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US durable goods orders up solid 2.7% in March

Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose 2.7% in March with a key category that tracks business investment decisions rising at the strongest pace in eight months.

The Commerce Department says the increase in orders for durable goods followed a 1.1% drop in orders in February. Both months were influenced by a swing in demand for commercial aircraft, which had fallen sharply in February and rebounded in March.

The closely watched category that serves as a proxy for business investment saw a 1.3% rise in orders in March, the best showing since a 1.5% increase last July.

Economists are hoping that manufacturing, which has been battered by global weakness and trade tensions, will begin showing strength in coming months which will provide support for the overall economy.

Source: Fox News National

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‘Green Book’ enjoys biggest Oscar nominations bounce at box office

FILE PHOTO - Actor Mahershala Ali talks during a news conference to discuss the movie
FILE PHOTO - Actor Mahershala Ali talks during a news conference to discuss the movie "Green Book" at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 12, 2018. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

February 19, 2019

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Oscar-nominated dramedy “Green Book” has turned Hollywood awards race publicity into more box-office gold than each of the seven other films in the best-picture contest.

The road-trip movie about race relations in the segregated U.S. South of the 1960s had collected more than $127.1 million at global box offices as of Monday, according to estimates released on Tuesday by website Box Office Mojo.

Nearly two-thirds of that sum – $82 million – came after Oscar nominations were announced on Jan. 22.

That topped the $55.8 million boost for 21st Century Fox Inc’s rock biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The story of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury has grabbed a much larger total of $854.3 million, three-fourths of it outside the United States and Canada.

(For a graphic on box office performance by Oscar-nominated films, see: https://tmsnrt.rs/2TWZgg1)

Movie studios execute carefully crafted release strategies and marketing campaigns leading up to the Oscars, hoping the prestige of the nominations will draw audiences to theaters.

Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures, for example, debuted “Green Book” in about 1,000 domestic theaters in November. That number had been slashed nearly in half just ahead of the announcement of this year’s Oscar contenders.

After the movie landed five Oscar nominations, Universal expanded the number of locations playing “Green Book” to more than 2,600 by early February.

Backers of “Green Book” also plowed $1.4 million into national television ads after the nominations through Monday, according to data measurement firm iSpot. That came in second among best-picture nominees to the $2.2 million to advertise “Vice,” a political satire from Annapurna Pictures.

The highest-grossing movie among the eight best-picture nominees is “Black Panther” from Walt Disney Co’s Marvel Studios. “Black Panther” was 2018’s second-highest grossing movie worldwide with $1.3 billion in global ticket sales. It left theaters long before Oscars season.

It is unclear how much the 10 nominations for Netflix Inc’s “Roma,” a foreign-language film about a Mexican housekeeper, boosted its audience. Netflix has declined to release ticket sales data for “Roma,” which has been playing in a more limited range of theaters since November and is currently in 74 U.S. locations.

Major U.S. theater chains refuse to show Netflix movies because the company refuses to wait the traditional three months before making its films available outside of theaters. “Roma” was released on Netflix’s streaming service in December.

The best-picture winner will be announced at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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China toughens subsidy program for new energy vehicle companies

Neolix self-driving vehicle seen at the IEEV New Energy Vehicles Exhibition in Beijing
A visitor takes a picture of a Neolix self-driving vehicle at the IEEV New Energy Vehicles Exhibition in Beijing, China October 18, 2018. Picture taken October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

March 27, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has raised its standards for new energy vehicles (NEV) that qualify for subsidies and reduced the amount it is willing to provide to relevant companies, as it looks to wean the sector off government support.

The country rolled out a generous 5-year subsidy program for the NEV sector in 2016 to support sales and encourage innovation. But it has been slowly rolling back the program and plans to phase out subsidies after 2020 amid criticism that some firms have become overly reliant on the funds.

The Chinese finance ministry late on Tuesday said in a document on its website that it would cut the subsidy for battery electric cars with a range of 400 kilometers and above to 25,000 yuan ($3,720.07) per vehicle from 50,000 yuan in the next three months.

It also raised the standards for vehicles eligible for subsidies, saying that electric cars need to have a range of at least 250 kilometers, compared with 150 kilometers previously, according to the statement.

The ministry also said local governments should improve policies and stop offering some subsidies, but to support infrastructure construction such as that of electricity charging machines.

Shares in NEV makers such as BYD, BAIC BluePark, and battery suppliers like Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd fell between 1 percent and 2.5 percent on Wednesday even as the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges gained.

China’s NEV market has continued to grow significantly even as overall auto sales declined last year for the first time since the 1990s.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

Source: OANN

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Retail investors, mid-caps stand out in China’s stock rally

FILE PHOTO: An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo/File Photo

March 15, 2019

By Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Heartened by signs of an end to a long-running trade war with the United States and monetary easing at home, China’s stock indices have vaulted by a fifth since the beginning of this year and recovered a big chunk of 2018’s losses.

The Shanghai stock index scaled the 3,000 mark for the first time since June this month. The rally has been characterized by heavy retail participation, rising foreign flows into the country and soaring turnover.

Here are some of the salient features of this rally:

China has outperformed its Asian peers and most other global stock markets this year.

Beijing’s efforts to support an economy growing at its slowest pace in 28 years, through tax cuts and government spending, are widely seen as the critical factor behind the recent run-up.

On top of that, the United States and China are possibly in the final weeks of discussions to hammer out a deal to ease their tit-for-tat tariffs dispute.

(For a graphic on ‘China equities outrun other Asian markets’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2CjoVsn)

(For a graphic on ‘Chinese stocks rise amid yuan appreciation’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2OayIG5)

The rally has been dominated by mid-cap firms. Shares in Eastern Communications have seen a jaw-dropping 752 percent gain since late November amid speculation the company would be a beneficiary from China’s 5G tech push, even as the firm repeatedly clarified it has no revenue whatsoever from 5G business.

(For a graphic on ‘China bulls charging to record highs’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2CmEP5d)

Trading volumes have jumped while investor confidence has been picking up. The number of Chinese stock investors had climbed to 147.5 million in January 2019, while market turnover soared to 2015 highs. Retail investors accounted for 99.6 percent of total investors.

(For a graphic on ‘Investor confidence picked up’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UBVadB)

(For a graphic on ‘China’s A-share market daily turnover soared’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2Uze0BV)

Private equity funds have become one of the driving forces behind the rally. Their average equity exposure stood at 72 percent in March 2019, its highest since at least late 2017, showed data from Simuwang.com, an industry website.

(For a graphic on ‘Chinese private equity funds hiked their equity exposure levels’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UyNGYH)

Mutual funds are joining the party too, looking for better returns in stocks. According to the data from China Securities Regulatory Commission, the number of equity mutual funds in China had been steadily increasing in the four quarters of 2018, while their fund shares and net asset value were also on a rising trend.

(For a graphic on ‘Shares of equity mutual funds climbed through Q4 2018’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FbaGb4)

The cheapness of China’s shares, despite the rally, is part of the appeal. The SSEC currently trades at 12.6 times earnings, compared with an earning multiple of roughly 18 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

(For a graphic on ‘China stocks low valuations appeal to investors’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FatCqd)

Foreign investors have splurged hundreds of billions of yuan snapping up A-shares, particularly after China promised more access for them by combining two inbound investment schemes.

The wall of money rushing in even forced global index provider MSCI to take off a stock from its index. MSCI said it would remove Han’s Laser Technology from its China indexes and slash the weighting of Midea Group Co, citing issues triggered by foreign ownership ceilings.

The ownership limit could become a bigger headache for overseas investors buying Chinese stocks, especially small- and mid-caps.

(For a graphic on ‘Industry leaders with heavy foreign ownership’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UuwT97)

Even pigs are “flying”.

Alongside the speculative frenzy that has seen many small cap stocks hitting fresh highs, shares in China’s leading pig producers have soared to record levels despite the industry facing one of its worst disease outbreaks in years, as investors bet on tightening pork supplies and strong government support for leading producers.

As of Tuesday, Wens Foodstuff Group, the biggest start-up firm and mainland China’s top hog farmer, had surged more than 60 percent since the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.

(For a graphic on ‘PIGS FLY: China’s hog producers soared amid African swine fever’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FaKwoM)

Retail borrowing to speculate in stocks is also back with a vengeance as regulators shift their focus back to growth after a lengthy clampdown on riskier types of financing.

Some investors have even turned to the gray market for financing as they tried to maximize their gains in the rally, although China’s securities watchdog is gradually tightening its scrutiny over this form of shadow lending.

(For a graphic on ‘China investors borrow more to buy shares’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UBbT0u)

(Editing by Vidya Ranganathan & Shri Navaratnam)

Source: OANN

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EU may extend Mediterranean mission but only for air patrols: draft

FILE PHOTO: A boat used by migrants is seen near the western town of Sabratha
FILE PHOTO: A boat used by migrants is seen near the western town of Sabratha, Libya March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

March 26, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is considering a six-month extension to its Mediterranean mission, which is aimed at cracking down on smugglers and migration from Africa, but only for air patrols and training Libya’s coast guard, according to a draft statement.

The current mandate of the so-called Sophia mission expires this week and Italy wants to change it so that its ships are no longer patrolling and picking up people in the sea. Other states such as Germany want to prolong Sophia.

A potential compromise discussed by national diplomats in Brussels on Tuesday, which was seen by Reuters, said the EU “agreed to the extension of the mandate… for 6 months and instructed the Operation Commander… to temporarily suspend the deployment of Operation Sophia’s naval assets… while continuing to implement its mandate reinforcing surveillance by air assets.”

The draft agreement also said Sophia would increase training of the Libyan coast guard, as sought by Rome. EU diplomats said the proposal was not yet certain to win the final endorsement.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Robin Emmott)

Source: OANN

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Libyan death toll rises as battle for Tripoli intensifies

Libyan National Army (LNA) members, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, head out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi
Libyan National Army (LNA) members, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, head out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 7, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

April 8, 2019

By Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli

TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Eastern Libyan forces sought to reach the center of Tripoli on Monday after their easy advance through desert hit a trickier urban phase, with deaths and displacements mounting and the West aghast at the threat to its peace plan.

Renewed civil war in Libya, splintered into areas of factional control since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. threatens to disrupt oil and gas supplies, trigger more migration to Europe, and allow Islamist militants to exploit the chaos.

The eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of Khalifa Haftar, a former officer in Gaddafi’s army, said 19 of their soldiers had died in recent days as they closed in on the internationally recognized government in Tripoli.

The United Nations said 2,800 people were displaced by clashes and many more could flee, though some were trapped.

The LNA has made air strikes on the south of the city as it seeks to advance into the center from the disused airport.

But the Tripoli government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, which reported 11 deaths without specifying on which side, has armed groups arriving from nearby Misrata to block the LNA.

Al-Serraj, 59, who comes from a wealthy business family, has run the Tripoli government since 2016 as part of a U.N.-brokered deal boycotted by Haftar.

The LNA, allied with a parallel eastern administration based in Benghazi, took the oil-rich south of Libya earlier this year before its surprisingly fast push towards the coastal capital.

While that advance was straightforward through mostly sparsely populated areas, taking Tripoli is a far bigger challenge.

U.S. AND U.N. APPEAL FOR TRUCE

The violence has thrown into doubt a U.N. plan for an April 14-16 conference to plan elections as a way out of the anarchy since the Western-backed toppling of Gaddafi eight years ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the latest international appeal for talks to end the fighting.

“We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital,” he said.

A contingent of U.S. forces evacuated at the weekend.

The U.N. mission to Libya called on Sunday for a truce for two hours in southern Tripoli to evacuate civilians and wounded, but it did not appear to have been heeded.

Haftar casts himself as a foe of extremism but is viewed by opponents as a new dictator in the mould of Gaddafi, whose four-decade rule saw torture, disappearances and assassinations.

Haftar enjoys the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which see him as a bulwark against Islamists and have supported him militarily, according to U.N. reports.

Forces with the Tripoli government have announced an operation to defense the capital called “Volcano of Anger”.

Allied groups from Misrata down the coast have been moving pickup trucks fitted with machine guns into Tripoli.

The LNA says it has 85,000 men but this includes soldiers paid by the central government that it hopes to inherit. Its elite force, Saiqa (Lightning), numbers some 3,500, while Haftar’s sons also have well-equipped troops, LNA sources say.

Since NATO-backed rebels ousted Gaddafi, Libya has been a transit point for hundreds of thousands of migrants trekking across the Sahara in hope of reaching Europe across the sea.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli; Additional reporting by Ulf Laessing in Cairo, Tom Miles in Geneva, Diane Bartz in Washington; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: OANN

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Japan’s MUFG to book $890 million loss related to unit, stick to forecast: Nikkei

Japan's national flag is seen behind the logo of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) at its bank branch in Tokyo
Japan's national flag is seen behind the logo of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) at its bank branch in Tokyo, Japan September 5, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

April 22, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will book about a 100 billion yen ($893.34 million) loss in the year to March after its credit card unit stopped development of a new system, but it will stick to its full-year profit forecast, the Nikkei said.

MUFG, Japan’s biggest bank by assets, will keep its full-year net profit outlook of 950 billion yen, the newspaper said on Monday.

($1 = 111.9400 yen)

(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa; Editing by David Dolan)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has sued four Indian farmers for cultivating a potato variety that the snack food and drinks maker claims infringes its patent, the company and the growers said on Friday.

Pepsi has sued the farmers for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, exclusively grown for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.

PepsiCo is seeking more than 10 million rupees ($142,840.82) each for alleged patent infringement.

The farmers grow potatoes in the western state of Gujarat, a leading producer of India’s most consumed vegetable.

“We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn’t face this problem ever, as we’ve mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year’s crop,” said Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued by Pepsi.

Patel did not say how he came by the PepsiCo variety.

A court in Ahmedabad, the business hub of Gujarat, on Friday agreed to hear the case on June 12, said Anand Yagnik, the lawyer for the farmers.

“In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety,” A PepsiCo India spokesman said. “This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefiting from seeds of our registered variety.”

PepsiCo, which set up its first potato chips plant in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 potato variety to a group of farmers who in turn sell their produce to the company at a fixed price.

The All India Kisan Sabha, or All India Farmers’ Forum, has asked the Indian government to protect the farmers.

The farmers’ forum has also called for a boycott of PepsiCo’s Lay’s chips and the company’s other products.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PepsiCo is the second major U.S. company in India to face issues over patent infringement.

Stung by a long-standing intellectual property dispute, seed maker Monsanto, which is now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, withdrew from some businesses in India over a cotton-seed dispute with farmers, Reuters reported in 2017. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

(Reporting by Amit Dave in AHMEDABAD and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

CHICAGO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Friday it was considering spinning off its ethanol business after slim biofuel margins and Midwestern floods slammed the U.S. grains merchant’s profit, which tumbled 41 percent in the first quarter.

ADM said it was creating an ethanol subsidiary, which will include dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Peoria, Illinois.

The ethanol subsidiary will report as an independent segment, the company said, allowing options “which may include, but are not limited to, a potential spin-off of the business to existing ADM shareholders.”

Results were hit by the “bomb cyclone” blizzards that devastated the Midwest and Great Plains this year, causing massive flooding across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, washing out rail lines and wreaking havoc in the moving and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat. One-sixth of U.S. ethanol production was halted.

In March, ADM warned Wall Street that flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest would reduce its first-quarter operating profit by $50 million to $60 million.

“The first quarter proved more challenging than initially expected,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano, with earnings down in its starches, sweeteners and bioproducts unit. Luciano said impacts of the severe weather ultimately “were on the high side of our initial estimates”.

Ongoing problems in the ethanol industry added to the problems and “limited margins and opportunities” for ADM, Luciano said.

The ethanol industry has been in the midst of a historic downswing due to the U.S.-China trade war, excess domestic supply and weak margins.

ADM, which had been an ethanol pioneer, signaled to Wall Street in 2016 that it was hunting for options and considering sales of its U.S. dry ethanol mills. Luciano told Reuters this year that offers ADM had received for the mills were too low.

In addition, ADM said it planned to repurpose its corn wet mill in Marshall, Minnesota, to produce higher volumes of food and industrial-grade starches.

Other major traders are alsy trying to distance themselves from struggling ethanol businesses. Louis Dreyfus Company BV spun off its Brazilian sugar and ethanol business Biosev in 2013. Rival Bunge sold its sugar book and has sought a buyer for its Brazilian mills since 2013.

ADM, which makes money trading, processing and transporting crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, has been looking to strengthen its core business. Last month it said it would seek voluntary early retirements of some North American employees and cut jobs as part of a restructuring effort.

The company expects to lower 2019 capital spending by 10 percent to between $800 million and $900 million.

Net earnings attributable to the company fell to $233 million, or 41 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $393 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $15.30 billion from $15.53 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 46 cents per share, while analysts on average had estimated 60 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration
FILE PHOTO: The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Slack Technologies Inc, operator of the popular workplace instant-messaging app, reported a loss of $140.7 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2019, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing ahead of its planned public market debut.

The company said its daily active users exceeded 10 million in the three months ended Jan. 31, 2019.

Slack expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SK”, it said.

The San Francisco-based company is seeking to go public via a direct listing, making it the second big technology company after Spotify Technology SA to bypass the traditional route of listing shares through an initial public offering.

A direct listing is a cheaper way of becoming a public company as the process requires fewer investment banks and therefore lower fees.

In a direct listing, however, a company does not sell any new shares to raise money. Instead, it gives existing shareholders the opportunity to cash out.

Slack is the latest in a string of high-profile technology companies looking to go public this year. Lyft Inc, Pinterest and Zoom Video Communications have completed IPOs so far in 2019.

The company is hoping for a valuation of more than $10 billion in the listing, Reuters had previously reported. Some early investors and employees have been selling the stock at around $28, valuing the company close to $17 billion, Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge, a brokerage company, told CNBC on Thursday.

Slack set a placeholder amount of $100 million to indicate the size of the IPO. The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.

Its competitors include Microsoft Teams, a free chat add-on for Microsoft’s Office365 users.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena and Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Candidate Zelenskiy reacts following the announcement of an exit poll in Ukraine's presidential election in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacts following the announcement of the first exit poll in a presidential election at his campaign headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Matthias Williams

KIEV (Reuters) – Russia’s decision to make it easier for residents of rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine to obtain a Russian passport is meant to test Ukraine’s new leader and the West should not recognize the documents, Lithuania’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the order on facilitating passports on Wednesday, three days after comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice, won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election.

Linas Linkevicius, whose own country also has strained relations with Moscow, told Reuters in an interview that the West should consider imposing new sanctions on Russia.

“This is a blatant violation of international law. And basically also a kind of test to the new (Ukrainian) leadership, which is also a usual game,” Linkevicius said.

“The least we can do (is) we shouldn’t recognize these passports. How to do that technically, it’s another issue to discuss. Also (we need) to look at additional sanctions,” said Linkevicius, whose small Baltic nation is a member of NATO and the European Union.

Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and its support for armed separatists battling Kiev’s forces in eastern Ukraine. Some 13,000 people have been killed in that conflict despite a notional ceasefire signed in Minsk in 2015.

Linkevicius, who in Kiev on Friday became the first minister of an EU country since Ukraine’s election to meet President-elect Zelenskiy, said they had discussed the passport issue.

Zelenskiy also raised the possibility of resetting the Minsk ceasefire agreement without giving any concessions to Russia, Linkevicius said.

“DANGEROUS CANCER” OF GRAFT

The minister urged Zelenskiy to deliver on his electoral promise of tackling corruption, which he described as the “most dangerous cancer” facing Ukraine, which hopes one day to join the EU.

Last month, Lithuania’s own relations with Russia came under renewed strain after a Vilnius court found former Soviet defense minister Dmitry Yazov, in absentia, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in a 1991 crackdown against Lithuania’s pro-independence movement.

Russia branded the verdict “extremely unfriendly and essentially provocative” and opened a probe into the judges involved.

Linkevicius accused Russia of seeking to politicize the judicial process by trying to take revenge on the judges, adding: “This is lamentable.”

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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A Cook County judge recently called out embattled State Attorney Kim Foxx for upholding a double standard by prosecuting a woman for filing a false police report — but dropping similar charges against embattled “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

Foxx has faced intense criticism over her office’s decision to drop a 16-count indictment against Smollett, just weeks after bringing the charges against the high-profile TV star. Foxx’s deal with Smollett, which did not require him to admit guilt, drew ire from the public, the city’s top cop and the former mayor who called it a “whitewash of justice.”

JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHICAGO PROSECUTOR KIM FOXX CHIDED BY NATIONAL ATTORNEYS GROUPS AFTER JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHARGES DROPPED 

Cook County Judge Marc Martin, who was presiding over an unrelated case, chastised Foxx and her office for creating a situation where anyone charged with filing a false report would expect the same leniency her office afforded Smollett.

Candace Clark, 21, is facing one felony count of making a false report. Prosecutors accused her of giving a friend access to her bank account and then telling authorities the money had been stolen. She denies the charges and claims she’s the victim of Foxx’s double standard — something the judge weighed in on.

“Well, Ms. Clark is not a movie star, she doesn’t have a high-price lawyer, although, her lawyer’s very good. And this smells, big time,” Martin said to prosecutors during a recent hearing, Fox 32 reported. “I didn’t create this mess, your office created this mess. And your explanation is unsatisfactory to this court. She’s being treated differently.”

The judge continued, “There’s no publicity on this case. She doesn’t have Mark Geragos as her lawyer or Ron Safer or Judge Brown. It’s not right. And (if) I proceed in this matter, you’re just digging yourselves further in a hole. (If the) press gets a hold of this, it’ll be in a newspaper. Why is Ms. Clark being treated differently than Mr. Smollett?”

Foxx recused herself from the Smollett case in February but continued to oversee the investigation through text messages with her assistant Joseph Magats.

The text messages revealed Foxx called Smollett a “washed up celeb who lied to cops.” They also show she cautioned Magats about throwing the book at Smollett.

“Sooo……I’m recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases…16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A,” Foxx wrote to Magats on March 8.

“Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16. On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it’s indicative of something we should be looking at generally. Just because we can charge something doesn’t mean we should,” she added, referring to the case of R&B singer R. Kelly, who was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with four women, three of whom were underage.

KIM FOXX’S CHIEF ETHICS OFFICER RESIGNS FOLLOWING SMOLLETT CONTROVERSY

President Trump said last month he asked for a federal review of Foxx’s decision to drop the charges against Smollett. He also called the actor “an absolute embarrassment to our country.”

The Smollett case garnered national attention and threatened to tear Chicago apart. It pit the police department and mayor against prosecutors and underscored the idea that wealthy people are somehow above the law.

Smollett told police he was attacked on Jan. 29 around 2 a.m. as he was returning home from a sandwich shop in Chicago. He said two masked men shouted racial and anti-gay slurs, poured bleach on him, beat him and tied a rope around his neck. He claimed they shouted, “This is MAGA country” — a reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

CLICK HERE FOF THE FOX NEWS APP

After an intense investigation, police said Smollett staged the entire incident to drum up publicity for his career.

Smollett has strongly denied the accusations.

Source: Fox News National

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