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The week in pictures, Apr. 6 – Apr. 12

https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_AP19101306251662.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

Stars are seen over Dunstanburgh Castle in the early hours of the morning, between the villages of Craster and Embleton, in Northumberland, England, April 11, 2019. 

Owen Humphreys/PA via AP

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Source: Fox News World

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Jailed Iranian musician rebuffs regime’s ban by releasing album about war and oppression

Mehdi Rajabian, 29, is on temporary bail from the brutality that lurks behind the walls of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison – but he wants the world to know the oppression and fear he and many more face at every moment under the iron thumb of the regime.

His crime? A childhood love of music.

“I was born in a small province in Iran. I was always passionate about music, I would drown in the imagination of color and fairytale while listening to music,” Rajabian told Fox News from Iran, which he is forbidden to leave. “This childish, visual view of music made me see it as a means to carry an artistic message.”

But that view would one day see him thrown behind bars in one of the world’s worst prisons.

Iran's notoriously brutal Evin Prison in northern Tehran

Iran's notoriously brutal Evin Prison in northern Tehran (Behrouz Javid Tehrani/IHRDC)

REPORTER JASON REZAIAN REVEALS 'TORTURE' HE ENDURED IN IRANIAN PRISON

His trouble began in 2013 after he and his older brother, Hossein, were investigated and detained by authorities for “spreading corruption” after their participation in Iran’s fabled underground music scene, and working with women.

“Women in Iran can’t perform as solo vocalists, it is forbidden. And it is forbidden to show musical instruments on national television,” Rajabian pointed out. “We are creating music in such hardships, where music can be counted as a felony. One must learn and play music in such situations.”

Then, in June 2015, Rajabian and Hossein, a then 31-year-old filmmaker, were again arrested found guilty of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “insulting the sacred.” He was cautioned never again to participate in the music industry.

After months of solitary confinement, then being moved around to cells with an array of Somali pirates and drug dealers, the brothers embarked on lengthy hunger strikes to challenge their situation.

“Solitary confinement kills one's soul, and the hunger strike kills one's body, which I experienced both. I went on two separate hunger strikes, the last one lasted for more than a month where I lost 33 pounds, and my body suffered damage of which I'm still trying to cure,” Rajabian recalled. “The damage was more mental. The only thing that motivated me to keep fighting was the fight for music and for the chance to keep creating art.”

Rajabian’s plight captured the attention of numerous human rights and advocacy groups around the world, from Amnesty International and the United Nations to Free Muse, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and the Council of Europe Artists, all calling for his release.

EXPERTS WARN OF IRANIAN 'CYBER WAR' MEDDLING AHEAD OF ISRAELI ELECTION

While the brothers were initially sentenced to six years in jail, an appeals court commuted it to three. In late 2017, they were let out on a temporary release and remain on a suspended sentence with no end date.

“That means they (the authorities) can operate it whenever they want, which means I am still under pressure,” Rajabian said. “Hearings for people like us are held very secretly, they are highly unpredictable, they can send me to prison whenever they want.”

Despite the persistent threat of a door being knocked down, followed by a drag back behind bars – not being allowed to leave the country and banned from working as an artist – Rajabian remains defiant.

“I’m not worried about the future, because I chose my path years ago,” he stressed. “I’m always fighting for music, and music freedom.”

Album cover

Album cover (Mehdi Rajabian)

This year, Rajabian brought together almost a hundred musicians from across the Middle East to send a message to the volatile region that they’re tired of being censored and oppressed, that they’re tired of mass human rights violations and endless wars.

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Simply titled “Middle Eastern,” the eleven-track album – released last month by Sony Music Entertainment – features artists who have never met another but carry the same directive spanning Syria, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon and beyond. One created his music while bombings were exploding, another worked while on a boat fleeing his country.

“We express our pain through music. Our art is no way just for fun,” Rajabian added. “In Iran, creating art can have very harsh consequences.”

Source: Fox News World

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Bombardier eyes higher sales from retrofitting trains

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bombardier is seen in Zurich
FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bombardier is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland, February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 22, 2019

By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Canada’s Bombardier Inc sees higher sales from modernizing existing rail cars as the company works to further diversify its largest division as measured in revenue, a spokesman said this month.

Bombardier projects that a quarter of its transportation division’s expected 2020 revenue of $10 billion will come from rail services, up from 18 percent in 2014, according to a company investor presentation. Rail services include retrofitting, operations and maintenance.

The Montreal-based company is counting on its transportation and corporate jet divisions for growth as it sheds its money-losing commercial aviation businesses. It closed a deal last summer to cede a controlling stake in its largest narrowbody program to Europe’s Airbus SE.

But the company has wrestled with execution problems and delays on rail contracts that led earlier this year to the temporary halting of car deliveries in New York because of air compressor software defects, and in Switzerland because of faulty doors. New York deliveries have since resumed.

As it pursues retrofitting contracts, Bombardier is eying a possible plan by the largest U.S. rapid transit system to modernize around 1,000 subway cars made by the company in the late 1990s and early 2000s, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The New York City Transit Authority is weighing a plan to retrofit its R142 subway car fleet with modern technology like Wi-Fi, but has not formally called for bids, one of the sources said. Sources declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential.

Transit agencies, which have traditionally bought new cars, are considering retrofits to respond to customer demand for amenities like Wi-Fi and accommodations for disabled riders.

According to the American Public Transit Association (APTA), the average U.S. subway and commuter rail car is now around 22 years old, about halfway through its 40-year life span and still young enough to retrofit.

A spokesman for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which oversees NYC Transit, did not respond to requests for comment.

Bombardier declined to comment on New York, but the company spokesman sees demand for retrofitting as manufacturing costs rise.

“With increasing costs to produce new trains and the limited availability of federal funding support for large rolling stock acquisitions, a potential exists for reinvesting in existing rolling stock equipment,” company spokesman Eric Prud’Homme said by email.

Prud’Homme would not disclose details about the division’s sales or margins from retrofitting.

Retrofitting delivers higher margins and is considered less risky than building new, because the complexity of some vehicle orders can lead to delays, rail industry executives say.

Among its retrofitting orders, Bombardier won a $255 million contract to upgrade trains in Australia earlier this month.

Modernizing, however, brings challenges for agencies because it takes vehicles out of service to be retrofitted. Such a move risks creating gridlock in New York City which “is already busting at the seams,” said one of the sources.

Prud’Homme said retrofitting can generally accommodate agencies by conducting the work when cars are taken out of service for regular maintenance.

New York City Transit Authority President Andy Byford recently left the door open to Bombardier winning more work because of improvements on their contract.

“The more they (Bombardier) now deliver and the more the units work straight out of the box … and the fewer the defects when they turn up, the stronger case they make in the future,” Byford told reporters on the sidelines of the agency’s March board meeting.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis)

Source: OANN

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For the ultimate ‘Game of Thrones’ fan. How to speak Valyrian

People walk past a large replica of the iron throne before the premiere of the final season of
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a large replica of the iron throne before the premiere of the final season of "Game of Thrones" at Radio City Music Hall in New York, U.S., April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

April 11, 2019

By Alicia Powell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – American linguist David J. Peterson may have built up the unique and ancient languages for the television series “Game of Thrones” but when it comes to who speaks Valyrian best, there’s no contest.

“The best is Jacob Anderson,” Peterson told Reuters. “He plays Grey Worm on ‘Game of Thrones’ and he’s so good, he’s so good. He is head and shoulders better than me.”

“When I heard him the first time speak the Valyrian language I just said, ‘wow.’ I went back and re-watched it,” he said.

Peterson, a co-founder of the Language Creation Society, started off by building on a few keys words and phrases created by George R.R. Martin in his “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels that form the basis of the HBO hit medieval fantasy series about warring families.

“I didn’t reference any other languages. After I included all of (Martin’s) material I built it up in a way that I thought book readers and George R.R. Martin himself would expect and appreciate.”

When Peterson got the scripts for the TV show, producers tagged all the lines he had to translate into Valyrian or Dothraki.

He then broke up the language syllable by syllable for the actors, and recorded it for them.

“I record really slow so they can hear exactly how it’s pronounced, and then I record the English for reference,” Peterson said.

Although the final season of “Game of Thrones” starts on Sunday, the languages will go on living.

Peterson has developed a course on the Duolingo foreign language app where fans can learn to speak Dothraki and Valyrian for free. According to the Duolingo app, there are currently over 800,000 active Valyrian learners – more than those learning Norwegian or Hindi.

“I also do all the recordings so that’s my voice that you’re hearing when you use the app. And I also take it myself because it’s nice to brush up,” Peterson said.

(Reporting by Reuters Television; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Source: OANN

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Beto O'Rourke says there is 'a lot of wisdom' in calls to abolish the Electoral College, cites Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss

Another 2020 Democrat has come out against the Electoral College.

After addressing students at Penn State University on Tuesday afternoon, Beto O’Rourke lamented Hillary Clinton’s failure to take the White House despite winning the popular vote, adding there is “a lot of wisdom” in calls for change.

“I think there’s a lot to that. Because you had an election in 2016 where the loser got 3 million more votes than the victor,” O’Rourke said in a video posted online.

“It puts some states out of play altogether, they don’t feel like their votes really count.

ELIZABETH WARREN SAYS SHE WANTS TO ELIMINATE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

“If we really want everyone to vote, to give them every reason to vote, we have to make sure their votes count and go to the candidate of their choosing. So I think there’s a lot of wisdom in that.”

O’Rourke’s support for potentially abolishing the Electoral College came one day after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D.Mass., pushed a similar proposal.

“Every vote matters and the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting, and that means get rid of the Electoral College,” Warren told an audience at the historically black Jackson State University in Mississippi.

COLORADO DEMS LOOK TO DITCH ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM

“I believe we need a constitutional amendment that protects the right to vote for every American citizen and makes sure that vote gets counted,” she said. “We need to put some federal muscle behind that, and we need to repeal every one of the voter suppression laws that is out there.”

In February, the Democratic-controlled Colorado State Senate voted to join other blue states in a pact aimed at getting rid of the Electoral College system.

The state Senate approved a bill adding Colorado to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. That pact would change the way presidents are picked by allocating each state's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote – regardless of how the state votes.

BETO O'ROURKE SEEMINGLY ENDORSES THIRD-TRIMESTER ABORTIONS: 'THAT SHOULD BE A DECISION THE WOMAN MAKES'

In theory, the game-changing compact only takes effect once it signs on states representing at least 270 electoral votes, the threshold to win the presidency. With the addition of Connecticut's seven electoral votes last year, the group now has 172.

Colorado would be the 13th jurisdiction to join the pact if the state’s House also passes it and the state's Democratic governor signs it into law.

The uphill campaign, if ever brought to fruition, would almost certainly face a court challenge. It has gained renewed attention amid Democrats grumbling about the Electoral College in the wake of President Trump's 2016 win. While he defeated Hillary Clinton in the electoral vote, he lost the popular vote by 2.9 million ballots.

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The pact is meant to be a work-around to the constitutional requirements that created the Electoral College system, which awards each state's electors to the winner of that state.

Others that have joined the pact include Connecticut, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia — all places where Clinton defeated Trump in 2016.

Fox News' Alex Pappas contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Report: 19 Minutes to React After a Russian Hack

Victims of Russian state-sponsored hacking have just 19 minutes to react before the initial intrusion moves on to wider access, theft, and destruction, a startling report from cyber security firm CrowdStrike reported.

In comparison, the second-fastest groups were North Koreans, who needed an average of two hours to jump from the first compromised computer to the second; Chinese groups needed an average of four hours, Defense One reported.

"Breakout time" refers to the amount of time it takes the attacker to jump between network nodes once on the network, and also "shows how much time defenders have on average to detect an initial intrusion, investigate it and eject the attacker from the network, before sensitive data can be stolen or destroyed," CrowdStrike analysts wrote in a 2018 post.

The agility of Russian groups has long been known, Defense One reported — adding it was a signature element of the 2015 penetration of the Joint Chiefs' civilian email system and the following year's attack on the Democratic National Committee's network.

"The stats are likely driven by a cross of several factors," senior fellow at New America told Defense One, adding: "But an average of 18 minutes is really quite amazing given the scale. Game respects game."

In 2018, the Russians targeted defense and military entities throughout Europe and NATO as well as think tanks, the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games and even the Swiss lab working on the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, Defense One noted.

"The Russians are the most aggressive and risk-tolerant because they've broken so many international norms and faced so few repercussions that they don't really believe there will be any serious consequences to their action," said Mike Carpenter, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Defense One reported.

Source: NewsMax America

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Whoopi Goldberg Defends Biden: ‘I Don’t Want Joe to Stop’ Kissing and Smelling Women’s Hair

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attends the funeral service for murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland April 24, 2019. Brian Lawless/Pool via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday he had turned down an invitation to a state dinner which will be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in June.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honor a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

He said maintaining the relationship with the United States did not require “the pomp and ceremony of a state visit” and he said he would welcome a meeting with Trump “to discuss all matters of interest.”

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli
Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli, Libya April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s U.N.-recognized government has budgeted up to 2 billion dinars ($1.43 billion) to cover costs of a three-week-old war for control of the capital, such as treatment for the wounded, to be funded without new borrowing, the economy minister said.

Ali Abdulaziz Issawi suggested the government hoped for business to continue more or less as usual despite the assault on Tripoli, in the country’s northwest, by forces tied to a parallel administration based in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Once Africa’s third largest producer of oil, Libya has been riven by factional conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country now broadly split between eastern-based forces under Khalifa Haftar and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, in the west, under Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Still, with Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces unable so far to pierce defenses in Tripoli’s southern suburbs, normal life and business activities continue in much of the capital and western coastal towns.

Issawi, in an interview with Reuters in his Tripoli office, also said Libya’s commercial ports and wheat imports were still functioning normally, although some roads have been blocked.

He said the Serraj government estimates it will spend up to 2 billion dinars extra on medical treatment for wounded, aid for displaced people and other “emergency” war costs.

He said this was not military spending but analysts believe that the sum will also cover expenditures such as pay for allied armed groups or food for fighters.

“We could actually spend less,” he added, in comments that gave the first insight into the economic impact of the fighting.

Issawi said the Tripoli government, which controls little territory beyond the greater capital region, would not incur new debt to fund the war costs, sticking to a plan to post a 2019 budget without a deficit.

Tripoli derives revenue largely from oil and natural gas production, interest-free loans from local banks to the central bank, and a 183 percent surcharge on foreign exchange transactions conducted at official rates.

But with centralized tax collection greatly diminished, public debt has piled up – to 68 billion dinars in the west, including unpaid state obligations such as social insurance.

Some analysts expect Serraj’s government will be forced to raise new debt if the war for control of Tripoli drags on.

With much of Libya dominated by armed factions that also act as security forces, the public wage bill for both the western and eastern administrations has soared as fighters have been made public employees in efforts to buy their loyalty.

The east has sold bonds worth 35 billion dinars outside the official financial system as the Tripoli central bank does not fund the parallel government apart from some wages.

Despite its limited reach, the Tripoli government still runs an annual budget of around 46.8 billion dinars, mainly for public salaries and fuel subsidies.

“This year we cannot finance via debt…we will not borrow (by agreement with the central bank),” Issawi said.

According to International Monetary Fund data, Libya’s central government debt-to-GDP ratio is 143 percent, making it one of the most heavily indebted in the world on that measure.

Issawi declined to say what parts of the budget would be trimmed to support the extra outlay for war costs.

However, with some 70 percent of the budget allocated to public wages, fuel subsidies and other welfare benefits, a portion devoted to infrastructure is most likely to be axed.

Widespread lawlessness has meant there have been no major infrastructural projects since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi, leaving schools, hospitals and roads in acute need of restoration.

FOREX SURCHARGE

Issawi said the government planned to raise as much as 30 billion dinars by the end of 2019 from hard currency deals after imposing in September a 183 percent surcharge on commercial and private transactions done on the official rate of 1.4 to the U.S. dollar. That fee has effectively devalued the official rate to 3.9, much closer to the black market equivalent.

Some 17 billion dinars have been raised since then, with hard currency allocated for import credit letters now issued without delays, Issawi said. The forex fee has helped the government forecast a budget in the black for 2019.

Despite the narrowing spread between the two rates, the black market continues to thrive. Dozens of traders remained at their favorite spot behind the central bank headquarters in Tripoli when Reuters reporters visited it last week.

But traders said it could take time for the Serraj government to register the extra forex receipts as official banking channels were taking up to six months to approve import financing, keeping the black market in play for dealers.

Issawi said authorities planned to lower the forex fee from 183 percent, without saying when. The black market rate has dropped from 6 to around 4.1 since September but it has hardly moved of late as demand for black market cash remains high.

The Tripoli government has stopped subsidizing food and bread, which used to be cheaper than drinking water in Libya. Wheat imports are now being arranged by private traders and there are surplus stocks of flour at the moment, Issawi said.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing in Tripoli with additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., threatened possible jail time for White House officials refusing to comply with subpoenas to testify before the House Oversight Committee.

Connolly, a member of the House panel, made his comments during an interview on CNN on Thursday. He said that “if a subpoena is issued and you’re told you must testify, we will back that up.”

He added: “And we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it’s backed up — whether that’s a contempt citation, whether that’s going to court and getting that citation enforced, whether it’s fines, whether it’s possible incarceration.”

“We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government.”

His comments came after three officials have refused to comply with congressional requests to testify, CNN noted.

Trump told The Washington Post that his staff should not testify on Capitol Hill, explaining that the White House cooperated fully with special counsel Robert Mueller and “there is no reason to go any further, especially in Congress where it’s very partisan.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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“Outdated laws” need fixing to deal with the surge in illegal immigrant families crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, a top Border Patrol official said Friday.

Migrant families face no consequences if apprehended trying to cross the border illegally under present law, Border Patrol chief of Operations Brian Hastings claimed during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“We need a change in the current outdated laws that we’re dealing with for this current demographic and this crisis that we have,” he said.

Hastings said as of Thursday there have been 440,000 apprehensions along the southwest border. There were 396,000 apprehensions all of last year.

SOUTHERN BORDER AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ AFTER MORE THAN 76,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TRIED CROSSING IN FEBRUARY, OFFICIALS SAY

And those numbers continue to rise, he said.

Historically 70 to 90 percent of apprehensions at the border were quickly returned to Mexico, Hastings said.

Now, 83 percent of those apprehended have come from the Central American northern triangle which includes Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and of those 63 percent are “family units” and children who cannot be returned, he said.

“There are no consequences that we can apply to this group currently,” Hastings said. “We’re overwhelmed. If you look at agents there doing a tremendous job trying to deal with the flow.”

The law dictates children have to be released after 20 days of detention.

FLORIDA SHERIFF ON BORDER CRISIS AFTER MAJOR DRUG BUST: ‘IT MAKES ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says that has forced immigration officials to release entire families because “you don’t want to separate families.”

Recently, he said he is drafting legislation that would allow children to be detained for more than 20 days.

Hastings said agents are frustrated with the situation but are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

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“Up to 40 percent of our agents are processing at any given time,” he said. “That should say that in and of itself is pulling from those border security resources.”

Source: Fox News National

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