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Mueller report more than 300 pages long: DOJ

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report is more than 300 pages long, according to a senior Justice Department official.

The official told Fox News Thursday that Attorney General Bill Barr told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., about the length of the report during a short phone call on Wednesday.

DEFIANT SCHIFF MAINTAINS RESULTS OF FBI'S ORIGINAL RUSSIA PROBE 'NOT YET' KNOWN, DESPITE MUELLER CONCLUSION

A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment when asked about the length of the report.

Barr, on Sunday, released a four-page summary of the Mueller report, saying that the special counsel found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 presidential election.

Barr's summary also revealed that Mueller decided not to rule on whether President Trump obstructed justice--kicking the decision back to the Justice Department. On Sunday, Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein effectively cleared Trump, saying that the evidence from the case was not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense

The Justice Department is expected to release Mueller's full report, with redactions, in the coming weeks.

Congressional Democrats blasted Barr's short summary of Mueller's findings, and have called for full transparency, urging the release of the full report to Congress and the public by April 2.

TRUMP RECEPTIVE TO GRAHAM'S CALL FOR 2ND SPECIAL COUNSEL TO REVIEW RUSSIA PROBE ORIGINS, SOURCE SAYS

Barr has employed the help of Mueller, along with federal prosecutors in the special counsel's office, to help to determine which portions of the report can be made public, and which portions need to remain under seal due to sensitive grand jury materials and methods.

"How can I say this more clearly? Show us the report," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday, adding that she would support subpoenaing the Justice Department for the full report should officials fail to comply with the Democrat-imposed April 2 deadline.

Source: Fox News Politics

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U.S. net long dollars hit highest since late December: CFTC, Reuters

Illustration photo of a U.S. Dollar note
A U.S. Dollar note is seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration

March 8, 2019

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Speculators boosted their net long U.S. dollar position to its highest level since late December, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net long dollar position was $28.57 billion in the week ended March 5, compared with $23.84 billion the previous week. Net long dollar positioning has advanced for a fifth consecutive week.

U.S. dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars.

In a broader measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian ruble, the U.S. dollar posted a net long position of $25.352 billion in the week ended March 5, compared with $23.524 billion.

The dollar had gained some momentum over the last two weeks, bolstered mainly by stronger-than-expected U.S. second-quarter economic growth and a dovish turn by the European Central Bank. The ECB on Thursday restarted its stimulus program by launching a new round of cheap loans to banks.

The dollar’s momentum, though, halted on Friday after a measly 20,000-job increase in domestic payrolls last month, far fewer than 180,000 forecast among analysts polled by Reuters.

That said, the dollar still ended this week on a positive note, rising nearly 0.9 percent despite cratering on Friday after the U.S. jobs report.

RBC Capital Markets remained positive on the U.S. dollar over the next three months.

“The Fed (Federal Reserve) is on hold, but the U.S. dollar is the highest yielder in G10,” said Elsa Lignos, global head of FX strategy at RBC in London. “In an environment where FX volatility is probing the lows, it is hard to ignore the argument of positive carry,” she added, referring to the carry trade in which investors sell lower-yielding currencies to buy higher-yielding units.

In the cryptocurrency market, speculators’ net short position on bitcoin Cboe futures further increased to 1,438 contracts in the week ended March 5, from 1,280 short contracts the previous week.

Bitcoin has started to creep higher to hit nearly $4,000 on Friday on the Bitstam platform, a two-week high.

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; editing by Sandra Maler and Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Mercedes Schlapp: 'Strong Legal Grounds' for Border Declaration

President Donald Trump and his administration believe there are "strong legal grounds" behind the decision to declare the border situation a national emergency and that Trump had the presidential authority to take the action, White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp said Monday.

"Congress has the statutes and it has been used before over 50 times since 1976," Schlapp told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "What we're seeing right now at the border is an emergency."

In addition, Border Patrol agents are having difficulty having enough operational support to secure the border, said Schlapp.

Schlapp also commented on Trump's statement at the Rose Garden Friday that he didn't "have to" go the route of a national emergency, saying that he didn't want to choose the route he took.

"He wanted to see if Congress would negotiate a better deal," said Schlapp. "They, of course, fell short with pushing forward $1.375 billion toward the physical barrier. That is better than the zero or less than $1 Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi was willing to offer."

There also are several pots of money the president can start using even while legal challenges mount to his declaration, including from the departments of Treasury and Defense.

"This is an opportunity to really be able to build these physical barriers in much-needed areas," she said. "We can start building immediately and start working with our contractors. The president met last week with the generals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get the process going. The president wants to move fast."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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As border crisis worsens, immigration bills in Congress continue to stall

Democrats responded Tuesday to the border crisis by suggesting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stop trying to deter illegal immigrants and instead quickly process those seeking asylum.

"It is obvious from your letter to Congress last week that the Trump administration still does not understand the factors driving people to seek refuge in this country and refuses to take responsibility for its failed policies that are making the situation at the border worse," leading House Democrats wrote to Nielsen Tuesday. "Instead of pushing ill-advised, ineffective proposals to detain and deport all families and unaccompanied minors, the administration needs to engage Congress on policies designed to promote safe and orderly migration flows..."

Nielsen has refused to do that. She said statistics show that up to half of illegal immigrant families never complete their applications or appear in court. By contrast, she wants Congress to toughen asylum laws and allow the Trump administration to more easily detain and remove Central American families and children.

Eliminating birthright citizenship and forcing employers to verify employees are legal U.S. residents is “on the table,” she told Tucker Carlson Tuesday night.

“The only way we fix this crisis is if Congress closes the loopholes, fixes the misguided court decisions, and gives us relief from the extraordinary pull factors that our laws and those court decisions have created,” a senior DHS official told reporters Monday in a conference call.

As the border issue keeps worsening, with the number of people illegally crossing the border climbing significantly, there has been no solution to the problem -- and the border bills in Congress keep stalling.

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY: FOCUSING ON POTENTIAL AVOCADO SHORTAGE FROM BORDER SHUTDOWN PROVES HOW 'UNSERIOUS' MEDIA IS

Lawmakers from each party see the immigration problem differently. Both parties provided Fox News this week a list of bills designed to address the problem. Republican bills focused on building a wall. Democratic bills provided illegal immigrants more protections from deportation and legal rights.

A variety of push-and-pull factors influence illegal immigration. In their letter to Nielsen, Democrats said they want the administration, "engaging in real efforts to address the crime, insecurity, and lawlessness that is causing people to leave Central America in the first place. The administration cutting foreign assistance just when these countries need it most only makes the situation worse.”

Republicans counter with evidence showing a falling murder rate in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador the last three years, yet illegal immigration is increasing.

"We're facing an unprecedented unmitigated crisis on the southwest border," said former chief of the Border Patrol and current acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ron Vitiello. "There is nothing dissuading these people from bringing their people their kids to the border."

Even executives actions or legal rulings have helped address the issue.

After President Obama announced DACA, protections from deportation for children of illegal immigrants, child apprehensions soared.

Also when a federal judge in 2015 reinterpreted the Flores decision to protect not just children, but adults traveling with children, from detention longer than 20 days, families apprehended crossing illegally more than doubled.

Administration officials argue those court and executive actions help drive illegal immigration.

"I think the most important thing that has to happen is we need to close these loopholes," Vitiello said. "That'll make all of this work smaller. It'll make this problem smaller. The crisis will abate if we can close the loopholes. That's what needs to happen first.

Other “loopholes” considered critical to shutting down growing numbers of asylum seekers are internal.

A GOP-bill sponsored by House Judiciary ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., tightens the credible fear standard so there are fewer baseless asylum claims, thereby reducing the number of families getting released. It also allows the U.S. to deport Central American children who are not victims of trafficking, to their home countries.

"These loopholes provide perverse incentives for adults to send children on the hazardous journey across the border, often in the company of dangerous people," said Collins. "At the same time, our asylum system is not serving people fleeing persecution like it should because it is weighed down with frivolous claims."

DHS SECRETARY NIELSEN TO TRAVEL TO SOUTHERN BORDER AMID MIGRATION CRISIS

The Collins bill fixes the Flores settlement by requiring DHS to keep children and parents together while their cases are handled in immigration court. A former immigration judge says 40 to 60 days should be enough.

"Forty days is the standard for custody removal proceedings," said Art Arthur, now an analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. "So, just more than a month is all the time that an immigration judge needs to adjudicate those cases. The Flores settlement agreement encourages parents to bring their children with them to the United States knowing that they're going to be released within 20 days if they show up with the child, and that's why we see such a large number of family units showing up at the border right now."

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U.S. officials expect March apprehensions to exceed 100,000, up to 65 percent could be unaccompanied minors and families. Yet, the U.S. only has detention beds for 3,000 families. The excess will be released with Notice to Appear in court – sometime in the future. But with a backlog of more than 830,000 cases, many will not see a judge for years. Their lives change, they get married, have children, work. As their American roots grow deeper, Arthur said they get more difficult to deport. He blames Congress for seeing the problem but doing nothing.

"Quite frankly Congress is in denial about the situation at the border. They don't even recognize that there's an emergency," he said. "What is now a crisis is going to be a disaster in just a few weeks time. Congress is going to have to act then. But they seem to be too busy doing other things to understand the human element of what's going on along the border."

Source: Fox News Politics

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Canadian dollar claws back losses as oil rises, Fed signals patience

FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the
FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the "Loonie", is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto January 23, 2015./File Photo

February 26, 2019

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, reversing an early decline as oil prices rose and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled patience on raising interest rates further.

The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, rose as OPEC was expected to stick to production cuts despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. crude oil futures were up 0.7 percent at $55.87 a barrel.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said rising risks and soft economic data should not prevent solid U.S. growth this year, but the Fed will remain “patient” in deciding on further interest rate hikes.

At 11:13 a.m. (1613 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3190 to the greenback, or 75.82 U.S. cents. The currency traded in a range of 1.3185 to 1.3236.

The loonie steadied a day after it notched its strongest price in nearly three weeks at 1.3113 before turning lower as oil prices slumped. Over coming days, Canadian markets will watch domestic economic data which could guide expectations for next week’s interest rate decision by the Bank of Canada.

Canada’s inflation report for January is due on Wednesday and fourth-quarter gross domestic product data is due on Friday.

Canadian government bond prices were higher across the yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year rose 3.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.764 percent and the 10-year climbed 17 Canadian cents to yield 1.875 percent.

A Bank of Canada working group proposes expanding the range of transactions used in the calculation of the Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA) interest-rate benchmark, according to a consultation paper published by the central bank.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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Algeria’s Bouteflika – from revolutionary to ailing recluse

FILE PHOTO: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is seen in Algiers
FILE PHOTO: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is seen in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina/File Photo

March 11, 2019

By Lamine Chikhi

ALGIERS (Reuters) – President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a veteran of Algeria’s war for independence who has ruled for two decades, announced on Monday he had reversed his decision to seek a fifth term following weeks of mass demonstrations.

Bouteflika, 82 and rarely seen in public since a stroke in 2013, had returned to Algeria on Sunday after medical treatment in Switzerland – coming home to a country in the grip of protests against his decision to stand again in the elections.

In a series of announcements on Monday evening, the presidency said an election previously set for April would be postponed. It did not set a new date but said a new constitution would be submitted to the public for a referendum.

A fighter in the 1954-1962 war to end French colonial rule, Bouteflika became independent Algeria’s first foreign minister and one of the forces behind the Non-Aligned Movement that gave a global voice to Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He championed post-colonial states, challenged what he saw as the hegemony of the United States and helped turned his country into a seed-bed of 1960s idealism.

He welcomed Che Guevara, and a young Nelson Mandela got his first military training in Algeria. Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, on the run from U.S. police, was given refuge. Cleaver held court in his Algiers safe house with Timothy Leary, the drug-taking high priest of U.S. counter-culture.

As president of the U.N. General Assembly, Bouteflika invited Yasser Arafat to address the body in 1974, a historic step toward international recognition of the Palestinian cause.

By the end of the 1970s, though, Bouteflika had fallen from favor at home and went into exile. He returned to public life when Algeria was being ravaged by a conflict with Islamist militants which killed an estimated 200,000 people.

First elected president in 1999, he negotiated a truce to end the fighting and wrested power from the secretive military-based establishment known as “le pouvoir” (the powers-that-be).

Helped by oil and gas revenues, Algeria became more peaceful and richer. But it remains mired in corruption and political and economic torpor in a region where uprisings brought changes in neighboring countries. 

With a cushion of foreign reserves and a population wary of major upheaval after their civil war, Algeria avoided the Arab spring revolutions that toppled leaders across the region in 2011.

But protests against poor living standards, the lack of job opportunities and services are common, and foreign investors are keen for economic reforms that will cut the red tape that often hampers business. 

THIRD WORLD’S SPOKESMAN

Some biographers say Bouteflika was born in Tlemcen, western Algeria, and others give his place of birth as Oujda, just over the border in Morocco.

Aged 19, he joined the rebellion against French rule as a protege of Houari Boumediene, a commander who would later become Algerian president.

After independence, Bouteflika became minister for youth and tourism at the age of 25. The following year he was made foreign minister.

Dressed in the tailored suits and sunglasses fashionable in the 1960s, Bouteflika became a spokesman for states emerging from colonial rule, given added authority by the cachet Algeria had earned from defeating France.

Bouteflika demanded that Communist China be given a seat in the United Nations. He railed against apartheid rule in South Africa.

The invitation to Arafat to address the General Assembly was controversial. Only two years before, Palestinian gunmen took hostage and killed members of the Israeli team at the Olympic Games in Munich. Bouteflika watched from the chairman’s dais as Arafat, a gun holster on his waistband, addressed the assembly in New York.

When pro-Palestinian militant Illich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as “Carlos the Jackal”, kidnapped oil ministers from an OPEC meeting in Vienna in 1975, he demanded to be flown with his hostages to Algiers. Bouteflika was shown on camera embracing Carlos at the airport before they sat down to negotiate the hostages’ release.

RETURN FROM EXILE

When Boumediene died in 1978, Bouteflika lost his mentor. He was replaced as foreign minister and an investigation was launched into financial impropriety. Bouteflika said the allegations were invented as part of a political plot.

He left Algeria in the early 1980s and settled in Dubai, where he became an adviser to a member of the emirate’s ruling family. He returned home in 1987 but kept a low profile, refusing offers of government posts.

In the meantime, Algeria was unraveling. The military-backed government annulled a parliamentary election in 1992 that Islamists were on the verge of winning. In the conflict that followed, whole villages were massacred and civilians walking in city streets had their throats slit.

Bouteflika, backed by the military, was elected president in 1999 with a pledge to stop the fighting. Against fierce opposition from the establishment, he gave an amnesty to militants who laid down their arms. The violence declined dramatically.

He won re-election in 2004 and again in 2009, although his opponents said the votes were rigged. Through a series of ferocious turf battles with his security forces behind the scenes, Bouteflika had, by the start of his third term, become Algerian’s most powerful president in 30 years.

He consolidated that power last year by dismissing about a dozen top military officers.

Little is known about his private life. Official records mention no wife, though some accounts say a marriage took place in 1990. Bouteflika lived with his mother, Mansouriah, in an apartment in Algiers, where she used to prepare his meals.

Age and poor health caught up with him. French doctors operated on him in 2005 for what officials said was a stomach ulcer. Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables said he was suffering from cancer. He became weaker after his mother died in 2009.

Bouteflika said in a speech in Setif, in eastern Algeria, in May 2012 that it was time for his generation to hand over to new leaders. “For us, it’s over,” he said.

Months later at the start of 2013, a stroke put him into a Paris hospital for three months. He was seen little in public after returning to Algeria to convalesce.

(Editing by Ulf Laessing, Giles Elgood and Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Anthony Scaramucci: Dems’ push to the left ‘almost ensures’ Trump’s re-election

Anthony Scaramucci believes the Democrats' recent push to the left “almost ensures” President’s Trump re-election, because the country is not ready for it.

Scaramucci, who served as the White House Director of Communications for an eventful 11 days, told Fox & Friends that the recent emergence of socialism as a dominant theme in the run-up to 2020 could seal the deal for his old boss’ re-election.

“I Love the message [of the Democrats], because it almost ensures the president’s re-election,” he said.

“The further they push to the left, the country is not ready for that. This is by and large a center-right country, on things like business, free enterprise and self-reliance.

“When they're pushing that and that's obviously a false promise that’s never worked anywhere throughout history and it is certainly not going to work in the United States where this is by and large a group of risk takers.”

2020 CANDIDATE ANDREW YANG DEFENDS $1,000 A MONTH PROGRAM, SLAMS DEMS FOR WANTING TO ABOLISH ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Scaramucci continued that President Trump has “done such a number on these guys” and he’s got “inside their melons.”

“It’s fun to watch. I have got to tell you, I’m glad I am on his team.”

He added that the Democrats' complete refusal to work with President Trump in Congress, namely a deal on border security, could end up helping him in the long-term.

“Again, I think it sets him up very well for the 2020 narrative. Say, ‘listen, I tried to do all these different things for the American people. Here is the resistance.'”

Scaramucci was also asked about Bill Barr’s testimony earlier this week when the Attorney General said “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 election.

But the normally combative Scaramucci urged caution.

DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: DEMS MAY YET 'FIND A WAY TO NOT WIN' 2020

“Well, listen, the Attorney General said it so, I mean, you just have to step back and look at it, remember the distinction between surveillance and spying. Spying means that things happen without the right protocol and right process. And, remember this, the president said this almost two years ago.”

He added: “Remember the distinction, when you say the word spying, that means it was happening, you know, surveillance is OK. Here is the warrant, here is the reason we are doing the surveillance. Spying is a more renegade word if you will.

“It's a combination of Comey, clapper, Brennan. I think they are all caught in a box now. And someone is going to have to explain what happened.”

Scaramucci also said he believes that the fallout of the Mueller report has only led to an increase in both sides going after one another.

“What I don't love about the entire thing though is we are going to be going after each other now and we are politicizing a lot.

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“We are weaponizing and criminalizing a lot of the political differences between the two parties. So, for me, I would love to see these people focus on policy, and focus on fixing the border crisis. Focus on rightsizing the issues that we have with healthcare and things like this.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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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.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG

“@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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