will start from 174,900 yuan.

“No matter how far you take Baojun, Baojun is still going to be domestic, it’s going to focus on the local market here and it’s going to still represent very good value for customers,” said Tsien.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Norihiko Shirozhou; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Source: OANN

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Inside President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Meltdown

Inside President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Meltdown

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The president is raging against his former staff and wants to sue Don McGahn—but staff think he and his lawyers blew it. You didn't have to send me in there, said one witness. But Giuliani says: Nothing to see here!

Read Full Article »

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.

Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.

Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Representatives of Russian Transneft, Ukranian Ukrtransnafta, Polish Pern and Belarusian Belneftekhim gather to hold talks on fixing tainted oil supplies to Europe, in Minsk
Representatives of Russian Transneft, Ukranian Ukrtransnafta, Polish Pern and Belarusian Belneftekhim gather to hold talks on fixing tainted oil supplies to Europe, in Minsk, Belarus April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

April 26, 2019

By Katya Golubkova and Andrei Makhovsky

MOSCOW/MINSK (Reuters) – Russia is confident it can soon resolve a problem of polluted Russian oil contaminating a major pipeline serving Europe and affecting supplies as far west as Germany, a senior official said on Friday at talks with importers about the issue.

Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin did not give a precise timeframe but Moscow has previously said it would pump clean oil to the border with Belarus from April 29, seeking to end a crisis hitting the world’s second-largest crude exporter.

Sorokin was speaking at talks with officials from Belarus, Poland and Ukraine in Minsk on the issue. Belarus said the issue had cost it $100 million, while analysts say alternative supply routes for refiners cannot fully fill the gap.

Poland, Germany, Ukraine and Slovakia have suspended imports of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Halting those supplies has knock-on effects further along the network.

The problem arose last week when an unidentified Russian producer contaminated oil with high levels of organic chloride used to boost oil output but which must be separated before shipment as it can destroy refining equipment.

Russia’s Energy Ministry said pipeline monopoly Transneft and other Russian companies had a plan to mitigate the effects of the contaminated oil. It did not give details.

Russian officials have said contaminated oil has already been pumped into storage in Russia and Friday’s talks would focus on how to partially withdraw the tainted crude from the Druzhba pipeline running via other countries.

The suspension cuts off a major supply route for Polish refineries owned by Poland’s PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos, as well as plants in Germany owned by Total, Shell, Eni and Rosneft.

Some refiners have outlined plans for alternative supplies, but analysts say other routes cannot meet the shortfall.

OIL PRICES

Ukraine’s Ukrtransnafta suspended the transit of oil through the pipeline on Thursday, closing supplies via Druzhba’s southern route to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The pipeline issue, which has supported global oil prices, lifted Russian Urals crude differentials to an all-time high on Thursday.

With pipeline supplies to Europe shut, Russia faces a challenge of how to divert about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) that was meant to be shipped through the network to other destinations at the time when export capacity is at its limits.

State-run Russian Railways held talks with energy firms on using up to 5,000 rail tankers to transport crude, RIA news agency reported on Friday.

Concerns about the quality of Urals crude also caused delays in loadings at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga, when buyers refused to lift cargoes, resulting in a brief shutdown of the port on Wednesday and Thursday. An Ust-Luga official and traders said on Friday loadings had resumed.

Russian loading plans indicate it aims to boost Urals exports in May before the expiry of a deal on output cuts agreed with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, Reuters calculations and Energy Ministry data show.

The provisional loading plan for Russia’s Baltic Sea ports and Novorossiisk in May show exports rising to 10.7 million tonnes, the highest level in half a decade.

Minsk estimated its loss from lower oil product exports due to contaminated Russian oil at around $100 million, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing Belarusian state oil company Belneftekhim.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, in charge of government energy policy, said this week that those found responsible for contaminating the oil could be fined. He did not provide names.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko in WARSAW, Sandor Peto in BUDAPEST, Jason Hovet in PRAGUE, Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets in KIEV, Katya Golubkova, Olesya Astakhova, Gleb Gorodyankin, Olga Yagova and Maxim Rodionov in MOSCOW, Andrei Makhovsky in MINSK; writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Michael Perry and Edmund Blair)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO - A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat
FILE PHOTO: A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – India has once again delayed the implementation of higher tariffs on some goods imported from the United States to May 15, a government official said on Friday.

The new tariff structure was to come into force from May 2, the spokeswoman said without citing reasons for the delay.

Angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminum tariffs, New Delhi decided in June last year to raise the import tax from Aug. 4 on some U.S. products including almonds, walnuts and apples.

But since then, New Delhi has repeatedly delayed the implementation of the new tariff.

Trade friction between India and the U.S. has escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans earlier this year to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.

In a further blow, U.S. on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers including India to continue importing limited volumes.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

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One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.

Symone Sanders, a prominent Democratic strategist and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., staffer in 2016, was announced as one of the big-name members of Team Biden on Thursday.

But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.

“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.

BIDEN HIRES FORMER BERNIE SANDERS’ SPOKESPERSON AS SENIOR ADVISER

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.

Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”

Footage of the interview was resurfaced by RealClearPolitics.

After news of her hiring broke on Thursday, Sanders backed her new boss on Twitter.

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“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.

The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.

While Sanders himself didn’t torch Biden as he jumped into the race, it’s clear that many of his progressive supporters view the former vice president as a threat.

Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.

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Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”

And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”

Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”

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But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”

Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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